Roy strode toward Sor Sogon, in his hand was a small ball of cloth, still dripping red liquid.
And behind him, a line of thin, bruised women.
They were thankful that Roy came to their rescue, but at the same time, terror creeped onto their hearts.
The women followed Roy silently, obediently, afraid they might offend the person who rescued them and would decide that they were better off dead.
They followed Roy not because they found Roy as a righteous man, but because they had no other choice.
They were standing between freedom and slavery, but strangely found slavery much more comfortable than dying in the wilderness.
Roy approached Sor Sogon in a calm, unhurried pace, and placed the ball of cloth onto Sor Sogon's hand. Inside was the head of the freshly killed army commander.
Roy returned the blood soaked blades to the two soldiers, it's edges were dulled due to the endless cutting of flesh and bones.
"Tomorrow, i want you to recruit soldiers" Roy spoke in a cold voice," Say that the wages would be generous, and that I personally recommended the order."
"I want the village to establish it's own defenses, tell the engineers to surround the village inside a wall, I will personally fund all of the expense, and send your scouts to find more hiding refugees and bring him to the village."
After that, he strode back toward the village.
Everyone silently followed Roy, they watched his back covered in thick layers of blood and sweat, while Sor Sogon sent his scouts to the mountains to look for hiding refugees.
And so, the silent parade continued onward.
---
Roy washed his blood soaked body on the river, the flowing clear water turned red as the thick layer of blood and sweat washed away from his skin.
When he stepped out from the river, a villager immediately stepped forward and handed him a clean towel with both hands.
Roy accepted it, his expression still drained from the earlier battle.
Even though he had never killed a single person in his life, he had no choice.
Roy is a righteous man, he greatly followed the sense of justice, if those women created a serious crime, perhaps he wouldn't have intervene.
But seeing that those women were innocent, and they were being humiliated and violated in public, unease suddenly creeped onto his heart.
He couldn't stand watching innocent people being dragged onto a pit, not unless they violated rules of commited any serious crime.
Sor Sogon and Bah Long approached from the side, they dropped onto one knee and lowered their heads.
Bah Long spoke in a calm, almost reassuring tone.
"Reporting to the Great Heavenly Immortal Zudra," Bah Long said," we have identified the commander that you had killed, his name was the southern battalion commander 'Tiung Por'. A very brutal commander of the southern army."
Roy didn't even bother to look, he remained silent for a few seconds before speaking.
"Stop calling me Great Heavenly Immortal or Celestial Lord, it annoys me." Roy said, his voice cold, almost lazy.
"Then what does the Benevolent God recommend?" Bah Long asked.
"Anything will do, just not those exaggerated ones."
"Then Lord Zudra shall be thy name."
Roy didn't bother to reply, he only waved his hand lazily and walked toward the mirrors entrance.
Roy arrived at his apartment with a gloomy expression, he dragged his exhausted body toward his bed and slumped down flat.
He recalled the earlier battle, where blood sprayed all across his face and shirt, where he sliced a man's face in half.
At first, he wanted to vomit.
But anger had overwhelmed his body to be distracted by disgust.
He recalled the soldiers fearful expressions, but his anger never wavered, instead, it ignited even more.
How dare those scoundrels act like they deserved mercy.
Soon, Roy fall asleep on his bed, exhaustion drained him to the core.
When he awoke, dusk has already settled across the horizon.
The sky was dotted with beautiful glinting stars, and countless steam rose again from inside the mirror.
Rows or boiling pot were placed on top of burning flames, meat were sliced in large quantities and tossed them onto boiling water, vegetables were chopped and followed.
Soon, distribution had began.
Lines of countless figures formed in front of wooden stalls, they held out their bowls and accepted the thick, steaming soup.
Large slice of meat floated above, along with all kinds of herbs and vegetables.
Loud laughter and chatter echoed across the village, Bah Long, Sor sogon, Bah Kong and many more leaders stood at the back, they wore soft smiles, almost delicate.
This is the only part of the land that chaos and war failed to reach. They could not let their peace be trampled by some wandering army again.
Between the two overseers, Bah Long and Sor Sogon, everyone already knew the truth.
They must build their own defensive system, if Lord Zudra had not come back sooner from his Celestial errands, the village would have already be littered with bodies.