"Why?! Why did you let them go?! What about all these people dying in front of me?! A tool?!" Maki was incensed and grabbed Yoichi's collar in anger and exasperated emotions.
Looking at the corpses eaten by that Blood God and her husband's indifference made her riled up. It is a nauseating and helpless feeling to save their warriors' pitiful lives from death.
However, Yoichi just let the biggest offender out of the field like a wolf inside the lambs' habitat.
It broke her morality and uprightness as a female general, caring for her soldiers and the solid bonding all over these couple of months.
"I'll admit it, I am that apathetic for the sake of myself and my family. Still, they died fighting against these bandits, and I applaud their fearlessness in fighting without any regrets about leaving their families in our town."
"You, as a general, must understand their outcome and it's their choice to fight for our town. We can't control their decision or interfere with the determination they have inside of their minds."
Yoichi looked at Maki who was gritting her teeth in helpless expression.
"Enough, Maki! Although Yoichi said this isn't entirely wrong, this is war and we knew that ourselves. Don't let their deaths be in vain. They did it because they were fighting for a reason."
"Also, before you think about someone else, think about yourself first! Feeling weak and helpless? You should be strong enough to save their lives! We still have many things to do. What about our children?! Our trial?! Our family?!" Satomi had enough and patted Maki's shoulders.
This problem stemmed from the fact that they have different views and ideologies of mundane life. Yoichi lived his life with all the deaths and suffering of humanity, he grew up being cold-blooded from always seeing dead people all the time. On the flip side, Maki was a human with virtues and morality due to her fierce yet caring about her warriors who fought their battles with her. She knew the consequences of war and couldn't help but lament in inability to protect them.
"Have you calmed down a bit? I know you are genuine in taking care of them. Even so, you also enjoyed the thrill and excitement you felt fighting with those freaks, right? We could only hope that their souls would lie down in peace without any guilt or regret in choosing their decision to save our town. It's only the beginning, Maki." Yoichi hugged her tightly in his embrace, even with the blood-soaked figure, it didn't stop his care for her.
From hearing his words, Maki felt her mindset was beginning to change her ways of living. Her true self didn't change, her fierce and caring attitude was still there. However, this gruesome fight made her realize that her time in this world was limited, and being attentive to her warriors as an individual was time-consuming. Instead, Maki began to shift her attention to her husband, family, and daughter.
"Uugghhh... How envious, both of them are hugging on the battlefield!" Satomi chimed in and hugged both of them as a family and a thoughtful friend of Maki, who was blushing harder than the red-soaked lands.
"Ahem! Let's help them with these bastards, I'll go first!" Maki struggled to be free and escaped from the entangling hug, running across the battlefield with a faint smile on her face.
Satomi and Yoichi exchanged glances and shook their heads, following Maki's route into their posts.
->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->
"Everyone, we have to run!"
"Run! Enemies are demons!"
"Arrrrghhh! Fucking monsters!"
On the other side, Omaru and Yaemono didn't stand a chance against the Sister Duo. Due to the density of bandits and rogues attacking them, Both of them annihilated these cumbersome enemies with Yoru's efficient assassination methods and Yuki's devastating ice assault that made these freaks run in fear, apprehension, and trepidation.
"Let's chase these mongrels! Kill them—" one remarkable warrior screamed but...
"No, let them be. It's our victory and these defiant idiots will have second thoughts fighting us again."
Yuki waved her hand and interrupted his valiant notions, all of the remaining warriors felt a huge boulder in their shoulders was entirely gone.
"We won! Glory to the Suzaku Town!"
"Hooray! Glory to the Suzaku Town!"
"Hahahaha, you bandits and rogue alike, taste our unstoppable victory! Glory to the Suzaku Town!"
These injured warriors cheered and roared inside the forest, a resounding victory and dominating passion filled the atmosphere. Some of them sighed in relief, some lamented about the state of their dead comrades, and some felt like crying because they would go home with a triumphant victory on their backs.
"See, look at them. They fought with a purpose. These incredible warriors will be the future of our town, a symbol of a prosperous journey and peace in these fertile lands!"
In the distance, Yoichi patted Maki's shoulder and made their way back to the cheering warriors with smiles, the war was over and they could sleep without any disturbances from now on.
"Everyone, our hard work and countless training have come to fruition! A thunderous victory in our hands!"
"Look! It's the Murakami Clan Head!"
"Cheers to the Murakami Clan Head!"
"Hail, Yoichi Murakami!"
Amidst the brimming vitality and revelry, Yoichi waved his hands, smiling from the joviality while all of his clan members exchanged smiles with each other. A massive achievement of a successful battle was the first merit of their Murakami Clan.
Moreover, they displayed their incredible and mysterious powers to win the war with a tiny fraction of casualties among the high ranks of an infantry division. Their excellent talents made them shine across the warriors like radiant stars among the sea of darkness.
"Please, everyone! Calm down. We will go home with a monumental success in our hands! For all of those who have enough strength, take care of our fallen comrades who fought with their very lives to save our town from these invaders! We will hold a celebration and close the war in festivity along with a salute to our mighty warriors who perished in battle. They died with reason and motivation! Everything they risked will not be in vain!"
Yoichi made a heartfelt speech and most of the warriors agreed, nodding to his rightful words while his clan members also smiled except for Maki who rolled her eyes, still annoyed at his bullshit words and "genuine" phrases.
After saying that, all of the warriors volunteered to carry their comrades' corpses with grief and consolation in their eyes. The cruelty and brutality of war made them feel lucky to be alive and go home with reassurance for the future.
Yoichi along with his clan members made their way back to the town with smiles on their blood-soaked clothes excluding Satomi's clean appearance.
->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->
"Makima, prepare for the compensation of the fallen warriors' families. Make sure it will be sufficient enough to save their families for future generations. As for the clan leaders, let them be. Let the young sprouts shoulder the burden and experience the importance of their clan's bearings."
In the hot spring inside their ancestral home, Yoichi advised Makima about the reparations and other things necessary for better administrative work. These young buds of the clan leaders were adequately assigned to their positions for their future careers, standings, and stability of the town.
Afterward, they went to the celebration venue with countless people watching and cheering them for their merits and successful efforts to end the war swiftly and decisively. Then, Makima announced that the dead warriors' families would receive remunerations from the administration, making others sigh in relief and reverence from the generosity of their high-ranking people.
Maki, Satomi, and Makima were bombarded by countless questions and inquiries from the young clan leaders and other warriors about governance in the clan and ways to be an incredible general just like the three women.
Therefore, the three of them wanted to divert these questions to Yoichi. However, he was on the side and delicately spending his time with her daughters and son, making the three feel helpless and surrendered to their fates as the scapegoats.
The celebration was grandiose and lively with people drinking from left to right, warriors hooking their arms with one another, humming to a tone, and saluting their fallen comrades' sacrifice.
On the main street, a bunch of stalls and stores were bustling with thriving businesses. Numerous praises for the town warriors and clan leaders, saying exaggerated words such as they are the gods' envoy and the savior of the people in a treacherous world, and so on.
In the war, they lost over 3,000 warriors with routine training and resources ready for them. But, the harsh reality of the bloodbath unexpectedly slapped them in their faces. No other preparation was enough once the shinigami wrote their name inside the death book and the surviving warriors felt glad and very thankful for another day.
After the celebration, all of the people went into their homes, a hazy feeling that made them sleep well in an instant as the barrage of exhaustion flooded their bodies and minds with a smile on their faces.
Then, Yoichi took care of his children and went into the cabin. Although the day was eventful, the carnage and insatiable innate characteristic of humanity didn't change his goal to protect them from other mighty and mystical beings as well as improve the livelihood of people.
Individuals must have a choice since it is the only thing they can control. Not even their mundane bodies were in their control due to countless plagues and diseases spreading out of control.
He went to sleep, ending the day of a hectic life.