Sokram remembered that Nirul was a nutcase in his previous timeline, not this straightforward guy.

He wondered if the first war had caused that.

After all, in this timeline, that war had been delayed so far.

“He’s like that, don’t mind him,” Karini watched Nirul’s departing back, not bothering with his attitude.

“And our new teammates?” Sokram was truly curious about which family had pulled the strings to place their younger generation in his team.

“About that, I have good news. Your recent success has significantly boosted your team's visibility. You may have realized that the reason for this delay was the interference of some of the founding families.”

Karini began explaining, leafing through a stack of papers.

Her ears perked up, and her wagging tail gave away her excitement for the team.

The team’s attention shifted between Karini and the stack of papers in her hands as she continued, “The first good news is that your team is getting another tanker, a very talented one I handpicked myself, and a talented magician.”

“The second good news is that they aren’t rookies; they were leaders of their own teams and are fine, even eager to work under your lead.”

Karini glanced at Sokram with a knowing smile, “And the new members are all girls.”

A collective sigh, heavy with resignation, came out in unison from Lucy, Amber, and Savannah.

Their muttering was low, just barely audible, “Right, more competition…”

Karini chuckled, seeing them like that.

“They come from the Silverfang and Armfrost. Their classes are: Sorceress and Shieldmaiden. They should be arriving soon.”

“Now, for your next mission, it’s a nest extermination operation; there are some little critters expanding too fast lately…” Karini began, but Sokram interrupted her.

“Lieutenant, aren’t nest extermination missions exclusive for members of the Extermination Hall?” Sokram asked.

He wasn’t truly worried; he knew his team was prepared, but with new members, their teamwork wouldn’t be as well-meshed.

And nest exterminations can get tricky if a chaos creature of a higher level was leading the nest.

“I was about to explain that, but yes, usually they are. But a team of exterminators went missing, and most personnel from the Extermination Hall are out on search parties. This nest has become quite the problem since it’s close to a village southeast of here.” As Karini explained, the team’s faces turned grimmer.

“But don’t worry, it’s just a horned hare nest.” The sighs of relief behind Sokram made him reconsider whether his team was truly as well-prepared as he believed.

Karini handed Sokram the mission's briefing and another commissioned task, “This is a personal commission…”

“Personal?” Sokram raised an eyebrow, not looking away as he read the briefing.

“You know how my mother is; she heard there’s a bunch of horned hares nesting nearby...” Karini smiled wryly at him.

“She must be trying hard to give you a brother, hmm?” Sokram’s team’s eyes widened at hearing that.

But Karini just laughed.

“Can you imagine? I’m forty years old, and my little sister is thirty. They are both slightly over two thousand years old… Dammit, I think they might succeed.” Karini’s gaze softened, dazed for a moment.

Then, a shy hint of a smile began to tug at the corners of her lips, a quiet joy filling her eyes.

“Someone seems excited to be an older sister again, haha.” Sokram teased Karini, and she blushed slightly.

Still, Karini confessed, “But can you imagine how much of a cutie my baby brother could be… maybe as cute as Lymus when he was born.”

Sokram grimaced teasingly, “Can’t picture that, sorry.”

Karini slapped his arm with a mock frown.

“My son is handsome, mister! It’s YOU who needs to stop trying to disfigure him with that wooden sword!”

Sokram’s team had seen Karini at Sokram’s home a few times, but seeing them tease each other and talk so casually made the team feel somewhat out of place, as if they were a crowd watching a show they shouldn’t be.

“Flirting with my wife again, hm?” Leona’s voice came from outside the room.

“Master!” Sokram smiled broadly at her, and Leona, seeing the captain’s armband on him, smiled back with a hint of pride.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

“Congrats on the promotion, kiddo.” Leona entered the room, hugged Karini from behind, and pointed to the two girls standing by the door.

“I found those two scaredy-cubs looking lost outside, and remembered them from that list.”

“List?” Sokram raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, she didn’t tell you?” Leona nuzzled his nose against Karini’s ears, while Karini remained silently, blushing and enjoying the attention.

“My wife is so lovely that the founding families pitched in many of their young’uns to join your team. But as a favor for me, she picked the best of the best for my disciple’s team..."

"...Isn’t she such a…” Leona’s teeth gently nipped Karini’s sensitive wolf ear, eliciting a stifled squeak that Karini quickly muffled behind a hand. Leona’s voice dropped to a low, husky whisper, hushed and intimate, “Good~Girl.”

“Master, I think you and your wife should finish that elsewhere, right?” Sokram grinned mischievously.

“Getting jumpy already, kiddo? I thought you might enjoy the show, haha. Or perhaps you’re jealous you can’t join us yet?” Leona matched his grin, but then Karini turned around and started pulling Leona by the hand.

“My job here is done; you and your team have two days to prepare before leaving,” Karini's voice, exasperated, almost shouted as she pulled Leona from the room.

“Must be nice being so close with a beautiful Master and her wives…” Kan muttered, tears of envy rolling down his face.

“It's a torment, it's like being starved for years while the tempting aroma of perfectly roasted boar’s ribs, so close I can almost taste the savory flavor on my tongue, but I can’t reach for it…” Sokram spoke, shedding tears of frustration.

Kan, placing his hand on Sokram’s shoulder, wiped his own tears, “I… I understand your pain, brother. But you can never understand mine.”

“Cough-Cough!”

Someone coughed from the door, and only then did Sokram get a good look at them.

“Right! Sorry. Haha. Come on in, this is our team’s meeting room.”

The two girls entered the room feeling somewhat out of place, not only after watching that scene but also because they could see that Sokram’s team was well-meshed and very friendly toward each other.

Sokram studied them briefly and nodded approvingly.

“Why don’t you introduce yourselves first?”

“How about we start with you? We have met already, but you did not meet the whole team, right?”

Sokram pointed to a wolf-kin, someone he had met during the Silverfang’s feast.

“Yes, captain. I’m Kina vid Silverfang, I’m a Shieldmaiden, but I’m also good at Stealth Tactics and the bow.” The stunning wolf-kin girl said, her beauty almost comparable to Savannah's.

She had a voluptuous, toned body standing around 1.8 meters tall, with silvery grey eyes, long wavy black hair, and black-furred wolf ears and tail.

Draped in medium-weight plated leather armor that made her look well-prepared and trained.

Turning to the other girl, Sokram asked, “And you are from the Armfrost family, right?”

Sokram didn’t truly recognize her, but she looked similar to the Armfrost women, and she also emanated the scent from the Nether he was starting to grow used to again.

“Yes, I’m Amira di Armfrost, Celia’s daughter.”

Amira smiled at Sokram mischievously before adding, “And you look quite handsome when you’re reading in the tower, captain. Though I’ve never seen someone reading so fast before.”

Amira di Armfrost, standing at 1.78 meters, had light brown skin, green eyes, and dark brown curly hair that cascaded down to her mid-back.

Her curvy body would make many girls envious, and she was draped in nothing but a long, silky dress and fur coat.

“What do you source your magic from, besides your own Core, of course?” Sokram asked, not out of morbid curiosity, but because he could feel the scent of the Nether emanating from her.

He just wanted to know if she had already reached the level of Keeper of Knowledge or if she was still an apprentice.

But once he saw her take out a Chaos Core from a Tier 10 Exalted Chaos creature, he knew she was definitely a Keeper... No pun intended.

“You’re an Uncommon Existence, hm?” Sokram's face showed a hint of surprise, but the eyes of all the other teammates snapped toward her in shock.

“Yes, quite knowledgeable of you to notice, you know a lot about a lot of things, captain. It makes me want to know your secrets too, haha.”

Amira said lightly as if joking, but Sokram wasn’t fooled.

She truly wanted to know his secrets, just as the rest of her family.

“Is that a threat or an invitation?” Sokram shot teasingly, but he knew her answer already.

“Definitely an invitation.” Amira’s grin broadened slightly.

“Thank you, but no thank you. My secrets are my own; I have shared enough with the founding families for the time being.”

Sokram refused straightforwardly, not even giving time for a comeback.

“Well, now that the introductions are made, let’s part ways here. We have some preparation to do. Horned Hares might sound like child’s play, but they are fast and treacherous little critters.”

Sokram took a ring from his Void Glove and handed it to Savannah, “There is some gold in there. Get me as much material for moonstones as you can.”

Savannah nodded and left the room.

“Kiana, you can help Kina get acquainted with our formations and routines. Since you’re both Shieldmaidens, you can share the techniques I taught you with her as well.”

Kiana also only nodded and took Kina with her.

“Amber, you’re with Amira. I believe you two can learn a lot from each other. The way she sources Magi can help you understand how to cast faster, too.”

Amber only nodded, barely looking away from her book, and left the room, Amira in tow.

“Lara, Nora, Lucy, and Kan, you go look for maps of the locations for our next hunt. The planning of the routes we will take and what we need to know for the next hunt is on you this time. I’ll leave the ‘whats’ and ‘hows’ for you to coordinate between yourselves.”

They nodded promptly and left.

From beyond the door, the sound of their coordinated efforts reached Sokram, as they organized themselves with swift efficiency.

He stood there, a broad, proud grin splitting his face, his chest swelling with a warmth like a proud father watching his children grow before his very eyes.

After leaving the meeting room, Sokram went straight to the Arch Mage’s Tower to continue his reading.

Sokram was about to finish reading through the entire floor.

But he stopped when he discovered another misplaced book, which made Sokram believe that either Mentyr or Fate could be guiding him toward something, maybe even another discovery.

Reading the book, it became clear to him what that something was. Similar to the almanac of alchemical ingredients he had previously found, this new book listed in depth the molecules in each alchemical component on the periodic table and the array of effects they had on humanoid organisms.

Sokram began taking notes on where to find a few specific components. Which mixtures to use to enhance their effects, and a few other miscellaneous, misleading info in case he was being watched.

But this time, he couldn't simply justify this new discovery with luck alone. Instead, he decided to use one of the many buildings he acquired during the meeting with the family leaders as a lab.

In the future, those locations would be turned into stores.

But for now, at least one of them could be turned into a lab where Sokram could keep test subjects to experiment with his new discovery without making Nhiria raise an eyebrow.