As soon as they reached the top of the stairs, Viscount Finley greeted them with a big smile:
“Hello again. Had a nice walk, daughter of mine?”
Anika held the arm of the old Dog-kind, making the guards at both sides of the stair wonder why the Viscount said that. Alex got near him with Pearl and Wenammy, and the Viscount winked while walking:
“Did you scare them enough, Alex? Or now it’s even worse because they saw all the money you have in there and they are thinking about all the jewellery and clothes they could ask from you?”
The Viscount stopped smiling when he noticed the awkward looks on the three girls and Pearl explained:
“It seems we all now understand him a little better, and the meaning behind all those Magical Orbs and coins in those rooms. It’s… a little sad if you think about it.”
The Viscount slowly nodded:
“He told you how he sees those Orbs and coins, right? Yeah, I once got hypnotized at the sight of a pile of Magical Orbs and a few crates full of money, and then he told me what it represents to him. He has a point, but it totally ruined for me the view of a room full of Orbs and another with coins. I was never able to look at them in the same way. I even avoid going down there, because I knew some soldiers or workers that died because of a Monster or an accident.”
The Viscount noticed the enormous Magical Orb that Pearl was carrying, and he made a slight smile:
“An Orb from a Wyvern. What was the number on the three-legged pedestal?”
“There was a two engraved in the intersection of the legs. What does it mean? There were others with one and some with three.”
The Viscount made a sad face, remembering:
“Two soldiers died because of that Wyvern, and another almost lost one arm, if it wasn’t for the quick intervention of a Mage and his Healing Magic. It was two months ago, and the two soldiers left behind a daughter of ten years old, each of them. Good fellows, those two. They were just unlucky because they were caught by surprise, but their wives were compensated with a big purse full of coins and they are still working here. The daughters are in School, and I am doing my best to look after them. I hope you put that to good use.”
“Yes… Alex told me the same, but he didn’t tell me how he got this Orb. I am going to try to honour the sacrifice of those two soldiers that died.”
The Viscount tapped Pearl’s right shoulder with a gentle smile and guided them along the main corridor to the front patio. As soon as they exited the Castle, the guards stationed in front of the door blew their horns, and a contingent of twenty soldiers fully uniformized and with Alex’s crest stitched on the left side of their vest, stood in line, facing him. They all made a slight bow and spoke at the same time:
“Greetings, Earl Alex Brim! We are at your service!”
Anika trembled a little, remembering a line of soldiers from her youth, that started working for her family. Alex walked down the four steps and faced them all. He heard a whisper from Shinatobe that detected a spike of Magic, and he stared directly at a nervous young soldier:
“What is your name, soldier?”
“J-Jack Bridge, Sir!”
“Tell me, Jack Bridge, why I detect a surge of Magic in you? Are you perhaps trying to infiltrate my ranks to make an attempt against my life? Because it won’t work, you know?”
The rest of the soldiers looked at the nervous soldier and grabbed the hilt of their swords. The soldier turned pale, and Alex made a slight smile:
“It seems you didn’t expect to be found out like this. I wonder what lengths your employer underwent to make you look so innocent so that you could infiltrate my Castle. Viscount Finley, how long is this man in here?”
The Viscount almost stumbled down the stairs in his rush to approach:
“Not long, Sir! He arrived three days ago with the others, and they have been in the barracks or this patio until today. I don’t understand… I did a full check of his background!”
“You may need to change something in your methods then, Viscount, because he is now here in front of me with a bunch of disguised Magic and trying to find out an opportunity to attack. So, let’s see what you got, shall we? Everyone, give us some room, I need to show this fool and to all of the new guys, that I am not to be underestimated.”
Alex took a few steps back, without averting his gaze from the nervous soldier. All the others went to the sides, leaving the back of each fighter free, just in case some lose Magic went past them.
A group of ten older, hardened soldiers arrived, and when they were told what was about to happen, they all smiled and one of them shouted:
“Give us a good show, Earl! Teach these green ones what is like to work here!”
Alex made a slight smile and whispered:
“Shinatobe, can I take this guy lightly or it’s better if I don’t underestimate him?
“He has more Magic than what he gathered. Be careful, because for him to come here, he is probably strong, because he for sure knew he had to fight his way out, either he succeeded or not.”
Alex gathered his Magic and began to glow. In seconds, it was as if a small sun was inside the patio, making everyone either look away or cover their eyes. Alex concentrated the Magic around him, making the glow diminish, and he then spoke to the dumbfounded infiltrated soldier:
“Now you are probably thinking that you made a huge mistake by coming here, right? Go ahead, first shot is yours. I will only defend myself, don’t worry.”
As soon as Alex stopped talking, the soldier threw a hidden dagger with one hand while the other was throwing a huge Fireball. Alex melted the dagger with a wall made of thick fire that quickly disappeared, making room for the Fireball to cross. Before the dumbfounded soldier, the Fireball was cut into tiny little pieces by a barrage of Wind Slash, and the last bits were sent up, by a huge Tornado. Alex tilted his head and asked:
“Is that all? I thought you were going to put some fight, considering all the danger you went through, to come here.”
The soldier stuttered:
“Y-you… You are a M-Mage! No one told me…”
Alex grinned:
“I am not a mere Mage, but you are about to find out, don’t worry. You won’t tell anyone, obviously, because you are not getting out from here alive. I like to pretend to be an unharmful young Noble, but you really don’t know whom you tried to attack. At least you could have suspected, considering who my father is and what he did, but maybe your employer thought that I can’t fight or use Magic because no one ever saw me doing anything dangerous in Beliersia. Do you mind trying again? You got me so worked up for nothing!”
All that taunting made the soldier lose his cool, and he grabbed his sword, running towards Alex while throwing Fireball after Fireball but every single one of them was cut into tiny pieces that were then sent upwards.
When the soldier was about to throw a downward slash to cut Alex in half, the tiny ball of light hidden behind Alex’s right ear came forward, and immediately turned into the grown-up Shinatobe in full battle gear, with her head covered by a helmet that was also hiding half of her face, a chest plate, a chain cloth bodysuit, leather boots and gloves. She stood in front of Alex and stopped the blade with her left metallic gauntlet that she had to protect her wrists, and with the other hand, grabbed the neck of the soldier and squeezed it. She spoke with her voice so full of Magic, that the ground trembled and the air became thick:
“You dare to approach my Master with your filthy blade and bad smelly breath? I will make you pay for this outrage!”
With a quick movement of her wrist, the blade got entangled on the gauntlet, and the soldier was disarmed. Shinatobe kept on squeezing, and he grabbed her wrist with both hands, trying to get free. It was no use, because every time he put some force on his hands, Shinatobe increased the squeeze. The soldier’s face turned completely white because of the lack of blood that was supposed to irrigate his head, and he heard the older soldiers shouting in surprise, as his conscience faded away:
“No way! … Commander Shinatobe returned!… Where have you been, Commander?… Welcome back, Commander!”
The new soldiers looked at the veterans, and they faced the powerful female warrior again, that was still squeezing the infiltrated soldier with disgust on her face as if she was touching something filthy. The soldier finally fainted and when she let him go, the noise of his body falling flat on the floor echoed in the patio. She then faced the group of surprised new soldiers and asked:
“Any of you want to have a shot at my Master?”
They all vigorously shook their heads in silence, and she spoke while fixing the position of her left gauntlet:
“I thought so. As for you, Viscount Finley, you did one heck of a job on checking this guy, no doubt about it! You are getting lazy with old age or what? I see a bunch of smiles on some familiar faces, but I didn’t saw any of you doing anything to stop this scumbag from coming here. You forgot what I taught you all? Trust no one? Lazy fools!”
The veterans stood straight, and they didn’t say a thing. They could perfectly see that she wasn’t pleased, and it was never a good idea to speak when she was ready to hit someone. She looked at the fainted soldier at her feet and faced one extremely nervous Rabbit-kind:
“You, take this guy to the dungeon, I need to question him properly. I want to find out if he was helped by anyone inside, and who are his friends and employer.”
The Rabbit-kind rushed to the fainted soldier and made a deep bow to Shinatobe:
“It is indeed an honour to see you again, Commander. I will take care of him immediately.”
Shinatobe then faced Alex and made a slight bow:
“If you excuse me, Master, I need to have a little talk with that guy. It may take one hour or so, depends on his resistance to pain.”
Shinatobe followed the Rabbit-kind older soldier that was carrying the fainted one on his back before the dumbfounded looks of the new soldiers, and the admiration on the face of the veterans. Viscount Finley cleared his throat and addressed the new soldiers:
“Aham… That was Commander Shinatobe, the one that led the army of the alliance in the war against ‘The Galtian Khaganat’. An extremely powerful fighter and with a short fuse. It’s never a good idea to be in front of her during a fight, as you may have noticed. She doesn’t tolerate slacking off, or laziness. If you thought that your Captains were demanding and strict, you were wrong. Working here is not easy, you will have to train hard and always be ready to jump into action when necessary. The payment is good, your families will also have a place here if you desire, but we demand dedication, loyalty, and improvement. Earl Alex, you want to say something?”
Alex faced the new soldiers with a serious face:
“What happened here, is not to be spoken outside these walls. I must at all cost, continue to be seen as a harmless young Noble. If you are here it means you were tested and evaluated properly, and you can all be trusted. Except for that guy, that is, but we are about to find out how he managed to infiltrate this Castle and who helped him. Shinatobe can be kind, but can also be extremely terrifying when necessary, as that guy is about to find out. She won’t stop until he tells her everything that she wants to know, so if any of you are with him, an extremely painful death waits for you. Anyone wants to confess something and save himself from a lot of pain?”
Alex waited without changing his expression, and all the soldiers slowly shook their head. He nodded:
“Very well, then. Welcome to our ranks. Follow your Captains and try not to die out there, I don’t like when people that work for me dies. I hope you enjoy working here because I can promise you a very good life for you, and your family.”
They all made a deep bow in silence, and one of the veterans shouted:
“Thank you, Earl! Everyone, to your stations!”
As the soldiers were moving in groups to their posts, one of the new soldiers glanced back to Alex and asked his Captain when they were already near the front gate:
“Captain, the Earl is a Mage Summoner? And Commander Shinatobe is a Spirit?”
The Captain stopped his march and faced the new soldiers:
“You already forgot what the Earl said? He likes to pretend to be harmless so that his enemies underestimate him. And he has several because most Nobles see his way of doing things, as something dangerous. The Earl provides a good life for everyone that works for him like you already saw over the last days, with good food and amazing drinks at each meal in our barracks, and he only demands two things, loyalty and discretion. If you are curious about something or you see something unbelievable while working here, keep it to yourself. The same goes for all of you. Don’t talk and don’t ask. Keep your questions and findings to you.”
The Captain faced forward again, and the soldiers followed him, in absolute silence. What they saw on the patio was unbelievable, but none of them wanted to risk being dismissed because they weren’t able to shut their mouth about all the wonders around.