Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 216. Warrior’s Heart.

Faced with the young man’s accusation, Laien and Yin squinted their eyes, their anger surging immediately. They had guessed that those five came over to provoke them into doing or saying something stupid in front of all the people gathered for the ceremony, but it didn’t make restraining themselves much easier. Not when the words spoken stung directly at their spore spot, accusing them of all the evil they couldn’t help but feel guilty of. Still, the two of them knew better than to show how agitated they were and immediately start making excuses, and thus, they kept silent.

Surprisingly, what allowed Laien and Yin to regain some of their cool amongst the people’s murmurs was that, after a few seconds of tense silence, those five men betrayed various signs of frustration, as if they didn’t expect such an outcome. The three younger ones in the front were easy to read with their brows furrowing and with one of them snorting outright, but the two middle-aged men behind them proved to be more capable of concealing their thoughts. Had it not been for Laien’s rich experience in dealing with people of any kind and Yin’s sharp intuition, they would have missed the subtle changes in their gazes and an ever so slightly elevated stiffness of their bodies.

“Is it my imagination.” Laien sent the thought over to Yin. “Or are they focusing their attention on me? I wouldn’t be surprised if I responded to them like I usually do with newcomers, but neither of us said or did anything. Call me paranoid, but it’s almost as if they heard that I’m ‘easy to anger’ from someone who knows about my argument with Emeric,” he pointed out. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the news of that incident leaked in the long-term, but with Azuresky, Emeric, and Mustafa putting a gag order on any kind of information related to Yin and himself, an early leak was unexpected, to say the least. Of course, those five might have chosen to focus on him for a different reason, but for them to be pretty much ignoring Yin, no other explanation made much sense.

“Do you have nothing to say?” Frederick asked, continuing to look Laien in the eye. “If so, your silence must mean that you can only agree. You are indeed guilty of involving our Holy Union in a pointless dispute between Arkarians. As long as you could save yourselves and your companions, you didn’t care how many people of the Holy Union died in the process,” he accused, his voice filled with sorrow and righteous indignation. Consequently, he easily elicited a reaction from the part of the crowd that was favourable towards his People’s Faction, which resulted in another wave of murmurs rolling across the mountain slope. To make matters worse, the people who were either on the fence or didn’t care about the political conflict were beginning to get stirred up, too.

Right then, Azuresky was about to discard all of his plans to watch and judge Laien’s and Yin’s conduct during the ceremony. He wanted to intervene and put an end to this farce before the people’s hearts could be shaken any more by the treacherous words of the Flamesworth House, but to his astonishment, not just Sebastian, but Emeric raised a hand too, gesturing for him to wait.

“Huh?” Genuinely startled, Azuresky couldn’t understand what was on Emeric’s mind. Hadn’t this fool experienced how brash Laien could be? He surely didn’t think that such a sore, overly logical approach to the discussion would work with the masses just because it worked on him! Sebastian, too! It was fine to put youngsters through trials, but this matter was too important to let the People’s Faction do as they pleased! This was exactly why he had asked Sebastian to make sure those bastards, with Duke Flamesworth at the head, knew that he would tolerate no incidents today!

“What a claim to make.” Finally, after a few more seconds which he took to organize his thoughts, Laien replied to Frederick. Yet the combination of a sarcastic smile on his face and perceivable anger burning in his eyes was enough to shake Frederick and the other two young men up. “Aren’t you the one who doesn’t care about your fellow people? Coming over and accusing us of ridiculous things right before the burial ceremony in honour of those who have fallen, do you have no shame?” he asked back, then snorted soundlessly. Finally, all those people whispering had shut up.

“To the contrary.” Frederick continued smoothly, having regained his calm within seconds. Laien’s expression had given him a scare, but so far, the boy was playing right into his hand. “I believe that those who don’t respect the lives of our people shouldn’t be allowed to spoil the memory of our nations’ heroes,” he stated, revealing what this entire argument was about. Yes, as long as their People’s Faction could drive away those two guests of the Royal Faction, it would be no small humiliation for Azuresky, Emeric, and all of their supporters. With the information on those boys his father had managed to obtain, it could be said that they were engaging in a fool-proof gambit.

“And yet more words,” Laien responded in a resigned tone. Admittedly, be it that young man’s attitude or the constant negative reactions of the crowd, they both annoyed him to no end, but for now, he had to hold it in. Until this stupid talk devolved to the point he was aiming for, he had to keep his calm. “All there is to your accusations are your claims alone. If you’ve got nothing else to say, I suggest you leave and stop disrupting the ceremony,” he said in a very much flat-out manner. This perhaps came as somewhat of a surprise, especially to those two middle-aged men in the back, since the look in their eyes changed once more. Were they expecting him to argue the point more strongly since he had dared to hold his ground against Emeric?

If so, then they had to wait a little bit longer. After all, to catch a fish, you not only had to throw some bait, you often had to be patient in choosing the right moment to reel the string in. In this case, however, the most important question was who exactly was the fisherman and who was the fish.

“You might not know,” Frederick said in a much gentler tone than before, one seemingly filled with understanding. Alas, to Laien, who could see the young man’s expression clearly, those words appeared to be full of contempt right beneath the sweet-sounding surface. “But a noble’s only worth as much as his words. I wouldn’t be bringing up those matters if I wasn’t worried they might be true,” he added in a heartfelt manner. He then proceeded to wait a brief moment to see if Laien wasn’t going to respond to him in any way, but was disappointed to see that the boy kept his mouth shut. Still, this only meant that he had to proceed with the words he had come up with before.

“In fact,” he went on in the same gentle tone. “There’s a simple way in which you can prove to everyone here that your intentions are pure. You simply have to apologize to those who died for your sake and ask them and their families for forgiveness,” he said with an amicable smile, gesturing towards the Holy Union’s funeral pyre. Then, he made sure to look at each of the groups where the families and friends of the fallen ones were gathered, knowing that many of them harboured a degree of resentment towards Prince Casimir and, in turn, Laien and Yin. Even those who were in the Royal Faction were bound to be unhappy since many of them had lost their talented children.

“Apologize?” A moment later, Laien asked in a voice quivering with anger. This caused Frederick to rejoice, thinking that Laien had finally given in to his pride and was about to start rebuking him and shredding any dignity he and the Royal Faction might have had left, but there was one thing he didn’t know. Or perhaps it was better to say that neither he nor his uncle nor his father ever had the experience required to comprehend how great of a mistake they had just made. Alas, how could they, who strayed away from battle their entire lives, hope to understand a warrior’s heart?

To those who had fought together through life and death, those who had risked their lives for each other and had stuck together until the very end, there was no greater insult than to ask them to apologize to their fallen comrades. This level of thinking could find a foothold amongst the inexperienced recruits, but not when elite troops were taken into consideration. To ask any of them to apologize to their dead companions was not only to put into question all of their moral values, but to spit on the bravery and spirit of those who had fallen in battle. And, if any proof was needed, one simply had to look at the thirty men of the White Sword Unit and Julien alongside his Cherubim.

While Mustafa’s White Guard and Casimir’s and Anna’s Royal Guards were still keeping up appearances, the remnants of the White Sword and Cherubim were seething with fury. To people like them, the orders from above weren’t all that important. What they truly valued was one’s conduct in battle, and they had experienced first-hand how brave and spirited Laien and Yin were when it mattered. Those two kids were not only powerful well beyond their years, they had also truly fought with everything they had the entire time. They had created miracle after miracle, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they all owed their lives to them. So, with some random bastard coming up and insulting those boys to their faces, how could they possibly be expected to keep their cool?

Had it not been for the White Sword’s Captain and Julien reacting in time, some of their men would have been ready to draw swords and spill the blood of that detestable young man right there and then. Despite that, many members of their two units were unable to restrain their murderous intent, while others had a hard time suppressing their surging auras. Yet all of that went unnoticed for one reason. There was a far greater source of killing intent mixed with a powerful aura spreading throughout the mountain slope, the source of which was none other than the black-haired youth, Laien.

“Just what are you trying to say?” Laien asked, all the while trying and failing to keep his nerves under control. He himself was surprised at how much that one question pissed him off, but seeing that even Yin wasn’t much calmer than him, that one sting must have directly released all the pent-up worries and emotions they had been suppressing for the past week. “Do you mean to say that those who died in that war were just fools who knew nothing and simply marched to their deaths? That they were somehow manipulated and then discarded, used like simple tools? Is that what you mean when you’re asking us to apologize to them?” he asked repeatedly, his murderous aura surging higher and higher, beyond what should have been possible for him, for the first time in months.

Thankfully, the powerhouses that were concentrated in the central area, including the two Kings and the few Generals who came over from the southern border, acted to mitigate the intensity of the flooding mass of aura and killing intent. Had it not been for that, then even those average experts might have found it hard to keep standing, not to mention the weaker citizens who would have fainted outright. Despite that, however, there were some people who had to bear the brunt of Laien’s overflowing killing intent; and the group of five men from the Flamesworth House was amongst them. Needless to say, while the two middle-aged men were able to suppress their fear and only ended up going slightly pale, the three youngsters were on the verge of panicking.

They couldn’t really be blamed, though, as after acquiring insights into the Aspect of Tranquillity, Laien’s unnaturally powerful outbursts of killing intent had mostly disappeared. It was only because the emotions he was currently experiencing had prompted a breakthrough in the Aspect of Wrath that this near-forgotten trait of his emerged once again, resulting in a display of murderous aura on the level of the top experts of the secular world, the likes of Azuresky, Emeric, or Mustafa.

“What else would you expect?!” Frederick yelped back at Laien, forgetting about his refined demeanour in an instant. Still, even though he was terrified out of his wits of that monster-like youth before him, he was convinced that, since Laien had lost his patience and allowed such an outburst to happen, this confrontation would end in his victory. All he had to do was drive the nail all the way through, and with that, today would become the Royal Faction’s greatest humiliation! So, instead of waiting for Laien to say anything else, he gathered his courage and started speaking on his own.

“Just look at all this killing intent, you can’t even hold your emotions in check! You’re no warrior, you’re a savage beast! How can anyone expect someone like you to care about the lives of his companions? Much less the people you tricked to help you! I bet that even all those talks about the alliance were als- hmphh!”

Now not just pale-faced, but also infuriated by his son’s stupidity, Duke Flamesworth yanked Frederick back by the shoulder and made sure to cover his wide mouth with his hand. He hadn’t noticed the shift in the crowd’s mood in time either, but how could his son have seen so reckless? During that outburst of Frederick’s just now, Laien’s killing intent rapidly subsided, allowing him to sense the numerous gazes filled with hatred and disdain that were directed at their camp. Then he sensed first dozens, then hundreds of similarly infuriated sources of killing intent, all of them directed at the five of them. Amongst those, shockingly enough, were the members of the White Sword Unit, of the Ruishi Federation’s Cherubim, but also Casimir’s and Anna’s Royal Guards!

Worst off all, Mustafa and his White Guards all wore angered looks on their faces, not to mention the disgusted looks of the very majority of experts present for the ceremony. And, once the Duke looked to confirm, just in case, his last fear came true, too. The families of those who were to be sent off today were almost unanimously giving him and his son scornful looks. This finally made him realize how big of a blunder they had committed, yet ironically, he still didn’t understand what it was exactly. Even if someone were to tell him it was his son’s request for an apology that cascaded into all of the following events, he would find it extremely hard to believe.

“Since you don’t seem to understand,” Laien said calmly, his voice soon getting everyone’s attention. “I shall explain it to you,” he added unhurriedly. Only after exchanging a glance with Yin and nodding at each other, once their bursting emotions calmed down slightly, did he continue. “Fighting side by side with all the great warriors who helped us win this war was an unforgettable experience. We struggled to survive against the odds. We fought together sharing both the glory of victory and the bitter taste of defeat. Had it not been for them, neither I nor any of my friends here would still be alive,” he explained softly, yet with a powerful determination resounding in his voice. Then, after taking a deep breath, he went on, recalling the bloody battles of the past few days as he spoke.

“If you ask me if I feel guilty over their deaths, the answer is yes. I feel terrible; I’m extremely frustrated! If only I was stronger, they wouldn’t have had to die… If only I was smarter, I could have saved more of them… If only I didn’t have so many enemies, I would have never had to ask them to save me! I can’t begin to describe how grateful I am to them for fighting with us, and I will forever be,” he concluded, his voice shaking from emotions. It wasn’t like him, but before he noticed, tears started flowing from his eyes and his body started shaking. The deaths of all those people, those who followed their leaders and gave their lives to fight in his war, just how precious were they?

Could he one day make a similar sacrifice? To send some of his treasured subordinates, or even his friends or, like with Casimir and Anna, loved ones, into a war where it wouldn’t be certain whether they lived or died? How great of a resolve did this action require from the leaders, and just how great did the faith of the subordinates have to be for them to follow such orders? If he himself was weaker, less talented, if he was just a member of the military, would he be able to go into battle like those who had gone to help him? Would he be ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good?

If he had to be perfectly honest with himself, then the answer would have to be that he wasn’t sure. It was too great of a concept for him to work out so easily, but there was one thing that he was certain of. He wanted to become strong enough that, if one day a great conflict arose around him, he wouldn’t have to ask his companions to risk their lives for him. He wanted to be powerful enough that, no matter what happened, he would be able to tread on with his head held high!

Thus, feeling the surging Desire within him, he took a deep breath and looked at the now utterly flabbergasted young man again. In a different situation, he might have felt some compassion for him, but just like Yin had just thoroughly realized - being compassionate to those who didn’t deserve it was being cruel to those who did. It took Yin a little longer to agree with this concept in his heart, but just now, he came to agree with it and thus had completed the foundation of his Compassion.

“Do you understand?” Laien asked the young man, his voice softening for a moment. “If you ask me whether I’m thankful to those who fought and died for me, the answer is naturally yes. Yet, if you ask me if I want to apologize to them, then the answer is no!” he stated strongly, neither his heart nor his mind holding any doubts. Coincidentally, he had reached the same answer before having his thoughts interrupted by Frederick’s appearance, though he had been yet to formulate it clearly. However, thanks to this entire affair, he had been able to understand his emotions far better than he otherwise would have, to which he unhesitatingly gave voice as he elaborated.

“To apologize to those who died for our cause, for my cause, would be to undermine everything we strived for. None of those who fought with us faltered; all of them fought bravely even in face of the greatest danger! Many of them knew they wouldn’t make it out alive from our battles, yet they stood and fought, never once thinking about running away, about discarding their comrades! Some even willingly sacrificed themselves to hold back the enemy experts, to buy us time for victory. And yet, you dare to ask us to apologize to them! To blaspheme their memory!” he spoke from his heart, his anger momentarily surging again. Yet he calmed down soon afterwards and gave Frederick a long look.

“Do you now understand why I won’t apologize?” he asked yet again, this time allowing the silence to continue. By this point, the killing intent of the many experts in the area had long since disappeared, the aggravated expressions on their faces exchanged for admiring ones. Many of the warriors who fought in the war with Laien and Yin had tears in their eyes, while Anna’s face had become an utter mess. Even Mustafa appeared to be having a hard time controlling his emotions, so it came as no surprise that the naturally patriotic northern Euleanians were moved to tears. In particular, the families of those who had died in the war were utterly unable to keep calm, many of the fathers, mothers, and siblings falling to their knees as they sobbed, recalling the memories of their loved ones. Unlike before, however, those bitter memories were now tinged with a hint of sweetness, a hint of pride.

Alas, neither the young man, Frederick, nor his father, was able to come up with any kind of response. If they were asked if they understood what Laien was speaking about, then they would have to say no. Still, even given the indignation they felt because of the overwhelmingly negative response from the people around them, they couldn’t bring themselves to argue against Laien. In the end, feeling that they were stuck between a rock and a hard place, they chose to step back.

Little did they know that, because of their meek retreat after causing trouble and losing the argument, this day would later be remembered as a trigger to the downfall of their faction. Considering that they had intended to humiliate their opponents, it could be said that they had kicked a steel plate so hard that, not just their foot, but their entire leg suffered many fractures.

On the other hand, there were two people present on this mountain slope who could see this kind of future unfolding before their eyes with great clarity. One of them was Academy City’s Rector, Sebastian, who didn’t care to hide his bright smile. As for the second person, it was a fourteen-year-old youth, one who had been observing the entire situation from behind Casimir and Anna, all the while holding the hand of General Agnes’s daughter, Eve. Unlike Sebastian, Alexander wasn’t displaying his happiness so shamelessly, but he couldn’t prevent a sly smile from emerging on his face. He had hoped for their little ploy to work out well, but he hadn’t expected it to be this perfect!

What startled even him, however, was that once the Flamesworth House retreated, the sounds of dozens of swords being drawn in unison sounded from nearby. Quickly shifting his gaze, he discovered that the thirty or so members of the White Sword Unit drew their swords and, after pointing them at the sky, pierced them into the ground before them and kneeled on one leg. Then, as if this action opened up a dam, first Julien and his Cherubim, then Mustafa’s White Guard, Casimir’s and Anna’s Royal Guards, and finally all the military experts gathered at the top of the mountain slope, drew their weapons, struck the ground with them, and kneeled. The most astonishing thing was, though, that all of them were kneeling towards Laien and Yin, paying their respects not just to their fallen comrades in arms, but to those two young boys!

Despite losing his breath momentarily, Alexander soon took out his own sword and kneeled with Eve, lowering his head to hide the grin he couldn’t suppress. He had had great expectations of Laien from early on, but this went well and far beyond them. Just thinking about all the interesting things he could use today’s events for in the future was giving him shivers! Thanks to today, many possibilities for behind-the-scenes manipulation that used to be locked or hard to accomplish had suddenly become doable or easy, so how could he not be overjoyed?

“There they go,” Alexander thought merrily. Right after him, Casimir and Anna chose to kneel too, then when the noble families started joining in, the commoners naturally followed as nothing was holding them back anymore. To top it all off, he was pretty sure he heard one more person draw a sword and kneel a few dozen meters behind him—and that person should be Mustafa himself. “Just look at their expressions,” he mused, having a harder and harder time suppressing the laughter that was trying to escape from his stomach. The looks on his father’s and Uncle Emeric’s faces were priceless now that, apart from Laien and Yin, they were the only two left standing!

“Pft!” After seeing Uncle Emeric reveal a helpless smile and take a knee, then his father doing the same with an extremely bitter expression, Alexander thought he was going to lose it and start laughing like a madman. Fortunately, he was able to hold himself back, albeit barely. After all, he wouldn’t want to spoil such an amazingly beneficial moment, both for him and the Holy Union.