Putting the demands aside, Billy was more worried about the name of that Captain. Pierre… that was definitely a french name. Until now, he only found English-like names. So, that made him frown.
"Very well, we will explain the situation to our leader," Drew said. "It will take a few days, though."
While the leaders of the tribes understood those demands, the other members frowned. It looked like they were being looked down… a mere captain demanding the presence of Edward. Still, they only thought that because they had only experimented with diplomacy a few times. Besides, they were on the weak end of that negotiation. Since they didn't try to cross the river, the people on the other side didn't need to negotiate with a small town such as the hammersmiths. In fact, they probably knew about their existence and decided to ignore it completely.
"I am surprised that there are other lords across the river," Lily said. "I am curious as to the kind of place they live in."
"Since they have so much equipment made of iron and theirs also seemed high quality, I would say they are more advanced than ours," Billy said, still wondering about Pierre's name.
"Since that is the case, once they realize that, they might try to subjugate us," Natalie said.
"Let's not think about something so scary… at least for now," Alexander said. "What are you going to do, Billy?"
"I wanted to go home, but Dad said that we should keep a strong number of soldiers here just in case," Billy said. "Only a few of us are going to report to Edward and then escort him if he decides to come."
At the very least, Drew will go and inform the family that everything is fine, and he and the others left on that very same day. As for the army on the other side, nothing changed.
In any case, since they couldn't work, everyone spent that week bored out of their minds. As for Billy, he trained with his friends as usual. It was already the norm for them to practice when they had free time. Once that week passed, Edward actually came to the site… considering the traveling speed, it seemed that he was actually looking forward to it.
"Oh, your progress is faster than I had anticipated," Edward said while looking at the pillars and the first part of the bridge. "It also looks a lot sturdier than I had imagined."
"What are your orders, sir," Drew asked.
"Let's talk with this Captain you mentioned," Edward replied. "He should have sent the message to his superiors by now."
The other leaders nodded and then prepared to move. After ten minutes, they headed toward the other side. Still, Billy stayed behind since only so many people could stay in the pillars at the same time. After five minutes, they returned.
"We received the permission to cross the river, and lord Edward can take fifteen guards with him," Drew said. "The rest of us will stay here and keep working on the production of the materials necessary for the bridge."
Billy thought that each tribe leader would choose a member of their tribe to help with the work, but Edward was the one who decided that. As if things weren't weird enough, he also picked Billy's entire group.
"Sir, they are talented kinds… even while putting aside my pride as a father," Drew said. "Still, they are just kids."
"Don't worry about the small stuff, Drew," Edward said while patting his shoulders. "We aren't going to a fight. We are going to talk."
Billy was as much troubled as his father, but his friends barely could contain their excitement, which made Natalie's and Lily's parents frown. They clearly weren't up for the task of guarding the lord of the town in an unknown land that they knew nothing about. Still, they couldn't disobey the orders of their leader.
"Ah… I am being surpassed by my fourteen years old son," Nikola said with a fake depressed smile. "I am a failure as a father."
"You guys… you shouldn't do anything weird, you hear me?" Drew asked. "This mission is no joke and we can't afford to make any mistakes or give the wrong impression."
"It is useless, I can already see those brats making mistakes every ten steps…" Leo said.
While the parents were trying to make their kids behave, Natalie's mother was utterly silent. Billy had forgotten her name since she was a person of few words, and then he confirmed with Appraisal that her name was Lucy. Billy had never been a parent, but her cold attitude was starting to annoy him… even if his daughter was troublesome, that overly cold attitude was messed up. Despite that, Natalie was calm and anxious because she had heard from Billy many times that she needed to deal with her short fuse.
After the preparations had been made, the group began to jump over the pillars and reached the shore on the other side. The soldiers frowned when they saw the four misfits. They were too young to look like elite guards, after all.
Pierre- Lv 68 - 2250/8000 EXP
HP: 650/650
MP: 130/130
SP: 544/544
Skills: War Cry Lv 24, Shield Smash Lv 32, Defensive Stance Lv 22
Spells:
Passive: Language Skill Lv 55, Spearmanship Lv 35, Shield Mastery Lv 35, Pain Resistance Lv 30
Billy frowned when he checked Pierre's status… putting aside his level. He sure had some weird skills. What surprised Billy most was the Pain Resistance. He had got wounded several times during training, but he never got that skill. Wasn't something that could be learned just like that? He had to investigate it.
"Are you ready?" Pierre asked. "The main town is pretty far away, it will take five days on a horse."
"It is pretty far away… how come you managed to deliver a message to your lord so fast?" Drew asked.
"We sent a raven," Pierre said.
