"Can you help me get more people here? No one remembers me...Please..."
The woman stopped crying...
The next thing Erland could see was a stretched smile on that woman's face, revealing every single bloody teeth of hers as she extended her hands. "Or maybe...You can stay with me. Yeah, with us."
Two monstrous shadows appeared before her. Erland started to sweat as the figures to close to him. He backed and backed until he fell.
"(If this goes on I'm gonna waken my power again...)" Erland got up from the ground and screamed for help. He ran for his life with all the energy he had. Before he knew, he reached his house.
"*huff* *huff* (I...I'm home?...)"
He slammed the door open and closed it in a moment. With his surrounding feeling the same as it felt in the grave since his mind was not yet put to ease. "(I was...this close to awaken my powers...If I did it in front of the spectators, it would be the end...)"
"What took you so long?" Gunhild looked at her son. She was working in the kitchen but seeing her son in that state, she rushed out of there and headed towards the door, where her son was, still left in terror. "Erland! Are you alright?"
"Nothing. I'm fine." said Erland and shook his head.
On the other hand, Randi was in deep thoughts as she looked down at the table with her one remaining eye. Hearing that Erland is alright, Randi got up from her chair. "Well then. Come with me to the government headquarter. We don't have much time left. Let's go." She held Erland's hand and pulled him out of the house again.
"But he hasn't eaten yet...And this is almost night!" Gunhild yelled out. Randi paid no heed to it and has already gone too far to hear her.
A carriage could be seen outside. Erland and Randi got on it and left in a hurry. All happened too soon for Gunhild to make a move and yell out for them to come back home.
Soon, they reached the headquarter. A guard opened the door of the carriage Erland was in. Right at the moment Erland got down, the guard asked,
"Mr. Hephaestus, do you need us to do anything?"
A bit surprised at the sudden change of demeanor towards him of others, Erland frowned slightly. He then got back to his usual, polite self and answered. "No need. Just make sure that me and my family are safe...that will be enough. Also, won't the people get suspicious of me if they see me coming here this often?"
The guard nodded politely. With sheer professionalism, acting as if he's a perfect puppet made to be a guard, he answered- "They certainly will. If you want to avoid any suspicion then you should come here after going to someone else's place first- " He put his head up as the shadow of the tree fell on him. It revealed his eyes slightly.
The guard proceeded to speak. "-and secondly you should wear more covered up clothes after you leave that certain person's house. You can state this problem of yours in the headquarter, Sir. You will get assistance with it. Since we are mere guards and servants with no other home than this place, we cannot help you with it."
"I see. Thanks then." Erland walked towards the building.
As he took his third step, he got interrupted by the voice of the guard. "Sir, if you don't mind, the guards and servants have been issued permission to correct you when you are informal at your workplace. You should say, 'my sincere gratitude towards you for assisting me' there. The leaders were being playful and friendly towards you because you are still but a young child. I mean no offense, if I did then please forgive my incompetence." The guard nodded again.
Erland gave a smile and then started to walk again. "You didn't offend me. You can go now."
The guard bowed. "Yes, Sir..."
In the headquarter, everyone greeted each other. The speaker in the hall got up in front of a lectern, wearing the same dress as almost everyone, a robe and a coat. Like everyone, Erland sat down in his seat, looking at the lectern which was set on the high stage. "(Everyone wears long cloths here...As Randi said, these represents elegance and modesty of the noble...Maybe I should just stay like this?...)"
The speaker was an old man. According to Erland's memories, this was the same old male voice he heard when he first came to the headquarter.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the government of Gaion, I hope you all are having a wonderful day. I shall proceed our meeting without any further ado. Wasting one's time is wasting one's self. The point of tonight's meeting is that we have not made any progress in the past week."
The hall was still silent. But disappointment was written on everyone's faces.
The old man continued "-I have noticed and investigated it. The newest members have not began their works at all, according to my investigation. Miss Randi, what do you wish to say about this? Please speak. There is a gadget called microphone in front of you which can be used to speak with a louder sound."
Randi walked towards the lectern and spoke on the microphone, sounding more polite than usual. "Greetings. I sincerely apologize for my incompetence in the last week. I have been trying to make progress but I couldn't because of certain reasons."
"There comes the excuses..." A man murmured.
Randi being unbothered as ever, spoke with her same tone. "-My younger brother Erland is merely a child who cannot complete certain tasks. I need some time to negotiate and fix a place for the people to educate and learn. I shall publish the details here in a week since I am close to it. My second issue here is that my family is a humble one. Neither poor or rich and with limits. I did not want to burden the government for something that me and my brother have come up with. If the honorable government wishes to give me another week, I shall complete the task and my plan swiftly." She then nodded
"Are you certain about this, Miss Randi?" said a government leader.
"I certainly am." She closed her eye with assurance.
"The leaders who wish to support her request, raise a hand please." said the speaker.
More than half of the people raised their hand.
"The leaders who wish to reject her request, raise a hand please."
About twenty people raised their hands. Most of them were young and new.
"Well then, we shall proceed to the next issue. Is there any other request that we can get from our honorable citizens?" said the speaker.
Erland stood up. "I do..."
A mic got passed onto him. He took it and spoke, naturally as if speaking formally was never really an issue for him.
"If you permit me, I shall proceed with my request, Honorable Speaker."
"You shall proceed." The speaker looked pleased.
"I come from a humble family. Since I have been visiting the government frequently these past few days, I assume that some people might suspect me which may ruin my normal way of life. A Hierius of the central Naos already knows about my achievement which is both pleasing and aggravating for me. I wish to seek guidance for this issue from the government."
The old leader nodded as he took his words into consideration. "Your assumption might become true. I can see several ways to fix this. One is that you can get adopted. Second is that you can advance your rank enough to silence them. Thirdly, you can go to another citizen's house, put on a disguise and then move here with the help of the government member. Can you think of anything else?"
Erland frowned as he rested his chin on his thumb. He then shook his head, seeming more serious than his usual happy go lucky demeanor. "I cannot. I shall go with the last one."
"Well then. Is there anyone who wishes to assist him on this matter? If you wish to then please, raise your hand and come in front of the lectern."
The blind old man from before raised his hand. He walked towards the lectern, holding his hand on his back with his head high up, walking with pride as the speaker stood away.
The eyeless man put on his mocking smile, almost too dashing for an old man. "I wish to assist you on this matter, Erland Hephaestus. My house isn't too far from yours so you may come at my mansion and then come here. I can train you well for future matters as well if you do that."
"(Seems like no one else is going to help me with this...) You have my sincere gratitude Sir." Erland nodded.
"Call me Hadrian if you wish to. My full name is Hadrian Evans by the way. Since I will be your instructor anyway, I wish to keep things informal to you."
"I understand."
"Let us be good...friends, Hephaestus..." Hadrian's smirk widened. But then it dimmed as he got back being professional. "I shall pass the spot to our Honorable Speaker now." Hadrian walked away with the same pride he walked up.
The speaker took the spot again and spoke as he flipped a page. "Well then. We shall move on to our next issue."
The meeting ended at 9 O'clock. They both got in the carriage to head to their home.
In the carriage, Randi was looking at the night sky as she kept her arms crossed. "So we gotta make a uniform eh? Which color are you gonna chose? I'm choosing dark violet silk to make the hooded cloth...*sigh*My budgets gonna end here..."
Erland looked at the night sky from the other window. "You can take mine...I mean Zoe isn't getting my salary anyway." Erland looked at Randi. "Is she still in custody?"
"The police forbid me to tell you anything about this since you are gonna get traumatized or whatever...Let's get back to the topic of cloths."
"(So she met that end eh?...Goodness.....) Okay...I guess I'm just gonna get some...black tailcoat and a black hat. I'm gonna buy a white shirt as well-"
Randi grunted with a frown. "You have tons of black and white cloths already. You just brought a white tunic that day."
"Yeah but...I like shirts and tunics that are comfortable to wear at home...and of course- if they're black or white."
"Ugh...You stubborn-head. Well then, I will send Hilda to go give the order and you will come to the orphanage with me tomorrow. Deal?"
Erland answered coldly. "Deal."
The next day came as if it took no longer than a moment. The citizens had their breakfast and headed outside. As Erland was heading outside with his new cloths, feeling all the pressure of the world taking his child in him away, he heard his mother's voice calling him from behind.
"Erland, wait!"
"Yes mommy?" said Erland as he looked back.
"Come here."
He walked towards his mother. "Yeah. What is it?" He smiled. "I missed you..."
"Aw...me too sweetheart. What happened all these days? I haven't been able to know a thing about you all these days..."
Erland shook his head. "Nothing much. I almost got chased by a ghost yesterday though..."
Gunhild widened her eyes as she held her son by his shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I didn't get the chance. Sorry mum..." Erland rubbed his nape.
"Mum? You never called me that. Thank the Lords that ghosts can't go too far from the place they die." Gunhild let out a sigh of relief.
"Mom...I haven't eaten in home for days. Can you make me curry today? The one you made with beef?"
Gunhild's worry faded away and a shimmering smile rose in her face. "My Erland asked so why not? Get home soon. Daddy and Mommy misses you a lot." She petted on Erland's head and spoke as if he's still the little boy they knew.
"I will. I'll get home by evening then. Goodbye." Erland waved at his mother and walked away.
Gunhild yelled as she waved as well. "Goodbye and don't forget the lunch I have made you. I left that in your bag!"
Erland opened the bag and took the box out as he walked. He checked the box and found some sandwiches and fried potatoes in it. Seeing homemade foods after comparably a long time made him beam his happiness out through a faint yet assured smile.
"(She knows to cook everything...Love you mom.)"
He put it in his bag again and started to walk.
Liv Olsen, Randi and Erland were sitting on their chairs in the office room of the director. The director heard everything Randi has said about her plan and her proposal. Yet, she has a glimpse of doubt on her face. She crossed her legs and rested her hands on her knee.
"So you wish to open the school here? I am glad that you asked but we don't have enough funds to assist you." said Liv.
Randi tapped on the wood of the desk for a while and spoke after a brief consideration of her own thoughts. "We will make sure to gather enough funds then. How much will it be?" said Randi.
"According to my calculations, it will be more than a million deben with everything included. If you don't mind, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
Liv got up from her seat and started to walk around as Erland and Randi watched her. "There has been many people who wanted to open a school but they were rejected. When you two asked, they accepted." She stopped walking. With curious eyes, she looked at Randi. "Why do you think this happened?"
Randi crossed her arms. "That seems weird to me as well. I once used to be their disciple, yet a low ranked so I don't know much. Maybe they are planning on something...They are the government after all. You can't live without them nor you can remove them."
Liv looked out from the window. "Hmm...Now this is shady. Have you investigated this matter?"
Randi frowned. "I don't want to because-"
Erland got up from his seat and interrupted. "Because nothing! We have to find a way to get the one million. Any suggestion?( Since microphones exist in this world, they might spy on us using it. I have to be careful.)"
Liv got back to her seat. "I don't know...Well, you can get help from the people of Gaion. The total population of Gaion is eight hundred thousand in total. There is no guarantee who will help you and who will not so ask for at least a hundred deben. If they cannot, decrease it to fifty. You have a good connection with Ase, the landlady of half Gaion so she can help you a lot. I feel sorry for her current condition. Whatever you all do, do it fast. The faster the better."
"Can we get help from the kids?" said Erland.
"I can only send some kids who are mature enough to not get in trouble on the way. I cannot help any further. The orphanage is in frequent need of the caretakers after all..."
Erland smiled. "That will be more than enough. You have no idea how much you are helping us. We will forever be indebted to you."
Liv smiled faintly. "No, it's my pleasure. No need to be so formal...I am just trying to pay back for the happiness you all give to my children. I am pleased only with that. Are you two going now?"
"I have work and Randi has to go home because she pushed herself too hard and got back pain like great-granny-Ase." said Erland.
"Erland, shut up." said Randi. She was clearly embarrassed because just now, her brother revealed that she too, can get tired at times and is not a superhuman people see her as often.
Liv gave a short laugh. "I have missed that talk of yours. You are growing up so fast... Well then, goodbye you two." Liv stood up and shook hands with Randi.
Afterwards, Erland finished his work of the day and got home, being exhausted. He lied down on the bed and pondered about what he has found so far as if everyday he's investigating new things.
"*sigh* (I'm beat...pondering in bed is all I've been doing for the past couple of years, making no progress...as much as its amazing...its tiring. Too bad, this place doesn't have google...How about I tell Frode to make one when we grow up? Meh...Let's leave that for now. My cloths doesn't have any microphone and neither does Randi's clothes...so, we should be-)" Erland got up from the bed with the face of the fool.
"(Oh wait...I'm a dumbass. The microphones here need cables...)*sigh*"
Erland lied down again and turned around and tucked in his blanket, continuing his daily routine of pondering about every little thing. His imagination ran wild and far as he pictured and revised the things that has happened so far. He felt as if he's lost in a pitch black void left with nothing but the tranquility of silence with various familiar scenes playing around him with effects made by his brain.
"(I still wonder why Logi got mad...Why I saw that ghost...Maybe it's because of my power since it comes from the underworld. The underworld needs an heir too eh? I hope that I don't get dragged...I am not getting any clue like this...I will slowly lose my peaceful life and get used by many if this goes on...Should I ask Arne?...Even though he has been a total creep to me so far, he is my own brother so it sucks to think like that...I can't even tell anything to mom since it triggers her sickness...)"
Out of the blue, Erland felt as if something was emitting from his body. He took his clothes off as soon as he knew that it was his power. Even though the night was cold, he got out of the bed naked, making sure his cloths don't burn and leave any trace. He tried to control his power but he couldn't. The flame started to spread more and more.
Luckily, he found an herb that Svend gave him. In a second, he chewed and swallowed it whole. It got dimmer and dimmer and finally got away.
Erland backed away slowly as he knitted his eyebrows together as the anxiety of getting manipulated knitted itself in his mind. "(The herbs...aren't working well on me...I take these even when I don't need it...Yet, its overflowing...)"
He took his cloths back on and lied down on the bed. Leaving a deep breath, he tucked in the blanket, being hopeless about his future. He closed his eyes with the insecurity of getting caught and being used, not being able to live with what he has and to lose the hope of getting what he seeks.