Chapter 125: Misunderstanding, Kindness, Stone

A flurry of clubs had hurt the indigenous recruits’ bodies and knocked some sense into their heads. After suffering through it, the indigenous people slowly learned obedience and discipline. Even though they had realized the benefits of doing so for less than three days, I felt they were already much better than they had been three days ago. If we pushed them onto the battlefield now, I believed their performance would be far better than before. But this was still not enough. With their sturdy bodies, they were fully capable of doing even better—and that was exactly what Evlinna wanted, and the direction we were working toward.

Evlinna appeared in our camp accompanied by Eckdin and Rotis. In the past, probably all the Lumburi soldiers would have rushed forward to greet their leaders, but now they held their clubs upright and practiced thrusts under the relatively thin squad leader Laces. Only a few dozen people glanced slightly in this direction and slowed their hand movements. For them, this was already an unimaginable improvement.

“Ah, what is going on? Their bodies?” Evlinna noticed the wounds on the indigenous warriors’ bodies and faces and shouted in surprise. The effect of these words was even more unsettling than the High Priest’s appearance, and it made those brave indigenous people unbearably ashamed. More people lowered their heads with red faces, their hands moving weakly and mechanically; their thrusts looked like they were digging holes.

“Stop for now, Squad Leader Laces.” Training obviously could not continue in front of Evlinna, so I took the initiative to end it.

“How did you get these wounds on your body?” Evlinna walked over in confusion and pointed at an indigenous warrior’s bruised arm.

That indigenous warrior gave us a shameful look, shook his head, and turned away, avoiding Evlinna’s kindness.

“What about you? How did you get those on your back?”

Still no one answered.

“What about your leg? And why is your eye swollen? And you…” Evlinna grabbed her strongest clansmen one by one and questioned them, but every one of them turned away with a blushing face, or stammered, unable to answer the young High Priest’s questions.

Evlinna looked very angry. Her face flushed red and her eyes widened as she walked furiously toward us and demanded loudly, “What did you do to them? I trusted you so much, treating you as my friends, but how could you treat my clansmen like this?”

“We only did what needed to be done.” Just as I was about to explain to Evlinna, Roll beside me said this with an expressionless face. This was originally meant to be a friendly gesture from Roll: he was a man of few words by nature, and even with us, he rarely spoke. When we were around, he had almost never answered questions from Lumburi Tribe members. Now, by opening his mouth to defend himself, he had already shown a rare closeness to Evlinna.

But this was truly the worst possible answer. Not only did it further enrage our young indigenous friend, even I found it very grating to hear.

“What needed to be done?” Evlinna looked at us in disbelief, especially at Roll. Perhaps it was only when those words came from Roll’s mouth that she would become so angry. The young High Priest was so excited she could not control herself. Pointing at Roll’s nose, she demanded loudly, “Is beating up my strongest clansmen and making them train covered in wounds what you should do? Is that what you should do? Then what shouldn’t you do? Thank goodness they’re still alive!”

Evlinna looked like an angry peacock—even when angry, she was so beautiful and lovely. The right hand she pointed at Roll was like a white magnolia blooming under the moonlight, elegant and charming.

“We only taught them some things they should know…” Roll’s expression did not change, but his voice sounded a bit anxious. He rarely defended himself like this. More often, he ignored other people’s opinions and just sat alone coldly in a corner. Rather than expressing himself with words, our silent friend was better at persuading others with short swords and daggers.

“Shut up!” Slap! A crisp sound came from between Evlinna’s right hand and Roll’s cheek, and the surroundings immediately fell into dead silence. Evlinna had already given us more than enough surprises, but compared with what was happening before us now, those were all ordinary. Who could have imagined that the gentle, lovely, kind, and beautiful young girl would actually gather the courage to slap someone hard in the face—and not just anyone, but the very warrior who always walked on the edge of death, brought despair to others with fear, and had stirred her heart most deeply?

We were stunned. Eckdin and Rotis just watched all this happen without any movement. They could not believe their own eyes either; they looked like they would rather believe they were dreaming.

My reaction at that moment was exactly the same as theirs.

After swinging that slap in anger, Evlinna herself was terrified. She raised her right hand in front of her, then looked at the thin, red handprint on Roll’s cheek, not knowing what to do. She opened her mouth wanting to speak, but nothing came out. She reached out her hand wanting to touch Roll’s face, but stopped it in midair. At this moment, Evlinna looked as if she really wanted to cry, but she seemed to have forgotten how to cry. Anger and apology alternately appeared on her face, making it impossible to guess what was in her heart.

Roll clenched his fist and looked speechlessly into Evlinna’s eyes until she avoided his sharp gaze. He swallowed bitterly, turned around in silence, and walked far away.

“What are you doing? I did that! It had nothing to do with Roll!” Only after Roll’s figure disappeared into the woods did Dakla come back to his senses. He shouted somewhat angrily, but he also looked very awkward, not knowing how to deal with the girl before him who seemed about to cry.

“Do you think beating them was a bad thing? You’re wrong. It’s very helpful for them. It will save their lives on the battlefield later! When your clansmen first arrived…” Dakla spoke loudly to Evlinna with some excitement. He recounted in full the infuriating behavior of those indigenous warriors when they arrived at camp. He did not go into detail, and his description was not very clear, but his expression and tone told our friends that he was telling the truth. Eckdin and Rotis looked at each other and nodded awkwardly: they knew their clansmen very well and knew that they were entirely capable of such behavior.

Seeing the commotion, the indigenous warriors who had stopped training also gathered around. Dakla’s account made them feel ashamed, but their honor as warriors would not let them avoid the truth. They frankly admitted their mistakes to Evlinna and said that they did not resent the brothers from Delanmaya at all; instead, they were grateful for their mercy.

As they spoke, Evlinna’s face turned alternately red and white. She began to realize how big a mistake she had made. Somewhat anxiously, she complained to Dakla, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? If only you had told me sooner…”

Dakla looked both annoyed and wronged as he answered, “It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you, but just now, as soon as you finished speaking, he cut in. After he finished, you spoke again. After you finished, he spoke again. Then you struck. I simply had no chance to cut in. What Roll did was also wrong—it clearly had nothing to do with him, so why did he butt in? Besides, even if I had been the one you slapped, I wouldn’t have been driven away by it…”

Evlinna gave Dakla an embarrassed and angry “Humph,” then turned to me awkwardly and said, “Jeff, I’m sorry. Just now… I was too impulsive. I said those things. Please… please forgive me…”

The surrounding Lumburi warriors let out surprised sighs, and I knew why. As the messenger of their god, the High Priest was a sacred and inviolable symbol to them. No matter what, as long as the High Priest said it or did it, it must be correct. Even if the High Priest really made a mistake, no one was willing or daring enough to admit it. But today, they had actually seen the new High Priest apologize to foreign friends right in front of them. That alone was enough to shock them so much they could not sleep at night.

Somewhat mischievously, I said to Evlinna, “Oh, you don’t need to apologize to us, but I think you really need to apologize properly to one person…” I pointed in the direction where Roll had disappeared and said with a sly smile, “Roll is the most fearsome warrior among us, but today he was beaten badly. I have no idea what kind of harm he might have suffered…”

Evlinna looked where my finger pointed, then lowered her head shyly and awkwardly. She hesitated and looked over there, then looked at me pleadingly, as if hoping I could apologize to Roll in her place.

I would not do anything that stupid. I pretended not to understand her meaning and innocently turned my head away.

Evlinna looked with a conflicted expression at the chieftains beside her, then at the woods where Roll was; finally she could not help walking over there. Eckdin and Rotis wanted to follow her, but I stopped them.

“My respected friends, Fred has something important to say. It concerns the equipment of the Lumburi warriors. He is now in his room. I think it’s better to discuss this with you two first, since you are the greatest warriors of the Lumburi Tribe, and Evlinna has never been involved in combat.”

Hearing news related to weapons, the two chieftains immediately perked up, almost casting their High Priest to the backs of their minds. However, the rest of the indigenous warriors’ curiosity was not dispelled by this; some of them had already begun secretly following Evlinna toward the woods.

“Hey, what are you guys doing? Get back here, damn it!” Dakla’s voice rang out just in time, calling those bold young men back.

“Squad Leader Laces, start teaching them the charge formation this morning. From here to the river over there, fifty round trips. Begin immediately after assembly.” Dakla ordered sternly. Looking at Laces’s resolute and persistent expression, I knew this order would be carried out very well. After that, those brave indigenous warriors probably would not have any energy left to find out what had happened between those two in the woods.

Damn it. I looked at the two chieftains beside me with some dissatisfaction and could not help thinking to myself: If they were not both here, this would have been a good chance to eavesdrop.

I was not deliberately creating a chance for Evlinna to be alone with Roll; Fred really did have things to discuss with the two chieftains. Until this time the day before yesterday, we were still worrying about equipment for the Lumburi Tribe’s indigenous army. As their numbers gradually increased, we really could not provide them with more weapons and armor. Hugh’s caravan already struggled just to supply our equipment, and in the foreseeable future, the number of Lumburi Tribe’s soldiers could quickly expand to no fewer than thirty thousand. Even the resourceful Hugh could not satisfy such a demand. No matter how much we trained the Lumburi warriors’ combat awareness and combat skills, the huge disparity in equipment would open an unbridgeable gap between them and a truly strong army.

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty!” The morning of the day before yesterday, just as I was accompanying my friend on an inspection of the camp, a short, stocky man suddenly rushed over from the side and knelt down in front of Fred. His action startled us. Because when we were with Fred, we deliberately avoided the term that symbolized his noble status, so at first, neither of us realized who the “Your Majesty” he was addressing referred to. If Fred had not stopped them in time, that rash fellow would probably have had his bones broken by the guards who swarmed over.

“You… who are you?” Fred asked hesitantly.

“My name is Robert Wilance, Your Majesty.” This man named Robert was around thirty years old, looked very reserved, and kept his face pressed to the ground as he spoke, not daring to lift it.

“The Winston people killed my whole family, Your Majesty. They insulted my wife in front of me and sold me as a slave. If not for you, my master, I probably never would have been able to breathe this free air again in my life. Everything I have was given by you, Your Majesty. I hope I can express my gratitude to you. Your kindness to me is something I can never repay…” Robert’s voice was mournful and painful. He tried hard to suppress his emotions in front of his ruler, struggling not to lose his composure, but that only made him look worse.

“Please rise, Mr. Wilance. You have nothing to apologize to me for.” Fred solemnly helped the man up and said to him with deep guilt, “In fact, I should apologize to you. Whether as a king or as a soldier, I should apologize for being unable to protect my people.”

At that moment, everyone present saw this surprising and moving scene: before them, a noble king knelt on one knee; in front of him was a ragged farmer, who lowered his head and said earnestly and sadly, “I sincerely beg your forgiveness, sir, for the duty I failed to fulfill and for your family who died so tragically. I hope I can do something for you. Although it won’t change anything, I hope to use it to express the guilt and apology in my heart.”

I did not try to stop my friend. I knew he would do this. His sense of responsibility and compassion would surely drive him to feel guilt; if that were not the case, he would not be the great king I knew. I could only follow him and kneel to beg this poor man’s forgiveness. I did not feel wronged; I had enough standing to do so. As Fred had said, as a soldier, if one cannot protect the people from the disasters of war, one must take responsibility for it. Even if human law would not pass judgment on this, the code placed in our hearts by the gods—our self-respect and our sense of responsibility—would also convict us.

The attendants were terrified. They had never seen such a thing: a king kneeling to beg a commoner’s forgiveness for something he had never done wrong. These flustered young people did not know what to do: they did not dare to pull up their king and commander, but they could not just let him kneel there like that.

My action saved them from their awkward bewilderment, and they followed me in kneeling to the ground. I felt a little comforted: although they might not even be clear why they were kneeling here, at least they did it, using their actions to apologize for their own responsibility. That in itself was a comforting thing. Perhaps more than ten years later, when they suddenly realized this, they would feel proud and satisfied that they had made that gesture in time.

“No, please, Your Majesty, you can’t do this. I can’t… I beg you, please stand up…” Poor Robert shouted in panic. He wanted to pull Fred up, but did not dare touch his arm. After a moment, he knelt down and bowed to the ground again and said with tears in his eyes, “I beg you, Your Majesty, I beg you, you can’t do this. It’s not your fault…”

Soon, we sat together on wooden stumps by the roadside and talked. From that man’s reserved words, we learned that he had once been a blacksmith. Because he refused to obey the Winston people’s order of conscription, his entire family had been wiped out in a terrible disaster.

“Before this, I didn’t dare approach you, Your Majesty. I felt that only by doing something for you could I express my gratitude. Today I came here to show you this…”

He loosened his clothes and fumbled out a small stone from inside his innermost garments. I felt this stone was very ordinary, no different from many rocks I usually saw. Except for its slightly reddish-brown surface color, it could almost be called an ugly pebble. But seeing Robert’s solemn expression, I felt things were not as simple as I imagined. Many things I had experienced and witnessed told me: when you don’t understand something, you’d better not jump to conclusions.

Fred was also a little confused. I guessed he also didn’t know how this stone could help us.

Robert did not notice our strange, awkward expressions. Holding the stone in both hands, he had a sacred and proud look in his eyes, as if he were holding a warm sun.

“…This is what I want to offer you, Your Majesty, and what you need most right now. I am willing to dedicate it together with my discovery before your throne, to express the endless gratitude in my heart!”

After these sincere and moving words, Mr. Robert Wilance turned around excitedly, perhaps expecting two faces full of praise and excitement.

Unfortunately, what greeted him were the puzzled, dull faces of two ignorant young men.

Oh, and there was also a very hurtful sentence:

“What is this?”