Book 4-2.3
Runa was very busy.
He needed to check on the progress of the castle construction and also needed to check the catalog of items being traded in the desert. At the same time, he had to take part in the large-scale training with Yulian to increase the success rate of the strategies he created.
With Runa spending over sixteen of the twenty four hours in a day working, the sweet honeymoon phase of a newlywed was getting further and further away from him.
Even now, Runa was putting all of his attention on the matter of the large caravan that will be coming through. Yulian, who had approached while Runa was deep in thought, started to talk to Runa.
“Aren’t you going to get kicked out by your wife if you keep doing this?”
Runa smiled bitterly at Yulian’s joke.
Maybe it was because she was handpicked by Grace, but his wife was a very understanding woman. Although it was true that he was sorry, there was no way for him to spend more than eight hours a day with her right now.
“Do not push yourself too hard. It is for Pareia, however, you should not think about sacrificing yourself for the good of others. The happiness of the tribe is everyone’s responsibility together.”
Although he said that, Yulian knew many aspects of the tribe would struggle if Runa took a break right now. However, he still said that because he was feeling bad for Runa.
“Glow, you and Red Storm are conducting many overnight training sessions as well.”
As Runa was implying that it was not just himself but also Yulian and the rest of the Red Storm members who were not spending that much time with their family, Yulian laughed out loudly before answering.
“Hahaha, but we are not newlyweds. Plus, we are doing it to survive.”
“I am working to help Pareia survive as well.”
Runa’s face changed colors as he answered and Yulian recognized that he had made a mistake and made an apologetic expression.
“Mm, I made a mistake.”
“Do not worry about it. The pressure the Glow and Red Storm face to face the enemy head on is not something I will be able to understand.”
As Runa continued to grumble, Yulian patted Runa’s shoulders and continued.
“You’re making me feel uncomfortable. You are someone who can move over ten thousand warriors with a single command. I am fully aware of how much pressure that is. I feel the same way about that aspect.”
“There has not been any big issues until now. In fact, I am worried because everything seems to be going too smoothly.”
“That is good to hear.”
Runa turned his gaze to the document he was looking at.
“Just one thing. I feel like we need to take special interest with this item. And once this is over, I will get some free time as well.”
“Is it the issue of the caravan that is coming with Edwin?”
“Yes. The size is very large…… Edwin, this friend seems to want to reverse his losses in a single trip. The size of the caravan this time is larger than we would have ever expected. He is not the type to go overboard like this. If this trip ends up in failure, he will end up penniless.”
Yulian tilted his head and asked.
“Could something have happened?”
“I don’t really know either, but I presume that something must have happened. If it didn’t, there is no way he would do something like this.”
“Mm, how big is it?”
“There are 3,000 carts, 3,000 people and 500 mercenaries for security.”
Yulian asked as if he was concerned.
“Shouldn’t we go as far as we can to meet up with them?”
“Since you mentioned it, I was planning on reporting it to you as they will be here in a few weeks. It would be great if we could take 1,000 of our strongest warriors and meet them by the border to the Inama kingdom.”
“I’ll consider it a hike and go escort them myself.”
Runa shook his head at Yulian’s answer.
“There are a lot of things for the Glow to do here. But we do need to show him that we have a special interest in him, so I believe it would be a good idea to send the Red Storm since he should know about the reputation of the Red Storm in Pareia.”
“That sounds good as well. Should I send all of them?”
“Since it is so large, I think we should send the Red Storm as well as around 1,000 other warriors. Furthermore, since pirmas are better than horses in the desert, it would be great if we can take pirmas to switch with their horses. Also, if the situation calls for it..”
“If the situation calls for it?”
“We can destroy the Inama Kingdom’s border checkpoint and protect them from beyond the checkpoint. The checkpoint area is always full of crime.”
“You have a tendency to go overboard for things that we need to do. The border is far away and we have the quicksand river, but wouldn’t it be bad for us to touch the Inama Kingdom right now?”
Runa shook his head and answered.
“Their kingdom would not invade us just became a border checkpoint was destroyed. Furthermore, we would destroy all of it without leaving any evidence behind. It does make me feel bad ,but I don’t think it is bad idea.”
Yulian clicked his tongue as if to show disbelief. Although Runa had never made a mistake, he really had too much confidence. There were even times that Yulian wished he could borrow that confidence.
“If it is as you say, Edwin is in charge of a pretty important aspect of our Pareia.”
“It was because the Glow promised him a monopoly. Honestly speaking, it would not harm us much if he was to fail, but since everyone working in Pareia has made a contract with Edwin, it would become chaotic if something was to happen to him.”
“That is true.”
Runa thought about something for a moment before continuing to speak.
“We would also need a lot of time to get a new merchant and get things moving. In that aspect, Edwin really is a highly talented merchant. We are pretty similar when it comes to quickly taking action if we think it is the right course of action.”
“So you are saying he is very important.”
“Yes. Until the end of the monopoly contract, he is one of the most important individuals for Pareia.”
“Then I will send the Red Storm as you suggested. But we cannot touch the Inama Kingdom just yet.”
Runa bowed at Yulian’s response and answered.
“The final decision is always up to the Glow, so I will do as you instructed.”
“And I know it is hard, but try to get close to the Red Storm. To me, the Red Storm and Runa, both are existences I cannot be without.”
“I will work on it.”
“Great. Then go ahead and tell the Red Storm yourself. I will go meet with the Greatest Warriors.”
“I understand, Glow.”
Yulian patted Runa’s shoulders a couple times before heading out to meet with the Greatest Warriors. Once Yulian left, Runa looked toward the direction Yulian left in before letting out a sigh.
“Sigh. I guess I need to frown again.”
Runa knew that frowning in front of the Red Storm did not affect them at all, but he opened his eyes wide and confidently walked over to meet with the Red Storm.
By the time Runa arrived at the Red Storm’s training ground, the second sun had reached its apex as well.
“What is going on? What brings our amazing assistant warrior-nim here?”
Shubeon, who was the first to notice Runa, asked mockingly. Although he knew in his mind that he should not speak like this, Shubeon could not think straight anytime he saw Runa and always ended up speaking in a mean manner.
The warriors stopped their training at Shubeon’s shout and looked toward Runa. Everyone was the same as Shubeon. As they had their dead comrade’s families in their homes, it was impossible to not think about them. That was why none of them could help but glare at Runa.
“I came over as there is something I need all of you to do.”
As Runa took in a deep breath before saying that, one of Shubeon’s eyebrows started to twitch as he answered.
“I’m sure it is a very difficult issue that requires us to get involved?”
“There is nothing difficult. It is just protecting the caravan.”
“You… are you saying you are going to make us protect a caravan? Us, the Red Storm?”
As Runa nodded his head at Shubeon’s rude tone, one of the Red Storm warriors started to speak.
“We are the vanguard during war, not a security brigade. If you are going to put us to use, shouldn’t you come up with an appropriate task? Glow’s A. SIS. TANT. WA. RRIOR. NIM?”
Runa was not affected by his choppy emphasis on his title. It was always like this with them. They always had mean gazes and tones. Someone else might have been affected by them, but Runa did not even blink once.
“The caravan has a greater importance than you are thinking about. The caravan this time will come with a large amount of materials, so we must show them an equal level of respect. There is nothing I can do since all of you have ended up as the face of Pareia.”
“Hmph. You are treating us as trash now.”
At Shubeon’s words, now it was time for Runa’s eyebrows to twitch.
“Are you saying you cannot do it?”
“You need to give us a fitting task. Did you listen through one ear and let it out through the other when we told you to put us to good use?”
“I am the one who will make that decision. Are you saying that you will not follow this command?”
Shubeon turned around and spoke to the other warriors as if he was mumbling.
“A command needs to make sense!”
Runa could not hold back and started to shout.
“I have already received the power to command the warriors. I will let you know that not doing as I say will be considered insubordination.”
“Do whatever you want.”
“Shubeon!”
The first person to speak before Runa could answer was Haisha.