CH 32

Chapter 32 – Prince of the Sea (2)

“B-Bastard, you… No, you are… Ahem. Hmph.”

The middle-aged man held back his anger. Urich started hitting his knee, thinking that the man’s appearance was hilarious.

“Let’s just forget about what happened earlier. That’s our personal business, no? But you didn’t come with that young master?”

“Fuuu, just when I finally thought I met some mercenaries…”

The middle-aged man thought for a second while looking at the ceiling. He groaned then looked at Urich and the mercenaries.

“Why don’t you start by introducing yourself, dear client? Feel free to go back if you don’t like me, though. But I think you’re the one who’s in a rush?”

Urich crossed his arms as he spoke. The middle-aged man’s lips were trembling with anger once more from Urich’s attitude.

“My name is Kuba Phillion. You can call me Sir Phillion. ‘Sir’.”

Phillion emphasized the ‘Sir’.

“‘Sir’, my ass. Uncle Phillion.”

As Urich finished his words, laughter burst out here and there.

Phillion, who was insulted, wanted to kick the table and leave the tent.

‘I can’t. For him, I must be willing to endure all sorts of insults.’

Phillion cooled his anger and glared at them.

“Please escort the one that I serve to Hamel, the Empire’s capital.”

The mercenaries murmured between themselves.

“We don’t have horses, so we would be going there on foot. It’ll take over three months. And if things go wrong, it could even take half a year.”

Bakman scowled.

“We won’t have to ride horses. I want you to hide us within your mercenary group and move without anyone knowing. Naturally.”

Phillion continued to glare at them with intense eyes.

‘This is an opportunity. I can’t lose them.’

He also knew the song ‘Urich’s Brothers’. If a group had their songs going around, it meant that they were a mercenary group with some skill.

‘It frustrates me, but Urich, the mercenary leader, was able to restrain me as if he were dealing with a child. His skills are certain.’

Phillion had something more important to him than pride.

Urich whispered to the other mercenaries before responding.

“Even if we will just be guarding, it’s not like it’ll only cost a little. Will you even be able to pay the advance payment?”

“Not just enough to pay for it. You will be able to have excess.”

Phillion pulled out a pouch about the size of a fist and pushed it onto the table.

“Are you joking? With just that many gold coins, forget about the advance. This won’t even cover a month’s worth of—”

Donovan started threatening him but quickly shut his mouth. The other mercenaries slowly blinked in shock.

“They aren’t gold coins but pearls.”

The mercenaries were silent. The only person who didn’t understand the situation was Urich.

“What is this? Is it something expensive?” said Urich while pulling out a pearl.

The brilliant light caught his eye. He tried sticking his tongue out to taste it, but Bakman stopped him.

“Careful, Urich. If it’s that big, one of them costs over 10 million cil. It’s the jewel of the sea.”

Bakman, who was once a fisherman, knew the most about the worth of a pearl. The other mercenaries also seemed to somewhat know what a pearl was.

“So you didn’t bring a pouch filled with gold coins, but one filled with jewels.”

Urich put the pearl back in the pouch. He looked at the mercenaries who all had stiff expressions.

“We’ll have a discussion, Sir Phillion.”

Donovan guided the middle-aged man outside. Phillion said one final thing with a worried face before he left.

“The most important thing for mercenaries is sincerity.”

The mercenaries didn’t respond. Phillion waited outside the tent for their meeting to be over.

“Urich, this is a big one. It’s not an ordinary job.”

Donovan spoke as he entered back into the tent. Right now, Urich was the person who was the most in the dark of the ways of the world.

“Just the pearls that he brought are worth over hundreds of millions. With this job, we’ll earn at least thousands of millions.”

Bakman spoke while rubbing his chin.

“Isn’t that a good thing? Why are you all so scared?”

Urich looked at the mercenaries one by one.

“If the reward is high, so are the risks. It’s an issue not because we have to fight, but because there are probably a lot of people involved in this. You heard what Phillion said at the end, right? He emphasized sincerity. It means that it’s something that can’t be let out.”

Bakman calmly explained.

“It might be best to avoid this job if it involves a lot of people with high statuses, Urich. I don’t mind, but we have a lot of bright young men in the mercenary group.”

Sven touched his beard. It was a habit he had whenever he was worried.

“Donovan, what do you think?”

Donovan slammed the table.

SLAM!

“I never wanted to admit something like this, but what Urich is saying is right. Why the hell are you all so scared? You bastards. Wandering around with your life on the line is what gladiators and mercenaries do. Whether we earn by doing a lot of small jobs or one big job, it’s all the same. Or do you plan on living the rest of your lives just earning a little? Huh?”

He was frustrated. Bakman shrugged and looked at Sven. Donovan, who saw that, continued.

“Bakman, stop reading the damn room. You were the same back when we were gladiators and are still the same now. You never want to take responsibility and always hide behind other people’s backs. Why don’t we just cut your dick off right now if you’re not going to use it, huh?”

Donovan condemned Bakman, who then furrowed his brows and scoffed.

“Why don’t you look at yourself first? You’re practically a toothless tiger ever since Urich stole the leader position from you. No matter how much you growl, I’m not afraid of you at all, Mr. Former Main Attraction.”

Bakman also stood up for himself.

‘What a pain.’

Urich looked at the two one by one. Urich and Donovan’s relationship got rather better after living as mercenaries. At least, they weren’t against each other like before.

‘But the relationship between Bakman and Donovan is the worst.’

In the first place, Bakman put forth Urich to oppose Donovan, and the animosity between Bakman and Donovan got worse with each passing day.

“Urich, just say the words. I’ll cut the heads off these rude bastards and throw them to the pigpens.”

Sven spoke while laughing loudly. It was hard to tell whether he was serious or joking.

“It’s none of my business if the two of you fight each other with your lives on the line, but first… if we aren’t able to come to a decision…”

Urich tilted his head while holding his chin. Then, he snapped his fingers.

“Let’s go with the tradition. Gather our brothers.”

Whenever they were unable to come to a conclusion, they would decide by majority vote. It was a tradition for ‘Urich’s Brothers’. Their group had a chain of command, but all brothers were equal. Whether it was the leader or a newcomer, everyone had the same one vote.

“Everyone, gather up. We’ll be voting.”

The mercenaries passed on this message to each other. They then gathered in the middle of the camp.

Urich explained the current situation to them completely with no alterations. They whispered to each other and shared their opinions.

“It’s a difficult job, but the rewards are good.”

Nobody knew how difficult the job would be. It could even end more easily and quickly than they thought it might. It could be as simple as roaming to the Empire’s capital and receiving a reward once they arrive.

Lift.

The mercenaries raised their hands one by one. In an instant, over half of the group agreed.

“The answer was already decided before we voted. What mercenary wouldn’t agree when they’re paying us a lot of money?” said Donovan softly.

Mercenaries were people who chased money. They would also kill people for money. The only difference between them and bandits was that they were sincere. Mercenaries kept their words. If they weren’t sincere, then they wouldn’t be any different from bandits.

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator – goguma

Proofreader – yukitokata

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* * *

Urich’s Brothers decided to take on the escort request. They started the negotiations with Phillion again.

“The one you must protect is Young Master Fahel. He is the third son of the Elkrisha House. The Elkrisha House amassed its riches through pearl craftwork—”

“I wouldn’t know anything about houses even if you tell me. Just tell us why you need to be escorted. Urich’s Brothers have decided to take on this job. We won’t betray your trust. And if we decide that we are incapable of taking on this job and back off, we won’t speak a word. I swear on Ru’s name,” said Urich.

The playfulness on Urich’s face disappeared.

“Ru’s name?”

Phillion looked at Urich with confusion. ‘The barbarian hero’ was a lyric in the song about Urich, and ‘barbarian’ was synonymous with ‘pagan’.

“I am a believer in Sol. You can trust me.”

Urich waved his sun pendant.

Phillion prayed a short prayer and felt relieved. He was somewhat comforted by the fact that his negotiation partner believed in the same religion that he did and wasn’t a pagan.

“I see. So you have been baptized… The reason that Young Master Fahel is being chased is because of the division of inheritance. Our late lord left the majority of his wealth for Young Master Fahel to inherit despite the fact that he’s the third son. That displeased the other young masters. They led soldiers and occupied the Elkrisha manor in order to catch him. The majority of the house’s retainers have also turned their backs on him. They have even falsified our late lord’s will and passed it to the royal family.”

“So that’s why you ran out like that. Does some surefire solution appear if you arrive at the Empire’s capital?”

“Young Master Fahel’s birth mother is Lady Sarianne, the second lady of the house. His brothers are children of the first lady of the house and are his half-brothers.”

Urich’s head began to hurt. He furrowed his brows.

“Why is it so complicated?”

“Nobles are like that. Let’s just continue listening to what he’s saying.”

Phillion read the mood of the mercenaries and then continued his story.

“Lady Sarianne’s older brother is a member of the Order of the Imperial Steel Knights. We plan to receive help from him to formally start a war. I’m sure that he would be willing to loan us his strength for his nephew’s legitimate right.”

“So in the end, it’s an inheritance dispute. Nobles are all the same. They don’t care whether the people beneath them are dying or not,” said Bakman from the side. He was once someone who had been exploited by nobles and left his home because of it.

Whenever the nobles had a dispute within the family, the people that were exploited were its citizens. The lives of the people who lived in the fief didn’t change too much regardless of who the lord was.

“Bakman, shut your mouth.”

After being reprimanded by Urich, Bakman clicked his tongue and shut his mouth.

“We originally planned to completely get away from the Forlcana Kingdom on a ship that we had prepared beforehand, but the ship hasn’t arrived. Either we were unable to make contact or something happened. But in the midst of that, we just happened to hear the news that a mercenary group arrived here. And I thought that it might be better to go there by land.”

After hearing everything, Urich looked at the other mercenaries. They nodded. There weren’t any major issues.

“And the rewards?”

That was what the mercenaries were most curious about. They already saw how much the man planned to pay in advance. Even if they just roughly guessed it, the worth of one pouch of pearls was over a hundred million cil. It was a large sum of money. However, when factoring the time and distance of the escort, it wasn’t a lot.

“Three times the advance payment. I will set three months as the starting point and will give an additional bag of pearls each month that it extends.”

Smiles spread from one mercenary to another. When you hear the amount, it’s a huge fortune.

“Bakman, I’m a bit weak with numbers, so can you calculate it for me?”

Urich spoke while raising his palm.

“If we suppose all of the pouches are worth the same and with a time of three months, it’ll be around 400 or 500 million cil. If we divide it with the number of our brothers…”

Bakman’s expression grew dark. He repeatedly folded and unfolded his fingers.

“If we include the advance payment and the price of guarding him, it’s only 10 million cil per person. Only 10 million cil after three months of hard work?! Does that make sense? Huh?”

Bakman raised his hand high to draw responses from the other mercenaries.

“BOOOOOO! That doesn’t make any sense! Nonsense!”

“10 million cil for three months of work? Piss off!”

Bakman cupped his ears and looked at Phillion.

“Did you hear that, Sir Phillion? That much is nothing.”

The wrinkles on Phillion’s face got deeper.

“I will add a hazard pay. F-For each combat that occurs, I will give an additional pearl pouch—”

“Immediately pay the hazard pay after each fight.”

Urich cut off Phillion’s words.

“I don’t have that many pearls right now.”

Before he knew it, Phillion lost the higher ground in the negotiations. He was being dragged around by Urich’s words.

“Then I want you to vow on Ru’s name. That if you break your vow, you will become a ghost that wanders the world. Sincerity doesn’t only apply to mercenaries. It applies to our employers as well.”

“I vow on Ru’s name. I will not break the contract. If I, Kuba Phillion, go against my words, I will gladly accept my punishment and become a ghost that wanders this world.”

Phillion prayed and vowed while touching Urich’s sun pendant.

“Alright, Uncle Phillion. Bring the young master here before lunch tomorrow.”

Urich spoke with a relaxed look. The middle-aged man left the mercenary camp with a tired expression.

After getting to a considerable distance away from the mercenary camp, Phillion looked at the sky. The stars were shining.

“Anyways, it’s a relief. I finally found people who could escort the young master.”

The loyal knight’s back staggered with fatigue. He was putting his life on the line for this venture.