"Hey, guys, look. That chick over there looks pretty good, doesn't she?"
Akil was the one who spoke. He had become a man with his family's personal maid at a very young age, and ever since then, he had completely lost control of himself, practically becoming the very model of a spoiled playboy.
Li looked up at Akil. At that moment, Akil was staring fixedly at a corner of the bar, and the other three followed his gaze.
Seven people sat in that corner of the bar—five men and two women. They looked very much like mercenaries. Li frowned. Whether in August's memories or in Li's understanding of Fairy Tail's original plot, mercenaries were never people to be trifled with. Unlike mages, they focused more on training their bodies.
Of course, some mages possessed magic that trained their close-combat abilities as well, but mercenaries might be stronger in terms of fighting techniques. Many mages also chose to join mercenary associations.
After all, the jobs accepted by mage guilds tended to be more aboveboard, while mercenaries could be said to commit any evil imaginable. As long as the pay was high enough, they would take any job, regardless of whether it was good or evil.
Correspondingly, mages were expensive to hire, while mercenary associations charged less. That was why many merchants preferred to hire mercenaries to protect their caravans.
Li took one look at the people sitting in the corner and frowned. One of them was a mage, but the others merely looked somewhat stronger than average.
The woman Akil had pointed out was among them. She looked about fourteen or fifteen, while Akil himself was only seventeen or eighteen. It was no wonder he found her so interesting. Then again, although she was not a peerless beauty, she was quite