Katheze walked to his room, accompanied by several servants. He had just returned from attending several important meetings with the nobles and policymakers of the country.
In addition, he had also just finished sword training, so he was quite tired now. However, a sweet smile was etched on his face because he was truly happy with his success in the investigation.
"Thank you," Katheze said to his servants, who nodded in response. Then he entered his room.
He immediately walked to the balcony and sat down on the sofa. His smile widened as his gentle gaze fell on the beautiful scenery surrounding his territory. He looked at everything with sparkling eyes because, for some reason, his territory seemed even more beautiful.
A few moments later, he turned his gaze to the notebook he always carried with him.
"Phew... finally, the investigation is complete."
He opened his notebook, and there were already several things written down that he would do to make his territory even better in the future.
He would focus on improving security, strengthening human resources, boosting economic and business growth, and building several new facilities to maximize the economic potential of this region.
In short, he had many plans to make Fernmels a better region with all his brilliant ideas.
But that was not the only thing that made him happy. He had also confirmed that the four people he had chosen were the right ones to become executioners who would kill the destroyers in this region.
"Yeah, everything is going according to plan. Zhatten, Vinessa, Carl, and Roxer. They are all very talented and highly skilled in using magic."
Truly, he was very happy and excited to have found the right people who could make this region a better place.
Zhatten, Vinessa, Carl, and Roxer had strong control over magic, which was truly remarkable. They could control their respective magic well. And more than that, they had a strong sense of justice when they saw injustice in front of them. So they didn't hesitate to take action.
Truly, they were the people he had been looking for all this time. So with this, Katheze was absolutely certain to recruit Zhatten, Vinessa, Carl, and Roxer to become executioners and heroes in the shadows in this region.
"Huh... it feels so good to know that I can focus on managing Fernmels' economy to keep improving it, while my team of executioners will work behind the scenes to clean up the people who pollute this region."
Katheze gazed at the natural beauty of his territory before him.
For him, whether they were nobles, commoners, or any other creatures who dared to do evil in his territory, they deserved a fitting punishment: death. Because he strongly condemned those who did evil in Fernmels.
Truly, even though his territory was the most remote in the kingdom, he really loved this area. His noble family, who had long ruled this territory, had not yet fully discharged their duties. But he would really try his best to make Fernmels better.
Katheze looked up at the sky, admiring its beautiful blue color.
"Ah, I can't wait to recruit Zhatten, Vinessa, Carl, and Roxer to my team so that they can start killing the corrupt people here."
He really imagined having a truly great group of executioners who could become a turning point in cleansing this region of evil and corrupt people. Moreover, the composition of the four people he was going to recruit was very unique.
First, Zhatten. In his opinion, he would be the coldest, most serious, and most sadistic among the others. But he would also be the most caring and sensitive towards his friends.
Meanwhile, Vinessa, in his opinion, would definitely be the only woman on the team, so she would be the most talkative, the most understanding, and the mediator. She would truly be the fresh flower of the team.
As for Roxer, according to him, because he was a shameless hooligan who liked to do whatever he wanted, he would be the laziest person and also the most opposite to the other people on the team, but at the same time, he would also be a supportive person who supports other members in a unique way.
And finally, Carl. According to him, he will be a breath of fresh air in the team because of his cheerful, active, and slightly mischievous personality. He can easily befriend anyone in the team, and being the youngest will make it easier for him to get attention. He would truly be a breath of fresh air.
And on top of all that, Katheze could really imagine when he had recruited Zhatten, Vinessa, Carl, and Roxer into his team and did everything together to make Fernmels a more beautiful place.
"Ah, I really can't wait to welcome them into my team."
Katheze still stared at the beautiful blue sky, then clenched his fist in the air while his eyes sparkled. He couldn't count how many times he had to mention how lucky he was to find talented people who had strong principles like his.
Once again, he reminded himself that people who could use magic in this world were very rare, even extremely rare. So he would not waste his chance to recruit talented people like them.
"Zhatten, Vinessa, Carl, Roxer. Just wait, I will recruit you soon, and we will all work together to make Fernmels more beautiful."
Katheze smiled proudly and confidently. He raised his right hand, closed his eyes, and began to focus himself to release his magical energy.
Slowly, his right hand began to glow with a maroon light. Then the maroon lights gathered into a cat and finally turned into a beautiful, very realistic maroon cat.
"Alright, let's recruit them well and offer them many things so that they really want to join and work with me!!" He looked at his illusory cat with great confidence.
As a noble who had the privilege of ruling a region, he was severely restricted in what he could do, including traveling, as it required permission and an escort. So that became one of his biggest limitations in managing his affairs in this region.
But fortunately, with his illusion magic that could create this illusory cat, he could overcome that obstacle and be free to roam around his territory, even if not directly.
"But it's okay, I think they will definitely understand my magic. After all, I'm only going to recruit them and negotiate, so surely they can understand my situation."
Katheze looked at his maroon-colored illusion cat with confidence. "Okay, let's do it!"
"Zhatten, Vinessa, Carl, Roxer. Get ready because after I recruit you, we will all work hard to make this region better!"
He immediately directed his illusory cat to jump from his bedroom balcony to the ground below, then controlled it to walk casually to meet the people he planned to recruit one by one.
"I can't wait to welcome you to my team!"
*****
"UWAAAAAAAHH!!"
Katheze looked like someone who had lost all hope. His eyes looked very tired, his body was limp, his head was spinning, and all he could do was scream incoherently while burying his face in his hands.
"Why did they all reject me? This is completely beyond my expectations! I thought it would be very easy to recruit them, but they all rejected me outright!"
He was extremely frustrated because a few hours ago, he had controlled his illusion cat to meet the people he wanted to recruit one by one in person, discuss the agreement, and address other matters.
But everything had failed completely, even miserably, because Zhatten, Vinessa, Carl, and Roxer had rejected his offer outright. And this really drained his motivation.
"UWAAAAAHH!! Why did they reject me? Was the offer not tempting enough for them? This really upsets me! UWAAAAHHHH!!"
Katheze buried his face in his pillow and continued to cry over what had happened a while ago, which was really annoying and took away his happiness.
As people say, one should not be too happy about something, because sadness will follow.
And that really happened to him.
"UWAAAAAAAAHH—"
Suddenly, his door was knocked on by a servant from outside.
"Mr. Katheze, are you all right? I've been hearing unclear noises from here."
Katheze immediately fell silent and sighed several times. He then got out of bed and walked towards the door, but he didn't open it.
"Ah, you must have misheard. I've been fine, and there are no noises here. I'm just writing down some of my ideas, so please don't disturb me for now."
The servant outside was confused because he clearly heard his employer's voice, but hearing Katheze say that he was fine made him smile.
"All right, then, I'll get back to work."
And after the servant left, Katheze threw himself back on the bed and stared at the ceiling of his room in despair.
A few hours ago, he was really excited to recruit Zhatten, Vinessa, Carl, and Roxer to join his team. But now he was really sad, angry, upset, and also confused because they all rejected him without hesitation.
"Really, I really didn't expect it to end up like this. Everyone rejected me without hesitation."
He recalled the moment when he controlled his illusory cat to meet Zhatten, Vinessa, Carl, and Roxer one by one.
First, he met Zhatten in the southern forest through his illusory cat. But it turned out that Zhatten already knew of his existence, so he got straight to the point by explaining that he was the noble leader of this region. However, after that, Zhatten looked at him cynically and left without saying anything.
Second, he met Vinessa, who had just returned home after selling flowers at the market. But Vinessa thought that the illusory cat he controlled was a demon cat because of its maroon color. Because of this, Vinessa ran away in fear without letting him explain his intentions and goals.
Third, he tried to meet Carl, who was in a remote area at the time. However, Carl seemed to be in a hurry after finishing his performance, so when he said he wanted to recruit him, Carl simply disappeared from his presence, leaving only his playing cards behind.
And finally, he met Roxer, who was fighting with some thugs at the time. Honestly, the meeting with Roxer was the smoothest of the others because he was able to explain everything clearly to him. But Roxer immediately rejected his offer, saying he wasn't interested.
These successive rejections made Katheze extremely frustrated.
His hopes of creating a great, cool, and bloodthirsty team of assassins were completely shattered in an instant. Everything was completely ruined because none of the people he targeted accepted his offer.
He completely lost hope.
"UWAAAAAAAAHH!! TODAY IS REALLY UNLUCKY! EVERYTHING FAILED!!"
Zhatten, Vinessa, Carl, and Roxer were the people he really needed to make Fernmels better. So if he couldn't get them to join his team, this area would remain polluted by evil and destructive people. And Fernmels would never become the beautiful and prosperous area he dreamed of.
"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?"