After spending an entire week of dates in Ellan to please Elizabeth's anger, it was time for them to go back home.

But first, Lucius had to pick up the baggage he left behind there, Edmund De Corvus and his 80,000 or so men.

'On second thoughts, can't I just kill him?'

'No, I shouldn't kill him. He's smart enough to increase the national prowess of Heimer. Furthermore, his men are some of the best soldiers in the entire continent. It makes sense though, considering that he's the one who leads them.'

'So how should tie him to Heimer? He's a crafty son of a bitch, and there needs to be something that'll tie him down.'

'Ah, that's it!'

****

"I'll give you a family."

"???"

Lucius' blunt tone surprised Edmund and the statement itself made him speechless.

They were currently in the same interrogation room as last week.

"I'll give your men families as well."

"??????"

The second statement made him even more confused.

"So what do you say? Be my slave like I've told you last week, or restart from scratch in Heimer?"

"...."

"I'll accommodate every basic needs for you and your men for the first 5 years. I'll also include a fixed subsidy for all extra expenses. Then, I'll also give you and your men wives so that you can all start a family."

The more he listened, the more perplexed he became.

"Once you have kids, your kids will go to the best academy in the entire continent, and that happens to be in Heimer."

Lucius really emphasized on this sentence, making sure that Edmund knows about this fact.

"During the 5-year period, all of you can do anything in Heimer. You can start businesses, join my army or any government workforce, you can even study at my academy. As long as it's legal and not harmful, I will allow it. However, you must not try to escape the country. You're still prisoners of war, after all."

Though Edmund was still a prisoner of war, he was being offered the same rights as a normal citizen with even some extra benefits.

"But, after the period is over, I'll have to cut off any form of help. You will have to earn money yourself in order to pay for your own expenses. That's why the 5-year period matters."

He could not comprehend why Lucius would give so much to him and his men.

"You've previously said that you want revenge towards Zurg's Emperor, correct? Well, you can't. Not right now. I might change my mind and allow you to take revenge, but that would be at least 20 years from now."

"Also, you might think that the thing about wives is optional. Unfortunately, it's not. Think of it as an arranged marriage. You did say that you've all lost your families because of that emperor, correct? So I'm just giving you all a chance to restart a new family."

"Oh, and I'll send some people to guide you through the proper legal processes in order to become a citizen of Heimer. It's quite complex, but necessary."

"So, after hearing my offer, do you accept or no?"

To Edmund, choosing to be a slave was definitely a no-go. After all, no sane person would obediently choose to become a slave.

However, choosing the latter option was also tough. There was no telling what kind of scheme the King of Heimer was cooking.

For all he knew, it could be a large trap designed to make his life miserable.

'Scary. He knew about my weakness all along. Did he interrogate my men into leaking all our backgrounds? Or was it me who leaked it? I can't remember much from last week's interrogation. It was all just a blurry mess.'

'Alright, I have no choice anyway. Though it's unfortunate that I'll have to forsake revenge, my men deserves more than just sadness and anger. If I can also be happy this way, I'll gladly take it.'

He firmed his decision.

"I'll accept the offer."

Hearing this, Lucius smiled.

"Great."

****

After asking the mayor of Ellan to help transport the prisoners. Lucius and his group set their way back home.

Around 12 hours later, the group arrived back at Heimer's outpost/trade settlement.

It was around 4 PM when they started their journey, and they arrived at 4 AM.

"You guys can return after a sufficient rest here."

He said to the elven soldiers guarding and driving the horse-drawn caravans containing the prisoners and Edmund.

"I'll assign my men for the rest of the journey."

Then, Lucius went to the barracks of the settlement and took several soldiers with him.

"You guys guard the caravans. Don't let anyone escape. We'll resume the journey in 30 minutes."

After saluting, the men abided his orders.

'Hmm, I should name this settlement. It'll definitely become a huge trade hub in the future.'

'How about.... Kiantal City? Kiantal is the tallest mountain in the northern mountain regions, which foot is coincidentally where this settlement resides.'

'And since this place will become more and more popular for trade with the elves, it'll definitely become a city. But I can't put modern technology here other than the basic sewer system, clean water system, and road infrastructure.'

****

Edmund glanced outside his caravan and found that the elven soldiers were being switched with human soldiers.

However, these soldiers were wearing peculiar equipment.

For one, they weren't wearing plated armor at all. Instead, they were wearing some sort of cloth armor.

And the only thing that resembled proper armor on these soldiers were their helmets.

'Is Heiner that poor of a kingdom to not be able to afford proper armor for their soldiers?'

The closest thing he could think of was newly recruited peasants who weren't given plated armor because of their lowly status.

However, these soldiers looked to be healthier than normal. Their figures looked muscular and full of vigor, as opposed to malnourished peasants.

Their faces also looked clean, unlike peasant soldiers with had bad hygiene.

Upon closer look, he saw that the soldiers' cloth armor were separated into two layers.

The inner layer was composed of an unidentifiable cloth, and looked to be of high quality.

'What are those patterns? They look horrible.'

These patterns were in fact camo patterns.

And when he looked at the layer on top of it, he knew that it was some sort of vest.

'Why are they wearing vests? And why did they make those vests thick? It's just fabric after all, arrows can easily pierce it.'

He did not know that they were bulletproof vests.

After their clothes, he could not resist observing the weirdly branched sticks these soldiers were carrying.

'What kind of weapon is it?'

Suddenly, the soldiers began to disperse towards their respective places.

Some became the coachman of each caravan, and the others rode their horses to guard the caravans.

Soon, the caravans began to move again.

It was time to enter Heimer.