Unintended Cultivator

V12 Chapter 55 – Hope

“I’ll be away for a few days,” Sen announced.

That brought on the expected flurry of politely-worded demands that basically amounted to, “What in the thousand hells do you mean, you’ll be away?”

He let them all get on with that for a minute or two while he thought about other things. Xu Xiao Dan’s words about mercilessness and cruelty had haunted him. It wasn’t that he believed the man was wrong. If anything, he thought the man was right and that it might be entirely unavoidable. What had worried Sen was that he might be extending that mercilessness to some of the wrong people. He’d been focusing his attention on the two major cities in the kingdom because a lot of people lived in them and they were the most defensible. But he hadn’t declared himself ruler of the capital and Emperor’s Bay. He’d declared himself ruler of the entire kingdom.

Well, Master Feng and Uncle Kho had done most of the declaring, but Sen had gone along with it. However, there were many people who didn’t live in those cities. More importantly to him, there were people whose fates he cared about who didn’t live in them. He’d been ignoring them because he thought it was more important to secure the major cities. Now, though, those cities were secure. Well, the capital was moderately secure. He still had some work to do on Emperor’s Bay before he left, but the army was there for now. If the city came under attack, it had the resources to defend itself. That meant that, for a brief window, he could be selfish. Sen was drawn out of his introspection when the furor around him grew loud enough to intrude.

“Enough,” he said.

The room grew quiet at that command, and every eye was fixed on him. He looked around the room. What he saw in the eyes of the generals, the cultivators, and even his closest allies was fear. Most likely, it was fear of what might happen if he just never came back. While it wouldn’t be ideal, there were others who could take his place. Probably. He hoped.

“There are many villages and even a few towns north of here,” he continued. “After some questioning, it’s apparent that the leadership in Emperor’s Bay neither knows nor cares what has become of them. In all probability, they have been destroyed and the people living there killed, but no one knows. It is my duty to make an effort to find out. If any of them live, they are owed protection and at least the possibility of survival.”

“Lord Lu,” said Song Lan, “it isn’t necessary for you to go. You can send others to investigate this matter.”

“I could, but none of you can travel as quickly as I can. Not even you, Song Lan. And the army can’t remain here forever. In the time it took anyone else to simply reach Tide’s Rest, I can be there and back. In this case, I am the ideal choice to go,” reasoned Sen. “Also, I’m not putting up a suggestion for discussion. I’m simply telling you what will happen.”

No one liked that last bit in the slightest, but there wasn’t anyone there who could reasonably prevent him from going. At least, no one could do it without setting off a wholly unnecessary and wildly destructive battle with their allies. Also, he was right, and they all knew that. The kingdom had largely abandoned everyone outside of the cities. There hadn’t been any real malice in it. At first, no one in the capital had understood the threat. By the time they did, the threat was at their walls. This was the first chance that anyone with real authority had to discover what had become of the people in this part of the kingdom.

There was another reason Sen didn’t want to send anyone else. He wasn’t at all convinced that they would tell him if they found anyone alive. They might view it as a distraction or unnecessary risk to try to help those people. Yet, in a different world, Sen would have been one of those people left without protection before the spirit beasts’ genocide. He couldn’t help the dead, but he could at least try to help the living. If there were any living. Maybe it was a distraction. Maybe it was a bad strategy, but the army wasn’t going to be moving on from the city for at least another week or two.

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The political situation needed a little more time to stabilize, and the cultivators from the capital hadn’t arrived yet. That meant that there was time for this, if only just. If he did find some living, breathing mortals and cultivators, he’d consider the extra time spent seeing them to relative safety as more than worth the effort. It would also be a balm for his conscience to know that he’d done what he could.

“I won’t leave you all here with nothing to do. We need to reinforce this city’s defenses as much as we did in the capital. That will largely fall to the cultivators, but I will do my part to make it easier for all of you. There are still plenty of people who are new to the army. This is an opportunity to further their training. For the more experienced soldiers and the cultivators who have been working with them, consider new tactics to fight the spirit beasts. Practice. Drill.”

He watched as people stopped focusing so hard on what he was about to do and thought more about what they were about to do. He nodded at the change and continued.

“Things will not get easier from here. Up until now, we’ve been fighting on familiar ground. Soon, we will leave this kingdom. The farther south we go, the more unfamiliar things will become. This is a large city and port. There must be merchants and sailors here who have traveled in those lands. Find them. Speak to them. Learn what you can about what we might see and what they last heard about the kingdoms and cities there. Acquire maps if you can find them. In other words, try to think of things that will make our lives easier or improve our chances of survival,” said Sen, pleased to hear thoughtful murmurs in the group. “Now, go. I have much to do before I depart.”

Taking his own advice, Sen left the large tent. He did sense a few people trailing after him. He felt Xu Xiao Dan, Song Lan, Falling Leaf, and Misty Peak hidden behind one of her illusions. It wasn’t until they were all stuffed into his smaller tent that he looked at them.

“Out with it,” he said in exasperation.

“This is ill-advised,” said Song Lan before anyone had a chance to speak.

“Is it?” asked Sen, his voice deceptively mild.

“Yes, it is. To risk yourself by traveling alone into what could well be hostile territory is foolish.”

“I’ve spent far more time traveling into hostile territory alone or in the company of a few others I trust than I have with an army at my back. I survived then. I suspect I’ll survive now.”

“The risks aren’t worth the rewards,” she insisted.

“I expect you’d feel differently about it if you thought some members of your Order were there.”

Song Lan flinched at that.

“That isn’t—”

“Just because the people I find there might be mortals doesn’t make it pointless. You forget, Song Lan, I was one of those mortals not so long ago. And,” he said, his voice growing cold, “I know better than most what it means to be abandoned. The people of this kingdom deserve better than that. I know I can’t save everyone. I know I probably won’t find anyone. But the least I can do is go and look.”

He met her gaze, and she was the one who looked away first.

“Of course, Lord Lu.”

“Now, if the reason all of you came here was to tell me I shouldn’t do this, there are other, more useful ways you could be spending your time right now.”

Song Lan, Xu Xiao Dan, and even Misty Peak left. Only Falling Leaf remained, her expression conflicted.

“You want to go with me,” he said.

“Yes, but if the others can’t keep pace with you, I can’t either.”

Sen shook his head.

“I would take you with me, but I haven’t been able to truly teach anyone else my improved qinggong method, let alone the way I fly. And that’s the only way I can move fast enough for this.”

“They aren’t wrong. It is dangerous for you to go alone.”

“It’s a calculated risk,” said Sen. “There may be some powerful spirit beasts that could threaten me along the way, but it’s not likely. Why would they be there? On the off chance that I might show up at some point? To attack tiny human settlements that couldn’t fend off spirit beasts half their strength? No, I fear the real threat will be to my heart. I don’t expect to find anyone.”

“Then, why go?”

“Hope,” said Sen.

“Hope? What hope?”

“The hope that I’m wrong. The hope that, against all odds, I’ll find someone. I don’t even care who. At this point, every time we save someone, it’s a victory over the spirit beasts. And maybe, if I’m exceptionally lucky, I’ll be able to save someone I do care about.”