Chapter 399 - Time to Set Off

Upon seeing the knowing look in his eyes, Katya wanted to flare up at Cecil, but after feeling the piercing look coming from her husband who was on the side, she took a deep breath and reeled in her anger.

"W-why haven't you tried to do anything about this..."

Cecil grinned and said, "It's because even if I knew, I can't do anything about it without sufficient proof."

"You could easily get proof if you mobilized you're information network! I know all about it since my husband gave me access to it!"

"You mean he gave you partial access to it. In the end, everything is still under my control and no one can really get full access to it other than me~"

"...Tch... well, if it's like this, then that means you're lying that you don't have any proof or evidence of the Federation trying to prolong the war!"

"I probably do have sufficient proof, but it's not like I could use it anywhere..."

"W-why?!"

"First off, I'm only the head of the Silvaria Family. I don't run this country like my father or my brother. In a sense, you could say that the Silvaria Family has already been split in two. The Silvaria Family and the Silvaria Royal Family."

"S-so? You're still the same right now!"

"Yes, but I've already given my word to my mother, father, and brother, that I wouldn't be messing around or involving myself with the politics of the kingdom. I'll only be here to act as a protector and overseer."

"..."

"You're Goldenia State has no direct ties with our kingdom, other than it being a vassal nation once the war is over and you're family relinquishes all rights to the land over to my kingdom. For now, it's still a separate territory and we have no jurisdiction over it. Don't forget that you've still signed some war treaties and agreements with those other smaller nations just so that your family would still be able to become the administrators of the land after the war."

"Urk..."

"Now let's say our country was to interfere directly with your nation. How would the other nations that have signed pacts with your family and the 2 other superpowers view us? Naturally, the two superpowers already know about our little agreement and that's why they aren't as invested into the war as those other smaller nations who're hoping to benefit somewhat with this war, but the power over the land will only be handed to us AFTER the war. If we tried to do anything before it, they'll try to come up with an excuse to grab bits and pieces of the land away from us."

"A-and why is that so bad?!" Katya asked.

"Nothing really, it's just that I don't want that. I won't let some hyenas take a bite out of the meat that I'm currently cooking," Cecil quickly replied.

"W-what? So to you we're only—"

"Do you want my help?" Cecil cut off.

"What?"

Katya was a little bit confused by what Cecil meant when he asked that. Earlier, he said that he couldn't do anything about it since his hands were tied and he couldn't and wouldn't meddle in the affairs of his kingdom.

Now that he was suddenly offering his help, Katya was rather confused. He was directly denying everything he said earlier.

"Like I said, do you want MY help?"

"...What do you mean? Earlier, you just said that you couldn't help me!"

"I did, but after tomorrow, I'd have every reason to help you~" Cecil replied with a smirk.

Katya thought about what Cecil meant and immediately her eyes brightened when she remembered that tomorrow was going to be her private wedding with Quinn. Seeing that she had now understood what he was getting at, Cecil chuckled and said, "After tomorrow, you'll be viewed as my subordinate—no, my family. Naturally, if there's some foolhardy bastard that tries to offend my family, there's going to be some repercussions, no?"

"W-why couldn't you say that just now?!"

"It was kinda amusing to see you get all fl.u.s.tered. Also, it's revenge for calling me weird..."

"Y-you're so petty!"

"I am! So what?!"

"..."

"Hmhmhm~" Cecil replied to Katya's silence with an amused chuckle. He was indeed acting petty, but what could Katya do? It was a really bad habit of his and his two wives were already pinching his sides like crazy from the moment Cecil started playing around.

Quinn had his eyes closed the entire time. He already knew that his master was going to help him since Katya was now going to be his wife. As for why he didn't say anything and just watched on as his wife-to-be was being played by his Master, well, he couldn't really say anything to that since his master was amusing himself and Katya still wasn't his wife just yet.

"Master, who are you sending? You can't personally go because of your status," Quinn spoke up after his long silence. Katya who was on the side turned to look at him and began pouting with tears in her eyes.

Since he was being so calm, Katya deduced that Quinn was already aware of his master's intentions for a while. She was a little upset that Quinn hadn't informed her of it.

"Meanie..."

"Haha, just leave it Katya. I was only joking and besides, it's not like Quinn would be able to say anything."

"Hmph..."

"Alright, how about this, Quinn, any time I try something like this, please stop me?"

"Yes, Master."

"Good! Well, I really should fix that bad habit anyway. Lulu and Seri don't like that. Also, can you two stop now? I think you're going to bruise my sides from all the pinching..."

"Hmph, being stupid as always!"

"You really shouldn't do that, darling. It's not nice to Katya who's soon going to be joining our family~"

"Alright, alright, so can you two please stop, it really is starting to hurt!"

The two women stopped pinching Cecil and he began rubbing his sides with a slight grimace.

"Anyway, I should be off now. I'll leave the arrangements of your accommodations to Seri. I have to go see my pupils off on their mission."

"Shall I accompany you, Master?" Quinn stood up and quickly asked.

"It's alright. Stay beside your wife. After tomorrow, you'll be sent back to the frontlines of the war. It might be a while before you actually see each other again."

"Yes, Master."

Cecil left the room and walked out to the family's martial dojo. Inside, Cecil quickly found a group of youngsters waiting for him. There were exactly 6 people, 2 of which were his siblings. This was the group he had been training for the past few months.

"Master, you're here!" A spritely girl quipped up in excitement as she waved to Cecil right as he walked into the place.

"Tyra, be more polite!" A boy who had similar features to the girl quickly exclaimed.

"Relax Kira, Master doesn't really care about formalities anyways!"

"Still, you should be more respectful!"

"That's alright, Kira. I see you all as my family so you should relax a bit more when you're around me."

"Brother!" Angelia jumped onto Cecil to quickly get his attention.

"Woah there. Angie, you really should stop doing that. You're not a little kid anymore and it's harder to catch you, y'know?"

"Hehehe~"

Cecil quickly put down his sister and patted her on the head. The little girl only reached up to about his chest but he was reminded once again that she had indeed grown up. She was no longer the clingy little sister who he was always carrying back in the days when they were still on Earth.

"Big bro, is everyone ready?"

"...we're good to go. How was your meeting with your butler?" Gabriel asked.

"It came as quite a surprise but everything's been sorted out."

"It's quite surprising that you're butler and that woman would get together. I guess being together through life and death can really arouse the feelings of humanity between two people..." Gabriel mumbled.

"Huh? What's that, big bro?"

"...nothing, Just take it as I didn't say anything."

"...Hmmm, well, I'll be counting on you for this scouting mission, Gabriel. I can't go myself since my wife wouldn't let me. Remember not to do anything too reckless. Once things become too risky immediately back out of the ruins. Your lives are all that matters."

Gabriel nodded at Cecil words and looked back towards the two remaining individuals that were a part of the group.

"Ian, Medel," He called out.

A young man with a robust build stepped forward alongside a rather lean-looking young man. The two bowed and greeted Cecil in unison, "Master."

"Haha, don't be so stiff you two. Just treat me as your brother, we're all family here!"

"..."

"..."

"Jeez, you two are so stiff!"

"I'm sorry sir, but you are our young patriarch, master, and teacher. It'd be quite rude of us..." The robustly built young man said.

"Here that Tyra? You were being rude earlier! Even big bro Ian said so!"

"Hmph!" Tyra only turned her head away and didn't bother responding to Kira's nagging. These two similar looking kids were twins that had caught Cecil's eye when he was picking out some people to train.

"It's alright for the both of you to treat Master as a big brother since it's appropriate for your age. For me and Ian, however, we're a little bit past that age so it's only natural that we treat our teacher respectfully, no matter if he's younger than us or not" The other young man, Medel, said.

"See Kira? Master already said that we could treat him like he was our family while Medel and Ian have circ.u.mstance of their own! We're only 15 so why are you acting so stiff? It's like you're treating Master Cecil like he was some kind of elder!"

"..."

Cecil chuckled at their conversation. He clapped his hands and quickly got everyone's attention.

"Ahem, well, I have announcement for you all."

The 6 people quickly walked over to stand in a line before Cecil when he said that he had something to tell them. Naturally, Gabriel already knew what it was he was announcing.

"Yesterday marks the last day of your training!"

"Huh?"

"Yesterday? Why not today?"

"..."

"..."

"Listen here, yesterday was the last day. Today's the day that you 6 will be setting off on a mission. I specially trained all of you precisely for this mission. After these past months of training, I've deemed that you're all finally ready to set off on this mission."

Everyone remained silent and solemn, while only Tyra and Angelia seemed to be a little more motivated.

"While you guys might feel that you're all still inadequate, let me be frank, you still are. There's never any sort of satisfaction when it comes to training or cultivating. Always aim for something higher. Anyway, although I will no longer be personally training you all, make sure that you NEVER, neglect your training."

"YES, MASTER!"

"Alright, so for this time's mission, I'm sending you all to explore the ruins by the NWR's territory, near the central areas of the No-Man's Land."

No one replied. They all waited for Cecil to continue his explanation.

"As you all know, the monster closer to the central area of the No-Man's Land are much more powerful than the ones in the peripheral area that our kingdom is located at. I trained you all to this degree so I'm confident that all of you, given that you work together, will be able to cope with the dangers of exploring the ruins!"

Cecil cleared his throat before continuing, "Naturally, this mission will be accompanied by many dangers, some unforeseen and unpredictable. If any one of you want to back out, now's the time to do so."

After saying his piece, Cecil waited for a while and seeing as everyone didn't make any motions to leave the dojo, he smiled widely and continued, "Haha, good, as expected of the people I've personally picked to train! Anyway, all of you will be setting off today towards the exploration site. The leader that I've appointed for this mission will be my brother, Gabriel. His assistant shall be you, Medel."

"Yes, sir!" Medel stepped forward and said while Gabriel walked over to stand next to Cecil.

"I've already given all the details to the mission over to Gabriel. As the head of the team, he'll be in charge of directing all of you. You're all already used to being under his command so there's nothing new with what you need to do. This is an important mission so I hope to hear some good news from you all, but remember one thing! You're lives are before the mission, understand?"

"YES!"

"I don't want anyone dying. This is an order. If the risk of the exploration puts all or even one of your team members' lives in mortal danger, I want you to quickly abort it. Danger can be coped with, but I won't tolerate any of you being reckless and foolhardy in the face of something that could literally end your lives without you being able to resist."

Cecil left behind those words before he handed over everything else to his brother. Since he wasn't going himself, he had trained everyone as a unit that would listen and cooperate with each other fluidly under any condition.

He had sent them deep into the Sky Piercing Mountain Range for training and had even set off a group of wyverns after them. They were also tasked to spar with him and he had put out the best he could to act as a boss monster for all of them to try and defeat. Naturally, his pupils never won even once against him, but their level of cooperation, cohesiveness, and understanding with one another had been honed to a nearly perfect degree.

Cecil was confident in each of their individual combat prowess since he had trained them personally. As for their teamwork as a group, they had already proven themselves to him time and time again during their daily spars.

"I hope nothing bad happens during this expedition..."