Anselm frowned. He was still irritated by Ragnar. He tried to compose himself. "I can only offer this."

    He then explained it. "We will fight alongside you when the time comes, and after we''ve finished destroying them, we''ll reward you with treasures. Is that enough for you?"

    Ragnar leaned back slightly. "Treasures, huh? What kind of treasures are we talking about? I''m not interested in something worthless."

    Anselm then smirked faintly. "That depends on the battle. The better you perform, the better the treasures will be."

    Ragnar smirked back. He leaned forward slightly and rested his elbows on the table. "I see. If that''s the case... it''s still not enough."

    Anselm''s smirk faded slightly. Karion''s frown also deepened. His patience was clearly thinning out.

    Ragnar glanced at Anselm. He gestured to himself. "The information is with me, not you."

    Ragnar then tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "It''s not exactly in your favor to tell me that the better I perform, the better the reward will be. I hold all the cards now, so you better think it through."

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    Anselm frowned. He recognized the truth in Ragnar''s words. He didn''t respond to him immediately. He tried to guess what he wanted.

    Before Anselm could speak, Karion leaned forward and growled. "You arrogant bastard. How dare you demand more when we''re already offering to fight alongside you and reward you after it''s over?"

    His voice also grew louder. "Do you even know what we''ve lost? Both my sons died because of these bastards, and here you are laughing like it''s a joke!"@@@@

    Ragnar turned to Karion and smirked. "Oh, I dare, Karion. You should be thanking me. I''m doing the job your family failed to do in the first place."

    Ragnar then leaned back again. "Maybe if you''d handled things better, you wouldn''t have lost so much."

    Karion slammed his fist on the table again. "You''re crossing a line, Ragnar!"

    Ragnar remained unfazed. He shook his hand. "Crossing a line? No, Karion. I''m just stating facts. You''re the one who lost two sons to this group. Maybe you should''ve been stronger."

    Ragnar only laughed hard. "Oh, Karion, I live for dangerous games. Now, let''s get down to business."

    ---

    Lucius and his maids had finally arrived at Volcaria Estate. Despite the long distance, they arrived faster than they thought, thanks to Leon''s incredible speed.

    They then saw that Daxton was as usual guarding the door. Daxton also noticed them and greeted them. "Lucius! Where have you been? We''ve been looking for you."

    Lucius dismounted from Leon and replied. "We tracked down the robber. But unfortunately, they were faster than expected. I couldn''t catch them."

    Daxton frowned. He felt guilty. "Once again, I''m sorry. This was my fault. I should have guarded the essence better."

    Lucius smirked faintly. He placed his hand on Daxton''s shoulder. "Don''t worry about it. Just make sure you don''t make the same mistake twice."

    Daxton lowered his head. "Still, I need to be punished. I have failed my duty."

    Lucius raised his eyebrow. "Didn''t Patriarch Ragnar already deal with that?"

    Daxton nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. He told me the same thing you just did... and then made us double our training for a month."

    Lucius crossed his arms. He was thinking of something. "If that''s the case, then train five times harder for five months."

    Daxton was surprised by the added punishment. "Five times harder? For five months? But..."

    Before he could finish, Lucius shook his head, cutting him off. "No buts. You''re the one asking for punishment, aren''t you?"

    Lucius then looked at the other guards. "Besides, I''ve seen how the guards perform. They''re not good enough. It''s time to retrain them properly."

    Daxton wanted to argue but stopped himself. He could only sighed and lowered his head. "Understood, Lucius. I''ll make sure it''s done."

    Lucius smirked. "Good. Now, get to work. We''ll have more things to handle soon."

    Daxton gave a nod before turning back toward the guards. He was already thinking about how to implement the new training regimen.