When night fell, Aurora came to Gard's room as promised, and when she opened the door, she found them sitting around the table with serious expressions. When she came in, Gard nodded and motioned for her to sit down.
After Aurora sat down, she felt that the atmosphere was a bit weird again. Claudia fiddled with her fingers nervously, occasionally looking at Gard in the center.
"Now that everyone is here, let's start." Gard took a deep breath, his eyes revealing a hint of firmness. "After discussing with everyone last night and giving it serious consideration today... I have decided to disband our mercenary group."
Upon hearing this, Claudia's body trembled, and she slowly lowered her head.
The other three mercenaries also bowed their heads in silence at this moment, they already knew Gard's decision.
I see…
Aurora also understood Gard's thoughts in her heart at the moment.
In The Legend Online, the Mercenary Association had its own set of rules and regulations, and players could freely form a group to create their own mercenary group.
A mercenary squad with no more than ten people was at the lowest level. Anyone who passes the assessment of the Mercenary Association can join. There are no special mandatory regulations. You were free to join and leave as you want.
One level higher was the mercenary group with more than ten people like Gard. Compared with the mercenary squad, the mercenary group would appear more regular, and its overall strength and cohesion were much higher than the former.
And there was a fixed time to pass the assessment of the Mercenary Association. Every year, one B-level task or ten C-level tasks must be completed. If the task points were insufficient or the number of people was less than ten, they would be forcibly downgraded.
Finally, there was the mercenary guild formed by Aurora before, with more than a few hundred people. Not only was it powerful, it was well equipped with various sophisticated equipment, owned its own territory and fortress, and was even directly supported by the chamber of commerce and the country it belonged to. The assessment will also be more stringent; one S-level task or five A-level tasks must be completed within a year.
Now it seems that Gard's combat effectiveness has been greatly reduced after losing his left arm. Even if he went back to recruit new members again, it would be impossible to recruit many people in a short time, so it was a very wise decision to disband the mercenary group.
"Leader, why don't you think about it again... After all, the leader put in so much effort..." Claudia's eyes turned red. After all, the brothers from the mercenary group rescued her and treated her like family. She really didn't want this home to disappear suddenly like this.
"Silly girl, the competition among mercenary regiments is not that simple. I also know very well that we can't find suitable manpower at all given the current situation, and even if we forcibly gather enough people, the atmosphere will definitely change a lot."
Gard reached out and rubbed Claudia's hair, then turned to Aurora and asked, "Lady Aurora, what are your plans for the future?"
"I'm just a traveler wandering with the wind." Aurora laughed because she didn't know what to do next.
"I see...but I have a proposal for you. I don't know if milady is willing to accept."
"Um?"
Gard looked at Claudia. "This child is the most reluctant to leave the mercenary group. It is unavoidable that we will leave here, but I am concerned that the association will arrange for her to join other mercenary groups... I believe Lady Aurora should understand this matter as well."
Aurora nodded. After all, it was impossible for the Mercenary Association to give up a priest, and if someone with a heart as pure as Claudia's was transferred to some shady mercenary group, one can only imagine the consequences.
"So?"
Gard took out a parchment from her pocket and pushed it in front of Aurora. "Lady Aurora, I hope you can take over our mercenary group."
"What!"
"Captain?!"
The three mercenaries made unbelievable noises.
"Captain Gard, are you serious? I'm just a wanderer who doesn't even have the qualifications to be a mercenary." Aurora lightly tapped the table with her fingertips, and her expression gradually became serious.
"Yes, to be honest, you are really mysterious, Lady Aurora. Not only do you know the monsters well, but you also clearly understand the characteristics of Twilight Forest... and you also have special powers that we have never known before..." Gard leaned back in the chair, which would make him a little more comfortable.
"But these are not the reasons why I really want to hand over the mercenary group to you... What really convinced me was your sense of responsibility, willingness to sacrifice, leadership ability, and the heart of not abandoning your comrade!"
"..."
Hey, hey, Captain Gard, you were thinking too much!
It's impossible for her to say directly to Gard that if she couldn't summon the sword spirit, she was going to run away!
Aurora was silent on the surface, but a subtle change had already begun to occur in her heart.
"I believe that with your ability, you will be able to lead the mercenary group to a height that I will never reach."
"Huh~ Commander Gard has such high confidence in me." Aurora stared into Gard's eyes without any trace of confusion.
He was serious.
She sighed deeply and said, "Let me think about it again."
"No problem." Gard spread his hands slightly. "I'm waiting for Lady Aurora's decision."
Back in the room, Aurora lay on the bed and looked at the stars in the night sky outside the window, lost in thought.
Gard's words kept ringing in her mind: yes, she came to this different world; she definitely wants to live to the fullest and without regret; if she takes over his mercenary group, it will be considered the first step.
The first time she came here, she was still full of doubt about herself. It couldn't be helped because the real Aurora was just a helpless girl who was abandoned by everyone, even her family.
However, after facing death and a live situation in the past two days, her state of mind became closer and closer to Auror's. She felt that she could face any challenge as long as she put effort into it.
And to be honest, she actually longed to build a place for herself, so she wanted to recreate the guild with people she could regard as her own family. And the former Chiming Bell Mercenary Corps was quite suitable to her taste.
But once she made a decision, problems would follow. The main personnel and base problems needed to be solved.
NPCs were not equal to players. There was a clear difference after obtaining the equipment. Ordinary players aim to strengthen themselves. As long as the equipment was suitable for them, they would choose to use it for themselves. The NPC, on the other hand, would sell it to save money and instead use that tattered ordinary equipment.
In terms of strength, players could gradually become stronger. By gaining experience, their level could be promoted to a higher one.
NPCs had fixed attribute values from birth, and it was difficult to have further improvement unless some hidden missions were triggered.
"What should I do..."
Aurora bit her fingertips and frantically deduced various ideas in her mind. According to the calculation based on the game world line, there was still a period of time in the early stages of the game, and then some mission events would gradually be triggered.
In the later period, players discovered that behind these incidents, the United State of Harmonia was behind the scenes, and the latest one...
Thinking of this time, Aurora suddenly trembled.
I see…
Wasn't it the beginning of their conspiracy to specifically attack the chamber of commerce carriage in an attempt to hit Brigitt City's economy?!
Thinking of this, Aurora quickly sat up and walked to the table, took out a pen and paper, and began to write on them.
In her memory, it was the largest town around the prairie, and it was also the hometown of Gard's mercenary group - Rosewood Town.
Although this town was on the edge of Brigitt City, it had rich agricultural growing areas and trading points for various monster fur materials.
Aurora continued to write and draw on paper.
Rosewood Town had two roads used by the Chamber of Commerce in the north and south, and the one in the south was the only safe road passing through the prairie.
Although Gard crossed the prairie at the request of Rodrigo, it was normally impossible to run into the Rat King and the Rat Queen at the same time, even if he encountered a rat plague.
This reminded him of the attack on the merchant convoy escorted by the Mercenary Association of Rosewood Town. Players would encounter different behind-the-scenes schemes when conducting investigations along different routes from the north to the south.
South Side Route: The Snake Master - Jeffrey
North Route: Rat Controller - Pittman
Jeffrey was a level 16 summoner who could control hundreds of poisonous snakes to attack players and owned a black and white snake emperor close to level 20.
The latter was a summoner around level 15, who could summon and control wood rats. If it was him, then it was not impossible for the Rat King and the Rat Queen to appear at the same time.
According to Aurora's inference, Gard and his party in the game world should have been attacked by Pittman and all died, but her appearance changed their fate.
"It seems that the United States of Harmonia has already begun to move." Aurora's eyes flashed a cold light, and she crumpled up the things she wrote and threw them into the brazier to burn.
She has made up her mind to take over Gard's mercenary group.
The night passed quickly, and when Gard opened the door and saw Aurora, who had already been waiting for him in the lobby of the hotel, a smile appeared on his face.
"It seems that Milady has already decided."
Aurora nodded, "I agree to take over the mercenary group, but I have one request."
"Let's hear it." Gard walked in front of him, pulled out the chair, and sat down. He reached out and grabbed the wine glass on the table and took a few sips.
"I will not adopt the name of the current mercenary group, I hope Captain Gard can understand."
"..."
Gard, who had a relaxed face, fell silent for a moment, and his fingers involuntarily tapped on the wooden table. His eyes were full of entanglement. Originally, he wanted to be able to leave behind a thought—the memory of their mercenary group going through life and death together—but once she changed the name, his mercenary group disappeared completely in a certain sense.
If he does not agree with Aurora's request, the disbandment of his mercenary group was only a matter of time.
Aurora didn't even urge him; she just enjoyed the hot bread and a large bowl of sizzling roast meat just brought out of the kitchen. After all, she also has her own considerations.
If she wanted to do it, she must adopt the method she was used to and comfortable with. She also had deep feelings for the mercenary guild she had established before.
"Hey, do I still have a choice now?" Gard sighed deeply, took out the parchment from his arms, and pushed it in front of Aurora, "I'll leave it to you...don't let me down."
"Leave it to me; I swear in the name of Aurora Silverburg, I will make its name resound throughout the continent."
The two raised their glasses and cheered, sipping the wine with a smile adorning their faces.