BATTLE OR ALIVE
Chapter 32: Bahmund Kingdom

Returning home from a tour, tomorrow Jell must do his job as a King.

Rin tells him, one of the activities the King should do after his inauguration is, he should greet the dreamer of a neighboring country.

Jell was a little confused about it, she thought whether it was wrong or right, whether we received protection. In addition, several Northern kingdoms were clearly eyeing the country of Athera.

But with Rin's explanation, this is part of a tradition that has been done for more than hundreds of years. That way, it should be this time the countries will not do anything.

Jell understood and inquired about the details of the kingdom to be visited. Taking the list off the top of his desk, Jell read it carefully.

He was curious as to how many countries were actually listed as neighboring Athera.

In this world, the name of the neighbor is only adjacent. With that Jell thought what the state regulations were as well as that.

And seen from the list that Rin gave, there are 4 countries marked as neighbors of the kingdom of Athera.

First, the kingdom of Bahmund. This kingdom is known as a kingdom that is quite prosperous from several Northern countries.

The country has a strong military and has major resources in the field of mining materials.

The reason is that the country is next to a large mountain that separates the kingdoms of Athera and Bahmund.

Second, the kingdom of Mintis. This kingdom is rumored to have experienced various problems over the past 3 months, namely the coup against the current King who is in office.

This country is not very open to other countries, and to enter this country must have a special permit.

Third, Neraida City. Or known as the Elf Kingdom.

As the name suggests, this kingdom is an Elf kingdom, but even though they are a different race from humans, they are very open. Even more open than the Mintis Kingdom.

Yinn the guild master was from this country.

Fourth, the Northern Empire, known as the Antitum empire.

An empire known for its power-centered government. They were greatly feared by many countries, and even their military might was far superior to Athera's.

And they became the strongest country in the North, and the third in the world.

...

This is the list of countries that Jell will visit.

(The strongest country, the Empire. The largest country, Athera. I wonder what if the two fight each other. Looks interesting.)

I don't know what Jell had in mind to think about the war against the empire.

Rin who realized it must feel that Jell is currently thinking about something that is not good.

“Why are you smiling so?”

“Ah, no.”

That way Jell's schedule will begin to be full of his work as a King.

***

The next day, as scheduled yesterday. Rin had not known since when he had sent an invitation to the country they were going to visit, the first country was the Kingdom of Bahmund.

Rin tells him that they can already leave this afternoon and will arrive tomorrow.

It would take about 8 hours to go to Bahmund Kingdom, that was because this kingdom was located in a place a bit far from the capital part of the kingdom. So it's gonna take time.

The ones that go to visit Bahmund kingdom are, Jell, Mai, Emma and Rin. The four of them will be with Jell.

Rin initially wanted to use some guards for this trip, but it was rejected by Jell.

Since this was a visit to strengthen the relationship between the two countries, then if bringing Jell guards felt disrespectful to them. Trust is the key to building relationships.

After all this was a secret meeting between the two countries, and if they brought a lot of guards then it would attract attention.

Emma for this visit she forced to leave. She said that she did not want to be the one to just relax behind her two brothers, therefore she wanted to be useful even if it was just a little.

Jell was certainly very happy with his words, without Emma's refusal allowed to come along.

Now he can see his happy face which for the first time he went to the country of Bahmund. He was on the bench by Mai, and both of them seemed very happy with this visit.

“Rin, is there anything else I should know about Bahmund Kingdom?”

“An, for that, yes. Banar, he said the current King is very fond of souvenirs. What more if it is a sweet.”

Hearing that Jell felt his impression of King Bahmund changed slightly. He thought maybe the King was a firm and hard man. Because he thought that such a figure perfectly matched the features of Bahmund's state.

“As children.”

“Oi.”

Not having any brakes at all, presumptuously Mai said that the King's attitude was like a child. But unable to refute it, Jell also thought so.

“Mai, remember. Don't say that to the King, loh.”

“What, I'm not stupid to do that.”

To commemorate Mai who could have gotten out of control like that, Rin rebuked him loudly.

But Mai is certainly not a child, she can keep her attitude with the situation that is going on.

The journey was still half way to get to the destination, currently they were on a plain that had no government. This place is on the border between the kingdom of Athera and the kingdom of Bahmund.

Mai who was curious about what was in this place decided to wander around for a while.

He was curious what he could get in a place that was completely ungoverned and how this place had developed.

They are now in a small town, just as they said before, one of the many places where they say they do not want to be tied to any government, and decided to live alone.

But even if they reject the government, they basically still have relations with neighboring kingdoms. They also have links with Athara through trade routes.

The inn they gave was quite comfortable, and somehow Mai and Rin suddenly came together.

The two of them were out together, and Jell was a little surprised by Rin being able to put on such a smile together with Mai.

“You two from anywhere?”

“Yo, Jell. You won't know what I found.”

“Ohh, what is.”

It was clear that one of Mai's hands was holding a pouch, and she showed what she said just now.

It was a cooking knife. If viewed normally it will only look an ordinary knife, but if seen with a transmitter where it will look the difference.

“Ohh, this is an amazing knife.”

“Not really. This is just an ordinary kitchen knife and is sold at a low price. I was surprised when I saw it, even though this item has a price of three times, and again this is better than what is sold in the kingdom.”

“Eh, so that's what you want to say?”

“Nn!”

Both of them looked at the knife with admiration. Emma, who was always watching her two brothers, felt a little understood by the conversation, and somehow Rin seemed to not understand at all.

“Oh, I understand a little.”

Emma raised her hand, and said that she could take a close look at the meaning of the conversation.

Jell who saw the growing Emma, rubbed her head as a compliment.

“What the fuck with the knife, still nicer that in the palace, isn't it?”

But Rin looks a little irritated by their overly exaggerated attitude with just a regular knife like this.

But the thing that Jell and Mai meant was not that, and Rin was unable to accept that information.

“Rin onee-chan, do you not understand what onee-chan and onii-chan, say?”

Getting the question from the little boy, Rin was a little confused as she answered it.

“Ah, sure. That's right, about quality, isn't it?”

The answer is given, Emma's view of Rin is very high, she idolizes her figure because of her calm and beautiful attitude.

But at this moment the figure instantly disappeared from his sight.

Jell who saw that felt a little sorry for Emma who was betrayed, patting Mai on the shoulder, Jell wanted her to explain.

Mai would, of course, if she did that it would seem that she was much smarter than Rin.

“The meaning is, we can make use of them.”

“Utilizing? How-to. They are a free region, loh.”

Mai with a proud face, she raised her chin seeing how stupid Rin was. He calmly told them how to use them.

“Of course, we will colonize them.”

“Do not origin by the way.”

Saying that, Mai immediately got a reward in the form of a blow to her head. To explain how, Jell told Rin.

Jell wants to work together. In the deal, both parties will get their respective benefits.

Jell wanted them to provide quality knives that they would sell in the kingdom, and for them Jell promised protection. The protection provided was, security towards Athera, helping when they were at war, and would receive refuge.

The agreement between the two sides has been agreed. Both signatures have been listed on the agreement sheet, and now both have officially entered into a trading relationship.

***

The next morning after their stay, they decided to continue their journey to the kingdom of Bahmund.

The trip will take less than 3 hours, then they have to leave very early to be on time.

Three hours have passed, and now they have come to the kingdom of their neighbor, the kingdom of Bahmund.

Bahmund's kingdom was not big enough, they were just kingdoms that used mountains as their country. There is a large cave that became their medium to build the kingdom.

It is said that this kingdom is a kingdom that is very skilled in mining and has the most mining reserves in the world. And therefore, building good relations with this kingdom is mandatory.

The chariot that Jell and his entourage had boarded had reached the royal gate. Because the kingdom uses the cave as a medium, they certainly do not have a village or district outside the palace gate, as did Athera.

Entering the kingdom, you can see there are many buildings that fill the entire place. Not only on the ground, the building also reaches the ceiling of the cave.

Jell who saw him could not help but feel amazed, he had never seen anything like this.

The main road that runs straight and is next to it there are many buildings that seem to be a shop, not only that, the building attached to the ceiling is also a shop.

Buildings between buildings are connected one by one to form a sturdy building, and there are several suspension bridges that are provided to cross.

Too engrossed in the sight, they had unwittingly reached a palace.

Seen in front of the palace door was a man who was around the age of 30 years, was standing staring at them.

Obviously the man was not an ordinary man, it could be seen from his clothes. He is the King of Bahmund's kingdom.

The white carpet decomposes from top to bottom. Followed by a few knights who descended and greeted them. And one of them exclaimed to introduce Jell and his group.

“Have arrived, King of Athera, Jell Kiyomizu-sama. And followed with other visits!”

Shaking hands with King Bahmund, they proceeded to eat together in the dining hall.

After the meal, the conversation between the two kings certainly happened. But what King Amun didn't think was that Jell started their conversation.

The name of the King of Bahmund's kingdom is King Amun. She is very kind and as Rin said while on the train, she really likes the souvenirs Jell gave her. To Jell, he's an interesting guy.

For souvenirs, Jell gave him a Long Sword. That sword was the magic sword that had the strongest power in Athera for now.

Getting a good item like that of course King Amun looks very happy, in the future will be with various other discussions. The two looked familiar to a young King and a senior King.

Rin could not help but be amazed at seeing Jell who could easily get along with King Amun.

For Rin who had met King Amun, he did not expect that Jell could get along with him very quickly.

“Well, I can't stop thinking that a King is a 17-year-old boy.”

“Haha, thank you for the compliment. Amun-san.”

To enter the main discussion, the two Kings have discussed some specific things.

“Hahaha, interesting, you are very interesting. King of Athera, Jell. I want in the future our kingdom can be good friends.”

“Ah, of course, Amun-san. But, I want in our relationship there are some things that I want you to guarantee to me.”

“Jamiman? Say.”

Hearing that word, a smile appeared on Jell's face.

“What do you know about the area that filed itself as a free area of government?”

“Oh, you mean Not Kingdom.” area

“True. I want you not to touch that area, how?”

“I don't know what you want to do, but I never intend to touch them.”

The answer given, Jell's face smiled widely and happily listened to him.

That way the meeting of these two kingdoms was over, and they rushed to go home immediately.

Knowing that it certainly made King Amun feel bad about it, he intended to give Jell and his group a day's stay in the palace.

But Jell politely declined, giving some logical reasons.

Now they have to travel for another 8 hours to get home.

“Jell, why did you refuse that request? Though I want to do many things in the country.”

Jell who is currently holding Emma, she tells Mai the reason.

“You plan to investigate the kingdom more deeply right?”

“Ah, it is so.”

“It is not necessary.”

“What?”

Looking at the window and seeing Bahmund's kingdom begin to disappear from the horizon, Jell then answered Mai's question.

“Information we know is perfect.”

“Complete?”

“Ah, the country has absolutely nothing to hide, really stupid.”

Jell explained everything she knew, which was about how stupid the kingdom was.

The Bahmund Kingdom had an extremely abundant wealth with their enormous mine reserves. But it should be to get such rough information should not be trusted right away.

Just like some countries that want to always look beautiful in public, and in fact the country turns out to be a rotten country.

But this does not apply to the kingdom of Bahmund. The kingdom had spread all their information to the public without hiding anything.

And therefore it was no longer necessary to linger in that kingdom, since the information they obtained was more than enough.

“Then, how do they work? That way all the mining results will be ours.”

“Ahh, I also thought the same thing.”

Both of them were without guilt for what they thought, Jell and Mai drifting in greed. But with one proper fist punch hitting Jell's head, it ends.

“It's obviously not okay, stupid!”

***

The next day, Jell and Mai were in the office. For today they do not have a busy schedule and have a lot of free time, therefore Jell and Mai decided to discuss their next steps a little.

“Ahh, I did not expect that I would become a King.”

Surrendering his entire body in a soft chair, Jell had no more strength to lift his body. Mai was beside him casually playing Jell's cheek by poking it.

“You how else, just enjoy.”

Straightening her body, Jell sat down while looking at Mai with a sharp look.

“How can I enjoy this, no. What if this was planned by that person. About me being King.”

Mai thought about what Jell was trying to say, but she did not want to think about anything complicated and answered him with a very very stupid answer.

“Then enjoy it.”

Jell stood up and went towards the chair at her desk, with a serious sitting pose Jell changed the topic to discuss something else she was currently thinking about.

Jell's face looked slightly moody, she looked blankly at the office room. Mai who saw him only let out a long sigh, and went towards Jell.

Turn around at the table, and stop in front of Jell. Sitting on her desk, Mai was teasing her with her dangerous position.

But if it was someone else it would definitely be out of control seeing what Mai did, but this is Jell. Using her finger, she flicked Mai's head.

“What are you doing?”

Squeezing her forehead, Mai looked in pain with a hint of tears at the end of her eyes.

“I think you want me to do that. Don't-don't you want me to show it here? Ah, can't. Jell, if you do that.”.

Jell who was being stressed at being played by Mai, a pulse appeared in her head, using her fists Jell showed her seriousness.

“Ah, sorry. Just kidding. Sorry.”

“Hah~”

For now Jell could only be patient in facing Mai's attitude. Jell thought that the moment Mai found out about how serious their current situation was, Mai would turn into a slightly more mature woman.

But she was wrong, this girl was no longer able to be helped, Jell said in his heart.

Jell lifted Mai's chin. Mai who was shocked because she was treated suddenly like that made her unable to control her body.

Their faces were very close, and Mai's face could not lie in the current situation, her face was extremely red.

The faces of the two were getting closer.

The dook! (The door was opened hard)

“Jell, there is something I want to discuss about the next kingdom—”

Suddenly from the door that was opened violently, seen Rin who was carrying a lot of piles of papers and books that he would pass on to Jell.

But that suddenly changed when he saw what they were doing.

He was silent and didn't know what to do. His expression was difficult, he didn't know what this was all about, but.

“A-What do you guys do!”

A hard slap was thrown on Jell's cheek leaving a red hand mark.

***

A beautiful night in the kingdom of Athera. All the sights can be seen from here, from the top of the tallest tower in the palace.

Sit and enjoy the beautiful night, decorated with bluish green colors produced Bright Crystal.

Just for now, Rin's mood is being ripped from all the things she thinks. As for how much burden he had borne, he could no longer remember how much he had done for this country.

“Haha, this is funny. It's not that I'm the one who looks like a queen rather than her.”

In his mind suddenly appeared the figure of someone he had recently admired, but to match his position alone was already as impossible for him. Of all things, he lost to him, but for this country he will do anything.

(True, this is all for the sake of this country.)

Doing all the things that were even impossible for him, but he kept trying to keep looking strong.

But what he got did not produce anything from it at all. He lost to someone whose job was just to sleep and eat.

“Not him, I'm much better than him. But why..”.

The mixed feeling in his chest already could not be contained anymore, he wanted to give up on doing all these impossible things.

He wants to give up.

“But, such a figure that makes you look graceful, loh-”

A small voice that suddenly emerged from behind him, shocked by that he immediately saw the origin of his voice.

“Kak Rin's.”

The figure of a 13-year-old little girl, in the pink pajamas she was wearing, she looked like a sleeping fairy who was giving people beautiful dreams.

“Emma...?”

Walking towards her, Emma with her favorite big pillow approaches Rin.

Rin doesn't know what Emma is doing here, but it should be a place that only she knows.

But Emma said that she had long since found this place.

The two just silently looked at the beautiful night scene, none of them opened the conversation. The atmosphere is very awkward.

“Hm? Why does sister's face look so moody?”

“E-Eh, ti-no. It's nothing.”

Covering his gloomy-looking face, Rin turned his head.

“Is this because of Brother Jell and Sister Mai? Or maybe, just a sister Mai?”

Rin's eyes opened wide, his chest suddenly being hit hard when he heard Emma's question. The pain he felt, which had momentarily disappeared, he could now feel once more.

“No idea, I love Brother Jell.”

Now he doesn't know what else he's feeling. His chest was depressed very strongly, he felt a tightness that was suffering greatly.

His eyes could not help but tremble, the truth was extremely painful for him.

The figure he admired was indeed very far away to approach him, but there was another figure who was also standing in front of him. A 13-year-old boy is so much better than he is.

“I love her very much, love her very much. And someday, she'll be mine.”

This darkness he was feeling already did not have his light to shine. He will not be able to defeat these two people, a figure who is always there for him. Me, just a secretary.

In his bosom Rin had given up all his efforts, at this moment he was about to give up.

“But, it's not as easy as turning the palm of the hand.”

His eyes opened, there was a tremor beating in his chest.

“Kak Jell already has Kak Mai. When I look at the two of them I always feel like being a part of their world, the smile they give, the laughter they laugh. I want that too. But it's very difficult.”

(Right, it was very difficult. It was hard to have all that, I who had been leading him all this time, always wanted to have such a smile as well. But that's impossible.)

“But, I won't give up.”

(What? Not want to give up? Are you stupid. It's obviously impossible, isn't it. We don't have a chance. Don't make me fight.)

“I will not lose to Kak Mai, want him as close as anything, want them to have done anything. Me, face will fight.”

(Stop, stop that. It's the same as making me wish.)

“I won't give up, because I love Brother Jell. For that reason, it is enough for me to keep fighting.”

“It won't run smoothly!”

His mouth that was just silent at the end let out his voice.

That shout represented all his feelings during this time. How much he struggled, as long as he waited. But he always did not produce results.

“I've fought for him, provided all his needs, helped him in his work, and even I did his work. But, I still lost to that stupid woman. Hisk...”

(Eh, am I crying? This pain, is this what makes me cry? It hurts, it hurts so much. I want to get all this pain out.)

“I fought as much as I could, I never once did not argue or burden him, I mean always clean the room. But still! Why, tell me what my difference is with that woman.”

Rin could no longer close her heart, she could not hold it anymore, she wanted to pour out all that pain here.

Emma who saw Rin yelling like that, made her smile thinly. He never thought that Rin had fought this much. A very good figure in his eyes.

“Sister does not lose, Sister is just less struggling. That's it.”

“Ha..?”

“From what I heard, Brother Jell and Kak Mai have known each other for 10 years. And it was a very long time.

They always smile at each other, like the same things, the same humor, and even their natures are the same.

Knowing that fact, I thought. It turned out that all my efforts could not match Kak Mai.

But even though they love each other, Brother Jell loves me too. And that's something that no one can deny.

From what I said, does brother understand?”

Emma spoke at length, this quiet child could speak that long.

Rin who has been struggling all this time finally realized that compared to Emma, he was also far behind.

He doesn't want to leave her, he wants to continue being with her, being one of the people he loves.

Because I love Jell.

***