"A month is not enough," Seya said. She might have submitted, but she was still prideful.

It was five hours since Sagiri broke the sky of Tatani and passed out from exhaustion. He stayed passed out for four more hours. While he slept, of course, the shadow corp gave him the healing pill, and just like always, it worked wonders. His inner strength had been spent, so the pill was helpful to help him heal his broken ribs. Seya had provided food for them and a place to wait till he woke up. The chief’s house. By the looks of the two squads when he woke up, they did not rest but watched like a hawk.

Sagiri was so hungry when he woke up and did not care if Tatani had poisoned the food they gave him before he was piling plates. He needed to recover his strength as soon as possible.

And now it was finally time to talk terms. Of course, they had to discuss the way forward. Just to make it all more dramatic, a chief attire was left for Sagiri, and the squads didn’t tell him what it was until he was well into the council room of Tatani. The coat dragged behind him as he walked, and he only realized he had been pranked when Kiuga could not stop laughing. Sagiri did not plan on being chief, but that was irrelevant for now.

Ninoka and Tinka were also present. They held both fear and hate for Sagiri. Both feelings were what most rulers manifested in their followers, so it was still good.

"In case you haven’t noticed, your hiding place is broken, and you have to leave here in a month, maximum," Sagiri said.

"I have to give the people an account and convince them to leave. That will take at least two months of preparation."

"How about you tell them they will die if they don’t leave as soon as possible?" Sagiri said.

"You are the chief of Tatani now. You need to understand how ruling a tribe works," Ninoka said.

"Can everyone please stop calling me chief. I did not come to conquer Tatani and change its systems. I only came to give you a way out."

"That is not how it works." Tinka said, "If you subdue a ruler, you take his seat. The Asakana there can tell you that. If someone were to beat the great chief of the north, Chief Zaka would have to give his seat to him. Tatani can not move forward without a leader."

This was more troublesome than Sagiri had thought.

"Does such a person even exist?" Kiuga said. Zaka was a beast. A beast among beasts.

"Fine. Let’s assume I am your chief. Shouldn’t you listen to your chief?" Sagiri said, and there were snickers from the Sagiri squad.

"What an unchiefly thing to ask?" Kaka said, and Sagiri was even more confused.

"The Southerner has a point. If Safaya and some tribes from whom you took lands realize your current state, they will not hesitate to come for your blood. Leaving quickly is the only way out." Yoka said.

"Then I just put the place under an illusion together with my three aides," Seya said.

"An illusion can not protect you forever," Kiuga said. Kiuga Yoka and sagiri were the only ones sitting with the three of Tatani. The others were spread around the big room. The shadows were being shadows as usual, except for Tavora, who looked like he wanted to argue at every turn but decided against it.

"Even so, we need two months at least to prepare and bury our dead before we can leave," Seya said. Her voice slightly wavered at the last statement.

"In two months, you will most likely all be buried here," Sagiri said. What was difficult for Seya to understand? 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"A month and a half," Seya still debated.

"A month exactly. I will be waiting at the southern border exactly four weeks from today. If you are not there, the blood of your people will be on you." Sagiri said with finality.

"Then they can leave, but I can’t. My child died on these lands ten years ago. He should be turning sixteen. I have to see him become an adult before I leave," Seya suddenly said, and the room froze. Sagiri had seen the woman in all phases, but he had not seen her seem so small and defeated at the moment. A mother is a mother after all, and Myama even had fought death partly to give her offspring to Sagiri. Sagiri could now understand why Seya was hellbent on stretching the time out.

"The dead are already dead. Do you want everyone to die so that you can dance under the stars to see off your son..." Tavora started to speak. the little brat.

"Fine. Six weeks then. No more," Sagiri cut him off with a glare, and Seya gasped. She must not have expected his change of heart, but even Sagiri could understand the need to hold an adult and final farewell for her child.

Suddenly, Ninoka and Tinka left their seats and took a knee.

"Thank you for your kindness, chief!" they said in chorus.

"I am not your chief...." Sagiri defended but let it go midway. "Seya will keep being chief till further notice," Sagiri said, and Kaka shook his head in disappointment.

"I will be the assistant chief, till then," Seya said, bowing slightly.

"Whatever. Now, where are my girls?" Sagiri asked what he had wanted to ask most. Seya paused for a while before she gave a hand signal to her fighter at the door. The room went silent for a few more minutes as they waited for the girls.

Moments later, the door opened, and everyone turned around swiftly. There was a pause before there were stifled laughs at the tragedy that had befallen the ladies. It was the biggest tragedy of the century.

"Are they under an illusion?" Kiuga asked, stifling another laugh, but he failed this time and burst out laughing.

"No. But Tatani women don’t fight, and their duty is only to learn illusion and continue the clan. The men use weapons, and women learn illusion." Seya said. Well, women were the masters of the art anyway, but that was not the problem at the moment. "They could not go around dressed like teenage boys," Seya said.

The four girls standing at the centre of the room looked nothing like when Sagiri had last seen them. They were now adorned in maidenly, flowery gowns. Their hair was loose and pulled, adorned with precious stones. They were decorated with tribal oca, and they looked really lavish. Well, except for the scowls on their faces. Lira was not scowling. She seemed to be the only one who didn’t care what she was wearing.

"You ladies look ladish..." Tavora nodded in approval.

"I will kill you if you finish that statement," Gavina said, trembling with rage.

"How were we even able to make them wear that?" Sagiri said, hiding his smile as well.

"illusion. They thought they were wearing battle gear." Seya said, and the whole room went silent before laughter tore the place.

"I should kill you!" Pavire growled.

The threats and threatrics went on for a while before the two squads finally settled the matter and had to leave Tatani two hours later. It was now sundown, and the ladies were still wearing gowns. A dozen Tatani fighters escorted them, too.

The three squads broke from Tatani. They had not been gone that long anyway, but they had to rendezvous with the other fifteen of Yoka’s squad.

As they pulled close to the area where they had set up base before going in, however, Sagiri could smell something else in the air. He stopped instantly, and the ones behind him came to a stop.

"Death."