“But those four who went along with her, can we even say they’re a credit to our people?” The practitioners of the Mist Shadow Style, Bursting Venom Style, Four Vessels Style, and Drunken Fist Style all flinched. The remaining five houses all let out a laugh, as if they had struck gold.
“Oh! As expected of the Mist Shadow Style, you’ve got a good eye!” Slap, slap, slap! The Delusion Style master slapped his knee. “We Delusion Style users make sure everyone is taught proper discipline! As a result, none of our lot followed her! If you praise those four, you’ll upset the youngsters in the village!” Although he was blunt, those close to him agreed as they laughed along with him. One could say that wasn’t the best example of proper manners, but no one objected. “So, Testudo Style master! Do you happen to have an ingenious plan that everyone can agree on?”
“While I don’t think they’ll agree...I do think it will avoid petty squabbles,” the Testudo Style master responded, with a tone that said “Don’t provoke me too much.” “I’ll get straight to the point... The remaining treasure will be shared equally among the ten houses, being entrusted to the main families.” Those in the branch families were displeased upon hearing his conclusion. They couldn’t face the fact that they wouldn’t get any of the treasures. The Testudo Style master spoke with brutal realism, even as he withstood the painful glares.
“Can the branch families even organize that? Rather than saying it will turn into a fight over the treasure, it already is a fight over it.”
It would be a lot of work to have the main families organize all of it, but it would also be impossible to spread the treasure out among the branch families. Thieves would run rampant, while there would be others who would use their martial arts for awful things.
“Not to mention, there are a lot of things that can only be used for ceremonial purposes, so there’s no use having items like those kept by the individual branch families. The main houses will have to not be stingy and hand them out at weddings.” This was a pragmatic solution that nevertheless disappointed the branch families. Although they wanted to take the treasures with them and make them their own, they didn’t have the confidence to just grab them.
“Having the various main houses organize the distribution of the treasures is fine. But do you think that is going to convince us?” the master of the Four Vessels Style objected with a stern look. “Half the families haven’t even done anything, right?”
“Okay. In that case...five families—Testudo, Four Vessels, Bursting Venom, Drunken Fist, and Mist Shadow—will decide first which treasures they will receive. Then, the remaining five...” He looked at the families who had not given Saiga their book of secrets, and whose abilities were not yet known to the world. These were Marionette Style, Delusion Style, Shark Tooth Style, Stormy Winds Style, and Revolving Circle Style.
“How about taking the role of entertaining the envoys?” Looking after the envoys wasn’t that much of an undertaking. As there were only three of them, it meant they wouldn’t have to be distributed among the five houses. Which meant...
“Do we have to entertain them?” the Revolving Circle Style master asked to confirm.
“Unless you’re a proud martial artist who doesn’t want to do anything to earn their treasure.”
“All right...” the master of the Revolving Circle Style said, chuckling, but with a troubled expression. Entertaining guests from a faraway country was one thing, but he wasn’t a fan of having to reveal his abilities to them. It wasn’t that he had an ability that was best when unknown, but keeping it secret was always a reliable advantage. He would have to throw away that advantage, which was painful.
“Do any of the other houses oppose this? If not, we will go ahead as agreed, and the houses whose secrets are out in the world may decide which treasures they wish to take.” Once the Testudo Style master had given the word, the women began squabbling over treasure again. Half of them stood back and watched dejectedly, but all of the others were scrambling over the rest. Even so, the only ones who were serious about it were the main houses, while the branch families remained indifferent.
“How nice for them...right?” the master of the Stormy Winds Style complained as he watched the women. The users of the Stormy Winds Style had the most impressive builds, sporting huge muscles. They narrowed their eyes as they spoke.
“Those nobodies get to receive treasure? If it had been us who had left the village, who knows just how much treasure we would have brought back? In fact...treasure is nothing. What I want to say is...” The martial arts passed down to Tempera Village were all authentic. While it was a reality that they were all frogs in a well, if they were to attempt to traverse the ocean, they would not sink. It was also a reality that they longed for the world outside of the well they were in. “Just how much were they praised...?” The villagers of Tempera were unable to even imagine just how big Magyan, Arcana, and the other nations were. However, they did understand that there were a lot of people in those countries, and those people had commended the four martial artists from their village. In front of large groups of people, they had displayed their abilities, taken down powerful enemies, been commended for doing so, and then received treasures. In other words, those who hadn’t were jealous.
“Can we not just go to Arcana?” None of the other leaders moved to object to what the Stormy Winds Style master said. Arcana was probably actively looking for people, and if all else failed, they could always try Magyan.
“We’re strong... That’ll translate to the outside world...right?” There were a lot of reasons why they had yet to leave the village. However, the main reason was that they all doubted their own strength. What would they do if the abilities they had received from their fathers and grandfathers, and their forefathers before them, weren’t any good? They were of two minds over it. There had never been any reason for them to leave the village before, and that was fine up until now. However, now that they knew their abilities could be used in the outside world, and people were seeking them...
“I understand how you feel.” The Testudo Style master, who could see the past and future, had also given in to temptation. What would happen if it didn’t apply to the outside world, and just how far could they go with it? If it was possible, they would receive glory. That is what they strongly wished for, as they had trained so hard for it.
“But...we’ll be compared to her...I mean, Ran.” The atmosphere immediately got heavier. The wild child born in Tempera, Ran, had shaken their confidence. They all thought it wasn’t a big deal, but they had been proven wrong. Even though they had trained so hard while following their teachings, they had all been beaten by a little girl. Ran was now considered one of the most powerful people in the outside world. Regardless of how it actually was in Tempera, from the outside world’s point of view, Ran was their representative, and she was the strongest martial artist in Tempera.
“It sucks...” The Stormy Winds Style master didn’t like it. No matter if they were in Arcana or Magyan, as soon as they announced themselves as someone from Tempera, they would be compared to Ran. If anything, they’d be treated as Ran’s henchmen. For people who disliked Ran, this was unbearable.