Asher’s Request

On the training ground of Asher's hideout, bodies were sprawled all around the place with weapons displaced on the floor. The groaning of young men constantly sounded, proof that the bodies weren't dead. However, even though they still had some breath within them, they were all in intense pain and found it difficult to get back on their feet.

Only two individuals of the thirty-man squad remained standing and they were Luther and Aaron, the group's fourth-stage Guardian mages. Even so, they each had a hand holding onto a part of their body that was injured not long ago.

"That will be all for today." Asher said as he retrieved his robe from Isabella.

"You guys have indeed improved, but it's still not enough. Carry out the standard drills five times before you can call it a day." Asher said before walking away, escorted by Isabella.

"Despite being a child, I can't believe that he's this strong. I don't even think the duke was this powerful at that age." Aaron groaned.

"Which is why we should be pleased. The family would end up in good hands." Luther replied.

Aaron nodded in agreement. Right after that though, with a confused expression, he asked.

"However, didn't the rumours say that the young lord was a null? If that's so, then how come-"

"Don't speak of that again." Luther cut him off.

. . .

"Wouldn't you like to track my progress, young master?" Isabella asked after they had walked some distance away from the others.

Asher glanced at her and then shook his head.

"There's no need for that. Unlike with the others, your training with me was one-on-one so I can easily assess you with one glance."

"Oh." Isabella nodded albeit she sounded a bit down.

"Don't worry though. I have a special programme prepared for everyone, including you." Asher said.

"Don't ask either; you will find out soon enough."

. . .

When Asher returned to his home, he went straight to Ol' Fang.

"Back so soon?" Ol' Fang asked as soon as Asher walked into his office.

Although Asher's hideout was hidden from official records and documents, it was impossible to keep it hidden from the eyes of Ol' Fang, who was currently overseeing the family on Darius' behalf. Furthermore, the site as well as the resources used to build it were granted by Ol' Fang.

"I never thought you'd get so comfortable staying inside an office. The famous 'Smiling Blood Demon' who rampaged around the battlefield in the last border war is now stuck signing documents in a cosy office." Asher smiled at Ol' Fang who sat in front facing him.

Ol' Fang's brows twitched but he held his calm and sighed.

"It's not like I have a choice. If it weren't for your father leaving all of these to me while carrying his younger brother with him, I would have been right beside him by the border now."

"You should know why father carried Elijah with him and why he left you in charge. You're the only one he can trust completely." Asher comforted as he took a seat opposite Ol' Fang.

Ol' Fang smiled at the statement as he felt a bit of warmth in his heart hearing that from the son of his best friend, the young boy he treated as his nephew and son.

"So, what brings you here?" Ol' Fang asked as he passed Asher a pot of tea and a cup.

"I heard there will be a bandit-clearing operation on Panama road soon." Asher answered while pouring some tea into the cup.

Of the Great Dawn kingdom's provinces, only two had accessible merchant roads into the Kingdom of Terra; the Suttons' Black Ridge province and the Arnhaunts' Red Maple province. Black Ridge province had one accessible road that was quite narrow, but it was the most secure of the two provinces. That was until Asher created the White Maple chamber of commerce.

Red Maple province had three merchant roads, but due to the structure and location of these roads, they became bandit hideouts and operation areas. Right before the White Maple chamber of commerce was formed, Asher had requested his father to help clear one of those routes which they had used to negotiate during the formation of the chamber of commerce.

Now that the latter had grown quite considerably, the Arnhaunt family planned to expand the accessible routes by conducting another bandit-clearing operation on one of the remaining two roads, the Panama road, which also happened to be the largest of the three.

The Panama road was the largest of the three routes and even had a branch that extended up north to link with another trade route that led to the kingdom bordering the Great Dawn kingdom in the northwest. As a result of this, it was considered to hold a lot of potential, but the terrain surrounding it was a perfect spot for bandit groups who attacked merchants both on the road, the branch road, and even the other merchant path that was linked to Panama road by the branch road.

One might be wondering why such bandit-clearing operations weren't carried out before, but there were several reasons for such. Since they attacked both Terrean and Dawnian caravans[1], the bandits had to be on the lookout for soldiers and so, acted as some sort of lookout for the Arnhaunts, in case of a surprise attack by the Terreans using the merchant roads. The same was also the case for the Terreans which was also why they didn't try clearing the bandits.

Another reason was the terrain which was quite mountainous and made a perfect base for these bandits to hide and defend. The Arnhaunts had to be on the lookout for attacks by enemy forces so they couldn't easily spare their soldiers to attack the bandits. This was especially so since the family had been in a period of recuperation after the last war, until recently.

There were a few other reasons but the above were the main ones behind the Arnhaunts closing an eye on the bandits. Now though, Asher had led the family onto the path of finance and marketing so, they realized the true value of the roads in their hands and wanted to capitalize on it.

"What about it?" Ol' Fang asked.

"I want to handle that task with my team." Asher replied.

"Not possible. The risk is great " Ol' Fang shook his head.

Asher calmly sipped his tea as if he had expected such resistance from his uncle, which in fact, he did.

Although they were called bandits, the gangs that operated on the Panama road weren't simple felons and it was even rumoured that some had a fourth-stage Guardian mage. One should recall that the Arnhaunts were a noble family who rose to their rank through battles; for one to be wreaking havoc in their area, an adequate level of strength and force was required.

Clink.

Asher dropped a metallic table on the desk.

"The young lord's token." Ol' Fang raised an eyebrow.

"The token is a special item granted to one who has been deemed as the successor to the family. Despite not being the lord yet, the wielder can make three unconditional requests of anyone in the family below the status of lord. The only exception to this is if the request would lead to harm to the family, or the lord, or directly cause the death of a family member; otherwise, those requests can't be refused and must be fulfilled to the best of the one who was requested to do so. Failure to do so would be seen as treason to the family's authority and depending on the severity, be punished by death." Asher said.

"I'm using one of my three requests now."

Ol' Fang obviously knew this, in fact, he was present when Darius handed the token to Asher after his achievement with the White Maple chamber of commerce. However, he didn't speak right away.

Asher also didn't force Ol' Fang to speak but instead kept sipping on his tea while contemplating his next course of action.

Despite the fact that Ol' Fang acted as a member of the Arnhaunt family, he never thought himself to be one. He only answered to Darius whom his loyalty lies with. As for the family's rules and whatnot, if Darius never told him to abide by them, Ol' Fang wouldn't give a shit. The same could be said about the rule surrounding the young lord's token. Ol' Fang could still refuse Asher's request even if it meant creating contempt and affecting his status in the family.

Ol' Fang looked Asher in the eyes and couldn't help but think why the son of his best friend would act this way. He could guess that Asher knew he could refuse him, but Ol' Fang wondered why Asher would still do so.

"Are you confident?" Ol' Fang finally spoke.

"Yes." Asher said succinctly.

"How much?"

"90%"

Ol' Fang raised an eyebrow in surprise but calmed down just a second later.

Asher had only thirty men under his command, so to claim that he was 90% confident in taking out bandit forces that required at least a fifty-man team with such a force had garnered his surprise.

"Two weeks. I can only give you that long to play around. After that, the prepared task force would move into action whether you succeed or not." Ol' Fang said.

"Thank you, uncle." Asher smiled as he dropped the teacup. He then stood up and turned around to leave.

"My team would be moving out in three days. However, we will only need a week to be done."