Eden was in the study when General Gwaine arrived with a chest so she could inspect it. Eden took one glance at the chest and said, "distribute it among the villagers and ensure you get all of the materials awarded to the forge." Gwaine was a little stunned at the order. He asked, "You want all of the rewards to be distributed to the villagers?" Eden nodded and said, " a huh, I know that they trade and buy with their own wages already, but it's still not enough for them to get better quality outside our city if they want to travel to the communal area where the monarchs go, then they need tradable money or goods. I can't afford to pay them more, but we can spare these types of rewards." Gwaine closed the chest and picked it up. Before he moved to leave Eden asked, "how was the battle with the royal thief?" Gwaine answered,
"It was odd. When I found the man. He seemed to have no idea of the stolen chests. Then something glowed on his forearm. A tattoo of the shape of a nautical star appeared. He looked surprised it appeared and a few seconds later he turned into some tall devil looking beast. We haven't encountered something like that before and it's not in the library of the academy. The library has a record of all beasts and gets updated with new information."
Eden pondered regarding the origin of the thief. Was this another species or something the elders created? How she wished she could ask Gwaine questions and the origin of a lot of things. But it would put both of them at risk. But she can still hold a regular conversation with him when she asks open ended questions. "What do you think it is?" Eden asked. As if to realize that maybe he spoke out of term and perhaps his role, Gwaine nervously said, "oh, don't mind me. I just simply found it odd because it wasn't in the books I read, but I bet they have been updated." Eden nodded in agreement and said, "General Gwaine, if you could pass on the message to the rest of Generals that when I ask for opinions and thoughts, they are to speak freely as long as they are comfortable and it doesn't break any rules." Gwaine stiffened a little and then he said, "yes commander, as you wish!" "You may leave now," instructed Eden as she resumed to look at the reports that were waiting for her to review.
The elders had conducted a ritual so that all deserters would get a curse mark that could be erased only if they returned to their assigned monarch. Due to the new development of the royal thief, if a deserter with a curse mark is found, their appearance will change to look like the human description Dolion gave and once in contact with a soldier they would change into the creature described. This made the elders job of finding the deserters and getting rid of them. In the books for the academy, they called the royal thieves as children of Loki with a description and how to defeat them.
Eden called for Erza and asked her about the announcement regarding the royal thief that she received just minutes after Gwaine left. She found it odd that she had received the invitation before the event was announced. Erza provided Eden with the updated information that was in the Academy library. Just as she was in deep thought, Eden received a notification. Congratulations! All three thieves have been killed. Here are your rewards. Then a chest suddenly landed on top of her desk. For some reason, Eden didn't feel comfortable keeping the rewards from these events. So she placed it by the door to be picked up later. She had no logical reason, it was just her gut feeling.
It was almost dinner time and Eden decided to join the Generals at the dining hall for the first time. She used to always eat in her room or study while going through tasks and checking improvements. She would check her rank and stats often to see if it moved. She realized that after that defeat her ego completely took a beating. Some socializing and talking would get her mind back in place. Eden in real life, Natalia, would get bullied as a little girl. Mainly because of her skin color and because she didn't have a feisty attitude. She developed a way to fight without raising her voice, sarcasm and fist punches to one's face.
When she arrived at the hall everyone was stunned by her arrival. They did not expect to see her at all. Arthur immediately stood up and pulled a chair that was always reserved for her, but remained empty. The rest of the men followed Arthur's example and stood up as well to greet Eden's arrival. Eden gestured to them to sit down as she took her own seat. Then she asked for a plate with a glass of grape juice. "Commander, we have wine if you would like to have some," suggested Sir Tristan. Eden shook her head and said, "No, I chose to give up alcohol until I become server king. It is a promise I made to myself to accomplish such an achievement. For now, I am satisfied with grape juice."
Eden noticed General Gabriel looked a little uncomfortable and she asked him, "Is there something that is unsettling you Gabriel." "Uh just that I wanted to apologize that the new recruits have not made it to your study yet. One of them fell sick suddenly and another insisted you wanted them all to be there. I gave them some time to gather themselves before going to your study. I'm so sorry Commander," answered Gabriel and he bowed his head. Eden stared at him as the entire room fell silent. Then after a few more seconds of anticipation, Eden bursted out laughing. They were all surprised and chuckled hesitantly with her. She then said, "There's no need to worry about a quick introduction. I have been busy with administrative things. I wish I could hand off some of that responsibility to someone else, but it has to be done. Tomorrow is fine. Give the new hires time to rest and get settled. We will go over their tasks in the morning with Gunther and you." Eden then raised her glass and said, "cheers! Let's enjoy this meal." The men felt a breath of fresh air, they weren't used to seeing this side of Eden. She was mostly serious with them and straight forward.
After a few more conversations with the men regarding formations and the new gear she is ordering for them, Eden remembered the chest in her study. She then let Gabriel know he should take the chest received and do the same she told Gwaine to. Since Eden promised not to talk about what she found in the cave, she didn't want her men to talk about it so freely either in case a guest overheard them. It was a nice feeling to talk to her army like a regular person. She didn't feel as if she was alone in a castle. Her city took the form of a large castle from far away, but once beyond the gate, you could see different buildings and a village. The main castle quarters was located in the back before you reached the inner gardens. Because she was the only heir in her background story, there were no others living in the castle. She then had an idea, she could ask the Generals to live on the first floor so that it wasn't so lonely. But she didn't want to make it awkward at dinner, so she decided to assign a hall just for them in the morning.