61 2.16 The Trial of Bravery

This room wasn't much different from the earlier one, but it only had two doors, from one of which I came in. While I was looking around, the door behind me closed and it was just me in the big empty room.

I prepared myself since the trial of bravery sounded something similar to the trial of strength.

'I hope it's not something like walking on a rope over molten magma.'

The possible trials I could think of involved jumping from the heights, jumping into the high-current river, and so on. Surprisingly most of them involved heights, not because I was afraid of heights or anything. But because whenever I thought about the test to see someone's bravery, fear against height, which was the most common one of all the fears, came into mind.

There were other things like fear of ghosts but since I hadn't heard much about ghosts since I came to this world, they probably do not exist.

While I was thinking that, out of nowhere, an intense light fell into my face. It was so bright that I had to close my eyes, and when I opened them again, the scenario around me had completely changed. Somehow it looked like I was inside a fort.

I looked at my hands and legs, but I could see and feel them perfectly. Even though the surface inside the Fort looked smooth, it felt like the same irregular surface as before.

'Is this an illusion?'

It felt a little weird, but it had my eyes completely fooled. I wasn't sure what kind of test it was going to be, but this didn't look as simple as the two tests that I had faced before.

I could hear some sound coming from the passage on the left side, so I walked closer and took a look while hiding myself behind the pillar.

"Sire, we have lost, we have no choice but to surrender."

There were three men wearing different colored robes, and by the looks of it, they were arguing about something. The man in the golden colored robe, whom the man in the green-colored robe just referred to as 'Sire', looked like the highest-ranking one among the three of them.

"Do you even know what you are talking about? If this was the palace, you would have already been beheaded for saying something like that," said the man in a red robe looking angry.

"Quiet minister. You know what he is saying is true. We are the ones that need to make a decision now, so let's think about our options here," said the man in the golden robe in response.

"Our army of five hundred people has been reduced to 350, and on top of that, they have cut off our water supply. We have no choice but to surrender at this point. We may be able to save the remaining of our troops that way," replied the man in the green robe.

"HA! those cowards. They would have clearly lost if they had fought fair. Each one of us is equal to 10 of those cowards. Even though we lost 124 people in the battle, we killed over a thousand of their men. Our battle wasn't fair from the start, our army of five hundred people including women and children, and we were facing off against eight thousand of their elite armed soldiers," said the man in the red robe punching his right hand into the wall. Since nothing happened to his hand, it must have been physically enhanced.

"I know how you are feeling minister, I feel the same. We had a chance if they hadn't called the backup troops of 3000 men. But at this point, if we resist, we will only end up dead," said the man in the green robe. Unlike the man in the red robe, he was still maintaining his composure.

"You know nothing. You just hide behind the people that really fight while calling yourself the strategist. Do you even know what those people even gave their life for? They wanted to protect their motherland until the last drop of blood remained in their body. Every man, woman, and child who died in this battle did it for their motherland. How could you even call yourself a man by disrespecting their sacrifice? I would rather die bravely in the battle than insulting their efforts by surrendering," said the man in the red robe in a heavy voice filled with sorrow.

"But don't you see we will only die this way. Twenty-six of us have already died because of thirst and exhaustion. We are down to the last drops of water that we had. If we resist now, we will only end up dead. They haven't attacked us here yet because they probably want us to surrender and we can save ourselves if we do that. To charge into the battle under these odds is madness, pure madness," replied the man in the green robe.

"Hmph! They haven't attacked us because they are afraid of us. They know that hungry tigers are even more dangerous than a normal one. We have already won a battle against them and they already know what we are capable of. I will have no regrets if I fight bravely to avenge my fallen comrades, our women, and children, and die in the battle. But if I surrender now just to save my tail, I would never be able to hold my head high," said the man in the red robe.

"But it's not just you, think about everyone else. Do you want them to die in an impossible battle that we have already lost?" asked the man in the green robe.

"It's not my or your choice to make. Go and ask any man, woman, or child there what they want to do. Each and everyone there will have a single response: 'we want to fight'. All of us have lost a lot in this war and now you just want us to give up. Anyone out there is willing to die rather than giving up," said the man in the red robe in an audacious tone.

Right at that moment, the whole scene froze. The people that were arguing stopped their movements and stood there like statues.

"Now make your choice."

When I heard the voice of the labyrinth say that, I found myself standing in the position in which the man in the golden robe was standing a while ago.

"What will you choose? Fight to avenge the fallen, to give their death a meaning, to protect your motherland even though you know the path only leads to the death of your remaining citizens. Or will you surrender and save the lives of your remaining citizens? Make a choice"

When I looked at the faces of both men in front of me, they had righteousness in their faces. It was as if they completely believed that their opinion was right and justified.

I was in a dilemma; I had no idea which side was right or which side was wrong.

'This is the trial of Bravery. What should I choose?'

Next Chapter: Trial of Wisdom