Chapter 48 The Great Culling

The drinking session ended on that note with one knocked unconscious, two struck out, and two making it alive for another day. When Leonardo made it through the corners of the hallway, his tipsy expression was wiped clean and replaced with his usual calm demeanour.

However, he didn't make it past the next turn before he bumped into an overly enthusiastic and tipsy Misaka, who was so out of it that she grabbed him by the collar, invaded his privacy, and kissed him passionately with her soft lips.

Leonardo truly felt depressed at this point as he seemed to never take the initiative with women, it was always the other way around. Before he could react, he felt her soft body collapse into his chest, she simply went out cold with a pleasant smile on her face. Leonardo looked to the side, only to find Aria glaring at him with a pair of cute yet hateful eyes.

"Look, I'm the victim here alright?" Leonardo tried to reason with the little fox, but she merely snorted before rushing off to god knows where, because Leonardo himself didn't. Still, he can't simply hug a sleeping woman in the middle of an empty hallway, lest some traffic began to circulate only for the soldiers to discover this shameful display.

However, because Leonardo didn't know which of the chambers was designated for Misaka, he had no choice but to tuck her into his own bed. Thus, moments later, Leonardo found himself stowing away Miko's elder sister into his own bed. For some reason, this felt wrong. Assuming she would be out of it for a while, and because his body reeks of alcohol after so much drinking, Leonardo excused himself and entered his bathing chambers for a quick shower.

As for Aria, the little fox skipped through the intersecting halls like a fleeting shadow before sneaking into the room where Leona and Kieran slept. The child is too talented to waste away five years due to the lack of a proper cultivation technique, Aria thought. Hence, her motive for returning to House Hestia wasn't merely to send a message but to also find a suitable cultivation technique capable of supporting Leona on her path of cultivation.

She needed to be discrete about transferring the technique, making it look like it had automatically awakened from within Leona's memories. Hence, waiting till the girl passed out from natural exertion was a good opportunity. Thus, while everyone was fast asleep, Aria's crimson eyes flashed with divine light as she transferred the content of the technique into Leona's mind, whereupon the little girl began to unconsciously recite the content of the scriptures in her heart.

Aria quickly left the room and disappeared into the shadows. With a general idea about what Leonardo was going to do next, she eagerly traversed the distance and phased into the young man's bed chambers. As for Leona, unknowingly, she began to draw worldly energy from her immediate surroundings to infuse into her skin, flesh, blood, bones and marrow, and through the desiccated meridian channels within her physique.

It was a slow and arduous process, but it had been initiated. Within days, Leona would have cleansed her body and form, starting up with the first cycle of the mortal stage.

Before too long, the high-pitched deafening cries of multiple wyverns covered the midday skies of the border fortress. Everyone was done with their morning regime, batting, and any other miscellaneous objectives like shopping or simply browsing the fortress market. After all, the fortress was a massive castle with hundreds of rooms, and tens of open courtyards, and it sat upon the only crossover point between the two kingdoms for thousands of miles.

It was only natural for a small hub of merchants and the like to gather within, adding a bit of colour to the dull lives of the stationed soldiers. Upon hearing the cries of the dragonkin beasts, Leonardo and company exited the fortress and headed further inland, officially stepping foot on Sylvian soil after a brisk twenty-minute walk through a secured stone pavement.

Miko was left behind in seclusion with sufficient resources to facilitate a smooth ascension. Of course, Leonardo deliberately left the man behind so he could consolidate his strength and control over the essence of the worldly energy that he would soon begin to generate. He was instructed to brave through the stretch of lands from the border fortress to the star territory in a solo journey whilst Leonardo and company went on their wyverns.

When Leonardo received the territory, he instructed Jeffery to have the ten thousand slaves convene at the star lake and begin constructing five arch bridges of jade stone from the directions of the respective towns and begin setting up a massive palace on the water's surface. This was almost half a year ago, and with the help of some saints dispatched by Queen Adeline herself to assist, the entire palace should be finished by now, if not on the verge of completion.

Sadly, Leonardo wouldn't be able to drop by and inspect the palace, all because he must carry on his way to the capital of the Sylvia Kingdom, all in order to proceed with the necessary ceremony of coronation for various diplomatic reasons. He planned to drop Misaka, Sitri, Kristopher, Lucas, and Andreas in one of the five towns respectively and initiate the great culling. Then, he would leave Pandora and Juvia behind to watch over Andreas and Kristopher, all the while taking care of Leona and Kieran.

A pleasant surprise was that Leona began to slowly show clear signs of cultivation. Although Leonardo couldn't figure out the cause, the girl said that the method suddenly surfaced in her mind, which Leonardo attributed to her mysterious origins and decided to let it be.

At least this way he wouldn't have to ask his owner for a technique. He could imagine how awkward it would be for him to make it back with a child and on top of that request a cultivation technique for her, and a divine grade to put the icing on the cake.

This sudden windfall allowed Leonardo to relax and focus on the important matter, the great culling. Thus, as the group was on their way to the four wyverns down the path, Leonardo explained to Juvia and Pandora how to carry the selection.

"The idea behind it is very simple. I want you to release the slaves into the respective towns in batches; start with the first cycle mortals, the second cycle, the third cycle, and finally the fourth cycle. Dispatch them unarmed and through random locations throughout the vicinity of the town, instruct them that they could only enter the town on the first ray of dawn the following day."

"There are five towns in total, meaning that there will be five separate survival battles. Here is what I want; Only two survivors from the fourth mortal cycle, eight from the third mortal cycle, thirty-two from the second mortal cycle, and one hundred fifty-eight survivors from the first mortal cycle."

"This boils it down from two thousand to two hundred overall. From the two fourth cycle mortals, I'll personally pick one and provide them sainthood, and the other will oversee the regiment of soldiers under him. As for the ranks and everything else, I'll leave that to Pandora to decide based on her experience."

"Erm..." Pandora interrupted Leonardo and voiced out a critical question, "Are there any rules on the selection? Like time limit, safe zones, banned weapons?"

Leonardo clicked his fingers and nodded, "That's right. Harming innocent civilians is a death sentence, and you're not allowed to divulge relative information about the drill else you are also to be executed. Only the use of cold weapons is permitted, but stealing from the citizens is also a death sentence."

"Basically, any form of criminal activity is a death sentence. No time limit, no safe zones, and that is all... Oh, retaliations against hostile civilians are permitted and don't bother placating the civilians that opt to leave out of fear for their lives, I don't need cowards within my borders."

Leonardi didn't feel it was necessary to explain all of these since he could transmit them directly to his slaves through the bracelet, but he could never be too cautious. Thus, he entertained Pandora's inquiries.