Chapter 101
101 How Much Time Do I Have?
I raised my eyebrows as I stared at him, waiting for him to continue his words.
“We are not sure when the next General will come. There’s no information or rule about the time of the General’s appearance.” He explained.
Well, it seemed that I could only wait.
“Then, tell me, how much time do I have?”
Siji put on a confused expression. I didn’t know whether he was really confused or he just pretended to be. “Excuse me, Milady?”
“Those old geezers told me. I shouldn’t command the army without the general around. I would either be crazy or die. Now tell me, as my adviser, how much time do I have?” My voice sounded calm and casual as if I wasn’t asking about the countdown of my time left in this world.
“Ah, those old geezers are too old to remember things. It was partly my fault as well. I did tell them that you would be the next Master of White Army, but I forgot to tell them that you’re different. The previous Master might die or turn crazy after commanding the White Army without the General around. But, it happened only because they didn’t possess much spiritual power to begin with. Therefore, when they forced themselves to command the Army, even just one of the men, the effect was grave for them. Commanding the Army needs plenteous amount of spiritual power, but with the existence of the General, the power needed reduces to half, and when they command the men, the power needed are taken from both the Master and the General.”
“That’s why they should wait for the appearance of their General before they tried to do anything with the army. Sadly, some of them were too eager to try the power given to them and ended up badly.” Siji ended his explanation with a disappointed expression on his face, as if he lamented the decision the previous Master took.
“You, on the other hand, Milady,” He continued. “...are different. At first I also thought that you were the same with the others and honestly I had waited the time you would lose yourself after commanding the men like that. But, strangely nothing happened to you. I also waited for you to lose your mind, but instead of being unstable, you are getting more and more level-headed every day. There’s no sign for you to have a mental breakdown, or being overly emotional. So, I assume that you are different from the others.” His eyes sparkled with joy as he continued speaking.
.....
But, I still didn’t respond.
“Milady, your spiritual power are beyond comprehension. It’s like a vast sea with never ending water supply. Even if you command the whole army, you won’t feel any change. We use your spiritual power to execute your order. The only thing that doesn’t need your spiritual power is to guard you against the others.”
I couldn’t find any hint of lies in his way of speaking, so I decided that he was speaking the truth. Indeed, he acted differently during our first time meeting and now. He looked phony before, but he looked truthful now. Being near him was getting more comfortable.
“Of course, the existence of the General will help you lessen the burden. We can work more effectively and faster. The spiritual power needed is lessened and you can save more of it. If you need it fast, your spiritual power will be used by us to enhance our speed in working. That’s how it works.”
I kept silent, but Siji kept talking, explaining all about spiritual power to me. This was his true self, not the superficial one before. He was a chatterbox when he got comfortable with a person.
More or less like my own personality.
“Then, do you have any idea who will be the General?”
Siji shook his head. “Unfortunately I don’t have any clue about it. The system is almost the same with how the universe chose you to be the Master. We will never know until this person comes.”
So, that’s how it was.
I nodded my head. He said I wouldn’t feel any change, but I could feel the fatigue as the effect of them draining my spiritual power.
It might be fatigue.
But, it also might be me being sleepy for one sole reason; I love sleeping.
I rubbed my forehead in an attempt to soothe the stress I was feeling. Everything happened too fast that I didn’t even have time to breathe properly. Now that my father was kidnapped and my General was still unknown, I needed to properly make a plan to find the reason behind the kidnapping from Queen of the South Sea’ Nyi Roro Kidul’s [1] maids.
“Where did the last general come from? Maybe if we can find some clue there.”
“The last general came from a hidden village deep in the forest in the South. Your father had visited that place before.” Siji answered.
I frowned. What hidden village? I was pretty sure I was not living in the world where Naruto lived, so what hidden village?
As if knowing what inside my mind, Siji continued talking as he explained about the hidden village. “It’s a hidden village indeed because only some people could find this village. No matter how hard you try to find this village, if it doesn’t allow you to enter it, you won’t find it. But, your father was exceptionally accepted there back then. Maybe if you go searching for it, it will allow you to enter, too. Maybe you can find any information regarding the last general there. After all, not all people know about this matter.”
As he was still speaking, my mind wandered to my previous conversation with my father before I came to study. He said he visited a village before during his trip in the South. The village was hidden from outside world but they never lacked of daily necessities. The girls were beautiful and the boys were strong. They had strong spiritual power and never felt afraid of seeing ghost. They even hunted the ghost who would dare enough to disturb human. They had a way to dispel the ghosts.
If this village was the same village that Siji mentioned, then no wonder the general came from this village.
I also had heard my father said that his offspring wouldn’t get lost in the forest if one day she decided to find it. They would always open the gate to their village willingly.
As I thought about that, I smiled unconsciously without feeling what-so-ever.
If this village was the same, I would find time to go there.
But, who would accompany me to the village?
Would they really accept me just because I was my father’s daughter? If the way they welcomed me was warm and good without any slight trace of contempt, I might start to think that my father had some rather serious issues in the village. He might be someone they respected a lot, but I couldn’t guess what his position was.