Death, Devotion, Dissonance

Evin's topics of talk with Leanne was similar Bella's, though Leanne did apologize for not helping Evin become Helm. Apparently, she was the one of the people responsible for deciding the position of Helm.

Evin did not blame her for it, as he had a feeling that strength alone wasn't enough to grant him the privileges. Leanne explained to him on what criteria the Helm is chosen and it became awfully apparent that Evin was unfit for the position. But hearing about her nominating him for the position made him feel even more grateful to Leanne.

After talking a bit, Leanne asked if she should sleep in the same room with him for today, but of course, Evin wasn't shameless enough to bother the woman so much.

'I heard you spent most of your nights sleeping next to me. I really don't know how I'm supposed to repay you for that… Since I'm awake now, please go home and sleep on a proper bed. Please send my regards to Terrence,' Evin had said.

Unexpectedly, Leanne replied that the two of them were staying separately these days, and that they were considering divorce.

Evin's ears perked up from the news, but he soon shook his head, wondering what he was trying to do with the information. He had gotten over his crush on the woman, and even if he was still in love with her, he wouldn't want Leanne to go through something so problematic and scandalous as dating a 10-year-old.

After Leanne, Evin met the Chairman, Gehenne, Rith and then Armut Mungiar. The 1st two were mostly ceremonial, with the talk mostly revolving around Evin's future, and taking only about twenty minutes each. Rith took a bit more time, with her being the only one to ask Evin about his fight with the Type 12.

Evin recounted the details and found that he was having trouble talking about the part where the golem took hold of his foot. Rith shrugged, saying that it was natural. She then joked about how heroic and stupid Evin's must've looked trying to defeat the Type 12 all on his own.

'Did your hair flutter as you had your foot crushed? It must've right? Your accelerator thing uses air, so there must've been some draft coming from it. Ah, don't worry about your lost leg, at least you looked cool while doing it.'

Then came his meeting with the Master Prosthetist. The man was practically a living legend according to Leanne, who had endless praises for his contributions to the kingdom. Due to her hyping the meeting up quite a lot, it would be a lie if Evin said he wasn't excited to meet the man.

Lord Armut turned out to be a man in his late 40s, his bushy hair swaying chaotically by his neck. He also didn't seem very excited to see Evin, with how often he glared at him whenever Evin winced from either pain or discomfort. But the man did make sure to provide his best services, practically creating a second limb for Evin.

And he also did in record time, taking Evin's measurements in ten minutes, creating the prosthetic base in two hours, etching runes onto it in three hours, then connecting Evin's nerves to the runes in five.

Then the man began his lecture on the daily life of a person who has a prosthetic. How to best take care of it, what most to worry about, how to cope with phantom pains, etc. etc.

But one thing he said stuck with Evin a lot. 'You might think that you're never going to do anything dangerous in your life again, that you're going to change and live a more proper life… Like they say, People are wisest when they're struggling and in pain.

But after a month or so, when your phantom pains disappear, you're going to revert back to your old ways. You're going to start becoming more lenient, and you're going to make more mistakes, and you're forever guarded state will be a thing of the past. But don't get me wrong. This is the best thing that can happen to you. To forget the pain of your injury and means you've overcome the trauma of losing a limb. From that point on, you can resume to live life normally.'

"Sigh… I used to wonder how amputees managed to live their lives, but I guess they manage some way or another," Evin broke the silence. "I can't expect to treat my metal foot like it's made of glass all the time. Eventually, I'll have to be a little rough with it."

"Hmm?" Bella's head cocked to the side.

"Nothing."

"Hmm… Oh yeah, I heard some High Mages were considering to take you as their disciple, do you think that's true?"

"Rith and Leanne mentioned something similar, yes. I was feeling happy about it, but one of them mentioned that they had ulterior motives. Though I can't remember who exactly. Probably Rith." It was actually the Voice. "So I haven't been very excited about the prospect… Why? Are you jealous?" Evin smiled tauntingly.

"Hmmm… I would be lying if I said I wasn't…"

"I'm a bit confused too. I'm sure you would've been the one who would garner attention from all these High Mages, not me. Everyone knows you're better than me."

"I think I know now why Rith said those High Mages had ulterior motives," Bella declared after thinking a bit.

"Really?"

"Yes, let me explain. I'm better than you, yes, but in their eyes, I'm not really someone interesting. Most mages inside the kingdom are able to do what I do, but you're someone with unique spells. Not many can replicate what you do, so I'm guessing people want to learn from you."

Evin nodded thoughtfully, though he already knew why. Bella's deduction was mostly on par with the Voice's. "That makes some sense, but it feels weird to think about myself like that."

It actually really wasn't that hard. The Voice was responsible for Evin's achievements, so in a way, it was natural for Evin to garner attention. But others did not know about all that, so Evin had to act accordingly.

"By the way, what's your dream?" Bella suddenly asked, her hand stroking Evin's metal leg.

Evin didn't know where the question came from, so he had to ask why.

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"I was just wondering what's so important to you, that you're willing to even lose your foot for it."

"Ah…"

The question threw Evin off balance.