Chapter 744 (1/2)
From the shadows of the corner of the chapel, a tall and gaunt figure walked calmly out to face Randidly. His face was twisted in a slimy smile, and his skin itself seemed to ooze a strange sticky substance.
Randidly felt an entirely different sort of headache coming on. He was really just in this Soulskill to observe the philosophies here. Where did this two-bit villain pop out of?
“Chancellor Kellock, there is no need-” Lazar began, but now the Chancellor gave him a condescending glance. With a grunt, he stumbled backward again with the force of the gaze. It was blunt what this strange slimy Skeletor managed, but Randidly couldn’t help but be impressed by the strength of the image he had.
“You have played your part, Lazar. It is time for the Prince and I to finish this.” The chancellor said sweetly. His voice gurgled when he spoke, reminding Randidly of the vocal range of an emaciated frog.
The Chancellor walked forward until he was only a few meters from Randidly. But instead of addressing him, he gave Rejt a dismissive glance. “Leave us, if you value your life.”
“I value my paycheck more,” Rejt drawled. “I have to clear rubble here. So I’m going to stay and do that. Although it might be time for lunch…”
Rejt set down the stone he was carrying and sat on it. Then he raised his feet and put them on a nearby pile of broken chairs. With a flourish, he produced a baked roll filled with meat and began to noisily munch on it. Randidly rolled his eyes.
The Chancellor sneered. “Truly, your race has the brains of mice. Fine, if you wish to be a pest, do not hold grudges if I exterminate you.”
“Chancellor,” Randidly said softly. The other man’s beady eyes swiveled to regard him. It truly seemed like there was no Path but either revealing himself a god or continuing to pretend to be a prince. Truly, the insulting nature of this confusion was ironic. Few people but Randidly could claim to be slightly insulted that they believed him but a prince.
“Prince, must you continue to protect these… chattel?” The Chancellor said with great distaste. “My plans are already in motion. Within Carthak, we have almost eight thousand highly trained warriors. By this time tomorrow, this place will be naught but a grave. Those that survive will be put to work. Join me, Ishmael. This is your last chance. You are not a child anymore. Open your eyes to the way of the world.”
I’m not even Ishmael anymore, you jackass, Randidly thought. But he only said, “And what is the way of the world?”
Immediately, the Chancellor’s eyes brightened to a fanatical gleam. Over on the side, Randidly saw Lazar talking quietly to some other figures, who hurried off. Randidly settled in for what he assumed would be an extremely unhelpful bit of monologuing he was being subjected to. He had half a mind to stop the Chancellor before he began, but in a way, this interaction was still a form of observation. There would be the had of the Ashen Image here, and Randidly was willing to waste a few minutes in his Soulskill to get a better handle on it.
“Boy, I have watched you since the day you were born,” The Chancellor began. “You have lived a life free of wants. You were safe and educated, loved and pampered. You cannot even begin to understand the blessings afforded to you. I might even go far to say that a soul is more likely to be reincarnated again as a prince than they were to be born in such an idyllic utopia as you had the pleasure of inhabiting, if only briefly. And like all things, it came crashing down due to the foolishness of your parents.
“They allowed travel between lands. They allowed other Races to settle in our ancestral lands. They allowed traveling Weavers and technology from Spriggits. And with every acquiescence, their power was whittled away. They became figureheads. And when the High King of the Earth Golems rose to prominence, they were the first to be crushed beneath his heel. Their weakness…” The Chancellor raised his hands to his chest. “It disgusts me.”
Then he smiled Randidly as if trying to charm him. It was altogether so disturbing that Randidly came very close to stopping the man immediately. But he refrained, barely. “You asked me the way of the world, and this is it. Power. I thought you would learn the lesson from your parent's deaths, but you did not. You sued for peace. You made allowances. It was only when the countryside was in flames that you finally gathered up the nerve to fight, and you did not stand up for yourself. No, you went crying to your economic allies.
“And after the war was won and you were heralded as a hero? The Land of Monsters was slowly dying. The seasons are changing in the lands. The harvest season has been getting shorter for the last decade due to the tinkering of Spriggits with our World Tree. The Soulless grow more powerful and numerous. There are too many hungry mouths and not enough food for this world to continue. A great reckoning is coming, and I for one mean to ensure that the Monster Race survives it.”
“Which you will do at the cost of other Races,” Randidly said. It wasn’t truly a question, just a confirmation.