Chapter 256: 255

Chapter 255

Bloom in Difficulty (1)

I immediately, on the spot, started sorting out the mercenaries.

“You. You.”

I pointed my finger at some, separating them from the crowd.

“And all you guys.”

Sometimes, I separated entire mercenary companies. And so, the number of those split from the others was half the total.

I stared at them and said coldly, “You can go back.”

The five hundred mercenaries who had followed my muster without knowing why now widened their eyes, their questioning gazes now set upon me. They didn’t understand what standard I had used to determine their departure.

“Summon some of the troops and escort them to the border.”

As I glanced at those doubt-filled faces, I immediately told the rangers and knights to make sure these mercenaries were expelled from the country.

Dissatisfaction replaced doubt on the mercenaries’ faces. Since we dealt in a free market, they couldn’t dare get angry, and they could do nothing about it.

“I want to know the reason, though.”

One of the biggest guys came forward as a representative and asked me why.

“Should I even explain it?”

Despite my cold answer, the man bowed his head and spoke politely, showing no signs of anger.

“We have been told that the Leonberger royal family are recruiting people on a large scale. And after months of marching without a break, I finally arrived here. However, if you ask us to leave the kingdom as soon as we arrive, what are we to do?”

“Unfortunately, it is not my responsibility.”

“I have no intention spending the rest of my life begging for a job. As I said already, I just want to know why.”

It seemed that this man had quite a lot of experience dealing with ordinary nobles, but not with royalty.

“If you just say no and go, then we will be left without an answer. So please, be generous-“

A flash of light came before the man talking about the unfair treatment could finish his words.

‘Chik’

The man shut his mouth; a sword was touching his neck.

“I don’t know where you learned your manners, but you learned them wrong.”

It was Carls.

“Please have mercy, I-“

“In dealing with his Highness, look away from him as if he is the sun. If you open your mouth and face him as you do now, you will be blinded, and your tongue will be burned.

The man again shut his mouth, his face shuddering as he heard the dire warning.

“Carls.”

I watched silently, then ordered Carls to withdraw his blade.

“Keep my words in mind. Never speak before his Highness speaks first.”

It was only after giving the man a sharp-toned warning that Carls took away his blade. As Carls stood behind me and looked at the man, I knew he wasn’t the only one who treated me like the sun. Right now, the rangers and Eli also treated me in this manner.

A sigh escaped from me, and after a few long breaths, I looked at the man again.

“You asked me why?”

The man glanced at Carls, before he answered me carefully.

“I heard that the Leonberger royal family was gathering people, and I said we had come a long way without stopping.”

To this man, I said coldly, “Your answer already lies in your words.”

The man’s eyes stretched wide, and his face became filled with doubts.

“Because the royal family is looking for people, not blood-mad animals.”

The man still seemed not to understand my words, and I clucked my tongue and whispered to him, “It felt like my nose would fall off because of the reek of blood on your body.”

At my words, the man again glanced at Carls, then carefully opened his mouth.

“I didn’t know the smell of blood on those who live by the sword was a big problem.”

The man then asked if the thick smell of blood wasn’t instead evidence of his wealth of practical combat experience. Unlike his previous cautious tone, I now knew that he was not ashamed about the smell of blood on his body but rather proud of himself.

I snorted.

“If the blood wasn’t from innocent people, it would have been.”

The man’s eyes trembled. However, they shook for only a moment, and the man quickly hid his shame, taking on a casual face. He must have thought how it was possible for me to be smelling old blood. The man said he had never had the blood of innocents on his hands. Of course, it was bullshit, and I would have no truck with it. It was clear before my eyes: the stigma upon their souls, their murderous traits being evidence of their evil deeds.

[Human Hunter]

[Slayer]

[Headtaker]

Each of the traits that rose above the heads of the five hundred mercenaries told me how they had lived.

“I was just doing a little more difficult work than others, and I was loyal to my employer’s contract. As a mercenary, I have never done anything dishonorable.”

The man did not know what I knew, so he lied to me until the end.

“I am confident in my skills, and I’m tough enough to do a good job. I bet that none of the sellswords out there are stronger than me.”

The man even boasted of his skills, becoming arrogant. He spoke the truth: none of the other mercenaries who arrived at the fortress were stronger than him. His natural state, having reached maturity, was so strong that it was close to that of Master — but it was the highest level the man could reach. This was a man whose character had already become innate and whose soul has been contaminated by evil and murderous deeds. The twisted karma he had accumulated during his life could grow no more.

I wouldn’t want such a man, no matter his skill. I waved him away with my hands as if he was annoying.

The mercenary opened his mouth again to try and persuaded me, then looked behind me, shut his mouth, and quietly walked away.

I picked out thirty of the knights awaiting my command, and along with a hundred rangers, I ordered them to lead the mercenaries to the border.

“Too few troops-” Eli began but shut his mouth when he looked into my eyes. And so, I gave some instructions to the knights as I watched half of the one thousand mercenaries who first visited the kingdom turn around.

* * *

A mercenary of the Gray Wolf Company ground his teeth as he thought about the eldest son of Leonberg’s royal family.

“Fuck it. He’s the Crown Prince, but just because he is, does that mean he can tell us to come and go like mongrel dogs?”

He had come a long way, and when he was treated like an uninvited guest, his stomach seemed to boil.

“Shut up. Don’t provoke the knights for no reason.”

Mercenary Commander Turk got the man in his eyes and ordered him to hold his tongue. However, it wasn’t easy for him to endure his rising anger; his face was hot.

“If you kill all those knights, stop-“

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“Hear me, pup. Now that we don’t have a contract, does that mean I ain’t the manager no more? That’s very funny and easy, right?”

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The mercenary shut his mouth as he heard Turk’s fierce voice.

“I don’t like this, so don’t make me not like you.”

“But manager, what do we do from now on?” asked Vice-commander Yols in a soft tone, standing right behind Turk.

“How can you ask that? We do what we’ve always done,” answered Turk. Yols lowered his voice even more.

“Are you really going to do it? I want to give up everything now and go back-“

“You’re like a little boy who keeps telling the same story,” Turk growled, his voice also accordingly low. “I told you — the world has changed. Didn’t you see it in the Empire? Monsters are everywhere. The emperor and the nobles are in a hurry to take care of their own rice bowls, whether or not the villages become empty fields.”

A strange heat blazed in Turk’s eyes.

“The empire might have some order, but now we’re in a country in the continent’s corner.”

“Leonberg looks much calmer than the Empire. People didn’t show signs of anxiety,” noted Yols.

“That’s because the knights who guided us took us to the best places.”

“Leader, let us reconsider. No matter how much I think about it, something doesn’t feel good. This country has the Northern Lion, who completely smashed the Imperial Army.”

“We’ve got no work, Yols. It’s a difficult time now. Now is when a guy with a wide mouth has to eat. It’s a time when you don’t get fed if you keep your mouth shut, afraid of some flies getting in.”

Vice-commander Yols tried to open his mouth again, but Turk was quicker than him.

“Anyway, have a good talk with the other mercenaries, as I’ve ordered you. I saw a suitable village on the way here. We get rid of the knights, wait for the other boys to calm down, and then start the business in earnest. If you do well, you’ll be able to get a big bite out of the pie, so stop whining.”

Yols sighed, knowing he could not argue against those words.

“When I hear you talking, commander, it looks like you’ve seen another girl you like.”

“Maybe because of the war, the men have dried up in each village. The women would be mutually cooperative right now.”

“I swear commander, you’ll one day get stabbed by a girl’s knife.”

“In our lives, it would be better to be killed by a beauty’s blade rather than a man’s sword.”

Despite the vice-commander’s comments, Turk didn’t raise a single eyebrow. Rather, he grabbed his crotch and moved his hips in a serpentine motion. Yols sighed and returned to his seat. Turk glanced around, studying his surroundings.

“Thirty knights and a hundred soldiers.”

The momentum of the knights and soldiers lined up to the left and right was fierce. Even with a quick glance, Turk could see that they were elite troops.

“As expected, the troops seem to be scared by the sudden rampage of monsters following the war.”

However, no matter how elite, their numbers were too few to control the five hundred mercenaries completely.

“I’m so glad I came to Leonberg,” Turk gave a mean laugh.

In fact, from the start, Turk and his mercenary company were never concerned about the fees paid by the Leonbergers. It was bullshit; he couldn’t believe the bluebloods would offer insignificant mercenaries a way to become knights.

They were too quick to dismiss mercenaries, who collected mana in the heart rather than in rings.

“I’m sure they want to use as mana shields or fodder.”

Of course, Turk had no intention of ending his life miserably on the front lines as fodder. Rather, he had greater ambitions.

Turk believed that if he could take advantage of the chaos that has risen around the world, he would be able to make great gains. He believed that if luck was on his side, he could rise above being a trivial mercenary. Turk was hoping that maybe he could rule a small castle.

And now, his plans were beginning after coming to this country on the outskirts. Turk believed this and looked for his opportunity. Then, finally, his chance came.

Halfway on the journey, the knights in charge of monitoring the mercenaries left the procession and returned the way they had come. There were only one hundred soldiers left. Turk looked at Vice-commander Yols. The man nodded, letting Turk know that he was done talking with other mercenaries.

Without hesitation, Turk drew his sword.

Five hundred mercenaries followed him as they pulled forth their blades and rushed the soldiers. The troops didn’t even dare think of facing the mercenaries — they ran away.

“What, they weren’t elite?”

“If you look at the speed at which they run, they are elite!”

The mercenaries laughed at Leonberg’s fleeing soldiers.

“From now on, this is our world!”

The mercenaries stood there mocking the Royal Army’s cowardice for a long time; then they began marching along with Turk. They headed in the direction of the nearest town, which had no more than a hundred denizens.

“We will take a break here today, then head to another village I saw tomorrow.”

Turk entered the village without any sign of great concern.

“Leader… Something is weird.”

“What else are you going to say!”

Turk’s face was annoyed, for, when he had been enjoying the pleasant moment and taking his first great step, the vice-commander interrupted with a firm face.

“The soldiers of before…”

“The cowards who didn’t even draw their knives and fled right away?”

“I checked, and there were no bodies. They didn’t pick them up — none of them died.”

“That’s because they ran so fast. It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever seen someone running away like that.”

“No matter how much I think about it… We drew our blades right next to them, so it’s strange that no one died-“

“Yols. Go do some work. If you keep making ominous noises next to me, I will not stand it anymore.”

When Turk growled openly with ill-intent, Yols looked at him, and he did not back down.

“This village is also weird. So many people were here — how can it be so quiet?”

Turk burst into anger after hearing Yols, who usually backed down if scolded.

“It cant’ go on! If we leave a coward like you as the vice commander, our company will become a laughing stock. Starting today, you are stripped of your position as vice-commander. Get somewhere out of my sight before I crush your skull.”

When Yols opened his mouth, trying to say something, some mercenaries ran into him, grabbed him, and dragged him off.

“Tsu. Cry baby.”

Turk, having watched the former vice-commander being dragged away, walked on toward the village entrance.

“I will stay in this village for one day. If you cooperate gently, we have no intention of harming anyone!” shouted Turk after entering the village, then shut his mouth. After a long time, he grinned with eyes full of dark emotions.

“It would’ve been hard to pass through here quietly today, anyway.”

In front of Turk, under the pale moonlight, there stood a woman with white, near-transparent skin, her back turned. Her body was twisted at an oblique angle. She stood with her eyes cast down, wielding a longsword that did not match her slender body.

“Do you have a husband? If so, say goodbye in advance. In a little while, you will be a widow.”

It was at that point that the woman turned and looked straight at the company commander.

“That emblem?”

Turk saw a golden lion patterned upon the woman’s chest. But before he could even think rationally about what it was, Turk made eye contact with the woman, and he fell in love.

From the depths of her gentle and soft eyes, indescribable mystical lights were shining, swaying.

Red was the left eye, and yellow was the right.

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