Outside the tarmac, 1,000 Black Tiger Army soldiers stood in orderly squares, as immovable as mountains and as upright as pines. If one were to ask what the world found most impressive about Jade Country's military, it would be their robot-like precision in marching and their overwhelming, sword-drawn presence in military formations.
The King of the Kingdom of Ice and Snow and his ministers, faces etched with profound respect, bestowed medals symbolizing the friendship of their kingdom upon each soldier Jade Country had sent to their aid.
A thousand men formed a large contingent, yet the thanks uttered by King Cain and each of his ministers were profoundly sincere. One would have to experience the despair they had endured to understand a gratitude that, to outsiders, might have seemed performative.
