Book 3-5.3 Raising the Morale (I)
“We finally got news that they have taken over two central oases and are preparing to defend them. What should we do now? Even if we were to work together, the enemy will not falter.”
Egane started to respond to Yulian’s question.
“Even if we have to risk some things, I think it is best to send the 5,000 reserve warriors to the central oases to strengthen their hold and then prepare to pincer the enemy.”
“Then are you saying we will continue to be stuck here?”
Egane shook his head at Trebol’s question.
“We cannot do anything else. After our victory on the first day as well as the incident with the Glow and Red Storm, we have completely failed at attacking that oasis. I can confidently say this. When it comes to the movement of troops, that Abham and Runa combination is even more formidable than Venersis.”
“No way.”
“Unfortunately, it is true. If the Wikaly had a strong Greatest Warrior, I’m sure we would be the side that is currently under attack.”
The Greatest Warriors were whispering to each other at Egane’s response, but that was the case. Furthermore, to save the faces of the two Greatest Warriors who were captured alive at Runa’s strategy, they could not really retort Egane’s statement.
Yulian made the Greatest Warriors stop whispering as he asked a question.
“Strengthen our hold in the center, and then?”
“Take whatever forces we can to take over the remaining Wikaly oases except the one currently in front of our eyes, and then convince them to surrender. That is the most certain and safest method.”
“You mean?”
As Yulian leaned forward and asked, Egane smiled before answering with an energetic voice.
“Yes! We must capture the Wikaly’s Glow Gomai Mao-nim alive!”
“That is a smart method. But the issue is the immediate concern with our warriors. Their morale does not seem like it will go up.”
Vibli responded to Yulian’s concern.
“We should not have any problems for a bit if we share the news that they have taken over the central oases. However, I feel like we need to decide to attack or retreat quickly. This is taking a heavy toll on the warriors’ staminas.”
“Let us do that. For now, we will end it here.”
As the Greatest Warriors left at Yulian’s words, Yulian stood up and started to stretch, twisting his hips and then lifting up his arms. It is weird to say he was feeling bored in the middle of a war, but because he had nothing to do, he was training and exercising with the Red Storm. But maybe it was because there was a lot of concerns in his head, but he did not feel refreshed at all.
“Yulian.”
His master entered his paoe at that time and called out to him.
“Master!”
As Yulian reacted to seeing his master for the first time in a while and greeted him, Chun Myung Hoon patted Yulian’s head as he asked.
“It’s difficult, isn’t it?”
“I am concerned, but there is nothing so far that will be a problem.”
“That’s how it is to be at the top. Your body is relaxed, but your blood dries. But you must never forget the basics. You haven’t forgotten why you wanted to be the Glow, have you?”
“Of course not.”
“Then it is fine. I trust that you will continue to do well. The reason I came to find you today is because I need to leave again.”
“Where to?”
“A friend I made in the continent is looking for me. The old hag is nagging me to come so much that I feel like I need to go visit her. I had planned on staying by your side to watch over you until the end of this war, but the situation has changed.”
Yulian was shocked at Chun Myung Hoon’s words.
Even if his master did not step in to help, the existence of his master was a great mental relief for Yulian.
“Is it urgent? This disciple wishes for his master to continue to watch over him if possible.”
“If you were a kid who wasn’t potty trained, I would ignore her and stay here, but when I look at you, I see a man and a leader. I am leaving because I trust that you will do well.”
Chun Myung Hoon also responded in a disappointed voice that seemed to show that he wasn’t happy about it either. It was because he knew just how much Yulian had relied on him since Glow Baguna had left the world like that.
“You won’t get stronger unless you can overcome this type of obstacles. It looks like the enemy’s leader is quite talented. But neither you nor your warriors are weak. If you cannot even overcome something like this, can you even draw a portion of that dream of yours?”
“That’s true, but……”
Chun Myung Hoon patted Yulian’s head again as he started to speak.
“I thought you were an adult but you are still a kid.”
Yulian could not say anything about Chun Myung Hoon’s comment and just lowered his head.
“A man needs to be strong. You are not going to disappoint your master who thinks you are that kind of strong man, are you?”
Yulian lifted his head up to look at Chun Myung Hoon as he responded.
“Of course. Has this disciple ever shown you a disappointing sight? Just as my master is strong, so is this disciple of yours.”
“I should not take long. When I return, I expect to see a larger Pareia with you.”
“You can expect it to happen.”
“Alright, I will trust you.”
Chun Myung Hoon patted Yulian’s head and back once more before he left. Yulian plopped down to the floor thinking that things were not going the way he wanted them to go.
“But master is not wrong. If I cannot even overcome something like this, I can forget about unifying the desert.”
Yulian let his emotions out as he stood up while mumbling to himself.
“Maybe I am overcomplicating things these days. Isn’t this a war we cannot lose?”
As Yulian filled himself back with confidence and headed outside the paoe, the Red Storm warriors were waiting for him.
“What’s going on?”
Haisha answered as the representative.
“The old master said that Yulian-nim was feeling down, so we all gathered to see if something was wrong.”
‘Master, he didn’t have to.’
Yulian smiled internally as he responded.
“Why would I be feeling down? I trust my abilities, all of you, and Pareia. My body is just itchy. Alright, shall we run for the first time in a while?”
The Red Storm warriors started to smile at Yulian’s words.
“My heart has been beating like crazy since we caused that ruckus last time. I’ve been wondering when we could have that kind of battle again.”
Shubeon shook his head at Triquel’s words.
“It is only because it ended up ending well. Only because nobody ended up dying.”
“Why do you have to blow out the candle when someone is speaking happily?”
As Triquel grumbled back to Shubeon, Yulian started to smile as he started to speak.
“What he is saying is not wrong. But would you believe me if I told you I had absolute certainty about that last incident?”
“Putting all of that aside, I only went along with it because Yulian-nim stepped forward. Otherwise, I would never do such a thing!”
Yulian, who could not determine whether Shubeon was praising him or not, started to smile again.
“Since the overall morale has fallen, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for us Red Storm to be the clowns and throw a show.”
Haisha started to speak.
“I wanted to talk to you about that problem. The morale is unbelievably low right now. Well, we are okay because we are sparring with each other in the back.”
“Didn’t I tell you to take it easy for a while? Nobody ended up dying, but many people ended up with a lot of small injuries.”
Honestly speaking, after causing that ruckus through the Wikaly oasis that last time, The Red Storm warriors had to suffer from the aftermath of their injuries for a couple of days.
Their ears were flooded with the priests grumbling that even in the battlefield, the Red Storm warriors continued to bother them.
“Hahaha, everybody had too much energy to just sit back and relax.”
“Fine then. Let’s give them a show called a Mock Battle. Since Red Storm is already the representative brigade of Pareia, if we show them something that will light a fire in their hearts, the morale should go back up.”
The warriors’ eyes started to sparkle at Yulian’s words.
“In battles, there is bound to be a reward for the winners.”
At Triquel’s request for a bet, even Thrint, who was quietly sitting there, started to get a glow in his eyes.
He was someone who did not want to lose even if it was just a mock battle against other Red Storm warriors.
“Alright. Then the losing side will serve the winning side as superior warriors for a day. How does that sound?”
Shubeon asked a question at Yulian’s suggestion.
“Yulian-nim, whose side will you be on?”
“I will be the judge. You trust my judgment?”
“Then I am okay with it. I guess we should prepare the wooden swords.”
“Let the warriors know. Shows are always more entertaining when you have a large audience.”
The warriors ran out shouting loudly after Yulian’s final words. They had been frustrated for a long time as well.
There was quite a disturbance in Pareia’s camp that had been quiet for a long time.
Red Storm’s Mock Battle.
The warriors who all knew about the might of the Red Storm all started to gather in one location.
The lead warriors were definitely there, and even the Greatest Warriors all gathered with anticipation in their eyes. Especially because people like Haisha and Thrint were already pretty much on par with Vibli and Trebol in terms of strength, they were all curious to know how they reached such levels at their young ages.
“Hey hey, it’s entertaining having such a large audience, but it’s going to be shameful for the losing side.”
As Triquel looked toward Haisha and started to speak, Haisha started to smile as he responded.
“Then we will look even cooler if we win.”
Shubeon also started to speak to Thrint.
“Hey iceberg. You heard them right? If we lose, you won’t be able to sleep tonight because of shame.”
“As long as you don’t fool around, we will win.”
“Fool around? Call me efficient. Don’t forget that my squad has won the most times in our squad competitions.”
Since that was the truth, Thrint just smiled bitterly as he looked around.
“A lot of people have gathered.”
It looked like all of Pareia’s warriors had shown up. The warriors were all in a circle that looked like a thick wall because of all the people.