Alain awoke his sore body, noticing his wife had left already.

  He headed to the broken fortification, where villagers pulled demonic creatures' corpses from the ground. A good chunk – maybe a third – of the palisades would have to be recrafted.

  Maybe they could do more of them and dig some more ditches too – but then, it would create contestations he had no time dealing with – generally, the defenses allowed the only wounded to be so by the misfiring impure energy of allies.

  The quicker he did his job, the sooner he could cultivate pure, train impure energy and think about improvement.

  He found the leading carpenter who came with his apprentices – mostly poor people from their clothes and physiques. The man explained a few things to him, and, after grasping an idea of the situation, Alain asked the bells to ring the sound of the work.

  The village was so big it was the only way of calling people whose chores fell these weeks. People used to fight negotiated better rights than in others parts of the empire.

  Around forty people came.

  "Where're the others?" Alain asked angrily. They were fucking supposed to number around fifty. Even though Louis had run away, he was still there!

  "Most are recuperating from their injuries." a woman said.

  "Oh, my bad then." He did not believe the fifth of them who went missing were all wounded. And the field did not need yet to be worked on.

  In the center of the circle, Alain explained the situation to them, helped by the carpenter.

  Next to them, a kid was standing, listening to the conversation.

  "Hey, but you thought about –" the child said.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "Rodolphe!" Alain said, "We allow you to listen, but no more."

  They continued their discussions while Rodolphe left.

  A few minutes later, the group heard someone dragging something and turned around.

  Rodolphe came forward hesitantly.

  "Well, what is it? Alain asked, exasperated. What was the kid dragging? A chair? Why would he do that?

  "Well...I was wondering how come you're a leader?" Rodolphe asked

  "By taking responsibility." replied Alain, "that would be a useful skill to develop."

  "Eh? No! That's not what dad told me."

  "What else did he say?" he nearly rolled his eyes.

  "He said leaders talk last and listen most. And I don't see you letting other people talk. So, I was wondering why they considered you a leader."

  "What more bullshit did he talk to you about?" Said Alain. "A leader makes decisions!"

  "No! Look!" Rodolphe said in an annoyed high-pitched voice that only managed to make him cute. He took from behind him a chair with the ends sawn off. He sat on it in balance before gently falling to the ground.

  "If they don't bring you a damaged chair, you can't show them it breaks when you sit on it."

  Alain was speechless. Did Louis really take the time to damage a chair to explain this to his son? Him?

  "And did it break there?"

  "No, but -"

  "So it doesn't count. Go." Alain waved, his voice displeased. "go play somewhere else."

  "But then your ass might get swollen..."

  Alain looked at him severely. Rodolphe exited the circle head low.

  Just after he finished ordering around and was nearing his house, 3 mercenaries approached him.

  "Division raid demonic creatures, how, when?" the man asked.

  "Wait, we sum it up and divide it then. We need to wait for the decision of Cleppé." Alain instantly regretted spoking without care.

  "Companion dead. Pay."

  The man growled, gesticulating some things and probably insults he did not understand.

  Alain cursed in his mind. Though some mercenaries were well equipped, some came from distant areas of the empire whose language differed greatly. And obviously, the common language was the priest's power they had no knowledge of...

  "Later pay," Alain said, crossing eyes with them.

  A group of others mercenaries came and helped the man calm through gestures. As the 3 first mercenaries retreated, one of the mercenaries told him:

  "It'd be best if your lord comes back. If some chase demonic creatures to prove themselves, their lack of equipment means they're farmers impatient of coming home to haymaking."

  As the mercenaries left, Alain began to think.

  'There might be only more problems coming to me. Then, I would have no time to cultivate. What's more important? My strength. I should do the most important things in the morning, like cultivation and thinking. I resolve this shit, and then it'll be time... No fuck it, I do it now.'