Dorian leaned forward slightly, his eyes shining with an almost unhealthy curiosity.
"I see. Well, this Maxi is certainly admirable."
The rest of the dinner passed in a mixture of tension and forced cordiality, or at least that's how Aveline felt.
At the end, as she was about to leave the room, Dorian rose and bowed slightly.
"Lady Aveline, you're even more fascinating than I imagined. I'm sure we'll form a union that will be... morable."
Aveline replied with a polite smile before leaving the room.
"morable my ass..."
But she kept her thoughts to herself and bowed only slightly in reply.
Reaching the west wing, she found Maxi waiting for her.
"So?" he asked.
Aveline hesitated for a second before answering.
"This guy's definitely not clean-cut, but nothing out of the ordinary happened."
"Besides, the al was pretty good."
Maxi laughed lightly.
"Your heart may not be filled in this future family, but your belly certainly will be."
Aveline looked up.
"Very funny, Maxi."
Maxi shrugged, his smile fading slightly as he regained his seriousness.
"Rest up for tonight, Aveline. We'll keep watch."
She nodded, tired from the previous days' walking and especially from that surprise dinner.
"Good night, Maxi."
She returned to her room, her thoughts whirling.
Maxi remained pensive for a mont before heading for his own room.
The days that followed passed quickly and rather quietly.
Although Maxi and his 40 n, a dozen of them masked, attracted a lot of stares and gossip, they didn't cause much of a stir.
The rcenaries weren't bothering anyone, spending their days in a training area originally set aside for the Valderic guards.
This open-air training area, surrounded by high walls, was equipped with dummies, targets and weapons of all kinds.
Under Maxi's watchful eye, the rcenaries perfected their skills.
Everyone was highly motivated as they all felt themselves getting stronger day by day, even Langus and Kaite, much to their surprise.
It had already been many years since they had made any progress at all, and suddenly, as if sothing had been unlocked, they were making progress again.
Maxi himself was always training in the art of the sword, often sparring with his two knights.
After all, beyond their physical strength, these two were experts in close combat and swordplay, so it would have been a sha not to take advantage. Read latest chapters at My Virtual Library Empire
And so, in just 3 days, his mastery of the sword had already reached a level close to that of his new teachers, astonishing them to an unimaginable degree.
Such progress in such a short space of ti was more than exceptional.
The progress their new boss had made in 3 days was comparable to several months' training by a genius.
At first, the two knights were shocked to see such an insane rate of progress, but they beca increasingly indifferent, even taking it for granted after a while.
This particularly motivated them to get more involved with the rcenary group.
They saw the potential in their new leader, and this gave them hope for the future.
And for his part, Maxi was pleased that his fighting power had improved again, gradually approaching the level of a knight at peak stage.
One afternoon, while training was in full swing, an elegant figure appeared at the entrance to the grounds.
His impeccable clothes contrasted with the dust and sweat that covered the rcenaries. He stepped forward slowly, his boots clacking on the cobblestones and a wry smile hanging on his face.
"What an impressive troop. They almost look like... dogs of war."
The rcenaries stopped, their masked gazes turning to the figure.
Maxi quietly sheathed his sword and stepped forward until only a few steps separated him from this person.
"If you're here to mock my n, you might regret it Lord Valderic."
Dorian raised an eyebrow.
"A re rcenary dares to speak to in that tone, you must not know ." he replied with a cold tone.
"Oh yes I do, Dorian Valderic one of the 3 greatest geniuses in the kingdom of the frost eagle. He's 20 years old and a knight at the stage of small success."
"Am I wrong sowhere Lord Valderic?"
Maxi's tone was more than unbearable to Dorian's ears, and he didn't like the situation at all.
Especially when he also noticed the cold stares of the rcenaries on the training ground.
No one respected him here, as if he were no longer at ho.
But all at once, Dorian smiled.
"Well, let's see if all this training is really worth anything. How about a duel? One of your n... or you, perhaps, Captain."
A heavy silence fell. The rcenaries exchanged furtive glances, expecting to see a fine spectacle.
Particularly the older rcenaries: in their eyes, Maxi was totally invincible.
When he was still a re apprentice knight, he could kill hundreds of orcs, many of them comparable to knights, single-handed.
So when they saw with their own eyes that the strength displayed by their leader could defeat knights such as Kaite and Langus without too much difficulty, they could only imagine how monstrous his strength could be once he gave it his all.
And that's why rcenaries had a very special kind of pride.
It was the pride of being under the command of such an exceptional man.
Inwardly, they all saw him as the hero of the age. The one who could change the status quo not of the kingdom, but of the continent.
Of course, they didn't hold out much hope of him ever becoming emperor, given his peculiar character.
But they could all see that he was a very good rcenary leader, who treated his n very well without putting on airs in front of them.
He always got on well with each and every one of them.
Kaite and Langus, who had mingled with the other rcenaries, like Duke Devron's forr n, were also beginning to understand this Saber-toothed Tiger pride.
Just as Maxi was about to reply to Dorian, two silhouettes positioned themselves in front of him.
"Not just anyone is qualified to challenge our leader. If you wish to confront him, you must first succeed in defeating us."
Dorian watched in disbelief as the two masked individuals fearlessly challenged him.
Everyone here knew his identity, yet these two masked individuals were saying he wasn't qualified to challenge the leader of an unknown rcenary group.
"Is this a joke?"
In reply, Kaite and Langus drew their swords and looked coldly at Dorian in front of them.
The tension was almost palpable, as all the rcenaries watched the scene with bated breath.
Without a doubt, this show was taking a turn they all really liked.
Dorian stared at Maxi.
"Your rcenaries are very brave, Maxi.
The latter nodded confidently.
"Without a doubt, my n are among the finest rcenaries to be found in this kingdom."
Dorian was surprised by the confidence emanating from this man even younger than himself.
"The best, eh? What a great tone."
"Well, I'll leave you here to train. We'll et again at the banquet tonight," said Dorian as he turned to leave.
"You know the way," Maxi finally replied, as amiable as ever.
Dorian simply waved his hand without turning around.
Maxi felt a headache coming on as he thought about the banquet planned by the Valderic family.
They had invited all the nobility of the capital to celebrate the union between their family and those of the Ardans.
But in any case, this strange confrontation ended just like that.
The rcenaries naturally began to discuss what had happened.
Andrew broke the silence first.
"It's strange what's happened, boss, it's as if he's testing us.
Tena, standing nearby, nodded approvingly.
"Clearly, everything suggested that he didn't really want to challenge us to a duel, or even if he had, he would have done so for a particular reason and not because of a character trait."
"I agree with Tena and Andrew, Maxi," added Laura.
Other rcenaries such as Ernest, Charles, Henry and Ultia also gave their opinions on the situation.
Maxi tried to think it all through, but soon gave up.
"Who cares what a nobleman thinks? Let's just complete our mission, then go back to Plouta and beat the shit out of that damned baron."
"And then we'll take a well-deserved vacation."
"We're here to protect Aveline, not play ego gas with a promising knight."
Just as they were about to resu their training, Aveline entered the courtyard with a quick step. Her gaze swept over the n before settling on Maxi.
"You." She pointed at the captain with an authoritative gesture.
Maxi arched an eyebrow.
"? What have I done now?"
Aveline crossed her arms, her face serious.
"You're coming with to the manor. I've found soone to make you a bespoke suit. You can't show up at tonight's banquet in combat gear."
He laughed softly, shaking his head.
"I don't think my appearance matters much, especially since I'm not a nobleman but a rcenary."
She looked up with an exasperated sigh.
"Trust , you're coming to a battlefield tonight and you need to wear the proper armor to protect yourself from the opponents' weapons. That is, a suit!"
The rcenaries remained silent, but so exchanged amused smiles.
Laura glanced at Aveline.
"Can I co too tonight?"
But Aveline shook her head.
"No, it's a gathering of high-ranking nobles, so I can only bring one person with ."
Laura looked disappointed, but nodded in understanding.
All this took place before Maxi's eyes, who reassured Laura by taking her in his arms.
"Don't worry, nothing's going to happen.
"She replied without much conviction.
Just then, he turned and looked at Aveline.
"Okay for the suit, but I'm warning you: if that tailor sticks with a ridiculous outfit, you'll be the one who has to deal with the consequences."
A victorious smile lit up Aveline's face.
"Perfect. Follow , we haven't got all day."
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