Chapter 91 – The Great Crossing (6)

“…Come to think of it, your father was also that kind of person.”

“Pardon?”

As I sank into thought for a moment, Randolph asked me.

He seemed to have thought that I was recalling my father, Demian, who was famous as an outstanding magic engineer and a saintly man, upon hearing his story.

“Although Lord Demian is not a leader, I do not doubt that he is caring for the citizens as a fine magic engineer. He is worthy of respect. Looking at you, his son, you are the same.”

Randolph spoke of Demian with respect, even though he himself was much older.

At the end, he even looked at me with a warm gaze filled with immense trust.

I had mentioned Demian’s name to persuade him and the citizens, and as Randolph’s gaze toward me proved, that name was incredibly effective.

To the point where even the citizens, who were extremely conservative about leaving the ember, had their gazes shaken at once.

“He is someone who doesn’t look back when it comes to the citizens. To the point where he values them more preciously than family.”

I answered with a smirk.

Because to explain the broken relationship with my father, I would have to blabber about my past of being a libertine and a scoundroundrel until just a few months ago.

They would eventually find out anyway, but it did not need to be now.

Randolph followed with a smile and spoke.

“Did you say your ember also has a population of one thousand?”

“Yes, that is so…”

“Indeed, how can one separate citizens from family in a simple ember like ours? Everyone sharing the home is family.”

Although I had only seen Randolph for a few days, it was truly a response typical of him.

However, he continued speaking with sad eyes.

“…They say that if you bite all ten fingers, there is no finger that does not hurt, but there is always a finger that hurts especially. To your father, you must be that finger. Seeing that I, who regarded my sons and the citizens equally, find this so hard, it must surely be so. His head might have thought that way, but his heart was apparently not.”

“…”

“It might be meddlesome of me, but do not resent your father too much. For he must be treasuring you more than anyone.”

By this point, I could not tell whether he spoke out of old-age anxiety or because he knew of the father-son relationship.

What was certain was that Randolph, who lost two out of three sons and lost his only remaining son just a few days ago, was regretting.

The same went for Demian at the time he thought I was dead.

However, since I was not the actual party concerned, I had nothing more to say and turned the subject.

“By the way, didn’t you have something to say?”

“Ah, yes. I had something to say. Something I must ask you.”

What was it he must ask?

As I listened in silence, he broke the ice in a cautious voice.

“At first, I was too distracted to even consider it, and ultimately in a position where I had no choice but to follow you, I have no face to ask… but has this matter been discussed?”

“Discussed, what do you mean by…”

What was this about, and with whom did the negotiation refer to?

As I was bewildered, Randolph said with an anxious expression, as if expecting it.

“Your ember is one thousand, our ember is five hundred. This matter is not only a crossing, but also a massive undertaking where a large crowd equivalent to half of your ember’s size migrates. I am asking if that massive undertaking is a matter discussed with your ember’s leader.”

“That is…”

Randolph’s pupils were shaking mercilessly with anxiety.

He believed that my claim to migrate them was out of mere human duty, and was not something discussed with the leader.

However, in his gaze, a bit of hope, or rather, the expectation that it should naturally be so, was also reflected.

Because our ember had retrieved the core as if plundering it, it was only right for our ember to bear responsibility.

“Haha, what foolish words of mine… naturally, discussions about our ember must have taken place. Yes, it must be so.”

However, as his earnest and tense voice said, that was strictly a moral responsibility.

What problem would there be in taking the core of an ember that would have perished by plunderers or by a snowstorm anyway if not for us?

Thinking coldly, since there were no witnesses, unless it was a pang of conscience, there was no need to bear responsibility.

Therefore, the issue of accepting or not accepting this large number depended entirely on our ember’s choice.

To him, who was waiting only for my mouth to open, I spoke.

“I am sorry, but discussions on this matter have not taken place. And although the decision on migration lies with the leadership and the leader… unfortunately, I am not the leader.”

“How could that be…”

I was sorry, but I was not the leader.

Although I could receive more precious treatment than Yan Casellos by virtue of my status as the first-place magic engineer in the qualification exam, as long as I was not the leader, I could not hold a greater decision-making power than him.

Randolph, reading my expression which had stiffened in an instant, spoke.

His voice was sinking.

“I do not know what kind of figure your ember’s leader is, but it will not be easy to accept this many people. It is not just one or two people, and providing housing and food for five hundred people to live on immediately is no easy task. For a nameless ember, five hundred people is that kind of number…”

There was no wrong word.

Unless it was a large city like the Immortal Embers, providing food, clothing, and shelter to a population corresponding to half of the population in a small ember busy feeding itself was close to impossible.

Randolph, who had lived as a leader for decades, would have naturally considered this problem first.

However, at the time I proposed the crossing, he had been tortured, lost his son, and was leaving the ember, so there was no way he could think properly.

“Not that I am blaming you, so there is no need to feel sorry. Because it is also true that we had no choices anyway.”

On the contrary, Randolph waved his hand as if sorry and added words.

His voice was calm, showing him submitting to fate after completely losing hope.

‘Now is the time…!’

Yes, it was precisely at this moment.

The moment I had waited and waited for was right now.

“I do do have one method.”

“W-What is it…!”

“It is to negotiate. However, there is one condition for the negotiation to be established.”

It was the moment to throw hope once again to him, who had given up everything.

Simultaneously, it was also a golden opportunity to tear down Yan Casellos and the leadership.

I spoke to Randolph, whose eyes were wide.

“Hand over the position of representative to me. That is my condition, and the only way to conclude the negotiation.”

“…!”

The transfer of the position of representative.

Randolph’s eyes, which he thought could grow no wider, were flying wide open.

Glaring straight into his eyes, I continued speaking.

“Lord Randolph is a refugee roaming the Boundless Great Snow after losing his ember. But to our ember, I am a hero and savior who retrieved the core. There is that much of a gap between the two of us.”

“…What relation does that have to handing over the representative seat?”

“It is the position in negotiations. Ultimately, to overcome the opposition of the leadership and settle in the ember, we must negotiate with them or obtain the unconditional support of the citizens. A leader of refugees who came from outside vs. a leader who was a citizen of their own ember and recognized as a savior. Which side would have more negotiating advantage?”

“…!”

Randolph, who had fallen from leader to representative upon losing the ember.

What I would obtain by taking over his position was securing a fixed support force of five hundred people.

That was precisely the cornerstone to destroy the power structure of the ember ruled by the leadership, and for me to rise as the leader.

Conversely, what Randolph could obtain by handing over the representative to me was an overwhelming negotiating advantage.

There was that much of a difference between him, who was merely an outsider, asking to accept the migration, and me, who was practically the savior of the ember, becoming their representative—even if only nominally—and asking to accept the migration.

If he did it, it became a favor; if I did it, it became a proposal.

An exquisite move that would benefit both him and me.

However, he was this moment also worrying about me.

“To say you will become the representative of our ember… You know what that means, do you not? Is it… truly a sincere statement?”

Since they lost their home, it was no longer an ember, but to become the representative of a group of as many as five hundred and enter negotiations with one’s original ember?

‘It is a perfect picture to get rejected. To the leadership and Yan, it will be a perfect justification to keep me in check.’

That meant being able to be ostracized by the original ember one belonged to.

Just as there cannot be two suns floating in the sky, there cannot be two embers one is part of.

Because in this world of extreme cold, an ember was equivalent to a country or state.

Therefore, a person who had abandoned the ember for whatever reason could not be welcomed, and recovering one’s identity was close to impossible.

Of course, since I was placed in a special situation, I would not be expelled, but I would have to live carrying the tag of ‘a fellow who abandoned the ember once’ until I died.

Meaning, it was by no means meddlesome of Randolph to worry about me even in a situation where he had to grasp at straws.

But.

“If one person being hated can save five hundred lives, what cheaper price could there be?”

As I said repeatedly, I was a savior and a hero.

A hero who saved people until his body became a rag in the mutant attack, and a savior who retrieved the core of the Eternal Embers, which was synonymous with the ember itself.

Furthermore, since I was the first-place magic engineer of the qualification exam, I calculated that such a tag would not pose any problem to me.

And even if it became a problem, I was confident in overcoming it somehow.

“You…”

“Why, are you also thinking of turning away from me, calling me a fellow who abandoned the ember, Lord Randolph?”

“How could that be…!”

“If so, you do not need to look at me so pitifully. A new family of as many as five hundred will be created, so what would change if I buy the hatred of one thousand?”

However, there was no need to say it out loud.

Sometimes it is better to hide the truth.

“Just what is the reason you go this far for us?”

“Because I am a magic engineer, because I am a human. It is merely that.”

“…”

Just like now.

“So do not worry about whatever it is. I will somehow do my best so that you, Lord Randolph, and the citizens can settle safely in our ember.”

I assured him, who was so deeply moved that he could not even move his lips.

That I would definitely secure a home for him and the citizens.

It was not bravado.

Our ember was fully capable of doing so.

Although aid had been cut off now due to the appearance of mutants, supplies received from the Immortal Embers were piled up.

It was an amount that could last for six months even if production activities were halted.

Furthermore, if fifteen hundred people united their strength, what was there in the world that could not be achieved?

Even if I saw a loss for now, I was confident in drawing out greater profits by using the increased population.

And it was a process that had to be experienced anyway.

Since the population of ten thousand had to be filled to be promoted to a small city, I could just consider it as experiencing the labor pains in advance.

Just as the conversation was wrapping up like that, Randolph spoke.

“But as you know, the position of representative is not something that can be handed over just because one wants to hand it over, and the same goes for the public sentiment. They are things that can be obtained only when there are lawful processes and reasons. Meaning, it is not something I can help with. How do you plan to do it?”

Meaning, the representative seat and the public sentiment of five hundred people could not be obtained for free.

I answered in a voice filled with conviction.

“I will make all the lawful processes and reasons. So you do not need to do anything.”

“…Then when is that time?”

“You will naturally find out. Assuredly.”

All preparations were running toward the end.

Not only the great crossing, but also all preparations to swallow the ember…