Mercenaries

Entering the Oasis Forest Path with the caravan, one would never imagine that the natural scenery surrounding them had all been cultivated by human hands.

After reaching the Oasis, patrol guards began appearing on the trade route from time to time. Clearly, once they entered the Oasis's boundaries, they were truly within Stanrosai's sphere of protection.

There were quite a few people traveling with the caravan: people from nearby towns heading into the city, lone traveling merchants, and so on. It was a fairly common sight. Xuan Ye had also prepared an explanation for himself—a part-time mercenary who had been separated from his companions.

After all, whether it was the nearby Gobi, desert, or plains, it was easy to lose one's sense of direction. When an ordinary group became separated, they would usually seek out a nearby human settlement and regroup there. It was nothing unusual.

For example, the dark, thin, middle-aged man currently walking beside him, who shared a language with him through 'resonance,' had experienced exactly that.

"Kid, that's a pretty good bow. It looks damaged, but it should still be worth at least one or two hundred silver coins."

The dark, thin middle-aged man looked slightly sleazy, with shifty eyes. After occasionally glancing at Xuan Ye's bow and the tattered bundle he had slung behind him as a prop, he pretended to speak casually.

Of course, those little movements were completely impossible to hide from Xuan Ye, who had already condensed a Perception Core. Judging from the man's shifty eyes, nimble fingers, and the locations of the calluses on them—

According to the experience Luo Luoji had taught him, this should be a Thief skilled with daggers and hand crossbows. He was mediocre in direct combat but extremely troublesome, and should be at the level of a Sixth or even Seventh Grade Knight Attendant—or perhaps an apprentice Thief.

Temo's disgusting gaze, as though he wanted to strip him naked, made Xuan Ye want to beat him up.

Clearly, Xuan Ye still couldn't keep his emotions from showing. His undisguised look of disdain also made the dark, thin middle-aged man somewhat embarrassed.

"Don't misunderstand, kid. It's a professional habit, a habit. I'm a man with principles too. I won't attack fellow travelers on the road. Let's get acquainted. My name is Sen. Hehe, as you can see, I'm a Thief."

Sen was used to other people's opinions of him. After all, his appearance was far from likable. He spoke very casually.

In Reizel, Thieves were disliked, but they were also an indispensable profession. This was mainly because they specialized in the 'Agility' Inner Palace. Due to their talents and characteristics, they could only display their greatest effectiveness in darkness. Naturally, people who took this path might develop some bad habits.

To them, thanks to their Agility talent, seeing the things in another person's purse was much like an ordinary person seeing money lying on the ground. They only needed to reach out and take it. Over time, they became like this.

However, also because of their Agility talent, they were indispensable for setting up and dismantling traps, gathering intelligence, infiltrating places, exploring ruins, and many other tasks.

Seeing how clingy this fellow was, Xuan Ye rolled his eyes at him irritably and said,

"Just don't try anything with me. Why should I care what you are? This bow is almost unusable. What the hell could it possibly be worth?"

The heavy bow Xuan Ye was using now was the one Luo Luoji had given him before. It weighed more than seventy pounds, and its draw strength was enough for a one- or two-star professional Ranger to use. However, after he had used it as a club to knock Ye Man's axe away and smack him in the face, the bow itself had bent.

It could only be used reluctantly because of its excellent original quality. It was sufficient for a Sixth or Seventh Grade Knight Attendant, but Xuan Ye, who had already entered the Professional Rank, was beginning to find it rather useless.

"Oh, it's almost unusable?"

Sen put on an expression of sudden realization, but a flicker appeared in his eyes. As someone who made his living as a Thief, he had extremely sharp judgment. Through a simple conversation and his own observations, he could draw some interesting conclusions.

"Meeting on the road is fate. Here, take this token of recommendation. If you run into a problem you can't solve, and it's inconvenient to post a task with the Mercenary Guild, you can come find us."

After tossing Xuan Ye a filthy black button, Sen said goodbye with a beaming smile. He quickly left the caravan, slipped through the city gate ahead of them, and vanished into the crowd in just a few steps.

"Damn it! Where's my wallet?"

A furious voice came from a fat merchant up ahead. Xuan Ye couldn't help twitching his mouth. So much for not attacking fellow travelers on the road. Hmph, he could do it after parting, right? His skills were quite nimble.

He had probably taken it simply by passing the man. When Xuan Ye had first crossed over, even if he had possessed the physique of a Sixth Grade Knight Attendant, he probably wouldn't have noticed.

Problems the Mercenary Guild couldn't solve could be taken to them?

The Thieves' Guild in the gutter, huh...

Xuan Ye had deliberately altered his appearance, creating the image of someone who looked like he had just come out of prison—a convict with a prune-like haircut. With the addition of a sandproof hooded cloak, this became Xuan Ye's simple disguise.

Although the process was simple, it was indeed enough to ensure that anyone who knew him wouldn't recognize him without close scrutiny. Besides, according to the images in his memories, there really weren't many people who knew him.

Upon entering the city and seeing the neat stone-paved roads, Xuan Ye faintly sensed the powerful productivity represented by them.

Perhaps they lacked technological research and machines, but with magic and individual strength comparable to machines, their productivity in certain areas was actually quite high. They were far more prosperous and magnificent than medieval Europe.

Eye-catching signposts indicated the directions to several important landmark buildings.

The 'Woya' Temple, Mage Tower, city hall, mercenary district, and commercial district. After pausing for only a moment, Xuan Ye headed toward the mercenary district.

First, he was currently pretending to be a mercenary who had lost contact with his companions, so he had to complete the act. Second, he planned to retrieve Luo Luoji's belongings while also asking about the difficulty of obtaining an Earth Magic Core, and whether he should post a task or arrange an auction.

Looking at the words traced in dried blood on the parchment, Xuan Ye sighed softly. If he didn't take care of this matter, his conscience wouldn't let him rest...

The nobles left behind from the era when the Human Race ruled, newly risen wealthy families, various guilds formed by different professions and groups under external pressure, the Temples of various gods, and relatively neutral academies were currently the main systems of power among the Human Race.

The Mercenary Guild was somewhat special, however. It was a task brokerage organization found in almost every human settlement. Because it covered too much and involved too many parties, although the Mercenary Guild was nominally a chain organization, in reality, local powers controlled the Mercenary Guilds in their respective regions.

The nominal Mercenary General Guild was also coordinated by representatives sent by various factions in the form of a council. Aside from the strict restrictions concerning the guild's reputation and other red lines, its control over local branches was quite limited.

Neither noble families nor the other guilds would allow a unified Mercenary Guild to appear. It could be considered the loosest type of guild.

The Mercenary Guild in Stanrosai City was jointly managed by the local Merchant Guild and the city hall. The grand guild hall also reflected the management's immense wealth.

At the very least, the local mercenaries did not dislike this arrangement. On the contrary, because of their close relationship with the Merchant Guild, high-reward tasks appeared quite frequently. After all, merchants had the most Gold Coins, and anyone with money shared the universal trait of being afraid to die.

Looking at the grand and imposing guild hall, Xuan Ye had just stepped inside when a thick, sour stench of sweat rushed into his nose. For Xuan Ye, whose Perception Core had greatly enhanced even his sense of smell, it was truly torture.

All right, no matter how well the guild hall was built, the people who came in to accept tasks were still mostly unwashed burly men.

Groups of rough-looking men gathered around several notice boards of varying difficulty, searching for tasks with the best cost-to-benefit ratio. From time to time, someone would step forward, tear off a notice, and take it to the front desk to register.

Occasionally, people even fought over tasks. However, it seemed that management here was fairly competent. Even when there was competition, it consisted only of minor tricks and never caused a commotion. Xuan Ye's eyes were simply sharp enough to notice these things amid the chaotic surroundings.

Attendants ran back and forth, sweating profusely as they carried various task scrolls and related items, either posting or removing them. Above the front desk were small wooden signs that could be flipped over and wiped clean, displaying various words and messages. Although everything was handled manually, the process remained orderly.

Of course, it was still far from the fully automated task system controlled by magic that Xuan Ye had imagined.

After standing in the corner and observing for a while, Xuan Ye headed toward the precious-item storage area.

After the two or three people ahead of him had finished depositing or retrieving their items, Xuan Ye arrived at the counter.

"Deposit or withdrawal?"

The counter girl had a pleasant face. Perhaps because she had been sitting here all day, the smile on her face looked somewhat stiff. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead, and her faint, pleasant fragrance slightly diluted the mixed stench nearby.

"Withdrawal. Number C4164."

Xuan Ye spoke from behind the sandproof clothing in a hoarse voice. His shaggy, prune-like hair and tattered sandproof clothing made his already unremarkable appearance even more ordinary.

Fortunately, there were quite a few people dressed similarly in the hall. There were even plenty of bald men, so the counter girl wasn't surprised. She merely searched through the densely packed numbered boxes and drawers behind her.

"C4164? That's a precious item. It requires a high-level cipher, but don't tell it to me. This isn't within my authority. Please wait a moment."

After seeing the words on the slip bearing the drawer number, surprise appeared on the counter girl's face. Her attitude immediately improved, and she spoke respectfully as she pulled a red cord beside her, seemingly to notify someone.

Xuan Ye naturally didn't find this strange. Luo Luoji was a Professional Rank Expert, ranked among the top fifty in Stanrose. Even if his wealth was probably at the very bottom among those of the Professional Rank, he was still unquestionably a major client here.

Soon, a handsome man in his early twenties, dressed impeccably, arrived at the counter. He first swept Xuan Ye with a faint glance before taking the numbered slip from the clerk.

After seeing the number, he looked Xuan Ye up and down twice more, then frowned slightly without making it obvious.

"Where did you hear this number?"

The man's questioning tone made Xuan Ye, who had been honestly waiting to retrieve his belongings, pause in surprise.

"Hey, I'm here to retrieve my things. That's none of your business, is it? As long as I have the number and the cipher, why should you care who I am?"

If someone spoke to him properly, Xuan Ye would naturally respond properly. But when this man came over and questioned him as though he had just swallowed gunpowder, Xuan Ye naturally gave him no pleasant expression. He was a Professional Rank lord now, after all.

The man acted as though he hadn't heard Xuan Ye's retort. After carefully examining him for a while longer, he paid particular attention to the forehead, eyes, and nose exposed outside the sandproof hood.

A mocking smile appeared on the man's face. When he noticed the damaged heavy bow protruding from beneath the sandproof cloak, the smile became even more pronounced. With complete confidence, he said,

"That's right. As long as you have the number and cipher, you can take the item away. So let me tell you: this shipment has already been claimed. I don't know where you got this number, but I'm warning you—the Mercenary Guild of Stanrosai City isn't a place where just anyone can exploit loopholes!"

By the end, his entire expression had become righteous and stern, as though Xuan Ye were some petty crook trying to test the cipher and fraudulently claim another person's goods...