Just as they were in a conversation, Grand Elder Feng finally arrived. And together with him, was a man dressed in the hooded brown cloak of the Trade Federate.

Whenever there are business deals that are inconvenient to be seen, the merchants would don this attire. It is not a simple piece of clothing that was assigned by the Trade Federate, but the interior of the cloak is filled with concealment and protection runes.

A person wearing such apparel anywhere in the city would be respected and politely sidestepped so as to not interfere with a merchant of the Federate. Underneath all that concealment runes, who knows if the person is an upstart, a powerful noble or a craftsman?

If someone foolishly tried to disclose the identity of one wearing the cloak and unfortunately offended someone he could not, it would be too late for him to regret.

It's no surprise that when the Grand Elder brought a person dressed this way to Kairos' manor, everyone immediately became curious.

Alan immediately notified Kairos, who hosted a meeting where everyone in the manor was invited.

As the people entered a meeting hall with a long oak table and seats enough for twenty, they could not help but give quick glances at the cloaked person. Even at short distances, they could not see his face because of the runes on the clothes.

The chandelier's light from above could not illuminate the shadows under the hood, but even if someone shine a lantern directly on the person, they will discover that his appearance would remain obscure. The concealment runes ensure that one's identity is at least protected from careless glances.

With a smile on his face, Kairos turned to the mysterious person and said, "Ah Pui, how are the others?"

The cloaked man pulled down his hood with a smile, "As expected, nothing escapes Master's eyes. The others are all fine. We retreated rather early, but..."

"Speak your mind, you are among friends" Kairos nodded encouragingly. Though Grand Elder Feng and Serge do not receive the same level of trust as his other friends, Kairos knows that he requires their trust, and trust goes both ways. As the saying goes, a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. It is now the time to band together if they want to save the staff and recover what the Snowdrifts lost.

Ah Pui nodded in response, "There are a few occurrences that felt ... manipulated... For example, the tome. There were no questions asked about it. And our Soul Slips were found too easily as well."

Kairos could understand Ah Pui's concern for revealing such information. The tome he spoke is of the Tome of Origin that Kairos had given him but magically returned.

The book's disappearance should have triggered concerns within the Devilheart family, and likewise, the storage of Soul Slip ought to have been flawlessly protected. To have overlooked either is simply unthinkable, and they could only assume that their foes have a hidden plan to act this way. Or otherwise, somebody behind the scenes is pulling strings to help them.

He understands that dwelling on this would not lead to anywhere, just knowing that his disciples are unscathed are enough to comfort Kairos.

He stood up and began the address the situation, "For the period we were away, I wish to thank each of you for your hard work.

I have a large part to play in the disastrous result we now face, for being away from the shop and for withdrawing all revenue."

Looking at Kairos thanking them and apologising sincerely, Grand Elder Feng smiled appreciatively. To stand against the Hope family, the Devilheart family and now the Steel Rose family, he placed a rather weighty bet on the young man.

However, he knows that there are no gains without risks, and his title of Grand Elder isn't given to him freely but earned from making bold moves.

Feng gave Kairos a nod. To be able to acknowledge his mistakes and recognise another's help, are signs of a good leader. The more the Grand Elder looks at Kairos, the more he likes the boy.

Serge, on the other side of the table, coughed unintentionally then embarrassingly said, "Young master, you're too kind. I didn't do anything worthy to be thanked. In fact, I've managed to earn quite a bit thanks to you, once again. And... Speaking from my heart, I'm sure that everyone knows the reason behind your actions. Though you withdrew the funds, we only admired you for trying to save your friend.

I've known many businesses winding down because the owners splurged their earnings, but Young Master can hold his head high with pride compared to them."

While everyone knew that Serge was only trying to give compliments, the things he said was truthful and even heartfelt.

Kairos who heard it was not uncomfortable with the praises, and only nodded his head before continuing, "Since I have returned, we shall begin our counterattack.

Our first objective is to have them release every person they imprisoned.

Grand Elder and Serge, please help me spread a rumour using your networks."

"What rumour?" The two asked together.

"That we have returned after slaying the Princess of Silent Lambs Empire, and destroying the Phantoms," He revealed with a smile.

The shock that followed was imaginable. It was the first time they had heard of this.

To circumvent the Devilheart family from plotting against them, Kairos had kept their movements a secret and Lyla, Grand Elder Feng and Serge had not known where their group went to rescue Jones.

Now, that the news is out; they couldn't believe that this small group of 26 had not only gone into enemy territory but also killed the hostile state's Princess and destroyed their strongest forces.

The fame of the Phantom of Silent Lambs Empire is like resounding thunder here in Saint City. An assassination group that do not work in the background, but rather, run across battlefields hunting down high-value targets.

Having frequent skirmishes against them at the border, no other Empire knows of the Phantom as well as Saint Empire. It sounded like an incredulous thing to state that a group with so few individuals destroyed a powerful organisation. Wasn't every member of the Phantom a Double S ranker?

However, looking at Kairos' seriousness, they did not doubt his words. Instead, Lyla only asked, "H...how did you destroy them?"

This time, it was Jim that replied his mother's question, "Mama, we didn't actually kill them..."

The others widened their eyes with uncertainty, what did Jim mean by contradicting Kairos?

Then he continued, "The Phantoms simply took poison and died."

"Nonsense. Are you saying that all the Phantoms lost their minds and killed themselves with poison?" Lyla chided Jim, but her son shook his head.

"Nah, Mama, they stole our poison and ate it. That's how they died," The boy said, then burst out in uncontrollable laughter.

His mirth spread across Kairos' group, and soon they all joined in, including Vouno. Leaving only those that did not join the adventure sitting there confusedly.

Vouno, wiping a tear from his eye, told them the story of how the boys tricked the Phantoms into thinking they had stolen the antidote to the poison mire near the border.

That poisonous swarm is famous in the area, and everyone knows how deadly it could be.

When they heard that the supposed 'antidotes' were actually Helena's 'Counter-Antidote Weakening Powder' they all burst out laughing.

The pill that the Phantoms consumed are supposed to be crushed into powder and sprinkled into the desired area.

"I...ingesting it directly... hahaha. No wonder they are all wiped out at the swamp," Serge slapped his thigh and said.

Vouno added, causing another round of outburst from the group, "The mighty Phantoms had died from being tricked by children."

It is only after a while that the Grand Elder recovered his composure, and asked thoughtfully, "But, how would spreading this rumour help release your employees?"

"No matter the rumour is true or false, it would warrant a check, and a simple confirmation would prove our rumours to be true.

In fact, the Princess' funeral would most likely become a state event for the Silent Lambs Empire for the purpose of inciting hatred in their people against us. Therefore, at that time, even if we do not say anything the news would travel to our Empire.

But, by releasing these rumours before the Emperor finds out by himself, his highness will easily guess it was my intention to release the information to gain his attention. And then, the Emperor will certainly understand my wish."

"Emperor Galahad will be able to guess you wanted to save your employees just by us releasing a rumour?" Though it was only the Grand Elder that posed this question, everyone is asking likewise in their minds.

"Not directly," Kairos continued, "The Emperor deals with people wanting to be rewarded all the time. He would be sensitive to me asking the same. However, I have the ability to back up my request.

When he heard the rumours we release, and subsequently confirmed the preparation of the Princess' funeral is underway, he will know that I am trying to claim credit.

Afterwards, we need only to prove that we killed the Phantoms and he will confer onto me a higher noble's rank."

"Higher Nobility? Why not just request for the release of our men?" This time it was Vouno who asked. As a father, he is often worried that success would create greed in his son's heart, and he had to ensure his boy had not fallen from the straight and narrow path.

Kairos knowing why his father asked, shook his head then said, "I will definitely have them released, but before that, I need a higher nobility rank to start the counterattack. Slaying the Princess and destroying the Phantoms is a great deed. Exceptionally beneficial to our Empire in many areas, and it would be a waste to exchange the reward for anything else.

Moreover, once I gained a title, the opportunity to save them will come right after."

The others nodded their heads at this explanation. The reward must equal the deed after all. Anything else will make one be taken lightly, and this is undesirable when they are up against powerful nobles and shrewd merchants.

After this, Kairos refused to explain his plans further. Knowing too much will not be beneficial, and the others left to carry out his first instruction.

Within the day, a rumour spread across the districts of Saint City.