Chapter 108: Competing with the cat.


    “Uhh...” Being put on the spot, Clive didn’t know what to do either.


    On the one hand, he should obviously deal with this teenager, but on the other, he remembered that Rufus had especially informed him not to cause any troubles for him.


    “Ahem! Sir Rufus personally ordered the presence of this young man here. So if anyone has any issues with that, I would personally report to him.” Clive said after straightening his back.


    His words left all those men speechless. Surprised, they looked at each other, expecting someone to take the lead. As if they all had suddenlye to a tacit understanding, they focused on Brud, who had started this topic.


    Being the target of their expected stares, Brud didn’t know what he was supposed to do. And as expected, he just sat back on his seat. The other men looking at him followed his example and just sat back, acting as if nothing had happened.


    Although all of them looked perfectly fine from the outside, they were boiling with anger from the inside, especially after looking at ze’s smug smile.


    “Moreover, I can assure you that this young man here isn’t as weak as you may be thinking,” Clive added after a while.


    .....


    ‘Oh, that Rufus guy has told him more than I expected.’ Ozul squinted his eyes at Clive.


    “The meeting is over. You guys can leave now. However, keep this in your mind; I don’t want any fights in this group.”- Clive announced with a threatening voice.


    His words hadn’t faded in the background before he turned around and walked away towards his own tent. His subordinates followed after him.


    Ozul also stood up from his seat, turned around, and headed back to the camp that Raven had set up for him.


    When ra saw that he was going away, she hurriedly shouted;


    “Wait-”


    However, Venessa didn’t let her finish her words and pulled her back.


    “It isn’t the time for that. Can’t you see Young Miss? You are going to disturb that man’s sleep. Do you want to do that?”- Venessa persuaded while dragging her back to the wooden cabin.


    Though Hanry just stopped outside the door. He sat down on the ground, closing his eyes as he started meditating.


    The other mercenary group leaders also scattered away, most of them joining their men in the night watch.


    Raven and ze had also followed Ozul back to the tent. ze didn’t enter inside and instead jumped on the roof of their carriage parked near the camp.


    Though he also sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, ze still had all of his attention on his surroundings as he couldn’t rx in the middle of the forest.


    Unlike ze, Raven entered the tent with Ozul. The camp was practically empty, with only a fewfortable clothesid on the ground so that someone could sleep on the rough surface.


    However, Ozul did not mind that. He had slept on a table for six years straight before; what was some rough surfacepared to that?


    “Oh, you want to sleep too?” Ozul asked when he noticed Raven behind him.


    “No. I forgot to buy a cushion, so I am here to give you ap pillow.” Raven said with a straight face, not letting any emotions to show.


    “Okay...”- Ozul shrugged, he wasn’tining either way.


    After all this time of receiving thep pillows, even though he wasn’t as infatuated with them as he was before, Ozul still liked thep pillows.


    “Hurry up. Come here!” Raven sat down, bending both of her legs as she patted herp with enthusiasm.


    Ozulid down and put his head on herp before closing his eyes. Raven began to move her hands through his ck hair, asionally ying with them.


    Afortable silence followed after that as Raven yed with his hair while Ozul slept peacefully.


    “Can I ask something?”- After what felt like an hour or two, Raven asked with a soft voice. Her tone waspletely different from what she had before.


    “Yes?” Ozul replied without opening his eyes. He enjoyed it when Raven passed her hands through his hair.


    Raven had no problem asking the question while he was supposedly asleep because she had learned some things after being together with him for more than ten years now.


    She knew that Ozul’s sleeping was not normal either. What he considered sleeping would actually be known as just closing the eyes.


    It meant that whenever Ozul slept, he wouldn’t be unconscious. He would be fully aware of his surroundings, but he chose to ignore everything else and focus solely on the darkness all around him.


    Hence, whenever you would call him while he is supposedly sleeping, Ozul would be able to answer instantly.


    Despite not actually being able to rest, Ozul slept because he wantedfort. And he feels the mostfortable in the darker surroundings.


    Raven was sure that Ozul wouldn’t mind talking now that he was lyingfortably in silence and saw only the darkness after closing his eyes.


    “Why are we even here? Shouldn’t we be looking for your arms now that you had your leg back?”


    Silence followed after she had finished her words, but it wasn’t anything ufortable. Raven understood that Ozul was just taking his sweet time.


    “What I mean is, don’t we already know that the Emperor has one of your arms? Then why are we on this random mission?” Raven added a little whileter when she thought that Ozul might have forgotten to reply at all.


    “See Raven; I want to beplete again, too. But that’s not my final goal... I want to know more about myself than anything else.” His soft voice brought a sense of warmth in Raven’s heart.


    “This is a big world. And because of that, I alone can’t search for clues. I need men... So many of them that I will have eyes all over the continent. Only then will I have a chance of finding any clues about myself.”


    Ozul exined what he was trying to aplish. Raven understood what he was trying to say. If Ozul were to start a full out war with Emperor for his arm, it would be difficult for him to gather men willing to work for him.


    Since he couldn’t get his arms back right away, he could only bid his time. No matter much power he had individually, it didn’t matter when it came to searching the entire continent.


    “But even if that was the case, we didn’t have to ept this mission, right?”- Raven didn’t like it that they had to work together with others.


    Most likely, those mercenaries would again start pointing at them when they realize that Raven used Darkness Element.


    Although it wasn’t a problem in itself, she knew they were going to start looking for trouble with her. And that would be annoying to deal with.


    “I know what you are thinking, but bear with it. The Emperor has ns for me, and I am curious as to what they are. After all, he still underestimates me...”- Ozul exined with an amused tone.


    For some reason, Ozul had started to enjoy everything a little bit more than he did before obtaining his leg. It felt like he had a little bit of more emotions than he had before.


    In any case, Raven was notining about this new Ozul-not when heughed more.


    “Also, you guys need to improve faster. Training in a peaceful atmosphere is slowing down your progress. Maybe some time without me would also help...”- Ozul added after a little while.


    It was true since there were almost no dangers for Raven and ze, their minds did not experience the pressure that was required to boost their talents.


    The Silverbird Kingdom was rtively safer than other ces on the continent. But real opportunities lie in dangers. So Ozul wanted to put some necessary pressure on them for their growth.


    “I am going to work harder and be strong enough in the future to stand beside you proudly.”- Raven muttered with the fire of determination burning in her eyes.


    After her deration, Ozul didn’t reply and just enjoyed the head pats. The camp regained its silence, which the duo both enjoyed.


    However, the delight of Raven was short lived when Jinx appeared in the tent out of nowhere! With graceful steps, she approached Ozul and curled herself into a furball, snuggling closer to him.


    Though Raven had his head on herp, she couldn’t help but be jealous of Jinx.


    ‘Just you wait! In the future, it would only be me cuddling with him!’- Raven red at Jinx, her sharp gaze conveyed her feelings to Jinx, who just looked at her with an apathetic face before closing her eyes.


    When Raven saw this, she felt angry and stupid at the same time. Angry that Jinx had ignored her, and stupid because she waspeting with a cat that she had just guessed to be female.


    ‘No! I am sure of it, this cat must be a female!’ Raven convinced herself.


    However, a few minutester, she forgot about Jinx and just focused on the sleeping beauty in front of her.