Verdict

Melchior stood at the centre of the bright courtroom. This time not kneeling, but accompanied by Circe at his back. Their little decision-making process had ended, and he was once again allowed inside.

"We've reached a verdict, Melchior E'al Zale," Reiner said. "You have been deemed innocent, but upon further deliberation, your disrespectful actions towards a member of the council have been determined as punishable."

He frowned a little, but as long as he wasn't getting executed, he would accept any punishment given to him. However, this was the last laugh he would allow Elias to have.

And that was precisely what the large man was doing. Laughing.

'Alright, here the punishment comes. What is it?'

The old man continued, "Your sentence is an extended one-week extended shift in the Stactite mines. And your quota, as requested by Elias, will be doubled considering your new status and abilities."

'Eh… that's it?'

Mel's unphased expression quickly turned into one of gratitude lest they added more to his workload. Mining wasn't so much punishment, but no doubt Elias would do everything to make his life as miserable as possible.

If he looked too smug about it, the torture would probably get worse.

"Please keep in mind that the sentence will be doubled if you miss by even a single day." someone butted in from the side.

And then that was it. Nothing else at all.

Reiner banged his gavel against the table three times in quick succession.

"If there isn't anything else. I call this session to a close."

A pause, and then he let out a wide smile on his wrinkled face.

"Congratulations, Bonded."

'Huh.'

It took several seconds to process what had just happened, but Mel quickly returned the smile and bowed in response.

Following the procedure, he had to wait for all the members of the council to leave before he left as well. However, only one person waited. Or rather… two.

Zale made sense. The other, not so much.

"Why are you still here?" he said, turning to Circe.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Just go do whatever you were doing before this."

Tap! Tap!

"Can't. Unfortunately, as of today, I've been rendered useless. They're heading here?"

"What do you mean by that? Who is heading here?"

It was abrupt, and she didn't answer, but the frequency of her taps increased quickly.

Melchior didn't try to press her to continue and just waited for Zale to cross the room to reach him. A few seconds later, the large white-haired man stood in front of him.

Silence.

There had been an awful lot of those recently. This time, it was weightier than any he had ever experienced before. But it was also kind of… relieving?

"How long have you known?" Mel started.

"Not very long at all. Merely a suspicion. It wasn't until your fight with the Flame Hound did I confirm it."

"I figured. Who informed them, though?"

Zale's brows furrowed at that question.

"Those two boys; Elias' kid and the orphan. They informed the town head as soon as they got back to the town. He put two and two together and that was when the others began with their foolish conspiracies which spiralled into what happened today,"

It was just as he suspected. Clyde and Andy.

"They talk a bit too much…"

"Don't do anything stupid," Zale warned. "It took a lot to convince them to keep your sentence the way it is now. If you hurt them, you'll be executed without a doubt. Or at the very least, permanently exiled."

Mel blinked.

"Don't worry, I won't touch them."

"Good. Also, who is she?" his father said, pointing at the woman who hung behind him like a shadow.

He introduced. "Uh? I'm not sure who she is exactly, but she's Circe."

"I'm Circe."

Zale stared for a few seconds, with an utterly confused expression on his face, but then quickly turned away from it. He seemed ready to ignore her existence.

"Anyway, let's head home. We have quite a bit to talk about, especially with your mother."

"Alright."

Circe patted her stomach a little with a satisfied expression. "Yeah, home. I'm starving,"

"Who even are you?"

"Circe."

"..."

. . .

*A few miles away from Blackmount*

"Ka'ala be damned. Can we just get going already!" a voice echoed out angrily.

A few seconds later, another replied from further downward.

"A good hunter doesn't shoot his arrow without a stable hand. We shall head out in a few days like we spoke about before, Aster. This mission isn't something that can be rushed because of your impatience."

Aster stomped to the end of the cave, where a bunch of similarly dressed men sat and rested. They were all masked, save for one of them who sat.

"I'm sick of your hunter wisdom. We have the manpower and strength to get this done already. Can we just get it over with?"

Briar's green hair had a luminescent glow to it that illuminated the entire dark cave easily.

He shook his head once more.

"No means no. We're on the Lieutenant's instructions. We aren't to move until we receive a signal. And if the signal doesn't come on time, we're only to move two days after that."

Aster appeared in front of the other man with a stomp of his feet.

"The lieutenant has been missing for five days now, and we've been stuck in this shitty cave feeding off fucking bats. I can't spend another day like this!"

"Deal with it. We're waiting here. Following instructions. Or are you in that much of a hurry to get your ass beat by that First Layer again?"

Aster stood, face veiled by the mask, but his anger practically radiated off his body in visible waves.

"You bas-"

"Me nothing. Remember your place, Aster." Briar stood up finally. It was difficult to see before, but he easily towered over the rude man.

"I sent two people after that kid. One didn't come back at all. The second came back severely injured. Coupled with your loss, that was three in a single night. Just think about it,"

Aster backed away slowly as Briar continued speaking.

"This town isn't as simple as you want to believe it is, and you will pay a dire price if you keep underestimating them."

Then quiet. Quiet returned to the cave once and for all.