"It is our fortune that you have come here, Lady Auri Cle." My mother broke the brief silence between the parties standing in the courtyard. Her words shifted all attention toward her, yet the tension remained.
"You are right, Zeni. It is such an honor to have you here for our son's first birthday. "Please, give our family your blessing, and allow us the honor of hosting you, Lady Auri Cle," my father said with a smile, his anger completely vanishing from his face. Lady Auri smiled back at both of them, and it appeared genuine.
Father gestured with his hand for everyone to go inside, and we started moving. Dad decided to keep her company while Mother followed just behind them with me. At the rear was Healer Kal, still processing the situation.
"I can understand Kal's fascination with your child. There have been recorded as well as documented cases of children born to mana-burn victims, both male and female. However, it is the female who has it rougher of the two. Mana-burn is still an important topic of discussion in the study of mana and the body. Every little bit of new information is significant. So, please, do not break your family's relationship with him. I assure you he will not harm the kid under any circumstances. He is old and simply doing what he loves most. I hope you understand, Hunter," the Adept said. These words caught us by surprise. We looked back at Healer Kal, but he only had a goofy smile on his face.
"He and our family have a close relationship. You don't have to worry about such trivial things," my father said in response to Lady Auri. "It appears my worries were just unfounded?" she said, a look of relief washing over her face. All of us looked at her in confusion.
The other guests with their Golden Triangles and Pentagons were startled by Lady Auri's presence at the place of ceremony. One good thing about her arrival is that the premade plans of various people and factions become ineffective. As they didn't expect someone from Celestica of Godess Ava to be present at the ceremony. I am sure they had gotten the guest list to prepare for making offers and counteroffers and to prepare for every possible scenario.
Sensing the mood, she spoke. "May the Goddess bless everyone here and listen to your prayers. As she listens to the whole world, I strive to listen to her. I am Auri Cle, an adept in training, currently roaming the Kingdom on my path toward becoming a priestess. My presence here is a mere coincidence. Please, continue with your plans."
Her public statement was a masterstroke of diplomatic obfuscation. By claiming her presence was a mere "coincidence" on her path to becoming a Priestess, she effectively threw a smoke screen over the entire hall. The guests, with their Golden Triangles (regional lords) and Pentagons (state officials), were visibly rattled.
Not wanting to waste this great opportunity caused by the confusion among the nobles, merchants, and state officials, Father announced the start of the birthday ceremony.
Father and Mother walked to the platform, where a table and two chairs of fine craftsmanship were placed alongside a high chair for me. In the background, slightly higher than us, was a structure in the shape of a Scale. An Orc skull encased in glass was placed in the center, a black-scaled snake remained on the right, and a one-horned wolf head sat on the left, along with our massive family crest. It was majestic to me; it clearly showed both of my parents' backgrounds.
Mother and I sat in our chairs, but Dad remained standing. A man twice the age of my father named Olford stood behind him. Apparently, he is our steward, which shocked me; I had seen him many times at our mansion, but he never stopped moving, not even for a day. I never gave him much attention until yesterday, when he kneeled in front of me and took an oath of loyalty until death. I was flabbergasted by his action. He stood slightly behind my father with a silver tray holding three glasses: one in the shape of a beer mug, another in the shape of a champagne glass, and mine in the shape of a coffee cup. My father took the beer mug and struck it lightly to produce a sound that silenced the whole crowd.
Then, he gave his speech:
"Thank you, everyone, for coming here today on this joyous occasion. My son has become one year old today, which at one point in time seemed impossible. Zeni and I are grateful to our ancestors and our ancestral gods—Revan, God of Hunting; and Dakar, God of New Beginnings and Trade—as well as my fellow comrades and the Kingdom of Enameia. It is this kingdom that allowed and awarded the fruit of our labor, a debt for which my ancestors and future lineage will always be grateful. Our house is a new house, as you can see by our prized possessions in the back: the black-scaled snake killed by my father when he was a hunter, the one-horned wolf skull killed by my grandfather, and the head of an orc killed by me. These are our pride and prestige. It is nothing compared to the old-blood noble houses, but my family and future generations will strive to match theirs. My bloodline is a group of wanderers who travel the Kingdom of Enameia without settling in one place for long. My grandfather hunted the one-horned wolf in the north, my father hunted the snake in the west, and I hunted in the center. Similarly, my wife's family traded in the east, southeast, and southwest before she came to the center with me and joined the Royal Army. Thus, it was difficult to choose where to settle as a Baron when the 'Iron Grunt's Witness' was bestowed upon me. I accepted the burden of our kingdom's tradition: to carve a new fiefdom out of the uninhabited wilds and expand the borders of Enameia, a task for which one is typically given five to forty years. Unlike others, I have bound myself to this task for the full forty years with a Mana Oath, but my son remains unbound. Therefore, according to the ancient law established at the kingdom's founding, the choice of a fiefdom fit for a Baron shall rest on my son alone. Should his current fiefdom not be to his preference, he may choose a province of his own liking. In doing so, the new land in his preferred province will be thirty percent of the total land conquered in the uninhabited wilds shall be granted to him from the territory of the preferred province. The final determination of the land's nature and specific location shall be made by the king—a right that shall remain my son's from today until his thirty-fifth birthday."
This caused a commotion among the nobles. Even Lady Auri Cle was a little surprised by my father's words. The only person who was not was the guest from the Royal family; he acted surprised, but I saw through his mask.
"I desperately wanted to use my abilities in this situation to gather intelligence, yet I held back. I realized that individuals with extreme senses or abilities developed through the use of mana might perceive my ocular focus. This thought occurred to me the moment Father ordered Olford to increase security and implement precautionary measures against magical snooping. I felt foolish for not considering it sooner. It was a stroke of luck that I had only tested my powers on servants and guards rather than important figures. It made me wonder: what if someone, aided by mana, developed a spell akin to X-ray vision (not real x-rays of earth) of the Superman or the Byakugan? They could observe my bodily processes and detect the changes occurring while I use my abilities. I would unintentionally expose my secret—a risk I am simply not willing to take.
I still have doubts about this hypothesis, as my skills derive from standard biological functions rather than mana, as almost everything revolves around it, but as the saying goes, "Better safe than sorry."
I suspected they were far too shrewd to discuss sensitive matters in public; had I listened closer, I likely would have heard nothing but hushed curses directed at my father. The commotion died quickly when Father slammed his beer mug onto the table, the sound echoing through the hall for a tense thirty seconds. Once silence reigned, he spoke in a voice of authority. 'It is time for the main event. Bring it'.
Like the guests, I was initially confused until memories of a late-night conversation with my parents surfaced. They had tried to explain what it meant to take a life—how to process the weight of it. I recalled my mother's tearful face and my father's grim insistence that 'the people' needed to see this, even if I was too young to remember.
Being from a hunter's family, I had my guesses, but I was not yet ready for the reality. Suddenly, the rattling of a cage outside the ceremonial hall grew louder, drawing all eyes to the entrance.
Guards hauled a heavy crate onto the table and whipped away the cloth to reveal a hideous, grotesque creature—a goblin. Some guests were flabbergasted, others confused, and a few intrigued by the spectacle.
Without wasting a moment, Father declared, "In our house, it is tradition to offer a sacrifice to the god Revan. This goblin was captured after its pack slaughtered half a village; there could be nothing better as an offering."
The creature had stopped rattling the bars. Paralyzed by the presence of so many people and my father's terrifying aura, it stood motionless with fear. With slightly shaky hands, Mother passed me to Father. Simultaneously, Olford produced a beautifully designed small sword with a thin, sharp blade. I noticed a faint liquid coating on the steel—likely a fast-acting poison to ensure a quick end.
Father guided my small hand around the hilt, positioning the point over the goblin's heart. "God of the wilderness, protector of the hunt, accept this offering and always protect my son." With a swift, guided motion, Father thrust the blade held in my hand into the creature's heart. Blood gushed, but he moved me to a safe distance with practiced speed. The creature fell and twitched only once; the toxin was remarkably efficient.
This grim ritual oddly reminded me of Hannibal of Carthage and the oath his father forced him to take against Rome. Fear gripped my heart—was I destined for a similar, bloody end? I quickly reminded myself that Hannibal's sacrifice was to destroy an enemy, whereas this was intended for my protection.
I realized that Father might not have gone through with such a barbaric display if it weren't for the need to distract the nobles from the political trap he had set in his speech. This act of sacrifice was a "red herring." By showing a "savage" ritual, Father made the sophisticated nobles feel superior while they overlooked the matter regarding the land grant.
I looked at the guests; the distraction had worked. I couldn't hear their hushed tones clearly, but I was certain this bloody spectacle would be the only thing they talked about for hours. Even the Royal guest practiced composure was momentarily breached.
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