City of Mercenaries

Mercenary City

(Some readers are dissatisfied with Christiana. That was my failure in shaping her character, so I'm canceling Christiana's status as the female lead and will make other arrangements. Also, please vote and add to favorites.)

Pedestrians came and went. Night had already fallen, and lights had been lit in every shop along Luo City's main street. The lanterns hanging on both sides of the shop entrances had also been lit, illuminating the main street until it was bright as day.

Little Guide led Diya straight ahead, her frail body wrapped tightly beneath shabby clothes. She staggered a little as she walked. The pedestrians around them deliberately avoided both Little Guide and Diya, staring at them with disgust, clearly taking Diya and Little Guide to be of the same sort.

After all, people at the bottom lived such hard lives. Life was difficult enough, yet they still had to suffer others' spitting contempt and rolled eyes.

Little Guide quietly led the way in front, which made Diya feel somewhat strange. The books said that many guides would take the initiative to chat with customers and introduce the city's basic situation. If the customer asked more questions, the talkative guides would tell them everything they could. Could this Little Guide be...

"What's your name?" Diya suddenly asked.

"Is sir asking me?" Little Guide asked timidly in a small voice, as if everyone living around her were wild beasts.

"Yes," Diya said, his tone very gentle.

"Nataya, sir. My name is Nataya." As if sensing Diya's goodwill, Little Guide's voice grew a little louder.

"Nataya. That's a very nice name. So, Nataya, this is your first time guiding someone, isn't it?" Diya asked.

"Sir, although this is my first time guiding someone, I'm very familiar with Luo City. Wherever you want to go, I can take you there, and the reward I ask for is very low." The moment Nataya heard Diya's words, she abruptly stopped, turned around, and spoke quickly, her tone rather pitiful. Her eyes looked at Diya, filled with pleading.

She had already stood in that corner for an entire day. Anyone who had just arrived in the city had been snatched away by the other guides. She was small and did not know how to fight for business, so she could only wait there on an empty stomach. In the end, there had only been Diya, someone who looked even more miserable than she was. But this was Nataya's first piece of business, so she accepted it, only hoping Diya could give her a little food.

"Don't be nervous. Let's chat. Introduce Luo City to me." Diya could not help feeling a little bleak inside. Originally, he had thought he was miserable enough, but now that he looked, this little brat's situation seemed even worse than his own. A feeling of sharing the same illness arose in him, and he immediately decided that, within what was allowable, he would give her some help. Of course, that was under the condition that his own interests did not suffer any loss.

"All right, sir. Luo City has another name. It's called the Mercenary City, because the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild is in Luo City. The mercenary force here is the strongest, so in normal times, the City Guard manages this city, but because the mercenaries' power surpasses the City Guard's, when something major really happens, the mercenaries are still the main force," Nataya said right away. Diya listened and felt Nataya's explanation was quite orderly. For an eight-year-old child, if no one had taught her, it would be impossible for her to speak so fluently.

"So, if a conflict happens here, the mercenaries are the main authority?" Diya thought back to when he had been at the city gate earlier, with four guards surrounding him, while some mercenaries watched from the side and even hurled abuse at the City Guard, yet those four guards had not dared to talk back. He understood a little.

"Yes, sir. In the Mercenary City, many people who have just arrived here don't know the rules here and will be bullied. If someone like sir goes to a clothing shop, you will definitely be stopped outside the door," Nataya said, then suddenly stopped and looked at Diya in some panic.

"What is it?" Diya could not help finding it somewhat funny.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to mock you," Nataya mumbled. Only then did Diya understand. So she felt uneasy because of that sentence.

"It's fine. If I'm stopped at the entrance of the clothing shop, what should I do?" Diya asked instead.

"Is sir a cultivator? If you are, you can knock down the people who stop you. As long as you act tougher than them, that's enough," Nataya said happily when she saw Diya had no intention of blaming her.

"The City Guard won't interfere?" Diya said, while thinking this really was an interesting city. If Diablo woke up, perhaps he would be very satisfied with this place.

"A lot of clothing shops are opened by commoners. As long as no one dies, the City Guard won't interfere. Here, many conflicts happen every day."

Listening to Nataya, Diya gained a preliminary impression of Luo City. This was a place where dragons and snakes mingled, where conflicts often broke out. As long as no lives were lost, everything was not much of a problem, and the rule of the strong being respected was performed to the fullest.

Moreover, in shops opened by commoners, if one caused trouble, as long as no one died, there would not be much of a problem. On the contrary, it could make things more convenient. But Diya could not help thinking of another question.

"Nataya, according to what you said, if a conflict happens in a commoner's shop, wouldn't the commoner lose terribly?"

"No, sir. The shops here all have people from mercenary groups as backers. As long as they pay a fixed fee to the mercenary group every month, if something happens, they can ask the mercenary group to step in."

"Oh," Diya suddenly understood. "Then if we cause trouble in a shop, wouldn't we come into conflict with a mercenary group?"

"No, sir. You're only going to buy clothes. Unless you don't pay," Nataya said, then looked at Diya, her eyes seeming to ask whether Diya was planning not to pay.

"So that's how it is. Terrible, I don't have money. I originally planned to rob the clothing shop, but it looks like that won't work," Diya said with a face full of vexation. Nataya stared blankly at Diya, unable to react for a moment. Seeing Nataya's dazed look, with a hint of panic still in her eyes, Diya no longer wanted to tease her.

"I was lying to you. I have money. Hurry up and go."

After another dozen or so minutes, Nataya stopped and pointed to a shop on the right side. "Sir, this is one of the clothing shops."

"Let's go. We're going in," Diya said. Then he took a large step forward, passed Nataya, and walked toward the clothing shop. Nataya hurriedly followed behind him.

"Where did this savage come from? Get out, get out! This isn't a place you should be!" Diya had only just stepped through the shop door when a young man rushed over, covering his nose with one hand and waving at Diya with the other.

"Does your shop not do business?" Diya asked coldly, making the young man freeze. Clearly, he was somewhat surprised that this savage could speak human language.

"We do business, but look at the state you're in. Hurry up and get out. Don't affect our business."

Diya ignored him. He stepped forward, circled around the young man, and walked to one side, where the place was hung full of clothes. After looking around, Diya picked up one of the garments. "I want this one." It was a black robe.

"You stinking vagrant, do you have money? Can you afford it?" The young man rushed after him and grabbed the black robe with one hand. He pulled, but it did not budge in the slightest, as if it were glued to Diya's hand.

"Don't look down on vagrants," Diya said, coldly staring at the young man. The young man's movements could not help stopping. He felt that this stinking vagrant's gaze was so sharp, like two swords, enough to make one's heart tremble. Diya's mind sank into the Horadric Cube, preparing to take out silver coins, but he abruptly froze. Originally, after putting gold and silver coins into the Horadric Cube, Diya had thought they would be placed inside those twelve slots. But now, looking again, they were not there. Instead, beneath the slots, above that depression, there was unexpectedly an additional black rectangular bar, marked with the words six gold coins and one hundred and five silver coins.

With a thought, Diya tried to withdraw silver coins, and astonishingly, an extra gold coin appeared in his palm. But now was not the time to investigate. Diya produced another ten silver coins, then pulled his hand out from his chest and spread it open. One gold coin and ten silver coins lay plainly in his hand.

"Is this enough?"

"Enough, enough. Customer, do you need any other clothing?" When the young man saw the glittering gold coin and the shining silver coins, his expression changed, and he smiled a little fawningly.

"I also want a set of underwear**. Mm, do you have a place to bathe here? Let me borrow it," Diya said. The young man kept nodding and even personally led Diya to the bathroom in the back courtyard. Diya told Nataya to wait a moment, then went into the bathroom and began scrubbing himself clean.