Chapter 297: the mercenaries are in

“Master, they’re here!” Albert’s voice sounded into the training room amid chewing sounds.

Raising his head from the bent position that it was, Clark wiped the sweat from his forehead. He cooled his sore muscles with some ice before laying his eyes on his student.

Albert’s small round head poked into the training room, hyper activeness flashing in his eyes as he munched furiously on the chocolate that was on his hand.

To Clark’s amusement, his mischievous student looked like a chipmunk to him but he did not focus on this at the moment. Seeing the chocolate that was gradually reducing in size before his face, his eyes darkened.

“How many times did I tell you to train your discipline and self-control by toning down on your appetite?”

“I…”

“And I thought I instructed you to forfeit eating chocolate for the next 2 months, you’re not a baby for God’s sake! Since you’re proving to be stubborn, go and jog a hundred kilometers as punishment”.

“I…, but Master!” Albert was shocked as his bloated mouth that was filled with chocolate opened wide, exposing the contents that were inside much to Clark’s disgust.

“200 kilometers”.

“Ahh…, fine!” The young man finally stormed out of the training room.

As soon as he confirmed that he was gone, Clark dropped his façade and chuckled. Doing this was now a delight to him, he now knew why his Master enjoyed reprimanding him so much.

After Albert settled in for a few more days, the bastard started revealing his real character. Sometimes he felt that he took on a little demon as his student, only the almighty power of punishments saved him at times.

He would have loved to relax right now and relish this feeling but no, he had visitors. Standing up, he quickly submerged himself in the cleaning pool that was at the side of the training room.

2 minutes later after a few underwater magical scrubs and cleaning, all signs of him having undergone a rigorous training session were gone.

His skin was now clean and as smooth as jade, it even sparkled a bit under the illumination of the light. Every part of his body was sparkly clean, his nails, toes, and everywhere imaginable.

He could feel the chilly cold seeping into his bone, delighting him to no end. He had to admit that living a life without luxury was not always the best choice, having some luxury helped to spice up life a bit.

Rose added this to his monthly expenditure budget for this week after he came back. He wanted to argue against it at first, but a single-use was all that was required to silence him.

It was fast, efficient, effective, and of course plenty enjoyable.

Standing up from the cleaning pool, he quickly dried the water off his skin, allowed the make-up bot to do some work on his face before he started dressing up.

After so many months of not wearing it, he was finally donning his golden Spartan army uniform again.

Yes, this was what he wanted to be dressed on when welcoming Emily’s group. He already did some research and knew about the swift growth of the Pendragon mercenary group, he had to prepare.

During his years as a soldier, one thing that he learned was that everything and person in this world were subject to change. He knew the Pendragon mercenary group of a few months ago, but he was not sure if he still knew this one.

After dressing up and making sure that his new medal was donned conspicuously on the shoulders of his uniform, he walked out of the room.

On the way, he met a sharp-looking Rose who was dressed in an office suit and a serious-faced Josh who was dressed in a grey combat uniform. They both followed him out.

Getting outside through the door of his mansion, Clark kept a cool face despite the jaw-dropping sight that was before him.

Dozens of military cars, artillery vehicles, exotic cars with various abilities, and the most visually impactful of all was the over a thousand mercenaries that stood before him with 2 familiar faces at their front.

He did some research of course but it seems that the internet was still a little behind on the current size and power of the Pendragon mercenary group.

Despite the enormous size of the people and resources before him, he was grateful that the enormous open field inside his mansion was able to take them all in without becoming cramped.

“Commander!” Emily and Jack saluted after his walking came to a stop.

“COMMANDER!” The over one thousand mercenaries behind the 2 of them followed shortly behind them, their voices sounding like the roar of dragons.

As they saluted solemnly, most of them had a curious look on their eyes. Despite being in the mercenary group for some time already, this was the first time that they were laying eyes on their commander.

Clark stood at attention and saluted back. “You’re welcome to my humble abode, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you all again”.

“I’ll love to spend more time right now with you guys, but I have to speak with your vice commanders, Emily and Jack first. For the time being, please follow my assistant here, Rose. She’ll lead you all to a nice place to rest”.

“Yes, commander”.

As the over a thousand mercenaries followed Rose away, Clark finally turned to his 2 vice commanders. “This way, please”.

As he turned to lead them in the direction of his mansion building, Emily kept silent but a lot of thoughts went through her mind at a rapid frequency.

Others may not have noticed, but as someone extremely close to Clark she noticed a few irregularities as she expected. The new unknown friend that stood beside Clark, and of course the change in his military badge.

Her mind felt boggled up; if she was not wrong that badge represented the captain rank in the Spartan republic.

She wanted to shout- I said it, but she held herself back due to the need for decency. She was right After all, Clark never changed and he was not in the trend of change at all, he was still a miracle vendor.

After they got inside the sitting room and the main door shut closed, Clark finally turned and flashed a bright smile at his companion who stayed with him for a long time.

“Welcome, Emily. How have you been?” As he asked this, he already closed the distance between them again to hug her.

Emily was stunned for a moment but she did not resist. As soon as Clark hugged her, she scoffed and spoke back. “You finally decided to come back, huh?”

Clark did not answer her, only forgetting himself in the joy of reuniting with a close friend who’s passed through a lot with him. After a minute of doing this, he finally turned to his second vice commander.

“Welcome, Jack. How does it feel being a vice-commander?”

Jack just smiled stiffly before replying in a gruff tone. “It’s a new experience, Commander”.

Despite the change being subtle, Clark was able to capture everything that occurred when this was said perfectly, even up to the shift in eyebrows and change in facial outlook due to the help of his implant.

From the short survey, he got the answer that he needed so he no longer beat around the bush and offered them to sit on the luxurious chairs.

The always prepared chefs of the mansion were diligent as always as they brought a mouth-watery delicacy the next moment after the mercenaries settled down, it was a glorious feast.

As they ate, the conversation finally started and it was anchored by Emily. “Clark”.

“Hmm”.

“Do you care to explain your new badge?”

Clark smiled, he expected Emily to be the one who noticed first. “It’s as you’re seeing. I’m now a Captain, I broke through during my last mission”.

Bam!

“I’m sorry, it was an oversight on my part”.

Jack apologized immediately, picked up his knife that fell down without caring if it already got attached with microscopic dirt on the floor before hurrying to stuff his mouth full to avoid the gazes coming his way.

Feeling the situation become embarrassing, he cursed quietly but did not dare raise his head at all.

“Oh!” Emily finally replied in an exclamative tone. “Congratulations, Clark. You’re still the beast that I know, the stranded dragon was never tamed”.

Clark almost choked on his food. “You still remember that nickname?”

“Of course,” Emily laughed.

“And…, please can we know who the new companion here is? I think this is my face time seeing this face”. She turned to face Josh. “Good morning, sir”.

“Good morning”. Josh nodded back at her.

“Yeah, you 2 need to know. This man beside me will be the 3rd vice commander of the Pendragon mercenary group soon, I believe you have the experience with the paperwork already”.

“Oh!” Emily raised an eyebrow, examining this fellow more thoroughly.

Clark continued. “His name is Captain Josh”.

Bam!

“Ouch! Sorry!”

Feeling the stares that were pricking at his skin again, Jack felt his face burn again prompting him to stuff more food into his mouth.

He felt like crying. He didn’t know why but he felt like this meeting was cooked up by Clark to humiliate him, what on earth did he do to this man?

This time though, even Emily was stunned. She had to confirm because this was too unreal. “Are you for real, Clark? A genuine 3rd rank high-grade soldier?”

“Yeah, why would I lie to you?”

She shot up from her chair the next moment. “Captain, welcome to the Pendragon mercenary group. I’m sorry for my previous manners, I hope you did not take them to heart”.

Josh’s poker face cracked, now he was helplessly speechless. “No worries,” he waved his hand.

After Emily sat down, she no longer took the initiative to ask again, she was now just too shocked, even a little afraid that asking more would unveil more mind-blowing information that would make her brain short circuit.

Seeing her go silent, Clark finally took the initiative. “For my reason of summoning you guys here, I believe you already guessed it. Yes, I want to attack the Persian tigers organization”.

Hearing this, Emily finally snapped out of her daze, her expression becoming serious. “Clark, I hope you know the daunting task that you’re taking on?”

“Yes, I know”.

“Ok, but please I’m sorry. As you can see, the mercenary group is now too big for me to make impulsive decisions. Can you please lay down your plan in detail for me before I can decide on behalf of the others?”

“Of course,” Clark sat straighter on his chair as Rose entered the sitting room the next moment. He finally laid bare every detail of his plans to both vice commanders.

30 minutes later, Emily and Jack finally knew every single detail about the plan to wipe out the terrorists. They were shocked but knowing Clark, Emily did not think it was impossible.

She hesitated. “I’m sorry, Clark. I believe in your plan; I created this mercenary group partly to help you also but I cannot guarantee if my mercenaries will be ok to fight such a battle without any tangible reward”.

“Their reward is Captain Josh”.

“Pardon?”

“I said their reward is Captain Josh”. Clark smiled.

Emily’s brain finally clicked, getting the point. “Ok, Commander. I assure you that we will be ready to battle with you in a moment”.

“Good!”