The following day Cygnus woke up and stepped out from his tent to stretch and perhaps to have some coffee or tea. He had his hands stretched out to the sky when a thought resounded in his mind. He looked around and saw that the soldiers who were awake were looking at him with a grin.
He frowned and wondered what happened so when he read their minds he was a bit taken aback. Yes, he remembered drinking beer and using his magic. He looked in the direction of where the majestic tents of the heroes were supposed to be standing and saw that there was nothing.
There was also black powder on the ground which he suspected was the ashes from last night. Instead of regretting what he did, he even looked proud because of it. Now all he could see on that side were humble makeshift abodes.
He shook his head and went to where the direction of the kitchen was. His morning was already great and he did not want it to be ruined by not drinking coffee or tea. When he reached them, he saw that Mr. C was already there.
"Good morning!" He greeted them with an unusual enthusiasm that made the butler shut his eyes.
"You are in good spirits, young master!" One of the cooks laughed when he saw how energetic the young man was. "You seem to have gotten a nice sleep," he even added with a grin.
"Well yes, especially after I saw what happened to the other side of the base and I have a feeling that my day will continue to be good," he also answered with a smile. He looked sheepish and innocent with a light blush on his face which made the cooks swoon.
Laughter echoed after his statement. They were indeed shocked at what he did that night but they all had the same thoughts after the shock died down. The heroes deserved it. Not one from the general's side felt sympathy for them because even the general offered help, they remained stubborn.
"But you should be careful young master, I heard that those heroes are good at holding grudges against people who offended them," one of the cooks warned. She even lowered her voice to make it seem like she was telling them a horror story.
Cygnus placed both of his hands on his waist, "Don't worry, I'm sure that my brother will protect me and besides I can also use magic." The smugness in his voice made the people admire him.
He was right, the general would definitely protect him and he was also a brilliant mage. There was no need for them to worry so much. The cooks agreed to his words before they continued with their work.
Mr. C stepped towards him and greeted him. "Good morning master, I've prepared black coffee for you, shall we return to your tent," he stretched his towards the direction where Cygnus came from.
"Alright." Before they left, Cygnus waved at the cooks then he also gave them a grin.
The butler placed the cup of coffee on the table inside the tent. He then brought out an assortment of sweets that he had been keeping in their dimensional storage. He even prepared a cup of hot milk for Vain who was already awake.
"I don't remember what happened last night but I bet that I was cool," Cygnus announced. He brought the cup of coffee to his mouth and took a whiff of the strong smell from the coffee before he took a sip.
"I can show you a recording of what you did," Ari suddenly showed up.
As always, she looked serious but these days she's been letting her presence be known. She would pop out of nowhere and declare that she would join them. This must be due to the encouragement of Mr. C who had been her mentor ever since she first joined the master.
"Okay, play it. I want to see it," Cygnus nodded. The woman did not hesitate to project a video of what he did that night.
Cygnus realized that he was indeed intoxicated because he wouldn't do something like that when he is sober. Well, he would but not in that kind of way. It was still acceptable though because he still managed to look cool while being drunk. He was nodding his head while looking at the video and was even impressed at what he did at the end.
"Please stop being proud of what you did, you'll need to go to the president and apologize for what happened." Linius informed him from the tent's door. He just lifted the flap that serves as the tent's door when he caught a glimpse of what they were watching.
Cygnus looked at Ari and the woman retracted the projection. The master sighed and leaned on his chair, "Do I really need to do that?" He was not a fan of the idea and it was too much hassle for him to do so.
"Yes. Throughout the duration of this mission, I want to maintain the peaceful relationship between me and the hero association. We can hate each other but we can't jeopardize this mission just because of the things that we don't agree upon. What happened last night might trigger an internal strife," Linius explained.
He needed the master to understand how important the mission was and he did not want their progress to get ruined just because of a misunderstanding. He saw that the master stood up from his seat and walked up to him. Linius gave the master a nod before he turned around.
The both of them walked towards where the heroes were. They were currently waiting for their breakfast to be served when the both of them arrived. Cygnus could already feel the hostility being directed towards him. The heavy gazes were all directed at him even though they all appeared to look like they were looking at them normally.
The president and the general exchanged perfunctory greetings before Linius gave the master a weak nudge. Cygnus stepped forward and gave the president a small bow before he stood straight. He stood tall and with his height of at least six feet, he really looked intimidating. His body was more on the lean side but the way he stared at them with his sharp gaze made him radiate power.
"I apologize for what I did last night. I was under the influence of liquor and I was not able to stop myself from creating some disturbance and burning your tents." He sounded sincere and the heroes could not detect any lies from his words but he still managed to apologize to them without looking sorry nor regretful.
Since Acasia deemed that he was sincere, he did not have any choice but to accept the apology. "Just next time, you should be more careful because you might offend other people who will not let this matter go."
'He's a very good actor,' Cygnus thought to himself after getting a peek of what the other was really thinking. If not for the face they were maintaining, he would have jumped at Cygnus and would strangle him to death. "I understand and I will be sure to keep that in mind and thank you for forgiving me."
After that he gave them his hidden weapon, an innocent smile which showed them that he was actually harmless. Linius wanted to frown and look away but he couldn't do and endure the master's acting. With that, Acasia sighed and let them go but he would still not forget what happened.
The whole morning was used to pack up and prepare for their move. They'll be moving their base to the place where Linius and his group cleared for them. After the base camp was finally cleared, they all moved out.
It took them the whole afternoon to finally reach the cleared area for them. Since they were already in the middle of a forest and the temperature was a bit humid, there's no need to create a barrier that would regulate the temperature. What the heroes created was a barrier that would protect them from possible monster attacks.
For the first night, they slept under the stars and none of them complained but on the other side, the heroes were still fixing tents where they could comfortably sleep. This had been the case for the past six months so the soldiers were already used to it. But it bothered them that the young master was going to sleep in a sleeping bag with them.
"Are you sure that you are okay with sleeping outside? Should we build a tent for you?" One of the soldiers asked after he saw that the young man was laying a sleeping bag on the ground.
Cygnus looked up at the tall and burly man that was looking down at him and smiled. "I'm fine and besides, me and my nephew wanted to look at the stars."
The excuse was not really believable but the soldier still bought it. He returned to his comrades and told them what Cygnus said. They looked at the seemingly fragile man who was even paler under the light of the fire and couldn't help but worry for him. They were under the impression that he was not used to this kind of life.