Polymath Redux – A fundamental flaw in your understanding
Chapter XLV
“There is a fundamental flaw in everyone’s understanding.”
Amidst the brisk temperature of the subterranean complex, the silver haired prince began to unravel the truth of the matter; proclaiming the innocence of the rejected hero. Able to ‘perform’ anywhere, in some ways the first prince was a much better ‘actor’ than Mordred. Not only did he successfully and subtly tear down Mordred’s carefully constructed ‘play’, but he had also usurped the stage from right under his foot.
The listeners’ hearts froze, not because of the temperature but because of the anticipation of the prince’s words.
“A fundamental flaw you say… If you would be so kind as to enlighten us…”
Supreme Commander Vladimir Zandora asked.
“That is a matter of course. Then to start off the first major flaw in everyone’s understanding is that we are all under the assumption that there could only be a single hero at a time. Being personally familiar with the scriptures of Xagon there was no rule anywhere. We only think that there is only one ‘chosen one’ because only one person can use the weapon at a time, but I believe the role of hero can come to many.”
The prince warned with a stern expression matching that even of Grimal’s.
“So what you’re saying is that there is another? Some rogue hero is out there?!”
At the prospect of there being another hero that could very well be out there going around wielding the sacred sword for malicious deeds, Commander Vladimir started getting riled up.
“Most likely that is the case.”
“Forgive my sudden interruptions your highness, but I find the existence of another hero hard to believe. As you may have already known but in every corner of this city is either a defense golem or sentry, as such if there was such a person I would have known about it.”
Unable to allow the prince’s show to continue any further Morgana stepped in to deny that possibility. To everyone else present this information came as a slight relief, but to the prince it meant something else entirely.
“Well yes, normally that would be the case, but… we can’t discredit the possibility that this potential ‘other’ hero is a master of stealth.”
The prince trailed off in the middle of his sentence only to complete it with a different thought. The prince had not doubted for a second that Morgana was able to see a lot of what occurred around town through the use of these golems but it was because of that the prince had another thought. ‘Perhaps you’ve already known about the existence of another hero’, was the prince’s thought, ‘The other hero didn’t sneak past the golem security; he had no need to if he was working with you.’
Though this was truly just mere speculation on the prince’s part, he had no real evidence other than circumstantial coincidences. So for the time being he had decided to keep this to himself as to not slander Morgana’s name without absolute confidence.
“’A master of stealth’? It is highly unlikely but I will admit that there are holes in the surveillance for the sake of upholding the populace’s privacy. Very well then, I shall give this to you and assume that this ‘other’ hero is a master of stealth. What is the second flaw in our understanding, your highness?”
Morgana asked in a cold tone, breaking the careful façade of warmth. She was unable to keep a straight face at this prince for obvious reasons.
“The second flaw in our understanding is in relation to the motive of the killer. Once again we have trapped ourselves in the belief that the hero belongs to us when in reality there is no real guarantee of that. Historically all past heroes who have wielded the sacred blade of Xagon was from Xagontetia, but that is merely a statistical probability as the candidates were chosen from this country.”
“I see, so then there is a possibility that this ‘other’ hero is not from Xagontetia but from another country. Then the motive would most likely be the destabilization of Xagontetia through the collapse of our central religion, or something like that, am I correct?”
Morgana asked to confirm.
“Yes, most likely.”
“I see… Then what about the third flaw in our understanding?”
At Morgana’s question the prince pointed towards Tau.
“It has to do with why we consider this young man as the ‘rejected’ hero. In the first place the entire concept of a ‘rejected’ hero makes no sense. If the sacred sword really was meant to reject this young man then it would have simply refused to be pulled out. So then why was his ‘rejection’ so violently different?”
The prince rhetorically asked his ‘audience’, however he did not actually expect an answer to come.
“A trap. As you’ve said it would make no sense for the sword to reject Tau so violently but if it was a trap that someone else had placed on the sword to activate the moment it was pulled out then it would make much more sense.”
It was Morgana who answered, unable to allow the prince to take all of the credit for this discovery she had to let up some of the truth in order find an opportunity to gain an upper hand in this race. In the first place their starting lines were different, whilst the prince had to start from the beginning and discover the truth; Morgana started at the finish line and had to distort the truth.
At the unexpected actions taken by Morgana it was now the prince’s time to be taken aback. Though he had lost his momentum he had quickly regained his original composure.
“Yes, as Lady Daltress has aptly put it. If it was someone else’s trap then it would be make more sense.”
At this revelation everyone who was not Morgana or Prince Leo had difficult expressions. Somehow they felt as though they had taken a step closer to the truth yet at the same time it was as if the situation had worsened. There was now the possibility that a second, rogue hero was out there roaming the streets with the country having no control over them; a dangerous prospect.
“Then do you have any ideas on who this ‘other’ hero could possibly be?”
Once more before the prince could answer it was Morgana that took the initiative.
“If we go by what the prince has told use then most then the true culprit would’ve had to be someone from before Tau picked up the sword. Which means everyone in the Xagontetian military comes under suspicion as it was they who had their turns before anyone else.”
Morgana explained.
“I… I see, the entirety of the Xagontetian Military. I never thought I’d see the day when we would have to be suspicious of our own military. However we have a duty to the king to validate whether or not this ‘other’ hero truly exists.”
Commander Vladimir announced and left the scene to prepare a more in depth search for amongst the military personnel. Having finished their business here with a new lead being found Morgana’s group and Prince Leo had decided to leave for the day.
“Wait, what about Tau?!”
Alice asked in a panic.
“Don’t worry, once we have valid information that there really is another hero I will petition to father to let him free. You have my word.”
The prince answered.
“R- really? Thank you!”
Alice replied happily.
As they had made their way back up to the surface it was time to split ways. However before that Morgana continued a conversation that should have long been over.
“Your highness.”
As she slowly spoke the air around them filled with tension.
“Yes?”
The prince replied with a pleasant smile filled with hidden intentions, these contrast of expression created a rather uncanny smile. Pleasant but complicated, had it been anyone other than Morgana, one would have a difficult time in facing such a smile.
“Earlier you asked if I knew a bird of a deathly black color and I answered ‘crow’.”
“Ah, yes that. What of it?”
“Forgive me for this is just empty ramblings. I just thought you might like to know that the crow’s true color is not black but much like this country, it is the color of flames.”
“The color of flames? What do you mean?”
Morgana shook her head.
“Forgive me, as I said. It was merely empty rambling… but perhaps just next time you ever see a black bird, it may not represent ‘death’ but ‘rebirth’.”
…
The sun that set over the horizon of the country of the sun had dyed its skies with a drab orange. It was the same sky that the inhabitants of the city had seen every single day but for some reason today it felt the atmosphere with a sense of ghastly foreboding. This held the truest for a single suspicious man that was rummaging through an empty room in the military barracks.
A man dressed elegantly, like a noble, in a large white overcoat with a suspicious white mask hiding his identity. The rays of light from the setting sun that seeped into the room colored his white coat an orange flavor to create an autumn like atmosphere. As beautiful as the season was, it also signified the period of hibernation and death for many creatures. The man looked through every corner of the room to find what he was looking for but no matter how many times he spent it was obvious that the object would not turn up.
On the verge of giving up sudden voice called out to him from the room’s entrance.
“Looking for this?”
It was a woman clad in dark green leather armor that prioritized speed and ease of movement over defense. This was most evident by the lack of protectors on her armor aside from areas that were most vital. Her long flowing hair like a river was dyed in the same color as the setting sun, a vivid red and her eyes pierced through the veil of red lightning with a lively aquamarine color. Her identity was obscured by a black face mask that covered her face from the nose down.
She had no visible weaponry on hand but that was most likely because she used small concealable ones. In her hands was the item that the suspicious man was looking for, a small white envelope given to Katy Granate by the First Prince Leo Crom this morning. The man neither confirmed nor denied whether the woman was right or not but simply stared through the open eye slits of his mask.
“High highness was correct after all. He knew you’d come here for this so he left a little trap in the form of myself. Honestly that man never ceases to surprise me with his insight; it’s like he knew how everything would play out beforehand. ”
The woman spoke in a low but feminine voice.
The man sighed through his mask and let down the tension he had held up within his body.
“To think it would be a failure of this magnitude… it seems both she and I have underestimated the enemy’s abilities. No, I guess it would really just be me. Very well, it cannot be helped then, alterations in the script is unavoidable now.”
The suspicious man spoke as though he was giving up.
“What are you talking about? You know what, it doesn’t matter. My orders are to take you in so you should give it up.”
The woman spoke as she pulled out twin daggers that were hidden on the back of her armor. They were unique weapons, one a ghastly black and the other a holy white, it was obvious to any layman that those weapons were dangerous.
“If you believe you have what it takes for you to defeat me then… by all means come at me with your best shot.”
Though as the man taunts her in a manner that suggests that he was ready to take her head on he does the opposite and escapes through the window with ease.
“What?! Dammit! Come back coward!”
Taken for a fool the woman decides to pursue the man in rage. With great finesse the two figures easily maneuvered through the rooftop of various buildings. Though it appeared to be a close match between the two in truth no matter how much the woman accelerated to catch up, the man would always match her and accelerate accordingly.
‘What’s going on, why can’t a catch him?!” the woman asked herself as she tried harder and harder to catch up but kept losing out in the battle of speed. This was a huge blow to the woman’s pride as she considered herself the fastest.
After having chased around for a solid thirty minutes, the suspicious man had arbitrarily ended their game of cat and mouse at the Grand Cathedral. There a single corpse had been pinned down by the sacred sword. Unable to be removed it had just been left there until the hero removed it.
“Are you done running?”
The woman asked with an annoyed tone.
The man cocked his head and glanced back with a playful look in his eyes. It was the kind of expression that had greatly annoyed the woman; she understood that the man wasn’t taking this situation seriously.
“Quite so, but our game has just begun.”
The man crept closer to the sacred sword and placed his hands on the hilt. What the woman saw made her eyes widen in surprise, as though she’d seen a ghost, no seeing a ghost would’ve been normal compared to this. The man successfully dislodged the sword out of the corpse of the Grand Cardinal and wielded it like it was the most natural thing.
“What?! Who are you?!”
The woman gasped.
“I believe it is proper manners to give your own name before asking for someone else’s. Well no matter; I shall make an exception this time. You may call me… [Phantom].”
“Phantom?”
“That’s right. It was my nickname during my newbie days.”
“I don’t know what you’re on about but do you really think I’d let you go now that I’ve seen you pull out that sword? Hah, even his highness would be surprised, or maybe not.”
The man talked no longer and simply gestured the woman to make the first move. Getting caught in the man’s provocation the woman lunged herself with her daggers forward as her body moved smoothly like a flowing river. However no matter how flexible or elegant her movements they were useless if the man could easily dodge all of her moves.
The man dodged the woman’s attacks for a while then proceeded to use skills unknown to her. Namely he disappeared and reappeared as he pleased and even got a few direct blows on her though they were non-lethal.
As the two continued to exchange blows the scene caused a number of onlookers to gather. Though due to the dangerous attacks the two were thrusting at each other everyone had steered clear but they all noticed one thing. That in the man’s hand was the sacred sword.
“Argh! Stay still you coward!”
The woman’s bark was worse than her bite. With her words it signified the end of the battle as this was the man’s plan all along; to display the difference in their skill and power. The moment she lost her cool was the moment she had lost and with her last words that was the end.
“It’s my victory.”
The man spoke as he suddenly appeared before the woman and scored a direct attack on her abdomen with his fists; her Sole plexus suffered a tremendous amount of trauma causing her to develop breathing problems and soon lost consciousness with a single attack.
The man checked to see if she had died or not and after he confirmed that she was still alive he disappeared from the scene after speaking the words, taking the sacred sword with him.
“You will tell of my tale.”
…
At the basement complex of the Royal Knight HQ Tau was finally freed from his shackles at the request of the first prince. However he was still denied the opportunity to leave the cell until the king himself gave permission.
Tau gave off a sigh, the fact that he was able to do so meant that he was able to relax a little. With both the first prince and Morgana Daltress working hard to prove his innocence it was only a matter of time before the truth would come to light.
“Awfully relaxed down here aren’t you?”
A sudden voice snapped him back to reality. Oddly the voice came from within his cell but no matter where he looked he couldn’t identify an exact location or the person who spoke them. ‘How could that be?’ Tau thought as he continued to search. The cell wasn’t big enough to hide another person so most likely it was through some magic.
In a shadowy corner of the room a silhouette of a person appeared, though whether it was a man or woman couldn’t be determined. Even the voice was disguised making it sound inhuman. The only thing Tau could determine was a pair of red eyes looking back at him.
“Who are you? Reveal yourself!”
Tau demanded, visibly shaken by his creepy new cellmate. The ghastly silhouette did not obey his wishes and continued to stay in the lightless corner. Then it started to speak.
“I am… your missing half.”
Rebirth Online World 