Warlord of Chaos

From the top of the hill, there was a perfect view of the battlefield from yesterday. Han Jin’s sword technique had completely destroyed the ancient trees for several hundred meters, making the forest look like a long haired girl who had a bald spot on her head. It was quite eye-catching in the expanse of an endless dense forest, but it was also quite unpleasant to look at.

Han Jin stood silently on top the cliff, alone, and looked down on the forest. He wasn’t reminiscing about his achievement yesterday. If his master had used the sword technique, no one would have been left alive under the radiance of the sword. In all honesty, he had brought shame to his master!

Han Jin’s thoughts drifted to a far away place. Some memories wouldn’t feel like much if they were left alone, but would cause great pain once they were touched! This was why, ever since yesterday, his mood had been gloomy.

On the battlefield, seven or eight black dots were moving, all of them, young magicians collecting loot. Even though Yalina’s constant casting of powerful spells had destroyed many things, that did not necessarily mean there was nothing left. As Moxinke had put it, “As thin as a mouse’s legs are, they are still meat.”

“Raphael, what are you doing?” Reg slowly appeared behind him.

“Was a little bored, so I came up here for a bit.” Han Jin’s expression and tone were somewhat cold since he didn’t want to talk. At the moment, all he wanted was peace and quiet.

“Sunier wanted to come too, but she was a little embarrassed,” Reg continued on like he couldn’t read Han Jin’s expression.

“Excuse me?” Han Jin blinked.

“She came and accompanied you for a bit in the morning. When she came back, her face was red for a while. ” Reg smiled. “This place is too open. Everyone saw you two in the morning.”

“Oh.” Han Jin’s expression turned indifferent again.

“Are you ok?” Reg bitterly smiled.

“I’m fine.”

“Well I’m definitely not!” Reg paused. “Alright, how do you plan on compensating me!”

“Compensate? Compensate for what?”

“Raphael, don’t you dare play dumb!” Reg exclaimed in an annoyed tone. “Do you realize how dangerous it was yesterday?! I was following you the whole time thinking I could help, but then… Why would you use that kind of spell! Luckily, I noticed something was wrong when your expression turned really ugly and retreated out of the forest, or else… or else I would’ve died for no reason!”

Han Jin’s expression finally changed a little as he silently stared at Reg.

“Nothing? You think I’ll let this pass if you don’t say anything?” Reg angrily said. “Also, didn’t we decide on all kinds of hand signs and signals beforehand? You knew perfectly well I would be following you. Why didn’t you give me any warning? Am I that unimportant to you? You wouldn’t care if I died?!

If he had approached Han Jin to be comforted, Han Jin would have ignored him, for he was reminiscing his master, but Reg’s accusation was not something Han Jin could just brush off – he truly had been careless yesterday. At that moment, he had forgotten everything else and had only wanted to vent his fanatic rage. If Reg hadn’t brought it up, he wouldn’t have even realized Reg had been in danger.

“I…” Han Jin was obviously having a hard time. “Sorry.” He didn’t know what to say. It was fortunate Reg had always been sharp-witted, or everything would have gone horribly wrong!

“Stop this useless nonsense.” Reg curled his lips. “I want compensation!” In reality, Reg wasn’t trying to assign blame, hence why he didn’t really focus on the more important question of ‘Why didn’t you give me a warning?’

“Alright then, what would you like?” Han Jin smiled slightly.

Maybe because Reg was usually the calm one and never had any experiences with being unreasonable, let alone being a natural comedic like Moxinke, he seemed quite uncomfortable as he tried to list out his demands with a serious expression.

Speaking of Moxinke, Han Jin suddenly thought of something. He had thought that Moxinke would be the first to come and comfort him after Sunier, since the two of them had known each other for a long time and had formed a deep bond. After all, even within a team, each member has varying degrees of relationships with the others. Reg was one of the hardest to bond with, which made it all the more surprising when he came and visited before Moxinke.

Meanwhile, in the forest, Moxinke sat on a rock with his chin resting on his sword hilt. He had a heavy frown on his face as if he was contemplating life. If anyone else acted like that, it wouldn’t be anything special, but something just felt out of place when Moxinke did it.

No matter what team you were in, each member would have their own unique and irreplaceable lives. Although the team could move as one and the members’ lives may continue together, they would never completely merge with each other, especially not if there was something holding you back. After all, you must be satisfied with yourself before you can be a satisfactory member of the team. If you can’t even be your best self, how can you contribute your best to the team?!

Moxinke hid for a long time with his own pain and uncertainties. During the battle yesterday, he was the only one that didn’t contribute anything from start to finish. Even the novice magicians had contributed, yet he couldn’t do anything! Even worse, this was the second time he was experiencing this useless feeling.

“You will give me anything I want?” Reg giggled. Same as before, if it was Moxinke who giggled, everything would be as normal, but when he did it, it sounded like he was faking it.

But to Han Jin, Reg’s awkward act cheered him up a little. Turning his head toward the sky, he calmly said, “Just say it. I will try my best. But don’t blame me if it’s something I can’t do.”

“Wait… What does that mean? You mean I’ll have wasted this chance if you can’t do it?”

Just then, Yalina slowly approached. Reg wanted to chat with Han Jin for a bit more, but shrugged it off after seeing Yalina. “Oh well, we can talk in the evening. But don’t forget your promise!”

“Don’t worry.” Han Jin smiled.

Yalina lightly stepped aside, her eyes looking only at Han Jin, as if Reg didn’t exist. Regardless of if it were today, yesterday, or the day before, Yalina would chat normally with Sunier, Cessacioun, or even Moxinke, but she would always keep a stern face with Reg. As the saying goes, when the gate is on fire, the fish in the moat suffers. Reg can only blame himself for choosing to be a rogue.

“Why are people visiting me in batches? Something wrong?” Han Jin slowly said. After chatting with Reg for a while, he felt much better. At least, he wasn’t buried in the irreversible past anymore.

“Everyone’s worried after seeing you act so strange,” Yalina softly said.

“Thanks.”

Yalina looked up and down at Han Jin. “There’s also something else. I talked to Edwina, and she happened to have a spare Interspatial Scroll. I bought it, but… Edwina simply refused to take my gold coins. She and Sunier are close. How about this, I give you the coins, and then you give them to Sunier. I don’t want to take advantage of someone.”

“Why don’t you give it to her yourself?”

“I tried, but she refused it. She said Edwina would too.”

“Then so be it.” Han Jin felt a little emotional. Back then, he had to scheme and trick just to get a few silver coins. God knows how many riches the Red Vanguards had accumulated during their years. They were so generous that they would even give away an Interspatial Portal for free! But then again, they probably didn’t care about that amount of money either. Selling any of the dragon crystals, dragon scales, or the dragon horns and sinews they had, would instantly fill their banks.

“No, she has to take it.” Yalina was being quite stubborn about it.

Han Jin found it quite amusing. Considering how good of a friend Sunier was to the two elves, it would be strange if they did accept the money! He paused for a moment before changing the topic. “Do you want to go back?”

“Not at all.” Yalina blanked for a moment before smiling. “Besides…. Even if I did want to go back, I shouldn’t be the one to decide.”

“Then who should?” Han Jin instinctively replied.

“You.” Yalina nodded. “You are the leader of our mercenary team. Of course you have to decide.”

“Wait, ‘our’?” Han Jin looked at Yalina with a stunned expression. “What do you mean?”

“I realized, I’m just a very childish magician. Prodigy? Haa….” Yalina said in a self-mocking tone. “If not for you, I probably would have died long ago.”

“That’s part of my job. I can only say you hired the right person.”

“No, I simply lacked experience. I have decided to join your mercenary team.” Yalina brushed aside a strand of hair. “You wouldn’t be dumb enough to decline a magus, would you? So be it!”

Han Jin was a bit confused. Obviously this was not right! If he was the captain, how could this have been decided before he even said anything?!

“You are very lucky.” Yalina quickly changed the topic as if she was worried Han Jin would change his mind.

“Lucky? What do you mean?”

“Sunier, of course.”

“What about Sunier?” Han Jin was even more confused.

“Sunier has the Divinity which was passed down from Abraham and Doreen! Do you not understand what that means?” Yalina looked at Han Jin with a shocked expression. “Did you not know anything about Sunier before you two fell in love?”

“Fell in love…” Han Jin felt very awkward. Love wasn’t something that he had to hide, but he didn’t really want to talk about it all the time either… Especially when the person in front of him was an equally as exceptional girl. It just felt too weird; was this supposed to be enticement? Or just a simple discussion of life?

“It looks like you actually didn’t know.” Yalina eyes were filled with even more interest.

“I didn’t.”

“What was it about Sunnier that attracted you?” Yalina asked another question.

“Can we not talk about this?” Han Jin felt like he was about to flee in defeat. Maybe because of the cultural differences, Han Jin wasn’t very comfortable talking about love with people. Meanwhile, Yalina’s eyes were filled with an innocent admiration, as if the conversation was perfectly normal.