PART 19 :-
PREPARATION FOR CONVINCE
Bond perspective :-
[At the academy classroom]
"Today I am gonna tell you about some rules you have to follow when you all become warriors.
Obedience Above Morality:- A warrior or Faris must follow orders from their Land's high authority or fulfill God's wishes. They have no right to think anything or talk back against it. The orders must be fulfill even you have to break your morals.
Loyalty to Clan:- you have to loyal towards your clan even you need to sacrifice your love once. Betraying your clan means betraying this nation and you will be known as Traitor. And a traitor means death.
Never Refuse a Challenge:-ifyou are a warrior you can't refuse challenge from your opponent no matter what your situation is. You have to fight. Refusing means coward and your title will be taken away.
No Retreat, Even in Certain Death:- if you fight you either going to win or die. Their is no middle on it.
Laws of Revenge:- if you want revenge from someone you have to get a permission from the high authority
Emotions are Forbidden:- ifyou need to kill your love once or your own family you must do it without any hesitation. Emotions are not for a Soldier.
There are so many others rule you have to follow, but this are the basic."
"What if someone wants to go against the order or against the system? What can he do legally?" Dex asked the Shaman.
"There are some laws he can follow as well, such as—
Mutiny:- if your whole group wants to go against your commender incharge of your group, then you can fill Mutiny to the high court of this Land's council.
Apostasy:- if your group go against this Land's high authority's decision than you have to files this.
Sedition:- if you wants to challenge your own teammates and want to leave the group you have to file Sedition.
Veto:- and lastly Veto, when a single person go against the decision against their clans and council they can file that."
"And how is someone supposed to win a Veto?" Bright asked him.
"The High Council interferes in that matter. You have to convince your clan—every member of it—why you need that."
"I don't understand."
"Ah... look at this table. Suppose you want to paint this table red. You have to convince me why this table needs to be painted red and what benefits the class will gain from it being red. A Veto works in a similar way. Imagine this class is a clan, I am your clan leader, and this table represents the thing you want to change.
However, in an actual clan, there isn't just one person who has the power to decide. You have to convince every major council member."
"And if I can't convince them?"
"You will be considered a criminal who wants to change the system without approval. You will be imprisoned for life. In the worst case, you may receive the death penalty."
The class ended for the day.
.....
[At the hostel room]
We all gathered here to discuss what we should do to win the Veto for Minidra.
"That's it. We just need to convince her clan why she deserves to be free."
"That's not easy. She is the princess, and no clan will ever allow their princess to be free because that won't benefit them."
"Dex is right. Her family doesn't even allow her to leave her room. That means they never wanted her to be free. More than that, even if some clan members agree with her, I don't think her family will ever vote for her. They will try their hardest to convince the other members to go against her. Our best option is to find flaws in the system."
"I never thought a Sagurd student could be that smart."
"Aunt Iras?! How did you get here?"
Iras was sitting in a chair. It felt as though she wasn't really here and only her image was speaking to us.
"I can do many things beyond your imagination."
"Why are you here?"
"Just as you said, I am searching for flaws that can benefit my lady. But that's not enough. My lady needs the support of the majority. There are a total of 39 families in the clan and 53 members who have the power to vote. If we consider my lady's family alone, they control 17 votes and can probably convince 5 or 6 others. I think around 30 members will support them. That gives them the majority."
"What do we do then?"
"I have gathered information on these seven people. You must meet them and convince them to vote for my lady."
"And the others? I already have three members supporting me..."
"But that's not enough."
"Look, the best we can do is secure at least 12 or 13 votes in our favor. Then, at the very least, she can continue living the way she does now. Her life will be saved. And if luck is on our side, we might even abolish the Golden Cage."
"Tell me, what will you do if she loses?"
"For my lady's safety, in the worst-case scenario, I will not hesitate to erase the entire Scribes Clan. And I will happily go to jail afterward."
"But that's not the solution..."
"I said that's only in the worst case. Now, if you truly want to save my lady, then do as I said."
After saying that, she instantly vanished, as if she had never been there at all.
...…
PART 20 :-
THE ARGUMENT OF NOT UNDERSTANDING
MC perspective :-
[At the forest]
"This is unusual. You never show up at this time."
"Why are you always in this forest?"
"Because it's my choice. Why are you here?"
"I need your help."
"Help!? With what?"
"I have to convince some people Aunt Iras mentioned..."
"Wait, wait, wait. Convince!? The more I remember, you told me that you wanted to meet her. You never said that you were going to fight for her. Did you?"
"Isn't it obvious? I can't leave her alone."
"Do you even know the price of losing!? If she loses, that means you will also be considered a criminal. Do you even realize what will happen then!?"
"Yeah. I know all the circumstances, and I want you to help me convince them. You know everyone avoids me because I'm cursed."
"You chose to be with her without consulting me, and now you're going to fight for her without my support."
"Why!? No one can ever refuse you."
"You're too dependent on me. I'm not your parent, nor am I your guardian, so I don't care. It's your fight, so fight it without my support. Because if you can't do anything without me, then you don't deserve my help."
After saying that, he disappeared.
I don't understand. Why can't he help? When you have that much power, why can't you help if you can?
[Outside the forest]
What should I do now? I have to think of something so that I can at least win one family's favor.
"Waaa!"
A child!? Why is he crying? Did he get lost? Nobody was approaching him.
"Hey, are you lost, kid?" I walked over to him and asked.
"I was going to the market with my sister. After seeing a man selling candy, I followed him and ended up here."
He stopped crying as he answered me, but tears were still rolling down his cheeks.
"The market isn't too far from here. Maybe we can find your sister. Do you want my help?"
"Can you really help me?"
"Well, I can't leave a child alone outside the forest."
"Thank you."
"What's your name?"
"Jerry,"
"Jerry? My name is Bright. Now, let's go find your sister."
"What are you doing here with a child? Did you forget that we have serious issues to deal with?"
"Whoa, what are you doing here, Dex? This child is lost, so I have to help him find his sister."
"We have much more important things to do."
"Hey, we can't abandon a child, especially outside the forest. What if something happens to him?"
"Do whatever you want."
"You're coming with me too."
"Huh? Why?"
"Oh, come on. Don't ask questions."
I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him along with us. Together, we headed toward the market, which was only two or three minutes away.
...…
PART 21 :-
REPAYING THE KINDNESS
Dex perspective :-
"Oaa, where is Bond?"
"He said he was going to convince one of the members and told me to focus on that person."
I showed him the picture.
"After finding Jerry's sister, we'll go after that."
The kid was holding Bright's hand as if he were his big brother.
"Hey, Jerry, what does your sister look like?"
"She has long viridian hair, black yes, and she's almost the same height as you."
"Maybe she's around our age as well. That's actually a lot of help. It'll be easy to find her because of her unique hair color."
[At the market]
"Well, can you remember where you were last with your sister?"
"No."
"That means we'll have to ask everyone about your sister."
"Hey, I think it's better if you hide your face."
He covered his face with a handkerchief.
"Brother Bright, why do you need to hide your face?"
"Well, you see, people out there don't really like my face, so it's better to avoid any unwanted trouble."
"Your face may be average, but that doesn't mean you're ugly enough to hide it."
"Pffft... Hahaha..."
"Hey, don't laugh."
"Why are you laughing?"
"Well, I can't tell whether that was a compliment or an insult."
[At the shops]
"Have you seen any girl with viridian hair asking about her brother? He got lost, and we're trying to find his sister."
"No."
We asked at most of the shops, but every answer was negative.
"Maybe we need to split up."
"Or we could hand him over to the guards. They can help find his sister."
At that moment, I saw someone rushing toward Bright from behind and trying to kick him. I pushed him aside and took his place.
The kick landed right in my stomach, sending me stumbling backward.
She then tried to punch Bright, but he caught her fist instantly.
"How dare you try to kidnap my brother!"
"Brother!?"
"Sis, wait! They're helping me find you."
"What!?"
She finally looked at me.
"Wait, I know you. You're also from the academy. I've seen you before."
"I wish you had recognized me earlier, Aliza."
"You know each other?"
"Well, yeah. Some boys were misbehaving with her at the academy, and I helped her."
"Umm... if your kick is that powerful, then why weren't you able to defend yourself?"
"Umm... I'm sorry for my actions. I reacted without thinking."
"Maybe it's because she's so possessive of me."
Well, I never thought I would meet her again like this.
...….......
Aliza perspective :-
"Everything turned out alright in the end, at least. I mean, we managed to find you."
"I am sorry. My name is Aliza. I am also a student at the academy, but I am in a different class."
"My name is Bright. Dex and I are in the same group."
Bright!? The Curse of Joyful!? He removed his mask. A cursed boy with my brother!? What if something happens to him?
"Brother Bright, thank you for your help."
"Don't get lost again. If you ask your sister, she might buy you some candy."
"What actually happened?"
"You see, Sis, I got lost while following a candy seller and ended up outside the forest without realizing it. But Brother Bright found me and helped me find you."
What!? A cursed boy helping my brother? But everything I know says they are the evil of our society. Wait!! Does that mean Dex is cursed too?
"Ah... thank you for protecting my brother and helping him."
"It's alright. I couldn't leave a child alone, especially when he was scared and crying."
He is not evil. He is kind.
"Umm... so, are you two friends?" I asked Dex.
"Ha... no, I hate him," he replied with an embarrassed voice.
"Haha... I know, I know. You don't have to be embarrassed."
"Hey, I'm not embarrassed. And don't forget, we still have to deal with that."
"Yeah, yeah. We should get going now."
"Ah... please let me repay your kindness."
"Sorry, maybe next time. We have to hurry. We have a lot of work to do."
"Yeah, we have to meet a man named Dustin and convince him to vote for Mini."
"Did you mean the member of council, Dustin the head of Saluters[*] clan??"
"Yeah, yeah. We need his favor to win the Veto."
"That's my father! The Veto? You mean the Veto filed by the Princess of Scribes?"
"Yeah, she's our friend, and you have to help her win that Veto."
The princess chose to be friends with these low-born people, and that cursed boy! Maybe she has her own reasons. And perhaps I can repay their kindness by helping them.
"Then how about all of you come with me? I'll arrange a meeting with my father for you."
"That would be a great help, Aliza. Thank you very much."
We headed toward my house. But what if Father gets angry with me? Well, whatever happens, I'll deal with it.
...….....
*[ Saluters :- The clan who believe in the Magpie. The represents the joy and happiness. It's says that they bring happiness to the land where they stay.]
...….....