Project Strengthen the Tribe
Pareia needed to get stronger.
Book 3-7.1 The Return
The return of the victorious warriors.
Many of them returned back to their oases to fanfare, but there were too many warriors lost in this war for any of them to be very excited.
The first thing Yulian did once he returned was providing the rewards for the families of the dead warriors.
Some of the tribe’s wealth, as well as the wealth gained from this war went to the warriors’ families. They were rewarded with pirmas and pinas because although Pareia did not recognize private property, pirmas and pinas were the exception.
After sending a couple of days chaotically taking care of everything, Yulian finally had time to look around him and start planning toward the changes Pareia will face.
“These are the Red Storm.”
Yulian introduced Runa to the Red Storm warriors who were standing under the scorching sun.
The gazes of the Red Storm warriors who were looking at Runa Brink were nothing but cold.
They clearly feared having Runa as an enemy, however, there were too many things that happened for them to accept him as one of their own.
Just how much did Pareia suffer because of him alone? In addition, just looking at Runa made them recall their nine dead comrades they were trying so hard to forget. That made them not want to see him even more.
“Must we accept him, Glow!”
Someone finally shouted out a complaint after a long time of staring. The person to shout the complaint was Haisha.
Yulian thought that it would be either Shubeon or another warrior that would launch a complaint. But for it to come from Haisha who had always been completely loyal and supportive, Yulian knew the Red Storm’s anger was greater than he had expected.
“Haisha.”
Yulian called out to him in a calm manner, but Haisha continued to speak.
“He is our enemy. Until just the other day, he was the bitter enemy we needed to make sure to catch and kill.”
Haisha was speaking in a teary voice. He had anticipated it, but it didn’t look like this would go very well.
While Yulian was debating what to say, the one to speak was surprisingly Runa. He even had a smirk on his face.
“Pfft, it’s funny. Are these really the Red Storm warriors?”
“What?!”
As Shubeon ran toward Runa while shouting in an angry voice, Haisha stopped Shubeon as he asked.
“Yes. We are the Red Storm. What are you trying to say?”
“I thought the Red Storm was an amazing warrior brigade, but it just seems like you are just a group of stupidly strong warriors.”
Haisha calmed the warriors who were all starting to get angry and put a hand on his greatsword as he responded.
“Take responsibility for your words. If you do not clearly explain what you are trying to say, I will kill you even if it means the Glow will kill me himself.”
“Haisha!”
As Yulian tried to shout something else to Haisha, Runa signaled him with his eyes and looked back toward Haisha to speak.
“You want me to say it again? You are a useless warrior brigade that can only think on a child’s level.”
“You……”
As Haisha shouted angrily and clenched the handle of his greatsword, Runa continued to speak.
“I have no plans on being close with all of you. I may be your enemy, but to me, all of you were my nightmares. An incomprehensible nightmare. That was why I made up my mind. If it is all of you, you are capable of being my Yulta pieces.”
“What did you say?”
Runa casually responded to Haisha’s shout.
“Didn’t everybody gather together because we were drawn in by Yulian-nim’s dream? Especially all of you, who are said to be Yulian-nim’s personal warriors. Then you should be prepared to do whatever is necessary, and throw away whatever is necessary to make that dream become reality. Using anything and everything I can to make that happen is my way of being loyal to Yulian-nim.”
“So you want us to go ‘oh, is that so?’ and accept you as one of our own?”
Runa shook his head at Shubeon’s question and continued.
“I am saying use me just like I will use you. Honestly speaking, I can confidently say that I am at least a hundred times better than all of you. I’m not the one complaining and crying over my dead comrades.”
Although he was so angry that he wanted to draw his sword, Haisha held himself back as he asked.
“Can you prove it?”
“I will show it to you from here on. I will show you that my brain alone is better than all of your strengths combined.”
Yulian felt like this was not something he should involve himself in and could not step in, while the Red Storm had nothing to say and just looked at each other before clenching their fists.
“Prove it. No, you will have to prove it.”
It was Thrint who ended up speaking to end the silence.
“If it is to achieve our dream, I will gladly forget everything and be your Yulta piece. However, you better use me properly. The moment I feel like you are not using us properly, you will definitely die by my hands.”
Seeing them being this hostile with each other even with him around, Yulian internally shook his head and started to shout.
“Enough!”
They were all precious to him. Yulian did not want them to hate each other even more.
“I am the Glow. The fact that we lost some Red Storm warriors breaks my heart as well. However, I am the Glow. As the Glow, the death of each and every one of Pareia’s warriors must make my heart ache.”
Everybody stopped their whispers and started to look toward Yulian.
“Blood is meant to be spilled in war, and all warriors find that to be normal for the sake of their tribe. Neo Latin-nim decides who lives and who dies. Even so, I do not want any warriors to die, and I believe Runa is the person to make that possible.”
“......”
“That was why I shared my dream with him, and he agreed to join us. But all of you are publically saying in front of me that you will kill him. Even though you all know that he has the abilities to save the lives of many warriors.”
None of the Red Storm warriors could say anything. But their hearts still could not accept Runa. Yulian knew that as well, but he did not try to change their minds. He believed that time will take care of all issues.
“Runa, in your head, are all warriors only Yulta pieces? Are you only able to use the warriors’ sublime will as pieces? How can you treat them that way when they are so passionate about what they do? I will not ask any of you to get along with each other. However, I will be happy if all of you could at least respect each other.”
Runa and Red Storm lowered their heads.
“This is the start of Pareia. There are too many things to do from here on. I hope that I will not see any of you growling at each other during this time.”
“We understand, Glow.”
“Thank you for understanding my request. You may all leave.”
Once the Red Storm warriors left, Yulian looked toward Runa and started to speak.
“They are all good warriors.”
“Yes, my heart is beating quickly. I cannot believe that I will be able to put them to use.”
“Do not forget the fact that I am included in there as well, Runa.”
Runa started to lightly smile as he answered.
“It is hard to take that military focus out of my mind. However, Glow, you cannot win a war if you let human emotion control you. You can only think about what you can do to win. You can only think about what you can do to win with the least amount of damage, to protect the forces you can use for the future.”
“I know. However, I just hope that you do not forget about their will.”
Runa nodded his head and answered.
“Of course, Glow.”
“Good. We will be having a Greatest Warrior meeting with the oasis chiefs soon. My head is already hurting from the mountain load of things I need to take care of.”
“I will share some of that burden with you. Let us go.”
Yulian and Runa stood side by side as they started to walk toward the Greatest Warrior meeting location.