Chapter 139

Chapter 139

Investing Through the Status Window.

Episode 139: Smell (1).

A middle-aged knight, adjusting his slightly disheveled clothes, walked silently down the corridor with a female knight after leaving the Prophetess’s room. He finally spoke after completely exiting the baron’s mansion.

“She was hiding something, wasn’t she?”

Knight Quintus felt there was definitely something when Prophetess Aloa let go of his subordinate Monua’s hand… Although the other side denied it, saying it was nothing.

“Yes.”

Monua also answered with certainty. When the Prophetess held her hand, there was definitely a smell. A very intense smell!

The female knight was convinced that it was undoubtedly related to the current incident. Even if it wasn’t, they were in a position where they had to grab any small clue.

“A smell?”

“I smelled it.”

“Can you track it?”

She closed her eyes for a moment and inhaled deeply through her nose. Amidst the scent of the capital, she faintly detected that scent. It was definitely the same scent she had sensed from Aloa.

Opening her eyes again, she turned her head somewhere. In that direction, to the east…!

“It’s that way.”

“…the East.”

The middle-aged knight nodded vigorously.

“We’re heading there.”

The destination of the Holy Knights was set.

When the Viola-Mercenary Group and the Allen-Mercenary Group returned to Vermandois, rumors had already spread throughout the entire city that the Martolo-Bandit Group had been completely annihilated by the Crown Prince’s forces.

Especially since the bandit group, which had recently been using demonic beasts, was causing significant damage to merchant groups and mercenary groups, the concern was completely resolved thanks to this.

Although the Top 10 were already at the peak of their fame, the stock of the Allen-Mercenary Group was soaring sky-high.

Even before Group Leader Allen attended the Top 10 meeting as an accompanying member, there were already rumors about Group Leader Viola, showing him extraordinary favoritism. Now, it was widely accepted that he was her close aide… Initially, people thought she might have taken him in just for his looks, but now he was starting to be recognized for his actual abilities.

Of course, the Allen-Mercenary Group was still far from the level of the Top 10 or even the Kalisman-Mercenary Group, but there was definitely noticeable growth.

Coincidentally, in the Eastern region, where conflicts had subsided, mercenaries and mercenary groups who had lost their jobs were flocking to Vermandois. On top of that, Group Leader Allen had come into a huge sum of money.

It was perfect.

Investing more of the available funds into the business wasn’t a bad idea, but now was the time to expand a bit more. It wasn’t common for mercenaries to suddenly flood the market like this. Moreover, with the supply temporarily exceeding demand, their prices inevitably dropped in accordance with market principles.

In other words, it was a great opportunity to recruit decent mercenaries at a low cost.

Of course, this didn’t mean that Allen was going to recruit mediocre guys. Such individuals were difficult to get rid of later. It would be better to recruit a newbie like their youngest, Kori.

Now, Allen, who was making quite a name for himself in Vermandois, had far more diverse options than before. In particular, there were many who wished to transfer later to the Top 10 Viola-Mercenary Group through the Allen-Mercenary Group. Realistically, they judged that it was impossible to join the Top 10 immediately, so they first joined the Allen-Mercenary Group and then performed well there to receive a recommendation from the Group Leader.

In fact, since a union was practically treated as the satellite mercenary group of the union’s representative, such a judgment wasn’t particularly wrong. Rather, it was common sense among mercenaries. A significant proportion of those in the Top 10 had transferred in such a manner by receiving recommendations… That’s why the Top 10 put so much effort into managing their unions.

[Strength: 51] [Agility: 44] [Stamina: 53] [Intelligence: 8] [Magic: 12]

[Talent] [Foolhardiness] [Self-Love] [Direct] [Greed] [Sensitive] [Insomnia] [Distracted]

The mercenary from the North, Pergamond Brandt, who introduced himself as the great warrior of the North, came to find Allen for that reason. He even boldly revealed his purpose to him. In short, he was saying, “Become the stepping stone for my growth.” Just like the former Northern female warrior, Zunisha.

Of course, Allen didn’t narrowly decide to disqualify him for that reason. On the contrary, he preferred those who were flexible about their intentions to transfer. It made it easier to reshuffle the deck later.

Naturally, as a seasoned mercenary, he demanded a considerable amount for his services. A whopping 60 gold coins.

In fact, considering the high cost of living in Vermandois, it wasn’t an exorbitant price, but for Money Grubber Allen, it was unacceptable. Even the Blind Saintess was haggled down to 40 gold coins!

The counterpart didn’t easily yield to Allen’s coaxing. Indeed, their stubbornness matched their traits of [Narcissism] and [Greed].

However, Allen wasn’t without methods. He slowly started his spiel.

The name that no Northerner could resist!

“It reminds me of the first time I met brother Ingmar…!”

The Tiger of the North, Ingmar Garbo!

Pergamond, hailing from the North, was well aware of the rumors surrounding Group Leader Ingmar, who had descended from the North. The touching story of Group Leader Allen curing Group Leader Ingmar’s demonic disease and sharing a bond that transcended their origins brought tears to the eyes of Northerners…!

Though Allen had slightly embellished the tale midway, the muscle heads were moved to tears and snot by the overwhelmingly emotional anecdote.

As the story concluded, the man sprang up from his seat, thumped his chest with his fist, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“That is the honor of the North!”

“Exactly!”

In the end, the honor of the North reduced the 60 gold coins to 45.

A relatively successful recruitment.

And once again, numerous mercenaries sought Allen’s office to join, but unfortunately, none met all the conditions.

If it was appealing, it was too expensive, and if it was cheap, it wasn’t appealing.

Of course, Group Leader Allen also received a considerable number of transfer requests.

Surprisingly, the Blind Saintess was second in line, likely due to some scary rumors, trailing behind Itty Titty Natasha. Naturally, both women were already blocked by Allen. No matter the offer, he had no intention of transferring them. Their potential couldn’t be measured in monetary terms.

The third in line was, predictably, the Milk-Jug Mage. Her past achievements, the uniqueness of being a mage, and those overwhelming milkjugs formed a trifecta. However, for now, Allen still needed Elena. Her transfer would only be an option after creating at least a second team.

And the fourth in line for transfer requests was Training Junkie Victor. It must’ve been due to his decent performance and good attitude. Thanks to his [Late Bloomer] trait, his stats have noticeably grown compared to before.

If he had wanted a transfer, Allen would have been willing to negotiate, but Victor refused the transfer.

“If I have to go to a mediocre mercenary group, I’d rather stay here.”

Seeing potential in Allen, Victor was not considering a transfer unless it was to at least a mid-tier mercenary group. Of course, Allen would also welcome Victor. The true value of [Late Bloomer] would be revealed more and more over time.

Other members had almost no transfer requests. The occasional offers weren’t particularly attractive to Allen.

At that time, the Old Dog Kalisman, who had left, also returned. It had been almost three months since his departure.

Hearing that the mercenary group had completed a mission while he was visiting his family, he couldn’t help but feel apologetic.

“It was unavoidable. There was no other choice.”

As if to make up for it, Kalisman took on almost all of Allen’s guard duties. The Group Leader found his protection the most comfortable and stable, so he didn’t particularly intervene.

When Allen found that recruiting mercenaries was progressing slower than expected, he eventually invested half of the remaining capital into the inn business… In fact, an inn building was up for sale, and he quickly purchased it.

The location was quite far from their current hideout, but at the moment, it was the best business opportunity he could seize. The price was also quite high, almost reaching three thousand gold coins. However, no matter how much of a money grubber Allen was, he knew that simply saving money wasn’t always the best strategy. Spending when necessary was the way to earn big money.

Thus, the Allen-Mercenary Group now owned a total of three inn buildings… And from that moment on, the pressure to supply food began to be felt. The amount of food that Group Leader Viola had partially transferred was not enough to cover everything.

Allen increased grain transactions in the mid-city of Maljir, and if he could secure alcohol supplies from the North, the business would run much more stably. However, due to current limitations in implementing this, he eventually decided to negotiate with Group Leader Viola to supply the shortfall.

Of course, when it came to business, Viola was merciless regardless of who she was dealing with. But the one in need was Allen. He had to be satisfied with receiving supplies at a price slightly cheaper than the market average. In fact, this was Viola showing a bit of mercy, thinking she might have been a bit too strict. Like a parent’s heart wanting to raise their child strong.

The initially shaky business expansion fortunately returned to its normal trajectory.

Allen regained his peaceful daily life after a long time. Really, after a long time.

But every time he had such thoughts, something always happened…