Capital of Central – present day.

  It was late night, the victory feast slowly winding down. The last guests, mostly nobles from the northern region of Central, made small talk in the garden as their carriages waited to take them to their accommodations in the city.

  As I served wine, I could hear their complaints about the lack of refinement in the food for such an occasion, and the meager entertainment.

  But those grandiose celebrations, with lavish food and a multitude of entertainment options usually happen when you annexed another territory and want to flaunt your newfound riches, not when you scrape a pyrrhic victory in your own ravaged country. Nevertheless, it was not my place to give them insight into the big picture.

  I just really wanted them to stop complaining and go away. I had been working since early in the morning, first helping to prepare food, then cleaning and decorating the great hall for the celebration, and during the event I served food and drink to the guests. Add to that the fact that we arrived late at night, and I was able to get very little sleep.

  After several minutes, that felt way longer than they were, the last guests departed, and I could finally sit on a bench in the garden, still holding a tray that I let rest to my side. I was tired, but also happy that I was able to fulfil the task that was given to me. Since I had worked in the morning, I would not need to help with the after-party cleaning.

  The garden was a beautiful place, especially when it was this empty. There were glowing crystals that illuminated it with a pale blue light, but it was dim, giving the place a dream-like atmosphere. The wind was soft, mixing the perfume of several flowers into a sweet, gentle smell.

  The few remaining people were gathered in the hall, some distance away. From there I could see a silhouette coming, one that I could not mistake. I was expecting that since I owed some overdue explanations. I can’t deny that I was a little anxious. Maybe more than a little.

  Uther sat next to me.

  “Beautiful night, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” I replied. “The wind is also very nice.”

  He turned to face me. I was aware he did not come here to praise the weather and make small talk.

  “So, there is anything you want to tell me?”

  I had been mentally preparing myself for that, but even so my heart skipped a beat. He was obviously talking about our encounter with the Troll. We had no time to talk in private since that incident yesterday.

  I was able to speak with the Troll and requested him to let us pass. He promptly agreed, but asked if he could eat one of the fleeing guards. I was tempted but offered him some of our food instead. That ended up being a good thing, because I was able to pass his compliance as a bribe, which was easier to explain to the carriage conductors when they gathered enough courage to return.

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  However, Uther was not fooled one bit. He helped me stick to my story, but I could tell he was not deceived. He had been on guard during my entire interaction with the Troll, seeing up close what had happened, and it was clear that he knew that something was off.

  “You were able to command that Troll to let us go, weren’t you?” He added.

  I hesitated but nodded affirmatively.

  “How?”

  “There is something I wanted to tell you for a long time. I was not hiding it from you,” I added defensively “it was just that I did not think you would believe me. It is something that happened during the siege.”

  Uther just made a gesture for me to continue, and I blurted out:

  “I killed the Armored Sorcerer.”

  He stared at me like I was a 5-year-old claiming that I had slew a dragon. I could not blame him for that.

  “How much did you drink?” he asked, looking at the empty bottles over my tray.

  I sighed.

  “Let me explain everything from the beginning…”

  And so, I did. I told him about the breakthrough in the ramparts, Sir Gideon, the poison, the teleport mishap, the wall of text, everything up until my encounter with the goblin pack. He asked some questions to clarify one or another point in my story but did not interrupt me or make any judgment until I was done.

  Uther had a serious, thoughtful expression. It was rare to see him like that.

  “This thing with the goblins, you did it other time or was just this once?”

  “There was that time a group of orcs appeared in the city; I think it was a couple of months after the siege. I was coming from the outer market when I found one that was wounded by the guards, collapsed in an alley, dying. I know it was not smart on my part, but I was still puzzled about my encounter with the goblins, so I decided to try to talk to him.

  “The same thing happened. We talked maybe two minutes before he passed away. He told me I had the voice of the Gods. I don’t know what he meant by that.

  “The weirdest part is that he appeared so ... happy, to be able to talk to me before dying, like I was someone really important. It was very unsettling.”

  He kept silent for a while, pondering. I was getting a little nervous.

  “I understand if you don’t believe me.”

  “This is quite a story... But I am more inclined to believe it than not. There were things that were not make public, like the strike that killed the Armored Sorcerer been from the back. The retreat of the goblins was also strange, they were very close to cripple our supply lines and just gave up. No one had an explanation.

  “And, also, I was with you during our encounter with the Troll.”

  I felt a wave of relief. After postponing this talk for so long I was ready to accept some bad outcomes after my mind kept playing the game “what is the worst that could happen” repeatedly.

  “What you think we should do?”

  “Something happened to you, obviously. I suspect that the necklace you destroyed was the Seal of the Forgotten Gods and maybe you developed some unconscious magical ability related to it, but then your mana poll is so low that I have no idea how you would activate it.”

  That was one of my life's biggest frustrations. I had an affinity to learn magic and a good mind for it, associated with a quantity of mana that was barely detectable. Being able to cast utility spells would increase my value tremendously, but all I could do was light candles.

  So frustrating.

  “This problem is way over my head” continued Uther. “We should talk with the professor; he is the only one that can help us that I would trust with this information.”

  “I think he is still mad at you...”

  “Nonsense, everything worked out fine, there is no reason he would still be angry.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked with a good dose of incredulity in my voice.

  “Absolutely.”