Card Master System - Chapter 21 New Squad Leader?

Leaving the squad to themselves for the night, Nathan retired to his post to rest as well. At this time, Nathan still had no idea how to keep Leo from leaving the village in the morning.

Nathan felt that he could use force to prevent Leo from leaving, but, he did not want to lose a kid with so much potential as a future ally. Additionally, it seemed as if Leo had no real background which in turn was even more surprising since he seemed stronger than the rest of the squad who all had proper foundations.

Coming to the best conclusion he could, Nathan felt the need to explain the city’s situation to the entire squad in the morning. He also was prepared to send several scouts back to the city in order to update Jack and Natalia’s households as well as his own.

“So guys, what kind of things are usually sold by merchants in your city?” in the morning, everyone got up early and Leo was inquiring with the rest of the squad.

Leo’s plan was to window shop in the beginning to figure out what sort of items he could obtain by trading his loots in the city limits. After window shopping and figuring out how much he would need to loot, Leo would try to buy everything he felt he needed to become stronger as quickly as possible.

“Actually, since you are unaffiliated, you are able to buy anything from equipment to skill books. Of course, the skills in the skill books will be more common versus what joining a household could get you. I still think it is worth a shot checking them out though.” Jack replied to Leo as the squad started to pack up their things.

“Leo, if you would like, I am sure any one of our households would take you in, especially since you have aided us in multiple battles and have shown your personal abilities. You could probably save quite a bit of money and time using our households as your foundation to grow yourself.” Natalia suggested as they all exited the guest quarters.

“Actually everyone, there is something I need to tell all of you. After speaking to Nathan, I think it would be a good idea to remain in this village for a short period of time.” hearing all of this talk about the city, Martin cut into the conversation.

“Remain in this village? Why would we do that when the city is not too far from here and it has many resources we could all use?” Jack quickly replied to Martin’s suggestion with a bit of confusion and hostility.

“I can answer those questions for you.” appearing with several of the village guards, Nathan walked over and signaled the squad to follow him. Martin was the first to head over, and so the rest of the squad followed behind him.

“Leo, I am not sure what is about to happen, but, if things get out of control, you need to escape on your own.” Natalia whispered to Leo with Jack close by.

“Yeah, you do not need to worry about us, but, since you do not officially have a household to rely on, things could get ugly.” Jack whispered to Leo as well.

“Do not worry guys, I am sure if we remain peaceful and understanding, that nothing will come from this that could harm any of us.” Leo reassuring Jack and Natalia, patted them both on the shoulders as they finally saw Nathan halting his movements ahead of them.

Filling them in with the information he provided Martin, Nathan tried to remain calm and not very forceful towards the squad. Martin, was siding with Nathan, so Jack, Leo, and Natalia had no choice but to consider their options.

“We do not wish to forcefully keep you here, however, for your safety, if it comes to it, please do not think ill of us. I plan on sending several of my men back to the city to update your households as well. If they feel that my idea is too excessive, they can send over some escorts to bring you back.” Nathan started to explain.

“Either way, I hope that you all can remain here and train with us diligently. With your assistance, if a monster wave appears, I am more than happy to give you all your own spoils. What are your thoughts on everything?” Nathan asked everyone present, except Martin already sided with him and remained indifferent.

Jack, Leo, and Natalia did not want to make any rash moves and understood Nathan’s concerns. Nathan had given them strong points, however, they did not feel very good being trapped within a village. Suddenly Jack thought of an idea first and asked Nathan a question.

“Nathan, right? I think I speak for all of us by saying that this is definitely a lot for us to process. Can us three go back to the guest quarters, so that we can come up with a decision?”

“I do not want any of you to feel that we are treating you unfairly. That being said, I would be more than happy to escort you with these guards back to those quarters.” after thinking for a few moments, Nathan responded to Jack’s request.

Heading back to the barracks, Martin felt a little uneasy. It seemed as if Jack’s request was for the entire squad, excluding himself. It couldn’t be helped though, if he did not side with Nathan, internally speaking, his household would possibly give him some future issues.

Upon arriving back to the barracks, Jack, Leo, and Natalia all went into their room with Martin, Nathan and the guards remaining outside and actually started to surround the building itself with the help of several adult militia warriors.

“I can’t believe Martin would side with his cousin instead of us!” Jack shouted out in anger as Natalia was rubbing her head as if she was trying to solve an extremely difficult problem.

Beep Beep Beep!

-Would you like to create a new squad?-

Seeing the system reacting to the situation with a question like that, Leo started to think deeply on what his decision should be.

“Martin might have his reasons, but I know that on some level I could definitely trust Jack and Natalia. Maybe I should ask them?” pondered Leo for several minutes as Jack continued to rant on Martin’s decision to abandon their squad.

“Hey guys, I have a question for you.” finally coming to a decision, Leo felt the need to speak up. Hearing Leo speaking up, Jack paused his rants while Natalia looked towards Leo.

“I think that I can help us all get out of here in one piece if you both join me in a new squad. I know that we do not know each other very well, but, I think that this might work very well.” speaking his mind, Leo now held nothing back as he made his suggestion to Jack and Natalia.

“You are younger than us, but I have always felt as an equal to you. Age is only but a number, and you have proven that you are strong enough to handle more than even I could. I would be more than happy to buildnew squad with you.” Jack was the first to answer Leo as they both turned towards Natalia to hear her decision.

“Out of the three of us, you currently show the most potential and could possibly escape on your own without our help. Since you are willing to risk yourself for our sake, to me, you would be a better squad leader than Martin ever was.” after weighing out her options, Natalia finally gave Leo her answer.

“Alright, just give me a moment here to do this.” clicking accept, Leo was able to make his own squad. All of the sudden, an invite bar on the screen popped up and listed Jack and Natalia as his allies along with Martin, Nathan, and even Hans as neutrals.

“Wait, if I were to invite Jack and Natalia to my squad, would that allow them to access this system as well?” feeling puzzled, Leo started to hesitate. If he sent Jack and Natalia invites and it gave them similar or identical benefits as him, wouldn’t that mean that they could betray him eventually and destroy him?