"Settle down for a minute and listen up!" Aaron said once the soldiers started getting too loud after crossing the Mystique-Door, "You have your freedom I also have my rules.

"I don't care what kind of past you went through or what kind of horrible crimes you once committed, I'm still going to protect you as long as you live by these rules.

"It's alright for you to speak your mind and express your opinions to me, but don't insist on something despite being aware that you're wrong.

"You take orders from me and only me unless I tell you otherwise and I don't care whoever forgets that rule is going to regret it later because I don't like it when others think they can lead my people, so remember to just say "No thank you" in these situations.

"I also would like you to be polite so say "Please fuck off" afterwards!

"But I would like you as yourself everyday of your life this simple question : "Am I doing the right thing?" If you're being honest with yourselves and the answer was "No" then come to me and ask to be relived of your duty.

"I know that most of you are exhausted right now and just looking to rest more than anything so I'll make it simple until we get a chance to really talk in details about your duties.

"In the mean time don't go wandering alone and mind your own business, if somebody gives you trouble just mention that you work for me.

"If that doesn't work then come to me and I'll solve your troubles for you! Any questions?" The kid asked before raising a glass of juice to drink.

"No Sir!"

Aaron cleared his ear which buzzed after hundreds of men and women answered unanimously while standing at attention in his garden!

"Keep your voices down because we have neighbors! Also... Just call me Ron or young master Ron like the rest of the Village likes to remind me every single day."

"Ron!" Lucy came running from outside the house after struggling for a while with Heena to open the extremely thick and annoyingly heavy metal gates.

Both of the Honorable Sisters were surprised once they sensed a lot of Soul-Signatures coming from the direction of Aaron's house, especially since all of these Soul-Waves suddenly appeared out of nowhere and one of them is especially strong yet had somewhat familiar Soul-Waves!

"Hey! I didn't notice you two in the living room and thought you might be at the usual spot near the gates where Sera liked to hang most of the day." Aaron nodded towards the two women who gawked after seeing him but not seeing Nina which was supposed to be accompanying him all the time.

"Don't hey us! Where's Nina?" Lucy stormed her way through the Black Armored soldiers and started questioning the kid while looking everywhere for her sister.

Aaron waved it off like nothing before taking a seat while ordering his soldiers, "You're dismissed for now, you can find yourselves a room upstairs to sleep or fix yourselves a spot in the garden but don't go anywhere near my room or I'll throw you in the pool myself! That one on the second floor right in the middle is mine until I say it's not anymore.

"Also don't ruin my garden or you'll get Shoveled to death by my angry gardener! Ria doesn't care if you beat her son or grab her butt but... she cares if you mess up with everything that grow leaves anywhere.

"Betty and Todd would be here early in the morning and I bet feeding you all would exhaust them to death but that's what I'm paying them for right?" Afterwards the kid looked towards Lucy and Heena then gestured for them to sit down while adding : "Relax! I sent Nina and the rest to go handle something for me and we can all go meet with them later when they come back."

Heena squinted her eyes before asking : "When did you come back? How come we didn't notice you're here until just now? And where did all of these soldier come from? How come we couldn't notice any of them at all? This is whole situation is very strange and I'm feeling very confused."

Lucy nodded repeatedly before looking towards Dalair while adding : "Uh-Huh. It's indeed really strange! Even this old man somehow found his way all the way here but he doesn't even seem like he's out of breath."

*Cough*

The Strategist almost choked on his food once he found himself getting included in the topic and picked a glass of water to drink while thinking to himself : 'I might not look it but I'm fully capable of bedding you all night! Mice meat can awaken a dead member you rude Sister are forgiven because you're cute.'

*Humph*

"Pervert!" Heena glared at Dalair and Aaron looked between the two while raising an eyebrow.

The old man started to sweat while thinking : 'She read my mind? I thought extremely rare and really few are these who truly master the Indication-Teachings!'

Heena crossed her arms and smugly raised her head while feeling proud of herself after busting this old fellow then kept nodding repeatedly while saying : "Yeah I'm one of these rare and the few! So what? Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself and your eyes to the ground or I'll let Lucy show you her best moves, do remember that her expertise lies within Dismantling-Techniques and these ones really hurt and they work very slowly when she feels like it."

Poor Dalair was shaking from fear while Lucy kept looking for an answer but Rhinne was acting like she doesn't have any idea what's going on while Cesar was hiding his face in a plate of appetizers.

"What's going on here?" Lucy looked towards her final option which is the kid and asked while tilting her head.

'This woman is so dull or so easygoing but either way I see it this innocence is just a big crime-magnet and draws a huge target on this chick's back unless she opens her eyes to the world... that Heena must've been secretly chasing away the likes of Dalair all the time!' But of course Aaron wouldn't answer that question that's why he decided to distract the woman instead by saying : "You wanted to know how we all got here! Let me show you one of my secrets, I promise you this is one of the cool ones which Sera doesn't even know how it works."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Alright! Show it! Quickly!" Lucy's eyes glowed with anticipation and excitement like a little kid and Heena smiles once she saw her so happy and eager to learn about this secret.

After giving Dalair a final side-glance to warn him not to even think of having any weird ideas about her sister... Heena joined Lucy and they both followed Aaron with their eyes and watched him retrieve four Magic-Rocks which looked so beautiful and fascinated their eyes.

"Ready?" Aaron asked then activated the Mystique-Door Skill once both women nodded eagerly while watching him like hawks with unblinking eyes!

"Whoa! What's that?" Lucy asked while seeing the background behind the boy shift into the scene of the training grounds back in Cesar's Fortress.

The kid smiled and said : "Why don't you follow me and find out?" Then he took a step backwards and vanished but both women could still see him on the background standing in the middle of the training grounds between the two different types of soldiers and the lonely man in the middle was staring at him with a conflicted expression on his face and malice hidden deep within his eyes.

"Where is this place? Why does it feel kind of familiar?" Lucy asked once she passed the Mystique-Door and kept looking around her, she recognize the soldiers in Silver Armor because most of their faces she saw yesterday but the ones in Black Armor were complete strangers.

"Is this Reapers-Fort? Why does this man carry house Specter's insignia on his Armor? I thought on-" Heena was muttering these words before gawking then looking towards Aaron and continuing to say : "You captured Dermoor Specter's 7th son!"

Aaron nodded before looking towards Heena while thinking : 'This chick really can read minds! How come she never read mine?' But he didn't care if this Gerand Specter was some kind of high-ranked Noble or some kind of prince!

All he cares about right now is to get rich and to solve all of his financial issues.

What comes afterwards is Leveling-UP, getting stronger, and living his days comfortably.

Especially now that he recruited almost an Army for himself which means more mouths to feed, but it'd also mean that he wouldn't have to do everything by himself in the future.

"I plan to set him free once he pays his own ransom, can't you see that he's unharmed? The dude is barely even chained... you should've seen how I had Pio tie up that rude Rodd fellow that day!" The kid recollected his memory back in the forest and smiled.

"What is he talking about?" Lucy asked Heena because she's the one who reads people's minds then translates everything to her in these situations.

Heena just rolled her eyes as if saying : "How the hell would I know? I can't read the kid's mind remember! That shit is more fortified than this god-damn Fortress... don't get me even started on describing how that small skull of his looks from the inside girl." But she still distracted her friend with something else to save herself the endless string of questions that would certainly follow if she dared answer that first question.

"We actually moved all the way East to Reapers-Fort in a single step! That Technique is so amazing."

"Yeah! Yeah! It makes moving everywhere so convenient and efficient, we wouldn't have to waste a lot of time whenever we want to go somewhere." Lucy ran around before going back to the kid's house to retrieve some appetizers from the table then came back with a smile on her face while saying : "I've never felt so free in my life! I was so jealous of Sera once I saw her fly in the air with the Feather-Soul Movement-Technique but I no longer care... this is so fun! This is also so delicious! Betty's cooking has improved a lot."

Aaron and Heena just exchanged a look and smiled while shaking their heads after hearing this woman voice her thoughts which were all-over the place.

*Hmmm*

"Nina is here." Heena looked towards the East once she noticed the unique and familiar Soul-Waves of her team-leader moving closer in their direction.

"I honored our deal and gave you all of the Gold Coins and Precious Stones I had on me! Can I go now?" Gerand Specter asked anxiously while looking towards this boy.

"Heh." Aaron smiled once he saw the expression on this Noble's face and thought to himself : 'I wonder how many times you really honored your deals with others in this life, but I don't really care enough to actually ask because the look in your eyes already gave away that answer you scumbag.'

"Look man." The kid started before taking a seat right in front Gerand then continuing to say : "I really don't care if you're planning to return home then come back here later with a bigger army just to get even.

"I really, really, really don't have any problem with that!

"But I feel like I need to warn you in advance.

"Just... Just make sure to bring even more Gold Coins and Precious Stones.

"Do so just in-case you get yourself captured by me again.

"Because let's face it man... Let's address the elephant in the room.

"If I can do it once! Then... Don't you think I can do it twice or a third time?

"Let's be reasonable here! I believe it was you who was trying to hurt my business first and I just retaliated in kind.

"Yes! I took all of the money you had on you.

"Yes! I took "Some" of your people.

"But! I kept you alive didn't I?

"So... listen to my advice and don't come empty-handed next time you decide to come visit this young friend of yours." Aaron smiled widely and patted Gerand Specter on his cheek but the more he spoke so kindly the more this Noble got paler in the face until he went white in the end and almost fainted from absolute terror and fear.

In his eyes the kid in front of his is some sort of Monster in human skin while these white pearly teeth were like the open gates of the abyss itself waiting to swallow him in!

"Young master Ron. We're Rich! Hahaha... We're rich!" Pio was jumping and waving his arms in the air like a jovial child while screaming these words loudly.

Meanwhile Lucas was smiling widely and patting the chests all around him as if to say : "Damn right we are! I almost received a scare and my dirt-poor heart stopped beating once I saw the amount of Gold Coins stacked in more than half of these chests."

Sherry was wearing a delicate Jewel-Studded Crown on her head which is made from Gold and Silver while her arms and fingers had Bracelets and Rings covering almost all of them.

Nina on the other hand was having none on her but she was happy to see this teenager girl being so happy.

But there's one on top of that Centipede which was worried for her fate once these guys took the riches of her City-Lord and left the campsite as clean and smooth as a baby's butt!

Aaron looked towards Gerand Specter and said : "We have ourselves a deal Lord Gerand... You and your people are free to go, make sure you leave Marshal Cesar's territory before sunset or you'll have to deal with Nina's pet."

"Thank you! Thank you." Gerand Specter lowered his head politely before walking away towards what's left of his Black Army without any hesitation in his steps whatsoever, "Aeona!" He called his female Knight over but the woman hesitated once she remembered what sort of Lord she serves.

"She stays!" Sherry stood in front of the female Knight and glared at this Noble once she noticed fear and panic within the eyes of this woman.

Gerand didn't even dare argue and looked away before saying to his soldiers : "Let's go! Whoever delays us from leaving gets left behind." Then he jumped on top of his fine steed and tugged at its reins to lead him out of this Fortress which has this stifling air of being within a Bandit's-Nest!

Aaron looked towards Heena and asked : "Is he planning to visit me again?"

"He's panicked and confused, all he had on his mind was flee as far away from you and this place." The woman smiled and shook her head.

Lucy laughed aloud, "Hehe... Our little Monster scared this baddie Noble away!"

"Nonsense! I was kind to him and his people... they did all sorts of atrocities back in that Village yet I set them free. I only took most of his soldiers, some Gold Coins and Precious Stones to re-compensate the ones who lost their properties or a member of their family that's all." The kid argued while rolling his eyes at the two women.

Seeing both of the Honorable Sisters look at him as if he's trying to color himself the saint in this clear picture where a Noble from the Specter house is receiving a shakedown from the kid.

Aaron ignored both of the women and muttered : "Kill them with kindness, bury them with a smile. These two can't even understand the simple wisdom in this saying! I bet all they know is read people's minds or dismantle their Souls like some sort of Soul-Mechanic."