Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 202. Sizing Each Other Up.

Although Arslan didn’t say anything, anyone could tell that he was immensely excited, impatient, and a little bit worried as he looked towards the entrance to the old Marble Mine. The time he had spent travelling with Laien and Yin, that more or less one month, had been the longest time he had been apart from his father in his life. Much of that time had been filled with fun and amazing things, but there had been quite a bit worry and anxiety mixed in there, too. Ever since he had heard that his father had been severely and permanently injured, he had had this matter stuck somewhere in the back of his head no matter what else he was doing. There were only a few times when he was really enjoying himself or when he was worried about something else when he had been able to forget.

Now, however, he would finally be able to resolve this anxious feeling in his heart. He wasn’t dreaming about his father saying that he’s alright all of the sudden, but he felt that just by seeing his father he would be able to calm down considerably. So, he waited impatiently for the long seconds to pass while Azuresky and Emeric gestured their men to temporarily halt the preparations to leave. The original intention of theirs was to move towards the Bolan Kingdom soon after Laien and Yin were done chewing through their best food, but they no longer were sure if it was the best thing to do. Moreover, even though they were tempted by the terms of alliance which Laien had delivered to Casimir and Casimir had handed over to them right after they had finished setting up the camp, they weren’t sure if they wanted to allow a large unit of Mustafa’s experts to freely enter their country.

The matter of trust was one thing, but there was also the issue of how sudden all of it was. Admittedly, Makarash had a far better opinion on the main continent’s eastern world compared to the rest of Arkaria, but there was a considerable number of factions in the Holy Union that considered all Ikarians to be evil, not trustworthy in the least, and deserving total annihilation. Having Mustafa enter the Bolan Kingdom out in the open was bound to create some serious unrest, which they would have trouble quelling in a manner that wouldn’t implicate their long-term plans to deal with the rebellious factions. They had thought that Mustafa would arrive at their borders roughly half a day from now on once he properly quelled the situation in the southern Eulene, but they had apparently overshot their assumptions since it looked like Mustafa had no intention of regaining full control of those territories and would likely abandon them all.

“Is he counting on the alliance?” Azuresky wondered as the first horses, with the man he was sure to be Mustafa riding at the forefront, appeared at the entrance to the mines. “If he is, then he’s right that it would be more advantageous for us to let go of those lands for the time being. It wouldn’t be beneficial for any of our factions to stretch our power thin when our most important goal is to centralize power in our hands and get rid of any opposition, all the while growing the generation of monsters. The same can be said for the Great Prophet’s faction, so I doubt that Arakar will stay in Eulene for long. For the time being, the south is a hot potato that no one in their right mind should be willing to touch,” he mused, at the same time taking notice of how exhausted Mustafa’s and his White Guards’ horses were. For them to have arrived here within less than six hours, they must have pushed their mounts considerably, though still not to the point of lethal exhaustion.

“But well.” Azuresky smiled in a way that was neither a smirk nor a nice smile, yet laid somewhere between those two. “Going by that impatient look on his face, I’m more inclined to think that he’s mainly had his son in mind,” he thought with a silent laugh. He wasn’t arrogant enough to think that the man who had single-handedly created the City of Makarash and made it a superpower on the continental scale wouldn’t take far-fetching implications of his actions into consideration. However, it was worth knowing what priorities Mustafa held in his heart and seeing the man’s reaction was always better than simply hearing about his character. In this aspect, Mustafa’s immense care for his child worked to improve Azuresky’s opinion of him as a potential ally, but more importantly, it allowed him to make a choice about whether to ask Mustafa to come with them openly or incognito.

“Arslan!” Mustafa called out before his horse could even come to a full stop. Without thinking about his appearances, he made use of how experienced he was at horse riding and leaped off the saddle while his horse was breaking sideways, stomping its hooves onto the rough surface of the post-battle terrain as it attempted to stop at the very least moment. Of course, he had noticed the two men who he was sure were the two most powerful Euleanian Kings, but he sensed no battle intent from either of them and even their levels of wariness seemed to be quite low. Thus, he had quickly decided to leave formalities for the later and before any kind of formal greetings could be exchanged, he rushed up to Arslan, who similarly could wait no longer and had dashed towards him with a flushed face and teary eyes. The next moment, when he took his son into his arms and hugged him tightly, he finally was able to truly feel relieved. The future was still uncertain, but at the very least, he once again had his dear son close at his side after all those perilous events of the last month.

While Mustafa continued to hug Arslan, the roughly five hundred White Guards stopped in the middle of the encampment in a far more orderly fashion than Mustafa had. The four Lieutenants then dismantled their horses and walked to the front, placing themselves at the sides of Mustafa and Arslan, though also two steps behind them. From amongst the four of them, Alysia with her fiery temper and Kasim, whose entire aura had become far sharper due to the events of the last weeks, soon started exchanging either provocative glares or competitive looks with the elites before them.

Truth to be told, while Alysia’s temper was just as scary as her unrestrained fighting style, the likes of Julius and Alicia were able to keep their calm when faced with her ever-so-slightly leaking aura. They couldn’t be sure without fighting her, but they could more or less tell that the two of them and Alysia were roughly at the same level of strength. The two other white-clothed Lieutenants appeared to be slightly weaker, but at the same time, that fourth one… They had heard that there was a martial master at the peak of the sixth rank in the White Guards, but since Kasim had never been fond of battles, war, or even fame, he had never made much of a name for himself. It was only now that they were in front of him did Julius and Alicia realize that apart from Mustafa and Kundar, there had been another monster hidden within Makarash all along.

After all, just the little bit of aura Kasim was releasing in from of a ‘greeting’, just as their own side was doing, too, was enough to cause the two of them to start sweating. Unlike with the other three White Guards, Julius and Alicia didn’t feel confident in facing Kasim in a field of battle even if they fought two on one. It wasn’t just Kasim’s cultivation that was one full level higher than theirs, but they could tell that his true combat prowess far exceeded his cultivation level. If the recent events were what had served to change this man’s character and had pushed him onto a path of serious cultivation, then they feared Makarash would produce a second Kundar within the next few years.

“Damn,” Alicia cursed silently, her gaze shifting towards the five hundred horsemen in the back. “Their elite troops aren’t anything to scoff at either. From their presence alone, I could roughly tell that they are of the same quality that our Royal Guard is. And Makarash has ten thousand of them! Even if Mustafa had taken the cream of the crop here with him and the overall quality of a level lower, that’s still terrifying. No wonder King Emeric said that if we were to ever engage in a war with Arkaria, then it would be best if Makarash could be kept out of it. Had Mustafa still been uninjured, I fear that even together our Yali and Bolan Kingdoms wouldn’t have been a match for Makarash, at least not if we had to fight on their home turf,” she pondered in silence. At the same time, she couldn’t help but try and imagine what their side would be able to do in case they had to fight against Makarash in many different potential scenarios.

Least to be said, none of those looked appealing since no matter what ideas she tried to come up with, their only solution was to aim for one huge battle from which Makarash couldn’t retreat. Then, they would have to flood the White Guard with waves of experts and even with the cannon-fodder. That being said, even if they finally won such a battle, they were guaranteed to not be able to slaughter all of their enemies, some of which were bound to flee and cause trouble later, while the losses on their own side would always be catastrophic. To win over the ten thousand White Guards they would have to sacrifice a larger half of their own elites, majority of their regular crack troops and the standards forces, and countless mortal-realm patriots willing to throw their lives away for the cause. Honestly, even if they won such a war, it would be a pyrrhic considering both the short-term and long-term demerits to their Kingdoms that such massive losses would entail.

Meanwhile, as Alicia’s and Julius’s thoughts led them mostly to the same point, Azuresky, Emeric, and even Casimir who had joined the group in the meantime, were thinking further. Since Makarash was just as strong if not stronger than they had expected, then it meant that Arakar and his elites had to be at the same level in order to hold them down. After all, with a half-grown monster like Kasim in their ranks, they should have been able to immediately decimate Yimar Maar’s army the same moment Abdain chose to leave with a portion of his personal subordinates. The fact that they hadn’t was more than enough of a proof that Arakar and in the same breath, the Great Prophet, were a force to be reckoned with. Their three-way alliance would surely be powerful if they were able to work out the details of the deal, especially since Azuresky and Emeric weren’t as eager to totally open their economies to the allied markets and investments like Makarash and the Ruishi Federation appeared to have agreed to do. Yet, even with how powerful they could become by working together, they could still suffer terribly if they underestimated the Great Prophet’s side.

“Son,” Mustafa said calmly while caressing Arslan’s head. The little hint in his father’s voice was all that Arslan needed to stop snuggling into Mustafa’s chest and to take half a step back, then look him in the eye, waiting to see what his father wanted to tell him. “Have you been well?” Mustafa asked with a slight smile. The question might have seemed a bit ridiculous to the ears of those listening, but Arslan knew what his father meant by asking so. It wasn’t that Mustafa had suddenly lost his memory for a moment and no longer remembered all the hardships of the past weeks, also those which Mustafa must have known Arslan had faced. It wasn’t that he thought that Arslan hadn’t worried about or missed him, either. Knowing that, Arslan gave his father a bright smile as he answered.

“Yes, I’ve been well. I learned a lot, too.”

The cool-headed response of Arslan’s made Mustafa’s smile grow wider, but it were his five-year-old son’s eyes which gave him the biggest surprise, one which he failed to prevent from showing on his face. His son had always been a mature and unique kid, he had also been greatly attached to him since the very beginning since he was the only parent he had. Arslan had always been unusually smart and wise for his age, but even Mustafa himself never expected the look in his son’s eyes to become so confident and decisive in just a little over a month. Even without speaking with Arslan, he could tell that his son hadn’t been a passive onlooker to the events going on around him. Someone who only looked without doing anything couldn’t have possibly grown so much.

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“It’s not only that,” Mustafa thought secretly, his heart thumping loudly in his chest. “His eyes have matured further, but there’s one more thing. His gaze used to be unfocused, just like that of most children and many adults. However, even now that he’s simply looking at me, I can tell that he has chosen a goal for himself and is intent on doing anything in his power to achieve it. It’s also surely not a goal as simple as becoming stronger to make me happy like the one he used to focus on,” he realized, much to his satisfaction. Disregarding all the trouble that popped up in the past weeks, his original intent in sending Arslan away with Laien and Yin was for his son to experience some of the world without the protective umbrella his presence would provide to him. If anything, in this aspect the results have gone beyond his wildest expectations and he couldn’t wait to personally hear the entire story from Arslan as he was sure he would enjoy listening to every little bit of it.

“Warrior-King Azuresky,” Mustafa said while standing up straight, right after affectionately caressing Arslan’s head one more time. “King Emeric,” he said right afterwards and gave Emeric a look, too. “I apologize for my crass behavior,” he said with a smile and with a calm look in his eyes. Objectively speaking, it didn’t look as if he was sorry in the slightest and neither did he look like he was apologizing. This ticked off a few of the younger members of the Royal Guards of both the two Kings and their children, but the two rulers merely smiled back at Mustafa and nodded their heads. Well, to be fair Emeric didn’t really smile as in his lips didn’t move, but his eyes brightened up slightly, what in his case could be counted as a smile, probably? Either way, the two Euleanian Kings were of the same mind as Mustafa, as in they wouldn’t want to become friends or allies with someone who would take a slight over a worried father and a child wanting to reunite properly first and foremost.

That being said, seeing that the attitude of the two Kings was agreeable, Mustafa turned his eyes to another duo of nearby royals. “Crown Prince Casimir, Crown Princess Anna,” he said with a smile, then clasped his hands and actually bowed to the two youngsters, shocking both his White Guard and everyone else on the Euleanian side. Although he didn’t bow down all the way and he stopped at roughly forty-five degreed, so to be fair it could be said that he performed half a bow, his act was still flabbergasting enough that even the usually expressionless Emeric displayed surprise on his face.

Still, before anyone could shake off the shock, Mustafa straightened up and continued as if it was the most natural thing to do. “I’ve heard about how you agreed to come over and save my son and his companions even though you weren’t in the situation to do so. I’m immensely grateful to you for your help, so no matter what happens, Makarash will owe you a great favor,” he declared straightforwardly. He didn’t know how Laien and Yin managed to convince those two to risk their lives and the lives of their subordinates for the sake of foreigners they had no relation with, but regardless of what Laien and Yin had promised them, he would make sure that their deed wouldn’t go unrewarded. He had always been fair in his rule and he wasn’t going to change his ways now that those deserving rewards and compensation for their efforts and sacrifices weren’t his people.

“Thank you, Grand Yimar,” Casimir said while he put his hands together in the typical Ikarian gesture, leading Anna to do the same with but a split-second delay. In the end, Casimir was the one with more experience in the matters of diplomacy, so he felt that it would be inappropriate of him not to return the greeting in accordance to Ikarian customs after Mustafa had given him and Anna so much face just a moment ago by bowing to them. That being said, Casimir decided that it would be for the best if he didn’t bring up the deal he had made with Laien and Yin. The mere fact that the boys had used the Roaring Tiger Sigil in their negotiations signified that Makarash was willing to owe them a great debt on top of their agreement to compensate for the men lost in the battle. Yet, Casimir concluded that the only thing he could achieve by bringing this matter up was making himself look like an arrogant prick, so he thought that it would be better to find a better opportunity to do so.

“In fact.” Still, Casimir started speaking, only with a different matter in mind. “Our plan wouldn’t have worked out had our fathers not rushed here at the moment’s notice from further in the north. It was thanks to them and their Royal Guard that we were able to obtain a victory in the end,” he explained, making sure to avoid any sensitive topics. For example, mentioning that the final battle had only taken place since he was set on helping Laien and Yin out to the end since he had come to value their talent greatly would be a bad idea since he would also have to bring up the Shadow Trials. If he did so, then even if he was speaking the truth and was in the right, he would come off as someone who’s narrow-minded and is trying to remind his allies of their debts when they were thanking him for help. He didn’t want to appear as such a person and, in the first place, he wasn’t someone like this anyway. The issue was him being aware of too many possibilities at once and having too much time to think in relation to how long it took him to say the words, so he tended to overthink every little thing he said to make sure he wasn’t accidentally committing a diplomatic blunder.

“I see,” Mustafa replied in the same tone as before, as if he had expected Casimir to say something along those lines from the very beginning. “Then I must give my heartfelt thanks to you too, Warrior-King Azuresky, King Emeric. If there’s anything either of you may need the help of Makarash with, we will make sure to do everything in our power to achieve whatever it is,” he promised and clasped his hands once more. It didn’t escape everyone’s attention, however, that he didn’t bow this time and that his word-choice was toned down a level compared to how much he had promised the two Royal Children. It was still apparent that he valued their aid, but somehow, even though he should have been oblivious to the details of the latest events, he didn’t overshoot or undershoot his gratitude.

Having naturally noticed this much, Casimir couldn’t help but laugh at himself in secret. He had admittedly been playing up the situation a little in their favor in order to obtain another unconditional promise of own a great favor, but Mustafa didn’t fall for it. He was curious if he had somehow betrayed himself with his acting or if it was something else, but he couldn’t really afford to ask Mustafa about it, could he? Maybe he would do it later if he was really curious, but not now.

On the same note, Laien was chuckling quietly a few meters away from the center of action and even Yin was smiling wryly. The two of them had also been a bit surprised that Mustafa was going straight into promising favors without asking anyone to fill him in on the most recent and at least the most important details, but once the second portion of promises fell, they grew suspicious. So, they stretched many strands of aura and sent them over to the White Guards while making sure to avoid Azuresky, Emeric, and Mustafa in order to remain unnoticed. As for whether anyone else from the top experts had a hunch or noted what was going on, they didn’t care. Still, they quickly found what, or rather who, they were looking for.

The same scout that had greeted them out of the mountains of the Forbidden Lands, Zalar, was in the back of the rows of the White Guard riders. The man hadn’t directly participated in the battle, but it was thanks to him that Yimar Maar’s intelligence in the area had been crippled. They suspected that it was also thanks to him that no enemies appeared from the tops of the cliffs of the old Marble Mine, but that was just a guess of theirs. Still, with Zalar there, Mustafa must have been told about the fairly detailed overall picture of what had happened and now could act in accordance with it.

Similarly, even though Azuresky and Emeric didn’t know about Zalar, they suspected that Mustafa had somehow learned of the broad picture of the matters. Thus, they merely smiled and nodded after he thanked them and promised his help, all the while thinking that it really was more interesting to deal with someone who had half a brain for a change. The past months of setting up the invasion of the Tribes had taught them one thing, if anything, and that was those lands in-between Eulene and the Holy Forge Union were full of unrefined barbarians. It was already good if they could hold a normal conversation with them, much less hold an exciting diplomatic battle. In comparison, they looked forward much more to working out the Alliance with Mustafa at the table.

Meanwhile, Mustafa found the two Euleanian Kings to be more and more likeable as they appeared to not only understand what he was doing, but they didn’t mind it and seemed to enjoy the situation. In other words, the first impression the three rulers came to have about each other was a very positive one despite what many of their spectating subordinates thought. “I couldn’t help but notice,” Mustafa mentioned casually, deciding to leave the rest of the thankyous for later. “You seem to be getting ready to move out. If it’s not an issue, how about we finish the rest of formalities at one of your places?” he suggested to Azuresky and Emeric, curious to see what their response would be.

“It’s perfectly fine,” Azuresky replied in a casual manner, dropping some of the original business-like tone. Emeric nodded too, though he didn’t say anything and allowed Azuresky to keep talking. “You and your people are welcome to come with us, Grand Yimar Mustafa. We’d be most happy to provide hospitality to you for however long it’s required,” he stated with a smile. The Alliance was still a secret, so even if he trusted all the people here, he wouldn’t mention it for no reason. However, agreeing to openly invite Mustafa in was something he had already chosen to do after seeing how much the man valued his son. There was no way that those White Guards would act up when their young master was in the Holy Union, they wouldn’t put him in risk. So, there was little he had to worry about as long as he made sure that a proper watch was being kept over Arslan.

“Ho,” Mustafa smiled in amusement, the interest in his eyes growing by the moment as he looked upon the two Kings. “I will take you up on that invitation, then. Let us get moving,” he said merrily, paying no heed to the bunch of baffled subordinates on both sides of the fence, most of whom couldn’t understand how the conversation from before could end in an outcome like that.

“Father!” Yet, just as Azuresky and Emeric were about to send their men off to pack up the camp and prepare the horses, Arslan’s voice stopped them in their tracks. “Before we move out, can I talk with you in private? Just for a little bit, I promise it won’t be long!” he said in a hurry, both his voice and his expression appearing to be rather nervous. On the other hand, despite the obvious stress of his, he didn’t forget to quickly turn around, clasp his hands and bow slightly towards Azuresky and Emeric, apologizing to them for the disturbance and the hassle without saying useless things.

“It’s fine,” Mustafa replied without a second thought. He knew that Arslan wouldn’t bother him with anything unimportant at such a time and he wouldn’t have been so stressed over any little thing, either. “Is there a place where we can talk without anyone listening?” he inquired towards Azuresky, who in turn had trouble keep a grin away from his face. It was a little thing, not even looking for their opinion before making a decision about the entire group, but Azuresky was glad that Mustafa seemed not to have lost any his famed pride and bravery. Had he become timid after sustaining that injury to the Qi Origin and had he become a toothless tiger, then it would have been better if someone else played the role of the representative of Makarash in their future talks.

“You can go there.” Azuresky pointed at the nearest house with a movement of his head. “Your son and his companions stayed there, so it’s empty,” he explained briefly, thus causally implying that they hadn’t been eavesdropping on their conversations before Mustafa’s arrival. The little thing was obvious and was only a message-between-the-lines kind of a thing, but both parties ended up giving the other an understanding smile before Mustafa and Arslan started walking towards the building.

“Father,” Arslan said in a calmer tone compared to a second ago, though anyone who looked at him would be able to tell that he was still just as nervous. “I’d like Laien and Yin to come with us, too,” he requested strongly, but his words somehow sounded like a request too as he gave Laien and Yin a pleading look, thus startling the two youths. Needless to be said, Mustafa was a bit thrown off too, no longer having any idea what to expect from the incoming conversation with his son.