Ned brushed his hair back and sighed.
"I gained the power to protect and t the love of my life. Fine. I will do it," he agreed.
Charlotte, who was about to say sothing, grew flushed at his comnt.
"I-If Neddy is doing it, then so am I. Just for the record, Silver, I still think this is a bad idea."
"Thanks, Char." Elian then turned to Katri and pulled out a large number of monster cores. "Katri, use this for guild funds. Char over there has an army of freelance Breakers 500 people strong."
"What? She does?" Katri gazed at Charlotte in disbelief, "How in the world did you pull that number together? You are lucky the Hunters didn’t find out or else you would be dead!"
The woman smiled wryly as she murmured, "They already knew. Thankfully they ignored it."
"Katri," Elian called. "I want you to profile the 500 people. Supposedly, 480 of them are A-Ranked and twenty are S-Ranked. You should know the standard of the old guilds, hire them, and send them out on the missions you need done."
The guild receptionist’s eyes widened in shock, "You are giving free rein?"
"Yes. Coordinate with Charlotte; Ned will lead them. I also want you to create an achievent frawork. Those that serve our faction will be rewarded with armor like the ones Ned has. Oh, and if you have anyone to recomnd, I want a teacher for him."
"A teacher?" Katri and Char both asked.
"Yes. Ned is hardworking, but he lacks experience. Have soone else guide him. Char, I will leave the details to you."
"Elian, wait! Why don’t you just take with you? I can grow stronger!"
The Tyrant shook his head, "Not yet. You are human; you need to learn from humans. If I take you with , your foundations will be weak. Get experience. I will be hitting the two dungeons Katri ntioned. Everything else, I leave to you."
Bianca squeezed Elian’s hand as she asked, "You intend to make him a local powerhouse?"
"Yes. Ned will be the king of Earth. I will rule the five worlds together. Charlotte and Katri will serve as his aides. I need to beco a Tyrant as soon as possible. My gut tells that Earth’s delaying tactics will backfire sooner or later."
Ned ca forward and grabbed his friend by the shoulders.
"Slow down, you bastard! What do you an I will be king? What the hell are you talking about!"
Elian smiled as he replied, "I need a sub Tyrant to rule Earth; that will be for now, but soon, it will be you. Let prepare the way. Charlotte can be your queen. Take Katri too if you can."
"WHAT!" x2
"Elian, please stop, your jokes are too much," Bianca elaborated for Ned. "Ned, sweetie, after we secure Earth, we will be waging war on other worlds. Normally you have the main Tyrant on defense and a secondary Tyrant on offense; Elian wants to invert that and put you in the forr’s role."
Ned fixed his glasses as he digested the information. Charlotte, on the other hand, ca forward, high on emotion.
"So you an to turn Neddy into the leader of Breakers on Earth? That will just paint a giant target on his back for those who rebel!"
But Elian simply turned to his friend and asked, "Your answer?"
"I’ll do it. If soone else gets the post, they might take Lottie from ," Ned answered resolutely. "But do you think I can do it?"
It wasn’t Elian who answered but Bianca, "Yes. With enough resources and equipnt, we can turn you into a true powerhouse, sweetie. Char will definitely spend everything she has on you. But I will, of course, invest just as much."
Ned grimaced. Elian didn’t need to understand why. Anyone would be burdened with the sudden expectations placed on them. But Ned already had the ntality of a Weapon, so Elian wasn’t worried.
"Ned, brother, do not worry. Your only focus is to get stronger and defend this world. I will take care of everything else. You are the only one I trust, and Bianca and I will raise you to be stronger than even S-ranked Breakers."
"I-I..." as Ned stamred, Charlotte approached him and grabbed his hand. "Neddy, you are not alone. I am with you. We will get the best teachers; I will handle all the support. I too believe that you are a great man," she said affectionately.
"Lottie..."
Seeing the pink world between the two, Elian left them alone and noticed Katri frowning at him.
"Lucian, I would appreciate it if you did not treat like an object to be traded. I will choose my own partner; thank you very much!"
"Sorry, it was only a joke. Anyway, those are the broad strokes of what I want, Katri. Work with the lovebirds over there. Use the guild as you will. Once I dismantle the Big Three, we’re going to need an even bigger army."
She placed her hand on her temple as she complained, "Lucian, the problem with destroying the Big Three is the power vacuum it leaves behind. Once they’re gone, replacing them is going to be quite hectic."
"I know. That’s why we will have you deal with them. It will start with this city, but we will soon expand further eventually."
As they were speaking, the door opened and a group of beautiful won, together with bulky, gruff n, entered. The one leading them was a familiar face. It was Silas Dornevale.
Upon entering the room, he imdiately lowered his head. "I apologize for intruding, but I figured this was a matter that could not be delayed any longer."
"Silas Dornevale! Why are you, of all people, here?" Charlotte shrieked!
Even Katri seed on guard with the new arrivals. Ned, seeing his lover’s reaction, got in front of her and pulled out his shield and mace.
But the one to calm them down was Bianca: "Stop being lodramatic, Char. Silas works for ."
Katri frowned as she also chastised, "Lady Chiara, he is a Dornevale! He is one of the pillars of the Noble Ascendancy! He could be a spy!"
Despite the cold reception to his arrival, Silas maintained his smile and replied in a calm tone.
"While it is true that my house belongs to the Noble Ascendancy, I am no spy. Much like the Truthsong Church and the Bloodright of Conquest, our faction also has internal divisions. I belong to the group that wishes for change. And I have co to prove my sincerity."
"Sincerity?" Elian parroted in confusion. "What do you an?"
Silas stood beside and gestured to the ones behind him. "I believe we should let them explain why they are here first."
Feeling this was their mont, one of the beautiful girls pulled out a large waterlon-sized marble. It looked like a firestorm was sealed inside it.
"Lady Charlotte, the attack teams that went to retrieve the cores have returned. They are also requesting additional compensation. They are waiting at our backup base."
Charlotte turned to the other three and asked, "Are the three of you here for the sa reason?"
They nodded. The four won ca forward and placed the waterlon-sized monster cores on the table. Charlotte inspected them and replied, "Thank you for bringing them here. Good work; you may go now. I will return later."
"Uhm, Lady Charlotte," one of the won asked.
"Yes? What is it?"
"The handlers and the attack teams are quite nervous. Now that Crestfall has been abandoned, they want to know what we will do. What should we tell our teams?"
Charlotte bit her lip before pacing. She turned to Elian and then to Bianca before speaking.
"Tell them we will be moving our plans forward. I will explain it to everyone later. Leave us for now."
"Yes, Lady Charlotte, thank you."
After they had done what they ca to do, the Arcus Handlers and their guard detail left in silence. Silas stayed.
"Impressive. So each escort in Arcus kiss doubles as a handler? How many Breakers do they have per team?" Elian couldn’t help but ask aloud.
Ned made a huge grin and began to boast, "I know, right? Lotte is the best! She used the Escorts to seduce and hire the Breakers fed up with the Big Three; that was how she managed to get them all."
Hearing the explication, Elian agreed as he crossed his arms, "Indeed, she is amazing. But Bianca is better."
"You are free to think that. But you need to get your eyes checked. Lottie is better."
"No, Bianca is."
"Shut up, you tal bastard. Even when we were kids, your tastes sucked."
"Did you just insult my woman to my face, you four-eyed creep?"
"I never said anything about Lady Bianca; I said you suck!"
All of a sudden, the amicable atmosphere between Elian and Ned vanished. Like a pair of hoodlums, they bashed their heads together, trying to push the other back.
Bianca and Charlotte, who heard their n argue about who among them was better, could only smile wryly in embarrassnt.
"I am sorry for Neddy; he tends to be a little overzealous. Especially when it cos to ."
"Haha, I can relate. Elian is way more overprotective."
The two also began to look at each other with hostility. But Katri ca forward and began smacking everyone on the head with a newspaper roll.
"What the heck is wrong with you all? Focus on the issues at hand; what are you, horny teenagers?"
Silas, still smiling, could only comnt out loud. "Ah youth."
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