"You're quite talented in the art of tea. Would you consider becoming a tea artist?" Holland said with a smile.
Mike kept a straight face. "That won't be necessary."
Seeing his expression, Holland burst into laughter, her fragrant shoulders trembling with mirth.
"Alright, the deal is done. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave," Mike said, standing up.
Holland was somewhat surprised; she thought Mike would take the opportunity to chat with her a bit more, especially since the atmosphere between them was very pleasant, at least Holland was enjoying it.
But with the deal completed, Mike simply stood up and prepared to leave.
"I say, were all those compliments you gave me just flattery?" Holland asked, a hint of unhappiness in her voice, as she propped her chin in her hand.
Mike turned his head, a sincere smile on his rugged face. "They were all sincere, but you also know I only have a month."
"I just registered as a mercenary yesterday, and I'm still a pitiful Brass rank. I need to hurry up and promote. Although chatting with a beautiful mentor like you isn't a waste of time, I think you also wouldn't want to lose an outstanding exclusive mercenary, right?"
"Hehehe, indeed," Holland smiled again, and then flicked her fingers, sending an envelope flying towards Mike.
Mike caught it, a bit puzzled. "What's this?"
"My personal commission," Holland said. "Since you're going back to Seadot, help me deliver a letter."
"The top two envelopes are the letters you need to deliver this time, and the recipient and address are written on the back."
"The third envelope is your letter of recommendation, keep it safe. Write your name on it yourself, and when you reach the Gold rank, come to me for the seal."
"How about it, accept it?"
Upon hearing this, Mike laughed heartily. "Of course!"
"Commission?" Holland raised her chin.
Mike pulled out the bottom envelope. "Here it is."
With the letter of recommendation in hand, although it hadn't been stamped yet, it indicated that this position was meant for him. He liked this feeling.
Holland nodded with a smile.
She found that in the face of this big guy, she seemed to be laughing a bit too frequently. Unable to help herself, she restrained her smile and said, "It'll take a day to get back to Seadot. You only have three days."
"No problem, I'm off!" Mike turned around, waved his hand, and left with Qiqi.
Watching Mike's departing figure, and then looking at the steaming flower tea in her hand, Holland's previously restrained smile couldn't help but appear again.
"What an interesting big guy."
...
Exiting the library, Mike stretched lazily, feeling very good.
"Big guy, does this mean you'll be able to enter Heidis Academy soon, meow?" Qiqi asked excitedly.
Although Qiqi was a bit confused by Mike and Holland's conversation just now, she understood some things, like Mike had secured a chance to enter Heidis Academy.
So at this moment, Qiqi's eyes were full of admiration, thinking that Mike was a clever big guy.
Indeed, although the Wolf Demon was sold cheaply, Mike ended up earning even more!
But Mike shook his head. "Not yet, we still have to compete for other outbound positions."
"Why, meow?" Qiqi asked in confusion. Didn't he already have a letter of recommendation?
Mike smiled and rubbed the little cat's head. "Did you forget about yourself?"
"The letter of recommendation is only one; I also have to secure a position for you."
"Oh right!" Qiqi suddenly realized, then looked at Mike with admiration and said, "Big guy, you're really kind..."
"Call me captain, don't keep calling me big guy," Mike said.
"Got it, meow~ Captain meow~"
Retrieving his beloved heavy hammer, Mike left the academy. Geoff and the others had been waiting there for some time.
Geoff and the others didn't ask much about what Mike and Holland had talked about. They just rode their beast-drawn carriage and headed back the same way they came.
Without any goods, the carriage's speed was much faster. What was originally a two-day journey only took one day and one night to reach their destination.
They hadn't encountered any bandits on the way here, but on the way back, they ran into a group of eighteen bandits.
And then Mike ended up with twelve curved knives, six sets of bows and arrows to sell, over two hundred gold coins, and over fifty silver coins, plus some copper coins.
So Mike always marveled at how there were so many good people in the world~
That night, everyone didn't stop to rest but continued on their journey through the night. They arrived at Seadot the next day in the late morning, around ten o'clock, under the bright sun.
"Kitty, wake up." Mike looked somewhat helpless at Qiqi curled up in his arms.
She had been responsible for the late-night watch last night, so she had been sleeping until now. But how did she end up crawling onto him again while sleeping?
After entering the city, they went their separate ways.
Qiqi had to follow Geoff back to the magic potion shop to terminate her employment with the boss before returning to find Mike.
Before leaving, Geoff gave Mike a mission coin. This was issued by the Mercenary Guild to the mission contractor. After completing the mission, the mercenary would return the coin to indicate the completion of the task. If the mission coin was lost, the contractor would have to provide other proof or personally confirm that the mercenary had completed the task. If the contractor was also lost... well, then the mission was not completed.
After receiving the mission coin, Mike said goodbye to Qiqi and headed straight to the Mercenary Tavern, Helan No.11.
At the moment the door opened, familiar gazes gathered once again. However, many people looked away after a glance, and coincidentally, the bearded man who had chatted and joked with Mike before was also there.
"Hey, kid, where have you been these days? I thought you were dead!" The bearded man said in a loud and casual manner, immediately causing laughter from the surrounding people.
Although the words were harsh, there was no malice in them.
Mike laughed and said, "If I were to die, it would have to be after I become a saga!"
The laughter grew louder.
Mike then walked to the bar and flicked his finger, dropping the mission coin into the empty cup in front of Evelyn.
Evelyn looked at the mission coin for a moment, nodded, and said, "Mission completed, reward settled."
"So, you were out on a mission," the bearded man said.
"Didn't you go to help an old lady find her false teeth?" a tall, thin man on the other side said, and laughter once again filled the tavern.
Mike just smiled and didn't say much, because he knew that if he wanted to win the respect of these old hands, he could only do so with real strength, not with words.
The next moment, a dull sound rang out, accompanied by the clinking of gold and iron.
The laughter in the entire tavern gradually died down, and many mercenaries looked at the money bag Evelyn placed on the bar in disbelief.
The bulging money bag was filled with gold coins. Everyone present was not a newcomer; they could directly infer from the weight of the money bag how much money was inside.
At least a thousand gold!
Mike happily took it and turned to look at everyone, then he weighed the money bag in his hand, making a delightful sound of coins clinking against each other.
"You know what, the old lady's false teeth were inlaid with gold and diamonds. She gave quite a bit," Mike said teasingly.
The tall, thin man's face turned red, and the surrounding mercenaries burst into laughter again.
They loved to see jokes and have fun! Especially with an interesting newcomer like him, it seemed that there would be no shortage of fun in the future.
However, what they didn't expect was that Mike would put the money bag back on the bar and then gesture to Evelyn, "Do you remember what I said?"
Evelyn was slightly surprised at his words. "Are you serious?"
"Of course, and if you're going to treat, treat well. Rum would be nice," Mike nodded.
Evelyn widened her eyes. "The prices are clearly written on the menu. Are you not joking?"
Rye whiskey costs 8 copper coins, while rum costs 8 silver coins. Treating the entire bar would cost at least five or six hundred gold?!
"I like to joke, but not now. Let's get started; I can't wait!" Mike said with a smile.
Evelyn immediately laughed, took the money bag, and shouted loudly, "Cheers, everyone!"
"We have a big guy here treating the whole bar to rum!"
All the mercenaries were stunned for a moment, then they raised their glasses in unison, cheering loudly.