I froze in my room, and sat unmoving for an hour.

I kept thinking about what happened, about what I could have done differently. The endless possibilities flashed through my mind. I was struck by a stroke of lightning all of a sudden, realising that if I simplified it, I was basically trying to recruit a friend that I’ve known for a week.

I didn’t have a enviable brotherly relationship with him, we weren’t sworn brothers that have gone through thick and thin. Most importantly, I’m not special here.

I may have the thought process of someone from another world, a world filled with scientific discoveries not known here, but my knowledge of them is rudimentary at best. I may be smarter than the average person here, but there must be greater minds than my own.

I… was wrong.

I was wrong.

I was wrong!

I reaffirmed to myself this. This was my mistake, and I shall follow through with it.

I will not continue to beat myself up over this, nor will I ignore that this happened. Now’s the time to think for the future.

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I want to secure a strong position for myself in this world. One that doesn’t threaten my wellbeing, one that allows me to move freely. I think through all the knowledge I’ve gained in this world so far, and there’s only one that fits in with this criteria the most.

A mercenary group leader.

I need to hold strength that’s capable of threatening the Kingdom, yet also exist peacefully within it. I need to hold connections with the royalty, helping them, while maintaining the independence of the group. All of these need to be in place, if I were to safely traverse this world unfettered, and protected.

I need power, and connections for this to happen.

I acknowledge my failure in recruitment. Xun Zhou’s words echo in my ears. I could continue to pursue him for recruitment. Endlessly. Until he agrees.

But I won’t, that’ll be insulting to me. He’s right, he has his own pride, and I should uphold mine.

I shall find new companions, not people who will obey my commands, but people who can oppose mine.

They need to correct me when I’m wrong, I can’t be infallible.

There’s no need to centre the group around me, the group can simply be built on mutual interests.

We just need to be united in adversity, united by the sole fact that we desire protection but we are unwilling to lower our heads for it.

I shall make this a reality, regardless of what it takes.

“If there’s no place for me, I’ll make it myself.”, I pledge to myself.

I start making plans, contingencies, backups. This can’t go wrong, I’m not special, but I can be. I just need to be more prepared than anyone here is.

What if I fail my venture? I need to be able to take advantage of what’s left. What if I lose the right to succeeding the Duke? What if the Kingdom goes to war? I start to think of all the various possibilities, preparing for them just a little each. Just a little, just enough to give me a head start against anyone else.

I work through the night, unaware of the time going by.

This was the moment, that the Mercenary Guild truly came to fruition. Is what one of my close friends would say in the future. It would become a place where each member felt proud to be a part of, a place which was closely watched by foreign parties exceeding the Kingdom itself, a power renowned and known by all. But that’s only in the distant future, and there was much that happened before that.