"Humph! How dare you try to take advantage of my Faith!" Adel snorted with a satisfied look on her face as she watched Sir Tomas holding a certain area on his body as he lay on the ground frothing from the mouth.
"Well, I guess we can call him Tammy from now on…." David joked as he let out a long sigh. "Adel, can you not incapacitate my men with your jealous rage?"
"What jealous rage!? He was trying to make use of his status to push things on to Faith! Who does he think he is!?" Adel yelled out in anger.
"Adel, it's fine. All it is is whacking people. " I cut in, trying to calm her down. But Adel still seemed unconvinced.
"No! If he is not willing to even offer to pay upfront, then he is just trying to take advantage of you. There is no free ride in this world. If he wants your help, he has to pay you at least ten gold per lesson!" Adel shot back, causing me to chuckle. I wonder if she realizes that even her uncle probably can't offer ten gold per lesson to someone.
"Adel… Ten gold is a little." David's voice quivered slightly at Adel's words. See, I was right! He can't!
"What!? Is my Faith not worth ten gold? Is she not worth that much money just because she is young and a demihuman? Is my Faith not young, pretty, and amazing!? I mean, she is so perfect that…." Adel somehow went into a rant, causing me to wave my hand to put a mute spell on her. She was still flailing her arms about as her mouth opened and closed. She was pointing and furrowing her brow at David as if she was scolding him. In fact, I think she was scolding him.
I walked over to her and placed my finger on her lips as I removed the mute spell from her. "Enough."
"Mmm…" Adel nodded obediently as she lowered her head.
"I will help because I want to. I do not care about money, but the way he went about it was a bit forceful. But I think he was thinking only about the benefit of the knights' order, so I will let it slide. I think one of your kicks was enough punishment for the time being." I said softly. Adel nodded her head in agreement, to which I smiled and turned back around. "So for now, just have your people go to my house early mornings and in the evenings. I will do what I can to help."
"Huh? Ah…. yes… I will do that." David seemed to be confused as to what was going on, but I did not care to clarify things.
"Now then, let's head back home. I am under house arrest from this day forward. At least until my trial is over." I said as I took Adel by the hand and began walking out of the training area. David quickly came out of his stupor and followed after us. He was, after all, in charge of watching over me.
Luckily everything was settled quite easily. I know Count Freedman's punishment will soon cause a stir amongst the other nobles, and the Prime Minister might even try to intervene, but sadly for him, the target this time was not someone he could just sweep under the rug. After all, the one he 'kidnapped' was the only princess of the kingdom. He would not be able to cover up for the Count and would probably have to throw his chess piece away.
As for Count Freedman trying to get himself out of this on his own, that was basically impossible unless he took his own life or had someone break him out of the dungeon. There would be no way of him getting out of this without dying. And I do not think someone like him can live out on the lamb. He was too used to his rich lifestyle. But then again, anyone who wished to keep their life would be able to adjust and suffer if it meant keeping their lives. So I guess we can only wait and see.
When we got home, I finally got to stand in front of everyone. With the new additions to the team, I also passed out some system stones and ability stones I had set aside for just in case situations. A lot dropped after all, and luckily I did, or else I would have to make another trip to the castle to get some. "Alright, I am sure everyone has become acquainted since I have been gone. So I will get straight to the point. You five are to be up at first light tomorrow. No one is to be late, or you will have to do double the routine at night."
"Boss, you are a demon!" Steven, of all people, was the first to yell out in protest. I guess he wasn't a morning person.
"I wasn't talking about you unless you want to join them. This was only for Frank, Jessica, Becky and Johan, and Instructor Telive." I said with a small smirk causing Steven to blush.
"Everyone else gets a month's break. You all suffered greatly during our dungeon dive and worked very hard, so rest up. We will be doing it again in the future. But in one month more training will be held. I will also be having a knight from the white knights come and train us all in swordsmanship. I will try to get some other trainers as well for the other schools of weaponry."
"Boss, what is our goal now?" Amanda asked.
"To grow as strong as possible. So make sure you take classes seriously. If you have issues in a subject that you are taking, ask for help. Remember, we will not only be training our bodies but our minds as well. Knowledge is also another form of power." I replied with a smile. While it may not sound like power at all but knowledge was a key thing to have when doing anything, from daily tasks to battle.
