“Hey, it has been a while. You are starting to look a bit bigger and healthier than before.”

“Sorry to say, but I don’t feel good about being praised by a guy. I don’t mind having my hard work being recognized, but you don’t have to go that far.”

“Hahaha, haaaahhh… I am starting to understand Heirina more. Anyway, the captain is calling for us.”

“Is it already that time?”

“Possibly. After the new recruits start working next week, we will be preparing for the next huge confrontation whenever it is supposed to happen.”

Zelos nodded while cleaning his forehead from the sweat… waiting for the enemy to start the next move seemed like a bad idea… but if they weren’t planning to start the next battle, then they should be in a pretty bad state. Zelos made a mental note to study a map when he had the chance and check the forces and the other countries surrounding theirs. That should make him understand things a bit more.

In the end, Zelos informed the farm that he was being called by Hei. Fortunately, he had already done all the work of the day. So, he just took a bath in the river and then changed his clothes. When Zelos arrived at Hei house, everyone was in the living room waiting for him. He probably should have come running when his boss called… even though he didn’t sign any contract yet.

“Sorry for my delay.”

“No worries, we have finished the things we had to do for the day as well. In any case, as you know, we finished the selection, and we obtained seven hundred allies. We are one hundred behind our limits, but it will be fine.”

That was something Zelos heard the other day. Clans could only have a certain number of members according to their accomplishments. Right now, the max was five thousand and the second rank was one thousand. There was only one clan that had five thousand people in it. That form of control was all for the sake of preventing giving too much influence to them. After all, it wasn’t unheard of for clans joining other countries when they received better offers and working conditions.

“With that in mind, I already have the contracts for you guys, too. You can read and talk about any possible changes that you would want. It is the most basic type of working contract that we have, after all.”

Hei passed the scrolls to everyone, even to Edea. It seemed that she found some type of work that she could do there and it wouldn’t be related to her main trait. Zelos tried to decipher what was written there, but as expected, he couldn’t get a single thing.

“What does it say here?”

“It says that you are to work for the clan for a period of one year and that you need to inform us with one month of antecedence if you don’t want to work with us by the time the contract is about to end. That you will come to the battlefield when the entire clan is called to defend the country and that you will receive other missions according to your abilities and will fulfill them. Without receiving those kinds of work, you will be paid thirty purple coins monthly and the duration and the difficulties of the jobs that you will receive during the month will add an extra to your payment.”

Heirina decided to explain already before the atmosphere could get a bit weird, thanks to Zelos’s lack of education. Slaves weren’t taught how to read and write, after all. Mostly because slave kids didn’t have parents, and those were the ones who would teach that to their kids.

In any case, everyone began to sign the scrolls, and soon Zelos had the chance to do the same. Heirina went to help him with that, but she was surprised to see him writing something that actually looked like letters. They were unknown letters to her, but there was a similarity between the alphabets.

“What kind of language is that?”

“No idea. I just know that my name is like that.”

Everyone looked confused at Zelos’ words… They checked the scroll, but they couldn’t tell where that language came from. Zelos was an enigma that only became more mysterious as time passed… perhaps his parents were from a faraway land.

“About the idea that I shared with you all before. After thinking about it for a few days, I decided that we would do something like a small force that would do certain things for us behind the scenes. Nothing too shady, but doing things that would be difficult for most people. Fortunately, you all have a diverse set of skills.”

“Don’t you have spies that can do that kind of thing?”

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Everyone sighed when they heard Zelos saying that. That was a pretty rude thing to say, but it couldn’t be helped…

“Espionage among clans is forbidden.”

“But it isn’t like it doesn’t happen… I guess you wouldn’t do that, but others would.”

“We are a clan of warriors, and we need to be honorable and follow the law.”

Even if the law was stupid… that was what Zelos wanted to say, but he avoided since nothing good would come out of it. Still, it looked like Hei wanted to do something similar, but less unlawful.

“For starters, I want you all to negotiate with a certain merchant in the South about some metals that we need. You guys will have to buy and transport it as well, so you will have to carry quite the sum of money. Bandits might become an issue, even though I didn’t pass this information on to anyone.”

It made sense that Hei wanted a group of people that he could trust in that task, but they were all kids except for Edea, who was eighteen. They didn’t know a thing about commerce either… it was bound to happen that they would be ripped off.

“Don’t worry, you are going to take the right amount and take the same amount of metals that we buy every six months. You will just have to convince the merchant to sell the same amount for the right price. It is fine. If you all fail a bit, it will be a good experience.”

“Captain, when we should depart and now far away is the destination.”

“Three days would be a good time for you all to prepare and the trip should last six days going in. Returning should be more than six days, perhaps seven with the cargo. I would advise you to negotiate for five days to convince the other side of your offer. It isn’t the right time of the year that we buy these, so he will try to sell a bit more expensive, but he won’t go as far as trying anything outlandish when we are preparing for war.”

A mission that would last more than three weeks… Zelos felt like sighing just because he was starting to make some progress with his training. It will be difficult to follow the same routine while traveling. Even more so when no one bothered him when he was alone and working. In any case, Heirina soon got up and then saluted.

“We gladly accept the mission, Captain. We shall not fail.”

“All right, I will be expecting good results.”

That seemed like the type of job that would make sense given that they were preparing for war. Still, Zelos had the feeling that there was something amiss… he couldn’t pinpoint what it was for now, but he could tell that he wasn’t mistaken.

“I will prepare the vehicle and the horses that we will use. You guys can focus on your own preparations. In the morning, after three days, I will be waiting in front of the training grounds at sunrise. Don’t be late.”

Everyone nodded and then began to disperse. Staying three weeks away from home was quite the thing to do… fortunately, they were heading in the opposite direction of the trouble that they faced before, so they probably won’t find the same kind of issues as before.

“All right, see you guys in three days.”

“Don’t be late.”

After saying that, Irlan and Kaitrine left Zelos.

For the next three days, Zelos had to hear the farmer complain about how life was going to be tough while he was away… at that point in life, Zelos was considering asking for a raise or at least changing jobs. There was only so much whining that he could take.

Still, he had gotten used to that routine too much to change it… besides, it was very efficient. All the work and training he had done in two weeks made him improve his parameters and regeneration four times.

Health: 690/690

Magic: 140/140

Stamina: 580/580

Strength: 37

Vigor: 32

Precision: 26

Wisdom: 10

Willpower: 14

Traits:

Regeneration Lv 47

“I guess it can’t be helped… that kind of lifestyle is what I need to keep improving steadily. Besides, drinking that much milk everyday sure made me full of energy.”

Sometimes, even Zelos got tired of all the hard work that he was putting in, but recently, he never felt burned out… even without taking breaks, he felt like his limits were endless.

When the day of the mission arrived, Zelos woke up two hours before sunrise and then headed toward the training grounds. That place was pretty good for training his legs, so he tried to use that new technique and improve it a bit. It would be better if he could learn how to use it everywhere, in all terrains, but that would be difficult in hard terrains while using boots. He would have to get barefoot since the boots wouldn’t last for long. On the other hand, he would hurt his feet.

As expected, doing that on a terrain of soft grass was the best… Zelos was able to use the technique three times in a row. The range also improved by twenty percent. It wasn’t a matter of finesse. It was something that he had to pull it off with his own control over his body.

After a bit, Irlan showed up and then Kaitrine. Both of them were rubbing their eyes to get rid of the sleepiness, but soon they woke up when they saw that Zelos brought his iron club.

“That is a pretty nasty looking weapon. Can’t believe that you can actually wield that. It is longer than you.”

“I can’t use it yet, aside from training.”

Kaitrine raised her eyebrow how Zelos was planning to fight them without a melee weapon if something happens, but she didn’t ask since Heirina and Edea showed up. Much to everyone’s surprise, Edea had a long bow with her. Behind them there was a single long wagon that was being pulled by four horses… that was the kind of thing that certainly would attract bandits, but they needed that much to carry the stuff that they were going to bring.

“This won’t give us much privacy, so I am not a fan… but we will have to get used to it. Get in.”