Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 99. Settled Future.
“Do you think he really can see the future?” Arslan inquired on the way back. He had never heard of anyone truly possessing such an ability, so he couldn’t help but feel rather curious about it. If the Prophet could truly see the past and the future, then he would be an almost priceless asset to any ruler!
“He did predict that lightning,” Laien said in a half-convinced manner. “He also spoke about Julien’s past, but was that accurate?” he wondered aloud and glanced at Julien, causing the rest of the youths who were walking by his side to do the same.
“What he said was true,” Julien replied coldly. “However, I don’t want to talk about my past, so I’d appreciate if you didn’t mention this subject again,” he added with a sigh. He couldn’t be angry at those kids for wanting to know, but he wished they would have taken a clue, just like Elder Samuel had a few minutes ago. It was just that… “Eh, now I’m being idiotic. Getting frustrated because of something like that,” he scolded himself silently, then actually spoke up with a slightly lighter expression on his face.
“Forget that last part. If an opportunity comes, I will tell you a bit about it… maybe this way, similar things will be prevented in the future.”
Having said so, Julien smiled at the surprised expressions of the adults and youths around him alike. How come he suddenly had a change of heart? It was pretty simple; a smaller part of it was that he wished to get over his past, while the major part was that he hoped for those kids to learn something through hearing his story and hopefully, to then act upon those new feelings in one way or another. Having four young geniuses share some of his hatred for Ikarians could only bring him closer to his ultimate goal of eliminating all non-Makarash-native Ikarians from the face of the earth; and even if none of those youths moved in this direction, he could at least hope to have an ally in them.
Originally, however, he hadn’t even considered doing anything of this kind. He didn’t agitate anyone against Ikarians on purpose but merely accepted under his wing those who had grudges against them! In Lugna, the young children weren’t taught to hate Ikarians either; they only knew that most of their superiors had their reasons for hating Ikarians. Yet, with an opportunity presenting itself so clearly and after his emotions had been stirred by the Prophet, he couldn’t bring himself to pass on the opportunity. Especially in Arslan’s case, he wished to have at least one proper talk with the boy! Arslan’s father, Mustafa, was already in an open conflict with a portion of Ikarians. Getting this one particular youth to become his ally would bring endless benefits to his long-term plans and goals.
“…” As their group was leaving the premises of the Grand Camp, Elder Samuel was struck by an idea. He considered it briefly and thought about the points for and against it, including the possible long-term consequences of such a choice, then made up his mind and spoke up. “Elder Simon, Elder Sophie. I suggest that as his punishment, we assign General Julien and his Cherubim to guard young master Arslan for the period of his stay in our country. What do you say?”
“Huh?” Elder Sophie frowned, her attitude instinctually turning suspicious. She was on Julien’s side from the very beginning and so she saw no reason to insist on giving him any real punishment, but she couldn’t understand why Samuel was passing this opportunity to put Julien in place. “Aren’t you being too magnanimous? I don’t have anything against the idea, but I want to know the reasons behind it,” she stated outright and sent Samuel a distrusting glance.
“Harsh punishment is uncalled for,” Elder Samuel explained with a smile, which for some reason was causing Elder Sophie to feel incredibly annoyed. “General Julien has already conceded a big swathe of ground to us by agreeing not to act even though the Prophet will be putting the children in danger. We need not call the Grand Council to discuss this matter, so settling it quickly should be to the mutual benefit of both of our parties,” he explained amiably and politely, though in one way another, most likely because of the confident and perhaps a bit too amiable tone of his voice, he managed to anger Sophie regardless of his intentions.
“Hrmph, whatever.” Elder Sophie’ s face turned slightly red and she looked away from Samuel. She was in agreement with him for once, but it didn’t mean she liked that situation by any stretch of imagination…!
On the other hand, the third of the present Grand Elders was thinking more clearly at the moment. “That’s an intriguing point you are making,” Elder Simon said while scratching his short, grey beard. “You say he will be putting those children in danger… so despite believing the Prophet, you don’t trust that his biggest Prophecy will come true?” he asked, curious to hear what Samuel’s stance on this matter was. Personally, he couldn’t imagine those regular and rather weak civilians defeating any kind of a military formation, much less the Ikarian army stationed in the Guode Yimarate, but maybe Samuel’s thoughts were contrary to his.
In response to Elder Simon’s point, Elder Samuel laughed quietly and shook his head. “I must admit, I do not see how that Prophecy is going to come true, so I can only assume that those eight million people will be a spark that ignites some kind of a grand event. As to what might happen there, I concede that I am unable to as much as speculate with any degree of reliability,” he said straightforwardly. The prophetic abilities of that man were impressive, but they wouldn’t be of much help in a real battle. There were a few things he could think about with regards to how that ‘Grand Prophecy’ could come true, but the internal and external information he possessed all signaled against those possibilities coming true.
“Hmm,” Elder Simon nodded in agreement. “Tell us then, before we separate and go our own ways. Do you have any intentions of moving behind the scenes to aid the Prophet in taking down the Capital City of the Guode Yimarate?” he asked bluntly, the look in his eyes turning very much serious.
The whole party stopped when Elder Simon’s question fell. Although only Elder Simon and to an extent, Julien, were aware of the true influence Elder Samuel wielded within the Ruishi Federation, everyone had a fairly clear understanding that out of the thirteen Grand Elders, it was Elder Samuel whose position was the highest. As such, they couldn’t help but really want to hear an answer to the question asked.
“I do not.” Elder Samuel laughed lightheartedly. “I do not enjoy the presence of Ikarians in the southern Eulene, but those lands are already forfeited. Reclaiming them would take hundreds of years and would involve a long struggle against Arkarian forces. It could even lead the divided Grand Yimars to unite against us! The Holy Union to the north is still too fresh of a creation for us to consider it a reliable ally too. For the time being, it’s best for us to keep our neutrality. Once the current young generation of geniuses develops into Generals, Great Generals and Magistrates, then we can ask ourselves this question again,” he elaborated without hiding his intentions too much and smiled toward Arslan in a half-apologetic manner. As much as he favored Mustafa over the other Grand Yimars and the Arkarian Great Prophet, he wasn’t quite willing to involve their country in any wars just yet.
Still, the Ruishi Federation was strong! In another hundred years, it would be the strongest it had ever been. For them to remain neutral for long in such a state of things would be a crime in itself. “The opportunities will appear. All one needs to do is keep his eyes peeled and look for them. Do not be hasty, do not be hasty,” Elder Samuel reminded himself in his heart. He had risen to power one step at a time, thanks to slowly accumulating power and capital. Rushing out in full force to obtain everything was glorious, indeed, but it was nothing short of a fool’s errand in his eyes.
“That’s reassuring,” Elder Simon said with a smile, then shook his head ever so slightly and gave Arslan an apologetic look. Providing him with shelter and protection was something they were more than willing to do, but they wouldn’t get involved in the ongoing conflict in the southern Eulene.
“It’s okay,” Arslan said with a slight, understanding smile. “Father will be able to deal with everything on his own. I’m already glad to be protected here so I don’t become a hindrance to him,” he said honestly. He had never expected to receive any kind of military help from the Ruishi Federation, so the extent of what they had done for him was already more than enough to make him happy.
Elder Samuel and Elder Simon both smiled at Arslan words. They nodded at him politely, then made use of the opportunity to excuse themselves and headed to the fort.
“I hope we will find some time to chat later, young master Arslan,” Elder Sophie said with an amiable smile, nodded her head slightly and also left.
“Looks like it all ended well,” Jasmine said with relief. She had recently spent the most time with Julien, so she couldn’t help being a bit worried about him. She knew how terrible it felt when the orders from above didn’t match one’s conscience, but she also knew that very rarely was the opting of going against one’s superiors the correct one, so she was glad that everything ended as it did.
“It didn’t end all that well,” Julien said somewhat bitterly. “Samuel also made his position very clear this time around. The Grand Elders will choose to stand and watch what happens from the sidelines… eh… It’s the first time in my life that I hope someone who calls himself a Prophet isn’t wrong,” he admitted unhappily and shook his head. This whole situation was giving him one huge headache, but it wasn’t like he was willing to forsake everything he had worked so hard to obtain and discard all the people who chose to follow him for the sake of those people who he ultimately didn’t even know. It would have been a different thing if they were being forcefully sent to their likely demise… but as the matters stood now, he couldn’t bring himself to discard everything he had for their sake.
Seeing Julien pout, Jasmine smiled in understanding and consoled. “There are times when the black and white are so mixed they are impossible to discern from each other. I do not know much about your country, but I can see there was no perfect answer to the problems you are facing. Either way someone would end up suffering, be it now, in a few decades or in a few centuries.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“You are being too soft on him,” Sirius spoke up and revealed a wry smile as he looked at Jasmine. “Don’t tell me you were smitten by him? As one of the ten Lieutenants, who if not you should be aware that being sufficiently ruthless for the sake of his own people is a necessary quality of a ruler? Be it our Grand Yimar Mustafa, this Grand Elder Samuel… or little master Laien, they all understand this simple truth,” he said with a certain sense of pride which stemmed from being a citizen of Makarash… and from his own a little selfish pride as someone who thought himself to one day become a future aide of Laien’s, one of the boy’s trusted subordinates.
Having allowed his tongue to slip a little, Sirius rebuked himself for making his intentions too obvious… but the next second, he could only laugh inwardly. It looked like his other comment about Jasmine being smitten with Julien managed to occupy too much of the attention of the adults present for them to notice the subtle meaning behind the inclusion of Laien in the list of people he considered to be able rulers. As for the youths, they appeared to be thinking about what he said about being ruthless; none of them seemed to have taken notice of his little slip of the tongue.
“That’s for the best,” Sirius thought with relief. “Until little master Arslan’s rule is secure, I would rather not bring up my future plans,” he mused in silence, all the while watching the almost too amusing scene of Julien being embarrassed as Reian questioned the frustrated Jasmine. “Haha, that’s what she gets for keeping her youthful appearance even though she’s an old lady. All those young men can’t resist the temptation of the youthful looks and mature character,” he thought with a clear smile present on his face; you reap what you sow, indeed!
At this time, Laien suggested to the youths around him. “Let’s go to see how Johan and the rest are doing.”
“Yeah,” Lea supported the idea. “Then, after the matter with them is done, we can show you around the nearby cities as we go to toward the Capital,” she said with a smile. According to the promises made by the Grand Elders, those five thousand people brought by them would receive special treatment, so they had nothing else left to worry about. Maybe finally, she would be able to enjoy some proper leisure time like she had been intending to do since the very beginning.
“Sure,” Laien nodded and laughed a little. “You three are my guides after all. Wasn’t there something about servants too, huh?” he asked teasingly, then chuckled at the awkward and embarrassed expressions on the faces of those three. “C’mon, c’mon, I’m just kidding. I’m only going to make you wash my clothes and prepare my food if you make me really angry,” he said with a grin, chuckled again and headed toward the place just below the main road leading to the Grand Camp, where Johan and the others were staying at.
Yin and Arslan both followed Laien with playful smiles on their faces, while Lea, Luca and Daniel did so only after letting out quiet sighs, though also after smiling to themselves. They had pretty much been aware that Laien’s character was like that from the beginning, so they weren’t surprised now. Yet, it really was a little troublesome to deal with someone like Laien with a cool head; unless one was compatible with him, it would inevitably tire one out to spend a lot of time around Laien.
“Not even asking us before going,” Julien complained quietly, not used to being treated akin to an attendant or an average, nameless guard.
“It’s normal,” Sirius assured with a smile. “Those three are all little masters and it’s not like we were restricting them in any way during our travel. You can expect Laien to be calling most of the shots… but he’s also surprisingly gullible when the other two want to do something else,” he added with a laugh, personally finding the relationship between those three youths to be quite interesting.
Julien let out a quiet grunt, but since he had been assigned as Arslan’s guard as a form of punishment, he realized he wasn’t in a position where he could complain. He could only reluctantly accept that for the time being, he would be following those three boys around. “At least the three of them are exceptional, so it’s not as bad as it could be if they were just normal, spoiled young masters,” he told himself, trying to maintain a positive attitude.
“Come on, they are getting away,” Sirius reminded with a laugh and gestured the four to follow him and the youths.
Julien, Jasmine and Reian sighed, while Kasha smiled slightly. They joined Sirius on the way, all of them wondering how the next few days would look like for them, but thinking about it from very different perspectives and with different center points in their minds. Julien was moaning as he thought about playing a secondary role to some kids, Reian was still thinking about Sirius’s comment with regards to Jasmine being smitten by Julien, Jasmine was feeling helpless with those two young men by her sides, whereas Kasha was glad not to be in the center of the events and was looking forward to observing how everything was developing from the sidelines.
---
About fifteen minutes later, within one of the wooden houses that had been set up outside of the Grand Camp’s perimeter.
“So we’re gonna get scattered all over the place, huh,” Albert mused aloud while scratching his chin, on which the first tingles of beard were appearing. “It shouldn’t be too hard for families and friends to stay together since our five thousand is a mesh of the many smaller groups to begin with. It’s a good deal,” he summed up, feeling rather relieved. He had trusted they would be allowed to stay in the Ruishi Federation with Arslan’s support, but despite that, he had been feeling a bit anxious about the details of the deal the Ruishi Federation would offer them. Now, however, he could finally breathe with relief and relax; for the time being, they had overcome all the major obstacles in their lives. Hopefully, everything would get a bit simpler from now on.
“Aren’t you more surprised about this Prophet?” Sarah asked in a seriously concerned tone. “I can’t believe they are going to let those people go to war on their own and do nothing. They are going to be massacred, just like all those killed in the spring,” she said with a grim look on her face.
“Sarah.” Albert shook his head, already guessing that Sarah would attempt to do something about it on her own despite all the odds being against her. “Weren’t you listening? Even General Julien gave up. If we try to meddle, the Grand Council might say it’s a sign of us creating trouble and deny us the right to stay,” he stressed, not wishing for any trouble to arise when they finally arrived at safety.
“I know,” Sarah said with a click of her tongue. “But it still pisses me off,” she stated discontentedly. Above anything else, she wanted to secure the safety of her little brother and of her friends, so it wasn’t like she was going to do anything reckless… but she was still allowed to complain if she didn’t like something, right?
“… So we’re going to be staying here?” Johan asked quietly, looking like he had something to what he just couldn’t figure out an answer to on his mind.
“So it seems,” Sarah replied with a warm smile. “We’ll be able to live like we want to, without anyone treating us like trash and turning every day into hell,” she added, the smile on her face paling slightly in exchange for a dose of grim satisfaction. Those who had done those unspeakable things to them, they were all dead while they were alive. She wasn’t a religious person to begin with, but at this moment, perhaps because she had just listened to a whole sermon a few moments ago, she would dare say that the Heavens gave those bastards the punishment which they deserved.
“Yeah…” Johan agreed somewhat unenthusiastically, then let out a quiet sigh. Living in the Ruishi Federation… two weeks ago, such a thing would have seemed like a dream to him. Now, however, this kind of a future appeared surprisingly bleak and unappealing to him. His cultivation talent was low, he wasn’t particularly good or interested in anything that could turn into a job… what kind of life would await him in this place? He was sure it would be far better than in his hometown, but it would still be far from being as fun and enjoyable as the time he spent traveling with Laien, Yin, and Arslan.
“Is something wrong?” Sarah asked. She noticed the grumpy expression on her little brother’s face. “Are you worried that you won’t be with your new friends anymore? It’s going to be okay,” she said with an understanding smile. Although she wasn’t all that fond of those three youngsters, she appreciated very much what they had done for them. She had also seen how much Johan changed during those two weeks; he no longer avoided everyone’s gaze, smiled more often and became much more talkative. She understood why he would be sad about parting with them, but as far as she was concerned, there was no other way but for Johan to quickly get over it and start living his own life.
In response to his older sister’s words, Johan only gave her a brief look, then forced out a slight smile and said nothing else.
“That should be everything for the time being,” Albert said with a smile and swept everyone with a quick glance. “On our part, there’s nothing else to do until the officials approach us with the resettling plans, so we are free. Any ideas what do we do now?” he asked with a smile, thinking that it would be nice if they could all relax and spend some time playing together. However…
“Count me out,” Laien said with a quiet laugh and after exchanging a brief glance with Yin and confirming that Yin was up for a light spar, he followed up. “ I want to spar with Yin and spend the rest of the day training. Playing is fun, but we don’t want to neglect our training. We will be free tomorrow from the afternoon to the evening,” he laid out straightforwardly, without making excuses or beating around the bush. He and Yin hadn’t had a good opportunity to spar and train in peace since entering the Ruishi Federation, so now that they had some free time, they were intending to make use of it to the fullest.
Considering their usual schedule, they would likely spar first, then meditate on the Ancient Tomes and commit some time to their other various insights, do a Combined Soul Realm session and finally, spar one more time. Of course though, since Yin’s Qi was still a mess, they would mainly move their bodies during both sparing sessions, but since what they wanted was to move around a little, not to tire themselves out until they couldn’t lift a finger, so it would still be good enough.
Either way, after they were done with all of that, Laien predicted it would be around the noon of next day. With their training routine completed, the two of them would be able to enjoy some leisure time without feeling restless and anxious about wasting their time… or using it in an inefficient way.
“Too bad,” Arslan said with a little sigh and smiled at Laien and Yin. He had watched the two of them spar quite a few times during the past two weeks, so he no longer was so insistent on accompanying them the whole time. In the end, although looking at Laien and Yin spar was very interesting, that was at most half an hour while for the rest of the time, they would train quietly while mediating. Since he himself was still unable to make use of meditative trance to train in any meaningful way, there simply was no point in sticking to them this whole time; it would be way too boring.
“I guess I will be staying with everyone else,” Arslan said with a smile. Judging by the looks on the faces of the rest of them, no one else was planning to run off to do something else like Laien and Yin. “It will be nice to get to know those three better,” Arslan thought quietly. Although he wasn’t particularly interested in Luca, Lea and Daniel, he understood it would be beneficial for him to become friends with future influential figures of the Ruishi Federation… and it wasn’t like he disliked them either. Plainly enough, he wasn’t nearly as intrigued by them as by Laien and Yin, so if he was given a choice, he would always choose to hang out with the latter than the former.
“Well then.” Laien stood up and just half a second later, Yin did the same. The two of them smiled at the rest of the youths present, then left the room.