"That would be pretty embarrassing for me, though," Zairus messed with his son's hair and forced a smile. "I will keep you informed, though."

Kaira didn't say anything this time, she just cautiously hugged Gaius since she couldn't put much effort into anything… the chances of having healthy children in that world weren't exactly high, so all caution was necessary.

"You will be ten the next time we see you, huh," Kaira said. "You will be a big brother too, so don't do anything too reckless."

"Roger that," Gaius said after returning the hug and then turning to leave the village.

Gaius got lucky that no one asked about his other horse… the other one that he had was being used by his spies. In any case, once again, Gaius ran for a while and then summoned his Hawk. It was time to fly for a bit... he wondered if he would ever get that ability, but it didn't seem an impossible dream for now.

Treant Lv 12 (300/12.000)

Health: 72/72

Mana: 300/300

Stamina: 42/42

Strength: 4

Endurance: 8

Adaptability: 7

Magic: 45

Resistance: 15

Wisdom: 45

Dexterity: 4

Perception: 3

Luck: 1

Free points: 00

"It has grown a fair bit in the last two weeks… it should be able to fight some monsters now," Gaius thought after he checked the status of the Treant. "Your mobility sucks and your size still is lacking, but you should be fine offering some support to the others. We don't have time to waste, after all."

Gaius began to feel pretty good lately whenever he was in the sun, he felt full of power and that feeling was only getting better. Thanks to the extra energy, he was also able to complete the spiritual armor and also think of a new technique… since Gaius was having a hard time learning elemental magic, he felt that he didn't have time to waste… Moreover, with the level of his Wisdom, he had extra mana to use, even when the Spiritual Armor was active since it only consumed five points of mana per second.

“Maybe I should use more mana to increase its effects,” Gaius thought.

Three days later, Gaius returned to the training grounds… it was Sunday and they had to present themselves to the commander before sunset, but while he was walking toward it, he saw some of the fifth year students near the red light district. Those guys never learn... considering how much training he had to do, Gaius couldn't understand how they had the energy and time to be horny.

"Those guys sure are horny… the power of horny flows strong in their veins… better not get involved with them," Gaius thought. "No point in letting others know about my secret activities. Still, I can't help but wonder... there aren't DSTs in this world? Oh no... maybe I shouldn't find this answer, I can feel the call of the horny side tempting me."

In any case, Gaius went to report to Kennil, but in his office, Gaius only found the instructor of battle tactics and combat history there. He quickly dismissed Gaius once he wrote something on a piece of paper.

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"He said that we had to report to him upon return… and it is the last day," Gaius thought once he looked for his room. "Something must have happened for him not to be here at this time… or something big happened and I am not aware of."

That idea alone was annoying since Gaius was using his soldiers to collect Intel… once he entered his room and unpacked his things, Gaius went to talk with Herc. He asked with him once a week, but it looked like that was too long of a period of time.

"Master, I have some bad news…" Herc suddenly said once he felt the connection being established.

Gaius knew that the timing was bad… to think that something would happen as soon as he had returned… Why couldn't things go conveniently well for him? Regardless, it should be something related to the military side of the state… that was probably why Kennil wasn't around.

"What happened?" Gaius asked.

"It looks like our neighbors sent a letter to hire some soldiers for a period of two months," Herc explained. "The letter arrived three days ago and the Lord of Lorencis state is willing to pay good money for five thousand soldiers, half up front, that is why Lord Ekirenton looks inclined to accept it. Besides, we will have the chance to understand more of our neighbors if we help them. There are other advantages as well."

Gaius was aware of all that… that was a good chance for Ekirenton to get some allies, get a lot of money, and learn a lot… the chances of him refusing were low. Still, sending soldiers to another war so early seemed like a bad move. The state wasn't completely recovered from the previous war and the enemies in the North might use that chance to attack again.

"He must be talking with Kennil to check the best course of action… I don't think that recruits will be sent since it isn't a war to defend our lands, but…" Gaius rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Keep me informed if you notice anything regarding this matter."

"Roger that," Herc said.

Once again, Gaius wondered if he had done the right thing in delaying that… perhaps he should kill Ekirenton and then summon him back to be his puppet. That was the best course of action to avoid needless bloodshed. It was too risky, though… since Gaius didn't know how to rule a state of that size. Killing him should be easy with Herc's help, though. He only had free time during the day too, so getting rid of him at such a time was difficult.

"Let's wait and see for the time being… Anyway, this confirms that the people of Lorencis state are losing this war, Gaius thought. "They are trying hard, but they are losing badly since this is the first time they asked for help in decades."

Gaius had a hard time falling asleep thanks to that. He only slept for three hours, so his body was a bit sluggish when he began to train the next day. Kennil didn't show up even at that point in time, though.

"I was expecting to receive another promotion upon returning, but I guess he has better things to worry for now," Gaius thought.

In the end, after three days, Gaius received another report coming from Relia… he avoided talking with her since they could only work at night, but she gave her permission to talk with him if something important happened.

"Young master, one of the walled cities of the Lorence state has fallen… most of the people managed to run away, but the situation is getting dire by the minute," Relia explained. "We managed to kill a few soldiers and a lot of scouts without revealing ourselves, but we can only do so much without being noticed."

"I see… keep your guard up and don't do anything unnecessary," Gaius replied.

If Gaius was on the defending side and he ruled a rich state, he would improve the offer that he had made to Ekirenton and that was something that he confirmed five days later. Herc confirmed that they received another letter… The lord of that state was offering ten gold coins per soldier to work for them for two months. That amount of gold was something else and that definitely made Ekirenton make up his mind. On the first day of the second week, Kennil also finally showed up on the training grounds with the news.

“Attention recruits,” Kennil suddenly raised his voice, and then the kids assembled in five lines in front of him. “We have some news for you all… one of our neighbors asked us for help and Lord Ekirenton graciously decided to offer a land for the peace.”

Gaius almost laughed… was that guy for real? He was going to help because his pocket would be loaded if he were to send some soldiers. In any case, it was clear that the recruits were going to participate in that operation… and that seemed stupid since only around one hundred recruits could graduate from the training grounds every year… Ekirenton was going to risk five thousand of them when he just lost thousands more in the previous war. Gaius made up his mind…

"We are assembling a force of five thousand men that will join the fight in the Lorencis territory, and the fifth and fourth years' recruits will join us to get combat experience by watching how things will play out," Kennil added. "The recruit Gaius will be the only exception as he will be my squire… by the way, you can train with the third years once we return. If you perform your duties well, you might even join the fourth year."