Chapter 96 – Representative (2)

“It seems there is something more important than replacing the core.”

Yan Casellos, leading the leadership, blocked the way. He asked, casting a sharp look at Randolph and the people of his ember standing behind me.

“Who are you?”

“…”

When I looked back, they were staring at me with eyes trembling like aspen leaves. They instinctively realized that the man in front of them was the leader of this place who would determine their fate.

Since there was no way a prey frozen before a predator could give a proper answer, I answered.

“They are the people of the ember who provided the core of the Eternal Embers. They can be called our ember’s benefactors.”

The justification of being benefactors who provided the core—this was the powerful weapon with which Yan and the leadership could not refuse their settlement. If they refused their settlement request despite the circumstances, they would end up turning everyone in the ember into enemies.

Sure enough, the existing citizens seemed to take the settlement of the new members for granted.

This was partly because they were good-natured, but also because it was a mutual exchange of values—the core for settlement—rather than one side simply receiving charity.

“If the startup is delayed any further, we will not be able to raise the heat of the Eternal Embers to its maximum before the snowstorm arrives. Let us postpone the conversation for later.”

I tried to wrap up the conversation by passing by Yan. Since timing was key in any matter, if the conversation ended here, Yan would lose the opportunity to expel those eyesores forever.

It was just when I thought I had secured the upper hand.

“Hmm, benefactors… Is that really so?”

Yan stroked his chin with his crossed arms, wearing a meaningful smile. Having closed the distance to within a stone’s throw, he was looking at me with a relaxed expression.

Not a shred of anxiety could be found on the faces of the figures in the leadership, including the strategist Nikolai standing behind him. Rather, they were overflowing with leisure.

‘Why is he so confident?’

I frowned at the attitude that absolutely should not be shown in this situation. A sense of incompatibility arose.

Looking around to find the cause, I was able to identify the source of the incompatibility without much difficulty.

“Bender…”

Mitch Bender, one of the five hunters who had accompanied this expedition along with Sullivan. He was standing in the leadership camp before I knew it.

Perhaps having a conscience, Bender hastily avoided my gaze when our eyes met.

‘They already knew all the details…’

No wonder Yan, who should have been trembling with rage, came out so triumphantly. They knew that Randolph’s ember had not handed over the core willingly, but had been in a situation where they had no choice but to hand it over.

And even the fact that they were rescued by us in return.

“It seems it would be faster to speak with the party concerned… Who is the representative of that group? I am curious whether the expedition leader’s words are true or not.”

Yan passed by me, leaving behind a fishy smile. He also knew that he must not miss this moment.

However, his expression when facing Randolph was once again acting as a man of character.

“Actually…”

Was it because of his expression and attitude acting as a benevolent leader? Perhaps his wariness of Yan had softened despite the prior warning, as Randolph’s mouth was slowly opening.

‘Damn it!’

I shook my head with desperation in my eyes. Aside from the fact that revealing the truth would put a brake on my plans, once the snowstorm ended, they would be expelled into the boundless great snow full of mutants. Before a matter of ruining the plan, it was a matter of life and death.

However, when my eyes met Randolph’s again, I had no choice but to give up. From his somewhat resolute gaze, I had an intuition that he would not stop.

Thus, the details began to flow from his mouth.

“Leader, we did not hand over the core to you out of goodwill.”

“You did not hand it over?”

“Yes, we had no choice but to hand over the core to you.”

“It seems a detailed explanation is needed…”

Yan raised his eyebrows, pretending to be ignorant. I wanted to kick that detestable face, but since Randolph seemed to have a purpose, I observed the situation.

Glancing at me, who was staying quiet, Randolph took a deep breath and began his story.

It was, quite literally, a ‘story.’

“Our ember lost all of our young men, who were the hunters and pillars of the village, due to the mutants, and we ended up allowing the intrusion of a band of plunderers when our defenses became loose. In that tragedy, I had no choice but to send all three of my sons to the side of my wife who had passed away early, and the situation is the same for those who arrived here alive with me.”

“…!”

“…!”

From the mouth of the old, injured, and sick man, a secret history that he would never want to bring up again was flowing. His voice trembled faintly and was small, but the crowd of fifteen hundred gathered in the square was already drawn into his story.

The voice of the old man speaking of the joys and sorrows of life in the ice age, he who had been the leader of an ember, had that much appeal.

‘Randolph…’

It would not be my own illusion that the aloofness stemming from his years felt like a spirit.

Seeing that even Yan and the leadership, who had stepped forward to expel them, could not even open their mouths and were just waiting for his mouth to open.

Soon, Randolph continued the story like a sentence without a period.

“…However, I know that you in this ember must have experienced things not much different from ours. You must have lost someone precious to the ice age, the mutants, or to humans.”

Although he did not say it knowingly, Randolph’s words were truly timely. Since the tragedy in which our ember lost several precious lives to the mutant attack was a matter of just a month ago.

“Katrina…”

David murmured the name of Katrina, who had been called the mother of the ember and was his wife.

At the voice soaked in longing, the people of our ember also grew teary-eyed, perhaps reminiscing about her.

There were also voices calling other names. Katrina was not the only one who left our side in that incident, and even if it was not that, this world usually took too many people to the afterlife.

Before long, the crowd of fifteen hundred, regardless of whether they were insiders or outsiders, became partners in distress sharing the same pain.

‘Even if he is the leader of a small ember, is he still a leader after all?’

I could not help but admire Randolph’s eloquence in forming a bond with just a few words.

Soon, he began to pour out his final passionate speech.

“There is a realization I obtained from my small experience. It is that ‘a separated ember soon goes out.’ However, if those embers gather, they can light a great fire that will not be extinguished.”

Right before the words continued, Randolph fell to his knees. Clasping his hands as if begging, he now almost began to wail.

“Therefore, I dare to ask you here today. Please accept us! I hope we fill each other’s voids to make the ember stronger so that such misfortunes never occur again, and find peace forever in its heat. I promise that if you do not turn us away, we will remain your reliable companions and family.”

Thump!

Randolph slammed his forehead against the ground.

At this moment, everyone in this place was witnessing an old man who poured out everything to take responsibility for his ember as a leader.

“…”

“…”

The square was quiet. No one could easily open their mouths. This was because the sincerity of the words he uttered and the all-too-obvious logic resonated deeply in everyone’s hearts.

“Yes… Has it not been us humans who live when united and die when scattered since ancient times?”

“What does the order of events matter? The truly important thing is that they gave us the core, and they intend to become family.”

“An ember of outsiders created by gathering different embers from here and there. Is that not the birth of our ember?”

Since a deception was still a deception, no matter how small, the people who had viewed the joining of Randolph’s ember skeptically began to agree to their settlement.

This was because, though they hid the details with silence at first, they eventually confessed the truth themselves and sought forgiveness and mercy.

“These bastards…!”

Yan bit his lip and sighed softly. He and the leadership barely managed to control their expressions that were about to crumple in anger.

Using the information heard from Bender, they should have made a preemptive strike by saying, ‘They deceived us, and we cannot be with such people!’ However, since Randolph had confessed a step ahead, it became difficult to find any further justification to oppose their settlement.

“…Of course, it would be good if the ember grew larger. However, a number that equals half of the ember joining all at once without any procedures or verification is a different story. How can we trust you?”

However, as if he did not intend to back down like this, Yan spoke in a thorny voice after exchanging whispers with Nikolai. It was a pathetic display given that the flow had already shifted.

Yet it was a point. For an ember of a thousand people, a number like five hundred was bound to be a figure that could shake the foundations.

Whatever the pitiful circumstances and logical story, mutual trust was an indispensable condition for coexisting within one ember.

“T-That…”

For the first time, embarrassment appeared in Randolph’s eyes. In a relationship where they had only just faced each other for the first time, what trust could there be, and where would that be visible?

Nikolai’s scheme was just that sharp. Sharp enough for Yan to wear a triumphant smile.

However.

“I will guarantee them.”

“…What?”

“Staking the name of a magic engineer, I will guarantee that Randolph and the members of his ember are a trustworthy group.”

They had overlooked the fact that I had not stepped forward.

“By what right? What do you know about them?”

It was Nikolai. When the conversation flowed urgently without giving him time to advise Yan, he stepped forward directly.

I spoke, meeting his eyes that burned with hostility.

“Because I am their representative. Wouldn’t I know them better than you, at least?”

“What kind of nonsense is that…”

Nikolai, who snorted at the words that I was the representative, cast a look at Randolph and his citizens.

However, the reaction he expected could not be found among them. Every single one of them, without exception, was affirming my words with silence.

“…!”

His eyes went wide in shock. This was probably because the deep look in their eyes as they stared at me did not seem to be merely the result of an agreement to escape this situation.

“Let us go. It seems there is nothing more to talk about.”

I passed Yan, Nikolai, and the leadership just like that, heading toward the Eternal Embers, the eternal flame.

It was finally time for a single ember to flare up again.