Chapter 22

After last night, I still can’t stop thinking about the mysterious man who saved me. Who exactly was he? His fighting skills were definitely not something ordinary. His movements were so fast and practiced, making me feel that he wasn’t just an ordinary person. However, before I could say thank you or ask any questions, he had already disappeared. Like a shadow, disappearing without a trace.

I was stunned where I stood, feeling an uneasiness creep through my body. There was something about him that made me feel... strange. But I didn’t have time to think about it further. I turned my head towards my soldiers who began to move quickly, securing the area and checking the situation. They signaled me to return to the resting place, and I complied, though my mind was still filled with questions.

The guard was tightened that night. The soldiers remained on guard throughout the night, making sure there were no more surprise attacks. However, I found it hard to truly feel at ease. Even though my body had returned to rest, my mind kept spinning, thinking about the brief encounter with the mysterious man, as well as the condition of the people in the northwestern region that I had just seen.

As dawn broke, we prepared to continue our journey. I don’t want to stay here too long. There are many other places I need to visit, many problems I need to solve. At the very least, I’ve drafted a report for King Domiano, giving him feedback on the conditions I’ve seen with my own eyes in the northwestern borderlands. However, one region is not enough. There were still many other areas I needed to observe.

I realized that this task would not be easy. The more I saw the condition of the people, the more depressed I felt. What I had seen in the palace in the form of delicious food, a comfortable life seemed so far from the reality faced by the people out there. They were living in deprivation, struggling to survive, even in a place that was supposed to be rich in resources like the great river in the northwest. This reality hit me like a huge wave, shaking my faith.

As we continued our journey towards the southern area of the Kingdom of Jordan, a sense of unease began to wash over me. The road we were traveling on was getting steeper and steeper. The horse I was riding occasionally slipped between the rocks, making me even more wary. I couldn’t stop thinking about what I had seen in the fishing village. There were starving children, youths stricken with despair and old people living in fear. They seemed to have been abandoned, caught between the threat from the neighboring country and their own inability to fight back.

I remembered the hard times back home, when I had to survive on my own. My life was far from the luxuries of the palace. I knew what it was like to go hungry, knew how difficult it was to find food every day. Now, despite being in Dean’s body, those feelings came flooding back into my heart. And before I knew it, tears were rolling down my cheeks.

“Sir, are you alright?” the voice of my bodyguard, who was sitting next to me on the carriage, broke the silence. He looked at me worriedly, obviously thinking I was enduring pain.

It was stupid of me not to be able to restrain my expression and feelings when I was around other people. I should have maintained my attitude and self so that I wouldn’t cause various perceptions from others when they saw me. But I admit that when I see such pitiful things, it makes me compare it to my life in the previous world where I experienced such a hard life. Hence I often can’t hold back my sadness due to that.

I hurriedly wiped away my tears and shook my head. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

He looked doubtful, but he didn’t say anything else. We continued on our way, though a feeling of sadness and uneasiness still hung in my heart. How could I possibly live comfortably in the palace while my people were suffering like this? What can I do to change this situation?

The further we went, the steeper the road became. This rocky road led to the mountains in the south of the Kingdom of Jordan. We walked through dense forests and crossed small rivers rushing down from the mountains. I could feel the air getting colder as we got closer to our destination.

“This area is quite remote,” said one of the soldiers walking beside my carriage. “The people here rarely interact with the royal center.”

I nodded slowly. From the start, I knew that this region was different. The people here were known not because of threats from neighboring kingdoms, but because they themselves still hadn’t fully accepted the Bordan Kingdom. They used to be part of the Kingdom of Ciozord, and even though this region was now under Bordan’s control, there was a lot of lingering discontent among the people.

I can understand that, although I did not feel it or experience it directly but I often read about it from historical books and also studied the history of nations that were colonized by other nations and then had to submit forcibly by the nation that had succeeded in colonizing and seizing their territory.

But what happened here is not the same as that because from what I saw and what I know the Jordan kingdom took or recognized that side of the territory only to make it an expansion of the territory without any intention of exploiting or looting the local people there. In fact, they themselves closed themselves off and did not want to join in just because of their different views and also their origin which was not part of the Jordan Kingdom.

“We will soon arrive at the first village,” my servant said after a while. He turned to me, looking worried. “The people here are known as rebels, sir. They do not fully accept King Domiano’s rule.”

I pondered his words, trying to imagine the situation we would face. How could I talk to them? How could I convince them that the kingdom wanted to help, not oppress?

The journey was getting harder and harder, both physically and emotionally. But I knew that to truly understand the problems in the Kingdom of Jordan, I had to see all points of view. Including the areas that no longer trusted the palace.

Finally, we arrived at a village nestled in a mountain valley. From a distance, the village looked quiet, even more quiet than the fishing village I left yesterday. There were no children playing in the street, no noisy voices of the residents working. There was only the cold wind blowing softly, sweeping the dry leaves on the ground.

I got off my carriage and started walking to the center of the village, followed by my soldiers and servants. My eyes swept around, looking for signs of life, but all I saw were the faces of the residents peering out from behind the windows of their houses. They looked suspicious, even scared.

“We need to talk to the village chief,” I said to one of my soldiers. “I want you to stay calm and not be arrogant when dealing with them. The situation there will definitely not be friendly to us but we need to be more humble in order to reduce their ego.”

The soldier nodded and stepped forward, approaching one of the larger houses. Shortly after, an elderly man came out, walking with slow, heavy steps. His eyes narrowed as he saw us, clearly unhappy with our presence in his village.

“What can I do for you?” he asked in a flat tone.

From this point on the situation still seemed normal, but it wasn’t necessarily safe after this.

I stepped forward, trying to calm myself down. “I am Dean, son of King Domiano. I’ve come to hear directly from the people what the problems are in this area.”

The old man gave me a long look, as if trying to judge whether I was trustworthy or not. After a while, he finally spoke. “Our problems are not from outside, sir. Our problems are here, among ourselves. Many of us still disagree with the decision to come under Bordan’s rule. We used to be part of the Kingdom of Ciozord, and not everyone here is willing to accept that change.”

I paused, listening carefully. This was not something that could be resolved easily. There were old wounds still gaping between the people here, wounds that couldn’t be healed with mere words.

“We just want to live in peace,” the man continued. “But under these circumstances, it’s hard to believe that peace can be achieved.”

I nodded slowly, understanding how deep the sense of dissatisfaction was among the people here. “I understand. But I hope you know that King Domiano wants to help you. We don’t want anyone to feel abandoned or neglected.”

The old man just sighed, looking tired. “We’ve heard such words before. But the reality never changes. We continue to be stuffed with a sense of compulsion, and the king of this land does not want to hear and does not want to care about our feelings. All we want is to return to our origins and have this territory returned to the Kingdom of Ciozord.”

I could feel the weight growing heavier on my shoulders. This journey will not be easy, but I know that I must continue. I must find a way to solve the problems that exist in the Bordan Kingdom, even though there are so many differences and discontent within it.

I’ve heard it said that it’s not so difficult to fight rebels who come from outside our territory but it’s most difficult to fight rebels who are within our own territory. And after I saw firsthand and was in this situation I could understand the meaning of that statement.