“Sometimes I think it would’ve been better if we never come down to human land.”
Howen spoke calmly as he puffed on his cigar. When he left the mountain, he realized the terrible reality of non-human races and how they were treated among the humans. There were even instances where people in extreme starvation resorted to killing slave non-human races such as the Ainos to eat them. It was hard for Howen to turn a blind eye toward his people. The reason the Ainos cooperated with all Joonbum’s works was because Joonbum went out of his way to rescue those people. The first requirement for merchants to open trades with Khalodian was to give up their Ainos and Magnos slaves.
“Don’t worry too much.”
“Are you sure?”
Joonbum nodded. “It’s alright. I knew the Ainos had to go back to the mountain once it settled down so I’ve prepared for it.”
“What?”
“The hospital. That’s why I have Ainos people working in it. Doctors are important. They can be really influential as they are only ones who can save people from diseases and wounds. Combined with the healing potions, no one will come close to the healing skill of the Ainos and people will respect them for it.”
“I see.”
Joonbum was right in that sense. Khalodian had tons of patients as people from all over the continent that gathered for their last hope at survival. Unlike other places, they were quickly tended to and healed.
‘So he prepared for it from such a long time ago?’
Howen quietly watched Joonbum. He tried to say something, but he couldn’t. There was no word to describe his thanks.
“Then we must head out to hunt down those monsters.”
“Yes. We also have a lot of soldiers and mercenaries without jobs since the war has ended. We can utilize those people.”
Howen nodded.
“But won’t they hate venturing so deep into the mountains? It will also be dangerous since the monsters have gotten stronger.”
Joonbum smiled at Howen’s words.
“Don’t worry. The elite Khalodian forces will follow the Ainos from behind. That will entice those mercenaries to join in since they don’t have to fight on the frontlines. I’m sure merchants will also want to join since they want to gather more from monster hunts. The mountain range will be crowded with people so monsters won’t draw too close,” Joonbum explained. He also intended to use this chance to strengthen the land.
‘If we make it flourish during the winter, we can move ahead with the economy.’
He knew the economy had to flourish in order to have a strong country.
“That seems like an idea.”
“Yes, but we need to be careful. Oh, and we can have our Ainos medics have hands-on experience in the field. That will help people respect the Ainos even more.”
Howen looked astounded at Joonbum’s explanation. He smiled. The day was now coming to an end as they spoke nonstop about their plans.
*
“Ugh! It’s so cold!”
“It’s freezing…”
“I don’t feel the fire…”
Men mumbled in front of the bonfire as it danced in the cold wind. They had thick fur clothes on top of them, but it did not help to keep cold Khalodian Mountain wind out.
“My pee just froze!”
“Ugh, stop lying.”
Men came back to the fire, shivering heavily. Another man responded, scoffing at his words.
“I’m not!”
“I hope your other part isn’t frozen either! Haha!”
“Shut up!”
“Hey, have some tea.”
Another man poured hot tea in a wooden cup and handed it over to the shouting man.
“Oooh… this is nice.”
“Yeah.”
They all rubbed the hot cups as they looked into the fire.
“The mountain winter is too cold.”
“Yeah, but the money is good.”
“For sure. I will come again if we can do it next year.”
“Exactly.”
“We have merchants here too. We don’t even have to worry about carrying all the gathered stuff back.”
They all commented on their journey into the mountain. The Khalodian Mountain Range was safely being cleared out.
