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The previous journal speaks of Irene but now we move to Yanyi's situation. Nothing bad really happened actually. Even with the existence of the squadron.
Here is how things usually went.
Every 4 days, Uncle Cinth would come over to the apartment to meet with Yanyi. Practical to be on lunch time to not be too late. During that 2 hours or so, Yanyi and Uncle Cinth would have a lovely conversation.
They would mostly skim through the important part and they have the rest of the time talking more like a student and a teacher. So no animosity here.
Where is Luyao?
Well he is also involved.
He would stand guard outside of the gate of the house, preventing any of the soldiers to eavesdrop or enter the premises. Yanyi made it clear that only Uncle Cinth is allowed to enter the house and no one else can without permission.
He also has another task which is to silently listen in to every conversation they have outside of the premise. Combine this with all of the patrol officers' complaints about them in the city, Luyao would report it to Yanyi which would influence her judgement.
Though things are a bit different in the current visit.
Yanyi is cleaning the table while Eker sat in the living room with Luyao and another person. "Now this is a great weapon design!" The man exclaimed in a proud tone.
Jerad had made an unannounced visit to Yanyi. And out of all the days he could come, he came on the day of Cinth's visit. She had tried to shoo him away but he insisted on just staying inside.
She can't do anything to push him away. The best she can do is to make sure that they don't meet each other.
What a life she has.
Knock! Knock!
"They're here." Luyao said to Yanyi who didn't waste time to go downstairs to the courtyard and greet Cinth.
Yanyi — "Unc-Mhm! General Cinth. It's a pleasure to meet you today."
Cinth — "The same goes to me, my lady. May we head inside to have our report?"
Yanyi — "Uh! On second thought, can we… postpone the meeting?"
Cinth — "Why so? Is there anything more persistent that requires your attention? If so, I can help with it."
Yanyi — "Not that, uhm… Well uh. Would you be okay if we have it in the guest bedroom?"
Cinth — "If my lady sees that it is fit, then I would happily oblige."
"Why can't we enter too!" The voice came from behind Cinth just as he was about to enter the courtyard. Apparently he shares the same expression with the rest of the squad all except two.
Luyao didn't want things to escalate further and stood in between the gate, not even letting them gaze inside the house. They have made a rather bold question. One that could piss a certain lady off.
"What's the use of having one person protecting the house? We're all soldiers of Xue. We would be more than capable of protecting ourselves from an eavesdropper than this guy." The tone he let out is mockery.
Both Yanyi and Luyao are furious.
"We all are soldiers of Xue. What's the point of having a personal conversation with the lady, General. We all serve the same house."
The young lady's brow furrowed in distaste.
These people are foolish to call themselves the soldiers of Xue. They don't even respect the hierarchy of the military.
Before Yanyi would come forth and teach them all some lesson, her shoulder was stopped by Cinth. Looking up at her mentor, he gave her a warm smile. He mouthed the word 'do as you wish. I trust your judgement.'
Reading that, Yanyi calms herself down and barks a challenge to those who dare oppose the order of Xue. "Which of you think they can take down the Young Master Zheng this very instant?"
Around 20 people raised their hands. Only two people didn't. These two are people that Cinth had personally brought with him to help handle the ordeal a bit. They are the only ones beside Yanyi to know about the true intention.
"Very well. If any of you can take down Young Master Zheng, then you earn the right to stand toe to toe with the level of General Cinth and will gain immediate promotion."
Hearing the rewards all of them are bustling to stretch their muscles for the fight. But it didn't end there. In fact she had yet to set out the real challenge.
"All of you will simultaneously go against him. If even one of you manages to stand after 30 minutes, you have the right to stand by our conversation in the future. On the contrary if ALL of you failed to stand your grounds after 30 minutes. Disobey your orders again and the Xue's dungeon will be your death bed."
This didn't flinch them a bit. 20 vs 1 person. Logically speaking, why wouldn't they win. It is a radical decision for that one person.
They toot their horn really early.
Yanyi turns to Luyao. She gave him a determined smile and whispered, "I'm counting on you, sire." Gently, she squeezed his shoulder before going up the stairs to the living room.
Cinth and the two other personnel stood to the side of the courtyard, as far away as possible from the fight. Watching overconfident fools tumble down like bowling pins.
The Young Master Zheng only stamp the smile for a quick second to Yanyi. As her turn to face his opponents, the cold air that he usually emits came crushing down the area. "Start then…" He provoked.
And so
It begins.
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While that was on the way, Yanyi entered the house and sat on the arm chair near Eker. The little guy is taking a break and spending time with Jerad. Apparently he had come up with various different designs of tools.
Mechanical parts covered the whole coffee table. Most of them are spare parts that Jerad had brought with him while he was tinkering with a custom signia.
The little boy had taken the liberty of playing with them.
"How is the situation outside?" Jerad asks, reaching for the mini wrench across the table.
"All is well. Father sent them just to observe the situation. Nothing brutal or against my ideal. Luyao is kicking those narcissistic soldiers at the moment." Yanyi explains it simply and briefly.
She takes one of the drawings on the table and reads them. It was a drawing of a slingshot. However, contrary to just a normal children' s doddle, this looks more like a complex mechanical draft. One that Jerad normally drew.
"Is this normal?" The eyes of the blacksmith turn to Yanyi. He turned to grin when he saw the draft in her hands.
"Nope! This little guy really has some talent." He patted Eker's head who was tinkering with the slingshot he had created.
"Not many people have the talent to create a draft of a weapon. Let alone children at that. I'll tell you what Little lady. You got yourselves a promising talent for the Xue."
Yanyi didn't like how that was worded. But seeing the little guy in front of her happily invested in mechanical tickering, she didn't take it to heart. "If he's happy with what he is doing, I'm okay with it."
"Jie! Look!" Eker turns and holds up his creation. He had created a mechanical slingshot from all the extra parts that Jerad had brought with him.
"That's a nice one! Tell Jie how it works." She holds him onto her lap with the draft before their eyes. Eker start talking about each part of the draft. Making sure to show it also on his completed prototype.
This went on for 30 minutes.
Until the sound of grunts and screams of pain dim outside.
In came a figure that she had anticipated. Luyao is cleaning his gauntlets from the blood after throwing punches after punches.
He then felt a soft fabric placed and swiped across his cheeks. Looking in that direction, he locked eyes with Yanyi. She is wiping the platter of blood on his cheeks.
It wasn't his own blood. "Are you hurt anywhere?" She asked. Even if it's not his own blood, bruises can still exist somewhere.
She is worried about him.
And Luyao?
He is not about to miss this opportunity.
"Hiss! Just a bit of sprain on my wrist." He faked a hiss as he started twisting his wrist.
Yanyi quickly smacked away his movement and moved to the dining table and took out a first aid from a nearby drawer. Opening the first aid she took out a soothing ointment.
Luyao moved to the table and held out his wrist. Free for Yanyi to inspect. And she did.
Though much to her confusion, she didn't find any bruises. "It looks all fine to me? Are you sure it hurts?" Luyao nodded.
Testing, Yanyi put in a bit of pressure on his wrist to which she received a hiss of pain from Luyao. It's all fake by the way. She apologises profusely and prepares to dab the spot.
That is when the unexpected yell came from the living room area. "Jie can blow away the Boo Boo! Like when Eker got hurt!" The little guy yell. His head perching on the headboard.
Luyao didn't take that part for a tease. He had his fair share of teasing. He did however complain about those buffoons.
Luyao —"On a serious note though, those buffoons are weak as frick. Their coordination is horrible. They start to fight instead of working together. Their skills are far lower than that of normal Ryuichi's soldiers and let's not talk about their overconfidence."
Yanyi — "Too much that it falls down the cliff?"
Luyao — "Sum that up right."
Yanyi — "That's the reason why we need to clean the military up once in a while. The fastest way is with house direct order. You know that's the reason, right?"
Luyao — "Yeah. To be honest, I think General Cinth is the only one who can truly be on par with me. The rest? Either need back up or will lose without me breaking a sweat."
"General Cinth?" Hearing Jerad's sudden voice Yanyi was stone for a moment. She had almost forgotten about their weakened friendship…
If you can call it that.
"So that selfish bastard is here huh? Let me teach him a lesson." Before Yanyi could tell him to stop, he had already walked out of the living room and down the stairs.
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The two people that stood on the side quickly moved their feet to bring the tumbled soldiers back outside. Cinth had given the order for them to retreat. They will have the report for another day.
He would have to make a report to Yanyi about their current plan. He wasn't paying attention to the surroundings, only thinking about their next move and his own evaluation of Luyao.
He didn't realise who was standing before him on the stairway.
He looked up.
The face he didn't wish to see.
The man he didn't want to see.
Not with that expression.
The expression that betrays their long friendship. A face of disappointment. A face that is looking down onto him.
When they had once stood on the same platform together. He is faced with the person he didn't want to see. And he didn't know what to do. He stood there.
Motionlessly.
His tongue that had been practicing what to say the moment they saw each other didn't move. Instead the other ones move first. But what follows is not the peaceful voice that he had once longed for.
"General Cinth." Disappointment.
"You are the most incompetent leader I have ever seen in the history of Xue's military." Ignorance.
"Instead of choosing to skip grades, you should've chosen to stay. Maybe then you would be able to learn some manners about responsibility." Side Eyed.
"A genius brain like yours doesn't mean a competent leader." Mockery.
"A reckless and impatient fool as you should stay in the administrative department." Frozen.
These are what Cinth had in his mind. Each of his sentences.
He shudders when he hears the word 'impatient'. 'Am I impatient? For 13 years?' Is all he can tell himself.
Question himself.
"Jerad Konse!" Before another word can fall out of his mouth, the voice of his superior's daughter reverb into his ears. Yanyi had stopped him at the right moment.
He looked once again at those familiar yet distant eyes.
Foolishness?
Mockery?
Disappointment?
Which is it?
Perhaps the best word to describe it is…
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Betrayal…
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Cinth turns his back towards the stairs and walks back down. Without looking back, he state, "I will not be coming to your apartment anymore, my lady. For fear that it might ruin your day in the future. Let's speak about the report over lunch someday, okay…"
"Uncle Cinth…"
"He is a reliable person, Little Yanyi. I know you are safe with him."
"..."
"Farewell…"
The movement from the stairs to the other side of the gate feels heavy. Like Cinth is walking across a hanging tight rope. So thin that it could slice your body in half if he ever looked back.
The gate closes…
The ordeal done…
And a story came to a close.
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Yanyi stood on the balcony and saw the sparks that had once danced around Cinth's eyes die at that moment. It faded. The one spark that she had hoped to light up again vanished into the void.
Because of the man before him.
His first mentor.
Yanyi — "Jerad Konse you are to return home this instance."
Jerad — "Why's the sudden rush, my lady. We can speak more about that guy-!"
Yanyi — "You are to hold your tongue against anything of him! Not a word about him out of your MOUTH!"
Jerad — "Wha-!"
Yanyi — "You are to never make contact with him during his stay here! You are not to speak of him in any shape or form!"
Jerad — "Little Yanyi why?"
Yanyi — "He may be your… opponent… But he is still my mentor. My teacher."
She stared down towards Jerad. The cold eyes that belong to the head of the Xue. Xenzi had been quite the popular person when he put fear just for that stare.
Yanyi is doing the same.
Jerad didn't say anything and went back up to clean the mess in the living room. Soon enough he takes his leave for the day.
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He never speaks with Cinth ever again.
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A nice speech that is
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