An hour after Fredrick's meeting ended, Cabrera was sitting in front of the Sentinel.
"Another loan?!" Kogar was astounded.
"You spent it all in a single year?"
Cabrera waved his hands, uninterested in addressing the Sentinel's questions. After all, any person with ears or eyes would've heard of the buildings they were constructing.
Most likely, he was just trying to get Cabrera talking, spilling useful information.
"Because of your advisor, we have many mouths to feed. To do that, we'll need this much"
Cabrera pushed a small scroll to him.
Kogar unfolded it. All that was written was a string of numbers.
Reading it, he tilted, giving Cabrera an incredulous look.
"What is this supposed to be exactly?"
"What do you think? That's how much we want loaned"
"You must be joking" Kogar turned stern.
"Not in the least"
"What could you possibly need such amounts for?"
"I beg your pardon, but our aims are not your concerns"
Kogar's vein popped.
"I see you've grown arrogant"
Cabrera just stared at him, giving a 'look who's talking' vibe.
"Are we getting the loan or not?" he cut straight to the point.
Huffing, Kogar returned the parchment.
"I can't grant it. The advisor strictly said for no loans to be allowed to your guild"
"Is that so?" Cabrera frowned and stood.
"I'll be going then" he said and left.
An hour later, he sat in front of Fredrick, having narrated the situation.
"I see. Well, it's as I expected"
Cabrera was surprised.
"You expected it?"
"Of course. The advisor isn't stupid, how could he allow us a loan after seeing what we did with the first one. Especially since we don't pay tax"
"So, what do we do?"
"We'll simply ask for the loan again"
"Huh?"
"Only, this time with a louder voice"
"I'm lost"
"No worries. You'll understand soon enough. Carlos should be done posting the new recruitment notice. By tomorrow, the bans on us will be retracted. Just wait and see"
The day went by and the night passed along with it.
Hours before dawn of the next morning, warning bells hosted atop archer towers were rung, throwing the citizens into a frenzy, for it meant an army was incoming.
Befitting the capital, they responded swiftly. In minutes, the guards were arrayed at the city's gate with Bolton and Kogar at the forefront.
A swarm of people slowly marched on the horizon.
From afar, they seemed like an army of enemies, but Bolton thought differently.
'How did such a large group get past the cities before here?'
There were at least a thousand people marching. It was impossible that such a presence hadn't alerted the surrounding cities.
Especially since an ice shower was ongoing. It made no sense.
Bolton waited for them to get closer.
Upon reaching his range of sight, he was flabbergasted.
"What in the Raikan's name?!" Kogar was straightforward in expressing his surprise.
Rather than an army of touches, the visages revealed were those of…commoners!
Men and women, with their children on their backs, marched through the ice, their bodies and clothes covered in ice.
Bolton could see from afar that they were quivering. Yet their gaze was unwavering.
With every step, someone fell out of sheer exhaustion. Most of them never got back up, and not many had the energy to do anything other than move their legs.
As if the guards did not array themselves at the gate, these people approached without any regard.
The visual of thousands moving in sync brought some knights to panic.
"STOP!" shouted the captain of the guards.
But those marching didn't even put them in their eyes as they walked on.
"I SAID TO STOP!"
Upon seeing they remained unresponsive, he grew alarmed and was almost about to order that the archers rain fire.
Almost, because a figure landed at their side, startling most.
"Don't touch those people!"
Garbed in a black hooded cloak, he surveyed the surroundings.
The captain was taken aback.
More than that, he was furious!
"Who are you to-"
The intruder released his aura, a gold aura, and instantly, the captain was swept away.
At this point, Bolton and Kogar intervened.
"Who dares?"
The intruder faced them and swept back his hood to reveal a familiar face.
"I do"
It was Cabrera.
Bolton became infuriated.
"In what right do you have to intrude on the proceedings of the royal order"
Cabrera bowed his head.
"Lest you forget, I am one of your allies"
Bolton held his hand as Kogar continued.
"Then? Why are you here? Speak!"
He pointed to those approaching.
"I came to escort those people inside"
Everyone was startled as Cabrera continued…
"They are those needy and poor who braved the winds and traveled from nearby places to receive our aid. I was informed of their arrival after nightfall yesterday. Never did I think they'd arrive so fast, nor be so robust in number. I hadn't informed your graces of this movement because of such. I apologize"
Both men took deep breaths. In front of so many knights, they had to radiate power.
Along with that…
'When did he become so strong?'
Kogar knew him to be an Advanced-rank. Yet he had blown away the captain of the guards, who was late Expert-rank, with his aura alone.
That meant Cabrera was mid-Expert at the very least.
'I underestimated them' thought Bolton as he raised their threat level in his mind.
Cabrera brought forth a pouch and handed it to Bolton, who gave a puzzled look.
"In them are the entry fees for those people"
Looking inside, he saw four gold pieces.
Bolton was unnerved, suspicious of their agenda, when his ears caught alight of a knight's conversation.
"He paid for the entry of peasants. Such chivalry!"
Such a statement garnered the respect of these knights, who took chivalry, courage and bravery as core values.
'Ah!' Bolton realized.
'Putting up a show, are we?'
In minutes, he dispersed the guards, sending them back to their posts.
Cabrera whistled and droves of slum dwellers turned guild members came forward. Cabrera told them to stay at the gates, ready to receive all those who reached that point.
Soon after, they arrived at the gates, many fainting the moment their legs touched stone.
Quickly, the guild members took them in, dressing them in thick clothes to protect them from the cold.
When that was done, they were lodged into hotels and the newly built slums to sleep.
For the next three days, people kept arriving, amounting to more than five thousand.
Each rejoiced as Black Jaws gave them food, shelter and clothes. While not much, compared to their previous situation, it was heaven.
But as the numbers grew, Kingsmere grew congested, and so did the complaints.
People slept at the side of the road and eased themselves on it too, causing massive disaster as the city's air wafted with the smell of feces.
Alas, being the one who executed the order to Black Jaws, Bolton couldn't tell them to send those people away.
Instead, he put a commission to clean up the city. Paying a reasonable amount, it was quickly done…by those who made the mess in the first place.
It didn't take long for all lodgings to become jam packed. Kingsmere was unable to provide any more spaces for people.
Around this time, rumors began to spread of how Black Jaws might fold up because of the cost incurred by taking care of many things at once.
To take things further, news of how the royal family denied Black Jaws a loan to take care of the people came to light.
The people went into an uproar, as people headed to the Missionary in swarms.
Taking caution, royal guards were deployed at the forefront of the Missionary.
Of course, with Kogar being Master-rank, it wouldn't take him any effort to get rid of them all if they tried anything funny.
The guards were but a formality and show of power.
The people surrounded the Missionary, looking on with fiery gazes, when suddenly… they bowed!
They bowed simultaneously, throwing the guards into confusion.
"Huh?" they wondered what was going on.
Before long, the people chanted in one voice.
"PLEASE APPROVE THE LOAN!"
The voice of thousands resounded with such force that the guards could only step back.
This was Fredrick's plan.
With Sebastian's help, rumors of how the empire didn't lend Black Jaws the amount needed to take them in was spread to the people.
At this moment, Kogar understood the scheme too.
He ordered the guards to drive them away, but the guards lay unmoving.
These commoners were crying as they hit their head against the floor over and over again.
At such conviction and helplessness, the guards were unwilling to attack.
Instead, they looked to Kogar.
At this time, one of the guild members stood up and came to the forefront. In his hands was the scroll in which the amount to be loaned was written in.
At this critical juncture, Kogar communicated with Bolton.
"They have-"
"I know. I expected something like this" Bolton cut him off.
"So? What next?"
"Grant them the loan"
"As you wish"
That was the end of the conversation.
"Escort him up here" Kogar's voice boomed.
With the reputation of the Royal Family about to take a dive, the loan was administered swiftly.
Ten times the amount Black Jaws had in its reserves was the amount requested.
It amounted to seven million and seventy-five thousand platinum.
An amount unprecedented to any power, making them Lexon's richest organization, at least on paper.
Mind you, even the Empire didn't have such an amount in its coffers, which was part of why it was approved in the first place.
Anything they would buy, they would buy in the Empire.
On paper, they had such an amount, but the empire didn't give them a single coin.
Meaning, the empire would provide them with the item in question while taking the amount from the loan they granted Black Jaws.
If they wanted to buy an item from another kingdom or continent? Niton would give them money.
Why would they do something so stupid? Simple. They were completely sure that they wouldn't be able to pay off the amount in eight years.
No, they couldn't spend it all even if they tried…well, except if they bought the sea.
Due to their tax exemption rule, for the next eight years, they wouldn't pay tax.
But after that, they would pay an astronomical amount.
If they couldn't, the guild would instantly fold-up.
Bolton didn't doubt them though. He'd learnt from their previous stunts.
Instead, the interest would make sure the empire earned multiple times what they'd been given.
Then, he wasn't about to let them have it easy.
To spice things up, he sent a land proprietorship certificate to the S and A-rank guilds, along with a few B-ranks.
Kingsmere was bloated as thousands arrived with the hope of joining Black Jaws.
Bolton's actions sent Niton into an uproar.
If nothing else, many things would change from Ezra's past life.
