34 You can't find good medicine in the garbage.

Recently, things were not going so well for Hayl. Even though that scum Kear was finally rotting in the dungeon, and the Regent had lifted his supposed punishment, it seemed there were not so many days of peace left for him to enjoy. The men that Hayl had personally picked and trained throughout the years were the cream of the crop, of course. And they have been waiting to jump into action for ages.

The original purpose of building a sleeper army was to stage a rebellion if the Regent went off the rails. Hayl thought he'd call his men to arms in case Reo Atarian tried to usurp power and mess with the rightful successor or if he decided to burn down all the villages on a whim. With that guy, one couldn't be too careful.

Hayl had never anticipated using this army of his to protect the Regent's rule all of the sudden. These were obviously crazy times!

Be that as it may, protecting the Atarian rule suddenly turned out to be much more complicated than toppling it. Hayl was, unfortunately, not the only one with the brilliant idea of building his own army. He was just the poorest one of all.

So now, his 300 men had to stand against 3000 and counting. It would be highly naive to hope that they still had a chance. Even if these 3000 men were incapable and untrained, victory was hardly in the cards.

It would actually bring Hayl and his fighters much more benefits to join the other side and get rid of the Atarian monarchic supremacy once and for all. Hayl was not a supporter of monarchy anyway – he firmly believed that military rule was much better for the people.

However, Kear and his slippery supporters didn't want to establish a military rule with a clear hierarchy based on a meritocratic division of power. They wanted a new dynasty. So, basically, same shit – different faces.

Hayl couldn't see it clearly at the beginning. Only when Reo Atarian suddenly approached him one day and invited him for a very long talk, did he realize that he didn't want to sacrifice the lives of his men to fulfill the power-hungry ambitions of some degenerates. Besides, Reo Atarian promised him to kick the empty-headed court officials out of the key- positions and give Hayl complete carte blanche in appointing new officials.

Hayl thought about it for a while and finally took the deal. Mostly because it gave him the possibility to make a change. Even he himself was surprised by this sudden bout of idealism.

Somehow the annoying Prince had also found out about the deal. Hayl doubted that it was the Regent who told him. Most likely, Kai had his information from one of his spies. However, Hayl didn't really mind him knowing. First of all, with all his actions, the Regent was surprisingly protecting Kai Atarian's legacy. So, the Prince shouldn't consider himself wronged in any way.

And, after all, Kai's involvement had led him to Niki. Hayl still couldn't say if it was a gift or a curse, though.

Even now, as he was busy training with his men and hopelessly devising strategies on how to kill 3000 with 300, he still continued his daily visits to Niki's room.

"Why are you here?" Niki asked him on the evening after capturing Kear and ransacking his mansion. Niki's question didn't sound rude or annoyed, only genuinely curious.

"To bring you dinner and clean up a bit," Hayl answered, looking around. "Did you get new scrolls again?"

Niki nodded absentmindedly and then said: "This arrangement has expired, I think. You're now a General again, right?"

"Not officially," Hayl looked away. "It's better for me to still keep a low profile for now."

"Ah," Niki turned away and continued his reading without another comment.

As it often happened, when he talked to Niki, Hayl felt like an ignored kid and couldn't help but start another discussion.

"So what do you plan to do with Minn or whoever that guy is now?"

Niki visibly shivered as he raised his head. "I can't do anything to him. I mean, I can. But I won't."

"What do you mean?"

"The only way I can deal with him is to convince him not to hurt Kai," Niki sighed.

"Why would he hurt Kai?" Hayl was confused again. Since he found out about the impostor, Niki had been pretty tight-lipped about the issue.

"He has many reasons. But at least he seems reasonable – maybe I'll be able to convince him to leave Kai alone."

"The guy is barely alive. He might not even make it," Hayl shrugged.

"He will make it, no doubt. His destiny here hasn't been fulfilled yet."

Hayl didn't understand anything, but then again he often couldn't comprehend what Niki was talking about.

Niki's eyes looked unfocused as he continued. "Maybe this time I'll finally be able to repay Kai – his life for mine."

It was yet another time when Niki mentioned his past with Kai. As usual, Hayl didn't expect a straight answer when he asked what exactly happened. Surprisingly, on that day, Niki finally opened up to him. Since then, Hayl had been feeling a dull pain in his chest every time he thought about it.

"I grew up only with my mother. We were so poor that most days we didn't have anything to eat. As soon as I could walk, she would send me out to search for something edible in the garbage that other people had tossed on the street. Finding a piece of dried bread was a real treat, you know? But mostly, I found rats and cockroaches... which was not too bad either. We could fry them in the fire and nibble on the crunchy pieces. And then I would sit on my mother's lap, listening to ghost stories. It was so warm in her embrace."

"One day, when my mother was sorting through the trash she fished out from the river, she accidentally got a cut on her arm. Just a tiny cut. At first, it looked like nothing. But with time, it got progressively worse. Her hand was swollen, and she was running a high fever. Unfortunately, you can't find good medicine in the garbage, so there was nothing I could do for her. Until some men knocked on our door and asked my mother to sell me to them. They even promised her medicine and a new house. She could start a new and better life if she agreed to give me up."

"And I was ready to go, honestly. My mother didn't deserve to die like this. She deserved to be happy. But she cussed the men out and even threw stones at them. I asked her why she didn't take the deal – she didn't explain, only hugged me very tightly and cried on my shoulder."

"The following night, the same men broke into our house... Well, it wasn't too difficult – we barely even had a door. Disregarding my mother's protests, they dragged me out. My mother tried to run after us, but, due to fever, she could barely stand anymore, not to mention running. I saw her collapse on the ground."

"The men took me somewhere underground and chained me to the wall. I had no idea what exactly they wanted to do, but it was clear that I wasn't coming out of there alive. Sometime later, a savage priest appeared in front of me. That was the first time I saw one – those black eyes I will never forget."

"He took a knife to my chest and cut out my heart while I was still breathing. The next thing I remember is being buried under heavy, stinking soil. And the cold. It was horribly cold. Somebody was calling me from above – I couldn't move, so I ignored the calls but then I recognized the voice. It was my mother. She had found me. So I dug my way out of my own grave, trying to get to her as soon as I could."

"I was right on time... to see her disintegrate into black fog. Didn't even manage to hug her for the last time. Later, I found out that she had given up her life to raise the dead. The problem was that she didn't just raise me. It was a mass grave with mutilated bodies buried here, there, and everywhere. Slowly, others started to emerge from the ground."

"But they were not like me. They had forgotten who they were – maybe, they had been dead for too long. Who knows. However, all these corpses wanted to do was tear each other apart. I realized I was going to die a horrible death yet again. And at that moment, Kai appeared."

"He was like a noble god of war, waving his sword with skill and precision. Soon, he left a mountain of decapitated corpses behind him as he approached me. I asked him to spare me. Indeed, he put his sword down and said: "You're... sane?" I nodded, and then he asked if I was the one who raised the dead. I told him it was my mother."

"And then he hugged me and said that everything was going to be all right. I just needed to stay sane for one night, and then I could live forever."

"The whole night, he kept wiping my tears, hugging me, not allowing me to freeze, not allowing me to go crazy. He told me stories and asked questions about my life. As you see, I survived the night. It's just that my hair turned white. But it's not that bad. I've never been vain. Besides, now, I'm simultaneously dead and immortal."

"I owe this life to Kai."

After Hayl heard this story, he quietly patted Niki's shoulder and left. If he stayed any longer, he would have lost all his dignity by crying in front of the boy.

A couple of weeks later, Hayl still continued to bring food to Niki, who didn't ask anything about it anymore.

One day, out of the blue, Niki asked if Hayl had seen "Minn".

"No, the Prince is guarding him like a dog guards a bone. No one can see him, aside from the Regent and the doctor," Hayl scratched his head.

"Figure out a way to meet him," Niki asked. "Go through the Regent, if possible. No need to alert Kai."

Hayl took the task to heart. He volunteered as Minn's sparring partner, and Reo didn't find it suspicious. He even seemed happy.

"Minn", on the other hand, was not happy at all. If Hayl wasn't convinced before that he was dealing with an impostor, now he was sure beyond any doubt. Serious, disciplined, highly skilled, and patient Minn didn't exist anymore. Hayl was dealing with somebody who was obviously going through the motions. There was no passion in the fight moves, no drive. It seemed that this guy relied entirely on muscle memory and didn't even do such a fine job at that.

This "Minn", however, was a bit more talkative than the real one. He made weird jokes, and for some reason, always asked Hayl about his day and made unnecessary comments about the weather.

When he asked Hayl for wine, he finally understood why General Minn's original strength was in such a dire state. The impostor had ruined it with his horrible habits. With certain contempt, Hayl gave "Minn" his flask and asked him to see Niki. To his surprise, the impostor readily agreed.

They met Niki in the woods behind the palace, where he would usually gather plants at an early morning hour. As soon as Niki saw "Minn", he became even paler and asked them to come closer.

"Little guy, I completely forgot to thank you! You saved my life," the impostor beamed at Niki.

In response, Niki grabbed at "Minn" shirt front and pulled him closer.

"Are you here for revenge?"

"What?" the impostor was obviously confused.

"Do you want Kai to pay? Is this why you came here?" Niki elaborated.

"I have nothing against Kai," "Minn" said very carefully as he pulled away from Niki.

"If you leave him alone, I can send you back to your world," said Niki, looking deep into the impostor's eyes.

Hayl didn't understand what he meant but judging from the guy's facial expression, "Minn" understood very well.