Chapter 139: Respect
Wooden markers adorned the resting places, each one a poignant reminder of the sacrifice made by the villagers. Tears flowed freely as families paid their respects, mourning the ones they had lost. Amidst the grief, Garnt couldn\'t shake the feeling of guilt for not being able to protect everyone.
His gaze fell upon a special grave, one belonging to the man who had saved his life by covering him from the tail attack. Determined, Garnt approached the grieving family. The widow, her eyes brimming with sorrow, noticed him and wiped away her tears. Garnt spoke softly, "Your husband was a brave man. I am forever indebted to him. He saved my life and that\'s why I\'m here today."
A flicker of gratitude crossed her face as Garnt embraced her, promising to support her family in honour of the fallen hero.
"I\'m proud of my husband! I think he made the right choice because without you everything we built will collapse and more people will die." She nodded, acknowledging the debt they allowed to the patriarch who had valiantly protected them. Garnt\'s heart swelled with gratitude for the remarkable people he called his villagers.
[It really looks like our education system is working rather well. They can understand the consequences of their actions now. I\'m really glad that man was able to save you.]
Eva also added showing her gratitude, but of course, the woman couldn\'t hear it so Garnt decided to tell her about the gurdian spirit\'s blessings.
As he spoke with the grieving family, Garnt\'s attention was drawn to a shy little girl hiding behind the widow. He gently patted her head, assuring the woman that he would personally undertake the training of the girl from here onward, just like her daughter. "Don\'t worry," he said, "I\'ll take care of your family." The widow smiled through her tears, grateful for the support offered by their village leader.
"Little girl, it\'s fine if you consider me as your father now because from now onward I\'m going to teach you. But don\'t ever forget your real father because he was a great man who was able to save the future of this village." He talked with the little girl, who was still looking rather confused but Garnt already had plans for her.
\'My girl also needs someone to stay by her side. Someone the same age as her, so I will train this girl to become as talented as Rona and Ayra.\'
[Mmmh! That\'s great.]
"By the way, what are your names?" Garnt asked because he wanted to remember them forever.
The woman responded to him with a smile showing her daughter. "She is Koma, and my name is Komi."
"Beautiful names! Also from now on both of you are going to live close to the main area of the village. If you want anything don\'t hesitate, tell me quickly and I will try to provide them. Got it?"
The woman nodded in response to Garnt\'s words, and he left after giving her a tight hug. He also patted the little girl\'s head before moving on to meet with other people, expressing his grief and gratitude. Although none of them blamed Garnt for what had happened, as the kind leader he was, Garnt always held himself responsible for the deaths of his villagers.
"Garnt, are you okay? You got hit pretty bad so I hope you rest more," Rona muttered after seeing Garnt talking with everyone. She was walking around the village trying to see whether everything was working properly and she agreed that things were not looking good for them.
"I\'m fine, but you should also rest. Also, Rona, next time don\'t put your life in danger. Who asked you to climb that beast?" Garnt wasn\'t angry, but he wanted her to be a little more conscious about her own life.
"I know. But what were the options? It\'s either I put my life at risk and kill the enemy, or it harms our people. If you were there, you would do the same thing, and I would be scolding you like this," Rona said with a smile, and Garnt realized she was stating facts.
Both of them chuckled at each other, and Garnt asked where the other girls were.
"Ayra is with Guni. She is rather responsible now compared to us. Gundo is busy with all her patients and Unami and Kara are supporting the people. Everyone in the village will be busted for a few days. We also have to rebuild our walls." Rona answered.
"Hmm~ about walls, I\'m thinking of building cement walls instead of wooden walls. Since we have all the raw materials like limestone, clay, and marl needed for it, let\'s just do that. We could place more accurate and developed ballistas on them instead of weak wooden walls."
Rona didn\'t know what kind of a wall he was talking about, but she knew it must be something amazing if it could Garnt was excited so she decided to leave it to him and focus on things she could do.
Meanwhile, in Baktou\'s mining village, a woman engaged in conversation with Telvi, her face adorned with a smile. They were discussing none other than Baktou, but it was evident that the woman harboured a desire to shift the conversation towards a topic of greater significance to her. Subtly, she began to gather information without revealing to Telvi that she was being questioned.
"I\'m glad Baktou was the person that found me, but who is this Garnt person? Is he like Baktou?" The woman questioned without showing much interest. She was pretending it to be a question that came out of her pure curiosity rather than spying.
"Ohhh~he is the greatest man I know," Telvi answered showing how much she admired Garnt.
"Ehhh! It\'s not Baktou, isn\'t he your future man?"
"Hehe! Baktou is my love, but-" Telvi paused for a minute and whispered those last words. "I always had a crush on Garnt and Baktou also knows that."
"But I don\'t think it is good for you to admire another man when Baktou loves you this much," the woman said. However, if Telvi wasn\'t excited to meet a girl that she could talk with, she would have easily noticed that this woman had morals that Garnt was teaching them, which was weird considering she came from Moga\'s camp.
"What do you know? Baktou wants me to meet Garnt. He supports me. He also said he would personally ask him to have sex with me. I can\'t wait to do that. You won\'t understand, but I heard he can send woman crazy with his body, which I agree." Even the woman who was listening started to feel a little bad for Baktou, but she knew it wasn\'t her place to advise them.
"Is that so? But why is he so great anything special about this Garnt? Even my former leader is obsessed with him. He always says that he is the most dangerous person to fight with." Telvi knew this woman was talking about Moga, whom she hated.
"Hmmm~ he should be scared because if Baktou and Garnt met them again, they would make minced meat out of them. I would spit on their dead bodies if that happened because I can still vividly remember how they tried to attack my two most important people." She said and continued with the question.
"Garnt has a guardian spirit protecting him, and he could easily beat both Baktou and Rona, who is the strongest woman in our villages. He is untouchable." However, the woman completely ignored the second part of the answer because she knew she got the response she wanted.
"What is this guardian spirit? Is it something we can see?"
"I don\'t really know but I heard it had been with Garnt since he was a kid and helped to build all these things. Of course, nothing would have happened without Garnt himself and we would have been just like Moga acting like wild animals,"
The woman laughed at her words and showed that she was indeed impressed. But more than that, she looked happy that she had managed to confirm her suspicions.
"You don\'t have to worry now because we will protect you and soon we will kill Moga and free all the people under his control. I promise you that." As Telvi finished her declaration, the woman\'s expression shifted from curiosity to gratitude. She suddenly stepped forward, surprising Telvi with a warm embrace. The genuine emotion in the woman\'s eyes spoke volumes as she tightly hugged Telvi.
"Thank you," the woman whispered, her voice filled with sincerity. "I\'m so glad that it\'s you and your people who found me when I was on the verge of dying. I never thought I\'d encounter kindness like this."
Telvi, although initially taken aback, returned the hug with a reassuring warmth. "Don\'t mention it. We\'re here for each other. Friends help each other out, right?"
The woman pulled back slightly to look into Telvi\'s eyes, a grateful smile playing on her lips. "Yeah, we are friends." She said those words, but then whispered something that Telvi couldn\'t hear. "At least for now, that is,"