Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Investing Through the Status Window.

Episode 4: The Young Master (4).

One after another, mercenaries who saw Allen’s shocking recruitment notice rushed in. Even those from distant towns traveled all the way over. Of course, among them were those who approached with ill intentions, hoping to make a quick fortune, but most were driven by curiosity. ‘What kind of person would offer such insane conditions,’ they wondered….

Regardless of the reason, Allen’s strategy to gather as many mercenaries as possible hit the mark. Given the absolute lack of quality in this place, for him to hire decent mercenaries with his limited budget, there was a need to compete with quantity.

However, contrary to the astonishing rumors, the very person who had posted the announcement was quite composed. In fact, there was a boldness for he did not even flinch in the face of the fierce mercenaries. …In truth, he was desperately calming his frantic heart, but people remained unaware of his inner turmoil.

“I must say, my skill in wielding this axe is second to none. Keuheuheu. Just choose me, and you—absolutely won’t regret it.”

“Good. Next.”

Allen watched the tanned, bald man swing his axe once and then moved on to the next in line.

‘… This is worse than I thought…’

He crossed off another name from the list with his quill pen and shook his head slightly. Despite nearly fifty people coming and going, he had only managed to fill three of the eight planned spots. This was due to the unexpectedly high number of mercenaries with the [Deception] or [Avarice] trait. Otherwise, their stats were just too poor… His strategy seemed to have worked, but it attracted too many flies.

Honestly, he hadn’t even hoped for first-class traits like [Steadfast Will] or [Cold Fury]. Since it was only a short-term employment, standout traits weren’t necessary; he just wished their stats were decently good, but such folks were truly rare here. …Perhaps it can be said that this was expected for the sluggish mercenary business of the southern regions.

‘It’s so hard to find a talented newbie.’

Being that the Demon Lands was not such an easy place for just anyone to venture into, he couldn’t carelessly just choose anyone. Although the monster in the eyewitness accounts was said to be a demon hound, there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t encounter monsters of a higher level. If a mercenary were to die, he would have to pay twice the hiring fee to the guild, and his reputation would suffer as well, so at the very least, such misfortunes should be avoided.

While Allen was inwardly lamenting, the next person in line opened the door and entered the room. It was a young man with fierce eyes. Especially notable was the long scar crossing his face diagonally… Something about him felt right at first sight.

Allen opened the status window of the person. Even if this hadn’t been about recruiting mercenaries, he would have surely opened the status window. That habit, deeply ingrained to his bones, would probably never disappear even in death.

[Attributes]

Strength: 27

Agility: 33

Stamina: 29

Intelligence: 11

Magic: 4

[Traits]

♦ Common

♦ Will

♦ Greed

♦ Doubt

♦ Hatred

♦ Insomnia

[Notes]

– He overcomes fatigue with willpower.

– His left shoulder is throbbing.

– His right knee pricks and aches.

Oh, ho.

Among the mercenaries Allen had seen here, this one had the best status window. Of course, it wasn’t something to boast about, but still, for a rookie mercenary group, it was relatively good. Fortunately, his trait [Greed]was two levels below [Avarice].

After all, who doesn’t have greed? It would be a deception if a mercenary, who moves for money, didn’t have greed. Allen actually preferred his counterparts to have the [Greed] trait. It’s not easy to manage mercenaries who are too noble for their own good. …That’s why he went through such a tearful struggle to hire one of the legendary Ten Dragons, Agnes Neptune.

“I am Aiden Brant, young master.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Allen.”

Aiden sent a look of slight surprise. Nobles, being such lofty beings, usually don’t bother to reveal their names to a mere mercenary. At most, they might vaguely mention being the nth child of a certain family—. Of course, most don’t even do that.

He thought the young noble must not yet know the ways of the world and brushed it off as unimportant before revealing his specialty.

“I mainly use a spear. Also, I once spent some time with the mercenary group of the Herera family in the eastern region.”

‘The Herera family!’

That was a name Allen knew well. It might not be very famous across the entire continent, but in the eastern region, it was quite notable.

“The Herera family, huh. You were in a good place. …So, how much experience do you have in such subjugation battles?”

“I think it was more than five times. In the eastern demon lands.”

“Impressive. I’m well aware of the notorious reputation of the eastern demon lands myself.”

In truth, the demon realms were all the same unless one ventured deep inside, but still, it wouldn’t hurt to say something nice. It’s not like it costs any money.

“I see. It was time well spent.”

“Yes, then.”

Aiden lightly bowed his head and turned to leave. Allen, circling Aiden’s name written on the paper with a quill, decided in his mind to appoint this man as the temporary captain. Honestly, given the situation so far, the chances of finding someone better were quite slim.

After that, Allen met with thirty more people before concluding the day’s schedule.

And among the eight positions, six were filled.

After three days of interviews with a whopping 216 people, an eight-member Allen-Mercenary Troop was formed. The temporary leader was Aiden Brant.

Allen gathered the selected eight members and paid them the advance mentioned in the contract in front of everyone. Only then did the faint doubt lingering in their eyes disappear.

They received half of their employment fee, 7 out of 14 gold coins, in advance. Since they hadn’t started working yet, their expressions were somewhat peculiar.

However, Allen didn’t stop with just paying the advance. The reason he offered such an exceptional contract wasn’t simply to gather a large number of mercenaries.

“If you wish, I will provide you with equipment at a cheap price. It will be much cheaper than the market price. I guarantee it.”

As he said this, he laid out the prepared equipment in front of them.

It was overwhelmingly common for mercenaries, who lived day by day on what they earned, to spend their earnings on entertainment rather than buying better equipment once they finished a job and got paid. After all, the job was done, and immediate desires were closer than a distant future mission.

However, the story changed a bit when they received an advance payment. Survival took precedence over desires, naturally leading to investment in equipment. And that meant a higher likelihood of successfully completing the mission.

It was a simple logic, but to be implemented, trust between the nobles and mercenaries was necessary. However, the current state was such that neither the nobles nor the mercenaries trusted each other. In other words, they knew it was better to do so but couldn’t.

Honestly, if Allen couldn’t see the status window, he wouldn’t have dared to attempt this. Hadn’t he already seen through the status window how many of the mercenaries had the traits [Deception] and [Avarice]ㅡ! If it weren’t for the status window, he would have paid the money only to face the bizarre scene of no one showing up on the day of departure.

Of course, not having [Deception] or [Avarice] traits doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t run away, but at least it was possible to minimize such unfortunate incidents.

“Just take a look. It doesn’t mean you have to buy them.”

Allen urged the hesitating mercenaries further.

In fact, the quality of the equipment he was showing wasn’t overwhelmingly better than that of other workshops. However, Allen was able to get these supplies very cheaply from a forge that had an exclusive contract with the Pomwell family.

For those without overwhelming talent, equipment is a matter of life and death. So, when reasonably good equipment became available at a very low price, they were naturally tempted. And that was precisely another trick up Allen’s sleeve.

“I’ll buy it.”

“Me too.”

Among the mercenaries examining the equipment, those willing to buy increased one by one until nearly the whole group had purchased one or two pieces. They replaced their old and worn equipment with new, clean ones at a cheap price.

Having completed the equipment exchange, Allen informed them of the date they must assemble.

The departure for the Demon Lands is in two days from today. The time is at dawn. The location is the East Gate.

“Then, disband.”

However, Aiden, who temporarily took the position of the leader, seemed somewhat reluctant. It would be a disaster if they disbanded after receiving the money and just ran away. Even if the money was one thing, losing personnel could ruin the planned expedition.

“Young Master.”

“Call me Group Leader from now on.”

“Ah, yes, Group Leader. …But, is it really okay to let them go like this?”

Reading Aiden’s concern, Allen smiled faintly.

“Are you worried they might run away?”

“Honestly…, yes, that’s right.”

Although it was a disgrace to their own reputation as mercenaries, honestly, mercenaries were not that reliable. Especially the lower-ranked ones.

“I’ve carefully selected them, so the possibility is low. Don’t worry.”

“Still, you shouldn’t trust them too much.”

“Even if they run away, I can afford to lose one or two people. That’s why I chose them considering that. …But if you sign a contract and then run away, wouldn’t you be expelled from the guild? A bounty would be issued, too. I doubt many would want to become criminals for just seven gold coins.”

The amount wasn’t even significant, becoming a fugitive for life over merely seven gold coins was laughable. Of course, that didn’t mean there weren’t any madmen who wouldn’t.

“Because they tend to be people living at the bottom-of-the-barrel….”

“I’ve already weeded out such people. Don’t worry too much, just focus on the task at hand.”

“…Understood.”

Since any further complaints could be perceived as challenging the authority of the group leader, Aiden kept his mouth shut.

‘…This young one, he knows too little about this world.’

Of course, he didn’t look too favorably upon the young group leader’s impulsive actions. Still, since he was being pushed away, he had no choice but to step back.

However, if too many people were to withdraw, he too planned to raise the issue of insufficient personnel and withdraw from this mission. No matter how urgently he needed money, he couldn’t just go off to die for a mere few gold coins.

Aiden soon bid farewell to the young leader and turned away. True to his life as a day-to-day mercenary, he planned to spend the rest of his money on entertainment after changing his equipment. Such was the life of a mercenary.

What use is saving to a mercenary who could die at any momentㅡ!

…And then, two days passed in the blink of an eye.