Chapter 71 - 71: Recruitment - Final

As the time passed midday, Aron, who was seated on a sofa comfortably opposite from Lady Uva, suddenly stood up.

"Leaving already? I had hoped for us to exchange more knowledge." Lady Uva was unwilling to see Aron leave as the knowledge they were sharing had drawn much of her interest. The same could be said for Aron who received somewhat more knowledge on Pesia.

However, he chose to cut the conversation short since he didn't want to give knowledge freely; it would be a waste. After giving her a subtle nod, confirming his intention to leave, he walked out of her office. The gentle old woman could only sigh before taking out a note book and going over the knowledge she learned.

After leaving the office, Aron began wandering the corridors of the academy. As he did so, he would occasionally pass by groups of students who all seemed to share a common topic of discussion. The recent murders....

"Did you hear? Another person was found dead just yesterday... a student no less."

"I've heard a mana beast may have infiltrated the city hunting humans."

"That can't be, why would a beast not eat it's prey? All the bodies were found brutally mauled or crushed but signs of feasting were shown..."

"Who knows, but students and residents alike are being advised to move in groups until the beast is found..."

In each group that Aron passed by, he heard the students thoughts on the recent attacks that had been occurring in the city, some were concerned whilst others fearful. They were of course some who were confident that they would be able to defeat said beast that invaded and proudly boasted their capability to do so.

'Seems they're starting to take the attacks seriously,' Aron thought to himself as he wandered the corridors without halting. As the number of victims rose, the topic was becoming more and more popular. Some students went as far as forming groups to patrol the streets during the night. 'How noble.' Aron clicked his tongue in irritation before finally deciding to leave the Academy.

Meanwhile in the lecture room where he had held the recruitment interviews, Jin, Jagu, and Claudia were standing around listening to the young lady's never ending ideas.

"For our faction cloaks, do you have a choice on color?" she asked Jagu and Jin causing them to glance at each other. Aron had left the matters in their hands so going to bother him over a choice of color was something neither of them wanted to do.

"Black and red. Fearful and strong colors," Jagu suggested and Jin nodded, Claudia simply listened and wrote it down before proceeding.

"A crest? These usually take long to design but here are a personal few of my own design," she said without turning away from her notebook and this time Jin answered. "The one in the middle, most definitely," Jin replied while pointing his finger at the crest in the middle.

Once he saw it he immediately thought of Aron. It was dark, intimidating and expressed power, if that didn't describe Aron then he didn't know what did. Jagu nodded in agreement and once again Claudia carried on.

"Next is the faction name," Claudia said and Jin and Jagu glanced at each other before giving an answer in unison.

"Sovereign."

Claudia took it as perhaps Aron had already decided on a name so she didn't inquire and carried on. "Next is the heirachy, I chose a simple system consisting of five ranks, please let me know your thoughts."

"Arch, Grand, Elector, Crestfallen, Hollow. Where those with the Hollow Sovereign rank would be the lowest whereas an Arch-Sovereign would be the highest," Claudia explained and both Jagu and Jin gave their approval.

"Since you're already in possession of a first class airship, I suppose we can simply move to a venue. It should be large enough to have rooms for members of the faction to live in and spacious enough to host activities such as training, banquets, and meetings away from prying eyes. They are quite a few large manors that fit this description but the prices are quite high even for nobles," Claudia explained and waited for Jagu and Jin to give their input.

"Money really isn't an issue, Aron's more concerned about security so he would want the most secure among the manors," Jin replied since he recalled Aron was the cautious type, even if he himself wouldn't stay in faction headquarters, he'd want it to be secure. As for wealth... they were loaded.

"I see, then all you need to do is visit the Galos real estate office in the higher business district and proceed with the purchase. I will handle passing the information to my fellow members, when the venue is ready and the others have been briefed, we can host a banquet there for members where ranks can be bestowed and cloaks handed. Is this fine?" Claudia asked as if she had everything completely thought out, Jin was silent for a moment but he couldn't find a fault with her plan and just nodded.

"Yes, that sounds, uh... perfect," he replied and Claudia immediately closed her notebook and gave a small bow. "Then if you'll excuse me, I'll get started right away," she politely said with a straight face before leaving the room.

"I really dislike smart women." Jin sighed after feeling his intelligence completely looked down upon. "I hate thinking, so I like this smart little human." Jagu snickered and growled lightly.

"Oh well, less work for me means more time to drink, shall we head over to Hilda's?" Jin asked with a grin while Jagu shook his head. "I must train."

"Oh come on, it'll just be a little then we can go train." Jin put his hand on Jagu's shoulder and offered, but Jagu furrowed his brows. "You said that last time and I woke up the next day near the river..." Jagu remembered an unpleasant memory and was unwilling to repeat it.

"Oh come on, where's your sense of adventure! If it makes you feel any better, I woke up in woman's pantry half naked." Jin's attempt at convincing Jagu only served to strengthen his resolve to never drink with this drunkard again.

Meanwhile somewhere near the entrance of the academy, Aela and Reginald gathered.

"Come now, Reginald, I'm sure he left the academy not to long ago, let's go before we completely lose him!" Aela's resolve to follow Aron had not diminished in the slightest despite her loss the last time. Reginald, however, felt his body tense up when that name was spoken, he already regretted the first time yet she wanted to do this again?

'Go alone?! That man is a monster?!'

Reginald wished he could shout those words but alas, since Lady Belle asked them this time, he could only oblige.

"Can we do this another day? With a beast on the loose, I doubt even he will wander around aimlessly..." Reginald attempted to dissuade Aela one last time but she was unwilling.

"It doesn't matter! Lady Belle entrusted to find out what he's up to so we can't fail!" Unfortunately for Reginald, the stubborn woman that was Aela only showed a bright smile full of vigor and dragged him by the hand.