Val and Mr. Gregory looked at each other and waited. Val did not know what to say, it seemed like Mr. Gregory was aware of his lies but chose to back him up anyway. Mr. Gregory knew what was going through Val's head at this moment but just chose to smile for now.
After about a minute of this awkward silence, Val decided to break it as the group was getting ready to leave. Mark and his group, were a lot quicker than Val in collecting the Goblin's ears, it seems they have a lot of experience with slaying Goblins as a D-Rank party. Val opened his mouth and was about to say something when he was interrupted by Mr. Gregory,
"Everyone has secrets, don't worry about it."
After he finished saying that he turned around to head back with a smile on his face. Val just looked at his back and said in a low voice,
"Thank you".
Mr. Gregory's smile grew but he did not respond or turn around, he just continued walking back to the caravan.
As Mr. Gregory was returning back to the caravan, Leo was heading over. Leo was in a wonderful mood, as he was able to sneakily eat a lot of the food that was just cooked while the fight was finishing up and everyone was collecting the Goblin ears.
Leo arrived next to Val and gave a cute meow, he wanted recognition for his support in the battle. Val happily gave it to him, he rubbed his head, neck, and belly and said,
"You did really well Leo, and I have a reward for you."
Val looked around, noticing no one was around, nor was anyone looking toward them, he pulled out both Skill Orbs from his spatial pouch and placed the grey Skill Orb against his forehead and the Light Skill Orb against Leo's forehead. They both shut their eyes and the skill orb was broken down into mana particles which were then absorbed into Val's forehead, the same happened to Leo.
After the absorption was complete, they both opened their eyes, Val had a huge smile on his face and Leo was purring. This was the first time Leo had purred, it seems he only purred when he was extremely happy.
As Val expected he only awakened an F-Rank Short Sword Skill, [Stab]. This was a very basic skill, it gave additional penetrative power and speed when stabbing with a short sword. Though it was not a high-ranked skill, it was better than nothing, and would still help him a lot at his current strength.
As for Leo, Val closed his eyes to have a look at what Leo awakened. He was very pleased with what he discovered.
Leo had awoken a C-Rank Skill [Light Speed Dash], this was a movement skill that allowed him to cover his paws with light and move in a single line 5 times his normal speed. This skill was really good because it scaled with his strength. Leo would become fast as he aged and strengthened his body, therefor the buff would become more effective.
The only downside to the skill was that he had to travel in a straight line and would have to deactivate the skill to turn. Val planned to practice their skills when it was just the two of them, they could not afford to show too much of their Talent to others just yet.
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As Val and Leo were absorbing the Skill Orbs and contemplating their plans Mr. Gregory returned to the caravan and was confronted by the powerhouse,
"David (Mr. Gregory), why did you cover for the kid? He was clearly lying."
Mr. Gregory, as usual, just smiled and responded,
"He clearly isn't a very trusting person by nature, also I'm pretty sure he thinks we will enslave him if we learn about his secrets. He definitely has more talents and he might also have a physique or blessing. He probably has a skill that allows him to sense mana somehow. Also, he seems to be extremely lucky, to be able to get a high-ranking Light Skill Orb on his first day as an adventurer and then a second Skill Orb on his second day. That is unbelievable luck. A person like that would be a very good connection for the organization. Don't you agree Jamal (the powerhouse)?"
The powerhouse nodded, and responded,
"Yes he would be a good talent, that's why we should correct his thinking, our organization does not enslave kids with talent. I understand that some of the shady large companies do, but we are different from them. We should just tell him."
The smile never left Mr. Gregory's face as he swiftly responded to Jamal,
"We could, but it would not change anything, not yet a least, he is untrusting by nature. He is an orphan and has probably gone through things that have caused him to not trust others. It would be better to continue to support him from the sidelines than to pressure him into joining the organization and actively training him. We will become an ally that he trusts and then make an offer for him to join us once he becomes stronger and more confident in himself."
Jamal understood David's point but did not like it, thus he expressed his discontent with Mr. Gregory's plan,
"If we wait for him to become stronger, he will demand more resources to join us, it's better to have him join us when he's still young and weak."
David Gregory's smile finally left his face as he gave a sigh before replying,
"*sigh* You are correct on that one, but I trust my ability in reading people, and I can tell that Val would not join us now, and if we try and pressure him to join, he will consider us a threat, not an ally and then he will never join us. This is a suboptimal option for us, but it is the only means we have to get him to join us."
Jamal trusted David's decision so he just nodded, the two of them knew that things were changing in the Kingdom, and the company needed to bolster its fighting capabilities. The Blue Trident Trading Company was just the front for an organization run by one of the four Duke households.
The Wendishka Family was the royal family of the Wendishka Kingdom, however, the current King was very old, and one of his four sons would soon ascend to the throne, replacing him. The current King was a powerhouse in the past, even currently he is still very powerful even though he is very old and on his deathbed. However, his four sons have been spoilt their entire lives and lacked the power that their father, the King, has, even with an abundance of resources at their disposal. Each of the four Duke houses backs a Prince, though everyone knows that of the four Princes, not a single one will be a capable King. All four Princes are vying for the crown, and there is likely going to be a civil war in the future, which will determine who becomes the next King. There is a high probability this civil war will provoke other Kingdoms on the Metrolis continent to wage war against the Wendishka Kingdom. The other Kingdoms will see the civil war as a weakness and attempt to take advantage of it to claim the large and fertile land, along with the wealth that this long-standing Kingdom has accumulated.
Both David and Jamal were fully aware of what was to come, and both of them had been on the lookout for potential youths to join their organization. Val was a perfect candidate, however, he was still young and inexperienced. He was also very untrusting, they would have to be patient, building up a reputation and mutual trust with him before they presented a proposition to him.
The two of them concluded their conversation and prepared to continue their travels. They did not want to stay here any longer, they had a lot they needed to do, and many places to travel to.
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After everyone had packed up and cleared the Goblin corpses from the road, the caravan continued its journey. They did not experience any more trouble or inconveniences for the rest of the day. They found a good place to set up camp and rest for the night. When the caravan stopped, the merchants descended and began to set up camp, Luke began to prepare dinner, and the adventurers scoped out the area making sure it was safe. Val decided to also look around with Leo by his side, but they found nothing of interest.
They returned to the area the camp was being set up and began to set up the tent, Val also inspected his new sword making sure it was not damaged, he had forgotten to do this earlier, but was reminded when he saw Becky maintaining her weapon. He also had a look at his other sword, this sword was taken from the intelligent Goblin that Leo killed earlier in the day, it was slightly less shit than the rusty sword he had taken from the Goblin yesterday, it was still not good, but could be considered a slight upgrade. The old rusty sword had also been chipped in the fight and Val was doubtful if it would stay in one piece if he used it again.
Val had decided that he would purchase a new sword when he arrived at Loka Town. He still had the teeth and claws of the mother Lion Ray Lion, which could be used as materials to make a magic sword, but he was unsure how much this would cost, after all, there was no magic blacksmith in Vicla Town. He would have to look into this when he arrived at Loka Town.
Once that was decided, Val asked Becky if she could show him how to maintain his sword. She happily accepted and this continued till dinner was ready, everyone ate together and then the merchants, Val and Jamal headed into their tents to sleep for the night. Val was not hired to protect the merchants so the night watch was not his responsibility.
A few hours went by, Leo and Val were snuggled up together sleeping peacefully when Leo's eyes suddenly popped open.