The interview of the new recruits finally ended after two hours.
A few were fortunate to pass the test smoothly, but the rest, like Al Koholic, were forced to challenge their fears before making it to the list of soldiers deployed to the Cygni Continent.
As soon as Cristopher and Colbert bid their goodbye and left, Erica firmly locked the door behind them.
Hans read the mood and volunteered to guard the door, preventing anyone from entering Zion's office and disturbing his quality time with his lovers.
The three ladies gave the old butler a thumbs up in their hearts for quickly understanding what they wanted.
The moment Thirteen sat down on the couch, he found himself wrapped in the embrace of Shana, who had been patiently waiting for the interviews to finish.
"You must have already reached your limit, huh?" Erica asked in a teasing tone when the Saintess stopped her act and started cuddling with Zion.
"Easy for you to say. You can visit him anytime," Shana replied with a pout.
Thirteen knew that the young lady did well by holding back after their reunion, so he rewarded her by taking the initiative to kiss her lips and hug her tightly.
The two teenagers shared a long, sweet kiss before reluctantly parting.
"I missed you, Shana," Thirteen said, doing his best to follow the lessons he learned from Vincent's notebook on how to treat his lovers well.
"I missed you too," Shana replied, pecking the teenage boy's lips one more time before hugging him tightly.
The two stayed like that for a few minutes before Erica coughed lightly.
"I'm sure you want to do some catching up with Zion, but this is not really the place for that," Erica said. "Why don't we go to your residence, so we can rest for a bit before dinner?"
Erica and Sherry knew that even until the last minute, Thirteen was still buried in his projects. Although he seemed fine on the surface, he was only barely able to cope with the help of rejuvenation potions.
What he truly needed was proper rest or a nap at the very least to keep himself functioning properly before the Saintess devoured him whole.
If they were being honest, Erica and Sherry didn't expect that the Saintess would be very clingy when in love with someone.
Perhaps this was a common case among ladies. Those who didn't fall in love easily would become very proactive the moment they fell in love.
And Shana was the type of girl who wanted to be held and pampered by the person that she had chosen to be her life partner.
"You're right." Shana nodded. "Let's go to our residence. We have already prepared your rooms."
The thought of being able to sleep for a few hours was like music in Thirteen's ears, so he didn't hesitate to agree to their proposal.
Half an hour later, they arrived at the Summer's Residence, where they were welcomed by a very enthusiastic Cynthia, who was happy to see her future son-in-law.
Aiden, who heard that Zion was coming to their house, made an excuse to hang out with some of his friends.
Knowing that her son still needed some time to accept his future brother-in-law's presence, Cynthia decided to let him do what he wanted.
"It's good to see you again, Zion, Erica, and Sherry." Cynthia hugged the three teenagers one by one and welcomed them all to their home.
"Thank you, Lady Cynthia," Thirteen replied. "Let me introduce you to the Head Butler of the Leventis Family, Hans. He will be accompanying us on our journey to the Cygni Continent."
"How loyal of him," Cynthia commented. "Fortunately, I already expected to
receive guests, so all our guest rooms are prepared. He is free to choose one to his liking."
"Thank you, My Lady," Hans bowed respectfully. "I have heard from the Young Master that the Summer Family's hospitality has always been the best. I can see he wasn't exaggerating his praises."
"Oh my! You sure know how to make someone happy." Cynthia chuckled. After all, who didn't like to be complimented by someone who oversees the household tasks of a Prestigious Family?
When it came to these things, the Head Butlers of their respective families handled everything from morning till night.
As such, she held Hans' words in high regard. Without the people in his field, they would have a hard time managing their household chores.
Thirteen, Erica, and Sherry were led to the Presidential Guest Room, which had three bedrooms and a large living room.
There were times Lawrence and Tristan invited VIPs, so this room was made to accommodate such big shots.
This room also had a secret passageway that could be used for emergencies if the people inside it needed to escape.
Shana had proposed that this room be given to Zion during his stay, so she could sneak into his room using the hidden passages.
This would prevent the staff of their house from knowing that their kind and no-longer-innocent young lady was going to visit the teenage boy, who was now her secret fiance at night.
When Thirteen and the others entered the room, Sherry led him to the bed and asked him to take a nap.
The moment his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep within seconds.
"… You girls, don't tell me you've been doing it with Zion every night. Otherwise, why is he this exhausted?" Shana said before placing her hand on her fiance's forehead, using her power to increase his recovery rate.
"Sherry and I aren't like you, Shana," Erica replied. "We don't have the power to continuously heal and recover ourselves so that we can do it for hours."
The Saintess' face reddened a bit because she couldn't refute her friend's words.
After casting a recovery skill on the young man, Shana didn't hesitate to lie beside him. She then hugged him and closed her eyes to take a nap alongside him.
The Sorceress smirked because Shana was truly a Saintess in the streets but a helpless romantic on the sheets.
"Will you look at that, Sherry?" Erica said in a teasing tone. "Shana is just like you when you and Zion sleep together."
Sherry also liked to hug Zion in her sleep, treating him like a warm pillow.
During Erica's training, Sherry had plenty of opportunities to monopolize her fiance, making those two years of training a dream come true for her.
Meanwhile, in the Headquarters of the Central Government, Arthur was discussing some important matters with Lawrence and Tristan.
He wasn't too surprised when he discovered that his no-good grandson had given the Central Government the blueprint of Project Nemo.
In fact, he was even happy that Zion did it.
The stronger his ally became, the better.
"You made six Nemo's in just two years," Arthur said. "Very impressive."
"And you made four of them," Lawrence replied. "I'm sorry to say this, but I have underestimated the resources under your disposal. As a Prestigious Family like yours, creating four of them isn't an easy task."
Tristan nodded. "We have also managed to create ten Mephisto Missiles, which we will use strategically against the Jinn's strongest monsters."
The power of this missile, which nearly insta-killed the Rank 8 Broodmother during the battle in the Rigel Continent, made many powers covet its blueprint.
However, Arthur rejected their bids and offers, saying that the missile was a secret weapon developed by their family to protect itself against potential threats.
A missile strong enough to kill a Rank 8 Sovereign posed a great threat even to Monarchs.
As such, the Prestigious Families wished to acquire it, so they would no longer have to fear the Monarch Clans, who were akin to a guillotine hanging over their necks.