Assassin's Chronicle - Chapter 341

Chapter 341: Differentiate

"We are not philanthropists," Alice said slowly . "Moramatch is not a place they can come and leave as they wish . If Moramatch had provided them safety, they should have contributed something for Moramatch . I wanted them to join us from the very beginning . People will never hear the names of some mercenary groups anymore, including Jagged Rose, Warflame and Wuming . I did not specifically say it, but I think those mercenary group commanders had prepared for the future . "

"Manlyn knew what you were thinking and that was why he did that?" Anfey asked .

"Without me telling you, you can tell he is very ambitious," Alice said .

"I know what you are thinking now, but do you think we can do it?" Anfey said . "I met the couple of Shadow mercenary group on the way here . I can tell they did not like you and Manlyn . Not everyone would work for you . "

"What did they tell you?" Alice asked .

"They said Manlyn wanted them to work their asses for him," Anfey said .

"They felt embarrassed to tell you the truth . I knew what happened to them . Nibison thought Ling was beautiful and tried to flirt with her . They could not stand it anymore, so they tried to escape from Moramatch . " Seeing Anfey did not want to look like he was interrogating her and just wanted to discuss the issues, Alice finally smiled . "Shadow mercenary group only had two of them . What else could they lose? Even if they had something to lose, it would be nothing compared with other commanders . "

"Are you sure they would not fight against us?" Anfey asked .

"I cannot guarantee you that, but I think you can totally solve these small conflicts," Alice said with a smile . "Master, when you came back, how did Ozzic treat you?"

"He welcomed me warmly . He was very respectful as well," Anfey said .

"Manlyn had talked about reforming the mercenaries, but Ozzic never agreed with him . They were firmly against Manlyn on that . If you propose the same issue, what do you think they would do?" Alice asked .

"I do not know . " Anfey was quiet for a moment, then said, "I saved them before, but they could take it or leave it . Now they want to be on my side only because I am more powerful than Manlyn . If they could find someone more powerful than me later on, I am not sure what they would do . "

"You are wrong . I think they would 100% support you even if you wanted to mix all the mercenaries together and do a total reorganization," Alice said .

"Don’t you think you are a little too confident?" Anfey asked .

"No, you are too cautious and think of people in a bad way, just like…" Alice suddenly stopped . She switched the topic . "Master, if you had a precious item you got from your family, and you had to sell it because you were in a very difficult situation, wouldn’t you find someone and try to sell it to him?"

"Like what? Just like I have been suspecting you?" Anfey shook his head and smiled . "No . I have to find the best guy to sell it to because it was such a precious thing for me . "

"They could only sell their mercenary groups once as well, but Manlyn was not the best guy," Alice said .

"I have given a lot of thought to what you said, but…" Anfey said .

"Are you worrying about their loyalty?" Alice heaved a sigh . "You do not have to worry about it . There is malicious competition among mercenaries, but they have their own justice, much more trustworthy than those royalty who only know how to kiss ass and bully weak ones . Even if you took away their position later, as long as you give them hope, they would not betray you . In fact, I should congratulate you right now since you already have a group of loyal subordinates . "

"I feel Kumaraghosha is more trustworthy," Anfey said .

Alice was shocked for a second and said slowly, "Master, I can promise you, at some point Kumaraghosha would betray you, just as I would not . "

Anfey chuckled . "I trust you, otherwise I would not come to talk to you . " Anfey’s smile looked even more sincere than Alice’s . His eyes were even more clear . In fact, he was still not so sure about Alice when he walked into her room . If Alice could not give him a reasonable answer, this could have been a totally different situation .

"Master, do you know Kumaraghosha? I feel you are very interested in him," Alice said .

"After the conflict with him at Moramatch, I sent people to investigate him . He is an honorable and capable general . If he had better opportunity to show off his capability, he would have become like Baery in Shansa Empire . " Anfey sighed . "It is so unfortunate that the people he has worked for have such a deep bias against him, while the people who appreciate him could not have him . "

Alice grinned . "I feel much better now . "

Kumaraghosha and a few other soldiers were quietly listening to Anfey and Alice’s conversation a few yards away from Alice’s room . There was an iron tube wrapped with vines in front of Kumaraghosha, with which he could hear the conversation between Alice and Anfey . The sound was weak, but loud enough to understand what they were talking about . Kumaraghosha did not think Anfey thought so highly of him . Baery enjoyed such fame, while he only shared similar fame with the commander of Dark Moon mercenary group, Newyoheim, in Ellisen Empire . They both represented two ever-victorious generals in two empires . However, Kumaraghosha had gotten used to being criticized as a traitor some time ago . What Anfey said made him so excited that he unconsciously pulled the vine off and pinched it .

"What made you feel better?" Anfey asked in surprise .

"I did not plan on having you contact Kumaraghosha because I was afraid you would not trust him and destroy him in the end . " Alice thought for a moment . "Since you appreciate him so much, you can take him as your bodyguard . You are already an earl . You need have a bodyguard . Kumaraghosha will be a very good chief guard . "

"I do not think he wants to be my bodyguard . He held hostility towards me . This only made him dislike me even more," Anfey said bitterly . He had set a trap for Alice .

Anfey knew his vision sometimes was not as good as Alice’s, nor was he as perceptive, but he had his own strengths . Alice was good at government affairs and pretty popular in Shansa Empire . After she escaped from her wedding, she took her maid with her on the run . They took the risk of asking for help from a merchant wagon, which made her a slave . She was wise on small issues, but did not have street smarts . Anfey was very street smart and rarely made any mistakes on these kinds of issues . The way they acted had nothing to do with their capability; rather, it totally depended on their upbringing and experience .

Anfey had vision that very few people could have . He could see as far as he wanted . He had sensed the existence of Kumaraghosha a long time ago . He actually meant to let Kumaraghosha hear how what Anfey thought of him . If Alice had any other intention or personal interests, she definitely would not be willing to recommend Kumaraghosha to Anfey, since Kumaraghosha was the only person she trusted . After Anfey politely turned her suggestion down, Alice could have taken her suggestion back .

"The key is how you see him . The rest is not important," Alice said naturally . "Let him follow you . This way he could be at his best . I do not want to see his talent being ignored and getting frustrated by it . "

"We will talk about it later . " Anfey finally felt relieved . He sounded as if he was getting playful . "It looks like you would have had the confidence to kill Manlyn, even if I had not come back . "

"He did not suspect me at all . If I could have planned it well, it should have been easy," Alice said .

"Why did you wait so long?" Anfey asked .

"Master, mercenaries are wild . If you want their respect, you have to respect them . For example, being tough . We have to reform . Forcing those mercenaries to listen to you can work for a while, but it would make others dislike you . " Alice smiled . "Right now is the perfect time . You killed Manlyn . You have successfully shown your power and skills, but did not hurt anyone else . Everything seems to be falling into the right place . "

"I mean, you could have done these things as well . Why were you waiting for me to come back?" Anfey asked .

"I am just a woman without a home country . I do not need them to respect me or listen to me . You are their best choice," Alice said .

Anfey crossed his legs and smiled . Alice had explained clearly and answered all his concerns . He went quiet for a while . "Alice, do you know about Scarlet?"

"Scarlet? She is really famous right now," Alice said .

Anfey looked serious . He could tell Alice held much hatred towards Scarlet . Could they have had some conflict before? Anfey thought to himself .

"I admire Princess Victoria the most . She is an example for me . Scarlet is not interested in government affairs . She only wanted to take revenge for her mother, so she took the other route . "

"Do you hate her?" Anfey asked directly .

"Master, don’t you understand there could be only one princess regent in the empire? I am a failure," Alice said . Perhaps because she did not want Anfey to see the hatred on her face, Alice looked to the side . She said very deliberately, "I could not forget how she treated me . I never wanted to hurt her, but she hurt me without any hesitation . "

Anfey suddenly realized why Alice admired Princess Victoria as her example . Now he knew everything . Deciding her own wedding was only a wish of Alice’s . Her wish and her dreams were two different things . Becoming the next princess regent was her real aim . Scarlet, as the only daughter of Victoria, wanted to be the regent herself . The competition between them was inevitable . From the way Alice talked about, she seemed to care too much about family and was not as cruel in the competition, so she got hurt .

Suzanna’s voice rose outside of the door . "Anfey, are you inside?"

"I am coming back now . " Then to Alice he said, "You’d better get to bed early . " Anfey stood up . He hesitated for a second and said, "Don’t worry . The worst is passed, isn’t it?"