Chapter 222: Looping Thoughts

Berry led Moon and Talia around the main divisions of the Kingdom. He also spent some time explaining the financial situation of the kingdom and the nature of the war.

"Money has become useless now that the trial forced all our trade routes for weapons or materials to shut down; we have to be self-sufficient," Berry added while walking around another building that was functioning as a ministry headquarters.

Moon didn’t understand most of the logistics talk; he only knew the process of war, preparing for war and the battlefield.

The logistics in the background were things he was seeing for the first time, that’s why he aimed for Talia to be with him since she would understand this better than him.

Moon frequently made eye contact with Talia whenever Berry was speaking of things he failed to follow or wasn’t sure he understood properly.

He was having Talia do what he couldn’t and couldn’t afford to mess up.

Moon, over the past few days, was under constant pressure and self-doubt.

He was gradually feeling like he was responsible for everything that goes right or wrong this time around.

More than ever, he was now fighting people who might not die if they got stabbed. There was always something tricky to be expected from everyone he was going to fight.

Also, what Talia said about the abilities of Lorian was also weighting on his mind.

He’d spoken with Ed about it; how one performs well as a leader was a question he found himself asking Ed during their spars.

At that time, Ed thought for a moment, "Learn to let those who can do something do it." Before saying this as his answer.

Moon understood two things there.

First, it wasn’t very necessary for him to do everything on his own, especially when he knew he did it badly.

Second, learn about your people well to command them and let them do what they do best.

The more Moon thought about it, the more it made sense to him now than ever.

Even Korr knew this; he was forcing everyone into battles, knowing what Moon would do, what he would risk and what he would eventually achieve,

It was a closed cycle, and thanks to Ed’s words, Moon started to see a few things from different perspectives.

On the roads, Moon could see many normal civilians around.

All of them had certain emotions in their eyes.

Moon wasn’t sure which was most dominant.

Hope...

Fear...

Anticipation...

Some even looked at him with eyes full of reverence.

Right now, Moon found himself facing a new aspect of war he wasn’t familiar with. Something that didn’t exist on the first floor.

Thus, a new question came to present itself before him.

Was the leader’s duty to achieve victory, or protect his people?

There were also Kylo and Joshua; they were part of this kingdom. He might even see Joshua soon on the front lines.

Moon’s mind couldn’t stop racing throughout the tour he had with Berry, yet after some hours it came to an end.

"Tomorrow we’ll arrange a meeting with the current General of the armies for everything that isn’t within my authority," Berry said. "He wanted to meet everyone today, but after the sudden delay, he was forced to attend to his duties." He added.

Moon nodded. "Yeah, let’s meet tomorrow."

"Thanks for today, Minister Berry," Talia added.

Berry’s eyes darted at the winged sword emblem as it kept doing the entire time before returning to Talia’s gaze. "At your service, Lady Talia." He smiled and lowered his head.

Berry took a few steps back and signalled for one of the men on the side.

"He’ll guide you to your rooms, everyone else has also been assigned to a room by now," Berry added, assuring them that everything was flowing smoothly.

Moon exhaled, "Thanks, Berry. See you tomorrow." He followed the man.

Berry respectfully nodded deeply.

Soon, Moon found himself facing a large building with a huge yard. It was more like a palace than an accommodation.

"Everyone is here?" Moon asked the man guiding them.

The man nodded respectfully. "Yes." He added, "There will also be dinner prepared soon, as well as any necessities provided."

Moon’s face looked impressed.

Still, now that they were finally at the palace, he leaned closer to Talia. "Where’s that informant guy?" He whispered.

Talia wasn’t surprised; if anything, she was surprised Moon didn’t ask till now.

"We’ll meet him soon." She answered.

Moon nodded and waited; before long, they were also inside their rooms.

It wasn’t much different from the one in Hall 1, back in the Normalization Facility.

As soon as he opened the door, the bed was on the left, the desk was next to it and on the other side was the entrance to the bathroom.

"Ugh."

Moon laid down his backpack on the floor before sitting down on his bed with a groan.

He closed his eyes, rethinking everything all over again.

More importantly, Moon needed to snap out of the sheltered, comfortable life he was enjoying. He, to some extent, had learned how to relax, and right now he needed to grow tense again.

He needed to be on his toes all day long, as he once was, if he wanted to win this war without losing more than he could afford to lose.

He looked at his hands, noticing the new white ring he was anything but familiar with.

"Should I run all the way to the empire now and let these guys loose?" He whispered to himself.

A guaranteed success, and a sure death attempt.

Ancient monsters would come after him, Moon, a second floor ascender who’s weaker than a mosquito to them.

All kinds of wild thoughts with easy results started running through Moon’s head.

If anything, he was sure that fighting with sheer numbers against the empire was suicide by any means.

Being able to survive alone and walk out unharmed was one thing, but bringing the troops, the civilians, or the kingdom entirely to victory was hard...

What was the point of having a king who would survive alone?

Finding himself stuck in a loop he couldn’t drag himself out of, Moon opened his bag and stuck his arm in, searching for something.

Soon he found it... The tough blue threads from Colten’s helmet that he had been training his Spark Echo using for a while now.

Been around fourteen days since he started this training, and surprisingly. He was starting to get better at this.

Instead of staying for hours till his Spark Echo ran dry, now this has changed.

He held two ends of the thread, closed his eyes and let the glittering Spark Echo coat the ends. He was doing his best not to waste any Echo more than needed.

Absolute no wastage was still impossible for him, yet he wanted to get there as soon as possible to make the best use of that small amount.

The threads started extending toward the other, coiling on one end to support its coil, while the other did the same, rotating back.

This has become Moon’s only way out of his maddening train of thought.

Long minutes later—

Huff~

Huff~

Moon’s face was drenched in sweat, panting as if he had sprinted for hours.

He pulled the strings, feeling them firmly knotted; his breath calmed down. "Some progress." He whispered to himself.

Knock~

It was then that he heard the knock he was waiting for, the moment Talia brought the secret informat.