Andrew’s eyes lit up as he understood the simple concept, but Nick continued his explanation.

“The small local religions don’t matter at all and no one will even care to report them or issue them any permits, but since this law already was issued by his majesty, let’s say, two months ago, all you can do is only follow it and capture the fraudsters who are trying to steal your people’s wealth and sent them to the capital for a further trial. Weather they get there or not, it’s your business. In addition, when those Lori guys catch the wind of this and come to you to get permits, you might have had a limited quota for this month or the year, or sell them permit and deal with them in shadows since they already showed themselves. The ways to evolve this idea are endless and I’m sure a clever guy like you can think of many. I’d like to add one last thing – if you go down this route, first thing you should do is to send a secret missive to your father informing him about it so he can make public this ‘two months old law’.”

Both girls and Andrew stared at Nick in disbelief. How could anyone even think of such elaborate scheme in an instant? But what Nick didn’t tell was his experience on how the religions and sects were handled back in US. Even though the first amendment clearly states everyone is free to practice their own religion, it still has to be registered and has to fulfill some requirements as well. Nick didn’t remember the details, but it was clear that if a modern country like USA can monitor religions, any medieval state can, because since this was a struggle against external enemy, they could use medieval means to fight and few hundreds of ‘fraudsters’ disappearing overnight will not shock the public, but earn deeper respect and even gratitude.

Nick barely managed to finish his explanation, when Andrew was already writing a letter to his father. There was finally a light at the end of this tunnel and he was eager to solve the current problem. The trio didn’t bother him, but meanwhile copied the map and at the side quietly discussed their next plans. Zia, of course, wanted to charge straight to the closest point of interest and ‘investigate’, but Nick insisted on going back to the Sword sect’s camp and utilize their help – those guys could use some training after all.

When they were almost done discussing, suddenly an earthquake shook surroundings and the palm leaves that were covering Andrew’s roof, fell on his head burying him beneath. Earthquake wasn’t long nor strong, but the only victim in the vicinity looked quite miserable. He drove out his camp the giggling trio and reminded them to report as soon as they found something.

“Oh, I almost forgot to ask.” Nick turned back to Andrew before leaving, “These earthquakes – are they random or they are getting more intense in strength and frequency?”

“Even I could’ve told you that.” Zia pouted, “The earth is shaking more often and stronger every time as well.”

“That is also one of the reasons for the popularity of the ‘doomsday’ preachers around here.” Andrew sighed.

“How many civilians are in this region? Let’s say, within fifty kilometers.” Nick asked.

“There are quite a few tribes and several hundreds of treasure hunters as well. My guess would be that there are less than ten thousand people, in the worst case, may be a bit more.” Andrew thought and then replied.

“Is there a way to evacuate them quickly? Or rather, how much time do you need for a complete evacuation?”

“No idea, three, may be four days? Actually, may be even seven. There are almost no Qi masters between locals and most of my guys are simple practitioners as well. Why? You know something?”

“Not sure, but I have an inkling you should start to prepare for evacuation. I’ll notify when I confirm this guess. Alright, let’s go!” Nick waved and jumped up on a tree. Both girls waved at Andrew and followed his lead while the prince could just sigh and shake his head. That guy was too damn lucky ...

The youths from the Sword sect were still practicing under the supervision of their elder when the trio returned. Almost everyone had the same thought – ‘they didn’t go to the prince’s camp, did they?’. The sun was still high up while Nick and two beauties looked tidy and clean, only their cheeks were rosy like they had been exercising for some time.

Elder Jerold didn’t doubt them though – he already had a guess how these three were traveling.

“Did his highness have any news?” He asked.

“Elder, may we speak in private please?” Nick smiled at him. On their way back they already discussed options and using Sword sect’s forces for scouting seemed only logical – they were here to train after all.

Elder beckoned at Nick and they went to the side with Zia and YunYun joining.

“Elder Jerold, I’m here on his majesty’s orders and I wonder if there are some things Sword sect could help me with?” Nick took out king’s token that he hadn’t used in a long time. It was not to impress elder, but to highlight the importance of his task. However elder’s reaction surprised him – old man seriously looked at the token and nodded.

“Forces of the Sword sect are at your disposal, master Nick.” Nick and the girls were stupefied at such answer and seeing their confused faces elder Jerold grinned, “Oh, you didn’t know! The Sword sect is basically elite force of the Sun kingdom and the token you just now showed gives you the right to command it the same way you can any other enforcement squad or army unit in our country. The only one you can’t order around is our sect master who has similar token.”

It took a minute or two for Nick to digest this information, but it made sense. Why would the Sun kingdom allow a reclusive powerhouse like Sword sect to grow uncontrolled within its territory and why would king himself train there and call the sect leader his master. This organization was a brilliant move by the king who established it, Nick deeply respected such idea.

“Then, what would you say if I use your manpower, but offer them some training in return?” After gathering his thoughts Nick asked.

“I would say ‘thank you’, of course!” Old man laughed back, “Kids are eager to learn of your prowess and it might be a good incentive for them to train harder. If my guess is correct, you want to suggest some kind of your ‘extraordinary training’?”

Nick nodded, but before he could say more, old man clapped his hands and called out to his disciples.

“All right, everyone gather. From this moment master Nick is in charge and you will obey his instructions as if our sect leader was in his place!”

Stunned, confused and dissatisfied faces surrounded Nick and the rest. He looked at these youths and understood that he had to do something more than a simple briefing and then sending them off to the jungle.

“This won’t do, I can’t see everyone and you can’t see me clearly either.” Nick shook his head and continued with Qi infused in his voice, “Everyone, sit down for the briefing!”

When grumbling and dissatisfied youths sat, he took out his token again and showed around.

“This is not a joke! We are in a real combat situation, so everyone, pay attention!” When youths saw his token their pupils dilated. How was this possible? Why would this youth have a command token that only their sect master had? But then they recalled what elder Jerold hinted with the ‘tip of the iceberg’ – this kid who was younger than them was the king’s right hand man! Nick’s next sentence coincidentally confirmed their guess.

“I’m here on the orders from his majesty and I need your help in dealing with the current situation. As you might know, there is a sect called Holy Order that is plaguing this world and commits all kinds of atrocities. Some forces from that sect have been sighted in this region and our task is to eliminate them, but, prior to that we need to find out what their goals are.” Nick solemnly looked around, “Including elder Jerold, there is total of nineteen of you here. To complete this task you will split in groups of four while the two remaining people will be under elder’s supervision. How you split is up to you, but I don’t want to hear any arguing and you will have five minutes after this briefing to do it. Each group will have one leader – rules are the same, I don’t care how you choose them, but you have to complete this task within the same time limit. This is your first exercise.”

“Until the end of this real combat exercise you will remain within those groups, eat, sleep and battle together. This is how we will do this – after the groups are formed, I’ll mark an area on the map that you will scout and look for the people from the Holy Order. Bear in mind, that you probably won’t see any famous red robes, but only locals or treasure hunters, therefore your objective is to analyze these people and decide if they are our suspects. If you think they are, you will follow them and stealthily listen to their conversations during under cover of the night. Remember, that currently information gathering is even more important than eliminating the targets.”

“Excuse me!” A timid girl raised her hand, “But how can we follow any people stealthily within the jungle – everyone will hear us from hundred meters away, but we can’t move around otherwise.”

“We will start our operation tomorrow morning and tonight I’ll show you the proper skill set you will use.” Nick smiled back. At least someone was listening to what he was saying, “Next! All the teams will gather here every day in the morning for the next briefing and situation analysis, but during the night you will focus on listening to the conversations of our enemies. As soon as you are confident you have gathered maximum information that is possible in your current situation, your group will stealthily attack and eliminate the targets. You will have to make the decision of the timing yourselves.”

Suddenly Nick heard murmurs of dissatisfaction and even scorns on faces in front of them and understood what these greenhouse flowers didn’t approve.

“I see, you think that the stealth attack under the cover of the night is below your honor?” Nick smiled while most youths nodded, “Then tell me – which one or even two in your group are willing to pay with your own lives or the lives of your fellow disciples to protect this idiotic pride? I haven’t been blessed like you and never had a real teacher, therefore I had to learn from the people I meet in my life. Once I met this old man who told me: ‘Wielding a weapon is about killing and killing is always brutal and ugly, even if you kill a mass murderer or a rapist. Therefore you have to learn how to use the most brutal and vicious moves while still maintaining a cunning mind.’. Can you guess who was this person? All of you know him very well – it’s your sect master!”

The crowd was in shock to say the least. The elegant and kind sword master Marozzo could say such things? Wasn’t wielding the sword all about elegance and beautiful deadliness?

“Let me give you an example. Approximately two months ago me and YunYun eliminated a group of Holy Order’s members on the Eastern continent. This group consisted of almost thirty Qi masters one of which was elder Dinnar, one of the greatest formation masters in the history!” This time even elder Jerold looked at Nick with stunned expression, not to speak about his disciples, “Do you think we drew our swords, announced our names and did any of that idiotic stuff? We would have been dead within minutes if we acted like proud silkpants! Don’t think much about it for now, you will understand the real meaning when your friend or loved one will die right next to you or may be even in your arms. For now, simply follow my order even if you dislike it!”

Nick looked again at these youths and understand why they disliked this idea, in fact, he disliked it even more, but for them to survive and come back alive it was necessary to learn this lesson as soon as possible.