Beyond held up three fingers to Gelman and spoke as if it were only natural.
"Hand over three people from your team for us to deal with, and I can guarantee that your cooperation with us and the Kakin Empire's royal family will go smoothly."
"Two of them will be handed over to the Kakin Empire's royal family as the main culprits in the Fourth Prince's murder."
He pointed at his mercenary captain.
"The last one will be handed over to my mercenary captain, Mihail."
Beyond had decided the fate of three of Gelman's five companions in a tone that suggested this was perfectly fair, as though they were pigs being raised for slaughter. It was deeply unsettling.
Gelman glanced at Mihail, curious about why one person had to be handed over to him.
Mihail, whose ears were pointed, explained, "Gelman, do you remember the airship hijacking you dealt with in April?"
"The airship hijacking?"
Gelman quickly remembered. It had happened just after he first met Kurapika, when they encountered a group of crazed criminals aboard an airship.
Gelman had later dealt with the entire gang single-handedly.
So they had some connection to Mihail?
Thinking back, they had indeed been a group of mercenaries.
Gelman looked at the mercenary captain without showing his thoughts, waiting for him to continue.
"They weren't my direct subordinates," Mihail went on. "But we were connected through the Nowell Mercenary Survivors Fund."
As the name suggested, the fund was dedicated to ensuring the basic livelihood of the families left behind by certain mercenaries.
"Admittedly, their decision to hijack an airship was too extreme. It brought shame on all of us mercenaries."
"But at the end of the day, they were still on our side, and they died for the Nowell Mercenary Survivors Fund. We can't