Chapter 496
There were twenty-seven women, over thirty children, and a dozen craftsmen . In the slave trade, this was a big sum of money, and as for the Swift Sword gang that stooped to forming a gang of bandits, this was a rare major score for them .
The guesses that certain people made were a little off the mark . Currently, the Swift Sword gang that caused trouble around the new knight domain lord wasn't simply a last-minute gang formed by deserters . Their true identity was a large mercenary group that the rebelling marquis had hired, named Brave Swift Sword Mercenaries .
As for the mercenary group, the entire group being taken in by a major domain lord like Marquis Stanley was an extremely rare but good thing . The group of mercenaries could naturally obtain the government's organization and supplies . Ordinary members could obtain rich reimbursement and have opportunities to get promoted . As for the higher execs, this was the only shot for them to become noblemen .
The mercenaries with checkered pasts were always ambitious people . As long as the rewards were sufficient, the mercenaries who were already killers would take anyone's head . That also included the head of one of their very own; all for the opportunity to have them and their children to become highly revered nobles . Such an opportunity tempted countless strong mercenaries .
But, the domain lord wouldn't casually toss out the offer to take in an entire mercenary troop . And, assigning new noble titles would be like cutting flesh off of the domain lord's body . After all, even low-ranking noble titles without any territory of their own would require a salary suitable for the retainer's worth .
Want to be ranked a nobleman? That could happen . . . if you fought for it with your life . As long as you proved your strength on the battlefield and gained sufficient achievements, you'd be rewarded with the leader's appreciation .
Note: Before this, large mercenary groups were able to achieve sufficient achievements and completely maintain their hierarchical structure as long as their military strength was at least over eighty percent . Noblemen never were generous people . Even if you achieved a great feat, as soon as you all lost your value, then you were nothing but a meaningless mercenary group that suffered tragic losses . If the mercenary group suffered serious losses, that would make them suitable as the most disposable of cannon fodder instead . Ordinary mercenaries could be turned into okay foot soldiers, and it was also quite cheap to hire the services of the more powerful individuals once the mercenary group was weakened . This was the favorite type of "volunteer" (free) cannon fodder that the nobles loved .
Because of this, wars ensued . They were purely dangerous wars, not missions that ordinary mercenaries would be willing to participate in . After all, there were great risks with great returns . Still, everyone knew that, in this world, there was no lack of ambitious gamblers who believed they were the only lucky ones .
As long as there were wars, there'd be vultures and hyenas around . The domain lords did in fact like hiring last-minute mercenaries . Even though over seventy percent of the war mercenaries were abandoned, used pawns, there were examples of lucky ones becoming nobles and forming armies . This encouraged even more mercenaries to partake, just like moths flying to a flame .
And originally, the Brave Swift Sword gang had been one of these such lucky mercenary groups . It successfully achieved an astonishing feat during its military service, but…
"The captain, Entley, died already . Their achievements were gone, and the Brave Swift Sword gang was done . Several leaders were hung on banners, and only the vice-captain, Kaen, was able to become a noble knight . Big Brother Shink said that Kaen betrayed us and traded the brothers' lives for riches . So, we're here to find Kaen and get revenge . "
"By massacring civilians?"
"That was just Kaen's assets . We planned to sell more, but at least we got the share we deserve . "
The citizens were the domain lord's fortune? In some sense, this was also a mainstream ideology of this world .
The Swift Sword gang's two sentries lay together; one of them didn't move an inch, whereas the other was calm as they described their "revenge in the name of justice" .
It wasn't that he was in great mental form to be able to list all these conducts without any change in expression . It was that completely broken souls simply wouldn't able to prevent intel from being leaked .
After withdrawing my index finger from the sentry's forehead, black smog started to dissipate . With that, the soul of this weakling dissipated as well, with the pair of black eyes already losing all focus .
Even if he was still warm and breathing, he was already a walking dead .
And when I put my index finger on the other sentry's hand, the young face was twisted by fear . Cold sweat dropped down like crazy and a yellow liquid came out from below, which made me furrow my brows even harder .
*Slap!*
The opponent's ugly state convinced me to abandon the idea of authenticating the intel . In fact, the revolting smell made me lose interest in the other corpses .
After a snap of a finger, water and air was drawn, partially suffocating that terrified sentinel and turning him into a dried corpse . The fatal constriction even turned the common last cry for help when being choked into an impossibility . The only sign of resistance was the bloodstains from nails scraped across the floor .
It'd been a long time since I had acted as an evil undead mage . It was good that I wasn't too out of practice . However, the change in "partners" behind me was really obvious .
The stray mercenaries led by the dwarf brothers had an awful look on their faces; moreover, they looked on with fear and respect . They understood that it was one thing to be strong, but it was another to be ruthless .
I had the usual smile on my face, but deep down side, I was extremely satisfied . At least in a short amount of time, I could ignore the negative effect from the embarrassment I just underwent .
For the mercenaries, they believed that the strong, merciless, and evil undead mages were not easily fooled . As I was their employer, any command I gave would likely be carried out .
Old Barton's old partner, Winston, didn't look so good, and he was mumbling something .
"Evil undead mage? Why did the Holy Light not take him out?" Even without reading lips, I could guess what he was thinking . Afterall, this old partner was also considered a disciple of the traditional Holy Light, who attended church twice a week .
As of right now, the person with the biggest reaction was most probably Katerina . She hid behind her adopted father Old Barton with a completely pale face . She tightly bit her lip, and her eyes couldn't help but wander as she didn't even dare look at those tragic lifeless corpses .
My facial expression didn't change, but I sighed deep down inside .
"Have you made your decision? Eradicating all loose ends so that the brat doesn't fall too deep is truly the smart choice . "
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login