Zelos was too tired to care about the future… even if it was a very intermediate future that was related to him. He knew that it wasn’t the best of the attitudes, but he couldn’t help it given his exhaustion. Fortunately, Hei showed up soon enough.
“It seems that you are all fine. I am glad. Heirina gave me a summary of the situation. I want to talk with you all about this eventually, but only once you are all well rested. You all are welcome to stay here. I will talk with your families and inform you of that.”
“Sorry, but I would rather sleep in an inn. No offense.”
“I guess we can’t force you…”
Hei looked a bit troubled since keeping everyone in the same place was the best idea to deal with the situation, but he knew how reserved Zelos was. Heirina had an idea of how to convince him, though.
“You will be able to eat freely here without paying any extra. Considering how much you eat, you will go bankrupt in no time.”
“Nice try.”
Kaitrine left a very exasperated sigh after that moment… she usually hadn’t many reasons to feel annoyed at Zelos, but now she had one.
“Can’t you stop thinking about yourself only for a moment? We are all on the same boat here. How do you plan to join the group when you are this self-centered?”
“Well, forgive me for making full use of my newfound freedom.”
After hearing that, even Kaitrine had to stop right there… Zelos was being difficult, but he had the right to decide things for himself like that. There was no point in him staying there for someone else’s convenience.
“Aaaahhh… whatever, I will stay here for two days, since that is probably how much sleep I need. After that, even if I have to disguise myself, I will leave.”
“Thanks for the understanding. I will guide you all to the rooms.”
In the end, Zelos was too tired to pay attention to his surroundings. He also didn’t pay much attention to what was said before, he just listened to the words when a room was opened to him and then he jumped on the bed and fell asleep in a few seconds.
After sleeping for a full day, Zelos eventually woke up. He was starving since his wounds had healed and that consumed the nutrients of his body. When he looked around, he found himself in a pretty fancy room… it was weird for the house of a military leader to have such a place… Zelos assumed that the clan was rewarded with that kind of thing at some point in the past.
After Zelos left the room, he saw that the place was mostly made of high-quality wood that was always shining… keeping the dust from piling in would need a lot of work. Zelos was expecting to see some slaves there, but he only saw people wearing normal clothes doing some chores, or carrying weapons or other tools. Since he was a bit grumpy thanks to the hunger, Zelos assumed that Hei should have sent away his slaves while he was there… then again, after thinking too much about it, there was no reason for Hei to give that much value to what Zelos thinks.
Before long, Zelos arrived in the living room and then found Heirina reading some scrolls. From a distance, Zelos took a peek at them, but he didn’t understand a single thing from it. As expected, even though he possibly had the memories of someone else, the language was different.
“You are finally up, and I imagine that you are hungry. What do you want to eat?”
“I can wait for the next meal.”
“As always, you are a pain to deal with while trying to be considerate and keep your distance as well.”
“The others have been sleeping since yesterday. They went to bed late. They slept a lot during the day, after all. You can sit anywhere you like.”
Zelos heard the words, but he decided not to obey. He had relaxed too much in that house already. It was time to stay on guard instead of making himself vulnerable. Still, even though he was used to keeping himself busy, Zelos didn’t have a hard time seeing time pass. In one of the rarest moments that he didn’t have to do anything, he felt some peace and solace seeing time passing outside through one of the living room windows.
Things in the training grounds were pretty intense since a lot of people were trying to enlist in the clan, and the tests in one week would keep things pretty busy. Zelos was planning to participate in the tests and work for the clan for six months to get a feel of what life would be like there. If he didn’t find things satisfying, he was planning to move on, and that would be that.
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Around noon, things calmed down on the training grounds, so the people began to disperse. Around the same time, Irlan, Kaitrine, and Edea left their rooms and showed up… they sure got comfortable in someone else’s home to sleep until noon. A few moments later, Hei came from the training grounds, too.
“It seems that everyone is here… but let’s have lunch first. I am starving.”
“Zelos should be as well. I can hear his stomach grumbling.”
Zelos raised his eyebrows at Heirina’s poor attempt at a joke. She was another who had relaxed too much upon arriving home. Still, it couldn’t be helped.
“That must be the sound of you going senile despite your age.”
The group headed toward the dining room and found a large table there with a bunch of chairs. Maybe Hei received a lot of visitors… in any case, some people brought a lot of food for them, and soon they left. Zelos wondered what happened to Hei’s wife… since they decided to eat before anyone else could show up. It wasn’t like Zelos felt off by seeing spoons and forks in a while, but he sure felt weird using them when they were made of silver. Being a clan leader was pretty profitable, apparently.
Regardless, during the mission, everyone learned how much Zelos tended to eat given the chance, so they couldn’t help but look at him, astonished, when he finished his meal and didn’t ask for seconds. Heirina was starting to think that she was pretty good at humor, so she decided to try again.
“Are you dying?”
Zelos decided to ignore the comments while he was planning his own steps for the future. He would have to consider the steps of the clan, but he would have enough freedom to do what he wanted, and that was more important than paying attention to Heirina’s nonsense.
“If everyone is satisfied, then we can start talking. It is a bit soon to confirm anything yet, but I can at least say that no ravens have come from the merchants’ territory in the last three days. It doesn’t look like until now that they are making any moves. However, after asking around for a bit to the people that I trust, I learned that a bunch of clan members were contacted by people from outside and asking if they were interested in working for other people’s territories once they were done working with us.”
Zelos looked confused about that, so they explained to him that people working for the clan signed contracts to work for it for a certain period. It could be a year, two years, or five years. His plans to work there for six months were shattered, but it made sense since not much could be done or happen in six months. Irlan considered Hei’s words for a moment…
“Sir, did they say who tried to contact them, or did the other part not mention anything?”
“Some of them were mercenaries that belonged to other territories, but most of them were contacted by people who seemed like merchants who wanted bodyguards. While that kind of recruiting isn’t unusual, it is a bit odd at times like this… since warriors need to protect the country, not a small group of people.”
“They are obviously merchants that work directly for the council of merchants, Dad.”
“The likelihood is high, but we can’t confirm it with only our words. Besides, that isn’t against the law either. We will keep our guard, but for now, we can only wait and see… When the time comes, we will be ready to strike back. For now, the issue is related to Edea. What is your clan going to do now that you have disappeared? They will contact us, obviously, and I can’t hide everyone here forever.”
“My clan is getting weaker and weaker. Their influence might cause you some trouble, but without the council or Lua’s help, they won’t be able to do anything.”
“... That being said, eventually, this will become a problem that the country will get involved in. What are you planning to do when that time comes?”
“I will tell them that I am here out of my own volition.”
Although people had allegiance to their clans, even more so when they had blood ties with them, they couldn’t be forced to stay there unless they wanted to. Another thing that was possible was the fact that Edea’s clan wouldn’t try to bring her back since they could connect the dots and realize that it would only put them in a bad spot. She was skilled, but two people could do her job with no problem.
“I will do my best to keep myself useful here, since I have other traits.”
“We will find something for you when the time comes. Still, you should lie low for a while.”
“Understood.”
“As for you three… I am still thinking about what you should do. Wait and rest for a few days until the selection is over, and then we will talk again.”
Kaitrine didn’t like that… it sounded like they couldn’t participate in the selection, and she obviously raised her eyebrows.
“Relax, you guys are already skilled and loyal enough to need things like a selection. Those close to me and who participate in the selection already know about the incident, so they won’t be against it either. I am just thinking that making you all follow the unusual path would be a waste. Well, I am not sure what I have in mind yet, so just wait patiently.”
Hei’s ideas were anything if not interesting, given what happens after them. Regardless, Zelos was starting to get annoyed by the fact that he tended to keep secrets from them until the very last minute.
“Naturally, you will receive the same type of contract, but your work will be a bit different. The rewards will be better as well. Speaking of rewards, I have to pay you already, huh?”
Finally… Zelos would be able to receive his money and then go on a restaurant spree to find the best place with the best ratio of flavor, amount, and price in town. He couldn’t help but show a small smile, but then it soon disappeared when the others looked at him.
“Use it wisely.”
“This isn’t our allowance, Dad.”
“I was only saying this to you, not to the others.”
“Ha-ha, very funny.”