Five days later, Anfey and his friends appeared on the city square in Paoro City. They arrived around the same time as the Roaring Death Legion, which was camping out near the city. Anfey wanted to arrive first and find out more about the situation. Anfey thought it would be too dangerous for them to approach the Roaring Death Legion, since it might attract unwanted attention. He and his friends spent five days staying away from large crowds, and their information was outdated. They had to keep up with the news to determine what to do next.
It was easy to gather information in such an exotic place. A bartender would spill everything he knew for a gold coin or two. Merchants, travelers, and mercenaries not only had information but also were looking for information. Trading intelligence was not a rare occurrence in this city. A lot of bartenders’ side job was the selling of information. In order to stay in business, they would diligently gather new and interesting information for their customers.
Anfey bought some information from an old bartender for a gold coin. He learned that even though Maho Empire was relatively peaceful, other places were not. In Country of Mercenaries, Glory mercenary group and Tiger of Tawau mercenary group were at war. Storm mercenary group was not helping either side, nor was it officially neutral. Mercenaries from Storm mercenary group said that conflicts between mercenaries should be kept within the Country of Mercenaries, and that people from Shansa and Ellisen Empire should leave immediately. This was an order, not a request. Storm mercenary group was clearly accusing Shansa Empire and Ellisen Empire of causing this conflict.
Another major mercenary group, Brothers mercenary group, remained oddly silent. This silence caused wild speculation about the group’s involvement. Anfey, however, knew exactly why. Both Marino and Entos were in Maho Empire. Without its leader and its deputy, Brothers mercenary group could not do anything.
Another interesting bit of news was that Scarlet, Shansa Empire’s new star, was charged with commanding all the armies along the eastern front. She forced armies of Maho Empire to take the defensive. The two empires’ borders had similar geography, and the troubles they encountered were similar as well. Shansa Empire blocked the paths through the Transverse Mountains and surrounded Blackania City. This led to the failure of Mao Empire’s defense along the mountains. After Shansa Empire’s army retreated, Miorich attacked Shansa Empire’s bridgehead along the border. The majority of Shansa Empire’s army was in the Transverse Mountains and could not arrive in time to defend their bridge. Then Miorich ordered his men to attack almost a dozen cities in the area.
Targeting civilians was wrong, but during war everything was fair game. Shansa Empire had attacked numerous cities during the war as well. However, Scarlet was able to regain the advantage over Miorich.
After he had told them all the important news, the bartender smirked and began talking about a rich widow residing in the city. Apparently, he thought Christian was handsome enough to seduce the widow.
Anfey listened with a smile and did not interrupt the bartender. He did not stop the man until Christian was visibly uncomfortable. "What are those men doing outside?" Anfey asked with a wave of his hand. "Are they here to arrest someone?"
"No, my lord," the bartender said. "They’re guards."
"Guards?"
"Yes," the bartender said. "Heard some important people are coming from Sacred City. Our citymaster is getting ready to welcome them."
"So we can’t leave the city?"
"They should be gone by sundown," the bartender said with a frown.
"I see," Anfey said. "We’re done, then. You can go tend to your other customers now." Anfey smiled at the bartender and tossed him another gold coin.
The bartender caught the coin out of the air and bowed. "Have a good day then, my lords."
As soon as the bartender left the room, Anfey glanced at Blavi and nodded. Blavi stood up and left.
"Hagan, we’re getting you out of here in a bit. You should go look for Riska," Anfey said. "I’m sure General Baery has already made arrangements. No one will stop you."
"What about you guys?"
"We’re going to Violet City."
"Isn’t that the same thing?"
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