The next day...
"Today I must tell you sad news, my friends, the enemy is moving towards the shores of our kingdom, our home" he is more numerous and his equipment and training are not surpassed. But do not be afraid, the enemy is near and we, united as one, will defend our land.
"Chorus - our guardian and protector gives us a choice: to fall under the onslaught of foreign barbarians, leaving our wives and children to the scorn of enemy soldiers, or to unite in a single fist and knock their insolent faces out of Rui, covering themselves with unfading glory."
"Put aside your fear and prejudice, and fight, if not for yourselves, then for the future of your descendants. So answer me good people, are you ready to fight?"
"Yes!" The large crowd roared, so that the bamboo walls of the small temple shook. And the monk standing on the small pulpit smiled with satisfaction. Similar events were taking place all over the coastal regions - in every village, even in the smallest, monks were rousing the crowd with a violent word.
And quite successfully, after another sermon, people would crowd round another monk with fierce demands to enrol them in the militia. Many of them had experience in the army, and some of them had shed blood in their time, so they were selected separately on the orders of the abbots.
HIn and Niro knew very well the key that would find its way into the heart of the simple rural labourer, especially as the words of the monks had been prepared in advance. The monks in their weekly sermons were eager to tell the people about the barbarian atrocities in distant lands, with such details that some especially tender women fell senseless as if they were underfoot.
In addition to the agitation was the good reputation of the Church of Chorus, the abbots of which held all the educational institutions in their hands, and were not a stranger to charity and helping people in times of famine. The words of their representatives therefore carried a very considerable weight in the eyes of the peasant.
The right bank of the country was being prepared as never before. It was impossible for a traveller to pass five kilometres without meeting a group of soldiers or a long caravan with supplies that was hurrying somewhere driven by zealous monks. Even the last fool realised a storm was coming.
...
Dima was slightly frustrated, the next day the whole monastery was literally on its ears, one look out the window was enough for him to realise that something was going to happen. Hundreds of armed men in white kimonos were leaving and arriving in the courtyard, quickly disappearing into the walls of the huge monastery. And most importantly, no one could answer him what was going on, and doubts began to creep into the boy's head, 'Perhaps we have been discovered and the Tuna army is on its way here. So two days passed in thought and anxiety, the only outlet for the boy was Leah, who also brought him food three times a day.
To his mute question, she sadly replied that she knew nothing, but that something was coming. Min and Hin didn't bother him, which pissed him off even more, after all, the guy hoped that these two could shed some light on the current situation. Hin called him at the end of the second day, a new monk came in and asked him to follow him with a sullen voice.
They reached Hin's chambers quickly, Dima waited with tension in his body for an answer, people were passing by him every minute. Someone was carrying huge crates, wooden boxes so huge that four people could hardly carry them. Some were carrying piles of papers tied with twine, and judging by their anguished faces they were as heavy as a tinderbox.
Having met the usual ambitious guards, Dima entered Hin's office, and no sooner had he crossed the threshold than he was called.
"Dima, come quickly!" shouted Hin and gestured Dima to the table, coming closer the guy was surprised by the mess here, piles of papers, stacked and tied with twine, were scattered all over the floor, on the table there was a real chaos, even to look at which was physically painful.
"I don't have much time, so I'll be brief." Hin looked up, his eyes more serious than ever.
"We will be attacked, and very soon, presumably in five to seven days." Dima confirmed his conjectures, his soul felt like cats, suppressing his fear and uncertainty, the guy with a formidable face asked.
"What can I do for you?" He said it with such a confident pathos that Hin was a little disturbed, he froze like a stone statue for a couple of seconds, but then smiled and answered.
"Nothing, tomorrow night Ason's men will come for you and you will go inland, there you will continue your training." Hin's words were met by a surprised expression on his interlocutor's face, distorted with incomprehension and resentment.
"Why? No, I can be useful, especially since this whole thing started because of me."
"Hmm... I guess you misunderstood me, we were attacked not by the central clans, but by the expeditionary colonial corps of the Webian Trading Company." Dima immediately remembered the illustration from the book, and the soldier depicted on it.
"In any case I must..." Dima wanted to say something, but Hin hurried to interrupt him.
"No you don't, Dima, you are now, forgive me - useless, and you are too important for our plans to risk your life in a conflict, in the solution of which you can't help us in any way." Dima wanted to object, but the guy quickly realised that Hin was absolutely right.
"You at least tell me how many there are, so I don't worry about you."
"A hundred ships and about fifty thousand soldiers. But I see no reason to worry, their numbers are too small to win, and the ships can not stand on our shores indefinitely, when we defeat their land forces, they will tuck their tails and run away.
"Why didn't you tell me before, you know, it's very hard to stay in the dark." Dima looked with offence straight into the eyes of the abbot, at least he could have informed him about the problems, maybe he could have thought of something.
"Please forgive me, I'm bogged down in organisational work," Hin said and pointed with a wide gesture at the waste paper lying around. Dima felt a slight falseness in his interlocutor's voice, but he did not dare to bring up the subject further.
"Hin continued, 'Don't worry, we knew about the invasion beforehand and we are well prepared for it." Dima listened to Hin's speech with half an ear, a simple thought came to him, he would go away and he would have to leave Leah here, and Min's insolent face surfaced on the edge of his consciousness, 'He's a bastard, but I didn't want him to die.
"You don't want to leave her here?" the abbot interrupted the boy's thoughts.
"Yes, where are you from... but it doesn't matter, I don't want to." Dima said hopefully, thinking to himself that she would be allowed to go with him.
"Dima, I won't discourage you, and I'll willingly send her with you as a maid, but I want to explain to you one thing, Leah is a novice healer, and in war such as her are worth their weight in gold. Her skills could save many lives." With each phrase, Hin's eyes grew heavier and his voice harder.
"There comes a moment in the life of every man burdened with power, when you have to choose between two things: what you want for yourself and what you need for your business, that's all, so what you choose, I will approve any decision you make."
And then Dima thought hard, in his head power gave rise to responsibilities, but in his skull he could not think that this dilemma would catch up with him so soon, as much as he did not want to but the people around him would be leaving and if he wanted to make any progress he would have to accept this fact and move on. 'When I accepted my role in the upcoming adventure, I automatically accepted the weight of responsibility on my shoulders, but...'
The image of the familiar young girl who had greeted him with a smile after long evenings of meeting with Hin came into his eyes and tears came to his eyes. 'What must be must be,' the boy said firmly to himself as he wiped the drops from his face and replied.
"Let Leah stay here and help in any way she can, but you must promise not to put her life at unnecessary risk." All the while, Hin waited and watched the fumbling lad carefully. Satisfied with his answer, the abbot said.
"Needless to say, she will be kept in the rear under guard." Hin looked respectfully into the boy's eye and added. "I know such decisions are difficult, we all want happiness for our loved ones, but it is in them that the character of a real man is revealed, and you have done the honourable thing." Hin stood up from his chair and extended his hand to his interlocutor.
He shook it silently and decided to ask one last question. "When am I leaving?"
"Tomorrow after dinner, don't worry you'll have a chance to meet." Dima nodded silently and bowed and left the room.
Hearing the slam of the door, the man with joy in his heart plumped into a chair and smoked, for the first time today. The man hated to admit it, but he was afraid, afraid that Dima would chicken out and take the girl with him, but his fears were false.
Sipping sweet-sweet tobacco, the abbot decided to give himself a break, which was immediately interrupted by a messenger who tried to break into his office without knocking.
"Mr Abbot, a messenger from the Emo Clan has come to see you." The guard reported loudly, holding the zealous messenger back with his other hand.
Hin gestured to the young man, who snarled angrily at the young man, then walked to the desk and threw a sealed scroll on it. The messenger's face was abominably proud; he was under the protection of the clan and could behave as he pleased, at least he thought so.
Hin nodded silently and took the scroll with the tiger seal he hated, closed his eyes and raised his head to the sky.
"Chorus, give me the strength not to die laughing."