A Leader's Burden

We all walk inside as the cold winds blow through our clothes. Inside, we all sit around the fire roaring in the middle.

"So, Lord Haruto, how did you possess Lord Shien's powers?" the chief asks, his curious eyes piercing into my soul.

"I'll share my story then."

I tell Genta and village chief my entire story, except the part that I died in my world and reincarnated in this world. Only Kiyomi, Shien and Emiko know that part of my story.

After half an hour of storytelling, the village chief finally speaks.

"I see… then if Lord Shien accepts you, so do I!" he continues bowing down. "Please accept my apology for distrusting you!"

"No need for apologizing, chief. That's your job, keeping everyone safe after all they've been through. Since our appearance is more human-like, it's natural for you to distrust us. It's fine." I say to comfort him.

"And also, Wolf King sent his aids too!" I call forth the four wolves that came with us. As they enter the house, loaded with supplies, I realize I forgot to unload them. I rush to them and unload them one by one. Genta follows my lead and helps me to unload the rest. In a few minutes, we finish the task.

"The Wolf King sent a portion of the Lumithorn meat we gathered for the winter. And also, this is lumithorn wool. We can use them to make clothes suitable for winter for everyone." I say, showing the cargo to the chief.

"Di… did yo… you… say Lumi… lumithorn?" Genta asks; his voice is shaking though I can't tell it's from fear or surprise.

"Yes. This is lumithorn meat and wool." I answer casually.

"Huh, even a lumithorn doesn't have a chance against Lord Shien's power. I remember when I was young, I saw Lord Shien with my own eyes." Village chief says his mind is adventuring in his own memories.

"Chief, do your people have proper tools to make clothing with these wools?" Kiyomi asks, interrupting chief's memory adventure.

"Hmm, let me think…" Chief pauses for a moment. "We have tools and craftsmen of our village and also we can get help from others who came here seeking aid." Chief says.

"That should do it. Chief, what about this meat? Is there any proper way you can preserve them?" I ask the chief.

"We can smoke them!" after a few moments of silence, Genta speaks.

"Hmm, if we smoke meat, we need lots of raw wood to get a lot of smoke." I continue. "Which means first we need to focus on making proper clothes for the cold. Then we can think about other things."

"Lord Haruto, what about the army that coming this way? They will attack any moment!" Chief speaks, but his words fill with fear. They've been through a lot.

"No need to worry. I will save everyone in this forest! Many people placed their trust in me. So, I can't turn back and I never will!" As these words coming out of me, I feel the weight of my responsibilities again.

"Very well. Then Genta, I need you to take the responsibility from here!" chief says turning to Genta. Genta's face shows how shocked he is. He tries to speak, but no words coming out of him.

"Me? but father, what if I mess things up? I can't be like you!" Genta finally speaks. I feel his struggle. The struggle when hundreds of responsibilities load on your shoulders.

"Genta, calm down. Now I'm old, I can't do much. There is a war coming and people need a leader who can walk straight with on your own," Chief continues, with a gentle smile to comfort Genta.

"Everyone makes mistakes, Genta. But the thing is what you learn from them…"

He is right. Mistakes aren't something we need to regret; it is something to learn. There might be a price for your mistakes, just like mine. In the end, there's always something new to learn.

"You went a long journey through the blizzard to seek aid. And I don't see anyone who could lead other goblins' way other than you, my son. And don't worry, until my last breath, I'll be with you…"

One by one, tears start to flowing from Genta's eyes. He hugs his father without hesitation. I feel their bond and I'll never let it break.

"Now take a rest, father. I'll take care of this!" Genta says his words have the determination, but they also fill with tears.

"Let's go Lord Haruto. We need to gather people first" Genta gets up wiping his tears. Then walk toward the door. Kiyomi and I follow him and exit the chief's house.

I can't tell how many hours we were inside, but the outside was swallowed by darkness. Snow is still falling from the dark sky at a slow pace, but the chilly winds are still annoying as ever.

Genta walks toward a bell in the middle of the village and rings it. Just as its sound echoes around houses one by one, goblins come out from their houses. In a few minutes, all the goblins gather in the middle. All of them cover themself from head to toe with blankets.

When all the goblins gather in the middle, Genta explains what happened during the conversation. First, they all seem sad to hear about the retirement of the Genta's father, but then they show their happiness about their new leader.

"Listen everyone! I need every craftsman in the workshop. If you have tools, bring them too. Others stay inside!" Genta announces.

With their new leader's orders, everyone goes back inside except twenty of them.

"This is all the craftsmen we got." Genta says his voice seems discourage.

"Oh my! This is more than enough! We can finish this in no time." Kiyomi says, her words are energizing as ever.

"Alright Kiyomi, you go with Genta and ready for it. I'll be back in a minute." I secretly sign wolves to gather, as I say.

"Well then, don't take too long, Haruto. I might need your help too." Kiyomi says, following Genta to the workshop.

As they vanish into the darkness, I turn around to see the four wolves. They sitting near me and their black and gray fur cover with a small layer of snow.

"Can you do me a favor?" I ask, wiping the snow from their backs.

"Anything, Lord Haruto. that's why we came with you." One of wolves speaks.

"Then can you four to recon the forest around the village? If something unusual happen report me. But don't go too far and if the environment gets too cold, please return don't push yourself." I ask.

They don't need to push themselves in this harsh weather. But having a wolf recon team is a significant advantage for us. We could detect the army before they detect us.

"No need to worry, Lord Haruto! we will fulfill this task as the best we can." One of wolves says his words fill with loyalty.

"We might can't manifest Aether lumirith like Wolf King, but we can use Aether lumirith to enhance our basic traits like cold resistance, tracking the prey. So, this cold weather is nothing to us!" Another wolf joins the conversation.

"Alright then, I hope for some good news." As I finish, wolves bow to me and disperse to random directions. I look till some of them vanish into the darkness and then I set my destination back to the Workshop.

Darkness been eaten the most of the village. Only the faint glow from the fireplace inside houses pushing darkness back to where it came from. And with the darkness, the cold is increasing too. As I breathe, a white smoke coming from my mouth and nose.

I really wish I had traits of a wolf.

After a long time of walking in the dark, I finally reach the workshop. As I getting closer, I see a faint glow coming out from the bottom of the wooden door and I can hear Kiyomi giving instructions to make clothing. Just as I open the door, a gush of warm air welcomes me.

The workshop is kind of big place. Even though the workshop is big, there aren't much items inside. There is only a big table and a shelf with random tools. When I ask Kiyomi about this, she replies,

"Don't worry Haruto, back in orphanage I didn't have this much if tools. But I learned!"

I don't know how Kiyomi is this positive. If I were her, I already gave up.

First, we clean the lumithorn wool with water. After gruesome washings with cold water, we are ready to process the wool. All the craftsmen and Kiyomi share their knowledge and ideas while working. But as a one who doesn't have any idea what is they are doing, I help them as I could.

"Lady Kiyomi, Lord Haruto, please take a rest. We came a long way and you two must be tired. Please take a rest!" Genta says. He might be noticed yawns from Kiyomi.

"But Genta, there is still a lot of wool to process. I can't leave without helping." Kiyomi insists, but I can see the redness of her eyes.

"it's ok Lady Kiyomi. We will continue this; you can take a rest." A goblin craftsman says.

Kiyomi tries to show that she doesn't tire but under all of insists, she finally admits her defeat.

"Follow me, Lord Haruto and Lady Kiyomi; there is something I want to show." Genta says, walking toward the door.

We both follow him into the cold outside. Snowfall seems got slow, but the chill is still there. After a few moments of walking in the dark, Genta stop in front of a house. He walks to the door and opens it, letting warm air and light from the fireplace out.

"Come inside!" Genta calls us.

We both walk inside the house. Inside the house, just like other houses, there is a fireplace in the middle and two beds. Bed frame made of sturdy sticks and for the mattress they used a thick layer of dried grass. And in a corner of the house there are the bags we bought with us on the journey.

"Lord Haruto, Lady Kiyomi…" Genta speaks. "I don't know; this house is comfortable enough for you two. But this is all we got."

Kiyomi walks inside a bit and takes a deep breath, like she came to her house after a long journey. "Genta, actually, this is better than ever! In the past we had to sleep on the ground in wolf cave. and you and your people made us beds! This is more than enough." Kiyomi's words brought light to Genta's face.

"Alright then, I'll let you two rest for the night." Genta says, heading for the door to leave.

After he leave, we both head for the beds for some sleep. I lay down on my bed and just like Kiyomi said, this bed is really comfortable than sleeping on the floor. It's been more than a year when I last slept in a bed. And in the past year that I lived in the wolf cave, my back got used to the cold, stony floor.

After some good and comfortable hours of sleeping, I finally wake up. I stretch my arms and look around to see Kiyomi, or someone who I can recognize. But to my surprise, there is no one. Kiyomi's bed is perfectly made and her bag sitting near her bed.

"Kiyomi might have been left early to help the goblins."

I get off the bed and strap the blade back and ready to leave. But just as I open the door, a wolf from the recon team sitting outside the door. There isn't much snowfall in the morning, but his back is covered with a thin layer of snow.

"He might have been here for a while."

I look around for Kiyomi or Genta and sign the wolf to come inside. As he comes inside, I close the door and light the fireplace to let wolf to warm up.

"Is there any news?" I ask, as my nervousness got best of me.

"Yes, my lord." Wolf speaks. "We found to human army!"

Wolf continues. "The army is camping right now south of the village. I called others and as now they are watching them."

"So, how many days do you think they'll take to reach the village?" I ask.

"They might take two or three days max to reach the village. And Lord Haruto, there is something you need to know," Wolf says, his voice lower as he ends the sentence.

"When we recon the area, we had a feeling of something sinister laying in the middle of the army. We can't say what is it but the aura of the darkness is powerful as the Hikariken!"

As these words coming out of him, I feel the tension in his words. But there is nothing we can do except facing them as we can. With the difference in numbers, we have to let them do the first move.

"Alright, you all did a good job. But I want you all to keep eyes on them until they reach the village. And don't get too close or don't get in their way. Just watch them at a safe distance." I say, patting his head.

Just like last time, he bows to me; leave to the wood just as I open the door.

"Alright now I have to give this news to Genta and chief without alerting others. But first I need something to eat. I'm really hungry right now."

I set my course to the middle of the village as I see a smoke coming out. When I reach their lot of goblins waiting in a line toward the smoke. As I get closer, a mouthwatering smell coming from the end of the line. A pot sits on the fire, within which a flavorful meat stew is steadily boiling, the steam rising and carrying the scent of savory spices.

"Oh, Lord Haruto, come have some meat stew!" one of a goblin invites me.

I sign them to wait until others finish, but suddenly one of them brings me a full wooden bowl of stew. Without any option, I accept it with a smile and take a bite. I feel my tongue getting numb with the flavor. It's been so long since I ate a meal with different flavors in Emiko's village.

"Did Kiyomi come to eat?" I ask them after I take the last bite of the stew.

"No, Lord Haruto. we heard Lady Kiyomi working in the workshop, so we sent food to the workshop." A chef goblin says.

Then I thank them for the delicious meal and change my way to the workshop. I open the door and inside Kiyomi, working under faint sunlight coming from the window.

"Did you eat your breakfast, Kiyomi?" I ask closing the door back. She startles by my sudden question.

"Haruto, don't scare me like that! I was focused on this and you came like a thief and ask a question out of nowhere!" she says, putting down the ball of wool on her lap.

"I didn't mean to scare you, Kiyomi. Even so, you didn't give me the answer." I speak.

She points to an empty bowl on the workshop table.

"Alright now answer my question; how is this?" she holds up the thing she was knitting when I was entering to the workshop. And from the sight, I'm really confused. It's an exact replica of snow coats in my past life!

"Remember you told me about things in your past life? I memorized the way you described the snow coats in your world. And here it is. Is it good? Tell me!" Kiyomi says, shaking the coat in front of me. But I have no words to say. I touch the coat and golden lumithorn wool outside and fabric layer inside; this is really the same one. Did she really make this from my description? This is insane.

"Kiyomi, I got no words to say; this is just like the coats in my past life. You really done a great job." I say, holding her shoulder. As I say, her face fills with a smile of relief.

"Thank you, Haruto! I really didn't know this turned out to be good. And this will be our sample!" Kiyomi says her words fill with thrill.

"But Kiyomi, there is something we need to take care first. Tell others to work on this and you have to come with me." I explain to her.

Kiyomi stares at me for a moment and walks toward to a rack that made to place the coat.

"Alright Haruto, let's go!" Kiyomi says.

"First, we need to find Genta;" without letting me finish, Genta enters the workshop. After him, other craftsmen enter the workshop.

"Is there something you need, Lord Haruto?" Genta asks as he heard what I was going to say before.

"Nothing special, but I need you to come with me!" I reply to him without exposing too much information.

"I'll come with you; Lord Haruto, just tell me where." Genta speaks.

I sign him to follow me and we wait till Kiyomi finishes her explanation on how the coat should be made. And as we get out of the workshop, I speak.

"Genta, we need to gather at the chief's house. There is something we need to discuss."