Valerian, The Legendary

147 Rectification.

Calor looked at his son and said, “Tryst, have you not shamed us and the departed enough? Silence, I will not allow you to utter a single word.”

Tryst was raging and he did not wish to hear anyone say anything. He yelled at his father, “Old man, why do you stop me every time? Why?”

Calor was surprised to see this and said, “I stop you because your repeated questioning will stain the character of the woman you loved. She spent her spare time talking to people in the town about the status of the child. She truly cared for him and even wanted to adopt him, I have the application letters she posted for me every year. Asking me to allow her but I was so engrossed in the research that I gave it no thought.”

Tryst shivered and wanted to say something when Valerian asked, “Did you love her?”

The question made the man freeze, and he cast a gaze on the child. Then he said, “Yes.”

Valerian nodded and said, “If you did then let her go and rest in peace. Your visit will only make her feel guilty. She was dedicated to her duty and never entertained the idea of romance, if you kept stuck on her, then it will only make her feel guilty because she would not be able to reciprocate it to you?”

Tryst did not wish to acknowledge this and asked, “How can you be so sure? Did she ever tell you that she did not want to be loved?”

Valerian shook his head and said, “She was loved, all the people around her loved her. However, how are you so ignorant to the fact that if your love did not move her during those years, then it does not make a difference when she is dead? Do you wish to burden her soul?”

Tryst frowned, and was struck in a daze. Valerian cast a gaze on Calor and said, “Call the parents of these gifted youths. There is something you need to deal with and if you wish to hold on to the position of the mayor of this town, you better give up that dream of yours.”

.....

Calor was surprised, however, he also knew that it was time to put an end to his wasted efforts. His entire life was spent researching ideas that could allow one to forcefully receive blessings, but if these things were to be controlled by humans, then it will not take long before the doom arrives.

Valerian knew all this from the time Azula had come to the Acies city to take her trial. She had investigated all the towns and the cities for a better administration. Genesis Town was also given a new administration and they put emphasis on educating the citizens.

Calor had been pressurized by these people and even punished mentally for his dereliction, and thus the old man bowed his head and said, “I understand, Your Highness.”

Tryst cast a gaze on his father. He wanted to say something, when Priscilla interrupted them, and said, “Call the parents, we do not have the entire day to deal with such things.”

Calor nodded and then immediately went away to look for the parents of the teenagers, it did not take him a long time to gather all the parents. The surprising thing was that the parents of the gifted children were not particularly rich. They were just well-to-do. Valerian sighed and understood the reason behind a few gifted teenagers who were putting up with the coercion of their rich counterparts.

The crowd of elders was surprised to see a jade-like boy sitting atop a huge scary horse, while a Leopard was squatting down on the ground. They did not dare to approach them but they all cast a worried gaze over their children.

One man, who seemed to hold a higher position among the people said, “May I know, why you have summoned us, Your Highness?”

Calor had told them his identity beforehand. So they were extra cautious when approaching the guy. Valerian nodded and asked, “Which one of these teenagers is related to you?”

The man gazed at the group and said, “Grace.”

Valerian smiled faintly and said, “Sister Grace, looks like I do not have to intervene, your father can take care of it all.”

Grace shook her head and said, “Your Highness, the ones who are in the wrong are gifted. Even if my father has some standing, that does not mean the people will abide by it.”

Valerian nodded, and said, “So the thing is, your children went out to explore the forest. To seek out opportunities. However, they had no prior knowledge of the threats they would face in the forests. Yet, they acted ignorantly and destroyed a nest of fire ants.

Fire ants are grade-one magical creatures. Do not look down on them, because once you are faced with thousands of fire ants, even an archmage might have to take a step back. It was fine that they destroyed the ant nest, it was fine that they retreated.

However, when I came across them, they had split up into groups of two. One group was of the four warriors, who were forcing themselves on Grace, to violate her. And the second group was of the mages and the commoners, who left Clove alone to face the swarm of ants and ran into a hibernating Iron Ape.

I saved their lives only to find that they were not worth the effort. At least not at this moment they are not worth saving. I wanted to punish them but it seems a bit out of line because I am not old enough and this action seems like a misuse of my authority. You are the parents and you know what your children should be like.

In my opinion, a gifted is called such not only because they have the powers and skills, but because they are the gifts to the human population, to face troubles and lead the commoners to live better lives. The actions of these people defied this notion. I do not want this to bias my judgment. So, I leave them in your capable hands.

As for Clove and Grace, I will help them get out of this place and grow into people who have a standing in society regardless of their status as a commoner or a gifted.”

His words surprised the people, but Grace’s father was relieved. None of the gifted stay in this town at the edge of the world. If anyone had awakened, they left the town for a better future. That was why the population of the town was getting sparse as the people left.

Valerian’s words were as good as giving the two girls a life better than what most of the people could even imagine. Grace’s father was the first person who was the first to bow and said, “Your Highness, thank you for your magnanimity.”

Valerian shook his head and said, “Consider this a debt paid off. You all should get on with your discussion and verdict. I need to leave soon.”

The people nodded and they all began to talk to each other about how to deal with the method. After a minute, they turned to look at Valerian, and Grace’s father asked, “Your Highness, no matter what punishment we decide for them, they are gifted, how will we keep watch on them?”

Valerian nodded and said, “You have to ask the Mayor about that. His son is the strongest Warrior in this town, he should be able to take them on if they dared to go around you all.”

Tryst wanted to say that he will not take orders from this guy but he had no other options as he was already in the spotlight. Also, after the statement Valerian gave about the gifted was something that had impressed him as well. So, he could only bite the tip of his tongue and nod.

Grace’s father nodded and said, “Then, these children will have to study in the library and will be assessed by Tryst, if they fail, then Tryst can punish them with physical punishments. Other than that they will have to help around in the maintenance of the town, and if they tried to create trouble then they will have to sleep outside in the forest.”

The last sentence literally scared the shit out of the group and Valerian nodded with a faint smile. He said, “I will leave but I will also leave you two with a letter each, you can go and find the city lord of Acies city and give them the letter, whether you bring your family or you go alone, they will help you.”

The people nodded, Calor took some stationary from the orphanage and Valerain wrote a message for the people in charge and pressed the royal seal at the bottom. After handing over the letters to the two girls, he cast a long gaze to the orphanage and then let out a sigh before leaving slowly. He said to the people behind him, “I hope that you can rectify the evil inside your hearts. Do not look down on people because of their fates, but their deeds should be used to measure their character.”