"What do you want then?"
Andrew looked at them and directly:
"A horse!"
A few nearby mercenaries whistled.
Then they became even more excited as the news spread rapidly through the small group.
Maxime watched the scene away from this distraction, although he was dying to join them.
However, the lessons taught in high school formally forbade such behavior in this kind of situation.
He waited about thirty seconds, then clapped his hands to attract their attention.
The noise and atmosphere quickly subsided.
"We're not there yet, so keep your eyes peeled because there could be a lot more of them than you think."
"We'll continue on this path and then we'll have to reach a mountain. According to rumors heard by some of Quessoi's comrades, the bandits' hideout is on this mountain."
"So let's march right now to find their base before nightfall!"
"Ok chief!"
But hidden behind a tree, a man covered in black with a black mask over his mouth broke out in a cold sweat when he heard all this.
He left without a sound, in a hurry.
Rodrigo, who had just been laughing, heard the light sound of footsteps on the ground and shouted:
"Ernest behind the tree at 105 degrees from the leader in front of you!"
As if on instinct, Ernest took an arrow from his quiver and shot a slug in 2 seconds.
A thud was heard the next instant, shocking everyone.
The first to react was Rodrigo, of course, who ran at full speed towards the intruder.
Maxime and the rest of the mercenaries barely had time to react before Rodrigo was back with the intruder.
The latter was groaning in pain from the arrow in his knee.
"Ernest, Rodrigo, bravo for this work, you'll be rewarded with 3 gold coins each as a bonus when we return."
"Thanks chief!"
A few jealous eyes landed on Ernest and Rodrigo, but most were grateful ones.
Information is something that can change the course of a life no matter what world it's in.
If this man had entered successfully with his comrades, whatever his identity it would have been detrimental to the group.
"Rodrigo, how did you hear?" Maxime asked curiously.
"I've always had a knack for picking up sounds in the distance," Rodrigo replied with a certain pride.
An innate gift? No, it's probably linked to his elemental talent with the earth," Maxime reflected, frowning slightly, looking thoughtful.
Shortly afterwards, his gaze fell on the man groaning on the ground in front of him.
"Who are you?"
"Fuck you!"
The man on the ground maintained an arrogant smile despite the pain.
Maxime looked at him, then smiled.
"Ernest, give me one of your arrows," Maxime demanded, keeping his gaze on the man on the ground.
Ernest thought for a moment before handing one of the arrows to the chief.
But at the same time, a certain fear ran through his body as he handed over the arrow.
Maxime retrieved it, then played lightly with the arrow, particularly by lightly scratching the unharmed knee of the man on the ground with the arrowhead.
"You know, you'd better answer my questions."
But the man on the ground, despite some fear, didn't care.
"A lousy group of 30 men think they can threaten us? You'll all die in the end haha!"
"Wrong answer."
The man on the ground cried out in pain as tears welled up in his eyes.
Indeed, Maxime had planted the arrow in his front knee with his bare hands, unharmed.
Piedro, who had the best mind of the group, unconsciously swallowed his saliva, while Izo, who never showed emotion, opened his eyes wide.
All the men in the group had different reactions, but most were intimidated by this action, not to mention the man on the ground.
Killing men on the battlefield was totally different from torture.
On the battlefield, the opponent was armed, there was adrenalin and everyone was putting their lives on the line. Everyone also wanted to finish the fight quickly so they could come and help their comrades.
But here there were none of these elements, the aim being only to break his victim's mentality.
"I'll repeat my question once more, who are you?" asked Maxime coldly.
But the man on the ground didn't answer, in fact he felt himself leaving slightly.
Noticing this, Maxime grabbed the man by the throat and slapped him.
This immediately woke him up as fear invaded his mind.
"I'm...I'm Romain...The chief asked me to call Jorgi back quickly after his mission."
Jorgi being the commander of the bandit group that had ambushed Maxime's mercenary group.
"Why did he have to return quickly?"
"Because...Because I had to tell Jorgi to get back quickly because Baron Irut...Baron Irut..."
Romain couldn't continue his sentences because the pain was too much.
He groaned as his eyes grew weirder and weirder.
Maxime took his water bottle out of his bag and splashed cold water on the man's face.
This temporarily awakened Romain as he stared at Maxime, who was only a few centimetres from his face.
"Go on," Maxime ordered coldly.
"No, I'm going to die anyway!"
"Yes, but either you die in excruciating pain or I'll give you a quick, painless death."
Romain thought, gritting his teeth.
"I'll tell you everything. But if you find our camp and actually defeat our bandit group, you'll find a little 7/8-year-old girl with black hair."
"You really think you're in a position to negotiate?" retorted Maxime coolly.
But Romain didn't care.
"I just hope you can raise her for me."
The atmosphere became strange and heavy as all the mercenaries looked at Maxime.
But Maxime didn't answer and asked the same thing over and over again:
"Baron Irut did what?"
Romain stared at Maxime, but finally spoke the truth.
"Baron Irut was enraged after the destruction of Quessoi, and has already sent many troops to find our base. It's only a matter of time before he finds it so we needed all our fighting strength."
"I see, I knew Baron Irut wanted revenge but he couldn't because of a war with another baron. I didn't think he'd have started on this business yet."
After this brief exchange, Maxime stood up and asked Romain in a detached tone:
"Two questions and I'll answer your request."
Romain's eyes twinkled and he nodded.
Most of the saber-toothed tigers were also relieved in a way. Seeing their leader torture someone was one thing, and necessary for their survival and success. But it was also necessary for the leader to retain a trace of humanity, otherwise how could they trust him with their lives?
"Where is your base and how many men are defending it?" asked Maxime.
"Our base is at the very bottom of the mountain, 5km south of here. The entrance is hidden by plants growing a few meters high," replied Romain.
"These plants have the particularity of attacking any living thing in the vicinity, but if you drink the sap from the nearby trees, then instead of attacking you, they'll open the way to the cave that serves as our base", he continued.
"And as for the number of comrades I have there..."
Romain struggled to continue his sentence as the pain returned harder. Beneath him, a large flask of blood could already be seen.
His extremely pale face showed his disastrous physical and mental state.
But for his daughter's sake, he bit his lips and said:
"I've got at least a hundred comrades stationed over there, they're the soldiers of the other two commanders of the same status as Jorgi."
Romain took a deep breath and continued:
"There are also a dozen elite men who report directly to our leader. Even the commanders don't dare tell them anything, so you may notice their status in our camp."
Maxime nodded.
"Your camp was indeed well hidden. We'd have a hard time finding it without a few days of searching."
"Since you've been so honest, I promise to look after your daughter if I find her," concluded Maxime.
Then he drew his sword and decapitated Romain.
A look of relief and thanks could be seen in his eyes.
But Maxime never saw them, for his back was already turned to Romain.
"Get ready, guys, we'll be there in less than an hour.