Auren stares at the other Elders, each of them currently looking straight at him, their faces revealing a hint of curiosity.
Slightly annoyed, but without any real alternative, he walks over to Rakshala and takes a seat beside her at the head of the table, while Rakshala smiles.
"Thank you, everyone, for joining me," she begins, her head briefly facing each person seated at the table, her visor covering her eyes, as always.
"I welcome all of you. As you may have noticed, our dear vice-leader Auren is back with us and has joined the meeting." She casually places her hand on Auren's shoulder.
"..."
"Would you like to say a few words to the others, Auren?" she then asks.
Are you kidding me? I have absolutely nothing of value to say.
Auren crosses his arms. "No. I would not. But I guess I'm expected to say something anyway."
He glances around at the Elders. The term 'Elder' fits them well—none of them seem to be under forty, with Rakshala being the only obvious exception. Buno and Bunu look comparatively young, which amazes him.
You know what? Screw this.
"Do you know how I ended up in this position as so-called vice-leader?"
Everyone watches him in silence, most of them still smiling faintly.
"Nepotism," Auren says flatly. "I haven't done anything to deserve this position. I have no real skills in this area, no useful knowledge, no experience, and frankly, not much motivation either. That's why I haven't contributed anything so far. What confuses me is that none of you seem to question this setup. If you're dissatisfied, as you probably should be, feel free to speak up. That's supposed to be your job, isn't it? Just demote me to some random position. I value my freedom, and I have my own plans. I'll still help when I can, but let's be honest—this whole vice-leader thing is a farce."
The room stays quiet. A few Elders show a hint of surprise, but most still smile as if amused.
"Humility is indeed a virtue," Rakshala says, unfazed. "Thank you for your wise words, Auren, but your position is not subject to change. Now then—before we move on to the main topic, let's begin with last month's reports."
So she's just going to pretend that I said nothing.
One after another, the Elders begin giving their reports.
Auren listens carefully, doing his best to stay focused, despite the overwhelming amount of information.
From what he gathers, one Elder is assigned to each of the V5 nations, respectively, and another one handles the Kakin Empire. Each one presents a short report on the current situation in their respective territories. Other Elders are in charge of recruitment, personnel, training, finances, and other important areas. Most of them hand out documents containing the current status and important points they want to emphasize. Auren flips through the papers briefly but gives up halfway.
It would take days just to get an overview. I'll read through them later.
To his surprise, Buno and Bunu are officially in charge of special missions. Their report is over in less than thirty seconds—they haven't done much of anything in the past month.
The lazy marshmallow brothers… just enjoying their comfortable lives with their maids.
Only Bunu speaks a single important line. "I've recovered from my eye injury and am now back to full capacity."
"That's good to hear," Rakshala replies, while several Elders glance at each other in confusion, not quite following.
"How do you recover a lost eye? Is this one fake? It looks real enough to me, brat!" one of the senior Elders grumbles.
"Maybe you need to get some glasses, my elderly Elder friend," Buno retorts, while his brother remains silent.
"How disrespectful! Do you even—" the Elder begins, but Rakshala simply raises her right hand, immediately silencing the room without needing to speak a word.
Without any further conflict, the meeting goes on.
When it's Elder Rein's turn, he begins listing multiple building projects completed in the last few months, Auren's residence part of them, making Auren feel a little guilty, along with the resources he and his mid-sized team now require.
As his report continues, Auren finds himself gradually more interested in the topic.
"We require a larger infirmary. Our hospital room is full. Many of our teams have taken heavy losses. The number of injured members has now exceeded 100. Our recent operations, while overwhelmingly successful, came at a steep cost. The stable patients have been moved to hospices, and while some may live for a long time—even without limbs—we'll need resources to increase the number of hospices or expand the existing ones. Of course, the hospital expansion takes priority. Still, we owe it to our most loyal members to provide as much comfort and dignity as possible, no matter how many years they may still have. We cannot neglect those who sacrificed so much for our cause. They are the true heroes and deserve the highest degree of respect."
"Money isn't the issue," says an elder with long grey hair. "What we lack is personnel. Empty rooms are worthless, which is why we have not yet expanded our critical infrastructure. Only people we fully trust can take on these positions, and we simply don't have enough of them. We can't afford to hire outsiders and let them work here. That would go against everything this place stands for. Outsiders aren't welcome."
Might as well do my job. All of these are loyalists, bound by oaths—there's no real risk. More importantly, this gives me a chance to train as much as possible. If I keep at it, I might even get Azure Restoration to where I want it... maybe even within a year!
"That's actually something I can take care of," Auren interjects. "At least temporarily, and for the members who deserve it. As long as we're not talking about numbers in the thousands—which clearly isn't the case—I can handle it."
"Would you really do that, Auren?" Rakshala asks, smiling with an air of innocence.
She knows exactly what I'm about to say... Still, her manipulation is child's play compared to a certain rat. It's almost refreshing how direct she is.
"Of course. You should've asked me in the first place," Auren replies. "Cancel the hospital and hospice expansions. If there's a shortage of personnel, free up most of the members currently stationed there—they won't be needed for much longer. Start transferring them to other roles, and keep only the most experienced and skilled staff. We'll still need those, of course, since I can't be everywhere at the same time. Begin with the ones who lack suitable skills for their current roles, and the ones who are actually willing to leave. Just make sure they don't view it as a demotion or feel like they're being pushed out. Anyone currently in the hospital or hospice will soon be able to return to their jobs, so include them in your future personnel planning. Someone create a list prioritizing patient recovery so we can get the most essential people back to work as fast as possible."
"I'll take care of it," Rakshala says, smiling. "Now, moving on..."
"W—wait just a moment," one of the younger elders speaks up. "What do you mean, moving on?"
Auren glances at her, noticing she's a good-looking woman—probably the youngest elder here, seemingly still in her forties.
"Just how? I don't understand!" she exclaims, and nearly all the other elders, except for Grunah, Rein, Buno, and Bunu, nod in agreement.
"I'll address that right now," Rakshala responds.
"It is time I told you about my plan for our future. For that, you need to know something about me — including why I granted Auren his current position to begin with. I am grateful you trusted my judgement and never questioned me, but now it is the right time to fill you in," Rakshala says, removing her visor. Her bright‑blue eyes gleam as she reveals them.
A silence sweeps over the room. Every Elder stares at her in shock.
"Your eyes..." the same female Elder who spoke earlier says. "I treated them almost a decade ago, when we had fewer than a hundred members, and nobody specialised could take care of them. They were completely gone... don't tell me that Auren did this."
"Indeed," Rakshala replies. "You need not know the details. The results speak for themselves. My sudden change of plans, my awakening—all is tied to reclaiming my sight. Without these eyes, I could never have obtained the decisive information that allowed us to grow so rapidly and deliver the first real blow to our enemies. This also explains how Auren intends to solve the problem of our wounded heroes."
She straightens her posture, her gaze sweeping across the Elders. "You are bound by contract, but I ask you to consider every action carefully. This information must not spread beyond this room. Even so, I want you to relay this to your teams: they have no reason to fear injuries anymore. So long as they survive and make it back—anything, and I mean anything—can be healed. Missing arms, legs, even eyes. Auren can restore them within hours."
Shock spreads among the Elders as they stare at Auren.
"This is the most powerful Nen ability I have ever heard of," one of them finally says, nodding in approval. "His power even rivals yours, Seer. Suddenly, dozens of our strongest Nen users can return to duty. This is an unbelievable advantage for us."
The gathered Elders begin to murmur, and everyone looks excited.
"Everything you said during your introduction—vice‑leader—must have been wrong," another Elder says approvingly. "Your humility really was admirable."
"My position is not due to my skills," Auren responds calmly. "I could serve as a common worker if needed. My rank is not based on skill, but on recognition—on loyalty and importance to the cause."
"Which is as it should be! Loyalty and Importance to the cause are as vital as abilities. I'd always choose a less skilled leader than someone without merits or loyalty," Grunah chimes in.
Auren nods. "Very well. We should call back any members who have serious injuries—especially those currently outside our base — and offer them a brief rest and recovery under our care. As I said, I will handle their healing. I will not remain locked inside this damn mountain all the time, but we can schedule regular meetings. Perhaps send the injured home for treatment every few months, and I will personally oversee their recovery. All of you should remain here as well. Since some of you will leave soon, we should start your treatment immediately."
This is the opportunity I have been waiting for. With so many patients and no danger of my ability getting leaked, thanks to the contracts, my ability with Azure Restoration will go through the roof.
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