"Tch, that's true. I don't actually have the authority to stop you from taxing the people here. Very well, how much will it cost these people to pay their taxes for this year?" Gaileo asked.
"What's that? Why do you ask?" The official asked in response.
"How much will you collect in taxes from the people of Shuangfeng this year? Don't make me repeat myself again." Gaileo asked again.
"Hmm, I suppose around 35 million Liang." The official replied.
"Very well, Benji, send word to Zhenqi to bring the money from my personal account. Will that settle thing's here?"
"Y-Yes sir, I- suppose so." The official said, a bit thrown off my Gaileo's gesture.
"Thank you so much my lord! But you really didn't have to go out of your way to help people like us." The old man said.
"It's fine, after all the people of this city took me in when I had nothing. It's only right that I pay them back in whatever small way I can." Gaileo replied.
"But this is no small gesture my lord. 35 million Liang is a great deal of money." The old man said.
"Haha! You say that but such an amount of money is but it's a pittance to an Imperial prince such as myself." Gaileo said with a laugh and a smile.
"I see, you have my thanks my lord." The old man said as he bowed and walked away.
Shion waited until the old man was out of earshot. "That was no small amount of money. That was most of the savings that you've been building for the past 13 years wasn't it?" He asked.
"It's just money, I'll make more. It's not a big deal." Gaileo said.
"Hehe, you're a good guy Gai." Shion said laughing.
"Shut up, just drop it already." Gaileo said as his face started burning red in embarrassment.
"Aww, you act so tough and scary all the time but you're cute when you're embarrassed." Elara teased.
Gaileo grabbed her head and started squeezing her skull. "Who's cute you tramp?" He said.
"Ouch, Ouch, Ouch! Ok! Ok! You're not cute! Your scary! I'm sorry!" Elara pleaded before he eventually dropped her.
"Maybe I made a mistake when I chose to back with for the Imperial Throne." Ma Ten thought as he saw the officers of the Gaileo Army goofing off in such a manner.
The Gaileo Army garrisoned itself in Shuangfeng and assisted in the rebuilding efforts. Gaileo also made a concerted effort to train and build up the strength of not only himself but his entire army.
He put out a notice for recruitment and surprisingly, volunteers came out in droves to join his army. So much so that he couldn't take all of them into his ranks. The volunteers came from all around the surrounding areas, from Hideg to Shuangfeng and every village in the region. While Gaileo and his officers were discussing why this surge in recruitment occurred, the old man from before approached them and offered an explanation.
"This is no surprise to us Lord Gaileo. You've been quite famous in the North country for sometime now. With news of your defeat of the evil Mutembo spreading, your fame is only growing. In the North you're known as the Son of the North and the Wolf Prince." The old man said.
"Really? I didn't know that. Where did all that get started?" Gaileo asked, trying to not sound too pleased with himself.
"Well as you know the people of the North are a proud people who respect their own. Even though the North is vast and comprised of over 1000 different tribes, but a Northerner will always show respect to another Northerner. Especially considering the way that we're treated by people from the south. Basically, seeing one of our own as an Imperial prince fills us with pride." The old man continued.
"Well, I appreciate your support." Gaileo said, trying to hide how embarrassed he was starting to get. In his 22 years of life, Gaileo had almost never received any sort of praise so he wasn't sure how to respond to the old man's word of admiration.
The Gaileo Army stayed garrisoned in and continued in its efforts to rebuild and train. They continued on like this for three months until they finally received a message from Gaileo's adopted brother Great General Justice Shukure.
The message read as follows:
"Great General Justice has given the order for his forces to mobilize in preparation for the Northern Campaign. The staging area will be at Fort Hon, your forces are expected to arrive there within 4 days. You will receive further instructions upon your arrival."
The arrival of that order marked the beginning of the Northern Campaign, a campaign that would go down in history as the campaign that would be the turning point in the career of Gaileo Shukure.