11 Face all the family heads!

After that incident with Rick, no one else went outside the gates to put pressure on the Kriger siblings. Despite that, many family representatives came to the gates in order to demand or persuade them from handing in their goods. These people were beyond shameless, asking for their weapons, materials and even the tiger cubs that were stuck to Leon in order to 'test their sincerity' as they said, but these trio didn't even bother with them. Even if they tried to curry favor with them or threatened them to send a volley of arrows, they didn't care at all. They never replied to them and only talked to the guards.

The guards were having a rough time, they were yelled at by their superiors and threatened due to the lack of cooperation the Kriger siblings were showing with everyone else but them. Despite all the fear inducing words, they were going to treat them like gold. No one else could really talk to these young men, and despite the main Army being part of the Kriger family, they had no idea who these kids were, but they were 'proud' of them and even gloated about their might despite being so young to the other families.

They knew this was going to be like this, and still accepted. They did their job, and allowed people to get close to the gates and look at Leon, Leroux and Lufti as if they were animals in a Zoo. The younger girls were in love with the image of Leon trying to teach the Tiger cubs how to behave once they were inside and failing to do so time and time again. Their hearts were being captured by the sight of this handsome young man playing with tiger cubs. Men from all places came to see them as well after hearing they had well paid jobs for them. How good would it be if they could sustain their families without having to risk their lives?

Most families offered risky jobs to those outside their families in order to look for their own interests. If something was remotely risky, they would hire people to do that job. That is why no one wanted to work for the big families but had no choice but to do so, they controlled everything in the end. These young men provided a different option, a safest one or maybe not. But they had hope that they wouldn't treat them so badly. They had no 'power' in the common people's eyes.

With time, the Kriger brothers learned the names of the guards. The first one they met was named Triime and the second one was Podren. Leon was specially fond of them, as he appreciated respectful and honest people the most. He had plans for them as well, big plans for them. As they bonded with the guards, they also showcased their strenght. They sparred for the public, hunted, lured animals to fight with them single handedly and also trained the tigers. They provided all sorts of entertainment, and became the new topic people talked about in the city.

"The other day Leon was playing with the cubs and one bit him, he smiled at it. He is so nice and handsome!"

"Did you see Leroux fight that bear with only his hands? That was amazing. I wish I was as strong as him."

"Lufti looks funny, but he is timid. I like big men so he is so adorable!"

Many opinions were formed and people gossiped about what they saw and even about they hadn't seen yet. Some bragged that they knew them, while others were just jealous of the attention they were getting. Most of these were the big families young masters, they were mad at the fact that they were not being respected and venerated like before these outsiders appeared.

As soon as the 11 days were over, the gates were opened to receive the adventurers that were coming back from their exploration mission and they were in a really bad shape. Out of the 20 people that left, only 6 returned and 4 of them had a missing limb. This was the reason why they feared the forest so much, it was never a good idea to become an adventurer, but if someone had reasonable strenght or talent and didn't want to work for nearly no money, they had the option to become adventurers but despite paying a lot more, it was even riskier than the previous jobs.

What no one expected, was that when the adventurers were on their way to the gate, the Kriger brothers helped them, carried their stuff and even healed their worse injuries. This was seen by everyone. The ingredients and medicines used weren't cheap either, they were fairly expensive and hard to find but they seemed to have an endless supply of them. They carried the ones that were in the worst shape and entered the city with them. The camping site had been dismantled, and despite the Army trying to stop them from entering, the people had seen it all. They showed kindness to people they had never seen, helped them and even used their own resources to heal them. If the Army tried to stop them from entering, the people would revolt and that is why they allowed them to walk through the gate unscathed.

But as soon as the adventurers were taken away from their side and the people opened a path, a bunch of armored soldiers with different armors surrounded them with their weapons drawn. Behind them several people dressed in fancy clothes could be seen. It was time to face the big families. In different clothing and with different colored armors they encircled them.

Most of the compositions had the family head, one or two youngesters and the elders of the family, and this was only an exception in Rick's case. He could be seen standing far away from the encirclement and his guards were no-where to be seen. He was visibly scared and decided to stay back.

Leon stepped forward and looking all around himself he bowed and presented himself "Hello family heads of Kyus City, my name is Leon Kriger and my brothers are Leroux and Lufti. We've seen the dire situation in which the city is at right now and we've decided to take matters into our own hands. I hope you all cooperate with us instead of resisting to this change. We've got resources, techniques and power big enough to help the whole city. Before asking for what you guys think, I'd like to call out to someone"

With a flip of his wrist the rod pointed to his left, to a man with a square face. He had his arms crossed and the guards in front of him looked like seasoned veterans. To his side, an old man with a cane and a crooked back could be seen. His face was full of displeasure and to his left, a young girl of about 14 years old was standing. She was nervous but happiness could be seen flash in her eyes. Without warning, she jumped high up, about 5 meters high in the air and landed next to Leon, spreading her arms and wrapping them around his waist.

Leon lowered his rod and hugged the little lady with love. Leroux and Lufti didn't stay back, they came forward and hugged her as well, patting her head and smiling at her dottingly. At the same time this happened, all family heads were shocked and the Kriger family head wasn't an exception at all. The old man at his side raised his cane and said in a commanding tone "Guards, bring back the that unfilial daughter of the Kriger family!"

With a stomping on the firm ground, the guards moved forward in a defensive position, their formation similar to that one employed by the Romans. They had big shields and long spears, equiped with an aditional short sword and a smaller shield for closer combat. As they started to advance, the other families retreated a few steps back, in order to watch the good show unfolding in front of their eyes.

Leon nodded, and Leroux knew his time was up. He threw away his cloack and it fell down with a big thud. Inside, several weapons, tools and pockets could be seen. That cloack had inside pockets and they were filled with a huge amount of items of all kind. He reached inside his bag and his arm came out different. It was covered with black scales, all of them covering his left arm as if it was a second layer of skin.

It didn't take long for Leroux to make all those moves. They were smooth and possed no problem. They seemed as if he had rehearsed them for this but truth was that he was battle ready all along and he had performed this action several times.

The squad of guards didn't flinch at all, as soon as they got in range they speared only to find out that Leroux was far away from the tips of their spears. He was standing next to their shields. No one knew how, that happened and no one wanted to think about that. With their battle experience they reacted swiftly and started to retract their spears back to thrusting position, too bad Leroux was faster. He ducked and with his left hand he grabbed the furthest shield to his left and with a sweep of his arm he threw all the guards 10 meters to the right. The were ragdolls, as the landed one on top of the other and posed no resistance at all. The strenght shown by Leroux was a wake up call for all the other families.

The Kriger elite squad was pushed aside like a bunch of kids by a young man not even 20 years old yet.

Leroux went back to his siblings and stood between the now fallen guards and them, with a smile on his face as he waited for them to stand up. In the back, old man Kriger was cursing at the guards for being weak and incompetent, but everyone knew that it was just his impotence talking.

Leon put the young lady aside and his smile dissapeared. As soon as that happened, an oppresive air made people feel chilly. Their faces were pale and for some reason, Leon inspired fear in them. With his voice now deep in anger he pronounced two names, "Cesar and Cyrus Kriger". His voice contained deep resentment and hate. "We are the sons of Lea Kriger, that beautiful and gentle woman who Cesar took as his wife only to satisfy his dreadful desires. After she got pregnant, you Cyrus exiled her in order to 'save your bloodline'. We will not allow you to use our little sister like another toy by marrying her off to someone she doesn't like. If you have a problem come and face us!" as Leon finished talking, all four of them took out their Kriger crests and broke them in hell, throwing them in front of Cyrus and Cesar.

"From now on we are not Krigers anymore. The Lea family is built upong these broken crests, and whoever is our enemy will perish but our allies will be rewarded. There is no room for the Kriger and the Lea in this City anymore!", yelled Leon as he clutched his rod in anger.