"This is the first I'm hearing of you having a goal, boss."
Interested, Nina asked, "What is it?"
Rhen put a finger on his lip, preparing to answer.
He was not one to speak of himself. Despite knowing these people for more than three years now, they barely knew things beyond the surface of Rhen.
But now, for the first time, he decided to share his true ambition. A goal he had never spoken aloud before.
Although he had a grander goal now, to rise to Royal status, there was still his primary goal.
Based on what his father—who had risen from a fallen noble to the Lord of this city—had taught him, he had to have those who he would trust and those who would support his endeavours.
"This City, I plan to strip the Union of their control over it." Rhen was going to take the whole "sharing with them" thing one step at a time.
Neither Oscar nor Nina looked particularly surprised.
Both had lived under the Union's shadow long enough to know how rotten it was — favoritism, taxes, and jobs stolen from locals.
If anything, they were curious how Rhen intended to pull it off.
"Why?" Nina asked while Oscar was wide eyed due to Rhen's unwavering confidence.
Rhen shrugged. "I'm tired of the view and smell of this place."
Nina scrunched her face, trying to grasp the hidden meaning behind Rhen's words.
"What would you do if you were in control?" Oscar asked.
"Don't you get it? I'm tired of this place. Every street reminds me of things I'd rather forget. If I'm going to rise, this city has to change first.
"The kids are also so loud, complaining about their backs after a nap, so I need to get rid of that loudness of theirs.
"Einar also disturbs my personal space so I'll need to do something about him too."
Oscar scratched his head and said, "I get it."
Nina's lips curled upwards, but before the others could notice her amusement, she turned her focus to sharpening her blade. The metallic scrape masked her expression.
"How do you plan to achieve your goal?" Oscar questioned.
"That's simple. We join the Union and take over from within. Oh, and if Jake intervenes, I'll look for a way to make him have less power."
"We join the Union…"
Oscar muttered dejectedly and Nina spoke up excitedly, "I like that."
Seeing Oscar ponder, Rhen said:
"Oscar, if we join the Union as a Party, we'll have a chance. You and Nina were already people with skills that qualified for the Union. And I assure you, I can also match the qualifications too."
Oscar saw Rhen's point and as far as he had thought, there were barely any issues with this plan.
It was going to be tougher than how Rhen put it, yes, but it was doable, especially with him and Rhen's strategic capabilities.
Oscar sighed. "Still, we need two more people to form a party. If three of us join the Union and form a party, they can add two others to our party and those two can influence the difficulty."
"Why aren't you counting Einar?" Nina chimed in.
"Einar… he doesn't have talent…"
"But his raw abilities are still good. If given exposure, Einar would have made a good Knight," Nina stated, firmly believing in her training partner.
"Add Einar, and I'll bring in the last person," Rhen said.
"Who?" Oscar asked. As far as the information he had, Rhen barely had any other associates.
[Lilac.]
At that moment, Lilac opened the door to the room, making Oscar shift a bit.
Ever since Rhen and Lilac entered a range that allowed telepathy, he had told her to standby.
Before anything occurred, Rhen said:
"This is Lilac… a beastgirl. Believe it or not, one way or the other, I managed to summon her. She was the one who helped me back when I was being chased."
Lilac grinned as Rhen introduced her.
Nina glared at Lilac, feeling mad for some reason.
Meanwhile, Oscar curiously scanned Lilac muttering, "Could she be the one I've been sensing around us all morning?"
"Yeah… I told her to follow Nina when she came to meet me in Mazeweald."
"She trailed Nina without being noticed. That's impressive. She should be a stealth-type then, unlike Nina who uses her agility for stealth," Oscar noted.
"You really know your thing," Rhen said with a smile. "Hang with Lilac for the rest of the day to understand her and her abilities. Oh, and look for something to cover her tail and ear."
"Yes, boss." Oscar gladly agreed.
"Nina, you should tell Einar we'll be attending the Union Exams tomorrow."
"Why not you?" Nina turned her glare to Rhen.
'Could you please just be like Oscar and agree?' Rhen thought before he replied, "I have to rest and train… you know how it is."
"Tsk," Nina hissed.
She picked up her sheath on the bed , sheathed her sword and left the room after throwing one last glare at Lilac.
"She was mean to master," Lilac muttered as she watched Nina leave.
Rhen got up, patted the beastgirl's hair and said, "It's alright. Continue behaving and work well with Oscar, alright?"
Lilac nodded in satisfaction.
This odd view made Rhen muse inwardly, 'How did I end up treating someone like a cat?'
He decided to take his leave and said his goodbyes to Oscar.
At the latest, they'd all be meeting again tomorrow morning.
After the small meeting dispersed, Rhen left quietly.
He greeted the children one last time before slipping deeper into the slums, heading toward his own dwelling at the city's fringes.
This area wasn't as filthy as most parts, but it was more devoid of people.
That was because this place occasionally had one or two beasts sneaking in. The people who stayed here were hardcore survivalists and Rhen was familiar with most.
Still, he wasn't interested in conversing with anyone so he snuck his way into the small home he lived in.
It had a single spacious room where he slept, worked out, cooked and ate. Bathroom activities were done outdoors.
"Zena, I plan to get familiar with my new strength… and cultivate my core too. In case there are any abnormalities, tell me."
From within him, Zena replied, "Noted."
'I guess it's time to try out that Leech skill.'
The rest of the day passed in cultivation and quiet training.
His progress was faster than ever before—twice as fast, in fact.
Before long, night gave way to dawn, and with it came one of Grayland's rare major events: the Union Exam.