‘Is it morning?’ Joonbum thought to himself, not opening his eyes yet. He felt the coldness of the winter morning surrounding his skin. The air seemed to be very humid also.
‘Will it rain?’
He realized it was not the usual dry air he felt. At that moment, a low hum came from next to him and he felt a warm touch against his skin. He moved his hand to grab the naked shoulder of the person next to him.
“Good morning.”
A soft voice greeted him. Joonbum smiled.
“Yeah.”
He hugged Mayze softly. Her soft speckled face was ever so beautiful as Joonbum opened his eyes to look at her.
“Hug me more.”
Joonbum pulled her closer into his embrace. She was very understanding of Joonbum. He needed to marry other women to protect him and his family. It was the easiest way to form an alliance. Mayze understood this.
“You don’t have to be sorry.”
“But…”
“It’s okay. I knew this day would come.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I knew you were not some ordinary man when we first met.”
“I see…” Joonbum answered. He remembered the days when he first met Mayze.
“You just need to love me like you do right now. Don’t forget that I’m always here for you.”
Mayze finished speaking and smiled softly. Joonbum felt the love from the woman he loved so dearly and hugged her tight. They began kissing, yearning for each other’s warmth in the cold winter morning.
Soon after, Joonbum got out of the bed to take a shower before he came out of the house. He moved quickly went to the meeting room in the adjacent town hall.
“Hey! You’re awake!”
“You were amazing yesterday!”
“Good morning!”
Some Magnos and Ainos who were awake greeted him along the way. Joonbum opened the meeting room door and walked in.
“You’re here early.”
“So you still don’t sleep much?”
“Here, have some tea.”
Elders greeted Joonbum. They seemed to be concerned about Joonbum’s lack of sleep. He now only slept about an hour per day.
“We have reports that monsters within the mountain range have increased dramatically. They seem to be more fierce and powerful because they had to survive through high competition for food.”
“We can’t imagine how powerful they have become.”
Hesgal and Dodra explained, looking concerned from what was going on within the mountain.
“We decided that some of us must return to the mountain before it is too late. We will start moving back when the winter is over.”
Joonbum had already heard of this. The reason for Joonbum’s visit was to show the other people of the land that the Ainos were not moving out on bad terms.
-It’s not much, but we should make it as seem like Ainos are moving out with your permission.-
This meeting was set up as per Jackson’s advice.
‘What’s more is that there are wild animals that have come down from the mountain and have adapted to the peaceful life here…’
The increased ferocity of the monsters was because of the lack of prey. The herbivores roamed freely without any threat from the predators on the land and they also began decreasing in number.
‘With no threat, their numbers will fall.’
Joonbum thought and spoke out.
“You must bring some of the herbivores with you also.”
“Hm. But they have adapted to this land,” an elder moaned uncomfortably. He seemed to not be happy with the idea of bringing back wild animals.
“There are still some left within the mountain range so they will adapt quickly. We need to increase their numbers to restore the balance.”
“Right. We do need to bring everything back to normal.”
“It won’t be easy.”
“We need to prepare then.”
Joonbum nodded.
“I will support you all the best I can.”
“The Guardians, most of them should go back, right?” Hesgal asked. Joonbum flinched at the question. He knew they had to go back.
“Right.”
Joonbum felt his voice shake. The elders seemed to realize how Joonbum felt.
“Don’t be too sad. We will take only half. You can always visit too. It’s not that far on your Galim anyway.”
They then talked more about the preparations for the move.
“What’s most important is for us to fix the road. We will need more people and machines to do that.”
“I understand.” Joonbum nodded. The Ainos needed to return for the sake of Khalodian also. The Khalodian needed a large number of potions and the only way to acquire them was to have the Ainos go back to the mountain and hunt Gartz.
‘I must check on the Gate too.’
The disaster changed the landscape, so it was a must for Joonbum to check out the place.
‘There’s no telling if something else can come over.’
Joonbum was shocked to find that Jinpok arrived at the land at a much earlier time. There was no telling if similar occurrences would take place. In order to monitor such danger, the Ainos had to return.
