Commander Evan Rothensburg (1)

I was planning on sending Hera to our family's hidden education camp. We would teach her to be a good person there and how to best use her talents. 

Of course, we could remove the scar on her face that gave her powers from the blood god. 

She seemed talented with mana so she could be trained to be a capable warrior or mage but that was thrown away as soon as I saw the picture. 

I knew why I found her name and face familiar. It had been three years since I saw her but my memory has always been excellent. 

The biggest tantamount to that is that I still remember things from hundreds of years ago in a past life. 

"She was quite the cute and well mannered child. How did she and her mother get involved so deep within the blood cult?" Elina asked. 

I had finished my interrogation of the captives and had returned to the surface. The old man we captured was pretty high up in the cult but he was damn stubborn. 

I had to use some shock therapy, pulling nails and cutting off some toes before he spoke. I got what I needed from him. As for the middle aged women and the two young men, they were not well informed. 

They were supposedly just basic soldiers for the blood cult and only followed orders. They were more than willing to talk after some shock therapy. Unlike the old man, they didn't have much loyalty to the cult. 

"I don't know. I didn't talk to her afterward, wasn't really in the mood." I said. 

"Where is she now?" 

"I had Milena take her to one of the empty rooms in my wing."

I had told Milena, one of my masked soldiers to bathe her and have an actual meal. I was told that she fell asleep as soon as she lay down.

Milena was good at taking care of children as she was one of my maids during the day. She also volunteered at an orphanage in her free time. 

"Let me talk to her when she wakes up. She liked me quite a bit. I used to visit her often the year after you left." Elina was someone children loved because of her godess like appearance. 

I'm not even joking, the goddess of the Zlatan Empire is named Helena. She had blonde hair and blue eyes just like Elina and even her face in the statues was similar. 

"You can do that. She might be useful in negotiating with the commander. I am sure he will visit both of our families tomorrow morning." I say. 

"I am sure she will, Commander Rothensburg loves her dearly. He doted on her to the point that she would ride on his shoulders whenever she was out in town." 

Elina seemed to not feel right about this situation as she was frowning when talking about the little girl. She told me that the commander would always be seen eating or playing around town with the girl. 

"When she went missing, he locked the city down for 2 whole weeks. Nothing came in or out. He turned the city upside down looking for her. 

It only stopped when the emperor intervened because people would starve if things went any further." 

I didn't have time to read everything that was written on the reports as my deadline to implicate Uncle London was by tomorrow night. 

I also preferred to hear her voice. The voice I had missed for so long. 

"Did he get in any trouble then? 2 weeks is too long. The nobles and the emperor had to be pissed." I asked. I barely knew anything that they didn't write in the letters or video calls through the magic comms. 

"No. His brother, Duke Lukas Lycanheart 'smoothed' things over with everyone." Elina emphasized 'smoothed'. It meant that he had bribed the imperials and nobles to ignore his offense. 

I sat there in thought as I was wondering how I should play this. It seems that I really wouldn't be able to catch a break. There would be so much to do for me. 

There was also this nagging feeling in the back of my head. Elina seemed to be hiding something from me but I couldn't tell what it was.

This nagging wouldn't solve itself but I trust her enough. I would never intervene in her plans unless she wanted me to. She would tell me herself if needed.

"So, you find anything about Unncle London's involvement in the bombing of our plantation," she asked after a while. 

"Yeah. I had the masked unit study the bomb used to burn it down. 

My expert on mana bombs said it was not the conventional type. It was a specialized model that used blood stones to fuel itself instead of normal mana stones." I explained. 

"Mana stones are hard to source secretly because of the imperial family's control over their trade. They had no choice but to use a bloodstone. It gave away who they were so easily.

Uncle London is not a noble so he can get mana stones. Even if he did, it could be traced to him. That's why he hired the blood cult?" 

It seems that in my absence, Elina had become more capable of sorting things than before. Even this type of simple calculation would trouble her as she was too lazy. She wasn't dumb, she just didn't want to waste her brainpower. It felt nice seeing her try as I had often recommended doing. 

"How did he come in contact with the blood cult? why did he target us in the first place? As one of the merchants that rely on our supply for profit, he only loses here." Elina was puzzled by her uncle's strange action. 

I can't answer the first question but the second one was revealed by one of the cultists.

"It seems that Uncle London has been supplying them with herbs in secret for many years now. He came to them a week ago during a trade and asked them to do this. 

Apparently, he provided them with some beneficial herbs for blood cultists."

I then went on to explain how the blood cultists used their signature blood stones to power a fire element bomb and sent their best infiltrators to the plantation. 

They couldn't get inside the mansion to hurt the Zocratens but their farm defense was weaker in comparison. The Zocratens always focused on protecting themselves rather than their plants.

It's something I knew well. I had even once told them to add some more protection there but they didn't have the personnel to do this. 

'Well then, let's discuss what has to be done. Our parents have given us full reign to handle this as we wish. They won't interfere unless needed. " I said and Elina nodded in agreement. 

We spent the rest of the night and early morning planning what should be done. There was much to plan and also lots of things I needed to catch up on. 

-----------------

I didn't stop talking until Mom asked us to come out for breakfast. It was still nagging me that Erina was hiding something. 

This feeling only got stronger as we strolled through the hallways to the dining room. This feeling had never been so strong before when she hid things. 

Somehow, this time felt different. Damnit, I did my best to shove my suspicions in a corner somewhere. The years must have changed things between us. I just have to take my time fixing them. 

Breakfast was without commotion. we ate in peace. Until I noted that Celes wasn't here that is.

"Where is Celes?" I asked Mom. 

"She joined your unit in partying. She was drunk beyond words. The maids brought her back to her room." 

"Oh." Yeah, sounds like something she would. I would have to ask the unit if they liked her. She would be working with them soon so a harmonious transition was preferred. 

Elina just glared at me when she heard this. She didn't like people who drank too much. She also had a slight dislike for parties and balls. 

Right after we finished our meal, one of the maids walked in as if on queue. 

She bowed and said "Commander Evan Rothensburg has entered the estate. The guards tried to stop him but couldn't."

My parents didn't look surprised and just looked at me with a frown as if saying 'This is your responsibility. Take care of it.'

I would. 

"Let us go." said Elina as she took the lead. She said she would when we discussed it last night. 

We arrived at the front portion of the estate as the gates were wide open. The family's guards stood in front of the imperial knights and mages. 

Our guards were also equipped in armor but not full armor. It was something reserved for the imperial knights by their law. Our mages also didn't have as nice staffs or robes.

"As unruly as ever Sir Rothensburg, walking into a noble home without permission." said Elina with a sinister smile.

She was mocking his clear disregard for the rule that prevents soldiers from entering noble himes without permission or proof of crimes. 

"At least I'm not as uncouth as Miss Elina. An adult woman who stays in an unmarried man's house all night." Evan Rothensburg wasn't someone who held back his words either. 

"Please, the entire empire knows that we are to be engaged soon. I am also trusted enough to know my boundaries before marriage." Elina retorted. 

"Hmph. You may know your boundaries but I don't think your future partner does." The commander turned to me. He gave me quite a nasty look. 

"Take me to your father young man." he demanded.

"Are you here as the commander of this city or my father's good friend?" I questioned. 

"I am here as a commander today." His answer was firm. He had come to ask about last night's events. 

"Well then, you will not be able to meet. Anything you say as commander has to be said to me. It is time I learn to lead the Vornix clan." I said with utmost confidence. ]

His eyes widened when he heard this as he wasn't expecting me to take responsibility this early. 

"Are you sure you can handle me? Has the little sprite that terrorized the civilians ready to be a true noble?" he questioned. 

"Terrirozed is quite a heavy word. I was just having fun. I always compensated them too." 

"You did not answer my question, Ryan El Carlos Vornix!" This time, he released a trace of his Tier-7 warrior aura. 

Damnit! He really didn't have to pull out my full name. I didn't like what it represented. 

"I am ready. Let's discuss your business in my study. You may bring 2 of your subordinates." I was sure that I could handle the guy who saw me grow for half my life. 

"Everyone, you can put away your weapons and relax now. You didn't come here to fight after all." said Elina as a signal to both their and our soldiers. 

Everyone relaxed as her words as the only possible successor to an Earldom held great value. She was also my future partner so the guards had no issues listening to her. 

Most of them saw her grow up in our house as well. The guards actually might trust her more than me. I had played pranks on them often. 

And see we went towards my portion of the estate. It is where I was hoping to come to a deal that was beneficial to both myself and the commander. 

What I do with little Hera would be decided by him.