CHAPTER 46: RECRUITMENT

After Rowan and Alexander left, Cassian looked at the surroundings and said in a loud voice as he clapped his hands. "Everyone, your attention, please! Since the Steelhearts will now be guarding two borders simultaneously, we will open our knight recruitment in three days."

He paused for a moment, then continued with a faint smile. "However, this recruitment will be special. The Steelhearts will personally nurture the greatest talent among this batch and that individual will be guaranteed to reach Epic Rank Knight at unprecedented speed."

The bystanders turned into an uproar that far surpassed the previous ones. They had never thought Cassian dared to claim that he would be able to make someone reach an Epic Rank Knight that quickly.

Cassian chuckled. "If you doubt me, look at them. We’ve already produced three new Epic Knights in a short span."

He waved his hand and continued, so as not to make people have any ideas. "Naturally, we can only raise one more person to Epic Rank in such a short time. We’ll use that opportunity to commemorate this grand occasion."

With that announcement concluded, Cassian and the group headed toward Eldric’s now-empty mansion. It was far more comfortable than staying at an inn, so they decided to settle there temporarily. Once everything was arranged, Cassian instructed Halden to visit Hidden Quill and spread word of their recruitment.

Sitting on the sofa, James started the conversation as he looked at Cassian, who seemed to be lost in his thoughts. "Dad, I’m planning to let the head butler, Eldric, and Edmund come here to have a small break and enjoy themselves."

"Don’t overwork them, I heard that Eldric and Edmund had been stressed and stayed up researching the Aureum Bombard." Cassian chuckled.

"But there are things we need to discuss. And I think we should let them enjoy their time since Eldric has never attended our knight’s recruitment, and we can also let Uncle Edmund enjoy this time with his family too." James explained with a smile.

Cassian nodded approvingly. "Alright, I leave it to you. But why bring the head butler?"

"I want him to take care of some other things that require our connection, mainly things related to perfumery. The discussion with Eldric and Edmund is also connected to it."

"I see." Cassian nodded and looked at Corvin. "Go back with Halden and fetch them right away."

"Yes, Duke!" Corvin got up from his seat and responded.

Cassian added, "Also bring Elara, Evelyn, Garran, and Astrid. Let’s treat this as a small family holiday."

"Understood."

...

Now that he would spend the next three days in Lycranor City, he wanted to use this time to the fullest by doing things that needed to be done so that he would be able to focus on increasing his strength after this.

Then, he started to make his own blueprints of how to make the steam distillation system, helped by the system. After that, he listed a lot of things that he wanted the head butler to help him out with.

An hour later, James wiped his forehead from the sweat, as he had been focusing on the desk doing all that.

"It’s time to rest." James decided to have a good rest and sleep because he hadn’t slept yet since he had been absorbing the energy from the liquid in the cave before.

He actually wanted to use the special summoned card right away but decided to delay it, as he didn’t want the others to know about it. At least not the process of summoning them.

If they were to ask about who the summoned person was and where he met them, he could make up an excuse later on depending on what kind of summoned person they would be.

However, only just after around three hours of sleep, James woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep again even after trying his best for almost half an hour to sleep.

’Hmm... Is it because I’m too curious about the summoned person?’ James thought to himself.

He then thought about things that he could do at this time to make it become productive.

Increasing his strength by absorbing the golden liquid was out of the question because the golden liquid couldn’t be separated from the pond for more than 24 hours for some reason. After 24 hours, their energy would dissipate at an extremely fast rate.

In addition, he didn’t carry any liquid because of the previous uncertain situation, and it would be a waste to let it evaporate if he didn’t have time to absorb it.

After thinking about it for a while, James finally found a good idea to spend his time productively while enjoying his life.

He decided to go toward one of the biggest and busiest cities in the entire kingdom, Valentis City.

Valentis City could be said to be a vital point, as it sits along a major trade route, making it the kingdom’s main port where merchants from many nations came to buy and sell goods.

Not only that, it’s home to powerful merchant guilds, large markets, and thriving industries, turning it into the economic heart of the kingdom. Because of constant traffic from fishing fleets and trade vessels, it made the city lively day and night.

However, the Seabourne Family’s presence in this city was its most significant feature. The Seabourne Family was the strongest Grand Ducal House in the entire kingdom. It’s said that the family head was the strongest legendary knight within the entire kingdom.

The reason why he wanted to go there was mainly because he wanted to find the best fixatives that he could find and use in this world, as it’s related to the sea, and Valentis City was definitely the best place he could go at the moment.

Now that it’s settled, James decided that he might as well use this time to bring Elara along since he owed her one because of the sudden change that forced him to go back before.

He then went to his father to tell about his plan on going toward Valentis City and brought Elara along.

Cassian knitted his eyebrows for a moment and took out the white jade token from his waist. "Wait a moment. I’ll contact Grand Duke Valemar first."

...

In a spacious office, a buff middle-aged man in his late 50s with a short beard and long black hair could be seen organizing a document on the desk.

At this time, the blue jade token on his waist trembled slightly. His blue eyes instantly shifted away from the documents to the jade token.

’Cassian?’ He smiled faintly and raised an eyebrow, clearly feeling curious because he had received interesting news related to him just a few hours ago.

Valemar chuckled. "What is it? Don’t tell me you’re coming here."

Cassian laughed heartily. "What’s wrong with that? Am I not welcome?"

"Of course you’re always welcome... As long as you’re not planning to cause trouble that is." Valemar replied dryly.

"What do you take me for?! I’m not a troublemaker." Cassian sneered and instantly continued before Valemar could respond. "Anyway, my kids will be visiting your city. I just wanted to inform you and ask you to look after them while they’re there."