Chapter 423 - Rebuilding

As the next day came around Marcus put his all into the preparations for the memorial slash banquet for the rebels recent loses and gains.

Certainly, they had lost a lot of good men and women, but they had also killed two great knights who were some of the strongest fighters at the kingdom's disposal.

"This needs more pepper. Right now it tastes completely bland."

"I said this soup needed more salt, not that I wanted it to taste like brine. Pour it out and start again."

"Feel that fish! Yeah, it is cooked to hell! You fucked this fish!"

"Eh, come here donkeys."

"What is this? What is this?"

"Hm no answers?"

"It's one step from being a mooing cow again. It is not even close to rare. It is cold in the middle. This steak is raw!"

Pulling out his best impression of a certain famous chef, Marcus was managing all of the cooks in the rebel army, some that did not even have the cooking skill.

Unfortunately, this is what he had to deal with as there was no way even with all his skills and abilities that he could personally cook enough for the thousands of rebels.

Still, he did have a few stand outs among those he was cooking with, three who had the cooking skill at level four, and another dozen that had it at three.

Eventually with a lot of effort on his part, and making sure that everything was cooked well, Marcus had gotten all of the food prepared.

After that Marek along with some of the other rebel captains gave out a few speeches, about how those that hey lost would not be forgotten and about how their sacrifice would not be in vain. That taking out two great knights was an equally heavy blow to the kingdom.

Then once the speeches were over it was time to eat, and most of the rebels had the best meal they had consumed in their entire lives.

Naturally this was due in large part to Marcus' skills and his supply of spices, but also due to the efforts of the cooks that worked alongside him.

As everyone enjoyed themselves, Marcus was brought around the rebels by Marek and Lyra, being introduced as their new collaborator.

And with his glowing endorsement from their leader, as well as the fact that he had been integral in the recent battle, many of the rebels took to him quickly.

Though not long after the banquet had started, Marek gathered everyone around and told them about them allying with the Kingdom of Borealia.

Of course, there were a number that grumbled and some that outright protested the notion, but when Princess Daniela was brought up, the opposition went down by a few degrees.

The banquet then continued as people enjoyed the good food and drink that was being provided to raise their spirits, as well as get them to associate the alliance with Borealia with a good time.

Quickly though, the day began to wind down, and the banquet came to an end.

Everyone began going back to their respective sleeping arrangements to get some rest. since this was the only day they were going to be getting off for quite some time, as there was a lot of work to be done.

However, before taking any sort of rest, Marcus pulled out his sending stone and steeled his nerves. 

He had a call to make and a part of him had been dreading it. But he knew he needed to be the one to inform Mrazivý since it was likely she would get mad if she heard it from her father or someone else first.

'Hopefully she takes it okay.'

Contacting Mrazivý, Marcus received an immediate response and was bombarded with a few questions about if he was okay, and what he had been up to.

He and Mrazivý had promised each other to call each other every day, but this had already fallen through before Marcus had even left, and they backed it up to once every three days.

Regrettably though, Marcus had missed their scheduled time because of the mess he had found himself in, and now Mrazivý was worried that something had happened to him.

"No everything is fine for now, but it looks like it is going to be a while until I can meet up with you like planned. Sorry, but I have to make sure that my friend stays safe. I already watched her die once without being able to do anything, I do not plan on letting that happen again."

"I understand, just make sure you stay safe. Also is there anything I can do to help?"

Responding to her, Marcus told Mrazivý that it would be best if she just stayed in the kingdom. It was one thing if he was seen since he could take many forms, but if she was found out, it could cause a lot of trouble.

Once he had gotten the important details out of the way, Marcus shifted the topic to what Mrazivý had been doing, and she told him all about the beasts and monsters she had been fighting in the Delvien Swamp.

"Goodnight, Mraz." 

"Goodnight Marcus."

Wrapping up their call, the two of them said their goodbyes, before shutting off their sending stones, and both getting some rest after a long day.

…

Days and then weeks quickly went by as the rebel army began to rebuild itself.

The first thing they did was find a suitable place to set up a new base. And luckily after some scouting around, they were able to find the perfect place.

Out in a large meadow that was deep in a rarely traversed forest, was a mischief of massive rat magical beasts that had created a large underground tunnels system.

(A/N: A mischief is what a group of rats is called, like how a group of crows is a murder.)

So, with the only problem being its current occupants, the rebel army went to work clearing out the rats.

This served as a three-prong mission, in that not only were they getting a new base, but it was the perfect leveling opportunity for some of the members, as well as a way to get some supplies.

"Well, I think that is the last one." Marcus said as he killed the rat lord that was the leader of this mischief.

It had been a pretty strong beast at level fifty-one, and along with it were plenty of rats that were in the mid-forties. Though it had not been too much trouble for Marcus.

And his fight had been witnessed by plenty of the rebels, Making plenty of witnesses that had seen how capable he was, which would lessen the little doubt about him that still lingered among the ranks.

"Okay, now we need to get this place cleaned up and move in quickly. We do not want to be found by the kingdom again when we are in such a vulnerable position." Marek said, rallying the troops.

Moving into action the rebels began breaking down the rat corpses and transporting anything that was left in the tunnels out.

Then in a couple of days the rats' former home was ready for the rebels to move into, and the mithril tower was warped into the largest borrow where the rat lord used to reside.

After that, the rebels began to rebuild their facilities, and get everything into working order.

They wanted to make their new base even better than the last, and hopefully, they would not have to move again until the war was over.