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Chapter 20 – Urich’s Brothers (3)
Urich and the mercenaries received a big welcome in Earl Molando’s fief. After all, they played a decisive role in their victory.
Earl Molando was grinning as he changed into his banquet clothes.
“Did you see Earl Degelton’s tail as he ran away?”
“That’s what he gets for his greed!”
The retainers chattered while pouring alcohol.
“A toast for the valiant mercenaries!”
“Cheers!”
The mercenaries were also laughing and chatting as they ate their fill in the banquet hall. They had been doing petty work for some time and finally did a big job for the first time. They also liked how they were being treated.
“It’s a shame. If only Urich caught Earl Degelton, we could have received so much more money,” said Bakman. His face was red from the alcohol.
“I saw it as well, Urich! That damn leech Degelton was running away so fast that I thought his tail was going to fall off.”
Earl Molando came next to Urich and praised him.
“I almost caught him. Is the battle over with this?”
Urich talked while biting into a piece of rabbit.
“Unless Earl Degelton provokes us again, it should be finished with this. He took a lot of damage. The area also isn’t worth sacrificing more to have the right to. But stay in the fief for a while. We’ll pay for the expenses while your group stays here.”
Earl Molando planned to keep Urich and the mercenaries close to him. Even with just this, it was plenty threatening to Earl Degelton.
“That’s something to decide after asking the others. Did all of you hear that? We’ll be stationed here until the danger is gone. Those who agree, slam your cups.”
“Ohh!”
Ting! Ting! Ting!
The mercenaries hit their cups with their fingers. Urich smirked and looked at Earl Molando.
“Looks like everyone agrees. We’ll stay here for a while. But we would like to be paid within three days. It’s not good to drag things like money transactions for a long time. Right, Your Lordship?”
Earl Molando nodded.
“Of course.”
Earl Molando looked down on them when he first met them. However, he had a good look at their combat power. He shouldn’t have looked down on them just because they were few in number.
‘They weren’t some ragtag group. They were a group filled with only experienced warriors.’
It didn’t mean that they were all the same just because they were all called ‘mercenaries’. There are a lot of mercenary groups only as strong as common thugs.
“Your names aren’t as widely known compared to your skills. What’s the name of your mercenary group?”
“We don’t have one. We were originally a gladiator troupe, but we changed professions.”
“Gladiators!” Earl Molando shouted loudly.
Gladiators were one of the best troops one could ask for. They were individuals who fought for a living and were as strong as ex-soldiers.
“Of course! So there was a reason as to why you guys were able to overwhelm the heavily armed soldiers while only being lightly armed.”
The retainers spoke while admiring them. The mercenaries were excited by the compliments.
“You should earn quite a fair bit if you are gladiators. Why choose to be mercenaries?”
A few of them spoke in tones hinting that they didn’t understand. Gladiators were one of the highest-paying jobs. A skilled gladiator could easily earn 1–2 million cil in a single match. There wasn’t a reason to change professions into mercenaries when it was much more dangerous.
“Our fight middleman died,” muttered Bakman.
“Well, what does it matter! Eat and drink as you please.”
Earl Molando clapped his hands. The banquet hall’s doors opened and women wearing seductive clothing entered.
“I’ve been longing for soft hands.”
“Come over here cuties.”
The mercenaries started to flirt the moment they saw the women.
The mood was well in full swing. Earl Molando and the mercenaries had no worries. They thought that everything was settled nicely.
Until they heard the name ‘Silver Lion Mercenaries’.
Earl Degelton’s bedchamber was a mess.
“Alrian! Alrian! Why did you
 instead of me
!
SLAM!
The table he flipped over broke. Earl Degelton’s frenzy didn’t end—even after a few days. He was not in his right mind from the sadness of losing his lover, Alrian.
“Guuuuh.”
Every time he closed his eyes, he would remember it clearly. Alrian’s appearance as he died from an axe a large warrior threw. Alrian, who worried for him even in his final moments. He still remembered his breath and his lips.
“This world without you is meaningless, Alrian.”
Earl Degelton wept on his knees. He looked at the Sol emblem that was hung on his wall—a golden sun.
“Ru, Sun God Ru. Has Alrian returned to your arms? When will he be reborn and be able to reunite with me? Please, tell me.”
His prayers were closer to desperate screams. A soul that had been purified in the Sun God’s arms would one day return to this land.
“Ah
 AHHHH!”
Earl Degelton couldn’t hold back his sorrow. He cried to the point where his throat had the taste of blood.
“The nameless warrior that killed Alrian
”
Earl Degelton grinded his teeth. His rage was as deep as his sadness.
“Your Lordship.”
An attendant knocked on the door.
“Didn’t I tell you not to let anyone in?!” yelled Earl Degelton. A man kicked down the door, making his words pointless.
“My younger brother, I am here.”
It was a man with a burly body. He was still too young to be called middle-aged, but he had lots of white hair to the point that it looked as if he had a head of gray.
“G-Garcio! Elder brother!”
Earl Degelton quickly got up. It was his father’s illegitimate child and his half-brother, Garcio. He was also the Silver Lion Mercenaries’ leader.
“The mercenaries that I sent out didn’t return. What happened?” asked Garcio while sitting down.
“Earl Molando hired mercenaries. A mercenary group.”
“Mercenaries? There aren’t any groups around here right now that could be called a mercenary group, though.”
“No. They were
 mercenaries of excellent skill.”
“Strong enough to kill my subordinates?”
Earl Degelton hesitated before nodding. Garcio sighed.
“It might be best to give up on that farmland. It isn’t worth starting a bigger battle than this, right? Send people over for a peace treaty. It’s been a while since I returned home, but I’ll have to leave after hearing only bad news.”
“This battle isn’t over yet. I have someone to avenge!”
Earl Degelton glared.
“Avenge who? Did your male lover die? You always used to chase after beautiful men.”
“H-How did you kn-know that?”
“Our deceased father probably knew it as well. No one just said anything because you married and slept together with a woman.”
Earl Degelton gulped down some wine. He calmed himself down and sat right in front of Garcio.
“Elder brother, please lend me your mercenaries. If it’s the prestigious Silver Lion Mercenaries—”
“I am the leader of the Silver Lion Mercenaries, yes. However, my subordinates aren’t loyal to me but to money. I wish I could assist you with your revenge as well, but if I propose something personal like that, I will be ousted from the mercenary group. If you really want to get revenge, hire us.”
Everything that Garcio said was true. Mercenaries weren’t like knights or retainers that moved out of loyalty. Even if it were their leader’s orders, they wouldn’t follow it if it didn’t make money.
“Elder brother, you know this as well, but the farmland that I claimed rights to wasn’t worth hiring the entire Silver Lion Mercenaries.”
“That’s why you only borrowed twenty mercenaries from me. Because that was the appropriate amount.”
“But for my revenge, it wouldn’t be a waste to hire the entire Silver Lion Mercenaries, elder brother.”
Earl Degelton pulled out a chest from behind the bookshelf and opened it.
Click.
Even though it was the middle of the night, the gold coins sparkled brightly as the moonlight reflected off them.
“You gathered a lot of wealth.”
Garcio’s eyes sparkled. He was satisfied.
“Help me on my revenge, Garcio, leader of the Silver Lion Mercenaries.”
Earl Degelton and Garcio shook hands.
“My brother’s vengeance is also my vengeance. I will deduct my pay from it.”
At most, their target was a small fief with a nameless mercenary group. In Garcio’s eyes, they were laughable opponents.
* * *
“The Silver Lion Mercenaries? Earl Degelton must have gone mad!”
It hasn’t even been a week since they celebrated their victory. Earl Molando jumped around while asking his retainers.
“Is it really the Silver Lion Mercenaries?”
“We’re confident. Silver Lion Garcio is Earl Degelton’s half-brother.”
“I can’t believe the previous earl had an illegitimate child like him.”
Earl Molando sat down on his chair. An illegitimate child of a noble could work in various specialized jobs. Even if they weren’t nobles, they grew up in a good household and received advanced education. Doctors, scholars, or even merchants. There are a lot of illegitimate children that work those types of advanced jobs.
The vast majority of famous mercenary groups were also led by illegitimate children of military noble houses or nobles that have yet to inherit territory. Yet, despite disregarding them, the noble houses would pretend as if those mercenary groups were their families’ militia.
“Earl Degelton was hiding a strange move.”
“But the Degelton House is too small to use the Silver Lion Mercenaries as he pleases. What honor could the Silver Lion Mercenaries achieve from doing charity work in the Degelton House? They were probably hired.”
“And that’s the problem! He’s hiring the Silver Lion Mercenaries for that tiny farmland? He must be insane! He would have to squeeze money out of that farmland for decades to recover from it.”
Earl Molando was grimacing from his headache. He thought that his stomach was going to come out of his mouth.
“If there’s any good news, it’s that the Silver Lion Mercenaries are small in number compared to their fame. It’s a group that has around a hundred people at most.”
Amongst the renowned mercenary groups, there are some that had four hundred to five hundred members. Those mercenary groups were contracted with lords and received their own posts. Additionally, those mercenaries were high-caliber talents that replaced militias.
“The Silver Lion Mercenaries aren’t expanding their numbers because they can’t. It’s because, if they get any bigger than that, they will need a post and their area of activity will consequently get smaller. Their reputation was built up by traveling in small groups all throughout the imperial territory
”
The Silver Lion Mercenaries were not a traditional mercenary group. As latecomers, they chose a unique management strategy. They maintained the scale of their army to be highly portable and took care of the important cases while moving throughout the imperial territory.
‘Before an incident could even reach the ears of major mercenary groups, the Silver Lions would have already gone there and solved it.’
Even a lord of a small fief like Earl Molando had heard a lot about the Silver Lions’ reputation.
‘They aren’t weak just because they are small in number. All of the Silver Lions are heavily armed soldiers.’
Earl Molando was anxious.
“Your Lordship, it might not be a bad idea to attempt negotiations. It might be better to receive money and sell the farmland. We might be able to salvage something at least.”
The retainer gave a realistic suggestion. It was an unwinnable battle.
“Hmm.”
Earl Molando was a lord of a small fief. Thus, each individual farmland was important.
“You have to come to a decision. Whether to fight or to negotiate.”
“Call over the leader of the mercenaries and the other retainers. Let’s have a conference.”
Earl Molando did not want to lose the farmland. If there was a chance of victory, he wanted to fight.
‘If the fief gets any smaller, the next Earl Molando might lose their title of nobility. I have to prevent that at all costs.’
If they lost in battle, it would be a massive blow that they might not be able to recover from even in twenty years. War expenses and reparation might bankrupt the Molando fief.
‘Earl Degelton is also putting up with the same risk.’
Earl Molando grinded his teeth.
‘I am a man as well. I won’t back out like a coward.’
Soon, the retainers entered. They already heard about the Silver Lion Mercenaries.
“And the mercenaries?”
“They will be here soon.”
“They probably didn’t lower their tails after hearing about the Silver Lion Mercenaries, right?” sarcastically joked another retainer.
It wasn’t a simple joke. It was sensible for a nameless mercenary group of twenty to run away after hearing the Silver Lion Mercenaries’ name.
Creaaak.
The doors of the conference room opened, and the mercenaries walked in. They had a week’s worth of lecherous behavior stuck on their faces.
“Hey, I heard that the battle wasn’t over yet,” said Urich as he sat down. The other important members of the mercenary group came with him.
‘I don’t know a lot about this place.’
Urich knew his own limits.
He was a stranger here.
—————