Born a Monster

Chapter Type: Social, Politics, Interaction

It is always irritating to find that a quest has been assigned to me in my sleep, even if it was by my own hand.

But I get ahead of myself. There was no sleeping through the noise; it was like an avalanche of snow, only deeper. Having a clue of what to expect, there was no escaping. I knew immediately what that noise meant.

Some three thousand people were falling to their deaths, and I felt ... a sense of profound satisfaction. Not happiness, per se, but as though a fire within me that I hadn’t realized was burning had finally put itself out.

[Vanity gain: 5 points; after sin armor, 4points received.]

[Wrath gain: 5 points; after sin armor, 4 points received.]

[Envy gain: 5 points; after sin armor, 4 points received.]

[Envy rating increased from 0 to 1. No Sin Armor change. Envy abilities unlocked. 11/30 Envy points to rating 2.]

.....

What? Well, it had been a while since I’d received any messages about my sin wheel. I guess...

“All champions to the roof!” Captain Feng hollered. “To the roof! Prepare to defend against... we’ll know when we see it! Move, move, move!”

I flagged my System for a sleepless night, and stumped my way upstairs to the roof.

It was precision work, as though someone had been cutting the rock face with a knife from bottom to top, and eventually the sheer weight of the severed rock had pulled them loose.

Which, I suppose, is a lot like what must have happened. If that doesn’t terrify you, realize that both sides had taken the trip downward within a few seconds of each other.

“I wished it.” Teng Ah muttered. “I wished it, and it happened...”

“This isn’t your fault.” I said.

All of us were against the crenelations, bare smooth rock reflecting the moonlight. And one golden dog-shape, pulling an old man upward through the air, to set him safely on the other side of what was now an open ravine.

“What... what DOES that?” Kang Shi asked.

“Elementals.” I said. “The Earth elementals have risen up and acted in accordance with the ancient treaty. I must tell all the peoples and groups of the island. This is my duty.”

“There are other shamans.” Captain Feng said. “They can do this.”

“They might.” I said, shrugging my shoulders, “But this task is still mine.”

The man who looked at me was a hollow eyed parody of Captain Feng. “You spoke to these same elementals? While assigned to the noble Du Jing?”

“I did.” I said.

“And you knew?” he gestured at the missing enemy camp.

“I knew.” I said. “The other action they were considering was breaking the island with an earthquake.”

He backhanded me. No damage, but it hurt. “Monster! War criminal! You are released from military service! Your last duty shall be to carry your release paperwork to the main gate, to General Hyun. He shall tell you your fate for this hideous crime.”

“What?” I asked. “What do you mean war criminal?”

“He means,” Kang Shi said, “That your actions have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians as well as two thousand or so enemy soldiers.”

“Wait, what?” Teng Ah said. “It’s not my fault? It’s not my fault! Little Monitor did that! I may have wished it, but YOU were the one to act! Shame on you!”

“Shame on me?” I asked. “The alternative was that they shake the island hard enough to rend deep cracks into the earth! The alternative was...”

“Someone muzzle this beast!” Captain Feng said.

Kang She reached out with her hand, clasping my jaw shut. A soldier I didn’t recognize pulled off his belt to wrap it around my head several times before tying the end in a knot.

I sighed in frustration.

The process was relatively quick. Captain Feng had a form for treason, which he claimed would suffice. He, Kang Shi, and Sister Yoshi filled out and signed their parts of the form.

“I have volunteers to see that he makes it to the main gate.” Kang Shi said.

“That will not be needed in this case.” Captain Feng said. “Remove the muzzle.” And to me, “You are still a Truthspeaker?”

“I am still a Truthspeaker.” I said. “If your command is to carry this paperwork to the main gate, then I shall do that.”

Captain Feng nodded. “May the Celestial Emperor have mercy upon your soul, for we are bound by the codex of law, and may thus have none upon your corporeal body.”

I was furious, and tired, and kept neither from my voice. “Will there be anything else, sir?”

“Just. Just go. I know you meant well, but that was not a soldierly thing to do.”

Guessing I wouldn’t be welcome back, I picked up my shoes on the way out. I followed the wall, telling all who stopped me to ask what the elementals had done and why. This meant I could not run, and that it was well after dawn when I reached the main gate.

“Military discharge paperwork for General Hyun.” I told the guard.

“You have what, you say? Hand it to me.”

Without bothering with formalities, he broke the wax seal, and began reading the paperwork. “You have your service records with you?” he asked.

“I wasn’t aware that I had one.” I said.

He looked at me as though I were composed entirely of onions left out in the sun for a week. “No matter, we can find it. What is your name?”

“My name is Rhishisikk.” I said, “Although it may also be under Little Monitor, the name people call me.”

“Sit on that bench.” he commanded. “And wait. Silently.”

And save for telling multiple persons about the actions and motives of the elementals, I did so. I ate what little lunch they offered quickly and quietly.

Just before dinner, the officer returned, bearing a crumpled mistreated scroll that might have been the same one I carried in that morning. “Come.” he said.

He led me into a side room, where two other officers sat behind a table.

“Do you know why you still have your head?” the one on the right asked.

“Because you intend to sacrifice me for mana?” I guessed.

“Because we can’t find your service record.” said the one on the left. “Tell us what you remember, from when you were first enlisted in the Imperial Army to your... shameful incident.”

And they stopped me about two sentences into that.

“You mean to say that you are not even a citizen?” asked left officer.

“I am a citizen of the Red Tide Empire.” I said. “But if you meant Daurian citizen, then no, I...”

“Why are you wasting our time?” asked right officer. “Even General Hyun lacks authority to execute you for what you’ve done.” To the first to greet me, he said, “Have his guards escort him to the citadel.”

“He, ah-ah, had none, sir.”

Right officer squinted in disbelief. “Why would a hero like Captain Feng trust you to bring yourself here, knowing you are to be executed?”

“My understanding was that I was being released from military duties.”

“No.” left officer said. “Mass murder on this scale? Even a death by slow torture does not suffice.”

“Very well.” said right officer. “Assign him guards and have him escorted to the citadel.”

He performed the Daurian salute, a combined bow and a fist pressed to his left breast. “It shall be done, sir.”

He set his hand upon my shoulder, and escorted me out of that room. I didn’t resist. Thinking back on it, I must have been in a state of shock, of disbelief. Soldiers only kill other soldiers? Since when was that ever a rule?

And how had the Daurian empire grown so large, if they were following it?

I was brought back to my present by first officer’s sigh. “How few guards do I need in order to just get you out of here?”

I shrugged. “None.”

“None?” he asked.

“None. I am a Truthspeaker. If I am ordered to carry this paperwork to Admiral Kwan, then I carry it to him. Until it is processed, that is still my duty as a soldier, is it not?”

He shook his head, as baffled by me as I was by his reactions. “Go.”

“May I have dinner first?” I asked.

“Go eat from the well of infinite pain in Hell.” he said. “I order you to carry this scroll, your paperwork from the Rice Gate, and this scroll, your paperwork for here, and carry them to the citadel, and inform whatever message sergeant is on duty that you bear an eyes-only message for the admiral. Will you do this thing?”

“If they let me through the gates.” I said.

He reached over to a scribe’s desk, pulled out a wooden plaque necklace, and handed it to me. “Gate pass. Just go.”

“I need to write down the ... number... of ... the pass.” the scribe said, enduring a withering glare from first officer.

“Okay.” I handed the pass back to the scribe. “Let’s do this properly then.”

It still didn’t feel real, even when I was outside.

Again.

.....