"Once again, I am deeply sorry for my men's behavior, Lady Linette. Please give me a moment to fix them into shape," Captain Rhys said apologetically while containing his rage and shame.

"Make it quick," Linetta permitted while casting a brief but chilling glance at the young warriors.

"Thank you, Lady Linette."

"Dammit, why does our captain have to keep apologizing to—"

"Enough!!!" Captain Rhys snapped and scanned the young warriors with his fierce. They don't seem like they learn from their mistakes, even if they were beaten to death.

"Time and time again, you have all continued to test my patience! You are not fucking kids under the protection of your mothers anymore, so stop acting like spoiled brats! You should have understood our line of work before you joined!"

"Regardless of our client's circumstances, it's our responsibility to ensure the safety of their journey once we accept their money! Only incompetent people complain and pin blames on others! Tell me, are you incompetent?!"

"No, we are not, Captain!" the young warriors strongly answered.

"Wrong! You are incompetent! You are all fucking incompetent! So incompetent I would have kicked you all out of the group if it wasn't for your mothers possessing some relationship with the Steelguard Escort Group!" Captain Rhys cussed.

In fact, Captain Rhys wanted to curse their mothers for being incompetent as well. After all, their mothers wouldn't have sent them to work for the Steelguard Escort Group if they were capable people.

However, cursing witches wasn't a man could do—no matter how incompetent the witches were.

Captain Rhys could curse their incompetent sons all he wanted, but the same cannot be done for their witch mothers. It was the same as asking for death!

"None of you could even compare to the last batch of new recruits! Not a single one of them had a good upbringing, unlike all of you! And yet they are countless times better than all of you! They are orphans from the slums! The youngest among the last batch was even fifteen years old!"

"The fact that none of you who have just reached adulthood can't even compare to a fifteen-year-old orphan from the slums… You should all be ashamed of yourselves!" Captain Rhys berated.

Maturity, self-discipline, and integrity – the young warriors lacked all three aspects.

Captain Rhys silently decided to write an in-depth report on the new recruits' performances and recommend the discontinuation of their service after he returned to the Steelguard Escort Group's headquarters.

Nevertheless, Captain Rhys harshly scolded and cursed the young warriors to the point that they did not get the chance to refute his words.

Even when they were finally given a chance, they had nothing to say in their defense.

Captain Rhys did not give them a shred of respect. They were humiliated and shamed, but they could do nothing about it.

They did not deserve Captain Rhys's respect. Respect was earned and not given, and they had lost all of it.

"…"

The journey to Redpine City became deathly silent without the escort group besides the occasional encounter with green goblin ambushes on the road.

Only Vaan and the two sisters remained casual and lively after putting the young warriors' matters behind them.

"Once again, I would like to apologize for my men's unruly behaviors. I hope Lady Linette, Lady Lillas, and Brother Vaan do not think badly of the Steelguard Escort Group. These new recruits do not represent all of us," Captain Rhys said.

"You don't have to worry. The Delarosa Household won't hold the whole Steelguard Escort Group responsible for the misconduct and disrespect of their new recruits," Linetta coolly said.

Nevertheless, Captain Rhys focused on the "whole" of Linetta's words before he strengthened his resolve.

"Thank you, Lady Linette. I can assure you that the Steelguard Escort Group will punish our new recruits appropriately," Captain Rhys promised.

"Then, that's that," Linette ended their talk there.

"You don't blame me, do you, Captain Rhys?" Vaan asked shortly after.

"How can I?" Captain Rhys shook his head with a wry smile.

"Brother Vaan had given me enough hints ahead of time. More importantly, we avoided a bloodbath thanks to you. Your plan to fool the enemies by fooling your allies first was a well-thought-out plan. Unfortunately, my men are too narrow-minded to appreciate it."

"I'm afraid these idiots wouldn't even last a week if they didn't have me to supervise them," Captain Rhys said with a sigh.

"A week?" Vaan's lip curled into a smile before saying, "You're too generous, Captain Rhys. It would be amazing if those wastrels could last a whole day without courting death. That being said, even wastrels have their uses."

An experienced person doesn't fear strong opponents, only pig-like teammates.

On the other hand, a competent person would know how to use their pig-like teammates to their advantage.

Captain Rhys smiled without commenting further. He had criticized his men enough. They might just rebel and stab him in his sleep if he pushed them any further.

…

Sometime later, the trees became sparse as the group left the thick woods and entered an open area.

Soon, the sturdy, tall brick walls of Redpine City came into view, lightly illuminated by brightly-lit torches in the night.

At a single glance, one could immediately tell the difference when comparing the state of Redpine City and Sunpeak Town.

They were worlds apart; one was declining, and the other was prosperous.

Rumble…!

As Vaan's group arrived at the city gate, a distant shadowy figure roared with a droning noise in the night sky.

The noise grew louder very quickly but became just as distant several moments later.

"Was that…?"

"An airship."

Linetta finished off her younger sister's words, which she uttered in surprise. Neither of them expected an airship to be passing through the region.

At the same time, Vaan's eyes dimmed as he deactivated his Magic Vision. He had seen the convergence of mana.

Even though Vaan had only heard about them from others and read them in books, he did not doubt that it was an airship—a mana-powered airship, to be precise.

It was a symbol of wealth and authority in the Kingdom of Black Rose.

"Why is there an airship here? Which important person is passing through this part of the kingdom?" Lillias wondered with surprise.