Polymath Redux

Chapter 45: A fundamental flaw in your understanding

"There is a fundamental flaw in everyone's understanding."

Amidst the brisk temperature of the subterranean complex, the silver haired prince began to unravel the truth of the matter; proclaiming the innocence of the rejected hero. Able to 'perform' anywhere, in some ways the first prince was a much better 'actor' than Mordred. Not only did he successfully and subtly tear down Mordred's carefully constructed 'play', but he had also usurped the stage from right under his foot.

The listeners' hearts froze, not because of the temperature but because of the anticipation of the prince's words.

"A fundamental flaw you say... If you would be so kind as to enlighten us..."

Supreme Commander Vladimir Zandora asked.

"That is a matter of course. Then to start off the first major flaw in everyone's understanding is that we are all under the assumption that there could only be a single hero at a time. Being personally familiar with the scriptures of Xagon there was no rule anywhere. We only think that there is only one 'chosen one' because only one person can use the weapon at a time, but I believe the role of hero can come to many."

The prince warned with a stern expression matching that even of Grimal's.

"So what you're saying is that there is another? Some rogue hero is out there?!"

At the prospect of there being another hero that could very well be out there going around wielding the sacred sword for malicious deeds, Commander Vladimir started getting riled up.

"Most likely that is the case."

"Forgive my sudden interruptions your highness, but I find the existence of another hero hard to believe. As you may have already known but in every corner of this city is either a defense golem or sentry, as such if there was such a person I would have known about it."

Unable to allow the prince's show to continue any further Morgana stepped in to deny that possibility. To everyone else present this information came as a slight relief, but to the prince it meant something else entirely.

"Well yes, normally that would be the case, but... we can't discredit the possibility that this potential 'other' hero is a master of stealth."

The prince trailed off in the middle of his sentence only to complete it with a different thought. The prince had not doubted for a second that Morgana was able to see a lot of what occurred around town through the use of these golems but it was because of that the prince had another thought. 'Perhaps you've already known about the existence of another hero', was the prince's thought, 'The other hero didn't sneak past the golem security; he had no need to if he was working with you.'

Though this was truly just mere speculation on the prince's part, he had no real evidence other than circumstantial coincidences. So for the time being he had decided to keep this to himself as to not slander Morgana's name without absolute confidence.

"'A master of stealth'? It is highly unlikely but I will admit that there are holes in the surveillance for the sake of upholding the populace's privacy. Very well then, I shall give this to you and assume that this 'other' hero is a master of stealth. What is the second flaw in our understanding, your highness?"

Morgana asked in a cold tone, breaking the careful façade of warmth. She was unable to keep a straight face at this prince for obvious reasons.

"The second flaw in our understanding is in relation to the motive of the killer. Once again we have trapped ourselves in the belief that the hero belongs to us when in reality there is no real guarantee of that. Historically all past heroes who have wielded the sacred blade of Xagon was from Xagontetia, but that is merely a statistical probability as the candidates were chosen from this country."