At those words, Linius also stepped forward to face the president who seemed to be accusing them of being undisciplined and being rude. It was already merciful of him to let them go from disrespecting him but now the president stepped up himself. As the leader of the soldiers, he wouldn't just stand by and let those heroes blame them.
"I have disciplined them well and to tell you the truth President Veltran, they've been holding back all this time. You should talk to your heroes instead of coming at us. If they kept their mouths shut then there would be no problem within our group." Linius was not about to back down and let the president put all the blame unto them when it was those heroes who provoked them first. "We will be leaving first and make sure to drill some respect and some self-awareness to your heroes before someone else does it."
He did not wait for the president to speak as he turned around and was ready to leave when they heard a somewhat childish voice from not far. The speaker toned it down and made it a bit high pitched but Linius could still identify the person behind that voice. He stopped and looked to his right side where a familiar young man was leaning on the trunk of a large tree.
His hair got a bit longer as it softly swayed with the wind. His hands were crossed in front of him and his grin did not change. It was still the same, friendly to some and yet distant to those who already knew him. Cygnus pushed himself up then he walked to where they were.
"I was enjoying the show and you are ending it just like that?" He swept his gaze to the side where the heroes were standing before returning them to his big brother.
"I am not in the mood to bicker," Linius answered with a sigh. "We just came from scouting and all I want to do right now is to lie down and sleep for a couple of hours."
Cygnus slightly tilted his head to the side before he reluctantly nodded. "Alright, we can always continue this next time though." He gave one last look to the direction of the heroes and he even gave President Acasia a smirk that irked the man.
"Are we just going to let them go?" One of the heroes asked after the soldiers left first. "They've been rude from the beginning and now they even have the audacity to look down on us!"
The other heroes agreed with the statement. Their egos couldn't accept that someone managed to diss them and make them bad in every way. What if there were other people watching them, then their reputation would be on the line.
"We need to be patient. If we pick a fight with them right now, we will fail our mission. We must accomplish our task and worry about them later," Acasia answered.
It was not the answer that the heroes wanted to hear but all they could do was frown in displeasure. The president was right, it was better for them to finish their task than to mind those soldiers. No matter what they say, the heroes still contributed greatly to this exploration and the people will know it. They decided in unison that they won't be outshined by those ordinary soldiers.
After they've finally made up their minds, they also returned to their base camp to prepare for their march. Even though General Linius and his group did the scouting, the heroes were still confident that they would be able to clear a larger part of the area. Once their mission was finished, they would make sure that the people will only acknowledge them and those soldiers would be left in the dust.
Cygnus silently walked beside his brother and together with the soldiers. He was blending well and the soldiers felt that he was even comfortable to walk with them. When others would feel intimidated to be within their midst this young man was not. This only proved that he was indeed from a military household.
"How come you are here?" Linius finally asked after they put distance from them and from the heroes who were still standing behind them.
"Because I'm done with my first agenda so I came to visit," Cygnus simply answered. He had his hands inside both of his pockets.
Linius looked sideways at the man who suddenly changed his way of clothing. Instead of his usually black wardrobe, he was now wearing a black long sleeve topped with a white vest paired with black pants and some sandals. It was refreshing to see him having other looks but the logic behind his sudden change in looks was lost to him.
"Who came with you?" Linius asked again after the man answered his first question. It was a must to know who came with his younger brother or else he wouldn't know what to expect.
Cygnus raised a brow as he looked at his brother, "Of course, Mr. C and I brought with me Vain."
At the mention of Vain, Linius stopped walking and fully faced the man. He was looking at him like he had completely lost his mind. He couldn't believe that the master would even choose Vain to accompany when the child rarely talked.
"What?" Cygnus frowned even though he already knew what the other was thinking. It was just a show.
"Why did you even take Vain with you?" he could not understand why he would do it. "Is there any special reason behind it?"
It was not because he did not agree. The reason why he was not confident in letting the child go outside was because of his power and what he could do when he would lose control. It was already difficult for them to subdue him during the tower incident and he did not want that to happen.
"Nothing special. I just want him to go outside and experience the world!" Cygnus spread his hands and grinned but the general would not fall for it.
Since the master has not given any valid reasons for his actions, Linius would need to conclude that he did it on a whim. He sighed and massaged his head. He finally gave up asking the master because he'll eventually know it after a few days.
"How do you know that we will be staying with you for a couple of days?" Cygnus suddenly asked after reading the general's mind.
"It's just a guess," Linius started to walk again as they followed behind his men who took the initiative to give the two of them space. "With regards to these matters, you are a bit predictable."
Cygnus laughed, "You are right. It seems that it became my routine to dip my hands into matters that don't necessarily need me."
The general had no words for what the master said so he changed the topic instead. "How was it in Blackwell?"
"So, so but I gained many things there. I even got to form a contract with their guardian deity." He flaunted happily but this news only gave Linius another shock.
He was silent for a while because he was lost for words after hearing those words. "I, that's something I did not expect."
"Of course, because I just so happened to stumble upon him and he was the first to approach me and who am I to deny it?" Cygnus continued to brag like he had done something worth bragging for he even walked ahead and twirled in glee.
"How did Duke Blackwell take all of those?" he was sure that his uncle would have been shocked to the core because of it.
"Nothing really because he has no choice to accept it and besides even, he himself agreed to a deal I've proposed," Cygnus turned around and winked at the general with his fingers doing the thumbs up sign.
Now this news was even more shocking to Linius. 'His uncle agreed to a deal by the master? It was impossible,' he thought to himself. He came to a conclusion after he managed to calm down and that Duke Blackwell must have been in a desperate situation to even accept the deal. Making a deal with the master was like making a deal with a demon.
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