Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 199. Temporary Encampment.

Having been called with the same ‘Warrior-King’ title as Azuresky, Emeric couldn’t help but reveal a rare as unicorn smile of appreciation. He already had a favorable impression towards this polite and sensible child in the first place and it didn’t need to be mentioned that he valued Yin’s and Laien’s talents just as much as Azuresky. However, it could be said that he had been fully won over by Yin with this one casual reference of Azuresky’s title. He didn’t even care that Yin was likely to not know that only the most powerful of the Euleanian Kings in each generation bore the moniker of the Warrior-King, since apparently, in this youth’s eyes he stood on par with Azuresky. This alone was enough to make him willing to support Yin unless the boy did something that truly displeased him.

“Hah!” Naturally, Azuresky wouldn’t be himself and neither would he have been Emeric’s old rival if he hadn’t noticed the change in his friend’s expression. “That’s a first, you taking such a liking to a kid right off the bat. Don’t try anything funny though, we’re going to follow the usual rules for negotiations as always,” he reminded with a rare for himself, playful smile. Of course, the only response he got from Emeric was a harrumph and a cold stare, but he still grinned despite that, knowing that he had successfully gotten one over his good friend. It wasn’t often when he could fluster Emeric, so he very much enjoyed every time he managed to pull it off. If on this occasion the price was this green-haired kiddo referring to both of them as Warrior-Kings, then it was perfectly acceptable as far as he was concerned.

“Boy,” Azuresky spoke with a smile, his black eyes turning back towards Yin. “I intend to put you two… well, you three or perhaps you bunch, up to you, in a tent for those six hours you mentioned. We can provide you anything you might need in the meantime, so feel free to speak up now if there’s anything you’ll want to spare us all the hassle later,” he stated clearly, but with more gentleness in his voice than at most times, what didn’t escape Casimir’s attention. For his father to go out of his way to be more amicable instead of forcing everyone into his own pace, he must have had agreed that those two, maybe three, youths are to be treasured and most certainly, befriended further.

“A big tent would be good,” Yin replied while returning the smile. He didn’t mind if Arslan and the others stuck around him and Laien in the meantime, but he wasn’t in the mood to be asking them about their intentions, either. So, if a large resting place could spare him from doing so, he wouldn’t hesitate to ask for it. “Also a lot of nutritious food, the sooner the better,” he added and chuckled secretly. He really wanted to be polite and he thought that he was doing a decent job at acting according to his own preferences, but some things couldn’t be helped, like him speaking in a bit more cheeky, Laien-like way. If at this point he were to force himself to revert to his old formal speech routine, he would end up feeling that it was unnatural. After all the time he had spent around Laien and those who ended up being corrupted by Laien’s overly casual attitude, he too had changed quite a bit.

“Got it,” Azuresky said with a nod. All he had to do was to glance briefly at a few of his Royal Guards for them to start organizing the temporary encampment. In less than a minute, a few medium-sized buildings and dozens of smaller-scale buildings appeared within the grounds of the old marble mine. Since the ground in the area was pretty even, the Royal Guards of Azuresky’s and Emeric’s didn’t go out of their way to move to the higher grounds. For once, it didn’t look like it was going to rain this night, so there was no danger of flooding, but more importantly, they noticed that the green-haired didn’t seem to want to move his black-haired friend at all. So, since their Kings were quite obviously intent on courting favor with those boys, they decided to indulge the kids whenever possible.

This didn’t escape Azuresky’s attention, nor did Emeric, Casimir, Anna and all the others familiar with the standards of the north-Euleanian Royal Guards fail to notice the extra effort that had been put in. The ‘camp’ that had been brought out by those two groups of Royal Guards more resembled a rich medium-sized village than an army encampment. Instead of tents, entire luxury houses with exteriors made of stone and interiors made from wood were brought out while the many Royal Guards themselves immediate moved to take care of the miscellaneous tasks. They lit the outside bonfires and the inside fireplaces, the former for the sake of preparing food and the latter for comfort. They started herding and moving all the horses into one large fenced half-open stable that even had a roof placed over it and some of them moved to split the accommodations, too.

“Do you need help moving him?” The Captain of Azuresky’s Royal Guard asked Yin in a gentle and polite tone, one which contrasted heavily with his muscular body frame. He originally didn’t intend to be nosy and to annoy the youth with any talk, but considering Yin’s bloodied wrist that appeared to be in a bad condition, he decided that he might as well burden him with a quick few sentences. “I’m called Julius, by the way. I’m the Captain of Warrior-King Azuresky’s Royal Guard. I will be staying right outside your accommodation, so if anything comes up later, don’t hesitate to come to me,” he introduced himself, seeing as Yin didn’t respond to his question immediately. He wasn’t clear on the details, but if those boys ended up staying in the Bolan Kingdom for the time being, then given the developments so far, he would be told to play their steward or a nanny anyway. So, he thought he might as well get the introductions out of the way now and not have to worry about them later.

“No need,” Yin responded with a calm yet somewhat wry smile. If it was about his wounds, then despite appearing quite bad, his hand was already mostly healed. His abundant vitality paired up with the surges of water-element Phantasmal Energy from when he was healing Laien had mended the heavy wound, so apart from a little discomfort, he could move his hand as he wished. “I’m fine so I can just carry him,” he added, having chosen to omit the long explanation. He really was too tired to waste his breath on saying that unfamiliar energies could startle Laien, as his subconsciousness, while dazed, was still stuck in a battle-ready state. So, while something that lacked killing intent was unlikely to force Laien awake, he didn’t feel like taking the unnecessary risk.

“I believe you already know that, but I’m Yin. Thanks, we’ll be in your care,” he added with a slight chuckle. Bringing a second matter up in a conversation before the first one was over was too Laien-like, so he couldn’t prevent the wry smile from sticking to his lips. He felt that this burly man’s, Julius’s appearance and character were quite a mismatch, but in a good way. Most importantly, his eyes appeared very honest, just as his heart seemed very pure. Of course, he had already learned that he couldn’t judge people based on their hearts alone, but he still had a good feeling about Julius.

“As you wish,” Julius said, his smile turning slightly troubled. “And yeah, well. You’re welcome? Let’s get along well,” he said with an awkward laugh. He had untimely realized that he wasn’t all that coherent in his words earlier, but it was too late to fix the mistake. Yin quite clearly had noticed and been amused by his stumbling attempt at diplomacy, too, so the best thing he could do at this point was to keep his mouth shut. If he were to try to explain himself, he would likely look even more silly.

“Damn.” Inwardly, Julius wished he could slap himself on the back of the head. “I accidentally treated him like a kid, but he talks and bears himself like a proper noble. Eh, at least he only seems amused and he doesn’t seem to be looking down or me or anything. Bah, I always hated the high-circle faux pas incidents. I’m no noble, I’m a warrior, damn it!” he grumbled in his heart. Sometimes, he wished he could focus only on training and taking care of his wife and family. However, as the Captain of Azuresky’s Royal Guard, he had no choice but to fulfil his duties, many of which included interacting with various high-officials from all five castes of society.

“There’s still so much to be done,” Julius suppressed a sigh while he waited near Yin for the remaining preparations of the closest medium-sized house to be finished. He could deal with Commoners and their Representatives easily enough since he was of the common origin in the first place, while the Royals had been purged by their faction when Azuresky had finally been pushed too far and had decided to take the Kingdom over. However, Nobles, Clergy, and Merchants were all yet to be subdued and they caused lots of issues, especially on the scale of the entire Holy Union.

“Why the gloomy face?” the golden-haired woman who had accompanied Julius a moment ago joined him with a content smile. Unlike her husband who was a bonafide military general and a skilled warrior, she also pursued the paths of a bureaucrat and a diplomat, so even without being asked, a moment ago she had spared Julius the hassle and organized the setup of their camp. Though, honestly speaking, she only had to oversee the placement of buildings and fires since everyone from their two elite units was already used to setting up smaller and larger camps. They didn’t have to worry about defensibility this time, either, so the entire process could be simplified.

“It’s nothing,” Julius replied with half a smile. Then, for a bit, he moved his eyes back towards Yin and Arslan. “I’m sure you’re not in the mood for more greetings, so I’ll keep it brief. She’s Alicia, the Captain of King Emeric’s Royal Guard and my wife. She’ll be staying beside me for the time being, so if you need anything from King Emeric’s side, you should speak to her,” he introduced briefly, all the while staying mindful to keep his tone one level lower. After all, while Yin was crouching just beside unconscious Laien, Arslan had ended up resting against Yin’s chest while crouching himself. As it seemed, the young boy had fallen asleep in just those few short moments, likely from excessive mental exhaustion. Thus, since there was no need to wake him up, so Julius didn’t want to do so.

“Mm, got it,” Yin said and nodded his head towards Alicia, who in turn raised her right hand to her chest before giving him a military bow. “I will carry Laien myself, but can someone proficient in suitable magic help me move Arslan with us?” Yin inquired while looking Julius in the eye. In itself, there wasn’t anything weird in his request nor his behavior, but it was only now that the realization hit Julius and Alicia in quick succession. Speaking as calmly as Yin was doing shortly after going through a life-or-death battle that had left him with great wounds and had his friend on the verge of death wasn’t something a child should be able to do. Even a talented child who had had experience in true battles shouldn’t have been capable of doing so!

“I will help, then,” Julius said after a few seconds of delay. “I’m a dual practitioner of wind-element, so my magic should be suitable,” he added with a smile, all the while having to work very hard not to show his emotions on his face. Yet, when he saw the slight smirk and a meaningful look that Yin gave him, he couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock. Was it his imagination or did this green-haired kid understand that he was feeling startled inside and was only pretending to be keeping his cool on the outside? It should have been his imagination, reasonably speaking, but the longer he held the eye contact with those emerald eyes of the boy’s, the more he had the impression that the youth could see through his heart with just a glance. Even if it was all only in his head, he had to admit that it was quite weird and maybe a bit frightening of an experience. If anything, it was definitely unsettling.

“Thanks,” Yin said with a quiet chuckle, his gaze moving from Julius to Alicia for a bit. Those two, what did they end up thinking that got them so nervous and startled? In a way, it was amusing to watch them give their best to pretend that nothing was going on while they were panicking like children in their hearts, but he was too tired to continue the charade for too long. “I’ll bother you then, Captain Julius,” he said and looked towards the nearest mid-sized building, which had just been vacated by all those who went inside to tend to the last-minute preparations.

“Uh, yeah,” Julius replied absent-mindedly, only for his lips to quiver in his forced smile. He noticed out of the corner of his eye the scornful look Alicia sent towards him for just a split-second, probably angry at him for never taking her lessons seriously when she was trying to teach him more about the art of diplomacy… or at least, about having more common sense in social interactions. He was sure that if she didn’t consider it to be inappropriate, she would have stomped on his foot to remind him not to make a fool out of himself in the future, especially in front of important personas.

Yin, however, only laughed in a quiet voice and gave the couple a warm smile, this time startling Alicia more than Julius. In truth, while he liked to be polite, he didn’t mind if the other party acted casual, as long as they weren’t outright rude or annoying. So, the little exchange between Julius and Alicia was more heartwarming and amusing to him than anything else. “If you could,” he said to Julius and glanced at Arslan. If he tried to move to lift Laien up with Arslan resting against his side and napping, Arslan would end up falling down to the ground. So, Julius had to act first. Usually, he wouldn’t have been impatient enough to remind Julius of that so soon, but he really wanted to fill his stomach, wash up, and rest, not necessarily in this particular order.

“Of course,” Julius said energetically, his voice easily betraying that he was feeling quite happy thanks to Yin’s positive reaction. He didn’t waste any more time for pleasantries though and immediately used his wind-element magic to gently lift Arslan up into the air. He made sure not to change the boy’s position too much either, knowing that it would be likely to wake him.

Seeing that Arslan was taken care of, Yin slipped his hands under Laien’s body and lifted him up a little, then slowly got all the way up to his feet with Laien in his arms. Thankfully, as a powerful martial practitioner, Yin had no trouble lifting or carrying Laien in a very smooth and gentle manner. The house they were going to wasn’t far either, so in just a little bit he entered it without disrupting Laien’s breakthrough in any way, soon followed by Julius, Arslan, and Alicia. Right behind them came in Sirius, Kasha, and Reian. The first two of the trio looked tired yet happy, but Reian appeared crestfallen if not outright downcast. Yet, no one was in the mood for talking, so when Yin headed straight to the large bed near the fireplace, they all chose their own spots and sat down.

“Put him on the outside, please,” Yin told Julius after getting up on the bed and placing Laien near the wall. He wanted to keep company to Arslan too, but he didn’t want Arslan’s aura to be too close to Laien. Once he ate something and washed himself quickly, he would lie down in the middle and after releasing his aura, he would go to sleep, too. So, it would be convenient if Julius placed Arslan on the outside from the very beginning and he didn’t have to move the five-year-old later.

“Sure thing.” Julius did as he was told, having no reason to refuse. “Last thing. A bathhouse will be set up outside soon, so if you feel like washing up properly later on, you can take your friends and go there,” he explained, assuming that Yin wouldn’t wish to leave Laien and Arslan’s side until they woke up. And, judging by Yin’s genuine smile, he was right to assume so. Yet at the same time, he could only secretly thank the God that Yin wasn’t ten years older because with his wife standing beside him and watching that kid smile in such a mesmerizing way, he would have gotten worried for his marriage. This kid truly had been blessed with incredibly good looks, almost frighteningly-so.

“We’ll be outside,” he said alongside an awkward cough. He had tried to hide his emotions for a second, but he gave up on it while the few words were still coming out of his mouth. He was sure that Alicia had already noticed his weird reaction and as far as Yin went, the kid appeared to be able to see through him so easily it made him wonder if he was made of glass. Fortunately, apart from amused looks, the two didn’t comment on his behavior in any way, so he cut his losses and after giving Yin a military bow, he quickly left the building. Alicia did the same, on her part already thinking how to tease that insecure dimwit for thinking that she was going to fall for a pretty face, and of a kid’s at that! Since she had fallen in love with him and agreed to marry him, Julius should have known that Yin’s kind of looks wasn’t her type at all. That being said, Julius feeling jealous of her, even for such a silly reason, flattered her and made her happy, so she wasn’t angry with him at all.

Meanwhile, Yin chuckled to himself, thinking that those two made for a cute couple and at the same time, wondering how were two people in such politically sensitive positions able to get married. “Well, I might as well ask them later,” he murmured to himself after a few seconds, too tired to really care. “Kasha… went to another room to wash up?” he thought, seeing as she had left the large living room almost immediately and still wasn’t back. Still, he wasn’t in the mood for any random surprises and he didn’t feel like asking to make sure, either, so he took out a set of curtains from his interspatial ring and placed them around him, right next to the bed.

“Take those first.” However, before he could get his clothes off, he heard Sirius’s voice from across the room and sensed something small being hurled towards him alongside a bit of spiritual energy. He stood up and raised his hand above the curtains, catching what proved to be an interspatial ring. “Are they…?” he asked himself with an expectant smile, one which only grew larger when he found his twin swords inside the golden ring. “Thank you,” he said just loudly enough for Sirius to hear him, caring not to accidentally raise his voice too high. To be fair, he had been a little concerned about his twin swords, which he had dropped when saving Laien and which had then been blown away by the clash between Azuresky and Abdain. However, those thoughts only came to him once he started carrying Laien inside the building and by then, it felt somewhat awkward to ask for them. Maybe if Julius and Alicia stayed for a second longer, he would have made the request, but they hadn’t.

Luckily, Sirius proved to be the thoughtful one for the second time in a row, both after big battles. While it was a relatively small thing, Yin appreciated it a lot. After all, resting without any immediate issues bothering his heart and mind was much more pleasant than otherwise.

“Don’t mind it,” Sirius replied from afar. “If you’d like, I can help you clean up quickly. I might not be as good at controlling my Guardian Magic to wash people as Laien is, but it would still be quicker than you doing it on your own. I could do the same for those two, too,” he offered with a calm, grateful smile on his old and wrinkly face. Usually, after a battle he would be in charge of healing people, so he couldn’t spare his attention or energy to such mundane tasks as helping others was up with water-element magic, but since Azuresky and Emeric had brought more than enough skilled healers to take care of everyone, he could offer some help with the meager amount of spiritual energy he had managed to recover since the conclusion of the battle.

“Umh,” Yin wondered what should he say for a second, then once his tiredness won over all the other thoughts he stored the curtains back and gave Sirius a smile. “Laien should be familiar with your spiritual energy, but I’ll keep close to him when you’re washing him up, okay? Try to approach him with magic slowly too, as if you were trying to wash a scared doggy,” he told Sirius once the old man got closer and received an understanding smile and a nod in response, much to his satisfaction. He didn’t even have to explain his reasons to Sirius as the old man had likely figured them out himself, nor did Sirius bother him with ‘I know this much’ type of comments. This, once again, made Yin appreciate just how helpful it has been to have the thousand-year-old man with them on their journey. Not only was Sirius a great healer and good fighter, but he also knew how to take care of people… well, at least once he had gotten over his stubborn old-man attitude he tended to have towards almost everyone he was meeting for the first time. Once that happened, Sirius was more like a stern but actually very nice grandpa instead of that cynic master healer, or so Yin came to think.

Be it as it may, once Sirius helped him to clear all the dust, dirt, and blood off him, Yin started feeling too drowsy to ponder any thoughts, even those pleasant and happy ones. So, when Sirius cleaned up Arslan and then, with his help, successfully washed up Laien without waking him up, Yin found himself lying down between the two and before he could even thank Sirius, he fell asleep instantly. Had mixing his Aspect of Awareness with his aura and releasing it before sleeping not become his habit since a long time ago, he would have surely forgotten to do that, too. However, considering how exhausted in both body and spirit he was after all those constant battles, it wasn’t surprising.

“Good job, all of you,” Sirius said quietly as he looked at the three youths sleeping on the same, large bed. He could sparsely believe that those three kids were mostly responsible for shifting the currents of the ongoing war in their side’s favor both by the means of diplomacy and fighting prowess. Still, as amazing as their achievements were, he couldn’t help but sigh a little at the same time. In better times, those three could have been children for much longer, but they were forced to start growing up way too early on in their lives. Be it Laien and Yin who got used to bloody battles and political schemes by the age of twelve or Arslan who had been exposed to all of that at the age of five, they were equally enviable and pitiable due to what they accomplished, at least in Sirius’s own eyes.