The fortress had suffered greatly; among the shinobi defending it, many were wounded, but thankfully, no one had died. Asura and Yuki were exhausted, and the baron stood before them, awaiting their decision.
"As I said before, your fate must be decided by the king. Your soldiers, who tormented and tortured the members of our clan for so long, perished by the hands of your own mercenaries," Asura stated firmly.
"I doubt your father will be favorably disposed towards you," Katrina frowned disapprovingly. "You've lost your lands, your army, and your entire treasury."
"Even so, I question whether the king will render a decision that would satisfy you," Rion struggled to remain on his feet, but he wanted to hear the victors' decision with pride. "Are you sure you don't want to determine my fate right now, while you still have the chance?"
"No, we have more important matters to attend to. We still need to rebuild our home," Asura looked at the fortress. Despite Rizel's defense, some walls were partially destroyed, and the gates were beyond repair.
"You are now the feudal lord of these lands; start acting accordingly. My castle belongs to you, and you may do with it as you please," Rion replied.
"I would not want to remain in a castle where your men tortured many of my kin, but my clan needs a place to live until we rebuild our village," Asura responded.
"Then farewell. I hope we never meet again, neither as enemies nor as allies," Rion headed towards the road with uncertain steps.
"Are you really going to walk to the capital?" Yuki asked.
"Yes, I haven't traveled like this in ten years. I'd like to see if anything has changed since then," Rion didn't look back at us.
"We're heading to the castle. Today, we'll finally have a proper meal and a place to rest," the jubilation of the Yukitori clan drowned out Asura's voice.
As we walked through the streets on the way to the castle, people emerged from their houses. When we first arrived here, they had tried to hide from us, but everything had changed now. An elderly man, possibly the village elder, awaited us before the ascent to the castle.
"The fact that you boldly appear here speaks of your victory. Has the baron lost the long-planned battle?" the old man addressed Asura, indicating that he knew her from before.
"Yes, thanks to my friends, I stopped him," Asura replied.
"I remember the time of your father's reign, and I always regretted the king's decision. The baron was a good general but a poor ruler. I hoped that one day you would reclaim the right to rule," the elder said.
"Yes, but I had hoped to do it without such bloodshed," Asura said with a sigh.
"Among the baron's soldiers were also many children from the surrounding villages, and they, too, suffered a tragic fate," the elder noted.
"The mercenaries from the north killed all the wounded, so none of Rion's people survived," Asura explained.
"I feared it would end this way," despite the elder's understanding, the people around whispered discontentedly. It was understandable; many had lost their loved ones in this battle. "Citizens of the city, I ask you to calm down! The Yukitori clan is not to blame for this bloodshed, and they, too, have lost many of their loved ones due to Baron De'Grenor's actions. However, they have always cared for all the people, and I believe this is for the best. We all have lost our loved ones in this struggle, so let us work together to rebuild our lands."
People were indignant, but gradually they calmed down, as there were hardly any warriors among the newcomers. They were just refugees who had lost their homes due to the poor ruler. Eventually, they would come to terms with it and accept the new rule, but for now, the ancient clan settled in the castle.
"I never thought that after one great victory, we'd have to celebrate another," Yuki explored the castle and met us in the main hall.
"Well, it's not really necessary. It's better for us to leave peacefully," Katrina felt awkward after so many celebrations held in our honor.
"In any case, we need to do something with the surplus provisions," Yuki jotted something down on paper. "The baron thoroughly prepared for war; he had enough weapons for at least five thousand people, not to mention supplies for his entire army for several months. Even if we distribute most of it among the local population, we'll still have a lot of perishable goods left."
"Oh, well, I can help with that," Vina quickly chimed in to the shinobi. "I have a couple of acquaintances in the treasury, and I'm on good terms with the rector. If I'm lucky, we can redistribute the provisions to the neighboring provinces and the Academy, and get some money in return. Oh, and by the way, what about those taxes that Rion stole?"
"Unfortunately," Yuki shrugged, "we only found a third of that gold. It seems he managed to spend the majority, and I don't know how to settle that."
"Don't worry; I'll explain everything to my father, and he won't burden your clan with this debt," Katrina placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, but Vina skillfully pushed her aside.
"Don't worry about it. I've already contacted my friends; they'll take care of it. I'm hoping for a discount on some special items from your lands."
"Oh... Yes, of course. But are you sure everything will be okay with the stolen taxes?"
"Don't worry, don't worry. We'll simply return what's left, and the rest will be attributed to the restoration after a natural disaster and misappropriation by the previous owner. In the meantime, it's better to prepare perishable products and host a feast for all the inhabitants of the nearby villages."
"That sounds like a plan. You know, you'd make a good manager."
"I've never thought about it," Vina lied outright but maintained a convincingly innocent smile that made it impossible to suspect her. "Hehe."
Yuki went to her people, leaving us alone in the main hall.
In the room, there were only two guilds from the Academy in full force, although now it was difficult to tell them apart.
"Katrina, I don't even know what to do now," Asura felt awkward and guilty about her impulsive actions. "I agreed to become your knight back then to save my family, but now I think it wasn't the best idea. Your father will be displeased, and I don't know what to do with my guild now."
Asura looked at the twins and Werner.
"If I remain your bodyguard, I have to join your guild, but I don't want to abandon my comrades."
"Madam Asura," Miriam addressed her guild-master, "that's what you wanted, to protect your clan and regain your noble title. Don't worry about us."
The girl held her ground, but it seemed she was on the verge of tears.
"What are you talking about!" Katrina frowned disapprovingly. "It seems Krito already suggested uniting our guilds. I don't want to leave strong warriors to the mercy of fate. We've been through so much together, and I'd like to continue working with you."
Katrina's smile encouraged the warriors, and the girls shook hands.
"Just know that if we're merging, we might come up with a new name," Asura pondered.
"Eh? What's wrong with mine?" Katrina felt disappointed. "Well, it's a good name, right?"
The princess turned to her comrades, but they just awkwardly looked away.
"It's a bit too pompous, although it suits your style," I was the only one who dared to tell her the truth!
"Ooooh," Katrina slumped dejectedly. "So, my name is not good enough, well, think of something yourselves."
"Well, if we're merging, I just wanted my guild's name to remain part of it," Asura tried to reassure the princess, whose mood was getting gloomier. "It's not that your name is bad or completely unfitting, just..."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. The princess understands that she learned about the world from children's books," Katrina sadly traced her finger on the floor.
"Hehe, well, I found a suitable option here," Vina drew our attention. "I asked Yuki what that phrase Asura said on the mountain meant."
"Iyaiyai!! Don't remind me; it's just a children's fairy tale. Don't bring it up!!!" Asura suddenly blushed.
"It's nothing, really. Ikazuchi kokoro no arashi," Vina took out a notepad with symbols from the local language. "Heart of Storm. I think it's a good name for the guild, and we can put it in hieroglyphs on the sign to show the connection with the Yukitori clan. Though, in general, the name doesn't differ much from the previous one."
"Huh? Well... we could leave it that way," blushing with embarrassment, Asura looked hesitantly at Katrina. "But of course, if Kat wants something else."
Everyone waited for our GM's reaction. Katrina sat by the wall, fretting her nails against the bricks. After a couple of minutes, she turned shyly towards us, her eyes showing slight tears, but she just mumbled, "It'll do," and turned back to the wall with reddened ears.
"Then let's celebrate the formation of our new guild!" I clapped my hands and headed to the courtyard.