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I was sold at the lowest price C34: The First Job as Mercenaries
We were handed our first assignment as a mercenary group by Kirks’ army.
“They want us to take back the Ruba fortress.”
Jean was a little surprised when I informed everyone of this.
“Recapture the fortress! Hey 

that’s a heavy request all of a sudden

.”
“It seems that this operation is not just a mission for us Iron Knights, but a joint operation with all the contracted mercenary groups.”
“What about the strength of the fortress?”
“About a hundred magicrafts, but they don’t seem to have a complete grasp of it.”
“We don’t know what the enemy’s strength is, but we have to go there anyway, that’s pretty careless.”
“It seems that about 30 Kirks regular army magicrafts will also participate in the attack, so it looks like they don’t want to completely abandon us

I think they want to test our strength.”
As Alana said, I think it’s more of a test of strength than a way to discard us

.
Ruba Fortress is located 10 kilometers from the border of the Cilacian Empire, which is at war with the Kirks

.We headed there with other mercenary groups and the regular Kirks army.
“Our strength is 30 Kirks regulars, 12 Wolf Hunters, 23 Beast King Mercenaries, 14 Crashbunkers, and 4 Iron Knights with a total 83 magicrafts, which is not really powerful, but the Kirks infantry force is estimated at 5,000

and the enemy is estimated at 100 magicrafts and 150 ballistae

.It’s going to be a bit of a lopsided battle.”
“What’s a ballista?”
“A ballista is a weapon used by infantry. Think of it as a stationary arrow.”
“Arrows!? 150 of them?”
“I don’t think it’s as powerful as the arrows that Farma’s Garuda shoots, but it does enough damage to magic machines that we can’t be too careless.”
We’re outnumbered by magicrafts, and then there’s the ballistas

.
As we neared Fort Ruba, a final strategy meeting was held on a Kirks military ride carrier.
“We’ll attack from the west, south, and east of the fortress at once.”
“Shouldn’t we be attacking from the north?”
One of the mercenaries from some mercenary group asks at the words of the commander of the Kirks army.
“We don’t have the strength to attack from four directions, and the north has hard defenses and a large number of ballistae

.There’s little advantage to attacking here, so it’s better to abandon that side.”
“I see, so how will the forces be distributed?”
“We’ll go with the regular Kirks from the south, Crashbunkers and the Wolf Hunters from the east, and the Beast King Mercenaries and the Iron Knights from the west.”
When the commander of the Kirkus army said that, the leader of the Beast King mercenary group objected.
“Wait

we refuse to fight alongside the Iron Knights.”
“Why?”
“I can’t trust my back to these stinkers! My friends tell me they’re a bunch of crooks

.”
“So

well, are there any other mercenary groups

that would be willing to attack the west with the Iron Knights?”
However, no mercenary group responded to the commander’s words

.
”Hmph

then it can’t be helped, I’ll only ask the Iron Knights to attack from the west, the Beast King Mercenaries will join the attack from the south with the regular Kirks army.”
“Wait a minute! You want us to attack the west by ourselves!”
Jean protested involuntarily.
“Yes, we can’t blame them. They don’t want to fight with you.”
“Is that the same with the Kirks’ regular army?”
“I’m responsible for the lives of my men. I won’t take any unnecessary risks.”
You don’t care about our lives

.I was about to retort strongly, when Alana declared.
“Okay the Iron Knights will attack the fortress from the west alone.”
“Are you sure, Alana

?”
I couldn’t help but ask.
“Of course I wouldn’t trust my back to these people

.But remember, if you’re struggling and in trouble, we’re not going to help you.”
“Hahahahaha~ It’s only a matter of time before we’re defeated if we’re saved by four magicrafts.”
The leader of the Beast King mercenary group said that with a hearty laugh.
Here’s a reminder that even though it’s a joint operation, the other mercenary groups are not on our side.