“You all can leave, the issue with Draxton shall be dealt with by me,” I spoke, my voice commanding. The rest could only nod their heads. With what I have shown, they must have understood that I didn’t do this without any planning in mind.
“Young leader, I just hope that when you catch him and give out the punishment, we can be there,” the human male spoke, to which I nodded my head, a smile gracing my face as I spoke.
“Sure, I already planned on doing this.”
“But what about the spot that Draxton left empty and the future repercussions this will bring out?” The eleven male spoke, his voice softly yet calmly, to which I responded.
“You all don’t have to worry about this. I have everything under control, and everything shall be dealt with perfectly.”
My reply didn’t completely satisfy them, but they can understand. At this moment, Draxton has betrayed us, and me giving out my full trust will just make me look naive.
“Then we shall wait for the good news,” saying so, the rest of them started to disconnect from the call while I looked at them all with a smile on my face. Soon the hall turned silent, with just me, the group, and Noel, who now seems to have stars in his eyes as he looks at me.
“Your families shall be safe, and you shall all not be killed, but I have something else planned for you all,” I spoke, and my words didn’t give them much relief, as the smile on my face would definitely be scaring the hell out of them.
‘This will be fun.’
…
“It’s good to see you, Grandpa Max,” I spoke as I hugged the old man tightly. His violet eyes, once bright, were a bit dull, but they still held the might that I am very familiar with. Grandpa Max, with a stoic face, hugged me back, his expression still, but I knew better that he was happy to meet me and my family.
After I left the hug, it was followed by hugs from Nora and Elda, while Grace gave Grandpa Max a light smile, and Aunt Mira moved and hugged Grandpa Max too. Right now, all of us are being gathered in a closed-off meeting room within the academy, as Grandpa Max wanted to meet us all.
It’s been about 2 days since I dealt with the issue at the Archery Association and gave my blood to Nyla, who seems to have not attended the class till now. But I can feel my connection to her and all the confusion that is filling her mind. For now, I will let her stew in her thoughts. I need her to be a little rattle and honestly, blood-deprived before I meet her again.
“You look healthy as always, Grandpa Max,” I spoke with a light smile as we all took our seats.
“And you look amazing as always, little Austie.”
‘Yeah, I ain’t that little…’ Musing a bit on how the old man would react if he got to know about my real relationship with all the women in this room, I smiled a bit as I responded.
“It’s good to see that you are in good health and won’t leave the army,” I spoke.
“Well, a man has to do what he has to do,” Grandpa Max replied with a light smile, while Grace poured some tea, which he took and started to drink. After this, it came to about small talk between the family.
“I heard things are getting rough at the borders,” Grace said with a concerned tone.
“It’s nothing much, and I am happy to see that you have got your bearings back,” Grandpa Max spoke, his eyes looking at the sword on Grace’s side, while a proud tone filled his words. To this, a loving smile filled Grace’s face as her hands held mine as she spoke.
“Well, I had some help, and it would seem I can’t spend all my time lying in the dark, not when forces that threaten to hurt my family rise,” as she said these words, the atmosphere in the room got heavy, subtle killing intent leaking from both Grace and Mira, while Nora ground up her teeth. Even anger flared in Elda’s face, yet it met with some resistance from her innocence. The one with the most calm reaction is Grandpa Max, but I know from better that it’s just the calm before the storm.
“So what’s the plan?” Grandpa Max suddenly asked, his voice calm yet brimming with hidden intent.
“My group will take down that family two days from now, everything is already planned,” I responded.
“You want the help of our family resources?” Grandpa Max asked, to which I shook my head.
“Mom must have already filled you in, there is no lack of power on my side.” As I said this, I passed on a document to Grandpa Max, who took it up and started to read through it. Seeing so, I started to speak.
“As I used the help of that girl, I have all the inside information that I need. Our actions will be swift with no time to react. By the time they can react, it will be over.” Saying this, I turned to look at Mira as I continued.
“And once we bring in enough proof of that family’s commitment to ‘that’ side and their darkness hidden away, Aunt Mira will arrive miraculously at the perfect time and give the final cut. She would also be the one bringing in all the vengeance and evidence, thus giving her a boost in both power and status within the War Council.”
My words had watered down the whole plan, but just the basics and the information that I gave Grandpa Max would be more than enough for him to understand what I was planning on doing. For the next few seconds, the sound of papers being turned was heard until finally, he kept the document down, a serious expression filling his face as he asked.
“Can this in any way be tracked towards our family?”
“I have put three fail-safes in case of problems and five backup plans, and the main goal here is to not leave any proof behind. Even the people taking part don’t know we will be among them, our identities will be foolproof. Only the most important top brass of the Dark Night knows, and they are not in this, so our identity is fully safe,” I responded, to which he asked again.
“What about those members; Will they betray you?” Grandpa Max asked, to which I shook my head.
“I have their 100% loyalty. Unless a situation where their family is in play, they will never betray me. And to cover that up, I have made sure to place my own powerful protection to keep their family from being taken hostage,” I replied, to which the frown on Grandpa Max’s face lightened a bit.
“How safe are those protections?” He asked, to this an arrogant smile filled my face.
“Unless a god comes out to kidnap them, there is no way those families can be harmed, just like no one can harm my family.”
The last of my words earned a light smile from Grandpa Max while booming chuckles filled the rest of the members, the serious atmosphere lightening up as Grandpa Max leaned onto the chair.
“Leaving aside how you have such powers, this plan seems solid. I’m proud of you, little Austie. My son would have been proud to see how much you have grown,” at Grandpa Max’s words, the atmosphere turned a bit down, but it was still filled with the familial love that I have come to learn and understand about this family.
“My nephew is surely one not to be messed with,” Mira spoke.
“I know, my son’s the best,” Grace said as she placed a light kiss on my forehead. From then on, we just went onto some more light to harder talks until we reached another important subject.
“The pressure across the borders of the beastmen is increasing?” Mira asked for assurance, to which Grandpa Max nodded his head.
“The entire atmosphere around the Sylvia realm feels stiff, and things are getting harder and harder to see,” as he said this, he took a sip of his tea.
“A war is coming, and when it does, there will be no distinction of students or young. I want you all prepared,” Grandpa Max spoke, his eyes turning sharp while the wisdom of the old filled his tone. Even without all the information that I have, he has already foreseen the invasion on its way, one of the benefits of the old, I presume.
“Is this the reason you came all the way here?” I asked, to which Grandpa Max nodded his head.
“It’s one of the reasons. Right now, we don’t know who we can fully trust, and as old-fashioned as I am, I refuse to trust all these tools of communication. One can never know who or what is listening,” Grandpa Max spoke, to which I nodded my head. Even I have some tools to break into the magic frequency of communication devices to listen to the talks, and as one of the most prominent figures of the war, God knows the type of people trying to listen to his words and secrets.
