"Why do you want me to command a small group of people? Just so you know, I am on King Gravos's side. He is a good ruler and has taken good care of me. I will not side with anyone else." I replied in a flat tone. I did not know where this old man was going with his train of thought.
"Don't worry. I am not asking you to go against the king. In fact, I am also on the king's side, which is why I am making this small group. You led your fellow teammates into a dungeon and destroyed its core on top of supplying hurt students with food and water who were trapped on the first floor. You have shown that you have the proper leadership skills to lead a group of specially trained students. I want you to train a group that will be able to jump into action outside the influence of either side. Each student will sign a blood seal contract with you making it so that they will only ever follow your orders.
"You can think of this as a way to gain the title of Magic Knight upon graduation. Only the most exceptional students will ever gain this title and gain the rights to a higher noble title. Faith, I am offering you this chance here and now. If you do not take it now, you will only be a normal student." Ah… this old man is crude. He is hanging a juicy steak in front of me and giving me no time to think about it.
"I will accept under one condition. The team I went into the dungeon with, each and every member, has already signed a blood seal contract with me. I want them all in this new team. We have fought countless battles together and are in sync with one another. I have been wanting to actually train them to become stronger, so this will give me the chance to do so." If I were to have a team of my own, I want them to all be in it. Our time together has made us a single family, and I would hate it if they were pushed aside for no reason when they are all excellent warriors.
"I agree with this. But I have a few I will be adding. Come in!" The Dean yelled out. A door to the side opened up, and Instructor Telive walked out along with four other people, two girls and two boys.
"It's good to see you again, Faith." Instructor Telive said as he bowed his head to me slightly.
"It has only been a day. You don't need to act like it has been years." I said with a chuckle, making Telive smile.
"When I heard you were called to the castle, I was a bit nervous. I am glad you were not detained for what happened." I see he was worried about me being imprisoned for killing the students.
"Ahhh... I will be put on trial and will be under house arrest soon." I replied. I mean, there was no hiding it as it would soon be announced.
"I see. At least you are only on house arrest." Instructor Telive let out a relieved sigh. I don't know why he was so worried. Or maybe he was just grateful that I was able to send them food during the time they were locked up. Either way, he was a good person.
"Instructor Telive will be your cover aid. He will also be under your command as well and will be training under you. If you need anything just ask him. As for the other four, they are the kids you rescued. They wished to lend you their aid and swear allegiance to you under the blood seal contract." The Dean cut in. I turned and looked at the others and remembered that they were indeed some of the people I saved on the first floor. The two girls were even….
I smiled and walked forward and looked all four of them in the eye. They all seemed to be very nervous but did not seem to have any kind of malice. "Names?"
"Frank!" "Jessica!" "Becky!" "Johan!"
They all answered in unison. I nodded as I said: "I will be using appraisal on you all now. I am just checking your current status."
They all looked at me in confusion, but I did not explain further as I cast appraisal on all of them. They were rather weak, but they seemed to have decent abilities in both sword and magic. It seems they did train at least a little.
"Well?" The Dean asked.
"They will need to move into my estate after they sign a blood seal contract with me. They will be trained in the mornings before classes at the academy and then after classes. They will first be undergoing basic physical training to get their bodies up to par.
" Then I will begin training them in magic and swordsmanship. The others had just come out of a long dive into a dungeon, so while these five train, it will give them a small break. In one month's time, we will begin proper training." I turned and looked at the five people. I was including instructor Telive as well. "You will all begin a training cycle of waking up at six am and training until eight am. You will go to classes and then back to training from as soon as you return to the estate up until the third bell. It will not be easy, so be prepared."
I really didn't have time to just train them easily. Even giving them a month is a bit too long since anything could happen between now and then. I just wanted to be able to get them prepared for what was to come even if it was only by a little.
"We are willing to endure!" Frank yelled out and saluted me. "You saved us. We felt hopeless. We thought we would die in that dungeon. But you came to our aide, healed us, fed us, and even freed us. We are completely in your debt. A life debt that we can never repay."
