Eleyn was eyeing Judge like she was sizing up her ingredients for a smoked lizard she could cook at a late night backyard barbeque party.
"So tell me, Judge, give me one good reason why I should not punish you for sneaking out." She asked her son calmly and seriously like a proper adult, but her tone said otherwise. It was a storm waiting to form.
"Well... y-you see, m-mom" Great, his silver tongue decided to have a break when he needed it the most, he silently cursed his tongue. "I wanted to visit the streets incognito... Hehe." He gave a self depreciating laugh.
But his mother did not seem convinced, she appeared to be more angry if anything. Judge could not blame himself for his stuttering and the feeling of fear towards his mother. Dragons, most dragons, had someone whom they feared and respected.
While most had only one or two, it could always go higher, and Judge had three— his mother was the first on the list, she was warm and caring, but at the same time, she was cold and ruthless.
Then there was his teacher, Miss Melina, she might be the only one who was of another race in the entire land of dragons. He heard that his grandfather had taught her. Speaking of grandfathers, the third person he feared the most was his grandfather.
His grandfather, Gereon, was not a difficult person and would never get angry over silly matters. But he was excessively powerful, Judge was not at all afraid of his power, but he was more afraid of his grandfather's calm and decisive manner of handling any situation.
He had a hunch that he was not the only one who was a master at manipulating, and he knew his grandfather already knew of his manipulative nature, just like he knew his grandfather's.
His mind refocused as he heard Mother rambling on about how dangerous the world was that even being a dragon, he would be no match for many opponents.
"Judge, you are my son, and I am responsible for your safety. And unlike your irresponsible father," She folded her hand into a fist just at the thought of her husband, "You are not strong enough to survive out there.
"Remember, no matter how powerful you think you are, there is always someone more powerful." She thought for a second before continuing, "For example, you know that your grandfather is the most powerful dragon in this city right."
She waited a bit and watched Judge nod in an unsure manner. "Your grandfather may be the strongest among the land of the strongest species, but there could be a more powerful being in the vast world out there, maybe more than one, who knows. But the strongest one would be a dragon still."
Wow! Dragon pride at its finest. Judge lampooned.
He nodded in understanding, and could only agree with his mother in this situation, he was afraid that she would suddenly turn angry if she got a negative response from him. He did not want to take the gamble, she was already angry enough.
Just as he was thinking about how to get out of this predicament, he received a mental message from Lucifer. "Observer, there seems to be another person who is visiting Finn after you left."
"Record them for now." He Replied quickly before going into deep pondering. But he needed to get rid of his mother before he could space out, so he listened attentively and nodded to everything she had to say.
After a long while of nagging, his mother finally left him on house arrest, she used a spirit to watch over him and left after saying that she had a surprise for him if he just stayed in his room and on the balcony, he must not go out.
His room was pretty big, it could be more than the size of Finn's house, not to mention the spacious balcony. It was made spacious because he could get inside as a dragon when he grew older and learned to transform.
Without anything else to do, he fell onto his bed and started to guess who the person might be.
If they seek Finn, then it must be from the church of Tenebris, the god of night. But why are they after a simple peasant like him? When you think about it, even from the beginning itself, there is something that does not add up.
Why would they go out of their way to kill a farmer, he had thought it was because of how Finn accepted god at the last moment and Derek thought it was stupid and not worth his time.
Of course, Judge was not stupid to think that was all, he knew the church was planning something with their believers inside the village. And for that, the place should only have believers.
Judge displayed the image of the person who had come to see Finn, it was a woman covered in bandages, she wore a researcher's white coat. The only visible features were her short black hair and an oppressive purple eye.
He felt like he had seen those eyes somewhere but he did not know where. She asked Finn if he needed revenge, to which Finn went silent and said that he would take care of it himself.
Judge was suddenly glad that he only summoned Finn's soul to the Studio, if he had taken the whole body or visited him in his house, he was sure that the person would have noticed his existence.
But the bigger question was what she needed, Judge watched as she smiled after he rejected her proposal for revenge.
Finn was surprised at the smile that the bandaged woman gave him. He just said no to her offer, but why was she smiling? The unanswered question was shooed to the side as she spoke her next sentence.
"Then let me give you a tip, the church of the god of the night is behind your friend's death." her voice turned the air around her cold, and just kike that she vanished as if she had never existed. Leaving Finn to wonder how deep this issue was.
This was a fight between two or more powerhouses, even including the gods. His friend's death was just a side effect that the other force decided to take advantage of.
He cursed himself, he was too weak to even partake in this revenge. He had no other choice but not to seek revenge, he was not stupid enough to seek revenge after all those big shots obviously wanting him to take revenge.
He still wanted to take revenge, so he thought of ways in which he could grow stronger. Suddenly, he remembered the mask that the Observer gave him, he thought about it for a second.
If he needed power, it was an obvious choice, but he was still skeptical. This was too suspicious, why would he be awarded power in exchange for curiosity? But the person was honest.
He decided to accept the mask, working was something cheap he could do in exchange for power. He took a breath and put on the mask.
"Welcome, Mister Finn," He heard a deep, refined voice behind him, it had an air of distinct authority. "I welcome you to the rank of the Recorders as Satan, the sin of wrath. It is not a mere position, it records your position in the grand journey of this world."