Chapter 26: Dark Side Of Humanity (V): Trial
The moment Rezar came out of the tunnels with Lenore and her militia behind him, a clamor seemed to spread across the entire valley. The turn up was rapid and it was quite shocking to Rezar, because in the end he didn't imagine that he was hated by this much people, and even worse was the fact he absolutely didn't know a single one of them.
"Whatever you do Rezar keep your mouth shut, I have enough problems dealing with this mob as it is, so don't add any more fuel to the flame by saying anything." Lenore whispered to him as the led him away from the mines and towards the guard house.
But even then with her warnings and protection, it didn't stop the people from saying what they wanted to say. Rezar couldn't feel things like malice, but in the face of such angered looks and loud whispers, it was easy for him to tell that he was absolutely reviled by all these people, and even worse was the fact that they were slaves like him.
"Look at him, that evil son of a bitch is a bad omen; I knew something bad like this would have happen the moment the forewoman allowed that cursed thing to walk amongst us."
Rezar felt the need to call out to the man who had just finished speaking; he would have to tell him was being rude, overly mean and insensitive. But he had to keep his mouth shut as Lenore had said; it was the only way to truly keep him safe from being lynched. But just he decided to keep his head down; it didn't mean that the people would stay idle when they noticed their words weren't doing anything at all.
The first clump of mud smacked across his face with a lot more force than he imagined, if it was the him of before h got his necromancer class, then obviously his head would have been taken off his shoulders. But all this did was leave him with a very terrible headache. But in that moment when the first projectile touched him, Rezar found himself at an impasse.
He pretty much wanted to yell out in ager at such unfair treatment, but ultimately it didn't matter as all manner of objects were being thrown at him.
And for those of them who had spent a significant amount of years as miners, they had above average strength or just enough strength that anything they threw at him left bruises.
With his incapability of feeling fear, all Rezar was left to feel was humiliation and anger, he knew being a wielder of a death class was bad, but he didn't expect it to be this bad. He never hurt anyone, and all he wanted was to be left alone to earn his money and gain his freedom. But people die, and all of a sudden it was his fault, just because he was the son of death or what? These were things that he had no control over, why was he being treated this way.
But in the end Rezar couldn't say anything; it wouldn't be too farfetched to say he was shocked by this display.
Normally extreme attitudes like this should not have been so foreign to him, but all he had been a general knowledge of the world he lived in, with some in depth knowledge about a couple of things. But the memory of his life, feelings and emotions; that he was supposed to have and that would have helped him face this situation was gone.
It was all new to him, so much so that even his previous carefree attitude was gone. This was the first time he felt a negative emotion other than anger, and it was hate. Those looks in their eyes were unlike anything he had ever seen, this wasn't a look that might change, and it was a look that told him that no matter what he did, no matter what story he told, he was always going to be the cursed thing, the bad omen.
The future here he hoped he would be able to find someone who could love, care and live a carefree life with now seemed quite bleak. He knew he was hated and that he had to live away from normal society, but he never thought that even when he wanted to mind his business, they would still look for a reason to kill him.
Lenore had made a detour the very moment they had come out of the mine tunnels, however her militia which were responsible for leading Rezar to the guard house, made sure too keep a good enough distance from Rezar as he was subjected to the abuse of the people. Their job was to escort him to the guard house, alive! In what shape he arrives in, it wasn't their business, they were not willing to get in between that angry mob and Rezar.
They didn't see anything wrong with this, Rezar was a death class holder, and as such most of his rights were waived. But in the end all these served to teach Rezar a very important lesson about the Elysium in his memories and the Elysium that's his reality. No one would love him, no one would care, and all he truly had to go on was he and his zombies, because at least that way he knew they would never betray him.
The wooden door to a very dark cell closed behind Rezar, Screet was sitting very still in the sack while cowardly mole made rough movements every few seconds. Rezar sighed, honestly speaking there was a part laid out in front of him now, the way he did things would have to change as if he's not strong enough, he could pretty much die by the end of the day, but should he survive. His carefree attitude would have to go.
If he wanted to survive, it seems like he has no other choice but to embrace this death class and everything it brought. Because this world won't leave him alone, they would do everything in their power to hurt him, and while he was sure he could deal with it, he didn't want to leave his life a salve to the prejudice of others. He had to become strong.
"How are you feeling?" Lenore's voice came from behind him, he would have thought she was concerned if her voice wasn't so, dull.
"I didn't kill anybody." Rezar said to her as he faced the wall, with his back to her.
"I believe you, but the slaves do not. They have no rights here, but there are enough of them with voices that can make a difference. Because of them I would have to listen to the slaves and try to keep the peace. The
Future of the mine's smooth operations depend on it. There's going to be a trial, normally that trial should not cause too much of a problem for you, but you're a death class, so it would be pretty much lethal."
Rezar frowned, even the trial was going to be rigged and the odds stacked against him, honestly it just seems as if this day just kept getting more and more shitier. He turned around and faces Lenore through the bars of his wooden cell door and asked.
"What's the trial going to be like?" Rezar successfully managed to keep his voice even.
"There's a church in the town, they have an artifact called they medallion of truth, anybody who holds it would be compelled to tell the truth. The problem is that artifact is extremely reactive and volatile to anything that has to do with black magic or the infernal. So things like demons, for example myself, or people who own death classes would be unable to touch it. The moment you do it will release a concentrated of holy element energy, Rezar its going to burn you from the inside out."
For just a fraction of a second Rezar felt his heart skip a beat, it was weird to say the least, but that feeling only lasted for a second. He looked down and held his chest for a second, as if trying to grab that feeling, to call it back and understand what it meant. But it was gone, just as fast as it had come.
"Is there a way I can resist? That I can survive it?" he asked as he looked up at her, hope within his gaze, but that hope quickly died out the moment he heard her answer.
"That would have been a possibility if you were at a higher level and had an ordinary black magic class like warlock, and not a completely death oriented class like necromancer. I suspect your class gives you a massive debuffs against holy and light element damage; you wouldn't even be able to last 5 seconds to answer any questions. You'll die!"
His mind was blank; he just couldn't muster any sort of emotion towards the news that he was just about to die after he just gained a life. There was no fear, and as such there was nothing else to be felt. But in a way this felt to convenient to Rezar, if all evidence led to him committing the murder, then a trial was required...but the Medallion of truth, if his memory serves was only ever brought out when the person being charged had committed a crime against the church or if someone had made a request. He looked up at her and asked.
"Who requested for a trial by the medallion of truth?"
Lenore was a bit confused by why he asked such a question, but it didn't take less than three seconds for her to realize what he meant. Her eyes opened wide in shock and surprise, but there was a bit of hesitation in her eyes.
"That's not possible; he's just a visiting supervisor and would be gone soon, what he would gain to frame you for.......the deaths started the very night he came here. The very day you came to deliver your quotas and use the spire, I noticed he was a little too interested in you that day, but I didn't think it w as for this. But even then Rezar, we have no proof, and even if we have proof there isn't really anything we can do to him. His family owns this mine." Lenore said to him with a sullen look.
Rezar knew she had given up before even trying to fight back, looks like this supervisor had way too much power behind him. Even if he had not decided to frame Rezar and had openly killed all these people, there would have been no one with the guts to stand up to him.
This was all just a game to him, entertainment to be gained by playing on the negative emotions of ignorant people. There was nothing he could do or change, this was it.
"Looks like I'm going to be dying after all."