Both Hal and the other trainee had started to run.
Their bodies hurt but not as much as their pride.
For Hal, the idea that someone could attack him even if it may be a cowardly sneak attack, making him fear everything around him was frightening. He wanted to kill the said trainee. Thus, he tried his best to increase his speed. He wanted to tire his opponent, hoping to tire him out and get him expelled.
From Hal's perspective he had an advantage that most of the injuries he had were healing for hours. His opponent had just received his injuries; he would succumb to his injuries some time soon.
The other trainee felt different, he thought that Hal couldn't have slept with the intense injuries, thus the drowsiness should affect Hal more than it affected him.
The training for the other students had been on the pause for now, until a winner was decided between Hal and the other trainee.
Minutes passed, turning into an hour, Hal and the trainee had considerably slowed down. Every second their injuries hurt, but the small essence of competition that arose between them helped them keep going. Soon on the thirtieth round the other trainee fell down unconscious. Carter ran to check on the trainee. The boy's chest barely moved. Skin like parchment. Eyes rolled back like shutters. He was unconscious yet alive.
Hal completed that round, as he reached the end, he felt his eyes close. His brain, which worked on sleep mode, finally shut down temporarily. Hal fell forward tasting the dust from the training room 1.
Carter, who had just checked on the other trainee, saw Hal fall down. He rushed to check the condition of Hal. He found that both Hal and the other kid's situation was the same.
They both had shown vigour that he hadn't seen even in most senior warriors. But alas, he had to uphold his own words. One of the two kids was going to be expelled, and it for sure wasn't going to be Hal.
Then Carter raised his left hand to his mouth and asked for medical assistance. Then he turned towards the standing trainees and said aloud, "What happened today left me ashamed. One of you fine lot, was attacked yesterday night and I don't believe he was helped before things turned critical." Carter pressed on the bridge of his nose.
Then he looked at the time and continued, "since you lot have failed to look after one another, you shall be punished. You are to run thirty rounds around the room. After which you will be doing 100 push-ups. Since this will take some time, consider your breakfast rescinded. If you fail to complete the task by lunch. Then you will go hungry today."
Loud gasps echo along with a few groans throughout the trainees. Carter ignored it and ordered them to start running.
٭٭٭
It was four hours after the execution. Baldwin was visibly distressed. He did not know how to proceed further. The castle of loyalty was being shaken by the unjust execution. He had to know the truth. The truth of why the clerk died. He had to know whether it was connected to Claus's betrayal in any way. He had to know the truth about the missing mission file.
It was nearing the end of his shift. He decided that he needed to investigate the key he was provided with, it could not wait any further.
As he was leaving, he saw Carter Walk towards him.
"Sir, before you are done for the day may I have a minute of your time." Carter asked after saluting General Baldwin.
"Sure, what is it?" Baldwin asked Carter.
"Sir, yesterday night one of the kids assaulted the other one, resulting in a fight breaking out before training." Carter said.
Baldwin then raised his hand to stop Carter, then he opened the door and signalled Carter to enter.
After re-entering the office Carter explained all the events he had seen in the morning.
"Sir, I have a request." Carter said.
"If it is within my power, I may grant it." Baldwin replied.
"I have given a word that the loser would be expelled. But both are too valuable. Can you please recommend one to different knight Corps?" Carter asked.
Baldwin thought about the request for a few minutes and nodded to Carter.
"Okay, I will see what I can do." Baldwin said gesturing Carter to the door.
Baldwin then left the office and called for a carriage. A big, muscular man chewing tobacco stopped his carriage for Baldwin.
"Whefe to?" The man said in a muffled tone.
"Outer ring." Baldwin said handing the man 12 zes. He had been to this place many times. He was familiar with the amount of money it took.
The carriage arrived after a bumpy ride at its location. Baldwin got of the carriage nostalgia coursing through his mind.
Baldwin walked east towards an empty wasteland. After two kilometres, it came into his sight.
A drop of tear coursed across his chin. Then another followed. Soon Baldwin could not stop after seeing the burnt manor after so many long years.
The house that stood tall reaching two floors was reduced to pile of ashes and rotten wood. The grey colour that Sonia made him and Claus paint; was nowhere to be found.
Baldwin finally reached the manor. There was a lone broken crib that had fallen from the second floor underneath the rubble thousands of memories – few burnt, few rotten from neglect.
Baldwin knelt and picked up a rotting frame. It was blurred from the years of torture, but he could see small evidence of what the picture portrayed – him, Claus and Sonia; from the day of their marriage.
Baldwin started to remove the heavy rubble. He found a few traces of life near the place -- rat droppings. He lifted a huge pillar that had crushed the furniture under its weight. What Baldwin saw horrified him, It was a corpse burnt from the heat of the fire that caused the house to fall. Baldwin ran a few steps and puked.
It was too much for him; not the corpse itself. But the possibility of who it belonged to- Sonia; Claus's wife and his childhood friend.
Baldwin sat down contemplating and feeling sorry for himself. Then he started to sob, a small sob that turned into an outright cry. A cry of hope, hope that the corpse was not Sonia. A hope that she was safe, a hope... a hope... that remained a pipe dream.
After thirty to forty minutes, Baldwin got up. He walked towards the town. A few hours later returned. He had bought a shovel from a nearby shop.
Baldwin walked over to where the door should have been. He mimed as if he were knocking the door. He waited and entered through the invisible door. Then he started to dig. As emotions ran rampant Baldwin visualized himself in the hall. He dug and dug until there was a hole big enough to lay the body. He then approached the corpse and tried to pick it. He had tried to hold the rib cage, but it turned to dust with his contact. The skull which remained intact but filled with maggots fell.
"So, you are that mad at me, huh? I am sorry I am late. Please forgive me Sonia, as I am finally home." Baldwin said with a raspy and uneven voice. His eyes were now dried up from the crying earlier. He picked up the skull with both hands as if he held a baby. He then placed it in the hole and walked over to the ashes of Sonia. He carried as much ash as he could; repeat as he did with the skull. He continued to do so until he couldn't anymore.
Then Baldwin started to fill the hole. With every scoop he placed inside the hole; every memory he parted with. His resolve to clear Claus's name became more and more firm.
After the burying the body; Baldwin walked over to the wooden pillar. He unwrapped Urumi and slashed precisely at the pillar to create a small engraving. Then he raised the pillar and stabbed it in the ground using all his energy.
The engraving on the pillar read as follows-
'Here lies Sonia,
A wife, a friend, and
The heartiest of individual.'