"We need to gather our men. And I mean the real force, not those pesky and useless mercenaries. We don't know what we can expect out there. At least if this whole situation will hopefully be just misunderstanding and me panicking, the rumours spread will limit to less loyal troops."

While her face was like a river on which a variety of emotions was racing to appear on the first spot, her way of thinking didn't change at all. Calm and focused, Revy always stroke others as a capable and collected leader.

"It won't be that easy. From what I remember, there will be a picnic in the City outskirts in three days from now. We need to leave some troops to safeguard it. The officials won't like the idea of pushing for mobilisation either. Even if all of them are our marionettes, they still need to appear as capable leaders looking out for the commoners."

Syrkas didn't wait to remind her about the pending problems. The time didn't wait or stop for anyone. Holding the picnic back would cause great unrest among the populace and leaving it unattended by guards… Let's say that commoners liked to brawl among themselves and if the guards couldn't stop them in a timely manner, the events could very well spiral out of the government control.

"Okay then. I will rally up the patrols and the guardians. We will leave local militia, guards and mercenaries to defend Latavia. They should be enough to take care of small incidents."

Giving it a short moment to think this through, Revy explained her idea. Raising her hand gracefully over her head, she called one of her handymen. Appearing out of nowhere, a slim, young man showed up in a mere moment and kneeled on one knee.

"Grab three of your colleagues and go inform Pete, Mark and Brien to rally up their troops and set up a temporary camp outside the western gate. You will go to the quartermaster with this paper and ask him for a quick type of supply carriages for… hmm… eighteen standard units. Now go!"

Writing a few words on the random slip of paper she managed to grab from her desk, Revy passed the newly created authorisation. As the sole and only owner of more than three-quarters of this city supplies, she could manage it however she wished.

"I will take care of the officials. Should I stir some trouble for them? You know what could happen if they all receive the same orders at the same time."

Partially joking, Syrkas sought Revy's advice. She was the leader so this choice was up to her. Both ways of dealing with this matter had their own pros and cons. It would be far easier if the entire official body of the city government were unified when deciding how to react with sudden Xantia move, but it could also give a hint to both the commoners and the officials themselves that in fact, whole government was in the hands of Revy's organisation!

While this was already considered a well-known secret amongst the populace, there was no proof of it. All the people that had enough information to put the pieces together and endanger the organisation, either defected to its side in the early days of the family or were buried by Mike outside the City.

"I think we should prompt up the Visceras party. They are too insignificant to stir any real trouble, but they will feel important for standing against everyone else per our orders. Later we could spread rumours that the main groups didn't want to create bad blood between the government and our family."

Revy didn't need a lot of time to figure out a way to deal with the government. While they had absolute control over the Latavia, they had to keep the facade they made in the first place. Everyone influential enough to know the truth was dealing with them directly, and the consequences of their failures were shouldered by the official parties. While they could directly take over the city, there was no profit in doing this!

"What about renting the local adventurers from the guild? We could get some meatshields while gaining some experienced veterans in the process."

Just as he was about to leave, Syrkas thought of another great idea. It would cost them a lot less than renting the entire mercenary band from the camps surrounding the eastern side of the city. If this mission ended up with a hard fight, those people would save them from losing their loyal veterans, and the surviving part would be indebted to them for giving them the opportunity to rise!

"This could be a good idea, but the deserters' attacks are on the rise lately. We can't draw from the pool of adventurers without a good reason. Common people still need some ways to protect themselves."

While the idea was good, the drawbacks to this decision could possibly destabilize the lives of the common folk in the area. Xantia was relying on them when it came to the greatest part of their income and manpower, so regretfully Revy had to disagree. Dismissing her friend, she went back to her bedroom.

Opening one of the ordinary wardrobes resting against the wall, she stared down at the variety of equipment shining in the sunlight falling on it through the opened window. As the wave of nostalgia overwhelmed her, Revy had to hold the frame of the bed to stabilize herself. It was so long since she last used or even thought of using those daggers!

Recalling her previous experiences including this cold steel in front of her eyes, she couldn't help but smile with a hint of sadness in her eyes. All she knew about direct fighting today, stemmed from Mike's lessons. While she was agile since she made her first step, her friend needed a long time to hammer basic knowledge and skills into her skull to turn this inborn talent into the ability to protect herself.

Shrugging herself, Revy got rid of those nostalgic memories. She understood the mechanism in which her mind coloured those memories with happiness, to make a safe haven for itself for the dire times that could come. This process happened literally to everyone, thus it wasn't a surprise to her. If she were to be honest with herself, Revy could recall all the pain, hits, shouts and abuses that Mike had to escape to for the sake of teaching her. But she refused those parts. Those memories were too precious to her, especially with the big hole in her soul created when Mike left the organisation!

Before Revy even managed to finish donning her weapons and armours, her butler knocked three times on her bedroom door, informing that guests arrived.

"I will be done in two minutes!"

Shouting through the door, Revy dismissed her disarrayed thoughts and focused on tightening the belts around her shin guards. When she finished dressing up, she nimbly ran out from her room and arrived in the guest room, where three men were waiting.

"Greetings, leader Revy!"

Despite numerous attempts by every leader and important figure in the organisation, their military officers never gave up on using the salute form. For some reason, those blockheads insisted on using the full, official name of their old friend, instead of talking like a normal acquaintance would.

"You might be wondering why I summoned you all."

Starting from a high horse, the girl couldn't help but grin when she saw those men reaction to her haughty attitude. Bursting out with a laugh, she had to wipe her tears before regaining her composure and enabling herself to continue.

"In the first place, I'm sorry for withholding this information from you. Syrkas already called me irrational and impulsive when he saw my reaction to that news, so I was scared of what would happen if I were to tell you about it."

Those words stunned the soldiers. Belonging to the upper echelons of the organisation, they were the first to receive the news from the vast spy network that Xantia created. While the leaders kept some of their own informants in several places of importance, it was rare for such a situation to occur! If they were to take how apologetic Revy was for not sharing it right away into consideration, this information was bound to be earth-shattering!

"Don't build up the tension. If this is important, stop wasting time and just tell us,"

Being the oldest among the commanders, Pete stepped forward and spoke. Hailing from the fallen organisation that got incorporated into Xantia during their emergence, he was the most experienced strategist in the entire family. If not for his background, he would be able to claim the general leader spot with ease.

"Before you start shouting, let me explain the whole matter. It's about Mike."

Dropping the bomb, Revy took a serious expression while waiting for a sudden outburst. This name was the key. As the original leader, he was held in great regard by everyone who got in touch with him. Contrary to common opinion, with the growth of the family, he voluntarily shifted more and more of his power away, instead of grounding his might and reaching for more. While most of the old members were kept in dark about his reasons for doing so, people like those commanders were perfectly clear about it.

"At first, I got a message from him, saying that he will arrive in Latavia in four days at most. From the very limited information his messenger brought, there was some business, some sort of duel that he was involved in, explaining the time necessary to arrive. Two days later, I got another message stating that he left Uveno on the same morning that I received the first news. It was five days ago already."

Ending her story here, Revy waited for her commanders reaction. Just as she expected, when the entire timeline got revealed to them, Pete budged a bit, as if intending to run to the door. While the youngest wielder of the rank of general in Xantia, he was one of the founding members. To this day he boasted about the brotherly bond he shared with Mike ever since the childhood times.

On the other hand, the remaining duo of the officers leaned forward.

"What's the rest of the story? Knowing your temper, you reacted in some way."

Somehow keeping his calm, Mark, at last, said his piece. While he was the only one recruited after Mike left the organisation, he would have to be dumb to not notice all the fame and rumours that surrounded this legendary figure. Looking at his achievements prior to joining the family, one had to be insanely brave or stupid to underestimate this guy intellect. Despite how backwards he appeared to others, he was the only one in the entire organisation that had some degree of autonomy!

"You are right. It's not a secret how close I was to him. As soon as I got hold on that news, I ordered a small company of mercenaries to find him and escort back here. They departed on horses three days ago, yet no news came from them to this date."

Saying those words awoken the worries that Revy was harbouring deep inside her. With her arms dropping, eyes seemingly trying to pierce the floor and fists tightened, she was the perfect image of worry mixed with anxiety.

"Our units are already setting the camp outside the city as per your previous orders. The sun will set soon, we can depart as soon as it rises again tomorrow."

Stepping up again, Brian informed. While he didn't exactly like this Mike, there was no denying in the importance he had for the remaining members of the organisation.

Just when everyone was about to depart to their units, the doors bust open with a haggard figure rushing in. Falling to the floor the instant that this intruder passed through the entrance, he curled up and fought to regain his breath.

Noticing the urgency of the situation, Pete fell to his knees and started massaging this unknown person back to help him with his struggle for air.

"Who are you?"

As soon as the person regained its ability to inhale, Revy pulled her knife and pointed it at the intruder. While she didn't feel any bloodlust in the newcomer, in her line of work it was always better to be safe than sorry.

"I'm part of the mercenary troop you guys send out a few days ago. I've got bad news. The person we were supposed to find and escort back here, got beaten up in a fight and taken back to the Uveno region. The rest of my unit is tailing them as we speak, they will try to do something, but the enemy appears to be reading for war. Without help, they are powerless!"