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Chapter 9: The Child of Mantum
Two Geronians stood before General Terdin.
Ram stood slightly behind, ready to intervene at any suspicious movement from the two.
The “moment to act” the general had mentioned earlier woulde only if his life was in imminent danger.
While such a situation seemed unlikely in this critical negotiation, Ram had to prepare for the unexpected.
One of the Geronians was an old man.
He wore a helmet adorned with two small horns, each about the length of a finger joint, and a pristine suit of armor that looked as though it had never seen battle.
A cloth draped over his shoulders like a cloak.
His white beard, about a handspan long, was well-groomed and exuded dignity.
He seemed more ceremonial thanbative, with an overall modest appearance.
In contrast, the other Geronian disyed mboyant attire.
The Geronian people were known for meticulously decorating their helmets to signify rank, often making them borate andrge.
Even Mantum himself had worn a cumbersome horned helmet the size of a forearm during battles.
While impractical forbat, the mere sight of such helmets instilled terror in the kingdom’s soldiers, proving their symbolic utility.
The helmet worn by the Geronian emissary was simrly oversized, barely supported by his neck.
It obscured much of his face, leaving only brown eyes, lips, and a faint jawline visible.
Yet Ram quickly discerned one key fact:
‘Young.’
The Geronian with the ornate helmet was the first to speak.
“Are you General Terdin?”
“I am. And you are?”
“I am the new ‘Elhorn.’”
The ent was awkward, but he was speaking in themon southern tongue.
However, the term Elhorn was unfamiliar.
It seemed to denote a military or official title, but Ram’s knowledge of the Geroniannguage didn’t extend that far.
Simrly, the Geronian seemed tock a southern equivalent for the term.
Ram focused less on the cryptic dialogue and more on scanning their surroundings for other Geronians.
Southern cavalry feared the Geronian berserkers as much as the Geronians feared southern cavalry charges.
Although neither the boy nor the old man appeared to pose a physical threat to Terdin, Ram stayed vignt.
“You speak themon tongue of the South?”
Terdin asked.
“To know one’s enemy, you must learn theirnguage,”
the ornate-helmeted Geronian replied.
“This will soon be yournguage as well.”
Terdin continued confidently.
“You just referred to yourself as the new ‘Elhorn.’ Does that mean you are the new Mantum?”
“Mantum is a title reserved only for the greatest warriors chosen by the gods. I am merely a representative of the tribes.”
“The Mantum I knew unified all ten tribes. How many do you represent?”
“Three.”
Terdin exhaled briefly.
“And the other seven?”
“They refused to agree to surrender.”
“And so?”
“They left.”
“Do they understand the consequences of their departure?”
“That is not for us to say. You’ll have to ask them yourself.”
“I will.”
The general promptly moved forward.
“Then state the will of the three tribes you represent.”
“We surrender.”
“Under what terms?”
“We will provide every concession a conqueror deserves in exchange for fair treatment.”
The exchange unfolded swiftly, as if both sides were following a prearranged script.
It likely reflected the groundworkid over the past few days by Aedun, Terdin’s subordinate, who had been shuttling between the enemy vige and their camp.
“Understood. I will demand only what is appropriate for a conqueror, without threatening your survival.”
“Let me reiterate: We cannot ept any conditions that threaten our survival. We will not be made ves. We are free people. If faced with very, we would rather choose death. Harm our women or children, and we will fight to thest, even if it means our tribe’s annihtion.”
Despite the awkward ent and imprecise pronunciation, the impassioned tone carried a resonance that moved Ram, especially regarding very.
Terdin replied in a dry tone.
“I’ve emphasized throughout the negotiations that my desire is your loyalty to the Triton Kingdom. Taxes and war reparations will follow, but you won’t need to fight to the point of annihtion. I don’t need ves. You may live your way, among yourselves. But I will not hold the seven tribes unountable.”
“As I said, the departed tribes are not our concern. We only seek a promise of safety.”
The boy spoke firmly.
“Do not worry. His Majesty King Gant will personally make that pledge in the future…”
The boy abruptly cut him off.
“Promise us yourself.”
“…Promise you myself?”
“General Terdin, we cannot trust the promise of a king who never steps onto the battlefield. Promise us directly.”
At first, Terdin seemed surprised, but then heughed heartily.
“How ttering. What should I use as a token of my promise? The only Geronian I ever trusted was Adian Mantum.”
“You killed Mantum,”
the boy retorted sharply.
His voice and gaze turned icy, but Terdin remained unfazed.
“Which is exactly why I must ask. How can I trust that your pledge of surrender won’t end with you mustering new forces to strike us from behind?”
“I will remain as your hostage.”
“Are you worth keeping as a hostage?”
“My title of ‘Elhorn’ is proof enough. I have shared blood with the ‘Ehodin’ of the three tribes, who have acknowledged my legitimacy.”
“Then I’ll need evidence of that legitimacy. Surely you understand the necessity of suspicion in our situation.”
His tone was firm, yet his gaze was warm.
Terdin seemed to have taken a liking to the boy in some way.
“My face is the proof.”
The boy removed his imposing helmet, revealing his face.
Long, flowing red hair cascaded to his shoulders.
Brown eyes, thick eyebrows, and thin but tightly pressed lips—the resemnce to Adian was unmistakable.
“You bear Mantum’s visage, do you not?”
“I am his son.”
Terdin silently scrutinized the boy for a long time before asking,
“You’re young. What are you? Fifteen? From what I know, Mantum’s son is over twenty.”
“I am the second son. And I am not fifteen—I am sixteen.”
“The first son?”
“My elder brother inherited our father’s role as Ehodin and ceded the title of Elhorn to me.”
“‘Ceded,’ you say. Interesting choice of words.”
Terdin chuckled, like an adult humoring a child hiding in in sight during a game of hide-and-seek.
“Fine. The fulfillment of promises will be judged by how you meet our future demands. And you may judge my sincerity as I keep my word.”
“We will not break the terms as long as you uphold your promises.”
“Let’s hope so. I ept your surrender.”
Ram felt both exasperated and awestruck at the realization that a week of preparation had culminated in such a brief exchange of words.
Mantum’s second son spoke evenly.
“As the price of our surrender, I wish to reim my father’s head.”
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“As promised. However, our army does not have the appropriate items to properly honor Mantum. If we send it in a leather sack to your tribe, it would surely be an insult. If your side can prepare the necessary items ande to retrieve it, I will allow it then.”
“That is eptable.”
“When will you do so?”
“Today.”
Mantum’s child turned his horse and spoke to the elder.
“Sao, do you have anything to say?”
The elder, who had remained silent until now, slowly opened his mouth.
He spoke in the Geronnguage.
“Is there anyone on that side who heard Adian Mantum’sst words?”
Ram understood immediately but chose not to trante.
He wasn’t confident he could convey it urately, and he was also following orders not to speak.
The boy shook his head.
“It’s not a matter to ask now, Sao.”
“It’s important not just for you, but for us as well. If the one who killed Mantum is over there, we need to ask if they heard Adian’s final words.”
“There will be a time to find out someday, but that time is not now.”
The boy spoke firmly and nced toward Terdin.
Terdin probably couldn’t understand their conversation, but his previously rxed, even kindly gaze had undeniably turned cold.
Sao, sensing Terdin’s shift immediately, refrained from pursuing the matter further and followed the boy, who had already turned his horse.
Ram heard the elder’s regretful voice.
“I was careless.”
The Geron boy, apanied by the elder, rode back to their original position.
Only then did Terdin ask,
“Did you understand what those two were saying just now?”
“Yes,”
Ram replied.
He recounted their conversation as he had heard it.
Terdin nodded without furtherment.
The voices of the five Gerons blended faintly with the wind sweeping across the ins.
“Jeje, are you really going as a hostage? There was no explicit condition requiring a hostage.”
“I don’t think they’ll break their promise. If they kill or torture me, it will only give the scattered tribes an excuse to reunite. Then my brother will be Elhorn. No one would oppose him.”
“What about waiting for another opportunity? We cannot allow the world to say we surrendered to a meremander. We could dy until their king arrives.”
“My father often said that even in defeat, it would be better to lose to Terdin. If the king of their kingdomester, we might be forced into far more painful terms. Even just securing a promise to stop raiding is a blessing. As I’ve emphasized since yesterday, it’s better to surrender while General Terdin is here.”
Afterward, they discussed the procedure for moving Mantum’s head before turning their horses.
Then, the four Gerons simultaneously removed their helmets to watch the boy’s back.
It was only then that Ram realized that these four weren’t soldiers but elders.
Assuming they might be assassins from a barbarian tribe aiming to ambush the general, Ram was quite shocked.
They were the tribal elders who hade to send off Mantum’s second son.
“I’ll be back,”
the boy said, riding alone toward Terdin.
Though alone, he was still confident.
“You may take me now.”
“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard your name.”
The boy answered,
“Jedrick.”
Terdin turned his horse southward and said,
“Jedrick, your father was a great man.”
“I know.”
Jedrick nced at Ram before asking Terdin,
“Who killed my father?”
Terdin responded briefly,
“I cannot tell you.”
“Then there’s no need to say anything else, General Terdin. My surrender was partly so I could see who killed my father.”
For the first time, an emotion appeared on Jedrick’s previously expressionless and solemn face.
Anger?
Probably.
“What do you mean?”
Terdin halted his horse.
For the first time throughout the surrender process, tension appeared on the general’s face.
It reminded Ram of the expression Terdin had worn when Mantum’s head was first ced on the table.
From afar, the waiting adjutant, Count Vadio, and the knight Boti approached with puzzled expressions.
Boti, particrly sharp, was already riding toward them.
Terdin raised a hand, stopping them.
“My father was protected by nine guardians. They were the finest warriors of the northern Geron tribes. After this tragedy, one of them scarred his own face with a cross and was exiled to the eastern wastnds. The remaining eight broke their swords, abandoned their glory, and relinquished their positions.”
Jedrick’s voice grew chilling.
“The greatest ‘Hak’ of our tribe cast a curse to protect Mantum. For some reason, the protective curse did not activate. But the curse of vengeance was certainlyid upon the killer. They say the one who killed Mantum will die in the most horrifying way they can imagine. I came to witness that death.”
Jedrick spoke, not to Terdin but to Ram, as if he already knew who the assassin was. His gaze suggested as much.
“By tomorrow, that person will be dead. What I’m curious about is how they’ll die.”
“Well, I’m curious about that too,”
Terdin replied, his voice epting the boy’s challenge.
Jedrick asked an unexpected question, seemingly to no one in particr.
“Did anyone hear my father’sst words? If so, what were they? That’s what Sao tried to ask earlier. Can anyone answer?”
Had Terdin not warned him beforehand, Ram might have reflexively answered like a servant obedient to a noble.
Even showing an effort to avoid answering was as good as giving one.
Sensing this, Terdin quickly spoke.
“Silence. That’s all there was. I can ‘ry’ that much.”
Jedrick cast a peculiar nce, not at Terdin or Ram, before turning his head away.
Ram remained silent to the end.
There had been nomand to speak.
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