The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

                    Zaos thought that they would return as soon as they won the battle. However, after celebrating for a couple of minutes, the shadow cats began to loot the enemies' bodies. That was the mercenaries' way. Even though the enemies obviously didn't have any money with them, their armor and weapons were valuable. In his army days, the loot was handed to the kingdom since the soldiers already had their regular reward for fighting and for accomplishing certain things.

"You helped more than anyone here, so why aren't you trying to earn some money by getting some loot?" Kat asked.

"I don't want to smell like blood when my daughter wakes up," Zaos replied.

"She is even cuter while she sleeps so soundly… which makes me wonder, how she managed to keep sleeping throughout the whole fight?" Kat frowned.

"She is a growing kid, so it is natural that she would have to sleep deeply every night," Zaos said.

                        Zaos wanted to leave as soon as possible, but walking under the morning sun would be too much for Milliendra. Asking for Kat to leave was also a problem since she was also working on getting her own share of the loot. Regardless, it seemed that they were used to that kind of thing, so Zaos only wondered why they didn't have a good base.

"Still, for someone of your size, you are a surprisingly good archer," Kat said. "You should be able to draw the attention of many aspiring mercenaries, but… I have the feeling that you won't settle for too little when it comes to the number of mercenaries you want to have on your side."

                        Zaos was starting to get worried. Kat really had a surprisingly sharp intuition. He felt like if he talked too much, she would be able to read him like an open book. In the end, the shadow cats had to work for just one more hour before finishing looting and then cremated the bodies. It was better if that kind of thing were done as fast as possible, after all. Zaos thought that Kat would lead her soldiers to hunt the three leaders of the desert wolves. Still, she actually decided to return to her hometown. However, they went to the tavern to continue their celebration…

"Hey…" Zaos frowned. "Are you fine with this? Those three who orchestrated everything still are out there."

"It is fine, we decimated eighty percent of their troops, while I didn't notice them preparing this attack, I always made sure to keep track of their numbers," Kat explained. "After their second defeat, they won't be able to become mercenary leaders ever again. Trust me, these news will spread like wildfire and they will remain low for quite a while and then they will return as ordinary mercenaries, but they will have a lot more work to restore their reputation. Now, drink and celebrate!"

                        Zaos didn't feel like doing either. Celebrating or drinking so early in the morning wasn't something that he wanted to do. Besides, Milliendra was still sleeping in his arms, and it was time for her breakfast. In the end, Zaos was forced to wake up Milliendra by using Cleanse and have her have her breakfast in that noisy tavern. She looked even shyer than usual, thanks to the number of people around. Still, fortunately, no one approached the table where Zaos, Kat, and Milliendra were. So, she had the chance to eat her breakfast without being interrupted. Some juice early in the morning made her relax a little bit, and Zaos sighed in relief. Maybe that kind of atmosphere would make her become less shy.

                        The tavern door suddenly opened with a loud bam, and then everyone looked at it. Zaos frowned when he saw Aleni… She looked pretty pissed. Probably because Zaos made Milliendra eat in such a place around such a group that smelled like blood.

"Do you know her?" Kat asked. "Her anger is being directed toward us."

"She is my wife, her name is Aleni…" Zaos forced a smile. "She is probably in a bad mood since she didn't sleep a lot in the last few days."

"Ah… I need to hear from her what those three did," Kat said.

"… We need to talk," Aleni said after she approached.

"Mommy!" Milliendra said with a large smile on her face.

                        Aleni smiled and then patted Milliendra, but her anger only decreased a little bit. While she didn't say the word alone, it was pretty much obvious that it was the case. Regardless, she was a lot grumpier than usual.

"What happened to the three idiots?" Kat asked.

"… They are probably on a ship to leave the country," Aleni replied.

                        As expected, Aleni quickly realized who Kat was and answered accordingly. That being said, Zaos doubted that it was the truth. Aleni probably dealt with them before they could contact the assassins, but she obviously couldn't say that.

"Well… I will talk with you tomorrow," Zaos said, and then he got up.

"Sure," Kat said and then drank some of her beer.

                        They headed toward the room Zaos had rented, and as soon as the door closed, Aleni crossed her arms and waited for an explanation. Although she was the one who had to give a proper report since she was responsible for tracking the assassins' current base, Zaos decided to go and explain what happened.

"So, you took Millie to a dangerous place," Aleni said. "What were you thinking when you thought that was a good idea?"

"I couldn't leave her behind, so it couldn't be helped," Zaos explained and then covered Milliendra's ears. "In any case, what happened while you were away?"

                        It seemed like Aleni had a lot more things to complain about, but she decided to leave those for later.. While Zaos wanted more details, Aleni revealed that she indeed killed the three leaders of the desert wolves… as soon as she discovered where they were heading… it was in another hidden ruin.

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