Assassin's Chronicle - Chapter 426

Chapter 426: Hard Work

Anfey stood still and watched the blazing sunset . Before coming to this world, he kept himself away from society and did not have any emotional connections to anyone . Here, everything he had once believed about himself was changing . He initially only made contact with people in this world because he needed to survive, but now he knew that was the beginning of his change . He felt the warmth of friendship and trust . He didn’t care for friendship at first, but he had come to value those friendships more than anything . So many people trusted him and believed in him now . He had never expect he would find people who would believe in him .

He did not know whether this change was good or bad, but he did not care anymore . Even if it was bad, even if it was wrong, he would not turn back .

Suzanna walked over quietly and joined him . She laid a hand on his shoulder and smiled . "What are you doing here?" she asked . "Don’t you want to go see how everyone’s doing?"

"I want to train them," Anfey said with a grin . "They need to know how to work without me there, you know . "

Suzanna smiled and rested her head on his shoulder .

"Did they distribute the food?"

"Not yet," Suzanna said .

"Why not?"

"Because…"

"Because we can’t!" Alice said angrily and stomped over to Anfey . "I need money . "

"What? You’re the…"

"Yes, yes, I’m in charge of internal affairs," Alice said . "But I don’t make money!"

"How much?"

"Fifty thousand for now . "

"That’s impossible!" Anfey said, his eyes widening . Fifty thousand was a big number, and Alice said "for now", which meant she would need more in the future .

Alice sighed and handed him a piece of paper . Anfey glanced at it and saw that it was a list of all their expenses . He frowned as he read it . "I’ll find a way," Anfey said after he finished reading the list . "Distribute the food . "

"We cannot," Alice insisted .

"Why not?"

"We can’t ignore the mercenaries’ tradition," Alice said . "Traditionally, the leader of a group will only give the mercenaries a certain amount of wages . The group will only be responsible for paying the mercenaries when there is a mission . "

"But we aren’t a normal mercenary group anymore," Anfey said .

"Tradition is called tradition for a reason," Alice said . "It’s not easy to change a tradition . We still need to pay the mercenaries even if we distribute all the food . You cannot replace wages with food . We’re better off paying them wages and letting them buy whatever they want . "

"That’s a good business plan," Anfey said .

"It’s not business," Alice said, shaking her head . "How are you going to determine rations? Some mercenaries eat more than others . Some have families, some want good food . We cannot satisfy everyone if we distribute rations . "

"I see," Anfey said . "What do you think we should do?"

"It’s easy," Alice said . "A lot of mercenaries have families, but we aren’t responsible for the families . Ever since we founded the alliance, we haven’t paid any wages . We need to make up for everything . The older mercenaries will be paid more . We can’t become a sanctuary . We need fighters, not people who just joined us so they can get free food . "

Anfey sighed and glanced at the paper again . "Fine," he said . "I’ll talk with Lord Marino about this . "

Alice nodded . She turned to leave, then turned back as if she had just remembered something . "Another thing," she said . "We attacked Shansa Empire’s border city, which is a good thing, but you shouldn’t have placed Ozzic in charge, no matter how much you trust him! The spoils of that battle are not his alone . They’re Shinbella’s, and Orsie’s . Do you really think he will distribute the spoils fairly and evenly?"

"We’re all in this together," Anfey said . "Do we really need to divide everything so evenly?" In the past, he had always trusted Feller with their money and supplies . Leaving one person in charge of all the supplies had become a habit for him .

"We must!" Alice said, wide-eyed . "We need the mercenaries to know what we took, how much we took, and how much each mercenary should get . If we can’t do that, the mercenaries will never fully trust us . "

Anfey looked at Alice in shock . She had never really talked back to him, but everything she said today was true . "What do you think we should do?"

"I counted everything," Alice said . "You can read it over and decide . "

Anfey nodded . He looked at the paper Alice gave him and saw that she had categorized all their recent missions . She had also listed the mercenary leaders and the wages for each of them . Under the names of mercenary leaders were wage categories for normal mercenaries .

Anfey frowned when he saw how much money Alice had calculated for him and Suzanna . Alice asked for fifty thousand gold coins, and out of those fifty thousand, almost ten thousand would go to him and Suzanna .

"Alice," Anfey said . "Suzanna and I don’t need this much money . I’m sure Christian and the others don’t, either . "

"My numbers are correct and fair," Alice said .

"I’m not saying that . I’m saying we don’t need it . The mercenary’s wages I agree with, but we don’t need this much money . "

"You can always donate your wage," Alice said . "That’s your business, but you must be paid . But you are still in charge and you can decide the wages for the mercenaries . This is just my calculation of what I believe is fair . "

"I understand," Anfey said . "We must be fair . "

Alice smiled and nodded .

"What kind of wage can the new mercenaries get?"

"Eight silver coins . "

"That is too little," Anfey said . "They can hardly feed themselves with that money . "

"They’re new," Alice said . "They shouldn’t expect too high a wage . " She looked at Anfey and said quietly, "I never realized you are such a noble person . "

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you so worried about the new members? They need to earn their wages . If they immediately get the same wage as a mercenary who has been with you since the beginning, don’t you think it’s unfair?"

Anfey sighed and nodded . "I’ll talk to Ozzic," he said . "Then I’ll talk to Marino about this . "

"Of course," Alice said . "One more thing . "

"What is it?"

"I saw that you had a memory crystal yesterday," Alice said . "I hope that you can give it to me and I will auction it off . Anyone can join the auction . No one has the right to keep spoils of war . We need the process to be as fair and transparent as possible . You appointed me to be in charge of internal affairs . I hope you can support my decision . "

Anfey nodded . He found the crystal and handed it to Alice . "Alright," he said .

"Good," Alice said with a grin, wrapping her fingers around the crystal . She nodded at Suzanna and turned to leave .

Suzanna chuckled . She had never seen Anfey follow someone else’s orders without questions .

Anfey glanced at her and smiled . Suddenly, both of them felt strong pressure coming from afar . They both frowned and glanced into the distance .