The Renunciation Trial

"Looks like Yagnos stayed sprawled here. Are we going to leave him here again?" Aen asked clearly concerned and felt guilty of what he did earlier.

Well, look at this cute guy, Argus thought—"Didn't you just kicked his knees a while ago?"

And after some contemplation, Argus has decided to take Yagnos with them.

"Alright, I too feel guilty leaving him here. Let's take him."

And with that, the bunch slowly carried the unconscious Yagnos back in the kitchen Hut.

At first, they had difficulty in carrying him since Yagnos is tall and burly.

Well, most of the tribesmen here had an average height of 156.41cm or 5 feet and 1.57 inches tall but Yagnos exceeded 5 and span up to 6 plus, so its only natural that they will have difficulties in carrying him.

After dragging the poor Yagnos to the kitchen hut at the Saman's Kanya, Argus and the bunch ate a meal that was prepared by Argus himself.

This time, Argus who gained the memory of Miguel preparing food for the Saman have tried doing the same but in all honesty, he felt it was kind of difficult and accidentally created a scrambled egg instead of an omellete.

And tracing Miguel's memories, Argus came to remember that Miguel got to use his body in peeking the naked glory of the Saman. He felt a pang of jealousy brewing in his heart.

Well, his jealousy is ought for nothing. According to their talk in that mysterious strange place where he first met Miguel, it seemed to him that Miguel is a very devoted husband to his wife.

He longed to return home, but still... "It could have been me." He uttered to himself.

Then his thoughts were suddenly interjected by the bunch of Alipins who just finished their own bowls.

"Master, this dish is so delicious! You should try selling some. I think if you tried doing that, people would line up to buy your dish!" Aen happily stated.

"Yes, Master! such a wonderful dish... I wonder how you learned to cook it..." Talto seconded.

"Agreed Master! once you do that, you can buy a set of higher-grade equipment." Malpi also chimed in.

Showered with praises from this bunch of Alipins, Argus could not help but feel embarrassed.

"If only they knew that it did not come from his idea" He murmured.

But sure as hell, Argus began considering this proposal. If worst comes to worst and he ended up disabled after the trial, he may opt into selling food at their Banwa.

It's the worst among the worst! Living a life disabled, how would he take revenge from that?

Argus shuddered just from the thought alone.

But at this moment, the unconscious Yagnos weakly opened his weary eyes, along with his swollen red cheeks. He reeked of alcohol and stench of dizzying strong scent.

"Where... Where am I?" He called out.

"Master, Yagnos is awake!" Aen yelped to notify Argus.

"You lot! who are you?" Pointing his fingers, Yagnos felt terrified.

Suddenly waking up surrounded by stinky people with rugged clothes and each of them holding a bowl in their hands, won't you get scared silly too?

Well, there was a particular tribe who came into Yagnos' mind after seeing this bunch of people surrounding him like prey...

The Murawans! It is what the tribesmen in Danao calls—the Barbarians who lived not too far away from their lands. These people practiced a wicked way in the eyes of the Tribesmen. They performed acts of cannibalism and ate their own people or their enemies after they raid.

Although it came from rumors, tales like this won't sprout without unfounded sightings.

"Perhaps, I am in their territory..." Yagnos uncontrollably blurted out, intoxicated from the wine he drunk earlier, he is more prone to panic.

And this feeling intensified when the bunch came closer to him to inspect.

"You lot! Stay away! I am telling you!" Yagnos yelled in desperation.

When the bunch heard him, they could not help but laugh and give Yagnos a sneer, especially Argus himself!

"So this feared Yagnos, is actually a faint-hearted fellow who is easily scared." Followed with a boisterous laugh, they all laughed out! Mocking Yagnos upon his wake.

"Relax brother, we don't eat people like you..." Argus went closer to whisper in his ears, making Yagnos more scared.

Placing the bowl down in the table, Argus played a joke on Yagnos. He mildly tapped Yagnos' swollen red cheeks and began asking questions.

"Listen well, I am not to repeat my words..."

Which Yagnos vehemently nodded in reply.

The surrounding bunch circled Yagnos and made silly faces on him and Argus just hushed them into silence to reprimand them.

Clearing his throat, Argus began interrogating Yagnos, looking for any additional information that may lead him into Apok Amron or Datu Hagat.

"State your affiliations! Who are you?! Where did you come from?! Why are you here?!"

Argus roared and blasted him with a flurry of questions.

"I..."

"I am, Yagnos... I came from Nakar's tribe but I am not born from there."

"I'm just here for the wine competition and opening ceremony, I've heard that a trial is held at Saon where the Lumin's Tribe arranged a competition for anyone who is willing to marry her."

"And?" Argus knitting his brows into an ugly frown became wary of Yagnos' real intention.

"Is he here for Talia?"—he thought.

"And... nothing. That's all! I swear!" Yagnos pleaded.

"Hmph! Very well, another question..." Argus added while he squinted his eyes.

"Why the heck did they all called you a Bead Thief?"

Silence came dropping that even a thin needle won't be heard.

Yagnos began scratching his head, wondering why this person in front of him was curious about that tale of his.

And so Yagnos began narrating why how he is called The bead Thief.

"I never stole anything, but those people from the Nakar Tribe kept insisting that I stole one! But I swear under the name of Bathala that I never stole any bead."

"Yes, it was true that I came from a fallen tribe whose origins were from being pirates, but as we live in these islands... we came to abandon our old origins and have only kept the skills of a thief we once had. It's for survival! You know very well how savage these lands can be!"

"But due to that fact alone, they all have accused me regardless of my pleas and claims of innocence."

"I participated in a Renunciation Trial and have passed it all! But up until now, people still could not forget that rumor and have associated my name as a Bead Thief!"

Then Argus raised his hand, signaling Yagnos to halt.

"Wait up! Say that again."

"Which part?" Yagnos being startled as he asked.

And Argus turned his head towards the Alipins, smirking from ear to ear...

"That Trial! Tell me more about it."

Argus upon listening to Yagnos and his tale of why he came to be known as the bead thief at first got frustrated that he wasted his time listening to some nonsense. Yagnos had no correlation to Apok Amron or to Datu Hagat but when he heard Yagnos mentioning the Renunciation Trial, he had hit an idea.—"What if the Renunciation is similar to the 1st Trial they have arranged?" Argus thought.

Being a former Ranoan himself, he had some vague idea about the customs and traditions each Tribe has observed. But no matter how he tried to remember, he could not simply recall any teachings about this from his father. But he clearly remembered that their Elder Shaman at that time have briefly mentioned these trials which he gradually forgot as he grew up.