"Connor."
"Send a message to all the strongholds."
"Gather all the Generals."
Connor, who has been watching Ron's strange behavior without saying anything, sighed.
"Sigh, I thought it would come to this, so I came prepared."
After saying that, he reached out his hands in his pants back pockets and took out an item.
The item was..... A portable mirror.
Ron, who heard his close aide reply, didn't say anything but inwardly gave a nod. Connor has always been quick witted and competent in situations like these.
Soon, Connor opened the portable mirror and raised it towards the sky.
As the waning crescent form of the moon got reflected in the glass, it soon started shining brightly with a similar oxblood hue as to that of the arc of light Ron used to kill the ape like monster, although of a lighter shade.
The waning moon suddenly turned corporeal and launched itself towards the sky.
But soon, after reaching a certain height, it started becoming unstable and eventually, disintegrated.
The disintegration was beautiful as it spreaded out in a circular path in all directions. Throughout the whole process, not a single sound was made.
"Rather flashy."
Ron commented, as he started moving away.
"Who cares? It's not like those beasts will sense it now. I was careful enough to not produce any sound and add my own mana signature to it, and even if they do sense it, we have already confirmed that they won't be coming out for the next few days."
"With this signal, and coupled with the fact that all of them are already somewhat aware of the anomalies, they should arrive at the Central stronghold within an hour."
After saying that, Connor put the portable mirror back in his pockets, and started moving again.
But just as he started to.....
"Wait."
Ron stopped him.
"Carry that with you."
He ordered, while pointing his fingers towards the large piece of flesh that he slashed out of the 4-metre class.
A vein popped on Connor's head but he didn't say anything and complied with the.....request? or whatever it was.
"Be quick, we don't have all day."
'This brat!'
Connor complained internally, although he was nearly his father's age, he still didn't dare to voice out his complaints against Ron.
'Only if I have brought my hammer.... '
He regretted not bringing his weapon with him as this was only an investigation and they weren't going to engage in combat.
But he wasn't vexed because he couldn't teach Ron a lesson, but rather because his potential excuse was now gone.
If his hammer was present with him, he could have avoided carrying the meat by saying his combat power was getting compromised by carrying it.
"It's an important supply that came out of a 4-metre class, take good care of it."
Connor's inner rumblinga ceased instantly as he gave Ron a deep look, then asked...
"You encountered a 4-metre class out here?"
"Yeah."
"It must have been chased out."
"I think so too."
Connot took a look at the monster flesh he was holding. Knowing it came out of a General Rank, he didn't feel irritated anymore, as he was one himself.
'Not a single edible part has been lost... '
He thought as he appraised the corpse.
'Good thing I didn't speak out earlier.'
He praised himself for his insight in not voicing out his complaints earlier.
He wanted to say that a General Rank like him shouldn't be carrying around monster carcasses and that Ron should bring more people with him if he want someone to carry his luggage. But he didn't feel the need to say it anymore.
'Hmm?'
He noticed something about the monster as he looked around to inspect it's corpse and then turned to Ron.
"Where's the brain?"
He asked in confusion.
"Gave it away."
"Gave away to whom exactly?"
He didn't hold back his annoyance in his tone.
"A stupid girl. She came out in the ruins on her own accord to search for food to feed herself and her brother who's close to reaching the Commander rank, but got attacked by a monster."
Ron explained briefly.
"How old was she?"
Connor asked in return.
"9 years old and her brother will turn 14 next month."
"Hmm..... With the brain, he should be able to advance to the next rank soon. Commander at 14 years of age.... What talent... Remind me of a certain someone."
He smirked towards the last part of the sentence.
"I am different."
"Yeah, Yeah.... You sure are."
Connor replied off handedly, knowing Ron was someone who didn't take compliments well.
"Which stronghold do they belong to?'
"New Flussufer."
"So they're under kenny, huh. Heh, they are rather lucky. There's still a chance Kenny will let them off the hook without taking the brain from them, but if in case they were under someone like Nash..... Heh."
Connor said while thinking about his fellow Generals.
"But still, yo-Wait! You said both of them were under 15, right?"
"Yes."
"That means.... "
Connor didn't wanted to continue that thought too far ahead.
"You're right. Both of them are children of a prostitute, who must have not been careful enough during work. It's surprising enough that she even bothered to raise them for a few years..... "
Ron words could be said to be harsh and they were rightfully so. No one was retarded enough to give birth to children in such crisis, and even if they did, they would not think twice before abandoning them.
Zilya's mother, who made this mistake, must have paid for it with her life.
Zilya didn't tell him anything, but her expressions told Ron all he wanted to know.
But the reason for Connor reaction was not their tragic past, but something else.
Apparently, in the current human society, childrens under 16 years of age, who were born near or after the First change, were currently divided into two categories.
One, who had guardians. Be it their grandparents, parents or someone else, as long as a child had a guardian they were raised by, they were put under this first category.
Two, they were children without parents, that is, they were orphans. Whatever the reason might be, as long as they currently don't have any guardians, they were put in the second category.
These children.....
They were raised along with their 'Grand plan', the reason for such division in the first place.
At this point, Connor started speaking again,
"The fact that we hadn't heard of such talented youths and she was out there searching for food.... "
"You guessed right. Both of them, somehow, managed to avoid the 'checking' process, while keeping others in the dark about the same. That's why, the guard didn't doubt her words when she said she was going out for Mana training.... "
Ron had an amused expression on his face as he explained everything to Connor.
"Do you think Kenny know about this?"
Connor tone was a bit more serious than before.
"I don't know, but Kenny isn't the type to care about it anyways."
"Shouldn't we do something about this?"
"No need. Let's say Kenny know about this, even with his lazy personality, he would have atleast taken some measures had he found the issue problematic. The fact he didn't do anything means there's nothing for us to worry.....'
"Assuming he don't know, I believe the girl and her brother are smart enough to keep it among themselves as not doing so would cause serious problems for them."
"And in case you're still worried, I have already taken care of the issue."
"How so?"
Connor asked, confused.
"Have your muscles finally reached your head? Don't tell me you have already forgotten about the brain?"
"Ah, right."
Connor said in realization, ignoring the first line of the answer. He was all too used to Ron's snide remarks.
"First, I rescued her from a monster, saving her life. Then provided her with safety and comfort, earning her trust and respect. At the end, I provided her with strength while also taking care of her current predicament. Now, she's completely indebted to me, and will obey my every command in the future. And through her, we will also be able to keep her brother in-check and get his loyalty, a Commander Rank individual, a valuable resource."
"Hoh, that's pretty neat."
Connor said, impressed. Although, it was never his forte, as a higher up of a whole race, he still knew a thing or two about such.
"But are you sure Kenny won't mind you giving away the brain just like that? I mean, a 4-metre class brain is still very advantageous to a General rank..... "
Connor expressed his concern.
"I was the one who killed the monster. He has no right to it in the first place. And whether he will try to take it away from the brother-sister duo, I am not concerned about it too."
Ron took a pause at this moment and looked Connor in the eye, who was walking by his side.
"A disgusting brain will be the last of his, no, last of everyone's worry after today's meeting."
He said in a deep voice.
Connor didn't react much to it and continued walking forward. Suddenly, a grin appeared on his face as he thought of something.
"But I have to say.... It isn't like you to care about a random passing stranger, even if they are a kid.... Usually, you would mind your own business and leave them to their own accord."
He said with an intense grin plastered on his face. It wasn't everyday he got to get back on Ron for his snarky comments on him.
"I was watching."
"Hmm?"
"I was just a few dozen metres away and watched everything play out.... No, I didn't exactly 'watched' everything, but by enhancing my sight and hearing using mana, and a cursory investigation of the sight, I was pretty much able to reenact the whole scenario in my head..... "
"Heh... So, what did you see?"
Connor asked, intrigued to what the strongest in the human domain saw that made him go out of his way to help a complete stranger.
"The girl, she.... "
Originally Ron, who had watched everything, had no intention of interfering. He just saw the whole ordeal to amuse himself and to satisfy his curiosity. But as he continued watching....
'YOU'RE GOING TO GO DOWN WITH ME!!'
Zilya's outburst, that he heard from afar came to his mind. The way she refused to yield in front of certain death and had the courage to fight back despite her young age.....It may seem simple, but it was not. Because Ron knew, he himself was incapable of it at that age.....
"She was different than the others."
He muttered in a barely audible voice.
"What?"
Connor, who wasn't making use of mana to enhance his hearing, wasn't able to catch what Ron muttered.
"Anyway."
Ron changed the topic of their discussion.
"About the meeting two hours from now... "
His thoughts shifted to the issue now at hand.
"I wonder how they will react.... "
He muttered in thought.
Connor too, hardened his expression and looked ahead. The time of jokes was now over, and they had to think of countermeasures for their current 'threat'.
And their destination was the headquarters of the current human society, the Central stronghold.