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Yan could maybe have rejected the ceasefire using his authority as the second imperial prince. It was a hefty position, even if the imperial court didn't give him the respect his siblings got.

But he wasn't a military man or otherwise a part of the army. They were also in a smaller city on the countryside in the East. The imperial family's influence wasn't as great as it was in the capital.

He would not have many allies or much trust left if he forced the military officers of Rittel to listen to him and refuse the ceasefire. Since the majority clearly wanted the ceasefire, it was an uphill battle to get them to agree to refusing it, and it wasn't like Yan would get much from it anyway.

"Don't let the troops see that you're disappointed about the ceasefire," Garad commented when he saw Yan's frown. He didn't bother keeping up the pretense of formality anymore. What was Yan going to do, kill the old man for being rude to a member of the Imperial Family?

Yan was silent but he did work on his expression and suddenly turned into a calm and benign young noble instead of a sour scoundrel.

"Though soldiers make a living fighting, few of them enjoy the life. Forcing them to continue when there's a chance for peace is no good," Garad said with a shrug, more familiar with the attitudes of the soldiers than Yan, who had lived a cushy life in the palace.@@novelbin@@

"..." Yan didn't answer as he looked out over the fields outside the city.

"...Why're you so against it anyway? Is it because of the boy?" He asked.

Yan glanced at Garad before turning back to look at the fields. Garad's question made him reflect on his behavior.

Was Garad right? Was he against the ceasefire because it meant Zach had succeeded? Had Zach been right? Had he been wrong?

Had he opposed the ceasefire because he didn't want to be outdone by a young man who refused to listen to and obey him? Who didn't treat him with the respect he should have as the second prince?

"Send word to the nearby strongholds, cities, and to the back of the line. Rittel is no longer actively fighting and there is word among the barbarians to look for peace. I'm not sure how it'll go in other places, but I guess whether through peace or annihilation, being the one who ended his war is still an achievement."

Garad's eyes widened slightly at the end of Yan's statement before he nodded and went to carry out his orders.

Rittel agreeing on a ceasefire wasn't something they had the authority to do really. This was a war between the Empire and the Sesha, not Rittel and a few tribes. But since Rittel and those few tribes could agree to not attack each other for a little while, there was hope that the rest could as well.

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There would certainly be tribes, cities, and people on both sides who wouldn't want a ceasefire or even talks about peace. Even if it progressed relatively smoothly in terms of putting a halt to the fighting, there was still the matter of dealing with the aftermath.

What would happen with the barbarians? Were they making a claim on the land theyhad invaded? Would they just go back to their steppes and both sides could forget about this ever happening? Would the Empire claim reparations and compensation for everything the barbarians had done?

It was another mess.

Yan turned to Lahso.

"There's not much left for us to do here. Let's move on."

***

Zach and Visla celebrated their success. It was the first step of countless ones, and it was a small one, to boot. But with one step taken, they could take the next. There was hope. But they couldn't afford to waste time. As soon as the word of confirmation of the ceasefire came, they set out toward the next barbarian encampment.

They had three tribes on their side, supporting peace. But that wouldn't be enough to get the tribes in charge of the invasion to even think twice about it. They would need to get enough tribes on their side to affect the war efforts to make their voices heard.

Fortunately, Visla was influential. She didn't want to elaborate, but while she didn't have enough sway to make tribe chiefs listen to her, she could at least get them to hear her out.

It would have been even harder without that. Zach was curious about why that was, but he didn't know enough about the Sesha society to figure it out, though he had a feeling it may have something to do with her surname.

Lori Kanh, the son of the Kanh chief, had helped persuade him into accepting the ceasefire, after all. The other tribe members had other surnames or no surnames at all, just long personal names.

What if Visla was the child of a tribe called the Maura tribe? Zach didn't know if there was such a tribe since not all surnames were tribes, but it wasn't impossible. It would also explain why other tribes were willing to hear her out. They were showing respect to another tribe's chief.

Of course, it also helped that they bore insignias from the three tribes they had gotten agreement from. The Giri, Burian, and Kanh tribes were small and weak, but they still had proper chiefs. Zach and Visla carrying their insignias meant they were representing the tribe chiefs.

The more insignias they gathered as they traveled across the east, persuading barbarian tribes to think about peace, the easier it would be to convince the tribes in charge to rethink the invasion.

Visla didn't know where all the other tribes were, but she knew where a couple camps were, and they were headed for the one closest to the south. It was an alliance of four tribes trying to take over Soku, a city close to the border to the southern duchy.