It was lunchtime.
The blessed warriors sat in twos and threes beneath the shade of the trees, washing down hot wheat cakes brought by the farmer foremen with spring water.
Some kneaded their aching muscles, while others quietly reviewed their gains and losses from the morning's combat training.
No one noticed two characters quietly slipping out of the rest area-not that it was the first time the pair had snuck off to slack.
The two jogged for a while before catching up to Yupa, who was striding toward the village.
"Master Yupa." Por put away his usual grin, and Kamlin walked properly beside him.
"How have we done these past few days?" Por asked. "Those boys are all united against you now, and they're training harder than ever."
"Like you said, to bring them together, we had to give them a common goal and an enemy," Kamlin added with an awkward grin. "It wasn't an easy job."
That was right. All of this had been Yupa's plan.
Without a common goal and an "imaginary enemy" to divert their attention, cracks would appear in the group sooner or later.
Yupa was the one who had stepped forward to serve as their target.
But with the two troublemakers pushing it along, the plan seemed to have worked a little too well...
In just three days, he had heard people shouting more than once that they would defeat him "by any means necessary."
Looking at the two young men before him, Yupa recalled the "methods" that had left him torn between anger and laughter. In the end, he could only let out a helpless sigh.
"You two... sigh, but you've barely managed to pass. Still, use less of that petty cleverness in the future. Improving your strength is the proper path."
Por's and Kamlin's eyes lit up at the same time.
"As agreed, starting tomorrow, I'll teach you two swordsmanship separately, outside regular training."
"Yes! Thank you, Teacher Yupa!" they said in unison, genuine excitement and exhilaration on both their faces.
Personal instruction from the greatest swordsman in the Sea of Corruption was an opportunity countless people could only dream of.
"I'm only giving you some pointers. I never said I'd take you as my disciples."
"Understood, Teacher Yupa!"
"Sigh..."
Yupa tipped his head back and sighed.
Mu En, who had kept part of his attention on the blessed warriors' training all along, nearly laughed out loud.
No wonder Mito had called those two troublemakers. Even Yupa was at his wits' end with them, yet he had no choice but to acknowledge their abilities.
Neither of them was content to be ordinary. One dared to challenge the rules, while the other was good at seeing into people's hearts.
To those who followed the rules, people like that were no different from troublemakers who liked stirring things up.
But in Mu En's eyes, people who could secure the greatest benefits for themselves while still following the rules were rare talents.
Just then, Yupa and the other two ran into Nausicaä and Mito as they came out of the castle.
The learned princess had naturally not been idle these past three days either.
Besides helping stock the Valley of the Wind's granary, she was also laying plans for the valley's future development at Mu En's request.
If they continued living as they had, relying on the weather for their harvests and practicing slash-and-burn farming, there would be no development here even in another hundred years.
Bringing in more machinery for various industries, prospecting for mineral deposits in the Mountains of the Wind, finding ways to expand their living space... these were all part of Mu En's vision.
What Nausicaä and Mito were discussing now was related to that very matter.
"...According to the records, it should be Mining Town's turn to host the joint gathering this year."
Mito flipped through a slightly worn notebook in his hands. It contained trade lists from previous years.
"But according to Lord Divine Tree, we need to change the focus of our trading this time."
Every year during the season of calm winds, the nations of the Sea of Corruption answered the call of Pejite's Commercial Federation and organized a large gathering.
Each nation sent a caravan with local specialties to trade.
This improved efficiency and allowed them to pool their strength against raids by sand bandits and insects. They could even hire Pejite's aircraft to transport bulk cargo.
At the same time, it was an important occasion for the nations to show their strength and exchange intelligence.
At this time in past years, the Valley of the Wind would sign numerous export contracts, trading hundreds of tons of wheat, potatoes, and homemade fruit wine for necessities they could not produce themselves.
These included metal ingots, machine parts, fuel, soap, cloth, and precious spices and refined salt.
Nausicaä had originally hoped to use this opportunity to trade for enough food to get them through the crisis.
Now, however, the Valley of the Wind had not only survived the famine but also gained an unimaginable capacity for food production.
At Mu En's direction, Mito was drawing up a new trading plan, preparing to turn "blessed crops" into a new luxury product.
Once those profit-seeking merchants and pleasure-loving kings personally "experienced" how extraordinary the blessed crops were, he refused to believe they would not rush to buy them.
By then, they should be able to trade for the various supplies urgently needed to develop the Valley of the Wind.
Overhearing their conversation, Mu En could only sigh inwardly.
The Valley of the Wind was still far too backward.
A few gun barrels turned out on precision machine tools and a few bars of soap that had been commonplace in his previous life could be traded for the harvest that the Valley of the Wind's farmers had spent months toiling to grow.
Even with the help of an Erdtree like him, the fundamental nature of the trade-"exchanging precious food for cheap industrial goods"-had not changed.
Still, developing a territory had to be done step by step. There was no rushing it.
The large gathering was an opportunity to speed things up.
"Nausicaä, Mito."
Yupa greeted the two as they approached, interrupting Nausicaä and Mito's discussion of their plans for the gathering.
"Teacher Yupa." Nausicaä looked up, a smile appearing on her face. "And Por and Kamlin, have you finished training?"
"Yes, Your Highness! We were asking Master Yupa for advice on combat techniques!"
Por and Kamlin immediately straightened their backs, their eyes full of admiration as they looked at Nausicaä.
They had already heard from others that their usually gentle and beautiful princess was the only person in the valley who could stand up to their devilish instructor Yupa head-on, and even gain the upper hand!
Having experienced Yupa's inhuman strength firsthand, they could not imagine just how strong the princess, his personally trained disciple who had "surpassed her master," had become.
"Thank you for your hard work. Teacher Yupa's training... is very strict. I hope you can persevere and become a reliable force to protect our home."
"Yes! We won't let Your Highness or Lord Divine Tree down!" The two nodded vigorously.
After exchanging a few words with Nausicaä, Yupa felt the lingering gloom in his heart dissipate.
Compared with those tedious administrative duties, drilling soldiers seemed easy enough.
Sparring with these blessed warriors of considerable potential also satisfied his desire to teach and to fight in earnest.
The three had just said goodbye and left when hurried footsteps came from the other end of the road.
A valley resident responsible for carrying messages between the castle and the guard posts ran up to Nausicaä, out of breath.
"Your Highness! Word came from the guard post. Someone has collapsed outside the valley entrance. They look like refugees!"
"Refugees? Where did they come from, and how many are there?"
"Only two. They were sharing a Horseclaw. We couldn't tell exactly where they came from."
Hearing the description, Nausicaä looked thoughtful.
Could they be refugees from Pejite?
"Come on, take me to see them."