The arena was a chaotic mess. Dozens of swordswomen surrounded Shinbela. They screamed loudly. Even the garrison on the main street could hear them clearly.
"It looks like Shibela lost her control over them," Anfey said slowly.
"All of them are very professional, proud, and mature. It is not going to be easy to tame them. I think you overdid it," Anthony said with a smile.
"Tame? You do not have to use such a filthy word." Anfey smiled. "Let's go and take a look."
Seeing Anfey and Anthony, the swordswomen started to quiet down. Some of them even lowered their heads, out of anxiety, and backed away a little bit.
"Shinbela, what is wrong?" Anfey asked.
"Master, they complain about me, saying I am giving them a hard time on purpose," Shinbela said in a low pitch.
"Oh? Then why don't you guys tell me how Shinbela gave you a hard time?" Anfey asked.
"Master, Captain Shinbela asked us to run along the arena every day. She did not give us any training. What is more frustrating, was that she filled the wells with stone, and did not allow us to go out. We were so sweaty after the run. We could not shower without water," a brave swordswoman yelled. "Master, if you don't believe me, you can smell us. We stink."
The girl who was speaking did not mean anything sexual, but her audience were good at using their imaginations. Some swordswomen giggled. What guts that swordswoman must have had to ask Anfey to smell their stink.
"You need water, right?" Anfey smiled. "Feller."
Feller used to lack confidence, when among others. He usually looked shocked when others talked to him. As time went by, though, Feller had grown more mature. After hearing Anfey calling his name, Feller had a devious smile on his face. He chanted and raised his wand.
Bean-sized rain fell on their faces and heads. Feller had really good control, when it came to the rain. Except for Anfey and Anthony, the swordswomen and half of the arena were all under the rain.
A few swordswomen released combat power to protect themselves by instinct. They immediately noticed that Shinbela stood there without moving, quietly taking the hits from the rain. Anfey turned around to look at them coldly. Those swordswomen got scared, and immediately stopped using combat power.
The rain came fast and stopped fast as well, but it had already made all the swordswomen wet. Their daily assignment was training, not to join the battles. Most swordswomen did not wear armor. After they were rained on, their clothes stuck on their bodies and showed their curves.
Of course, not all swordswomen were beautiful with great bodies. They had different shapes and thicknesses.
People could fall really fast. Taking Feller as an example, when Feller was asked to go to the club to "have a drink" for the first time, he refused to go. Blavi and a few others had to carry him there, but after the first time, he agreed to go, and then wanted to go, and even began going on his own at the end. Feller underwent a huge change in less than half a year. He looked at the swordswomen without any embarrassment now. He even secretly gave them scores. He nodded some times, and shook his head at other times.
"Enough?" Anfey asked casually.
The swordswomen all went quiet. If they felt they were being played by someone, they might get all mad and do something at that moment. However, Anfey was different than the others. He was very special. This was especially true, after he said he would give them training. They could not refuse that temptation. Everyone knew Anfey inherited the skills of the Saint. It meant that they might have a chance to break through their bottleneck, or even reach to the highest level, if they could learn from Anfey.
"If you have complained enough, you can now continue the training. Run around the arena for 100 laps," Anfey said.
"Yes, master." A swordswoman named Julie answered first, and then started to run before everyone else.
Anfey gave Shinbela a look and walked to the side. Anthony giggled in a low pitch. "Running again? Master Anfey, do you really know how to train them?"
"I do not know." Anfey shook his head. In Anfey's previous world, because of his profession, he had the chance to meet mercenaries and get to know some internal information. With the only information he knew, Anfey did not think he could train those swordswomen. In fact, he never thought of training anyone.
"Then, what are you doing to them?" Anthony asked.
"I do know how to make people stronger and tougher," Anfey said.
"By not allowing them to shower?" Anthony found it funny. "Poor girls. They got wet today. If they are not allowed to shower, I think they will go nuts."
"Some people might not be able to stand it, but I am sure there are a lot of them that will hang in there," Anfey said.
"Why?" Anthony asked.
"Alice told me she picked the good ones for this squad. A lot of them must be spies. I think Alice is right," Anfey said slowly.
"I agree with you." Anthony nodded.
"The ones who hang in there could be two kinds of people. One is the kind of people with strong willpower, while the other is the spies with a lot of responsibilities." Anfey smiled. "The latter kind of people would not let any opportunity go to get close to Alice." The people who were in charge of planning were usually smart. The people who could take a lot must have a lot of responsibilities on their shoulders. The more they could bear, the greater the devious intentions they held.
"You don't want to torture them for a long time, do you?" Anthony started to worry about himself. It was ok for him to hang around with people who were not able to shower for a few days, but he felt it would be a torture to be with people who could not shower for a few months.
"This is just the beginning." Anfey smiled. "In fact, I am curious who would hang in there to the end."
"If some of them could not take it anymore, and want to quit, what should we do?" Anthony asked.
"We actually could trust the people who quit, because they do not have any bad intentions or ambitions." Anfey watched those swordswomen who started to run as he talked. "I want them to do something different for me."
Anthony followed Anfey's eyes. "Master, I noticed that you showed interest in Julie."
"She is adorable. I do like her." Anfey smiled.
Anthony was shocked for a second. "Are you serious?" After joining the League of Mercenaries, he heard the rumors about Anfey and Alice. No matter how cute Julie was, she was no match with Alice. It was hard to believe Anfey was attracted to her.
"Of course," Anfey said casually. "She made me think of an old friend."
"An old friend?" Anthony was confused.
"People usually have a good memory when it comes to their dangerous past experiences. Back then, when I killed the grandson of Philip and had to ran away from the Sacred City, I was chased by the Sacred Flame knights. That old friend showed up and saved us. Even though, without her help, we would have probably been fine anyway. Dean Steger had been protecting us in secret. I really appreciate it, and would never forget what she has done for me."
"Are you saying Julie saved you?" Anthony asked in surprise. Feller seemed to be more shocked than Anthony. He opened his mouth wide. Obviously, he was trying to recall what had happened before.
"Maybe, if my guess is right, she should be more powerful than what she showed, at least more powerful than Midof. Feller, shut your mouth." Anfey said in a low pitch.
Feller swallowed hard. "Anfey, do you really think that is her?"
"Most likely. I still remember her smell," Anfey said.
"Are you suspecting her? Why? She saved us!" Feller asked.
"Saving us does not mean she had good intentions toward us. She might think it was better to keep us alive back then." Anfey smiled. "A necromancer saved us back then, too. Do you think that necromancer was trying to help us?"
"Of course not," Feller said.
"Neither did she," Anfey said in a low pitch. "Besides, we saved her, too. It does not matter if she had a good or bad intentions back then. The key is that you need to create more chances to work with her. Hehehe, if she were a pile of dry grass, your friendship would be a big fireball. You can light her up."
"Anfey, I do not think I am that attractive." Feller smiled bitterly.
"It has nothing to do with charm," Anfey said.
"If Julie is as Master said, she will immediately cling to Feller. Then she must be a spy," Anthony said in a low pitch.
"Anyone want to bet with me?" Anfey asked.
"No, thank you." Anthony shook his head. The reason he joined the League of Mercenary was because of Anfey's incomparable power. What he admired about Anfey the most was his "horribly" sharp sensitivity. He would not bet with Anfey for anything.
"If she is just as you said, what should I do?" Feller asked.
"I will handle her, if that is the case. I will try to steal her from you," Anfey said.
"Do you need to try?" Feller smiled bitterly. "I can totally see how miserable my life could be."
"It's not definite. Feller, you should have some confidence," Anfey said.
"Anfey, don't play with me." Feller blinked. "Anfey, I am worried there will be misunderstandings between Suzanna and you. Maybe you should have Master Anthony try it. What do you think?"
"That's you young people's business. Don't get me involved." Anthony's face immediately changed. He gave Feller a dirty look. Feller made it too obvious. He had no confidence to compete with Anfey, but did have the confidence to compete with Anthony. What an insult. Anthony had such pride, too. He was an archswordsman.