Chapter 72: You must be Sarah…

“What makes you so confident that he's alive General!? Were he alive, wouldn't he have returned by now!?” Captain Dain questioned. It had already been a full week since Elroy and his squad hadn’t returned with the rest of the guards. Since they hadn’t come back after so long, it was obvious that they were long dead.

“Oh he’s alive. I’m bet my life on it! Ho ho!” Old Man Tony chuckled while stroking his beard.

Nearby, a frantic woman pleaded. “If that man is alive, then my Thomas must be alive as well! You must send someone out to search! Please!”

Outside the compound, Thadius and the rest of the squad were standing just outside the door. He turned and smiled. “You have a woman waiting at home, Thomas?”

“Well, I have a wife and- uh oh…” Thomas froze as he realized something.

The smile on Thadius’ face widened. “A wife, huh. Well, let's not keep her waiting too long. She sounds like she'd go out looking for you herself if you don't show up soon.”

“That's sounds like Sarah.” Thomas frowned, but he didn't move from his spot. His entire body oozed apprehension.

“Time to face the music!” Mavas chuckled, giving Thomas a hearty pat on the shoulder.

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After sending Elroy a knowing look, Thadius opened the door.

[THE YOUNGEST

You’ve successfully foiled the plot to kill the young noble and even led him through great danger in the Mists of Croaka. The quest may continue depending on your future interactions with the young noble.

+150 Fame]

Of those present were Old Man Tony, Captain Dain, Richie, and a young brunette with tears streaming down her face. Everyone turned to look at who entered, and the first one to react was the old man in the corner.

“Ho ho ho! What I tell ya!? Today’s the day!” Tony chuckled happily.

Dain was absolutely livid when he saw Elroy walk in, but he quickly composed himself. As the rest of the squad members filed in, the young woman was on her tiptoes looking for Thomas, who hadn't moved outside.

Nearing hysterics, she rushed up to Thadius since he was the first to come in. “Sir! Have you seen my Thomas!? Wasn't he with this squad!?”

Thadius put on his best remorseful expression. “You must be Sarah…”

Hearing his tone, the woman paled. A fresh wave of tears slid down her freckled face. “Y-yes…”

“Unfortunately, Thomas…” Thadius looked toward his squad with mischievous eyes. Mavas and Bannon immediately put on serious expressions. Only Desha looked absolutely lost at why they were giving the poor woman a false impression.

Thadius sighed heavily, “Sarah, Thomas couldn't make it into the door. He's standing outside scared stiff.”

“Thomas!” Sarah screamed as she rushed outside. Seeing the skinny man standing there with a wry smile, she flew into a rage. “You run off to join the guard when I specifically told you not to! You even went and got yourself injured! Let me see-”

The door closed on Thomas’ severe scolding, and Thadius turned to see Captain Dain glaring at him with narrowed eyes. Thadius didn’t even flinch for the hostile look. Instead, he turned to Elroy and motioned for him to take the lead.

Elroy nodded and stepped forward. “Captain Dain, we’ve map out new areas on the west side of the mists as order. We believe we found what could be a road that leads to the Croaka capital.”

Captain Dain sneered. “Why didn’t you return when you saw that the supplies were gone?”

“We didn’t receive any orders to end the excursion early, sir. Instead of coming back early, we decided to fulfill the orders we were given and then return as planned. Although the supplies were gone, we made do. We also managed, after great difficulty, to slay a hydra that attacked while we were performing our duty.”

Hearing that the Mists Hydra, which was supposed to kill Elroy and those under his command, had been killed instead, Captain Dain nearly flew into a rage. “Nonsense! If you're going to lie, you need to at least make the lie believable!”

Elroy remained unphased and calmly stated, “I expected you to find such a remarkable feat unnatural, captain. So after the hydra was slain, we brought the hydra’s heads along with us. I’m afraid that bringing them inside isn’t possible because of their size. I beg your forgiveness.”

As if on cue, Thomas walked in carrying two ropes on his back. “How can ya even move with these things Thadius? These skulls aren’t light! I don’t think they’ll fit through the door either.”

Thadius smiled. “Just leave them outside, Thomas.”

“Yes, sir.” Thomas threw the ropes out of the door and came back inside. From the looks of it, his wife had already gone home.

Seeing Thomas treat Thadius as his superior officer, Captain Dain couldn’t keep his expression from turning ugly. “You don’t even have the respect of your squad! They answer to this rookie as if he were the squad leader!”

“That’s correct. I surrendered my command during the excursion, and now that we’ve returned, I wish to report that Thadius was in direct command of seven individuals and is sufficient to be promoted to lieutenant. It was also due to his strength that the hydra could be slain.”

“Promotion granted!” Old Man Tony declared.

[PROMOTION OPPORTUNITY

You may now take command of a 10-man group as a Lieutenant. Your superiors will give you your new schedule and orders.

PAY: 45S / Month]

“General!” Captain Dain looked at Tony as if he’d just been slapped in the face.

“We promote capable men in Todos. Don’t we Richie.” he smiled.

“Yes sir.” Richie nodded.

“Then it’s settled! Now, Richie, would you mind takin’ a look at those skulls? It would be an incredible feat if it’s true.” Old Man Tony commanded, then he turned to Captain Dain. “I believe you have somewhere you're supposed to be. I wouldn’t keep that man waitin’ if I were you.”

“Of course...” Dain saluted, and made his way to the door. On the way, he moved to bump into Thadius, but it felt like he had brushed against a mountain, and he ended up stumbling a step.

“Careful captain.” Thadius glared at him, adding in a bit of pressure for assurance.

Dain straightened his posture and growled lowly, “This isn’t over.”

After watching Captain Dain storm out, Richie went outside to verify the hydra skulls while the rest of the squad went further into the compound. All that jogging had left them beat, and they all planned to use their time off to get some much needed rest and healing.

"Thadius, I'd like to talk a bit with you. Did you want some healin' first?" Old Man Tony asked.

Thadius shook his head. "It can wait. I'll go see Christina afterwards."

"I figured as much. Actually, some of the news is 'bout her too, come on." Old Man Tony shuffled his way past the counter and led the way. While they were walking he asked, "Remember the last time we talked about the war?"

"I remember. You said that they would ask for reinforcements for the front line." Thadius recalled the moment clearly. He was still sore about losing the chess match that day.

"Well, things are a bit more serious than I anticipated. The plan was to send down a trainer to whip some of the city guard into shape, but not long after ya'll left for the mists, word come down that we need to round up the gladiators too." Tony sighed and shook his head.

'The gladiators?' Thadius pondered, and the image of a tall, domineering woman with glittering green eyes came to mind.

"They need men that badly?" he asked.

"'Fraid so. But at least they got North Wind to come down. That way, at least they'll be trained proper before they go."

"Who's North Wind?" Thadius questioned. If Old Man Tony praised him, then he was obviously strong.

"Corban didn't tell you? Didn't he tell you about the Todos Sword Style?" Tony stopped in his tracks and turned around with a wrinkled brow.

"It was on his status card that he was in the army, but he never told me about the sword style."

"Well, not many people know it, but the Todos Sword Style was created by North Wind with the help of the Iron Dragon. Then again, I'm not surprised he didn't mention it. He was always the dramatic one, keepin' secrets and the like." Old Man sighed again and continued walking. "Once he gets here, you can ask him yourself at the training camp."

Thadius winced at the words 'training camp'. "How long is this training camp exactly?"

"Only a couple of months." the old man shrugged.

"Is there some way I could be exem-"

"Oh god! It burns!! Just end it now please!"

"Hold him down! Don't let him bite his tongue!"

"We'll find out what's wrong! Just hold on colonel!"