Chapter 106: Simplest way to solve it

“He’s mad,” Gerric from the Black Brotherhood retorted as he read the parchment Glain handed to him.

“He is the owner of the Donian Merchant Group! You better watch your mouth!”

Glain glared at Gerric. He was not a faithful servant who dared not speak back to Meletoba. Gerric flinched and smiled awkwardly.

“Oh, no sorry. I was just… but don’t you think this is too much? Glain, look. 3,000 gold up front and 30 more for each of the Ainos’ heads? Yeah, it’s great, but we are being watched for our failures already. Are you really willing to be enemies with Count Khalodian?”

Gerric eyed Glain coldly. He nodded indifferently.

“I’ll look elsewhere if you can’t do it. But aren’t you happy to do it too? I bet you people want to bring back the honor that the Black Talon threw away like garbage. It will also bring you good money. Or, are you scared of the Ainos? Huh? Gerric?”

Gerric’s face grimaced at the taunting words. He was already angry at the recent failure and the Black Brotherhood had lost a lot of reputation from it.

‘Hmm. It is tempting now that I think about it.’

Gerric nodded.

“Okay, I will take the job.”

“Don’t fail us twice.”

“I won’t. I will prepare properly this time,” Gerric answered. Both men did not laugh or grin even after coming to an agreement.

“Gerric, we will need a nose or both ears for additional gold payments. They need to be salted so they don’t rot. We will not pay for any rotting or missing ears.”

Gerric scowled at the request. But it did not matter.

‘We can sell all the women as slaves. We can get the nose or ears from the wounded or the captured…’

Gerric began thinking about what to do. It might put them back on track if they did some work.

“I will need time to prepare.”

“How long?”

“I assume it will be by fall, when we can gather enough men.”

“Sure. Please do it as soon as possible.”

“Okay.”

Glain stood up and left the room. Gerric began thinking about it.

‘So the rumors are true. The old man really did go mad.’

There had been rumors of Meletoba Donian going mad. He was once considered a bright, powerful man who lead the merchant group to its glory single-handedly.

‘Is he really too old?’

There were a lot of people who had great achievements in the past that became weird or mad when they got old. The rumors were that Meletoba was exactly that. Gerric thought the same.

‘If it was his old self, he would’ve reached out to the Ainos to restore the relationship and get his hands on those dishes that the noble provided.’

“Huxler!”

“Yes, sir!”

A man in his early twenties ran in at the call. He looked thin and weak.

“Send the message. Have the Red Axe, the Sword and Flails, and Skull Mercenaries complete their current tasks and return to the capital.”

“Yes, sir!”

Huxler left and Gerric looked out the window. The air coming in through the window was steaming hot.

‘I do not care about the Donians, the count, or the Ainos if I can get money.’

*

“It sure is a city.”

Joonbum mumbled as he looked at the city lights from the distance. His disappointment in the villages he passed by made his expectations of the capital grow larger. Ordinary villages would be pitch dark at this hour, but the city had lights that illuminated the city from a lot of different places. Joonbum watched the city for a moment then looked away, turning to his rifle.

‘I’ll check where he lives and position myself in a good sniping position. I can kill him and get out of the village right away. They won’t care about the Ainos when their leader is dead.’

He could just look around the city and leave afterwards.

‘I’ll enter the city as a mercenary.’

He had been wearing knight attire until now, but he planned to change into a mercenary so that he could draw less attention. No one would be able to connect the Donian’s owner’s death to him.

‘It’s simple and efficient. Hmm?’

While cleaning the rifle, Joonbum stopped moving.

‘Who is it?’

There were men closing in silently through the darkness. It only meant one thing.

‘Thieves!’

There were about five men coming in.

‘Should I wake them up? No, they won’t be much use.’

Daryl and Louise were in deep sleep. There was no use for them to fight the incoming thieves. It was better to handle them alone. Joonbum stopped moving and laid his back on the tree and closed his eyes.

The sound of the thieves talking to each other were heard.

“Look at these amateurs! They’re all sleeping!”

“The capital is right in front of them! I don’t blame them.”

“I saw a knight too. We can make fortune out of them.”

“Galim and horses! We’re lucky.”

“I’ll take the right one. Let’s get them quietly.”

A man with his crossbow approached them. Joonbum could hear and feel everything.

‘It’s amazing,’ Joonbum thought as he quietly installed the silencer on his handgun. The men came closer.

“Agh!”

“UGH!”

“ARGH!”

Five gunshots were fired. The gun didn’t make loud noises, but the area was so quiet that it sounded very loud.

“NO! I’ll run! I’ll run!”

“I’m running!”

Daryl and Louise woke up suddenly and began glancing around.

“AHHH! Someone’s dead! Louise! Look!”

“Man’s dead! Sir! They’re dead!

They began screaming as they saw the dead men lying on the ground. Joonbum frowned at them as they were calling him with scared looks on their faces.

“Stop. These are the thieves who were trying to kill us.”

“T-thieves?”

“Oh no!”

They were shocked. They glanced at the weapons and back to Joonbum. Joonbum shook his head.

“Go check the area just in case.”

“Yes, sir!”

They picked up a torch and began looking around. Joonbum collected weapons from the thieves and stabbed each body with a sword. He messed up the gunshot wounds so they wouldn’t be noticeable and took out the bullets. The two came back from the search as Joonbum finished his work.

“Search them.”

“Ugh! This bastard was hiding money near his genitals!”

“This guy had it in his shoes.”

Both frowned as they searched each of the thieves.

“This is quite a bit of money.”

“It will be worth a few days of drinks!”

The sun began to rise and Daryl and Louise stacked the bodies to one side and searched around again. Joonbum began preparing breakfast. There was leftover stew from the day before that he used as a base and he added more water and ingredients. It was a lot, but the three men were able to eat it.

‘We’re almost at the capital, so there’s no need to save it.’

Joonbum used all of the ingredients he had left.

‘I should hire a chef and teach those two how to cook first. A knight making food for his servants… ugh.”

Joonbum then heard the sound of a horse. Daryl and Louise were bringing horses they found.

“Look, sir! There were horses too!”

There were three horses, each loaded with goods on them. It was full of used weapons and various clothes.

“We should take these guys too.” Daryl suggested.

Louise agreed. “They should have bounties on them. It’ll be good money.”

“Do it if you want.”

Both grinned at Joonbum’s words. They gathered wood to create a wooden panel and loaded the bodies onto it and connected it to the horse.

They began eating breakfast and Joonbum called out to them.

“We are now mercenaries. Don’t call me ‘sir’ and just call me boss or Monte.”

“Huh?”

“A-again? But-”

“Just do it. Don’t ask.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Oh, and learn to cook when we’re in the capital.”

“Cook?”

“Why cook?”

“Then should I cook for you?”

“No, sir! I will learn!”

“Sorry sir!”

They nodded quickly.

‘Ugh, why did I take these guys in.’

Joonbum regretted it, but there was no going back.

‘It’s an investment!’

They were young and inexperienced. It was natural for them to not know much.

‘Let’s focus on the target.’

“But Louise, did you hear that weird noise?”

“That noise at night? Did you hear that too?”

Joonbum froze as they began talking about the sound of a gunshot.

“Eat fast! Remember, I am Monte, a mercenary. You two are amateur mercenaries from my hometown. Don’t make any mistakes.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Understood!”

“Now eat. We will leave right away.”

They quickly ate. The pot full of stew was instantly disappeared.