Once my classmates have already been properly bound and blindfolded. I ordered my men to take them to the choppers. After my classmates were loaded, I looked for Tia and Johan. I found both of them along with the two adventurers in the gazebo in a corner of the courtyard.

They noticed me approaching and waved at me, so I waved back at them. Once I arrived at the gazebo, Johan immediately grabbed me by the shoulders. "You have a lot of things to explain to me, but first of all. Thanks."

"Oh-uhmm, yeah." I replied. "Leah, have someone load the old man on the chopper."

"Yes sir." Leah replied before leaving.

Now that we were left alone, Johan released my shoulders and looked at me with a serious expression. "Now then, I do believe I owe a proper explanation."

"Yeah I know, I know. Well, to cut the story short. We retook the town from the monsters without any casualties, but then the heroes decided to bring in the townspeople inside as we chased the monsters into the dungeon. When we reached the deepest level of the dungeon, we came face to face with the so-called Demon Lord. We managed to injure him but then we felt the dungeon shaking. Once we got out of the dungeon my men told me there was a big blast, and that blast killed 200 townsfolk. And now we're here." I recounted. "Oh and yeah, I banished the heroes."

Johan stroked his chin, "I see… WAIT!? YOU DID WHAT TO THE HEROES!?"

"Weeeell… The townsfolk hate the heroes since they were the reason why around 200 townsfolk died. So yeah, I did that to protect them and to curry some favor with the townsfolk." I replied.

"Hrmm, *Siiighh* I don't even know what to say." He replied indifferently.

"So, what do you want to do next? We can drop you off near the capital if you want?" I offered.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks again." He said.

After dealing with Johan, I next turned to Tia, "Hey Tia, you need to go to the eastern duchy or something right? I don't know where exactly you want to go, so I don't know.where we can drop you off."

"Wait, did you say she's going east?" Johan interjected.

"Yeah, that's what she said when we first met." I replied.

"When you first met!? I thought you guys were from the eastern kingdoms!?" Johan questioned.

"Oh yeah… I guess that's what we told you. Yeaaaah… Sorry about that." I answered.

"I don't even know what's true anymore!" Johan said in exasperation as he clutched his head in his hands. "Since she's going to the eastern duchy, she can come along. The eastern duchy's capital is where my next trip is."

"Tia, is that fine with you?" I asked her.

"Ye-yeah, that's fine with me. That's my original destination anyways. If that's fine with sir Johan." Tia answered.

"It's fine with me, I still owe you for the 10000 Pisas anyways." Johan replied.

"That settles it then. Johan, thanks for agreeing to take Tia to the eastern duchy. And Tia, thanks for everything until now." I said to both of them. "Last but not the least, what will the both of you do?" I turned and said to the adventurers.

Tristan pondered for a while before answering, "I'll stay here and protect this town where Maria died." Tristan answered.

"I'll go where the boss goes." The other one said.

"Hmmm, if that's the case. Then I have the perfect job for you guys." I replied. "But before that."

I clapped my hands and the soldiers who arrived behind Tia and Johan blindfolded them. They resisted at first, but calmed down after listening to my explanation. The adventurers were also surprised with what was going on. I had my men help Tia and Johan board one of the choppers after they were calm enough already.

I summoned another H-19 and 2 SAS Teams. I ordered them to dress up as normal townsfolk before they boarded the chopper. I also gave each team a small portable radio set. After everything was set, I boarded the chopper and gave the order to lift off.

Our chopper was the first to lift off and the other two followed behind. I'll drop everyone near the capital. I peeked out of the chopper's window and saw a vast forest and some mountains as we sped through the air.

An hour later, the pilots reported seeing a walled city off in the distance. Woah, what normally takes a day of traveling just took an hour for us. I had them find a suitable landing area near the capital's gate so the choppers reduced their altitudes. Just above the treeline.

As soon as the ramp dropped, the SAS troopers got off and secured the perimeter. I followed behind them once they said that the coast is clear. The other chopper's ramps also opened and a group of 4 soldiers came out of each chopper and formed a perimeter around it. I ordered them to unload everybody out of the choppers.

Once everyone was outside, I led them to the main road before ordering my men to take off the blindfolds. I also had my SAS troopers line up among them.

"We've arrived near the royal capital." I announced.

Tia and Johan were the only ones to be genuinely surprised since they were the only ones who knew it'll take a day to reach the capital from Nareña. The SAS troopers also let out shocked gasps so they won't be found out. The heroes on the other hand, weren't even surprised in the slightest. The old court sorcerer was still unconscious on the stretcher so I had the SAS troopers carry him.

After their bounds have all been removed, I went to Cess and whispered something in her ear. I parted with her and Rika immediately asked what I whispered. "Ian said he doesn't care about us anymore." Cess answered.

"I see." Rika replied dejectedly.

"You better be off then." I said to the whole group. "Johan, thanks again. Tia we'll see each other again, show me around when we go to the eastern duchy, okay?"

"Of course!" She replied with a smile.

"Goodbye for now Gabriel, if that is your name Haha." Johan said with a dry laugh.

"Yeah, goodbye. It is my real name though." I replied as I saw them off.

Cess turned around one last time and mouthed a silent thank you. Two SAS troopers also turned around and gave a salute.

As soon as they were out of sight, I decided that it's time to leave. Thus, we headed to where our choppers landed and took off.

Along the way, I spotted a huge group of people on the road below. "Are those still refugees?" I asked one of the pilots.

The pilot picked up his binoculars and inspected the group, "No sir, that doesn't look like a group of refugees, they're armed. What should we do?"

Are they coming to Nareña to retake it from us? No, that shouldn't be the case since we just took it yesterday. This must be the force sent to subjugate the monsters.

"Leave them be for now, head back to base, we must prepare for the arrival of our guests." I answered.

"Will do, sir."

We continued on our way to Nareña since the small army won't be able to reach the town til the next day.

+ + + + +

An hour later after being dropped off by Ian, the group of heroes and the others arrived at the capital's gates. The guards immediately rushed to them as they seemed like a group of suspicious people.

"HALT! STATE YOUR BUSINESS!" One of the guards yelled at them with his spear pointed at them.

"We're from Nareña, I'm with the heroes and the court sorcerer." Joham replied.

"Wait from Nareña? Did you pass by the Nareña Liberation force?" The guard asked.

"Y-yes… We saw them on the way here." Johan answered with uncertainty, but luckily for them. The guard didn't notice.

"Please hurry inside then, we'll call a priest for His Excellency the Court Sorcerer. We'll also call a carriage for the heroes." The guard said.

But Rika quickly shot down that idea, "No no no, we've actually been tasked to help around the kingdom."

Carlo also added to Rika's answer, "Yeah, we'll be heading east now since they need us there, right guuuuys?" He said as he turned around to his classmates.

"" Y-yeah. "" came their reply.

"There you have it." Carlo said.

"U-uhh, if that's what the Honorable heroes want." The guard replied.

 "" THAT'S WHAT WE WANT! "" The heroes shouted in unison.

The guards were taken aback by the heroes' actions. It took them a couple seconds before they could compose themselves. The heroes were relieved that the guards won't force them to go to the city. All of them except one, Marvin was clearly irritated.

"I WON'T GO WITH THE REST OF YOU!" He yelled and grabbed the shoulders of the guard, "GIVE ME YOUR FASTEST HORSE, I'LL GO WITH THE LIBERATION FORCE!"

"E-euhmm… "

"GIVE ME A DAMN HORSE!"

"Y-yes sir, of course."

The guard ran inside and came back moments later with a horse in tow. A group of knights also followed behind. "Sir Hero, here is the horse you wanted." The guard said as he handed over the reins. "A group of knights also wanted to follow you. They will also bring a small contingent of their personal retinues."

"My very own knight force huh?" Marvin muttered to himself before replying, "Very well, I shall allow them to join me."

"I thank you for accepting our selfish demand, Sir Hero. I am Sir Alejandro de Leon, the representative of our group. We'll need an hour to gather our retinues." The knight leading the group declared atop his horse.

Tsk, I don't like that he's looking down on me, Marvin thought. "Take your time, we leave once everything is ready." He said as he tried to climb up the horse.

"Marvin! You don't even know how to ride a horse!" Jose warned, but it came a second too late as the horse thrashed around and it threw Marvin to the ground.

The guard almost let out a laugh, but managed to suppress it. The knights only shook for a moment and immediately regained their composure. The heroes on the other couldn't hide their laughter.

"HAHAHAH DAAAMN BROOO!" Jose said.

"Hoooo Boy… That was my biggest laugh since we got here… " Richard added.

Even the girls in the group laughed at Marvin. This didn't sit well with Marvin. He unsheathed his sword and pointed at the heroes. "FUCK YOU ALL! YOU USELESS DAMN HEROES!"

Marvin tried to get up the horse and succeeded this time. He then looked down on his fellow heroes and declared with a loud voice, "Look upon me! THE GREAT HERO MARVIN!"

He tried to move the horse, but no matter how much he pulled the reins, the horse wouldn't move. To save him from more humiliation, the knight's leader approached him and held the reins. "Let me lead your horse, sir hero."

"Y-yeah, you should be honored that you get to lead the Great Marvin's Horse." Marvin said self importantly.

"It is my greatest honor." The knight said as he bowed his head. This made Marvin feel more important so he grinned and laughed.

The other heroes just watched the scene. "We should get a move on too." Rika suggested.

"How will we get there?" Cess asked.

"Uhmm, that I do not know… " Rika replied.

Johan, who overheard this, joined in their conversation. "How would you like to join us? We'll also head east in a few days."

"If that's okay with you, then we'll gladly accept your offer." Rika answered.

"That's fine with me, so it's settled then." Johan replied before turning to the undercover SAS troopers. "How about you fellows? Why did you even get kicked out of Nareña?"

"We were part of the city guards." One of them answered.

"I see. So where are you headed?" Johan asked.

"The four of us will stay here in the capital while the other four will head east in a few days since they still have family there." The SAS trooper answered again.

"How about they come with us too?" Johan said as he pointed at the other SAS squad.

"If that doesn't inconvenience you. But we won't accept it with just us receiving, in return for letting us join you. We will act as additional guards." The other SAS squad leader answered.

"Splendid, meet us at the city's southern plaza in 3 days." Johan said.

"Will do."

After that, they entered the town and parted ways. Marvin was also led into the city while the knights were left outside. The court sorcerer, Antonius, was taken by a carriage from the church.

Once the knights were left alone, they went to the side of the road, dismounted, and huddled together. “Do you think that Hero will do as we say?” one of  them asked.

“He’s easy enough to manipulate, he just wants fame and glory based on our interaction.” Sir Alejandro said.

“That’s perfect then. After retaking Nareña, we can just use the hero as a figurehead ruler and we will be the true rulers in the shadows.” One of the knights added with a laugh.

“We’ll have a monopoly on dungeon materials and be rich from diving into the dungeon.” Another one added.

“We must first make sure to let the people know that the Hero captured the town with our help, therefore we must now go and prepare our retinues.” Alejandro announced as he mounted his horse.

The other knights also mounted their horses with big smiles on their faces thinking that retaking Nareña will be easy. Little do they know that the current garrison of Nareña is far more superior to them.

Back in Nareña, the Para Bellum is also preparing to welcome their guests that’ll arrive the next day.

MrNerdie

Just got home, so I'll start posting chapters again. Thanks again for reading my work. Hope you'll stick around.