As a child who was born to one of the Prestigious Families, Leon had always thought that he was one of the chosen ones.
He had the best lineage, the best upbringing, and commanded respect from those who didn’t belong to the Monarch Clans and Prestigious Families.
Simply put, people had to think twice before they messed with him.
He was a very ambitious person, and he believed that he was better than his peers, including Sean, a descendant from the Griffin Clan.
Because he was from the Monarch Clan, his position was slightly higher than Leon.
And frankly, Leon didn’t really like it. He believed that he was much better than Sean in every aspect.
Whether it be fighting, survival, and leading a team, he believed that he surpassed the Monarch’s descendant in every aspect.
The other children who hailed from the Cygni Faction were also nothing to him.
However, he had no choice but to follow Sean for the time being lest it disrupted their unity against someone who was deemed untouchable.
Zion Leventis.
A Rookie who had created many unbelievable feats, including fighting against a Majin Prince and living to tell the tale.
Of course, like many people, Leon didn’t believe that hogwash.
He believed that it was just propaganda made by the Leventis Family and the Central Government to make them look good.
However, after Zion led the Alliance and secured the Northern Regions of the Rigel Continent, most people were convinced that maybe those unbelievable stories about the Supreme Commander of the Alliance were real.
Even Zion’s staunchest critics had to shut their trap after he attained the impossible.
And what was that impossible feat?
It was regaining a quarter of the Rigel Continent from the Jinns, who everyone thought was invincible.
‘I hate this,’ Leon thought as he looked at Sherry, who was leading the twelve Wanderers who only played support roles in Zion’s team.
They were the ones who did the miscellaneous jobs like cooking, gathering firewood, and building the wagons.
In Leon’s eyes, they were nothing but extra baggage.
They were just servants, porters, and cannon fodders.
And yet, he was forced to spoonfeed these cannon fodders with last hit kills in order to secure the deal with Zion Leventis so that they could build their own wagons.
‘Dammit!’ Leon cursed internally as he faced the Dark Bison that was lured in his direction by his subordinates.
With one swift sword strike, Leon cut off one of the Monster’s legs, making it skid on the ground.
His other subordinates then hacked the other legs in order to ensure that even someone who didn’t have any experience in fighting a monster could kill it easily.
“What are you waiting for?” Leon asked in disdain. “Kill it!”
“Do as he says,” Sherry said as he chose one of the Wanderers to kill the Dark Bison. “Just slash its neck. Even if you don’t manage to cut it off the first time, just keep hacking.”
The teenage girl bit her lip while holding the sword in her hand.
With a shout, she slashed down her sword and hit the neck of the Dark Bison.
Even when she gave it her all, the blow was not strong enough. However, it still drew blood, which sprayed in her direction, making her scream in fright.
Leon had the strong urge to slap her, not liking how she was making a big deal out of nothing. They had already ensured her safety, so why couldn’t she even do her job properly?
‘This is why I hate these commoners.’ Leon spat on the ground in order to vent his frustration. ‘Filthy leeches.’
Sherry consoled the girl and asked her to try again.
The girl nodded and hacked the bison repeatedly, hitting it in different directions making blood splatter everywhere.
The members of the Cygni Faction watched this scene with frowns. The girl was just randomly slashing with tears, and snot, streaming down her face.
“Kill it already. We don’t have all day!” Leon growled, making the girl cry out in shock and dropping the sword in her hand out of fright.
Fortunately, the Dark Bison seemed to have reached its limit and died from blood loss.
Sherry took the crying girl to the side and tried to calm her down.
“Go lure another Dark Bison,” Sean ordered his subordinates, who obeyed his command without fail.
Just like Leon, he was also feeling annoyed due to how helpless the Wanderers of the other party were.
He thought that maybe Zion only took them under his wing because he needed servants to do the menial tasks for him.
However, Zion would always lead them by example.
When making the wagons, he was there to show them how it should be done.
He helped them shave the logs.
He helped them hammer the nails.
He helped them hunt monsters, and even gave them tips on how to kill them more effectively.
Last but not the least, he was also teaching them how to fight.
Of course, not everyone, just like the girl earlier, was able to learn quickly. Even so, Thirteen was willing to teach them everything they needed to know on how to survive in Solterra.
Fortunately, they finished their compensation just before lunch, so they all made their way back to Zion’s camp in time for a meal.
The Dark Bisons were very heavy, so they only carried one of them back and left the rest behind.
For the Cygni Faction, the only good thing from the Bisons were their cores.
Its meat, while edible, wasn’t really something that they liked to dine on.
Only the members of Zion’s team wanted to take one back with them, so they tied it with a rope and pulled it all the way to their base camp.
“Well done,” Thirteen said to his team members, who had returned safely. “Just as promised, I will provide you with the items you need to make your own wagons. I’ll even throw in three axes as a freebie.”
Thirteen took out the items from his Dimensional Storage and presented it to Sean.
“I’m sure all of you are hungry, so have lunch with us first,” Thirteen added. “We have beef stew so eat to your hear—”
But before the teenage boy could finish his sentence, Sherry stepped forward and asked him a question.
“Boss, are you the one who cooked it?” Sherry asked with a serious expression on her face.
“… I wanted to, but you guys banned me from cooking,” Thirteen replied with a frown. “I could have made it more nutritious and packed with vitamins and nutrients. But you’re the ones who don’t want me anywhere near the cooking pots.”
Sherry breathed a sigh of relief in her heart because a disaster was avoided.
During the first day that they arrived in Solterra, Thirteen volunteered to cook a meal for them, making them all feel happy and excited.
It had been a while since then, but they still didn’t understand how a simple barbecued meat could taste like bubblegum.
In fact, anything that their Boss cooked would miraculously taste like bubblegum despite using no spices at all.
Since then, for the sake of their stomach and mental health, they decided that they would be the one to handle cooking duties.
“Oh, I’d love to eat something that Sir Zion cooked!” Heidi, who wanted to form a closer connection with Zion, said with a smile. “I’m sure that it will be a memorable experience!”
The members of Zion’s party look at the pretty girl with pity. If she only knew what she was signing herself into, she would definitely regret her decision.
“Finally, a person of culture,” Thirteen smiled. “Sure, I’ll cook something for you one of these days.”
“I’ll hold onto that promise, Sir Zion.”
“Of course! Just who do you think I am?”
Sherry, who could no longer take this discussion, signaled for everyone to help them carry the Dark Bison to the place where they stored their hunted monsters.
She was happy enough that things ended peacefully between their group and the Cygni Faction.
However, she knew that it was only a matter of time before tempers rose and things escalated to something that might lead to conflicts.
Of course, she had relayed these concerns to Zion.
But her Boss only told her that if it really came to that, she didn’t have to worry about anything because he would handle the Cygni Faction on his own.
Truth be told, Sherry considered herself very lucky because Zion was sent to the same location as her.
If not, then she and the rest of the other Wanderers might have lived a different fate under the management of the Cygni Faction, who looked at them as if they were insects that they could crush anytime.