Subordinates

Gathered around the entrance of the Phoenix Cry Pavilion standing before Leon were 20-30 boorish looking men and women. He really was on the money when he attributed them to thugs when he first heard about them. They showed signs of being uncomfortable when his gaze hovered over them, they were probably worried that since they played no part in today's events nor did they do anything to stop things from reaching this point in the first point. More than likely before just now some of them had already made their minds of switching over to Blaine's side.

Honestly, they didn't look like a crew that he could trust giving instructions to when it came to dealing with the Heavens' Chosen. Leon could already understand that they were the type to follow strength and money. While the wealth of the Heavens' Chosen would pale in comparison to Leon's own, the Chosen were described as freaks of nature when it came to their talent. There was no doubt in Leon's mind that this bunch would betray him the moment they figured out the true worth of their adversary.

"The matter has already been dealt with. Do not worry while you may have not had a part to play in today's performance, just by you being here has already shown your loyalty."

The thugs before him let go of their tension and were finally able to relax, some of them even started to show smiles and patted each other on the back. While he might have just been putting on a show and didn't actually view them in such good lights, there was no reason to have them on edge. Who knows there might actually be someone of value amongst these shady characters. He also didn't want to form a prejudice against them before he gains some information about their character, speaking of which.

"Caleb, I'm going to need you to make a list of the hired help including their names, any crimes they've committed, and how they acted while I was gone."

While he might be able to let some petty crimes slip by, there was no way he would be able to stand by if they've done truly horrible acts. He might even have to find ways to either keep them on a very tight leash or even ways to get them out of the city. If things truly reach a certain point he could always send them off to their deaths by fighting the Heavens' Chosen, but hopefully things don't reach that point. While killing people might be more of a common occurrence in this world, Leon didn't know if his modern mentality would be able to stomach such acts of violence.

As the thugs talked amongst themselves he could see that they weren't truly united. From what he could guess the Clan Scions had hired groups at a time instead of a single gang. Some of them even stood by themselves and kept a distance between them and the others. It looked like he would be able to get the different groups to keep each other in check and even keep him informed about their actions.

This was especially so since Leon's reputation is pretty much at an all time high right now and people like them would do anything they could to get in his good graces. However, in the end they were hired help, not a group that follows his orders out of loyalty. It would be best for Leon if he were to form another group that was not only filled with those who followed him out of loyalty, but also those who had both the talent and intellect to both carry out his orders as he intends and to make decisions on their own for his sake.

The biggest problem however, was that finding people who would be absolutely loyal to Leon with his current reputation was like finding a needle in a haystack. While it could be said that today's event had caused his reputation to improve, it was more in the direction of him being the top dog amongst the trash in Phoenix Cry City. While people might talk about what happened, they would not change their image of him in the end.

No, his best bet was to find those close to him and slowly introduce the thought that following him would be in their best interest. Caleb was a good first choice to focus upon due to both his relationship to Leon and his competence. Of the other Clan Scions he wasn't too sure which of them were of any value, he would just have to keep an eye on them for the time being. As for this bunch of thugs, he would have to wait for that list to be made before he could have any thoughts about them.

Sadly, while his reputation might have been awful in the city, it was even worse in his own Clan. It would be hard to find anyone that could look past his reputation to side with him. The only individual that came to mind was the Old Servant standing behind him, but he doubted he had any true authority over him. More than likely the only reason he was following him was due to a command by the head of the Clan. Learning more about the identity of his servant would be in his best interest for now.

What Leon would really love to happen was to get the Heavens' Chosen to become his subordinates, but more than likely once everything was done between him and the Chosen they would absolutely hate his guts by then. He also doubted that the Heavens would stand back if he were to do such things. The Heavens must have some goal in mind for the fates of those chosen, diverting it and getting them to follow him would absolutely go against those machinations.

"You can go ahead and dismiss them, don't forget to give them a gift of our appreciation for coming."

In the end he would have to keep in mind that those thoughts of recruitment were for the future, this is what he was stuck with for the time being. While he preferred the Phoenix Cry Pavilion he decided to lead the Clan Scions back to the brothel where everything had started. He still intended to continue on with his tour and the Brothel was where he had put it on halt earlier. So that's what they did, they made their way back and Leon once again found himself in the private room from earlier. While the treatment they had received earlier might have been their best, the employees and even the boss of the establishment did the best they could to accommodate them.

It was apparent that word of what happened at the Pavilion had reached the brothel already, and they knew better than anyone that their VIPs were no longer left with no other option than this place now. Sadly for them, Leon had no intention to frequent this place after today.

"Hey Boss, how could you just send us off like that, I would've done anything to see Blaine's face after you were done with him."

"While you might not have physically been there, the roles you had absolutely played a part. More than anything, what you did helped spread the news everywhere. No one would dare to mess with us now."

The three that had separated from them were a little down due to not being able to be present during Blaine's downfall. He had to spend a little bit of time repeatedly assuring them that they were just as necessary as those that had been there. The thing that was the most noticeable to Leon was that everyone now truly showed signs of accepting him as their boss, even those that hadn't been too welcoming of his arrival earlier. While smacking Blaine down might have not have held any importance to Leon, the rewards from doing so had been an unexpected gain.

"Alright, let's just put these events behind us, there's no reason to allow Blaine to still occupy our thoughts. Doing so is giving more importance than he's worth."

While Leon had only intended to move onto matters that held more importance to him, his words seemed to have more of an effect than he gave them credit for.

"Haha, that's our boss, Blaine's nothing to him."

"Blaine? Who's that?"

"I think he means that bug that the Boss stepped on."

"Why would the Boss bother to remember some bug he stepped on?"

Leon had to sit back as he allowed them to get their jokes out, he wouldn't deny that they got a few chuckles out of him though. When was the last time he was able to just sit back and crack a few jokes and not have to worry about some thinly veiled passive aggressive remarks being directed at him. He felt a foreign type of warmth surge through him. As he looked at the cheerful smiles and gazes of admiration directed towards him, Leon had the thought that maybe this feeling wasn't so bad.