Outside Aid, Organization

"Keep your enemies close and your friends farther away"—this was wisdom handed down from the ancients. Another saying also described this situation: without strong aid from outside, disaster would arise within.

In Tervain Village under the jurisdiction of Gaudy City, everything seemed to be going smoothly. He appeared to have the Church and the Baron backing him from both sides, but in reality, neither side could be relied upon.

He was still too young. It was his first time transmigrating, and he had no experience!

Although neither the Baron nor the Church could discover the origins of the changes in his background, as if his history had remained unchanged, where had this anomaly of his come from?

But both sides had noticed something strange about him and had more or less guessed the truth.

For now, their relationship could still be maintained on the surface because both sides had their reservations and their own goals.

However, even this superficial relationship was about to collapse. Hadn't assassins already started appearing?

Therefore, he needed strong outside support. Even if only a bit of hearsay made its way over, it could make the backing behind him seem even more mysterious and unfathomable.

It would make his originally common-born identity, which could be seen through at a glance, seem even more bizarre.

In truth, Ergons had anticipated that the Baron and the Church would grow suspicious of his identity. The Baron in particular was, so far, the only outsider who knew that he could change faces.

The second was the Chancellor.

However, the Church and the Baron could be regarded as belonging to the same faction.

He felt that if the Baron broadened his thinking a little, sooner or later she would wonder whether he might not even be Ergons Tevalin at all.

Since he could sculpt Sir Davis Tevalin's face, could he also sculpt someone else's face and replace them? For example, the Baron herself?

Thus, to prepare for the possibility of everything going wrong at any time, he needed an opportunity. These four girls were that opportunity.

He had been careless at the beginning of his transmigration. Now that the opportunity to obtain divine wings and the source of his abilities had been investigated almost completely, it was time to fabricate an organization for himself.

"You need to think this through. Wait a moment—I'll bring the person who will take you home."

Ergons turned and left. But after merely using the tent to block their view, he changed into a suit of gleaming silver plate armor in his inventory.

He randomized a face with Face Sculpting, producing the appearance of a very ordinary white man in his mid-thirties with orange hair.

He lifted the tent flap and walked back in. To the four girls, he was now an entirely different person!

Ergons improvised a name in his head and introduced himself. "You may call me Sir Evoy. The knight does not have the time to escort you home personally, so I will guide you along the way."

When the four girls saw that everything really seemed to be working out, their hearts filled with complicated emotions, and they were so moved they nearly cried.

General Ergons Evoy quickly struck while the iron was hot and asked again, "Are you ready to join my party and travel with me?"

The four girls covered their mouths to keep from sobbing aloud, while tears streamed down their cheeks. Upon hearing his question, they hurriedly nodded.

"Good, then. Let's go!"

Beneath the moon, difficult to hook and difficult to complete, the tent billowed with golden light as a breeze swept over it. The figures inside vanished without a trace, leaving only an empty void.

South Newman Province, Erdonseck City, the Viscount's main fortress, beside the bed.

The Viscount, his face filled with sorrow, was fuming over his defeat when a wind suddenly arose from nowhere. A flash of golden light swept past his eyes.

When the golden light faded, five figures had appeared inside the room.

Viscount Sebastian René Predal felt as though his understanding of reality had been challenged.

It was true that he had been defeated in South Newman Province several days ago. He had been depressed ever since, even somewhat dispirited.

But that did not mean he could accept the possibility that something had gone wrong with his mind.

Besides, these four little girls crying their eyes out in front of him looked somewhat familiar.

They were the children born to his younger and older sisters-in-law...

"You... You are..."

The Viscount, who normally held absolute authority throughout his domain, found himself at a loss for words.

"There's no need to thank me. I returned them to you to form a favorable connection. Redeeming them may be a matter of pride for you, but it is nothing to my comrades."

After saying that, he did not utter another word. With a whoosh, he vanished before their eyes.

If not for the two flashes of golden light and the four extra girls in the room, Viscount Predal would never have believed that what he had witnessed was real.

Moreover, it was the other party's attitude of wanting nothing from him that confused him most.

If the ability to appear and disappear so suddenly did not yet completely challenge the Viscount's knowledge of the world, then the other party's attitude of casting a long line to catch a big fish completely struck at the Viscount's understanding, built over many years in politics and wielding power.

This person had long-term plans!

The Viscount looked at the four sisters embracing each other and sobbing. He felt that the breakthrough lay with them. Who was that person? And what had that person meant by "comrades"? What kind of people were they?

Judging from that person's ability to come and go just now, the Viscount suddenly felt that his temporary defeat might not be a bad thing after all.

When the sun came out and Adamson and Young Ramai returned, only Viscount Ergons was in the tent.

The fool seemed a little off. He kept spacing out, while occasional expressions of bashfulness and reminiscence flashed across his broad face.

He did not even ask where the four girls had gone.

As the two of them returned, the subordinates came back as well. Without needing him to organize anything, the knights themselves sent people to prepare the items from the previous training session.

It was obvious that they had been secretly practicing for the past three weeks—not just once or twice.

Now they were simply putting on a display of their results in front of everyone.

Unfortunately, the people they had brought today were a group of old veterans. Compared with the things these veterans normally practiced, the knights' performance failed to stir up any interest or response.

These old veterans had eaten and drunk their fill yesterday while being entertained by their so-called old friends. Today, although not all of them were reminiscing like Adamson, they were at least quite listless.

They showed little interest, but the villagers around the perimeter, the outside support staff, the young people hoping to make a name for themselves in the war, and the merchants were all watching with great interest.

Ergons looked at the token in his hand and thought about taking control of the entire army. Before he could even reach out, the matter had already been more or less settled.

It seemed that he could now focus his attention on continuing to weave his background.

Although South Newman Province was far from here, even a merchant caravan could make the journey in a few days. The nobles had plenty of methods. That Viscount would probably notice him very soon.

He would give the matter time to ferment. From then on, he could leave the rest to their own imaginations.