"If all you're going to do is sit there and tremble like a nervous wreck, then I'm not sure the rest of your subordinates will survive for much longer," Erwin said in a tranquil voice.

Shiba was truly frightened to the core. He knew that Erwin wasn't just bluffing, and thus, he immediately tried to struggle to his feet.

However, Erwin gave him a cold glare, indicating that he could talk while sitting on the ground.

This was not a conversation between equals, so Shiba didn't deserve to stand.

"A smart man should know when they can stand, when they can sit, when they have to kneel, and when they have to crawl," Erwin said in a cold voice. "You could've had a comfortable seat here, but you can only sit on the ground now, and you only have yourself to blame for that."

Shiba could only nod in response and didn't dare to speak.

"So you want me to join your mercenary legion, is that correct?" Erwin could tell that Shiba was incapable of speech at this point, so he decided to take the lead.

"Yes..." Shiba hurriedly nodded in response as he forced an awkward smile onto his own face. However, as soon as the response slipped out of his mouth, he immediately realized that it was inappropriate, and he hurriedly amended, "Oh, no no no, my apologies, there's no way my mercenary legion is worthy of having you two."

"I'll pass on joining your mercenary legion," Erwin said with a derisive expression. "How about you follow me from now on?"

Shiba was caught completely off guard by this turn of events. He had invited Erwin here to join his mercenary legion, but in the blink of an eye, he was about to become Erwin's subordinate. Such was the unpredictable nature of life. The sudden change of plans was quite jarring to him, and he was finding it quite rather difficult to adjust.

The few of Shiba's subordinates who were still alive all directed their attention toward him, waiting for his decision.

Erwin cast a glance toward them, and he was quite surprised to see that they were very loyal. Despite the perilous situation they were in, the looks on their faces only reflected fury and indignation on their commander's behalf, and it seemed like they had no concern for their own lives. In fact, Erwin had a feeling that if Shiba were to resist to the bitter end, his subordinates would willingly go down with him.

"You're not under the impression that I'm negotiating with you, are you?" Erwin asked as he cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

Shiba gulped nervously, and he could clearly sense the dangerous edge in Erwin's words. He took a glance at the intracranial fluids that were flowing onto the floorboards beside him, and he was instantly struck by the urge to throw up.

He looked around at his subordinates, his brothers that he had gone through everything with, and looking at the indignation and fury on their faces, his heart was filled with both gratification and concern. He was truly afraid that Erwin would lash out at them, and thus, he heaved a faint sigh before lowering his head and kneeling down in front of Erwin.

"We are willing to follow you," Shiba finally declared, and he was only overcome by a crushing sense of humiliation for a brief moment before he was struck by a sense of relief and freedom, as if some kind of self-imposed burden had just been lifted from his shoulders.

It seems like giving up one's pride can be an extremely easy task, Shiba thought to himself with a self-deprecating expression.

The subordinate who was scrambling to come to Shiba's aid earlier could only heave a resigned sigh upon seeing his commander's admission of defeat, and he gritted his teeth before also kneeling down in front of Erwin.

Shiba's remaining subordinates were extremely reluctant to accept this arrangement, but they still fell to their knees before Erwin one after another.

Erwin's expression remained unchanged as he made his way over to Shiba before helping him to his feet.

"Following me is not something to be ashamed of," Erwin said as he released a spell from his fingertip, dispelling the thick layer of ice that was encased around Chahan's body. He had also been frozen by Onean's spell, and had remained that way this entire time.

Erwin then turned to Shiba as a cold look appeared on his face, and he reaffirmed, "Trust me, this could be the smartest decision that you ever make."

Shiba stumbled back involuntarily at the sight of Erwin's terrifying expression.

He then watched as Erwin departed from the pub, and if it weren't for the gruesome scene around him, he would've thought that everything that had just happened was a dream.

"I'll be making use of you and your mercenary legion soon. In the meantime, wait for further instructions."

After that, the doors of the pub swung shut, and soon, Erwin and Onean had already disappeared into the distance.

Meanwhile, the dozen or so heads on the ground were still staring with wide eyes at the two people who had taken their lives.

Chahan was rooted to the spot with a blank expression, and he didn't know whether he should chase after Erwin. But even if he did chase after them, what was he supposed to say? The metaphorical gap between them was something that he would never be able to bridge, so it almost felt futile for him to chase after them and try and bridge the physical gap between them.

He turned to Shiba before patting him on the shoulder in consolation. Even though he had been frozen this entire time, he was still able to see everything that had happened thus far.

...

There were many types of chance encounters in life, and they always defied the imagination.

For example, Count Onen's youngest daughter, Faya, had never been able to get the image of Erwin out of her mind ever since the tea party. She was constantly daydreaming about his handsome face, wondering when their next "chance encounter" was going to take place.

Another example came in the form of Christine, who was searching through the streets of Zans for Erwin, and never did she think that she would run right into the person that she was looking for as she rounded a corner.

Even though Erwin still wasn't a grand magic mentor yet, there was no way that he would be so incompetent that he would walk into someone in a completely oblivious fashion under normal circumstances.

However, he was focusing the majority of his attention on consoling Onean, so he didn't have much attention to spare.

As soon as they emerged from the pub, Erwin had been racking his brains for ideas to lighten her foul mood. As a princess, she had never been treated so rudely in her life, and that was why she had made an uncharacteristically merciless display of killing all those people at the pub.

In Erwin's mind, what he had done to her in the past was far more egregious than what the mercenaries at the pub had done, but that was obviously comparing apples with oranges.

"Ouch!" Christine exclaimed before tumbling back onto her rear end, clearly having come off second best after running into Erwin.

A stunned look then appeared on her face as she identified the man that she had just bumped into, and a series of expressions flashed over her face in rapid succession, including elation, concern, and indignation, and in the end, she suddenly burst into tears.

"Christine?!" Erwin was stunned to see who he had just bumped into, and in stark contrast with Christine's reaction, he burst into raucous laughter.

Onean was already in a foul mood, and that certainly wasn't helped by this encounter with Christine. Looks like I really should've stayed in the hotel room. Then again, now that she's here, we won't have to worry about our finances anymore.

With that in mind, Onean's mood was lifted slightly.

"Here, I'll help you up," Erwin chuckled.

However, Christine slapped his hand aside and began to sob even louder, striking all of the passersby on the street with the impression that Erwin had done something extremely heinous to her.

Erwin was left at a loss for what to do.

Thankfully, after crying for a while, Christine's emotions finally settled, and she stared blankly at Erwin for a moment before suddenly clambering to her feet, then rushed headfirst into Erwin's arms before punching his chest repeatedly with her little fists.

Erwin couldn't help but wince in pain, then turned to Onean with a resigned expression.

Meanwhile, Onean was looking back at him with a cold expression and a raised eyebrow, as if to denounce Erwin for his tendency to attract interest from the opposite sex.

While it was true that Erwin wasn't one to turn down advances from beautiful women, Christine was an exception to this. Judging from her current appearance, it was clear that she was going to be gorgeous in the future, but even so, he really was only regarding her as a younger sister.

After pounding Erwin's chest for a while, Christine finally stopped and laid against Erwin's warm chest in silence, listening to his heartbeat as a deep blush appeared on her face.

Looking at the shy and embarrassed expression on Christine's face, Onean pinched Erwin's waist before giving it a vicious twist.

Erwin immediately let loose an agonized howl like a wounded wolf, and Christine couldn't help but burst into amused laughter upon hearing this.

She looked up at Erwin in silence, and she had so many things that she wanted to say to him, but at the same time, she didn't want to ruin this moment with words. All of the anxiety and depression that she had felt during her search for Erwin had been replaced by gratitude, gratitude toward fate for reuniting the two of them. It was as if being in Erwin's presence was a remedy for all of her woes.

"Sister Onean, I know Brother Erwin likes you, but that doesn't get in the way of my feelings for him, right?" Christine asked with a cheeky smile as she turned to look at Onean. She wanted to keep this moment all to herself and Erwin, but it would be rude not to acknowledge Onean.

"If you like this slimy bastard so much, then you can have him," Onean replied in a generous manner.

"Sounds great," Christine said with a pleased smile.

Onean took a glance at Erwin, indicating that she was going to return to the hotel room.

She wasn't actually willing to relinquish Erwin to Christine, it was just that she knew that Erwin was definitely going to have something to discuss with Christine later. Despite all his shortcomings, he was a very practical person.

Following Onean's departure, Erwin and Onean went to a quiet art supplies shop to discuss their respective experiences during the past few days. On the way there, Christine insisted on clinging onto Erwin's arm the entire time, refusing to let go.

This was a shop that Erwin had already visited on several past occasions. The shop never had many customers, and the owner was always in an obscure corner, focusing on his own art, so it was a good place to chat.

After each of them had given one other a recount of their experiences during the past few days, they were both stunned by how eventful their respective experiences had been.

For Christine, she was more mentally prepared as she had already heard about most of Erwin's recent experiences from the Lodais Organization.

After making that deal with Yamoyan on that day, Christine and her group had waited in Madeira for further news. To her surprise, it didn't take long for Elder Nachi to receive news on Erwin. As it turned out, he had made his way to the city of Zans in the Boll Dukedom, and he had become an extremely renowned artist there.

On the same day that they received this news, Christine led everyone across the desert and arrived at the Boll Dukedom in the northeast.

Just as Christine anticipated, their trip out of the desert was a very smooth one, given that the 800,000 Loonies were no longer on the airship, and they encountered no obstacles on their way to Zans.

"I didn't know that you were such a fantastic oil painter," Christine said with a hint of admiration in her voice.

"All my Loonies are on your airship, so I was completely broke after coming to the north, and I had to find a way to make money," Erwin sighed in a resigned manner.

"Doesn't your hand negatively impact you in your art?" Christine asked as she took a sympathetic glance at the sound on Erwin's hand.

"It shakes a little, but I can still control it," Erwin said as he spread open his palm before taking a look. He didn't know when he was going to be able to take revenge on Aiden for this wound. Then again, there were many people that he had to exact vengeance on.

"Did you really manage to sell those Fall Crystals for 800,000 Loonies?" Erwin was a little skeptical. It was unfathomable to him that just a few crates of ore could've been sold for such a high price.

Looking at Erwin's tightly furrowed brows, Christine came under the false impression that he was angry at her for making the decision to sell the Fall Crystals on her own, and she hurriedly asked, "Brother Erwin, are you angry at me for selling the Fall Crystals without your input?"

"Of course not, I was getting a headache thinking about how I was going to sell those things. You've done me a huge favor and earned such a massive sum of Loonies in the process, how could I possibly be angry at you for that?" Erwin consoled with a smile, then leaned in close to Christine as he said in a quiet voice, "To tell you the truth, I've never seen 800,000 Loonies in one place in my entire life. Also, that Yamoyan sounds like an extremely dangerous character. If you hadn't held your nerve and been so decisive, it was very possible that everyone could've lost their lives in that desert."

It's no wonder that she's able to travel back and forth across the Terarody Mountain Ranges at such a young age. She truly was born for this type of lifestyle, Erwin thought to himself, but at the same time, a hint of sympathy flashed through his eyes. He knew that given how courageous and decisive she was at such a young age, and the fact that she had such close ties with the Lodais Organization, she had to have gone through many hardships.

Back in Tewadedan, he hadn't expected her to be such a decisive character.

However, while it was true that Erwin was very grateful to Christine, he was also feeling a little disappointed. He had been quite interested in studying those Fall Crystals. After all, they seemed to be directly tied to the entities of time and space.