Two months had passed since Thirteen, and Colonel Fischer had their talk.
When the other Battalion Commanders and the spies, who had managed to become part of the 69th Battalion, heard Thirteen’s announcement, all of them were caught completely by surprise.
Instead of going to the Cygni Continent to help defend it from the Jinn Invasion, he chose to go to the Rigel Continent, which had already been overrun by these monsters.
Of course, his subordinates subtly asked him for the reason why they were going there, but the only thing he said was “the grass is always greener on the other side”.
They thought that their Battalion Commander was just teasing them, but now, they couldn’t even laugh about it.
Currently, the 69th Battalion was on-board an Aircraft Carrier, which belonged to the Leventis Family.
This Aircraft Carrier was accompanied by six Destroyer-Class Warships, and they were headed to the Man-Made island called Dvallin.
They had left the port a week ago and, if they kept traveling at the same speed they were now, they would arrive at their destination in six to eight days.
Since the Aldebaran Continent was separated from the Main Continent, the Remington Clan, and the three Prestigious Families of Aldebaran, which were composed of the Leventis, Smith, and Lockwood Families, had their own naval forces.
The Leventis Family had sent half of their navy forces to accompany Thirteen on his expedition toward the Rigel Continent.
To everyone’s surprise, Michael Leventis was also accompanying them.
As the Second-In-Command of the Leventis Family, his words held great significance, making the Wanderers think that Arthur Leventis thought highly of his grandson.
Well, they weren’t wrong because ever since the battle in the Arcadia Archipelago, the Patriarch of the Leventis Family had no choice but to take his no-good-grandson’s words seriously.
The High-Ranking Officers of the Central Government knew that Zion would ask for his family’s help.
They just didn’t expect that Michael Leventis would accompany him on his trip as well.
Originally, Arthur only planned to give Thirteen a single Destroyer for his trip to the Rigel Continent.
But, after his grandson said that if he didn’t send more ships with him “Arthur will regret it so much that he will suffer constipation for a year”, the old man decided to have a heart-to-heart talk with Zion.
After hearing what the teenage boy had to say, Arthur almost sent the entire Naval Army of the Leventis Family, including himself on this mission.
However, Thirteen told him that doing that would certainly backfire. So, Arthur compromised and sent his son, Michael to assist his no-good-grandson, in looting all the resources on the Rigel Continent, which would greatly benefit the Leventis Family.
“Hey, are we really going to be fine?” Pietro asked his fellow Captains inside his own private quarters. “Isn’t this a bit too much for a training mission?”
“You’re just overthinking things,” Cristopher replied. “If the Young Master says that we will go South, we will go South.”
“If the Young Master said jump, the only thing you are allowed to ask is how high,” Colbert commented.
The two of them had already become die-hard Zion supporters that even if the teenage boy said that they would go on a picnic to hell, the two Wanderers would nod their heads and ask him if they should pack sandwiches for their trip.
“The two of you trust him unconditionally, huh?” Alexis commented. “Have you become part of one of his legendary adventures?”
“That’s right,” Colbert was the first to answer. “We fought alongside him against Arundel the Destroyer. Man… I thought I was going to die because I was fighting on the front lines…”
Cristopher, who knew that Colbert was full of bullshit, pretended that he didn’t hear anything.
“Yeah, we’ve been part of such adventures.” Cristopher nodded.
“So, is it really true?” Piper Irwin, who was the only young lady among the Captains asked. “Did he really punch Arundel’s face and send him flying?”
“Of course not,” Colbert replied. “If you punch a Majin Prince, you’d probably become mince meat the next second. But, the Young Master did give Arundel the middle-finger, while only standing dozens meters away from him.
“There are so many versions of the story, and each is more exaggerated than the next,” Paul Whitely, who had also won the bidding war like Alexis leaned on the wall of the room. “From what I can tell, none of the Wanderers that returned from the Valbarra Archipelago fought against the Majin Prince’s army.”
Paul glanced at Colbert, who mentioned earlier that he fought on the front lines, and smirked.
However, Colbert smirked back as if he believed the story that he had said a while ago.
Unfortunately for him, Cristopher broke his bubble by nodding his head.
“It’s true,” Cristopher replied. “In the final phase of the war, the Young Master forbade us from participating directly. All the Wanderers were only tasked to guard the Grand Ballista, which was our Trump Card against the Majin Prince.”
“He did the same thing in the Arcadia Archipelago,” Piper commented. “I was one of the Wanderers that he helped and, during that time, he only taught us one thing and that was to run.”
A bitter smile appeared on Piper’s face as she remembered the battle that was happening around her, but at that time, the only thing on her mind was to survive, so she ran towards the Gate of the Moonlight, not caring about the outcome of the battle.
It had been three years since then, and she had just recently become an Adept, which was the next Rank after the Rookie Rank.
Truth be told, she wanted to return the favor that Thirteen had given her, so when the recruitment for his Battalion was announced, she didn’t hesitate and joined it without fail.
Piper was one of the first one-hundred people that passed through the gates of the Star Kingdom by running.
Although she wasn’t as fast as Pietro, she had added running in her daily training because it had once saved her life.
She just didn’t expect that one of the conditions to pass the recruitment was through running, which gave her an edge among the other competitors.
“Eh, so do you like our Battalion Commander?” Colbert asked in a teasing tone.
“I like him, but not in a romantic way,” Piper answered with a smile. “I just feel awed by him. He was seven years old when he fought against Arundel, and ten years old when he faced the Artemians. If you don’t feel anything towards such a person then your heart must be made of stone.
“Also, like Cristopher and Colbert, who have complete faith in him, I believe that our Battalion Commander would not send us to die on the Rigel Continent.”
Pietro looked at Piper’s determined gaze before looking down on his hands.
Before this trip, his hands were covered with callouses due to the daily training that they had done for eight straight weeks.
Those calluses were now gone because thirteen had given them some kind of hand cream that they would use nightly before they slept.
When they woke up the next day, their callouses had disappeared, and their rough hands felt less rough than usual.
“Colbert, can I ask you something personal?” Alexis said as he looked at the young man, who had started to peel an apple with his combat knife.
“Sure,” Colbert replied without even raising his head. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
“You are part of the Riggs Family, right?” Alexis inquired. “One of the Ten Prestigious Families?”
Colbert smiled faintly before taking a bite of the half-peeled apple in his hand.
He knew that sooner or later, someone would ask him this question.
But, Zion never did.
For him, it didn’t matter if Colbert was part of the Monarch Clans, a member of the Prestigious Families, or just a random beggar on the streets.
The teenage boy only said six words to him and that was “You are one of my People”.
That was all he said, and that was all Colbert needed
The boot-licking teenager, who had schemed against Zion Leventis long ago, was now a changed man.
Although he was still a boot-licker, he was now a boot-licker with standards!
Flatter the Scions of the Monarch Clans?
Pitui!
Curry favors from the Prestigious Family?
Yuck!
Rub shoulders with the High-Ranking Officers of the Central Government?
No, thank you!
Just like Cristopher, he only wished to serve one man, and that was none other than the person, who promised him that he would become so popular, that the Riggs Family would beg him to keep their family name for generations to come.