Chapter 135 - Bandit factions and Vice leaders

The two people remaining were Zero and Emily. Seeing that Zero did not leave, Emily asked with a smile, "What is it?"

Zero said, "Humph, I know that you are up to no good. If I am not wrong before you were planning to move the base and him to Fort Bot permanently, to see him more often. Why are you changing strategy now?"

"Aren't you smart, well, is it wrong to want to spend more time with him and see him more often? This is common in harems."

"It is common, so why change your strategy now?"

"Is it not obvious, before he was doing all sort of things with them behind close doors and neither side wanted to admit it in the light, now it is different. If he likes someone so much, there is no point in breaking them apart. Better have one more friend."

"I am sure there is more to it... if you want to make friends with me too, then maybe I can help you with your plan. As long as it does not affect Diana."

Emily giggled, "Hehe, do you want to help me or do you want my help? If I am not wrong, he has not ever looked at you differently, nor does he know how you feel. You are too inexperienced if you want to trick me. Plus I have already helped you. Now everyone knows how you feel, and they do not feel threatened by you as you were part of the meeting. Imagine how protective they would become from tomorrow. Would that make your chances increase or decrease?"

Zero realized that what Emily said was the truth, after a few seconds, she asked, "Do you not want to reduce the number of people? Then why help me?"

"I will tell you if he ever becomes close to you. The fact that I like you will not mean anything if he does not fancy you. Plus you already owe me one. See you later."

With that, Emily left the dazed Zero.

Emily arrived at where Aile was at. She smiled and greeted him. They soon began to talk, and after a while, she said, "I want to lead your harem."

Aile looked at her with a surprised gaze.

Emily smiled back and said, "I do not want to have a more prominent status. However, you should be aware that there will be problems and someone needs to deal with it. I had given Leia, Hazel and Diana a chance to take the lead, but they did not want to say anything and were worried about disputes. Leaving problems will only fester and result in conflict between them in the future. So I want to deal with these problems for you and take the lead."

Aile sighed and said, "I do not want you to be part of every conflict either. They will associate you with their problems. I should deal with these issues."

"No, you can not, it will waste a lot of your time, and you will not be able to solve all the problems. Me and Fiona already thought about this, she will also help me. A few others will also become capable."

Aile and Emily continued to talk about it, and eventually, Aile agreed with her. After kissing him goodnight, Emily left.

Aile got back to his room, to a more affectionate Leia. Seeing Leia like that made Aile surprised and of course, he took advantage of Leia pushing the boundary of their relationship further than before. After a few passionate kisses and a little more, Leia and Aile fell into slumber. Only this time Leia was holding him tighter. She did not want to let her go even in her sleep.

Soon, the rays of the sun entered the room, waking Aile up. Kissing Leia on the cheek, he got up, exercised, meditated and cultivated the light element. He then took a bath. When he got out, he noticed the familiar behaviour of Leia, Zero and Diana as they set up for breakfast. Aile noticed that something had changed between them, but he could not find out what it was. To Aile's surprise, soon Hazel and Emily too joined for breakfast. With a happy atmosphere, they had their meal as a family. Zero had not been treated as Aile's maid before, even more so now, but nonetheless, she helped with everything.

After the breakfast, Leia asked about what Aile was doing. He told them that he was planning to go meet the bandits, Beshoy and Aurelius.

The meeting between them now happened in the house that Aile had kept the two daughters or spies of Aurelius. The bandits rarely acted like bandits and stopped stealing from people. This was because the merchants were mostly affiliated with the White Clan and the royals now. This made them too hard to steal from.

On top of that, their trades with Aile were more profitable. However, due to Aile's interference, the three different factions within the bandits became unstable. Aurelius was gathering power too quickly, and most of the people joined his side. With the ever-increasing influence, he became revered by the people lower than him in the hierarchy as they would make more money with his help.

The people on the same level as him in the hierarchy, the other vice leaders, were livid. This led to internal strife. However, the leader of the bandits had made it clear that they could not fight amongst themselves. Therefore the bandits had divided up. One group left the town. The other one did not want to deal through Aurelius. However, they failed to make contact with Aile, due to his minuscule presence, at the same time, they were afraid to be duped. This is because they knew that not only did Shadow have a friendly relationship with Aurelius. But the two beauties of the bandits, Aurelius's daughters were sent to be Shadow's concubines, as the rumours and he claimed. Hence they reach out to Moon Merchant Union.

Aile noticed the opportunity and occasionally traded with them through Moon Merchant Union. However, as Aile was busy connecting with the energy channels, he could not focus too much on them. He could not employ a similar system as the Sun Merchant Union either, as it would create more problems. Therefore, with the little time Aile made for it, it was not too profitable to each side as there was a lack of efficiency. However, both sides did not stop the transactions.

Nevertheless, the broken group eventually had to continue trading with Aurelius, as they still made more profit through him. Hence, they could not go independent. Now they were reliant on him, and they could be considered semi-connected to Aurelius.

Even though the bandits did split into three different forces, their presence amplified. With a more profitable method of earning money, many new recruits joined Aurelius's rank, and they had actually expanded. They brought Aile more resources and made his merchant union more stable. Therefore, their dependence on Aile and Aile's reliance on them increased.

Zero asked, "Can I come with you too?"

Zero was aware of Aile's different identities, and everyone else's. Therefore, she did not have to be excluded from their meetings.

Aile shook his head and said, "I do not want you to face such an unnecessary risk. If they find out that you are more than just a maid in Shadow's mansion. It will be an additional danger for you."

From Aile's tone, they knew that most of them would not be allowed for a similar reason. Hazel could go, but that was unnecessary and would show a lack of trust to the bandits, as she was Shadow's, right-hand man.

Emily then said, "Have a good day."

Everyone looked at Emily curiously, and Aile left soon after.

Seeing everyone like that, Emily sighed, "We can not treat him as a child and follow him on every occasion. Just focus on the trips that will take a long time and gives him free time to spend with others, rather than us. If we try to control him like this, he will avoid us. I was only making a point when I said we need to follow him all the time."

Everyone finally understood Emily's intentions and nodded. They too, soon dispersed. Diana wanted to talk with Ellie before she meets Aile. Emily also needed a few things to carry back with her to Fort Bot. Therefore, she needed to go and get those. Hazel was busy with the adventurer's union. This left Zero and Leia alone and free.

Like this, the two of them looked at each other, and before they knew it, they were talking. Leia was usually reserved, but today she was talking to Zero, and this somehow made Zero content. Especially after her talk with Emily yesterday. The two of them conversed, Leia also found an ally similar to her age. Therefore, she felt at ease, and slowly they started to converse more and get more familiar.