Zelos imagined that the woman was Irlan’s mother and the little girl was his sister. Come to think of it, he had mentioned at some point that his little sister was turning twelve at some point. Since he imagined that Irlan’s little sister could be troublesome, like Heirina and Kaitrine, he decided to avoid her. In the end, his gut feeling was correct. When the little girl saw him, she didn’t try to hide her frown… it looked like Irlan spilled the beans about the first time they talked about her.

Irlan’s little sister had short brown wavy hair tied up into two pigtails. That wasn’t a style that many female warriors used, but it seemed that while she wanted to fight as well, she still wanted to have her own sense of style as well. She had light brown eyes and a bit of a round face. Maybe Irlan spoiled her a lot and brought her to eat pudding there too many times.

“Do you want to join us? It is my little sister’s birthday.”

“Thanks, but I am not into sweets. I hope that you have a good birthday.”

“Thank you.”

Zelos nodded and then moved to a table in the corner of the restaurant and then asked for a full lunch set. Then he asked for another when he finished and then another… when he finished his lunch, those three were still enjoying the pudding, but they looked completely speechless by his appetite and eating speed.

“Thanks for the food.”

Zelos nodded at Irlan and then left the restaurant, only to see a lot of people running in front of the place to the west side of the town. Zelos raised his eyebrows, but soon Irlan explained what was going on.

“You have been busy lately, so we didn’t have time to say it to you, but Captain Hei is returning today with everyone. Heirina is ecstatic.”

“I guess it makes sense.”

Zelos decided to stay around for a while and then watch the guys return. They had been working outside nonstop, so they deserved his respect and welcomed them back. Out of nine hundred warriors that had left, a little less than eight hundred returned. For all intents and purposes, that campaign had been a huge success. No one goes to war thinking that they would return with all of their allies, after all.

In the end, things got a bit noisy as everyone celebrated the return of the warriors of the clan. Hei was leading the group, and while waving at everyone, he was still able to spot Zelos and Irlan and nod at them. Irlan smiled and waved back.

“I would say that he wants to talk with us as soon as possible.”

“Once he is done with all the work that Heirina let it pile up for him.”

“Give her some credit, will you? I will confirm that soon and then come to talk to you.”

Zelos nodded, and then he left. The restaurants and taverns were starting to become noisy since the warriors wanted to celebrate their return, so it was time for Zelos to bail. After doing his afternoon work, Zelos went to look after his horse and train his horsemanship skills a bit.

“How are you doing today, buddy?”

The giant black horse snorted… Zelos felt like Nightstorm, his horse, was complaining that he was late for his work of brushing his hair, body, and mane. He soon relaxed when Zelos started that.

“I met some troublesome people along the way, so I am a bit late.”

Before he noticed, in the last few months, Zelos developed the habit of talking with his horse. While he looked fearsomely powerful, there was also this air of intelligence in the eyes of Nightstorm. He was also a very skilled horse and never showed any weakness, even when Zelos rode him while carrying a bunch of heavy stuff.

After he brushed Nightstorm, Zelos did some training while swinging his club as well… he finally could use the weapon with a single hand while riding and the sound of the wind being pushed away by the weapon was pretty impressive. Zelos finally could fight like that, but he was starting to feel that the club was too light. Perhaps he needed a bigger weapon, since he also felt that the weapon was a bit smaller than it was before.

“Thanks for your hard work. One apple, as usual as a reward, right?”

Nightstorm snorted in annoyance, and then Zelos laughed and grabbed two from his back.

“I am joking. Two as usual. I guess I can’t complain that you eat too much, considering that I am the same.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Looking after a horse was a lot of work and cost a lot, but Zelos felt that it was worth the hassle and the investment. Now, he needed to consider buying some gear for Nightstorm. It was better to be ready for that instead of looking for it when he began to hear about the proximity of another battle.

While Zelos was thinking about that, he heard the sound of another horse approaching and soon he saw Irlan.

“Did he say something? You don’t look to be in a hurry.”

“He just called for all of us. Heirina looked a bit troubled, though.”

“Not happy knowing that Hei will free her from her own future job?”

“She doesn’t look particularly thrilled, but she shows that kind of expression now and then, like something troublesome happened and that she doesn’t want to deal with. Usually, it isn’t anything really troublesome.”

“You sure are observant.”

“By the way, sorry about before. Irlene was in a bit of a bad mood since she recalled that you didn’t try to become her friend.”

“I take it that is the name of your little sister… Was she expecting that I would come to her to become her friend just because you mentioned her a few times?”

“... I feel troubled by saying yes, but it is true.”

“You must be spoiling her beyond reason… What kind of monster are you raising?”

“It can’t be helped. Mom is already plenty harsh to her, so Dad and I had to balance it out.”

“I am sure it is working.”

Those two rode in silence to Hei’s house and from a distance, they saw Kaitrine entering the place as well with Edea. For a while, Edea has been living in a single house on the other side of the town. She had saved enough money to buy one after the battle six months ago. Zelos heard that Kaitrine wanted to do the same soon enough, so he was the only one living a poor man’s life when it came to his residence.

After leaving the horses outside, they entered the house and soon found everyone in the living room sipping on some tea. Zelos didn’t like tea that much, so he skipped on it. He was starting to like coffee, but when he drank it, he would have a hard time sleeping at night, so he was trying to avoid it as much as possible.

“Thanks for coming, everyone. We didn’t have the chance to talk six months ago, but I congratulate you on your hard work before. Convincing the natives to help us was the key to winning that battle.”

Everyone wanted to know how things were in the town they had just taken over. They had heard a few things, but nothing else. The last thing they heard was that Carli Junior and Lua’s clan were ruling the place while Hei got to control the villages.

“We stayed there for a while to defend the place and establish our rule there, and we can safely say that the territory was successfully annexed. It looks like the people of that country don’t have plans to take it back anytime soon. Lua didn’t give me many details, but her spies said that the warriors in other areas are moving north and south, probably thanks to some other threats.”

That would explain a lot. Still, they would need more than that instead of just waiting for the enemies to attack again or keep attacking. Fortunately, a lot of people wanted to use the wind that was blowing in their favor, so a lot of people showed interest in joining some clans to become warriors. Hei imagined that getting two hundred more warriors to fill their ranks would be an easy task this time around.

“Well, that is all about the past and the current situation. Now then… about the future. I received an unusual letter and soon Heirina received another as well and pretty similar. Long story short: Reina is calling you guys to pay her back for helping in that battle.”

Everyone looked at each other, wondering the meaning behind that… they knew that Reina would ask for a favor, eventually, but not so soon. Nevertheless, that would explain why Heirina looked bothered.

“What does she want us to do, Dad?”

“She didn’t tell you in your letter? She didn’t say anything aside that she would be borrowing you all.”

“... She starts to sound more and more bothersome than actually a person who is difficult because of the difference in the culture. Maybe it isn’t worth it to try to become allies with the natives…”

“You sure changed your opinion a lot in the last six months. Anyway, if she didn’t tell you in the letter what she wanted you all to do, then you will have to head there and learn the reason for it. Despite being someone difficult, she isn’t a bad person or someone who would give you an impossible task.”

Heirina went silent for a while… Ultimately, the decision would be hers since she was the leader of the group, but since no one seemed against it…

“What do you guys think?”

“Trying to find a reason elsewhere not to go? In the end, we received help and we need to pay the debt. They lost some of their own in a battle that technically wasn’t theirs, after all.”

Despite Zelos’ annoying words, Heirina knew that he had a point. A debt must be paid no matter what. Without a good reputation, a clan couldn’t maintain itself for long. The others also looked like they had the same thoughts. The fact that Reina didn’t say what the goal of the mission was was troublesome, but perhaps it wasn’t something that could be said through a letter.

“We will at least go there and hear about what she has in store for us. We will depart the day after tomorrow at sunrise. Prepare yourselves accordingly.”

Everyone nodded and soon they got up to leave the house. As it turned out, the old man farmer was correct about his predictions, so the fact that Zelos would suddenly leave again wouldn’t bother him that much. While the group was readying their horses to leave, Irlan decided to break the silence.

“I never heard of natives asking for help from outside. While we owe them, it is unusual for them to invite anyone to their territory. What do you guys think that this is about?”

“No clue.”

“No point in thinking about it. We should just wait to hear directly from Reina.”

Zelos and Kaitrine gave their opinions on the matter. They didn’t look troubled or very interested, they just wanted to pay their debts and that would be all. Still, Edea put a bit of more thought into it.