"What should I do then?"
"Replace everyone. Enriki-Vil. Lis-Squint-Eye. Asa-Tol."
"They will be mad! Though…" Orel mused. "There is something in it. No, Lis and Squint-Eye is a shitty pair… very shitty. Wait, Nik, you want to set up Lis? You're cunning!"
"Is it 'setting up'? Squint-Eye fights much better than Tol."
"Yes, but Squint-Eye doesn't like Lis."
"If you put him to stand by Lis, Lis will find a way to make Squint-Eye love him, believe me."
"It stinks, Nik."
"With this allocation there will be one wounded. Vil won't let himself be wounded and he won't risk. With the present allocation you'll have two wounded."
"So, in the first case there will be two wounded, and one of them not important, but that way we'll have two important warriors wounded. What should I do? Enriki will take Squint-Eye down with him, that's for sure!"
"The pair Enriki-Squint-Eye fucked up once. I ask you again, put me with Enriki."
"No!" Orel nearly screamed. "You're right, there shouldn't be irreplaceable men. Apart from me, everyone is replaceable in my team. Let Enriki show what he can do. I'm giving up on him – I hope he won't get killed, and if he gets wounded, he'll calm down for a while and will handle my affairs. I'll take Dick Nedwill in his place as a warrior. He and Vil will make a good pair."
"And now try to explain it to the others."
"Let's go downstairs." Orel got up. "I can even vote for it. You and Vil will be for me, Enriki, I'm sure, will not vote against it either. Four against three. Shit, Vil is convenient, after all, I can always be sure he'll vote just like me. Am I right?"
"Yes," Nikto smirked.
"Just don't express your wish to pair with Enriki, okay? Otherwise everyone will seize this opportunity and there will be no changes, and we need them."
"You said 'no', I got it. But it will be a difficult conversation."
"It is my problem, just keep silent."
"I always keep silent," Nikto said.
* * *
"Wait, there is one more thing before we have dinner."
They looked at him questioningly, silently, waiting what he'd say.
"My order is," Orel started slowly, lowering his head slightly. He saw them tense. "…I'm changing pairs," he said at last.
Everyone froze as if not quite understanding what he said. Lis was the first to regain composure.
"Who are you going to replace?"