"So, you've been the one taking care of them." Noel was amused when Milfa mentioned the kids. He couldn't help but bow to her, saying, "Thank you very much."
"It's fine. I've taken fancy of them too. They are quite talented kids." Milfa waved her hand as if treating it as not a big deal. "You might be surprised by their progress."
"Is that so? You said earlier that they have surpassed that of normal bandits, right?"
"Indeed. Their dance is elegant but precise. Because there is no one who is actually using the dancing footwork to fight, it makes them pretty unpredictable. By taking advantage of those points, they managed to fight against your average bandits."
"You haven't taught them anything about spirits and Spiritual Energy, right?"
"Of course. In the end, they are about twelve to fifteen years old, you know."
"Fifteen, huh…" Noel looked down with a smile. Now that he thought about it, he had known them for more than two years. The moment he became a noble, it should be three years.
The kids were small back then, but they were almost an adult.
With them training for two years, it shouldn't be weird for them to be quite a fighter.
"I'm looking forward to seeing them. But are you sure it's fine to accompany me like this? You don't need to watch over Dimitri?" Noel asked. They were already walking in the town after entering it through the secret passage.
"He might be like that, but he is a trustworthy person. He knows his boundary, so I'm not that worried. I'll just record what he took later." Milfa chuckled.
"Fair enough." Noel nodded and saw the kids' house on the corner of the street.
Before entering it, he could hear a melody. It was soothing yet beating a bit rapidly. Noel felt a bit energetic and refreshed from hearing the melody alone.
"This melody… contains Spiritual Energy." Milfa gasped.
"Spiritual Energy? Did someone awaken their Spirit?" Noel also noticed the Spiritual Energy and thought Milfa would know about it. After all, she was the one taking care of them. But if she didn't know it, there might be someone visiting.
"I don't know. The last time I checked on them was two months ago. I became too busy because of the matter with the Supreme Devil Organization."
"Are you serious?" Noel hurriedly slammed open the door, trying to see the visitor. It didn't seem like this visitor was planning any harm, but he had to make sure the kids were alright first.
But the moment he entered, he couldn't say a single word. The melody stopped and the kids halted their movements, startled by the sudden intrusion.
To his surprise, there wasn't a single visitor in the garden. When he followed the melody's direction, he realized that they were coming from Erica's direction.
"Huh?" All of them were dumbfounded.
"There is no visitor? Then, the melody…" Noel gasped, looking at Erica.
"Big Brother!" A big smile instantly appeared on Erica's face. However, the kids' reflexes became faster as well. Before she could jump on him, the other kids already rushed to Noel and swarmed him. "Big Brother!"
"Woah?!" Noel got tackled to the ground. "Hahaha… You guys seem to have gotten stronger."
"Mhm." Erica pouted, seeing the other kids beat her first.
On the other hand, Milfa focused on Spiritual Energy and asked, "Erica… Did you awaken your spirit?"
"Oh! Miss Milfa." Erica politely bowed to her. "Yes. It was one month ago. I awakened my spirit, but I don't know the details."
"What is your Spirit? Have you talked to it yet?"
"He visited me on two occasions. He introduced himself as Maestro Spirit, Helphes. As for the second occasion, he granted me the ability to create a melody and control the dance of these people. You could say that he allowed me to lead these guys." Erica pointed at them.
"Big Brother! Look at Erica. She bullied us all the time by forcing us to do a funny dance whenever she pleased." Eric pointed at Erica with a sad expression as if he had gone through nightmares.
"What? That's not fair!" Erica raised her voice.
Noel chuckled. "You guys truly have a good friendship."
Erica looped around and closed the door first so that no one could bother them. Meanwhile, Milfa wanted to ask more about Erica's spirit, but seeing how these guys behaved, it felt like she was just in the way.
"In that case, I'll be leaving first. I'll visit again at a later date." Milfa decided not to interrupt their reunion.
"Thank you, Miss Milfa." Erica politely thanked her and saw her off.
Meanwhile, the others had calmed down and Noel could finally get back up.
"Big Brother. Please come in." Eric extended his hand, inviting Noel in.
"That's right." The other kids pushed him with a smile as if preventing him from escaping.
"So, Big Brother… How long are you planning to stay this time?" Erica asked, thinking about preparing his bed.
"Unfortunately, I will be leaving the next morning. And I think this is the last time we meet." Noel made a wry smile.
"!!!" The children abruptly stopped. They were staring at Noel in disbelief, thinking Noel would abandon her.
"Big Brother. You…" Eric panicked.
Noel sighed and pointed at the house. "Let's enter first. I'll explain it to you guys."
The children suddenly hung their heads low. Even though Noel felt bad about it, he had no choice but to do this for the sake of the children.
Even though the living room was filled to the brim, it felt so spacious because no one was talking.
"Big Brother. Don't abandon us!" Erica broke the silence and begged Noel. There was a tear in the corner of her eyes.
"It's not that." Noel shook his head helplessly. "You should know about my identity by now, right?"
"We know. Miss Milfa has also told us about you. You are Noel Ardagan."
"That's right. The Ardagan Family has a lot of enemies outside. In addition, I'm planning to rebuild my family, so the past enemies will come. So, I won't visit you guys anymore. You have the strength to protect yourself and get stronger… you have a bright future ahead of you."
It wasn't that Noel wanted to abandon them. He just didn't want to meet them in order to protect them.
"No way! If Big Brother was going to rebuild your family, then we would move to your place. We could use our dance to brighten the atmosphere. We could also fight!" Erica refused to listen to his words.
"Erica…" Noel shook his head helplessly. "Just like today, I'll be so busy that I won't even have time to meet you guys anymore. So, please forget about me."
Erica gritted her teeth. Noel was the one who changed their lives, so they wanted to repay him. Without him, they might still live in the slum, having nothing to eat. Some of them might have died due to the harsh winter. They simply couldn't accept this.
"Big Brother!"
Eric grabbed Erica's shoulders as if trying to hold her back.
"Eric. Release me!" Erica was still trying to change Noel's mind, but Eric refused to let her go.
However, it didn't change the fact that Eric intended to obey Noel's words. He said, "Big Brother. You said that we've become strong enough to protect ourselves, right?"
"Yeah. If you start learning about Spiritual Energy, it won't be hard for you guys to enter the Demon Banner Army. So—"
Before Noel finished his words, Eric raised his voice. "In that case, we will also rebel against you! Since you're going to leave us like this, your words don't matter anymore to us."
"Eric?" Erica was surprised that Eric actually talked back to Noel.
However, Eric added, "We are determined to go to your territory. If you push us away, then we won't do things you want and remain in your territory. If you use force, we will just entertain your people so that they beg you to let us stay!"
"You… Do you know what you're talking about?" Noel looked at Eric in disbelief. He told Eric to be the leader, but he just wanted to lead them to their death.
"I don't care. I have chosen not to care about your words anymore. This is my decision as their leader. Besides, I think everyone has agreed with me!" Eric spread his arms as if telling him to see everyone's expression.
All of them looked determined and filled with hope. Even Erica was surprised such a thing was possible.
Obviously, Noel was moved by their action. He took care of them without the intention of bringing them into his territory, yet the children expressed their intention so clearly. Even if he rejected, they wouldn't listen.
"Do you know that your enemies might be the Supreme Devil Organization and the Royal Family?!"
"I don't care!" Eric stomped the ground and shouted, "In the harsh winter, we might only be able to clutch our stomachs while trying to distract ourselves from empty stomachs. We might be beaten by those older guys. Our possessions might be stolen by those guys. Some of us might even die from the cold."
"However, that didn't happen anymore once you came into our lives. You taught us how to become a proper human being. You gave us a goal. So, we would use our lives to repay you. So please…" Eric bowed his head, pleading. The other kids also did the same.
On the one hand, Noel wanted to protect them. On the other hand, he couldn't really say no when the kids did this.
Noel scratched the back of his head, saying, "Fine. You guys won."
"!!!" They raised their heads, and their expressions were brightened.
Noel raised his finger. "On one condition. You have to follow my plans."
