Aurea, not wanting to lose in his own right, unleashed his aura to the fullest.
The tense atmosphere now became hostile.
Ooro, feeling the brunt of Aurea's Aura, immediately paled.
"Y-you?! You're a Master?!"
"Indeed. I am a Master," spoke Aurea coldly.
Knights are Aura wielders, and Aura wielders also have their own ranks just like mages.
From lowest to highest, it goes from 3rd-Rate, 2nd-Rate, 1st-Rate, Peak, Master, Grandmaster, and finally Transcendent.
The lowest rank Aura wielder, the 3rd Rates, were equivalent to 1st Circle Mages. This equivalence can be applied to the other ranks as well.
Except for the Transcendents. They were called Transcendents, but the weakest of Transcendents could be compared to 7th Circle Mages while strongest could be compared to 9th Circle Mages.
Since Ooro was only a 4th Circle Mage, he was lower ranked than Aurea as a Master, equivalent to a 5th Circle.
It was clear who the stronger one was.
"Why did you hide your true strength?" Inquired Ooro.
"Because of this...." said Aurea, who then turned his back towards them.
Then, he began lifting his shirt, showing the rest of the goblins of his back.
There was a big bird tribal tattoo.
Seeing this tattoo, everyone in the room was shocked.
Since Utara had once been a big goblin tribal alliance, their traditions had been passed down.
A lot of noble families and even the royal family had stuck to these traditions. And one of these traditions was tattooing the symbol of your tribal clan to your body.
In fact, the big bird tribal tattoo on Aurea's back symbolized only one family, the Utara Royal family.
"Y-you're of royal blood?!" Spoke Ooro.
"Half. My mother was a commoner. And I didn't even know until I was a knight," spoke Aurea coldly.
"Then, your father is...."
Interjecting Ooro's words, Aurea revealed his father's name, "Ichor Utara. Yes, I'm the bastard son of the new king."
"Then why do you want to live here? Shouldn't you be living as royalty?" Asked Ooro, now he was just baffled.
"Why should I? That piece of shit Ichor killed my mother when he found out about me, forcefully branded me with this tattoo, and made me spy the local nobles. If I help this vampire kingdom succeed, I'll be enacting ny own version of revenge."
"...."
"Let me ask you again, why don't we just stay here for good? We can take our revenge at Ichor and also live our lives here freely. I saw the faces of the normal citizens here, they looked genuinely happy. The vampires here also behave like normal people, unlike the other ones."
"...."
"I am not forcing you to join them. If you don't want to, that's fine. But me? I'll join them. Don't worry, I'm not going to reveal our guild's infiltration mission, I already overheard the guards of that gate knowing about our true identities as mercenaries of the Golden Mercenary Guild."
"You did?" Asked one of the other knights.
"Of course, I'm a Master Knight.... or now just a Master Aura Wielder. I can hear far better than you 1st-Rates. Now that all has been revealed, I shall take my leave," spoke Aurea.
After he left, the room was dead silent.
Deep down, everyone in the room, especially Ooro, was convinced.
But when it came to outwardly agreeing with him, they just couldn't.
Was it their last strand of national pride towards the Utara kingdom? Or was it something else.
There needed to be a final push for them to admit it.
****
The next morning, the newspapers posted sketches of Ooro, Aurea, the disciple mages, and the knights. The cat was out of the bag.
It didn't matter that their mission there was still unknown. Now that people knew they were the top rookie mercenaries of one of the best guilds in the area, anything they do would be seen with utmost scrutiny.
Ooro was half-surprised when he saw the news. He had just been to the market to buy some vegetables and meat, and now people were actively recognizing him and his group.
Picking up today's newspaper, he thought to himself, 'Aurea's right. We don't have a home that we can come back to, and it seems that this place truly has the potential to be our new home.'
The fact that their identities were now out meant that their past occupations were also known.
If there was one thing that the Golden Mercenary Guild truly excelled at, it was their honesty and transparency regarding their system, budget, and all their personnel.
This meant that to register as a mercenary in that guild, you not only need exemplary skills, but you also need to have a verified past.
After all, the clients need to know how trustworthy and capable their hired mercenaries are. That, in and of itself, was the reason why the Golden Mercenary Guild had risen to the top.
Walking back towards the apartment building, Ooro was now going to change his plan again.
Arriving in the disciples' room, he saw that the knights and the disciples had all agreed on something.
Everyone had the same look, including himself.
"We need a change of plans," said Ooro.
"We agree as well," said Tan, his first disciple.
"Aurea informed the knights that he was going to join the military here. Apparently, he is applying as an Aura instructor," added Tan.
What they all didn't know was the fact that nobody in the military was using Aura. Even the Elven sisters were just ordinary soldiers before they were sold as slaves, not knowing how Aura even works.
But that's a story to tell in the future.
The group of goblins here had now all agreed that this was going to be their new home.
"My disciples, let us join the academy as magic instructors. If we are going to officially join this country, we should at least contribute to strengthening it. We all know how much of a target a vampire's nation would be, especially if they're operating this openly. As for you Knights, I guess this is time for us to bid farewell. Unless any of you are following us to the academy, of course."
And after a few minutes, the knights surprisingly chose to stay as construction workers.
Although doing hard labour is seen as a low-class job in the modern age, this place wasn't Earth nor in a modern age.
Plus, the knights were genuinely impressed with the skyscrapers. They were in awe and were curious as to how such magnificent structures were being built.