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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“So, who is the owner?”
“Baron Iklemba.”
I had to desperately restrain myself from reacting outwardly.
“…It’s not that far away.”
“That’s right. It only takes about two weeks round trip by carriage.”
‘There was a hint even back then.’
Baron Iklemba’s territory.
It wasn’t strange for an ancient book to be discovered there.
‘There’s… a ruin nearby.’
It was a place I had planned to loot, a place that would be discovered in the future.
‘It’s an interesting place.’
It would become famous twice.
First, for the discovery of the Orb of Fire, which would be revealed to be one of the best materials for artifact creation. And a year later, it would become famous again for the appearance of a dimensional rift.
‘A place I would eventually revisit.’
And the ruin was right next to it.
‘I should loot it this time.’
I was in luck.
And the only thing I was interested in was the Orb of Fire.
It would be best to discuss it with the royal family and sell everything else.
‘Ah, they said an elder from the Blue Tower was interested too, right?’
I had heard that several ancient books would be found there. I could establish a good relationship with them by selling them separately, but…
‘There’s no need for that.’
It was better to stay on good terms with the royal family.
An elder would be a high-ranking mage, and probably not someone with a pleasant personality, so it wouldn’t hurt to gift them a book or two.
‘There’s no need to make enemies.’
Of course, that was only if they approached me first. If the information arrived late, it was tough luck.
‘Thanks to Otriokar, I’ve established a good relationship with the Enchantment School.’
Otriokar belonged to a sub-school of the Enchantment School, but if I became an associate member, I would also become an associate member of the Enchantment School.
Because the Etimarin School, which Otriokar belonged to, would be vouching for me.
“But you need to be careful,” Kriang said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“As you know, you have to pass through Baron Jutus’s territory to reach Baron Iklemba’s territory.”
“There’s a chance they might cause trouble. Or perhaps they might even attack you.”
It was certainly a possibility.
Baron Jutus’s territory.
It was a territory that had a rivalry with the Doriem’s.
‘That’s putting it mildly.’
Frankly, they were practically enemies.
“But it’s difficult to take a detour.”
The distance was too far, and a two-week request would turn into a month-long one.
Moreover…
“There’s no guarantee that we won’t be attacked even if we take a detour.”
It could be even more dangerous.
If they were determined to pick a fight with us, we would be easier targets if we avoided their territory and took a detour.
Just as the relationship between the lords was bad, the relationship between their mercenary guilds was also terrible.
Honestly, even if the relationship between the lords was good, it was difficult for the mercenary guilds of each territory to get along.
Mercenary guilds naturally competed to attract skilled mercenaries to their respective branches, and if the relationship between the lords was bad, they wouldn’t hesitate to sabotage each other’s mercenaries with the tacit approval of their lords, going beyond mere competition.
‘If the relationship between the lords wasn’t bad, they would at least restrain each other…’
But these two weren’t like that.
‘And I’ve recently made a name for myself.’
A 5th class warlock and three Experts, including a high-ranking one.
We were a new and rising party, attracting attention.
And we even had the guild’s guarantee…
‘If they see us, they’ll definitely attack.’
It would be a different story if the royal family openly protected us, but that was impossible.
They might secretly intervene if Annelise was in direct danger.
Or, considering her recent blunder, they might just abandon her.
Therefore, taking a detour would be foolish. It was better to face them head-on.
‘At least they won’t be able to kill us openly.’
A few of them might try to provoke us and attack us.
But if we took a detour, they would attack us as a group.
You might think it would be easier for them to attack us within their own territory, but that would create an opportunity for the Mercenary Guild to intervene.
To be precise, not just any branch, but the Mercenary Guild headquarters.
‘Most branches have many people vying for their position.’
If we gave them a reason to intervene, the branch manager would be in serious trouble, and the branch itself might even be shut down.
It was an opportunity for both neighboring branches and those who wanted to take over the existing branch.
The headquarters had immense authority, but in return, they didn’t move easily.
Therefore, branches wouldn’t readily give them a reason to intervene, which meant that it was actually safer within the territory.
“And you said the Perseus Mercenary Group and the Moses Merchant Guild are also targeting us?”
In the worst-case scenario, we could be caught between those two groups and the mercenaries from the Jutus branch.
It wasn’t going to be an easy request.
It was a challenging one.
‘Well, the king cares about Lineta, so they couldn’t send just anyone. This is a test, I see.’
There would be three such tests…
We could handle it. I made that judgment.
“Alright. We’ll accept the transport request as instructed.”
“Thank you. We’ll provide you with a carriage. We can’t offer you a high reward, but we should at least provide this much support.”
Since it was ostensibly just a delivery job, the reward couldn’t be high. And the request period was short.
But it was still an ancient book, something mages would covet, and our skills and reputation commanded a certain price, so it wasn’t a measly sum.
‘Well, the money isn’t that important.’
We already had hundreds of gold, and what mattered was our track record.
It was a request that we could complete quickly if things went well, and the timing was right.
Even if we failed the request because we couldn’t handle the attacks, there was no real risk, as they could have someone else complete it.
‘Our value would decrease, and we would be warned. In the worst case, we might have to simply protect Annelise and lose the promised recommendation as an authorized warlock.’
It was a cold-hearted assessment, but this was both a test and a form of support from their side.
And from the way they were feeding us information, it seemed like they genuinely wanted us to help Lineta.
They would test us, but they wanted us to succeed.
And I planned to not only pass this test but also exceed their expectations.
To increase our value in their eyes.
After accepting the request and receiving additional information, we parted ways with Kriang.
I gathered my companions as I prepared for our departure and spoke firmly.
“You’ll be seeing a lot of unpleasant things during this request.”
“We can expect even dirtier tactics than when we first registered as mercenaries.”
Athena shrugged at my words.
“But this time, we don’t have to hold back, right? That’s all that matters.”
“That’s right. If the mercenaries from Doriem attack us… there’s no need to hold back.”
I was planning to kill most of them. And I was going to make sure they would never do something like that again.
“I like the sound of that.”
“You don’t have to worry about the consequences. But if the mercenaries from Baron Jutus’s territory attack us, avoid killing them.”
“But didn’t you say they were hostile?”
“That’s from Doriem’s perspective. We don’t need to be hostile towards them.”
We would be moving to Lineta soon. There was no reason to antagonize Baron Jutus’s territory.
‘And it’s not that far away.’
You never knew how relationships could change.
Although they were mercenaries who had been hostile towards each other for a long time, there was no need for me to be hostile towards them as well.
We could just handle them appropriately. No matter how strong they were, they wouldn’t even be able to scratch us.
“You’re saying their enemy should continue to be Doriem, not us.”
I nodded at Kayla’s words.
“I don’t like it, but fine, whatever.”
Athena seemed to have a strong dislike for those she disliked, no matter how strong she became.
There was no forgiveness.
Her attitude towards Annelise and those who had first antagonized us showed that tendency.
‘Fortunately, she listens to me.’
Although she expressed her displeasure, she didn’t strongly oppose my words.
From her actions, it didn’t seem like it was because of the mana oath, so I assumed she trusted me that much.
Kayla was also merciless towards enemies, but she didn’t display as much hostility as Athena.
Baldur, perhaps because he had only recently become a free man, simply followed my orders without expressing any opinions, just like he did when he was a slave.
After informing them how to respond if we were attacked, I told them to rest.
As soon as the day changed, we finished our simple preparations and went to the Mercenary Guild. The carriage and coachman sent by Kriang were waiting for us.
“It’s an honor to meet you. Please call me Geonun.”
The coachman was a middle-aged man with a sturdy build.
Judging from the scars and signs of training all over his body, he seemed to be a retired mercenary or soldier.
He didn’t seem to be a mana awakener.
‘Well, they couldn’t have sent a weak coachman in a situation where there was a high chance of being attacked.’
It seemed like I just had to take care of him a little.
We officially accepted the request through the Mercenary Guild and stocked the carriage with additional food supplies just in case before departing for Baron Iklemba’s territory.
“Wow, this is comfortable.”
“They’ve put a lot of effort into this. The exterior looks quite sturdy too.”
“And it’s quite fancy. It’s like something a noble would ride.”
It wasn’t overly extravagant, but it was definitely more luxurious than an ordinary carriage.
Even the horses pulling the carriage didn’t seem like cheap packhorses.
“But did you see them?”
Athena spoke.
“There were people watching us until we left the territory.”
“I know.”
We were quite famous now.
And on top of that, we had received our first designated request.
A luxurious carriage had come to pick us up, so it was impossible not to attract attention.
And among those watching us, there were those who were spying on us.
‘Familiar faces.’
They must have thought I wouldn’t recognize them, but I had already worked in this area, so there was no way I wouldn’t.
‘The Moses Merchant Guild.’
If Kriang was right, the reason why the Perseus Mercenary Group wasn’t visible was obvious.
‘They’ve already finished preparing for the ambush.’
Would they attack us on our way there, or on our way back?
There were two most likely scenarios.
One was right after we clashed with the mercenaries from Jutus on our way there.
The other was on our way back, near Doriem’s territory.
But they would need to know our condition and location to do that, so there should be someone following us…
‘But there’s no one.’
My Specter was already monitoring the area from above.
I had told it to alert me if there were any pursuers, but there was no news.
They couldn’t escape the Specter’s eyes from the sky, so it meant that they really weren’t following us, but…
There was no way to know for sure at this point.
“There are no pursuers for now, so we’ll have to wait and see.”
“This is so frustrating. I wish they would just attack us. We can’t attack first…”
“Considering the request, it’s better if they don’t come. We have to go there anyway.”
“But Master, they don’t know that. And wouldn’t it be better to just get rid of them and operate freely for the next three months?”
Athena had a point.
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