Akatsuki no Yona [Chapter 112]

With Ao on her shoulder, Yona can hear some noise. She feels that her head is so dizzy and where is she. Lili calls out to her and asks what’s going on and what happened to them. Yona says that she doesn’t know but it seems that they are inside a carriage. The carriage stops. Someone calls for them to get down. The scene that meets them is people working to build a wall. There are also soldier guards there and they are carrying whips along with their sword. While observing the hard labor, Lili asks what’s up with this place. Then, they notice a man asking if the soldier just said that this is Sei. The man protests what’s going on for they were injured during the festival at Tousui and he heard that all of the clinics are already full so he went to the neighboring town. The newcomers are soon complaining why they are brought to Sei, they didn’t hear anything about this and immediately let them leave! The soldier answers their complaints with a swift crack of his whip. The soldier tells the man to back off for those who rebel will be executed. He informs them that they came to Sei as slaves. Their work is very simple and that is to build this stronghold [/fort]. Yona asks what’s up with that stronghold. The soldier tells her to shut up and they’re not allowed to ask questions. They are to just work quietly and don’t go thinking of other things.

He assures them that if they only properly work, then they’ll let them go. Yona tries to recall where she was before..she was at the inn with Lili and.. She is startled when Lili calls out to Tuvalu. Going to Tuvalu, Lili asks if she was also brought there and is she alright. Yona tells Lili to get away from Tuvalu. She asks Tuvalu who she is and why she brought her and Lili to Sei. This surprises Lili but Tuvalu is unfazed. Tuvalu says that she isn’t at all some terrible big shot, and please forgive her for the late introduction but she is just a merchant from Sei. Since Lili didn’t get what she meant, Tuvalu revealed to her that she’s the one whom she is looking for. Lili shouts in surprise, the Nadai merchant..!? Tuvalu says that it is because she lately banned Nadai that business isn’t doing well and she’s quite a hindrance. Lili says what about her missing son. Tuvalu tells her that she said that in order for her to take the bait and afterwards, during the festival, she planted a seed of disturbance. They took advantage of the chaos and collected the people to be brought to this place. Thanks to their [Lili and others] luck, they harvested quite plentiful this time around. The plan went really smoothly.

Miffed that she was taken for a fool [/Tuvalu is actually a villain], Lili grabs Tuvalu’s collar. This made the soldier raise his whip to keep Lili in her place. Yona shouts for Lili. Inspired by Zeno, Yona decides to use herself as Lili’s shield. After Yona got whipped a few times, Lili shouts for the soldier to stop. Getting ready to whip Yona again, the soldier shouts that he’ll properly teach her what would be the consequences for rebelling. And, just like Zeno, after some injuries, power on.. G-L-A-R-E. The soldier looks scared. Tuvalu tells the soldier that it wasn’t easy for them to bring them back unharmed so stop while he’s ahead. The soldier says okay. [<- he’s probably relieved for he’s scared of the glare.] Lili tearfully holds Yona who is still on glare mode. The others were ordered to hand over their belongings. As the captives are putting their things at a pile, Yona thinks her luggage and dagger were taken away. This time around, she doesn’t have any weapon she can use and there is also that hairpin inside her luggage.. She notices weeping Lili who apologizes to her for she shouldn’t have gotten her involved and she didn’t think that Tuvalu is unexpectedly..

Yona comforts her and tells her that she is fine. She tells her that perhaps this is a good opportunity because after all, what is their goal. Lili says that is to smash the distribution route of Nadai. Yona says that she thinks that this is an important base so they first endure it a bit and find out their goal. Lili says that just now, she was hit and in the end, she’s very strong. Yona smiles and says that it is because Lili is here. While her injured arm hurts, Yona thinks where in Sei is this place, and in the end, what are they planning to do that they didn’t hesitate to abduct people. Right now, Haku and the others aren’t around but because Lili is here so she must strive hard and fight on since she’ll protect Lili. She notices a man weeping over being the injured yet they are dragged for physical labor with this bruised body. While Lili tries to stop her, Yona calls out to the soldier and says that those guys are injured so at least get them treated. The soldier says okay he’ll give them medicine. One man complains that his arm is broken and it cannot be healed with medicine. The soldier offers them some drink. Yona looks at the cup when someone asks isn’t this wine. The soldier says that this is Sei medicine that if one continuously to drink it, one wouldn’t be fatigued. A man who drank it says that it seems that his body had become somewhat relaxed.

Soon, the other people wanted to drink it. A man tells Yona to also go and drink for after drinking it, the whole body would become refreshed [/free from worry]. He is also abducted from Kouka and he is consoled thanks to this drink. Thinking of this wine, Yona notices Tuvalu’s slight smile. She immediately tells Lili don’t, and slaps away the drink. Lili asks what it is. Yona says that is Nadai. She shouts for everyone to stop drinking that wine for that is.. Tuvalu tells her not to worry for a very small dosage of Nadai can become a medicine for this is legal at Sei. Lili is surprised to hear that. Yona says that she has seen a lot of people who had become weak because of Nadai yet she unexpectedly used it to make people work. Tuvalu says that it is because the method of use is wrong that it became like that but here, how much one drinks it, would depend on one’s own responsibility. Lili exclaims how can she drink that kind.. Tuvalu tells her to do as she pleases but..they don’t give water here, only wine. This is also an arid place so how long will they be able to support themselves. Back at the inn, Haku is starting at the empty room where he left Yona. Jeha interrupts him by telling him to come over for apparently, they got some news regarding Yona and Lili.

Later on, Yun asks if Yona and Lili are in Sei. While facing some tied up men, Jeha says that’s right and according to these guys’ statement, Yona and Lili were brought to Sei by the inn’s mistress, Tuvalu. Yun says that unexpectedly Tuvalu is Sei’s Nadai merchant. Ayura says that because Lili is a hindrance for investigating Nadai, they planned to use the disturbance at the festival to seize this opportunity to take them away. Kija says that in this accident, there are a lot of missing people even if there is a group of human traffickers caught by Shina. Haku asks them where the princess and Lili is right now. [<- ya, he said princess and the captives didn’t catch on ^^;] The man says that right now, they are constructing a stronghold near the border at Sei. They are gathering people there so those who were taken ought to be first taken there. Tetora says that for them to be brought there, won’t they be killed. The man says if they are good and will stay put. Yun says that those two won’t be good and stay put. Haku has a follow up question and that is, what is the goal for constructing a stronghold. The guy says who know. Then, he felt a sharp pain. While stepping on the man’s foot, Haku threatens him that he’ll break his leg if he won’t answer. The man immediately says that the goal is for defense and launching an attack against the Water Tribe.

Kija asks if Sei is planning to start a war. The man says that they really don’t know what the royal family and nobles are thinking for they are only hired to go and abduct people. Yun says that they should immediately go to that stronghold and save them. Tetora agrees. The man says by the way, the workers there weren’t given water but rather wine, a Nadai wine so if they don’t hurry, they would be broken by Nadai. While everyone stares at the man, the man continues to say how pitiful but then, they are noble ladies who were posing as some envoy of justice so they’ve encountered this kind of.. And, he stops after Tetora punches a hole in the wall next to his head. Tetora tells him that isn’t just some noble lady, but the doted daughter of the Water Tribe’s head. While the man is freaking out over that, posing Tetora tells him if he has become aware that the Jungi and the Water tribe will absolutely not easily let off Tuvalu and the others for what they did. Also posing Ayura says that the calm water will become a tsunami wherein all of them will be swallowed up until nothing is left. Looking menacing with the others, Kija asks if they know of the Dragon’s wrath [/rub someone in the wrong way]. And, if something happens to princess-sama, it isn’t a difficult thing to make a country become a scorched earth-type of thing. [<- A scorched earth policy is a military strategy that involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area. Source: wiki. In short, they are going to do to Sei what Kai soldiers tried to do before] This made the man really tense.

Later on, it was decided that there will be two groups heading for the stronghold. Group 1: Haku, Yun, Kija and Shina. Group 2: Jeha, Zeno and Ayura. Yun explains that they don’t know where in the stronghold Yona was brought so it was decided that they’ll infiltrate with two groups. They will save Yona and Lili, then, also take the opportunity to level that stronghold to the ground. Jeha asks Tetora if that is okay, she will be on standby here. Tetora says that actually she also wants to go. Ayura tells her that it is okay for just now, her fist has somewhat gone back to its original strength so it won’t be long when she can fight again. Tetora says that in order to immediately fight again soon, she’ll properly train. They hold hands. Tetora says that she’ll leave Lili to her. Ayura says that she knows and she’ll bet her life on it. Jeha tells Yun that details aside, his group will act according to the circumstances but if they became violent then, he’ll trouble him [Yun] to stop them especially Kija-types. Yun says that he’ll do his best. Jeha calls out to Haku and tells him that Yona is definitely okay. Haku didn’t reply. Jeha calls for Zeno and Ayura that they are going. Tetora wishes them success. Haku quietly holds his necklace tight. And, Yona is glaring away at something.  

Comment: So, Tuvalu is just the merchant who seems to be extremely calm and talkative. Too bad that she isn’t going to continue the charade any further and just went ahead to confirm Yona’s accusation. Actually, I’m wondering if the Sei leaders of this plot are stupid. Abducting a huge number of people for their project will definitely raise the suspicion of the enemy country. It won’t be long before they’ll be discovered and their grand plan would be nipped from the bud which is going to happen very soon. Why won’t they use their own people? I thought they are going to use some psychology to make the abducted people think that it is all Kouka’s fault for re-arming and attacking Kai that made Sei use them and counterattack Kouka first. The way they are treated, they won’t side with Sei at all. I wonder how come Tuvalu and others didn’t strip everyone of their belongings first before they arrive in that place. There are some swords in that pile. What would stop these people from arming themselves and attacking? Well, unless, they are scared of the pain of being whipped. Wait..the current batch are injured and not used to fighting...still, aren’t they more in number than those soldiers? Attack the ones on the ground and push off the ones at the wall. Oh wait..they are Kouka people so I guess they’ll wait for their king to save them. And he’ll definitely come...perhaps after Haku and the others are finished with these weaklings.

Based on how the soldier obeys Tuvalu, I would think that she is of importance. It would be nice if Yona would take her hostage to threaten the soldiers. Actually, if she get rid of Tuvalu, the link to selling Nadai from Sei to Kouka is severed. It takes a long time to establish that kind of business inside another country. For Yona to think of her hairpin..what can I say? I can only imagine a scenario of Haku saving her then she immediately goes through that pile to search for her hairpin to check if it is safe and sound. ^^; How about shouting around, don’t touch that pile until I find my hairpin. Hehe, and then, Suwon would also be there..probably blushing =P About Nandai, is one drink enough to make one addicted to it? Was Tuvalu lying about it being okay with a low dosage? But what she said is also true in real life wherein if there is moderation, it is okay..I’m thinking of something like marijuana which is legal in some countries..or even perhaps, it is like alcohol/energy drink. I would think that Tuvalu is saying the truth because it would be very stupid to ruin the very people they need to build the stronghold. Unless, the plan is ‘killing them slowly’ with the Nadai-infused wine and they would just keep on abducting people. And, I guess Haku and others plan to finish this on their own since Tetora is just going to wait there instead of informing Jungi of what they learned. Though, perhaps, she’s scared that Jungi will fire her for putting his beloved daughter in danger since they allowed her to go there. ^^; Anyway, they are going to Sei, so, did they forget that dragons become weak outside of Kouka? Being reckless aren’t they? Right..destroy another country for Yona when they couldn’t maintain their powers outside of the country for too long. ^^;; It will end up just being a two man army of Haku and Zeno. Anyway, it’s fighting time soon. Next chapter will be out in Japan on Oct. 20th. Scans by 红莲汉化组

Word of the day:

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. -Psalm 9:9 (NIV)