Hearing Cliveâs announcement, the group of Mercenaries all started to discuss among themselves.
The Silver Knights under Clive immediately set up a big round wooden table in the middle, near the wooden cabin.
A few minutes later, the leaders and their vice leaders all started to gather around the round table.
When Raven had heard Clive, she decided to wake up Ozul since it would be an important meeting.
While she went to wake up Ozul, some other Mercenary groups had their own conversations.
âBoss! What have you been staring for so long? Letâs go, hurry up!â- A man shouted at another man who was dazedly looking at the wooden cabin.
âHm? Oh! Letâs go.â- The man who was immersed in his thoughts woke up hearing the shouts. After that, he just walked towards the table where others were gathering.
.....
âHey you dimwit! What happened to Boss?â- the man who had shouted at his boss asked his fellow. However, before the person could reply, another man cut in.
âIsnât it obvious? Boss Barry has been like this since he saw that silver-haired girl!â- This man looked better than his peers. After he had spoked, the others had a look of realization on their faces.
âOh! No wonder. But Brud, you know thatâs never gonna happen, right?â- the man questioned again.
*Smack*
âHey! What was that for?!â- the man who had questioned cried out when Brud smacked his head.
âItâs vice leader Brud for you bastard! Show me some respect, will ya?!â- Brud said with annoyance visible on his face.
This person named Brud was the vice leader of the Mercenary group Wind Eagles.
âHehe... It hasnât been long since you became the vice leader. Itâs just that my tongue slips sometimes.â- the man who was smacked, smiled cheekily.
âYeah, whatever. I know itâs kind of impossible for Boss Barry to get that silver-haired girl. But we canât say anything. Just let it be, you know how he is when someone goes against him.â- Brud advised the rest of his peers.
âNow get back to watch, I have to go to this meeting or whatever.â- Brud hurriedly followed behind his Boss Barry while the others went to do their duties.
In another group, a short brown-haired woman was glaring at another woman with maroon hair and chocolate-colored skin.
âBig sister! Why are you looking for that guy now? Is he more important than the meeting?!â
âOkay okay, I am coming, Tephi. You donât need to shout! â- Orsella shook her head before following Tephi. Not before she gave a long, complete look around to see if she could spot him in the crowd.
Back to Raven, she approached the carriage where Ozul was sleeping, and Blaze stood near there, acting as a guard.
âYouâre sure heâs not going to be angry at you disturbing his sleep?â- Blaze asked when she was going to wake him up.
âOf course, he said to wake him up when it was necessary, wasnât it? I mean, Ozul isnât unreasonable... â-Raven replied, but she sounded like she didnât believe her own words.
âOkay, maybe sometimes...â she added after a little while.
âWhat is it now?â- Ozul woke up after Raven nudged him a little.
âThat Clive guy is going to explain the details. We have already set up the camps, and he said to meet up in the middle.â Raven hurriedly explained.
âAh, what a bother... Letâs go.â Although Ozul did not want to, he knew that the details were crucial, so he forced himself to come out of the carriage.
Ozul removed the samurai hat and stretched his prosthetic arms before making his way over to the meeting place. Raven and Blaze silently followed behind him.
As he made his way towards the meeting table where other leaders were gathering, his figure caught the attention of others.
Because of the dim light, it was not very clear, but this was the first time when the Mercenaries had seen his face.
âDefinitely a young master from some noble house.â- everyone who looked at him had the same thought.
Instead of being fearful after their revelation, the Mercenaries were even more disdainful towards the trio.
On the other side, the women were literally drooling over him! When Raven saw the scene, she hurried her steps and walked with him instead of following behind Ozul.
Her hands were almost touching those of Ozul. While the latterâs hands were prosthetic, it nevertheless gave the onlookers a feeling that they were together.
The women started glaring at Raven, but the latter didnât back down. Instead, she replied to all of those stares with her own.
Obviously, Ozul noticed all the emotions of jealousy and hate directed towards Raven. Still, he didnât worry when he felt those emotions multiplied many times over from Raven directed towards those women.
Ignoring all the stares, Ozul and the duo came at the large wooden table. At this time, all the other leaders had also arrived. They all sat in groups of 2 and 3 around the table.
Among them, the most prominent were just two groups. The first was of Barry and Brud, both being the leader and the vice leader of the Wing Eagles. While the second was Orsella and Tephi, they were leading the Blue Petals.
As Ozul took his seat with Raven and Blaze behind him, Orsella had all her attention focused solely on him. The other Mercenary groups were just talking among themselves when they noticed the new arrival.
Clive and three others behind him appeared on the scene. The other three were Clara, her maid Venessa, and Sir Hanry.
All the men had their eyes drawn towards Clara again until the sudden burst of aura from Hanry and Venessa forced them to shift their gazes.
âYou all better watch where you look. It wonât end with a warning next time.â- Hanry gave the men a menacing look.
His words shook all the men to their cores. There were only a few exceptions to this. Those like Ozul and Blaze, who didnât even care about it, and the other was Barry, who was also a Rank-7 Mage, so he remained unfazed by it.
Though he wasnât afraid of the threat, Barry still averted his eyes for the time being.
âSince everyone is here. Letâs proceed.â- Clive put his hands on the table. Just as he did so, a large map appeared on the table.
The men who sat on their seats stood up, and only Ozul was the exception. He had a clear view of the map, and standing up just for the dramatic effects wasnât his style.
Though he again became the eyesore among the Mercenaries for being the only one not to stand, Ozul didnât care one bit.
âFirst of all, I would introduce these figures first.â- Clive started.
âThis here is Sir Hanry, a Rank-7 Mage. He would be in charge together with me.â- He explained, pointing towards Hanry.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âNext to him is the lady that we are here to escort. Her security will be your top priority in any scenario. Together with the lady is her caretaker. I advise you not to have any weird thoughts, otherwise...â- Clive gave a brief introduction while also threatening the men.
He couldnât be blamed. This world, which had the laws of the jungle, where strong ruled over the weak with brute force, cases such as r*pe and other atrocities against women were quite common.
However, this time none of the men gave any heed to his intimidation. When Clive turned to look at the reason, he was perplexed over the situation.
All the men were throwing looks of jealousy towards Ozul! Clive didnât understand why these men completely ignored his words.
Clive did not know the reason because he wasnât looking at Clara when he had introduced her.
At that point, when everyone looked at her, she was staring intensely at someone else. When the men followed her line of sight, they were stunned to notice that her gaze was fixed on Ozul!
âDamn that pretty boy!â- everyone cursed inside their mind.
Almost immediately, all of them sat down on their seats. They thought that since Ozul was the only one sitting, he stood out too much from the rest of the group. Hence the reason for her to only look at him.
However, even after their desperate tries, Clara did not turn her eyes to anything else. From anotherâs point of view, her gaze almost had hearts in them!
*Sigh...*
âCanât they just explain the details already? I still have a sleep to attend to!â
âWhat an annoyance.â- Ozul muttered under his breath, not even looking at the silver-haired girl. He didnât like such a waste of time just because a girl was staring at him.
Though his voice was low, everyone around the table heard his words.
âWhat a bastard!...â
âTch! Pretty face!...â
âF*cker!...â
. . .
Soon after his words, the men started cursing him in a low voice. On the other hand, Clara did not even pay any heed to his words.
Clive looked at the situation helplessly. He didnât know what he could to make everyone focus on the meeting again.
Fortunately for him, Venessa also did not like the situation about Clara staring at Ozul for so long.
âYoung Miss! You are a lady, control yourself.â- she reprimanded with a low voice in which only Clara could hear her.
On the other side, Raven squinted her eyes at Clara...