Solsday, 12th of Maia, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

Josias was currently sitting on the second row of pews from the front of the church of Hutangali. Much like the church-cathedral of Goria where the Archbishop resided, the church building of Hutangali was built primarily with stone in the style of Western Terradomian architecture but with distinct Halak flares. That distinction was most visible in the most prominent part of the church which was upon the pillars of the church.

The artstyle of the pillars resembled the traditional totems that were carved upon the staffs of the old priest-kings of the Halak within the indigenous religion. The 'Tunggal Panaluan' as it was called was the design of the pillars. Various figures of people or animals were carved standing upon one another. Josias had caught himself admiring the pillars and their intricate designs from time to time when he was beginning to get bored of Reverend Steinmann's sermon.

However, something that was truly distinctive of the church's structure that made it one of the most beautiful buildings Josias had had the pleasure of being in were the large balcony alcoves between the pillars. The church was built close to the edge of one of the mountain cliffs and was situated further above the other buildings of Hutangali, closer to the mountain summit.

From his seat, through the balconies, Josias could see the beautiful mountain valley scenery. At the front corner ends of the church itself were two doors that led to a marvelous viewing deck complete with a small garden and a few chairs. Josias was now even more determined to bring Serena with him to Hutangali for a nice vacation, just the two of them, after they were married.

Regardless of all the distracting views within the church, Josias shook his head to refocus himself on the church service. After all, it was his last day in Hutangali before he was to depart from its beauty upon the morrow. After the conclusion of the service and the liturgy, the warriors of Goria would finally be on their way home. As his thoughts were once again drifting away, Josias couldn't help but feel somewhat satisfied with the knowledge that his first true expedition was concluded with relatively significant success.

As soon as the army had arrived in Hutangali proper from Palmerton a few days ago, King Tagam had immediately put all of his plans into action. The reveal of the elders' illicit dealings with the bandits based on their correspondence created a huge uproar within the court of Hutangali. As the evidence presented by the king was very strong, there wasn't much the elders could do to properly justify their actions short of starting an open rebellion.

Such a thing was highly unlikely, however, as King Tagam had expertly sowed the seeds of distrust within the clans of the elders. When he promised a pardon upon the vassal clans on the condition that the clan heads be stripped of their powers in favour of the collateral branches of their families, all semblance of unity seemingly evaporated among them.

One by one, the elders and the king's replacement candidates asked permission to take leave to return to their respective clan holdings in order to deliberate further upon the matter as it had become an 'internal discussion'. Luckily enough for the king, the Halak people being the Halak people, many violent brawls and arguments had erupted upon the streets of Hutangali between the elder clan members because of this new dispute.

One of the worst brawls that occurred happened near the village tavern in the middle of the previous night. What started as a few verbal insults between the younger hotheaded clansmen had quickly morphed into an ugly fight involving weapons and aura which unfortunately managed to claim the lives of several men from both sides. These men being prominent heirs between the clans ensured that there would not be a clean nor quick end to the dispute. One of the more peculiar rumours to the event was that the two young heirs were fighting over some 'foreign beast-woman with fox tails and ears'.

Josias couldn't help but shake his head at what had transpired when he heard it. Though he didn't know the first thing regarding the internal politics of Hutangali, he was sure that conspiracies that had run so deep that the king himself had felt threatened couldn't have ended that easily. And while sure enough the conspiracy would most probably still be far from over, the breathing room the king had afforded for himself to grow his power base was significant.

Furthermore, the king had used the chaos that had been stirred up to have the church temporarily excommunicate certain members of the elder clans, including his father-in-law, the Lord of the Siposoan clan. This excommunication, along with the testimony written by Reverend Hazelby on the christian marriage of King Tagam and the Lady Therese, were the cornerstones of King Tagam's efforts to fully dislodge his second wife and their children from the line of succession to the throne of Hutangali. It was a perilous and arduous undertaking, but regardless, Josias's father had assured King Tagam that he would have the support of Goria.

With the immediate threat of the elder's conspiracy having been dealt with effectively, all that was left now in terms of major events was the upcoming Gotilon Festival. As the Raja Malim had invited all the reigning Kings of the Halaklands, - along with their heirs, families, and most prominent vassals - naturally, King Tagam had also received the invitation.

Josias had attended the meeting yesterday between his father and King Tagam. It had been agreed beforehand between them that they would depart together towards Goria first as a transit while also rendezvousing with his grandfather along with the King of Rumaparau in Goria. After combining the forces of their delegations in Goria proper, the three kings would then form a united christian front to travel to Matanitao.

As the service had been concluded with the final blessings from the Reverend Steinmann, Josias now had a completely free schedule until the next day when everyone would depart for Goria. Using this free time, Josias decided to come up to the church's viewing deck to enjoy the view and take his time to just soak in the atmosphere.

Walking up to the wooden balusters of the deck, Josias had leaned upon the railings while he enjoyed the gorgeous view of the Ulutano mountain range and the valleys. The mist-covered valley was a sight to behold and the view of it did wonders to calm Josias' mind. Sometimes as he closed his eyes, he could still feel the pungent smell of blood and the horrid scenes of his first human kill would replay in his mind.

It didn't happen often enough that it was heavily interfering with his mood, but he still couldn't help but feel somewhat distraught that in the future, such things would happen again and would in some way become an unavoidable consequence of being a king and warlord in these realms.

Were his actions just? Were these the consequences that he had to bear? Reverend Steinmann's earlier homily was on the nature of mercy and forgiveness, but Josias couldn't help but think. Was that mercy? Did he practice true forgiveness? As Josias was contemplating on these issues, he felt a hand placed upon his shoulder.

"Huh?!" Josias was initially startled by the sudden touch, but immediately calmed down when he noticed his father was the one who approached him. His father could only laugh while slapping his back at his initial reaction.

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"Honestly, with how big you are, sometimes it scares me how silently you walk, among (father)." Josias giggled as he buried his reddened face in his arms on the rails.

"Nah, you were just too engrossed in whatever it was you were thinking about, son." His father stood beside him as he too laid his elbows upon the railings, enjoying the scenic view of the valley. "What is it son, are you homesick already? Or do you just miss your pretty little fiancee?"

"Everybody's little compared to you, father."

"Honestly, I'm not that big. Your friends Josias and Mateus are about the same size as me. Ain't my fault you inherited a pipsqueak stature from God knows where."

Josias couldn't help but give his father a deadpan look before rolling his eyes. "You speak as if I'm a dwarf. I'm as tall as ompung (grandfather) was in his prime. He told me as much"

"Yeah, my father's colossal aura must've been compensating for something." His father snickered.

"I'm so telling him you said that when we get back."

"I was only joking. Since when did you become such a rat? God forbid a man jest with his son anymore. Whatever happened to filial piety…" Lord Parulian made exaggerated gestures, shaking his head at Josias.

"This coming from the man insulting his father's stature behind his back?"

"Tell you what, son. Once you get your own son, I'll give you free leeway to tell him all you think about me, good or bad."

"Pffft. Honestly father, you really are silly sometimes."

"You should be grateful you have a father like me, son. Your ompung might be the sweet and loving grandfather he is to you now but back then when we were growing up, I wouldn't even dare to dream of having conversations like this with him."

"Are you telling me the ompung who hugged and kissed all his grandchildren before sending us off to war and teases me to no end about my love life is some stoic man like Hesekiel?"

"Oh no, that's not what I was saying. Lord knows your namboru (aunt) takes after him when it comes to never shutting up when he's onto something. It's only cause of that damned sickness he is the way he is now."

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm saying he was awkward when it comes to interacting with us while we were growing up. Sure he'd make a few jokes here and there, but he could never stand having a heart to heart conversation with us like this. Pfft, I remember how panicked he was when your late grandmother was away to visit her family with your aunt pauli and all of a sudden your Uncle Togi caught a fever. This was before we had the missionaries' assistance and western-style medicine. Your grandfather ran around like a headless chicken not knowing what to do, summoning all the shamans to do what they can."

"It sounded like he really loved you guys. He was just sorta awkward about it."

"Yeah, he had his moments." Lord Parulian nodded as before he looked at Josias with a softened gaze "But, he couldn't really read his children's mood like I can."

"Oh really now, father? You can read our moods?"

"Of course I can. Like how I can tell you're still thinking about your first real murder even now."

Josias could only widen his eyes as his father had hit the mark. Was his father capable of some form of mind magic? That would actually be pretty terrifying were it true. Looking at his reaction, his father only smiled before laughing. "Wait, was I actually right? Hahahahah!"

"Father, you had me scared there for a second." Josias breathed out an exasperated sigh as he shook his head while his father was still laughing boisterously. "I actually thought you had some sort of hidden magic ability you were hiding from us."

"Hey man, you never know…" Lord Parulian shrugged his shoulders "...But seriously, it doesn't take an oracle to figure out what's been bothering you these past couple of days. Lord knows I can still picture the day of my own first kill. And in some aspects, it might've been worse than your experience."

"How so?"

"Well for starters, at the very least for you, you could choose to justify your kill as having given a wanted criminal bandit his just due. My first kill was when I was only fifteen years old. It was during a minor skirmish between us and the bastards up at Nainiari… My first kill was a boy not much older than me… It was a damned shame. He'd looked so terrified. Hands were practically shivering despite the brave face he tried to put up. I could still picture it till today. Boy didn't belong on the battlefield… Imagine if Jakobus was forced on the battlefield, fighting for his life like that."

For a second, Josias saw his father's expression turn slightly dark before he shook his head. Josias didn't even want to think about his younger brother having anything to do with the battlefield and all of this nonsense.

"You're right, father. That is indeed worse." Josias could only breathe out a sigh as he couldn't imagine how he'd feel about himself if he had done that. "Those were dark days."

"It's still dark days for most of these realms, son." Lord Parulian corrected him. "We've only started being somewhat more merciful because of the foreign influence of these missionaries. In the rest of the Halaklands, I assure you things like that aren't at all a rarity, my son. That's what happens when you come from such a bullheaded culture when fists often speak louder than words. Pffft, you remembered what happened at Sadrach and Mateus' duel didn't you?"

"Hahahah, yeah. Honestly, I was making fun of the elders of Hutangali for that God-Awfully stupid brawl they got themselves into last night, but honestly we aren't much better."

"Exactly. We aren't. We're still people. Absolutely flawed people at that. But, in all of this… at least we're still trying." Parulian said as he finally straightened his back and stretched his arms. He looked at Josias for a second before putting his son to a chokehold and ruffling his hair violently while laughing.

"Oy now! Arghhh!! Get off me!" Josias tried struggling, but in all honesty what could he possibly do against a five-star aura warrior? His father continued ruffling his hair up, but decided to let him go after affectionately kissing him on the top of his head. "Father, do I still look like a child to you?"

"Is that actually a serious question, son?" Lord Parulian was still chuckling when Josias could only roll his eyes as he didn't want to retort. Lord Parulian laughed once more before slapping Josias on his back. "Alright then, mister 'Little Big boy.', I guess you don't need your father's advice anymore, eh?"

"Father, that's not what I meant…" Josias feigned a little frustration. Well, he was actually slightly annoyed at his father's teasing. He knew he was joking and not actually offended. Probably.

"It's okay, I get it, I get it…" His father had playfully raised his hands in surrender as he walked away. "You're a big boy now so you want to figure all of these things out on your own, I can respect that."

"Literally not what I said."

"Anyways, I actually do still have some things to discuss with the king and the rest of the court. We can continue this conversation later in the afternoon. I want you to accompany me to the hot springs anyways." Lord Parulian had waved to Josias as he was walking away.

"Alright then…" Josias nodded eventually but not before he shook his head at his father's random absurdities. He had to get him back somehow. It was then Josias blurted out loudly. "Stay safe! Also, I love you, father!"

"Hah! I'm not my father! You thought you'd embarrass me with that? I LOVE YOU MORE MY SON! MY PRIDE AND JOY!!" Lord Parulian shouted back as he even outstretched his arms.

Josias couldn't help but laugh and shudder at his father's reaction. He definitely lost that one. However, talking with his father did indeed improve his mood considerably. Looking back to the scenic view, Josias had to admit that he'd miss it once he wasn't here anymore. But his father was right about one thing. He had to try out the hot springs before he returned to Goria.

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