73 The Powerful

They sat down in a circle beside the red fireplace, the raging burning flames driving away both darkness and chilliness. The room was quite small and was built with inferior materials and a poor structure, like the other farmhouses in this village. Even the fireplace was built by themselves after they had bought this house, since they had no idea how long they would wait here.

Han Jin sat in silence, pondering something, while the others all stared at him, waiting for his answer about their next move: to stay here, or to go somewhere else as Sunier had suggested.

"To be frank, our luck is not that good," Han Jin said with a smile. "We always encounter all kinds of troubles; I even have a feeling of being forced on the run."

They all showed bitter smiles upon hearing this. Clearly, everyone agreed about that point. From Radon Town to Isolated Cliff City, they hardly had a peaceful life, and kept running from one place to another.

"Have you noticed that, in this world, there is something that can randomly deprive others of lives and properties?" Han Jin said in a slow way.

"You mean power." Sunier let out a sigh.

"Actually, it is the same everywhere. You told me that Isolated Cliff City was a safe place. But what happened? I am not trying to teach a lesson, but at least, we can't be so naive anymore!" Han Jin continued, "Wherever we go, the result will be the same."

"Raphael, what on earth do you want to say?" Cessacioun asked in a low voice.

"If everyone speaks with swords in their hands, why can't we? This is how this world works." Han Jin paused. "None of us want to struggle to live like this anymore, right? So why don't we change our way of living?!"

"Why do I feel that... you want to confront the various lords?" Sunier gave a wry smile. Not everyone could speak by sword. It was a privilege for the lords who were in possession of all major powers. Wherever you were, you must obey the rules there. And now, Han Jin had made it clear that he wanted to make his own rules.

"If we are really confident about ourselves, why can't we?" Han Jin asked back.

Everyone was transfixed. Han Jin was too arrogant about it. To confront the lords of cities by themselves? He must be mad.

"Raphael, you don't understand what a 'lord' entails." Sunier explained slowly, "For instance, Lord Dismark, the owner of Holy Crown City, is a Supreme Knight himself. He has over one hundred generals and a group of over two hundred magicians! We were allies in the past, so I know about this. Now, you say... you want to lead us to fight with people like him? This isn't confidence, it's madness!"

"We seem to have a different definition of confidence," Han Jin replied lightly. "Confidence does not mean that we think that we are strong enough, but the belief that we will become strong enough eventually!"

"Become strong enough? As strong as Dismark??" Sunier laughed.

"I have thought a lot these days. In this world full of chaos, even survival is not an easy thing." Han Jin said in a low tone, "Ha.. Those who are weak can't live a decent life, and those who are powerful won't have a peaceful death. Destiny is simply a choice between the two."

What he said was, to some extent, pessimistic and solemn, but it successfully switched the topic of whether to resort to weapons in making a choice between the strong and the weak.

Among them, one was a magician, and one cultivated strength of fighting, which indicated that they all rejected being weak deep in their hearts. Rather than living an ignoble life just for the sake of remaining alive, everyone here had chosen to live it splendidly by striving to be the strong! Then, they could at least say they shot their shot and enjoyed life.

As a matter of fact, what Han Jin had said was not very appropriate. He took "can't have a peaceful death" as an inevitability. But the words "can't live a decent life" was seductive and gained everyone's approval. They had gone through a lot these days, and felt miserable but heroic about their own experiences.

Those who feared death would not become a mercenary! As a mercenary, Moxinke showed his bravery first. "As long as you are with us, I am confident in our future," he slowly said.

Cessacioun's eyes lit up. It was true. Han Jin mastered a unique kind of magic, and together with his own time and effort, it was not a dream for him to become one of the most powerful people on this continent! The only way to live a happy and decent life in this world was to have power - all kinds of power. As long as one was strong enough himself and had strong companions to protect him, no one could threaten him anymore.

Sunier suddenly burst out in laughter, rocking forwards and backwards until she was nearly out of breath.

What they had experienced in the past determined how they would react now. Moxinke was a reckless and impulsive young man with poor experiences before, thus he stood up to be the first to support Han Jin. Cessacioun was much calmer, but he was still attracted by Han Jin's special magic, and for this reason, he also chose to support him.

But unlike them, Sunier had much more painful past. She had once participated in the epic guerrilla war, and crawled out from piles of bodies. Thus, it was not easy to persuade her. But the fact was, Han Jin had never expected to persuade her. As long as she did not firmly object to it, he was confident that she could gain some hope through his actions.

"What are you laughing at?" Moxinke asked unpleasantly.

"We, less than ten people in total, squeezed in a drafty house, are talking about how to confront the lords of the territories, even though we only had some dry bread and sour cheese in the morning... Ha ha, don't you think it ridiculous?"

"Ridiculous? To remain alive but have no dream, that is ridiculous," Han Jin replied coldly.

"So... you are serious?" Sunier stopped laughing.

"More than serious. And I have done a lot of other things." Han Jin paused. "Do you know why the knights waited for us there when we were escorting the military supplies? We didn't even enter the territory of Holy Crown City yet, after all."