Volans walked together out of the mercenary guild as they talked about their next plan.
"We will have another meeting this afternoon, and I will convince them to agree with my plan…" His voice trailed off as he let out a sigh, "I don't think I would need to convince my brothers. They will agree with my plan, sending me and my people to ambush the Dominion Army. They will be looking for an excuse to send me to the most dangerous place, even if I don't suggest this idea to them."
"That's good, then. We don't need to worry about anything if they agree. We will meet again at night," Tang Shaoyang waved his hand at Volans as they split away when they were in front of the mercenary guild's building.
Volans looked at Tang Shaoyang's back and was still unsure about the plan. It was a stupid plan, but he already saw what the man was capable of. He had a guess who this man might be, but that was merely a guess. He could not confirm it, and he was not stupid enough to send people to investigate Tang Shaoyang.
That might ruin his relationship he established with Tang Shaoyang if Tang Shaoyang found out. But fighting the Dominion Army with just his force was a suicide. Alas, he did not have any choice, just like his grandfather told him. He would die, and his family from his mother's side would die. He knew his siblings well enough that they would not spare his family just how they killed their harmless siblings.
Volans threw the useless thoughts in his head and returned to his residence.
Tang Shaoyang had a meeting with Aella as the girl had asked him to meet. It seemed like she had convinced her brother, or she had failed and wanted to join his team on her own.
They met at the same restaurant when he made an offer to her. He opened the private room and was surprised that Aella managed to convince her brother as well as the remaining people in the team.
Aella's smile brightened as the remaining members looked at Gianni with admiration. Scanning through their expressions, Tang Shaoyang understood why Aella easily convinced them. Gianni's duel against Hector Willem convinced them.
The conversation was smooth as the Grandcliff Mercenary Team agreed to join the Reds Mercenary Team. Even Oljen Arkum and Johan Ivar, who recently joined the team, also joined the Reds.
The talk evolved into the future plan, and it seemed like Aella was ready with her presentation. It was not rare to create a big team of mercenaries that comprised hundreds or even thousands of mercenaries.
There was a team called the Fire Clan, which had more than a thousand members across seven monarchies. There was also the Rose Mercenary Team, a famous female mercenary team. It was an exclusive female mercenary. There was also the Dark Arcane Mercenary Team, the biggest mercenary team in the Sorcerer Monarchy. There was also the Black Phantom from the Raven Monarchy.
Aella started asking where they wanted to set up their base. The ideal way to choose their base operation was to pick a monarchy with fewer big teams, and the Sorcerer Monarchy was actually a good place for them. Most of the Sorcerers joined a mage tower that was formed by the Sorcerer God Rank instead of a mercenary guild. This mage tower was usually aligned with the nobles in the Sorcerer Monarchy.
The Mercenary Guild was the last option, and that was why the nobles from the Sorcerer Monarchy did not like the mercenaries. They tend to make things difficult for the mercenary. That was the minus point of choosing this place as their main base of operation.
Then there were the requirements for the recruitment, and so on. Aella brought a lot of details that Tang Shaoyang had not thought about before. For him, the team would be a safe place for his people later on, and also a place to sort out the people they wanted to recruit out of the tower.
"You will be the Manager, so I will leave everything in your hands because I trust your judgement. You will be in charge of the main base for me. If you need something from me, you can ask me."
Aelka flinched when he heard what Tang Shaoyang said. Tang Shaoyang became conscious of his decision by choosing Aella as the Manager for their first base.
"We need money, a lot of it, so we can get a prestigious building. We need to start with something big so people are interested in joining our team…"
Aella started to share Tang Shaoyang with a few locations that she had prepared. She had looked for many buildings, and the most strategic one was the closest one to the mercenary guild. There were three buildings for sale.
The conversation clearly bored the men as Oljen Arkum, Johan Ivar, and Rokic left after they finished their meals. Aelka would leave, but he was afraid of leaving his sister alone with the men they had just met, even though he was aware that he was nothing in front of these people.
The talk went for a few hours because Aella even prepared the list of mercenaries they should recruit. The surprise came from Gianni and Mathias, who helped with their ideas. As the former commanders, they, of course, knew some stuff about management, especially if it was army management.
Ruben was clueless but willing to learn, and Nikolas showed a lack of interest and almost left if not for his grandfather's glare.
"What about the contract? Do you need us to participate?" Out of boredom, Aelka checked the mercenary team's profile, and he noticed his new team had accepted three contracts. He was aware of the first and the second contracts, as the guild published the contract not long ago, but he was concerned about the third contract.
"Ah, that contract is for us. You don't have to join, and it's too dangerous for you to join as well." Tang Shaoyang shook his head, "I will secure the money by tomorrow, and we might even get the building for free."
Volans Marelli Forest looked in the mirror, his reflection in his Sorcerer Robe. The meeting went smoothly as they predicted. His two brothers were too eager to send him to the deepest part of the Dominion Army and hoped for him to die. They did not even listen to their advisor's advice about how bad the idea of separating their force was.
The mercenary complained about how bad an idea to split their force into an ambush might not work. The Generals from the Chevalier and the Raven Monarchy also had the same thought, but with the three brothers agreeing to the motion, no one could stop them.
"It should be fine, Volans. We will take their commander's head, and you will return as the Sorcerer Monarchy's hero. We must return with their commander's head or they will kill your mother. They will kill all of us, Volans."
Blaise Osmond reassured his grandson that this was their best chance if they wanted to win against the two heinous brothers. The Osmond Family's fate was in their hands, and they might secure it if they succeeded. Even if Volans failed to claim the throne with their feat, it would make the two brothers hesitant to fight them. That would secure his family from Benedict and Albin.
Volans was about to say something, but he was startled as a shadow creature came out from his own shadow. His grandfather also startled, but immediately calmed down when they found out who it was.
"Master is ready! Let's not make the Master wait too long," Rokian sent the message.
"Can you not come out from my shadow ?" Volans was still scared of this shadow creature, but he did not show it. Especially knowing this shadow creature would not hurt him.
"I am here under Master's order, and I come out from anywhere I want to unless Master orders me something else," Rokian showed his displeasure in his tone. "Also, you should be grateful because Master sent us to keep you safe."
Blaise Osmond calmed his grandson as he bowed toward the creature in gratitude, "We will be leaving soon, and please continue protecting my grandson."
Rokian did not give any response as he returned to Volans' shadow, "Let's not make Sir Tang Shaoyang wait any longer, Volans."
Volans nodded and covered his elegant mage robe with a black robe as a cover. He and his force, a thousand people to be more exact. They would leave to set up an ambush for the Dominion Army's backline. Their first target would be the Dominion Army's supply, and they would try to assassinate their commander if it were possible.
Volans left the city quietly, and not even the guards noticed them, and his people also left separately. They set up a rendezvous point and would meet there with Tang Shaoyang and his team. He was accompanied by the same eleven God Ranks when he met Tang Shaoyang, and they would meet in the west of the city, the Scarlet Forest.
They arrived at the rendezvous point in five minutes, and they quickly found their army, a thousand army, and thirty-four God Ranks that swore allegiance to Volans.
Before they met Tang Shaoyang, one of Blaise Osmond's friends found them first. He was Roger, Blaise's friend, and also the loyal retainer for the Osmond Family.
"It's bad, Blaise. We lost twelve God Ranks!"