Although it would take a while, Aion had more than enough materials to upgrade all of his basic classes. While that was good, it was the least thing on his mind… that county was his now, but it was too far away from his territory, and he couldn't bring his mother to manage that. With that in mind, he had to bring people that could protect themselves and do a good job with that… his brothers seemed like the best option.
"It might be dangerous, but we all have a lot to gain from this," Aion thought while he was flying back to the Zaera kingdom. "I guess I should bring my mother with me to investigate the fallen capital. With her help, I will be able to confirm a few things regarding what Arlana said… the issue is if I should reveal most of what I know to her."
Aion selected some leaders in those cities to keep things going as usual there, and he also told them that he wouldn't do anything else to them unless they caused problems. It wasn't like they had that many options, actually… leaving the country and creating a home somewhere else would be too difficult. Besides, everyone knew that his sisters had been captured, and if Aion were a monster, he would have killed everyone, no questions asked. He would have done that without a doubt if they had died.
When Aion reached the fortress, his brothers welcomed him, and then he learned that his father was still in the room and didn't leave the place. Despite his usual behavior, Lexus was quite the worrywart, and fathers tend to worry even more about daughters.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAion confirmed that since Lexus looked quite exhausted in the room. He was withering away even though he was still in his prime… it felt like he had aged ten years in one week.
"Aion…" Lexus said without showing much energy in his voice.
Actions speak louder than words, so Aion just ignored his father and then used Restoration on his sisters. The room was engulfed in light several times since Aion had to cast the spell many times to heal them completely, and it worked. Their bodies were completely restored, and then they immediately woke up since they returned to their peak health.
"Dad? Everyone?" Maisie blinked several times when she didn't recognize the room but saw all of her brothers. "Where am I? It felt like I had a really bad dream…"
Lexus hugged his daughter, and then Darina woke up as well, and she looked confused as well. Aion didn't think that Restoration also deleted their bad memories since it only worked physically, so he could only assume that their minds were repressing those days.
"Just rest and don't think too much about it. You two will return home soon," Aion declared.
Maisie and Darina looked even more confused. It wasn't like their opinion of Aion was that bad, but they still felt some… hesitation when it came to talking to him. He was that strong, after all.
In any case, Aion went to heal their husbands as well, and soon they woke up. Those two had been trained as warriors since they were kids, so they didn't try to repress those memories.
"What should we do…" Henri said while scratching the back of his head. "Trying to hide that from them will be a bad idea… if they hear anything about it by accident, those memories will haunt them."
"I think we should tell them what happened… those memories will only become that, memories in the end since they were back to normal," Aion replied. "There are a few things we need to talk about, and not letting them in the talk won't help much."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIn the end, Lexus made his choice and told them that their nightmare had been pretty real. They found it hard to believe since they didn't find any signs of the torture, but he explained that Aion did that for them.
Later that day, they reunited in the meeting room in the fortress to talk about what Aion did. Maisie and Darina still looked pale, while their husbands were having a hard time coping with the failure of letting themselves be captured by the enemy.
"All of the leaders of that country have been dealt with," Aion declared once everyone sat down. "Around half of the military force was also destroyed by me. They still have their criminals that are good at hiding, but I will eventually get rid of that problem as well. I just want to talk today about how to handle the country's affairs."
"You only received permission to rescue Darina and Maisie, didn't you?" Lexus asked. "We are thankful for that, but your accomplishments might cause you problems in the future."
"I have considered that rumors will spread, and eventually, people will think that I kill every country that pisses me off, but it is fine," Aion shrugged his shoulders. "I will deal with that once I cross that bridge. Besides, what I am going to do now will solve half of the issue."
"And that is?" Henri asked.
"I will make you four the new rulers of that country, in name and paper," Aion replied while showing a money sign with his right hand. "I am just half of the profits that you will obtain from it."
"... I see," Henri smirked. "I am pretty sure that none of us need that much money, and since we are close to the king, people will think that the country became a vassal of Zaera kingdom. In one way or the other, our homeland will gain a lot from it, and people won't think that you want to overthrow Vangel since you are giving up this much power and influence."
"Actually, I just thought that it would be a pain to find the personnel to do a good job," Aion chuckled and then shrugged. "But I guess we can do that from your perspective as well.