With Jona tightly holding Drake's arm for 'support', they walked towards the General's abode.
"Is this necessary?" He whispered, and Jona pouted cutely in response.
"Honey, if you don't want to carry me…"
He sighed awkwardly, moving and following Vanessa to their destination. It didn't help that Vanessa was talking along his other side, except at about half a meter distance, so Drake's attention was taken away from Jona again.
When Vanessa wasn't being obsessed with Garan, she was actually quite nice to talk with and a little charming. Drake appreciated that she kept his distance and kept their chatter on-topic.
For instance, she would tell him more about the current state of things like what they had been doing so far (like clearing up the mobs that attacked). She also gave a rough estimate of the current forces owned by the lord.
They talked the whole time until they reached their target neighborhood, barely noticing the 'ill' woman attaching herself to Drake's arm.
Jona bit her lips, but continued to hold on tightly to him.
They reached the house after a grueling walk, reaching the 'base' of Edenian soldiers in Fargo.
Drake looked at the custom house that was so unlike Altera's and entered. At the time there were only two people there and they flinched when they saw Vanessa coming in with guests.
She smiled at them, asking to get her father and brother as soon as they could. "An old friend came to see them," she said and the curious soldiers went on their way.
About ten minutes later, the door opened again revealing several dashing men.
"Drake!" Victor said, smiling. When the soldier found them, he had just gotten back with Santos and Leon, dealing with a small mob outside. Early that morning, the guards had the audacity to barge into their home, ordering them to deal with the mob.
He was already level 9 now, and very close to level 10, but he could've actually upgraded days ago.
He couldn't rise as quickly as he wanted though, as they could be targeted by Fargo's men instead of being partially ignored by him.
Soon, his father also arrived, and he came with three unfamiliar soldiers. Like Victor, he was also very near level 10, while the other three newcomers were around the peak of level 8.
The family, along with Drake and Jona, were left in the room, with the others leaving to give them some privacy.
They settled in the living-slash-meeting room. They did a bit of small talk as they settled with the father and son, who in turn also asked how his life was after being forced to retire back then.
"Didn't you work for a politician?"
Drake nodded, "Mrs. Mathilda Cruz," he said, "I transferred here with her, sadly we got separated at some point."
"Mathilda Cruz…" Victor's back straightened. "Gill's mother, right? Well, I can't say I'm surprised." It was natural Gill found a good job for an old friend, and this skilled old friend would also closely guard his mother.
He hoped they were alright, and that—in some fortuitous twist of fate—she reunited with her son.
Drake looked at them. "How about you guys? You seemed to be doing fine," he said.
"Barely," Victor said, shrugging. "The lord here… isn't friendly with us. It's Fargo—that terrorist that had been top of the International wanted list for a while.
"He's keeping us to deal with the mobs, but the moment we increase our strength, it's likely he'd start… pruning."
"Father and I could actually upgrade but are holding back," he said. "We're afraid that we would attract Fargo's attention again."
"You don't have to hold back in your training anymore," Drake said, and everyone lifted their head to look at him.
Drake didn't immediately speak, however, and he looked at the people in the room. He recalled that Henry had come with unknown soldiers before.
"The other soldiers from before, can you trust them?"
"They're from another country and they found our Eden soldiers up north. They found our place recently."
"Everyone can be trusted. Everyone swore an oath," Victor said. Drake looked at him, his face soon morphing from a friendly to a more serious expression.
"An oath didn't stop us from losing Gian."
The mention of the name roused various emotions across the room.
It wasn't that the core members of the mercenary team didn't take an oath—it was required during the formation of the team.
But he didn't make an oath with Victor and the others—primarily as it would alarm Fargo—and that was a loophole that lost Victor a good soldier.
"It came as a shock. We asked why, but he never explained," Victor said, before turning to look at Drake. "You didn't come here for a greeting, right?"
They should've realized that there was more to Drake's approach than just a reunion or perhaps refuge.
Drake nodded. "Garan sent me."
They flinched looking at him, their eyes were bright.
They should've known! Maybe Mathilda had really met up with her son!
Henry clapped his thigh. "It's finally time!"
What a relief, he thought.
They were already on the edge—they were already on the verge of moving on their own during the next war, whenever that might be!
And with Gian's betrayal, their trust in Garan's words had also fallen a lot.
At this, the atmosphere around them changed and they leaned over.
Victor leaned over, "What's the plan?"
"It's better not to be aware, but just continue training. Be ready to cause chaos whenever we need to."
The soldiers were a bit disappointed, but they understood the decision.
Drake looked at Jona and together they revealed much of the contents of their 1 cubic meter space.
They couldn't fit a lot of big weapons, but the soldiers weren't many in number. "Don't show these to the others until we start."
They showed crossbows, paralyzing and smoke bombs, and others. There were also plenty of healing potions.
The family's eyes widened and brightened as he explained the functions of the resources.
"This…"
"This is from Garan?"
Vanessa blushed at the mention of her obsession's name, but she paled at Drake's answer instead.
"Sister-in-law Althea's to be precise."
"What?"
It was a long story and Drake didn't tell them much anymore. At this Vanessa looked at him, looking a bit wronged, and most other men would soften their hearts at the sight.
Jona blocked her line of sight though and her eyes twitched.
Jona, as a sharp woman, naturally saw how this woman's face changed at the mention of Sir Garan.
Tsk. Delusional!
"Hmm~ Miss Althea's living very well with Sir Garan now, and they're responsible for a lot of these things."
A more intense electricity passed by the two women, but this time Jona finally had the upper hand.
The three men seemed completely unaware, however, and continued finalizing the plan before adjourning.
"Well, I can't stay for so long," Drake said, wanting to be low-key as possible. He hoped that this visit would only appear as a greeting for people outside. "And don't use these things before the war."
Victor and the others nodded, with the former seeing them out.
Just as they exited, however, they were met face to face with none other than Amon Fargo himself.
The aura around him was still a bit sinister as he had a gentlemanly facade, and he was smiling at them.
"I see we have interesting new faces," he said. "Would you like to introduce us?"