It has been two weeks since I let the elves join our journey, and I must say that they are a boon to our group. In Second Life, they are known as herbivores and will be insulted if offered meat produce, but here, they are omnivores.

The reason why I tell this? They are great cooks.

They know how to use the ingredients to their limit. They used all of the ingredients and did not waste anything.

Not only as a cook, but they are also a valuable member for their forest navigation skill and scouting ability. They can spot monsters and wild animals a few hundred meters away from us. Their sense is five times sharper than a normal human's.

Their only weakness is that their physical strength is below an average human. They are great magicians but need to work twice as hard to reach my men's level. The women who come to me for training are the only people that can keep up with my men. However, they earn it through sweat and blood.

After a week of training, they asked me to increase their training because they thought they were not growing enough. I never saw Jullian that smug.

Let's just say he found his kind and took them under his wing. Seeing their dedication, I decided to reward them and my men. I have been thinking about this for a week and have asked my father about it. He agrees with my plan and even blesses it.

"Young master, we finished our training."

I look at Jullian walking to my tent and give him a nod. I get up from my chair and walk out of the tent, where many people are waiting for me.

I smile a little and say.

"Thank you for coming here after your training. I will not take time to say something pointless and go to the points. The reason why I call you here is because I want to make an army division for the Cunningham family."

I can see they start to mutter in excitement and confusion.

"I have been talking to my Lord Father, and he agrees. I will make three divisions of elite soldiers to protect the southern territory. The first one will be called Fenrir and Okami. Yes, it is the name of the race of my companion."

I sigh in relief when they do not get angry at my naming sense. Jullian walks to me and whispers something.

"I told you, young master. They will not get angry. They know how powerful Fenrir and Okami are. They see them tearing a thirty meter monster with ease. They are honored for you to name a group after them. That means you think of them powerful enough."

I sometimes did not understand how this world worked. I decided to accept it and continue my speech.

"Fenrir will be a group of Warriors! They will be the ones in the front and protect them with their swords, shield, and mace. They will be the shield that protects the innocent. Okami will be a group of Magicians and Healers! They will be the ones in the back, supporting Fenrir fighting in the front with their magic. They will be the support that heals and supports the fighter and the innocent."

I take a deep breath and take out something from my inventory. It was a blank standard. I touch the blank standard and change it with my thoughts. A second later, the standard changes into a twin wolf howling between a sword with a crown in the middle of the sword.

"This will be our banner!"

I take out two more blank standards from my inventory and split the image into two. The left has a black background with a white drawing, and the other has a white background and a black drawing.

"The left banner will be the banner for Okami, and the one on the right will be the banner for Fenrir."

I stab the two banners next to the first one and continue.

"I will not force you to join, but if you want to join, I demand loyalty and dedication, for we are the protector of the southern territory. However, in return, I will give you all. I will give you money for you to give to your family. I will give your training so you can be stronger. I will give you the knowledge to protect the innocent."

I take a deep breath and continue.

"I want you as a family. I want a pack of wolves that protect each other. Hunt with each other. The lone wolf dies when the snows fall and the white winds blow, but the pack survives. We are different, but we are one. We are different but we are the same in our goal, to protect the people."

I smile at them and extend my hand.

"Will you join me? Will you join my pack and become part of my family? Will you join me in protecting this place? Protecting our people? And giving them a good life? Will you join me as the shield of the people?"

I waited for a few seconds and did not prepare for their shout. I blink for a few seconds at their shout of agreement and smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|Catharina von Xenotra - Heiress of Baron Xenotra|

Dammit! I don't know if the south has this kind of tradition. I guess I now know how Gwyndolin managed to unite all Southern people under one banner.

Jonathan and I decide to come back to Shadowfall city to investigate something. Jonathan and Veronica manage to kidnap someone working for the Alcott family and the inner partner for Lord Alcott.

The man starts to sing about how the spy in Shadowfall is the one who is trying to make Cunningham's trade fail, but so far, they cannot find the potion's lab located. They tried to sabotage the clinic, but it was armed to the teeth, so the spy could not do that, and the soldiers of the Cunnigham even captured some.

Jonathan and I come here to make sure the Cunningham family does not go to the capital city and demand punishment because it will backfire. Lord Cunningham will face a poisonous snake that is willing to stab him in the back.

I remember in the game that he is an honest and honorable man. He died in the Royal Capital after asking the king to punish the injustice to his people and his family. His profile did not say much, but after knowing what is happening in this place, I know that he was killed by the people who want to profit from his people's suffering.

"How is it, Jon? Do you find something?"

The reason why I bring Jonathan with me is because of his talent. His talent is called [Bloodhound]. It is a scouting talent that lets him search for anyone or anything he wants in a large area. He has an imaginary map inside his head that will ping him if his target gets inside his range of four kilometers. In the game, it is not much but here? It is broken. In the game, the radius is too small; it cannot find an object and only find someone. Even then, it has a lot of restrictions, unlike here.

Currently, his target is [Alcott's family Spy], and we manage to catch three of them. Sadly, they are a low-level grunt.

"No. The smell indicates they are another small-level grunt. It is either they did not have any leader or the leader is smart enough to command them through letters."

Yes. That is what we find after interrogating all of them. They never see whoever gives them the order. We thought that whoever they were hiding within the city, but it looks like that is not the case.

Jon and I want to ask Gwyndolin if he sees something weird, but it looks like we cannot ask him because he is gone doing his duty. We also cannot ask Lord Cunningham because it looks like we want to get some information from him, which is true, but I will never admit that.

We don't want to be seen as a spy from the north and make the situation even worse.

However, I can ask Gwyndolin about it if I don't push him too hard. There is nothing wrong with someone his age asking many questions about the city. However, that is easier said than done. Truthfully, I'm grateful that he is away.

As much as I know that he is different from Gwyndolin I know from the game, I still cannot forget how terrifying he is in the game. The Game-Dev really knows how to write a terrifying description of how scary Gywdolin is.

I snap from my thoughts when I hear a horn being blown. I can see many people start running to the wall with a smile. What is happening? I look at Jonathan, and he has the same expression as me, confusion.

We nod and quickly follow the other. When we reach the wall, we can see an army of three hundred men approaching us.

"I wonder whose banner is that? Twin wolves between a sword with a crown in the middle? Is that another country's banner?"

I ignore Jonathan's rambling and focus on the banner. I know that banner. That is the banner of the united Southern Army. The strongest army Gipan Kingdom will have in the future if we continue to follow the canon story.

The first stage of civil war is the creation of the banner.

Can I change the storyline? Or is it doomed from the beginning? I don't want these people to die after knowing what they suffered throughout the decades.

I shake my head. No. I know I can change it. I know I can make a brighter future.

"Cat? Are you okay? You make a lot of expressions there. Anger? Sadness? Disappointment? And Fear? Why? Do you know that banner?"

I nod and say.

"That banner is our future. It can bring us a brighter future, or it can doom us all."

Sorry for the late update. Flu sucks. My nose is runny, I cough every minute, and headaches appear every hour. Lucky for me, it was not COVID. I will try to post the bonus chapter tomorrow.

LuxVonDeux

Hey, I have Patreon, where you can read my other works or go to my Paypal to encourage me to write this novel more! For every $2, I will write 1k words chapter, and for every $1, I will add 500 words more. I will try to write as fast as possible and then post it immediately. I will not force anyone to donate, as you spending your time reading my fic is enough for me. Have a good day!