"Haaaahhhh… this is much better," Celion said once the ice wall had been finished the next day.
The temperature had decreased a fair bit, enough to make Celion feel really comfortable and enough to make Fenhair furrow his eyebrows. It seemed that making those two and possibly the other two remain in the same place was going to be a bad idea, so he had to consider better options.
"Let's go home… I will have to stop to talk with Vangel and father for a bit to avoid problems, but this shouldn't take long," Aion said. "You guys should wait in the sky in the meantime."
"... Right," Arlana said while showing a suspicious expression.
"What, are you a fan of my father as well?" Aion asked.
"No, it is not that…" Arlana said while looking away.
Aion could guess what Arlana was thinking, but he decided not to voice it. In the end, they flew to another earth platform, and once they reached the capital a few hours later, Aion jumped from it and landed in the garden of the castle. He confirmed that his father was with Vangel again… he has been working directly with him a lot lately.
In any case, this time, Vangel was talking with a lot of people, so Aion had to wait for a bit longer. This time, Lexus didn't come to talk with him before the real meeting as well, so he could tell that Vangel stopped him from doing so. He probably was aware that Aion brought a massive beast to guard the fallen capital… he would be stupid in not to keep spies watching the place.
"You are coming here a lot lately, aren't you?" Vangel asked when Aion entered the throne room.
"I wish that I didn't have to, but following such formalities comes with the perks of being a noble," Aion shrugged.
"As usual, I appreciate your honesty…" Vangel said and then sighed. "Well, then, what do you have to say for me?"
Aion didn't think too much about what he would say to Vangel, so he just told him a few things about the fact that he was lying low while preparing for when the troubles arrived. He didn't give the specifics, though. He also told him that he was going to rebuild the capital and keep it like a historical relic, and thanks to that, he has been learning a lot of things and obtaining their cooperation. Although he wanted to keep Arlana and Seris' presence hidden, it was impossible since they weren't trying to hide, so he just told them that they were living with him and his mother, and he said to them that Arlana was just a cousin of Seris.
"... So far, there are no signs that people know about the existence of that giant bird, but it is only a matter of time before people from outside learn about it," Vangel said while showing a bit of an annoyed expression. "The rulers of other countries will think that we are preparing super weapons… will the giant bird fight to protect this country, or will you force it to fight with us?"
"Our agreement was that he would only fight certain battles," Aion replied. "Still, I am confident in my fighting abilities without his help. Is there anyone that you want to be taken down now? If you give me a good reason to do so, I don't mind giving a hand. Still, I want their money and treasures if they are rich."
"So far, we only had to deal with economic attacks, nothing that you have to involve yourself with," Vangel shook his head. "Still, there is something that you can do to help the kingdom and prove your loyalty once again. You will be rewarded for it as well. I want you to build a wall that will protect our western border. Lately, some monsters coming from that direction have been attacking merchants and even fields where we produce grains, and there are many signs of enemies from that country using the chaos to steal and kill some merchants. I can give you ownership of Ulrei's territory if you accept that. He passed away without having any heirs, so everything that he had will be yours."
"Ulrei?" Aion furrowed his eyebrows.
"It is the lord that ruled the land north of your region… you don't even know your neighbors, Aion?" Lexus asked, visibly worried.
"Ah, it was the lord barrel… I saw him once," Aion said, and then he recalled that he attacked his business once for being an asshole that got in his way. "He passed away, huh… too bad for him."
Aion recalled that he had some ships and a port, and Ulrei's territory was quite rich since they produced wine. It seemed like a fair trade, but Aion wasn't that much interested in money anymore, and he worried since he would only make his mother work more.
"I guess I can do that, but I will take my time, don't expect that it will be built in a few weeks," Aion said once he realized that he would have to build a wall that was more than one thousand kilometers long.
"That can't be helped," Vangel said. "I take it that you won't like a ceremony to be rewarded with the title of the lord of the region, so I will just order for the papers to be passed down and inform all of the inhabitants of that region that you are their lord now."
"That will help. Well then, until later," Aion said and then turned around to leave.
Lexus hurried up to talk with Aion before he could leave. He looked like he had a lot of things to ask, but he couldn't since he could tell that Aion was hiding a lot of things for good reasons.
"Hah, there isn't much for me to say here… just be careful, Aion," Lexus said after a long sigh.
"Fear not. Everything will be fine, father," Aion smiled and then tapped his father's shoulder.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om