Argur

The Trial

The Chief was sitting on a chair under the porch of his house. There was a group of people in front of his house who were waiting for me. Everyone was staring at me as I walked past them towards the Chief. Mirus stood beside the Chief and whispered something in his ear to which, the Chief nodded.

Everybody was waiting for the Chief to speak up. The Chief slowly stood up and said "Argur, where were you last night?" I casually replied "In the barn. I went there at midnight and and was hoping to return early but I felt dizzy and lost my consciousness"

Everyone was murmuring amongst themselves. One elder of the village suddenly got up and said "Do we even need to ask him these questions? Just ask him how he could kill all those beasts." I didn't understand what he was taking about so I asked "what beasts are you talking about? Why would I kill any beasts?" "Because you're an abomination. As if disturbing the peace of the village regularly wasn't enough. Now you want to escalate it to killing our Gahi" another villager retorted.

The Chief shouted "Silence. This is a trial, all questions will be asked by me and if he is found guilty, I'll punish him accordingly" and then asked me "Did you see how the beasts were killed?" "No, I didn't" "how then, are three of the Gahi dead and six injured? You were the only one in the vicinity" "I don't know, I wasn't conscious" he asked me a few more questions but I could see from the look on his face that this time, I was in trouble

The questions soon ended. I asked the Chief "how did the beasts die?" "You've got the audacity to ask that after killing them?" roared an elder. "No matter how much you deny, this time you messed up. You fainted after killing the beasts. There was no one near the beasts when they died except for you. Just fess up and you might just be allowed to live." It was then that I realised that they must have died due to the sudden burst of mana. I knew I was at fault though I didn't want to kill the beasts. I decided I'd take whatever punishment they give.

I looked at chief and saw that he was discussing with the elders. They wanted me to leave the village since a long time so I was wondering if the chief's going to comply this time. After a few minutes of discussion, the Chief turned to me and said "Argur, we have decided that for the deaths of the gahi, you need to be punished. You're going to have to go to the ruins and bring back the alchemic record from the laboratory. I'll tell you where the laboratory is located." Mirus looked at the elders angrily and said "the ruins are very dangerous. Even our most powerful hunters wouldn't go there even in groups. Sending him alone is suicide. Please reconsider your decision, he can't go to the ruins." The Chief cut him off saying "I'm sorry, but we've reached a decision. As long as he comes back with the record, all his past errors will be forgiven and the record will help us create potions which will increase the fertility of the land. Tomorrow morning, he leaves."

The next morning, I knew the day I'll die had come. So I prepared some food to last me a few days and went towards the gate. The Chief and the elders were already at the gate waiting for me at the gate. I looked at the Chief and he smiled helplessly at me and handed me over a map of the ruins. The huge wooden gate slowly opened and just as I walked out, I heard "Argur, stop!" I turned around and saw Mirus running towards me. He was dressed in his hunting attire, came up to me and said "I'm coming with you."

The chief and the elders were shocked. The didn't expect Mirus would come with me. "It's not your punishment, Mirus. You don't have to go with him." An elder spoke. Mirus looked at him and replied "I know that I don't have to. But I want to and I will" and rushed out before they could say more.