Warren, Sera, Xilia, and Elly slowly came closer while being completely covered in sweat. Except for Elly, she somehow managed to maintain her elegant figure with only slightly red cheeks and a marginally faster breath.
"What is it," they inquired. They didn't interact much in the recent days as Gerald was busy teaching one of the new guys while the other trained with them. For them to all be gathered here must have meant something.
"I have gathered you all here…" Gerald started his speech in a somber tone. His gaze went over every member present, and his cold eyes made everyone shiver. "It is with a heavy heart that I bring this news… However, what must be done, must be done!"
The group somewhat nervously gulped in anticipation.
He moved his hand, and from the Ring, a massive black thing came out. With a simple gesture, it then split apart and…
"Our new cloaks are all finally ready! Hooray!" Gerald exclaimed with a smile and tried to look excited. The cloaks hung in the air as the group looked at them flabbergasted and then back at him, awaiting an explanation.
"Tch, what a cold audience, and to think I put in so much effort..." Gerald grumbled and returned to his neutral expression before handing out the cloaks to each member. "Whatever, here you go! The last two were finished yesterday so I decided to wait for all of you to receive them at once."
He expected to see some type of reaction, and indeed he was not left waiting for long. Warren's eyes filled with fluid as he held the cloak close to his chest and bowed. "Thank you, master! I will cherish this and protect it with my life!"
"No, it's not that important…" Gerald tried to say but then he realized it didn't matter and just left it at that.
It just so happened that he heard some quiet giggling behind him and he turned around just fast enough to see Blum smiling like a lunatic who just received acknowledgment from his biggest idol. It was creepy.
'At least he seems to like it,' Gerald thought to himself. 'Whatever.'
"So, what do you think?" he asked the girls.
"It's nice," Elly said. She was not the one to speak too much, at least that was most of the time.
Xilia and Qiona nodded to themselves and then to Gerald, "We like it too!"
"Does that mean it's official now?" Sera asked, visibly excited. She donned the cloak and spun around, admiring the quality.
"I guess so…"
"So can we now go on a proper adventure? Are we going as a team? I have some ideas where we could…" A torrent of words spilled out of her mouth, with all the questions and demands making Gerald cringe.
"WE are not going anywhere," he firmly said. "Not any time soon at least."
"Why not?!" Sera protested while being visibly upset. "We never get to do anything normal! Even this last expedition… I just wanted to go on a normal hunt, but in the end, it almost ended up with our death!"
Gerald refrained from arguing and simply pulled her to the open. He then created a pillar under both of them and it carried them about five meters into the air.
"Tell me," he said. "What do you see?" He gestured over the Mansion walls towards the surrounding capital.
"Um," Sera was confused. "Houses?" she guessed.
"Look again."
"People?" she tried another time.
"Soldiers!" Gerald exclaimed and forcefully turned her head and pointed. "See? Look at all those soldiers and city guards, is this normal?"
"Maybe, I don't know?" She really didn't. Why would she? They spent most of the time behind the walls of the mansion.
"It's not! How didn't you notice this, even I can see the change from inside my lab!" Gerald rolled his eyes In helplessness.
"Gerald, what are you trying to say?" Xilia chimed in.
Gerald lowered the stone pillar back into the ground and started explaining his conjecture. "It's like this… Remember that army that left the city recently? Now, why would the soldiers suddenly increase inside the capital if everything was fine? Why would city guards suddenly start moving gear to the outside walls if not preparing for something big? Do you think they are doing it simply for fun? After all that happened recently?!"
The group slowly realized what he was getting at and they opened their eyes wide in surprise.
"Is… Is there going to be a war?" Blum asked cautiously and gulped audibly right after.
"Maybe," Gerald answered nonchalantly and shrugged. "What I know for certain though, is that nobody will be leaving the city!" He made a short pause for effect. "Except for me, of course. I'll be leaving for a while."
"Whaaaaat?" Sera suddenly became angry. "Why do you get to do whatever you want, and we have to be cooped in here all the time?!"
Gerald spared her a glance and then simply said, "Because I'm the boss. Also because I can fly. You too can go wherever you want if you can fly, I won't mind."
"But I can't fly!" she protested in response.
Gerald snapped his fingers and grinned while making finger guns at her. "Precisely!"
"Screw you!"
In return, Gerald simply chuckled. It seemed she was learning some of his expressions, although milder. It was quite funny.
"Alright, I guess I don't have to give extra directions on how to act while I'm gone, right? Just do what you have been doing til now, I'll be back in a few days."
Gerald then turned to the two guys, "Warren!" He made a serious expression, "Eat well, and train hard!"
"Yes, Master!" the man immediately responded.
"Blum!" He looked at the guy who seemed a bit tense.
'Please no more math, please no more math…' Blum silently repeated a prayer in his mind.
"You can take a look at the books in my room. They contain many insights into magic, so make sure to study them well, I'll test you when I get back." Gerald said.
Blum Ogma breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded excitedly, "Will do! Thank you, I won't disappoint you, Boss!"
"Oh yeah, by the way..." Gerald suddenly said as he remembered one important thing. "Be careful with the Pixie in my room, don't let it manipulate you, it's pretty strong. It might try to kill you, but I have the keys to the cage so it shouldn't be able to escape. However, do make sure to stay away from it just in case."