Next to come forward was two men, one of them was clearly the oldest man among these soldiers while the other was much younger and the quietest of them all.

'This fellow's eyes are keeping track of everything around them, I feel like he's studying me and everyone in here!' Aaron thought while watching the forty-something man take a knee but he was actually observing the younger soldier which actually noticed that he's been noticed by the kid.

"The name is Jerome young master Ron, I'm originally from Star-Province in the far North of the Specter Duchy." After introducing himself he added : "I lived a normal life herding animals and working the farms then got bored and joined the Specter Army.

"Things ended up becoming even more boring for me for a decade or so before the officials started transferring me from Province to Province then from Prefecture to Prefecture until I was tasked to serve that useless Viscount for a couple of years now but gladly things didn't work in his favor.

"I wish to serve you young master Ron, I have no emotional attachments to my birthplace." Jerome thumped his Armor with a fist and got up then joined the ones who choose to serve.

Aaron nodded before turning his attention towards the other soldier which seems like he's still collecting data!

"Do you speak or do you just enjoy staring at people?" He teased the young soldier.

Noticing that he's being treated in a lighthearted manner the soldier opened his mouth to say : "My name is Gilmore, I'm 24 years old.

"My birthplace is the Sun Province in the far East of the Specter Duchy near the borders with Prince Eckhart Wood."

Seein Gilmore standing there after introducing himself the kid asked : "What do you wish to do next?"

Gilmore hesitated for a moment before saying : "I don't mind serving you young master Ron but I do have a question, if you don't mind me asking."

"Shoot."

The young man sighed inwardly once he saw the boy unbothered by his demand which any Noble would find extremely rude and punishable by a lot of creative methods.

"You've offended Viscount Gerand and that man has inherited his father's ambition so clearly he'd seek revenge on you sooner than later yet here you are living right next to his family's territory and being open and aboveboard about it... Why?"

Aaron looked at Gilmore and smiled teasingly while saying : "I wasn't mistaken in my assumptions about you! you really are a thinker aren't you?"

Aran, Aria, and the rest smiled once they saw Gilmore gawk slightly before blushing then trying to hide it by coughing.

"But jokes aside though. I really didn't even know about that Specter Duchy at all until the day I met you guys, as for the reason why I'm not trying to "Run" from these so-called Nobles is because I welcome them to try and deliver me their vengeance!" The kid shrugged before raising both arms with his palms facing the sky before activating Flame Orb and sending them flying towards the clouds.

Of course he noticed the change in the Skill during his demonstration, both of the Flame Orbs were much faster and there's also the blue spark which was already there in the center of each Flame Orb the moment he activated the Skill.

All eyes followed them pierce the clouds before exploding then lowered their heads to look towards the boy who sat there eating calmly.

The workers were quick to shrug it off before continuing their work but the soldiers in the house were panicking because they didn't know what's going on until Pio and Lucas ordered them to maintain their calm.

Meanwhile up on the roof the 12 soldiers who saw it happen their mouths were wide open while thinking : 'Holy shit! The rumors were really true.'

Gilmore took a knee and shouted : "I wish to serve young master Ron not as a Guard but as a Military Advisor!"

The soldiers frowned and looked at the young man disapprovingly since he's being greedy.

Aaron hummed before smiling then nodding before saying : "Why don't you give us a demonstration of your brilliant acumen to all of us? Words are wind... You do know that right!"

The young man took a deep breath to calm himself before saying : "Gerand Specter is ambitious but the reason of his great ambition is because his father the Duke Dermoor Specter hasn't been showing favor towards him for the last ten years or so.

"Since his attempt to get rid of Marshal Cesar failed he'd calmly retreat behind the Swamp belt and regroup before trying again in normal situations.

"But he lost a huge chunk of his Army plus all of the fortune which he blundered from Baron Zero's house.

"However, his biggest loss was his reputation which you stepped all over when you captured him while being surrounded by an army and having a Guardian-Knight looking for his safety.

"Gerand Specter's relationship with his siblings is lukewarm at best and mostly hostile but there's one which he relatively communicates with and cary favor out of fear and necessity.

"You see. The Viscount's territory is Lonesome-Moon Prefecture which is neighboring three important key locations to the West while North, East, and South it's neighboring territories which are either directly controlled by Duke Dermoor Specter himself or by one of his loyal subjects for one reason or another.

"Directly West is the Swamp belt and beyond it the thorn, enemy, and Shield which is Marshal Cesar and his Reapers-Fort.

"Southwest there's the Cold-Moon Prefecture which is ruled by the Viscount's oldest sister, Marchioness Serena Specter the Duke's 2nd daughter is probably the most reclusive and mysterious out of all his children.

"Northwest there's the Fallen-Moon Prefecture which is ruled by the Viscount's 3rd brother, Count Bertrand Specter is famous for being cruel and vicious which is why Duke Dermoor bestowed him with that territory in the first place because he needed someone like that son of his to be there to push against Baron Atlas Cygnus who's spearheading the assault while getting helped from the shadows by Prince Eckhart Wood's faction.

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"Like I said before Viscount Gerand Specter fears his 3rd brother because Count Bertrand is merciless on top of being his neighbor which gives him direct access to his territory and has no relation with his oldest sister the Marchioness.

"Him asking for help from his 3rd brother after getting his behind handed to him by young master Ron means that he gets to sit back and watch his vicious brother fall out with you.

"If his brother wins then the Viscount gets his revenge and remedy his reputation at a small price while carrying favor with Count Bertrand.

"Maybe even keep riding the bandwagon and both of the brothers try to join hands and take on the Marshal once and for all afterwards.

"If his brother loses then his reputation of being a loser would receive a lighter blow while shedding more light on young master Ron as an enemy which their family needs to take seriously.

"Of course his greatest assurance in playing all of these games was given to him by young master Ron." Gilmore said while smiling helplessly then shaking his head.

*Crackle* *Rumble*

Dark clouds gathered above in the sky and lightning coursed through them then seconds later Thunder bellowed and the silence which followed Gilmore's words was scattered.

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

Aaron let go of his sandwich and clapped slowly before wiping his hands in a napkin then rested his elbow on the table and took Paws into his lap while answering the question all of his soldiers had in mind : "I let him go."

Gilmore nodded then said : "Indeed." Afterwards he added : "The last thing Nobles lack is wealth, that's why he can afford to play this game."

"Which is why I don't care! Listen Gilmore, I care not for politics but I'm not stupid enough to ignore its effect." The kid said before looking up at the sky which started to let loose on the ground below with a shower of rain.

It made him remember the storm which made him close his eyes and run across the bridge then suddenly find himself not on the lane where he was on but face to face with the infamous Truck-kun itself!

"I prepare myself for the worst and brace for impact! That's it, that's all.

"When some Noble with a stick up his ass comes knocking on my door what do I do? I give him another stick up his ass then strip him naked to make an example out of him before chasing him away from my property!

"They can come whenever they want. I'll be ready and give them the best fight possible." He answered while running his fingers on Paws fur.

"What if they're more than we can handle?" The young man was feeling slightly worried that this kid is being a bit confident of himself.

Aaron rolled his eyes while answering : "You're saying that because you haven't seen the how the Wolf-Gang deal with enemies above their weight-class, but we can do the same with much more elegance and class."

Gilmore's eyes brightened before saying : "You mean we're going to us-"

"Hush now my sweet Advisor! Walls have ears you know that right?" The kid stopped him from saying anymore while glancing towards the remaining 4 soldiers which haven't introduced themselves yet.

Gilmore nodded in understanding before taking a knee and saluting his young master Ron then joining Aran, Aria and the rest.

The next to come forward were a man and a woman.

Both of them kneeled instantly before introducing themselves.

"Elwin greets you young master Ron."

"My name is Rust and I wish to serve you young master Ron."

"Ladies first. Where you from Rusty? Tell me more about yourself." Aaron said while gesturing for them to get up.

Rusty smiled once the kid choose to listen from her first then started to talk about her past : "I'm originally from the Moon-Province East of the Silver-Carp Province, I was serving a Noble House which turned out it was scheming against the Duchy and the territory got raided afterwards by the Specter Army.

"Once the eradication of the Nobles, their Knights, the Commander, and high-ranking officers was completed me and the rest got offered the same thing, death or serve and like Aran and Aria I choose to live."

The kid nodded before looking towards the man, "What about you Elwin got something to share with us?"

Elwin nodded before saying : "I do young master. I'm originally from Cold-Moon Prefecture.

"One cold winter day during my childhood our Village got raided by Bandits and I barely managed to escape their pursuit before fleeing to one of the 8 Cities in Cold-Moon Prefecture.

"I reported to the officials in Blizzard-City and they conscripted me into the Specter Army since I was certainly going to die alone.

"But some day one of the officials in Blizzard-City announced that Lady-Marchioness was unsatisfied and that she decided to reform the Military.

"And that's how I ended up finding myself getting transferred away from what became my home for many years!

"But thankfully my service under Viscount Gerand ended well since it led me to young master Ron."

Aaron gestured towards the last 2 soldiers to approach while saying : "As long as you're not going to regret your decisions later on, you can go join them."

These two soldiers were male and female but they're clearly the youngest of each gender in this group of 12.

The young man was thin and tall and his skin had a healthy touch of bronze to it, meanwhile the young woman was acting tough but the shade of worry deep within her eyes betrayed her nervousness.

"My name is Sino, I'm from the Celestial Province South of the Specter Duchy." The young man saluted while standing tall.

The kid smiled after seeing Sino's show of vigorous and proud youth, "Tell me more about you Sino. What's the Celestial Province like?" He asked.

Sino nodded before saying : "It starts at the borders of the Allium Desert South and all the way up to the Specter Province up North but I lived South that's why all my eyes could see everywhere was dunes of sand or barren land with rare batches of green here and there.

"My birthplace is famous for its fine steeds and being able to communicate and establish trade with the Nomadic Tribes of Allium Desert.

"But I'm here now right next to the Dark-Forest instead of being home to take care of my family!" The young man sounded slightly annoyed and a bit angry.

Aaron smiled while gesturing towards the stairs : "Who's stopping you from leaving?"

Sino squinted his eyes slightly before saying : "My instincts."

The kid felt so amused by the answer that he decided to make it even more simple for this man to make his choice, "Nephrite. Is there any Black-Guards left in the Hive?"

'Yes master, a few of them metamorphosed earlier.'

"Call two of them over." He said and watched as the soldiers were looking at him and wondering who is this boy talking to exactly.

*Buzz*

After a wait which took less than a minute two Pitch-Black Wasps of the Guard-Rank landed next to Aaron and he gestured towards one of them while saying to Sino : "Taking one of these would make sure you get back home to your family much faster than riding a horse, consider it my parting gift."

"My obligation is towards my family first and foremost, I hope you'll understand my difficulties." Sino said while bowing to show his gratification.

"No need, I'm happy to help." The kid paused for a moment before adding : "After all... I've been told lately that I'm connected by blood to one of the Nomadic tribes of Allium Desert!

"Since there's already an establishment of both trade and communication... Why stop there right?" Afterwards he smiled and winked before giving Gilmore the thumbs-up gesture.

His newly-appointed Military Advisor smiled knowingly before looking at Sino while thinking : 'Just like me, young master Ron immediately saw through your lies.

'You talked about your birthplace being the Celestial Province but your tone of voice always shifted whenever you were talking about Allium Desert or the Nomadic Tribes.

'It's good that young master Ron is letting this one go, I heard that he was caught trying to escape during the battle back in Rotten-Swamp Village but when I asked him about what happened he lied.

'As if I'd believe that you really killed one of these soldiers to avenge one of your family members which he killed long before joining the Specter Army! That man was someone who never set foot in the Celestial Province in his life you idiot.'

"Farewell young master Ron. I'll never forget this favor." Sino said once the Wasp flew up in the air.

Despite his body getting drenched wet by rain and feeling the wind cutting sharply on his skin, this young man was laughing gleefully and freely until he disappeared beyond the thick layer of rain.

*Crackle*

Aaron activated the 4 Portals and drank a bottle of Sunset Dew before looking at the young woman and saying : "Now the only one left is you. What do you have to say about yourself and what would you like to do?"