Aini was a free man. However, if he wanted to leave, he would have to wait for someone from his family to come since he was still tasked with collecting information in this town. This might have been the easiest mission in the family, but someone still needed to be placed here.
Another four days and it would be the end of the month. Saleen and the others made some preparations. The road from Phoenix Duchy to the Qin Empire wasn’t a smooth one, and bandit gangs could appear in the empty fields.
The first thing to do was to choose their horses. Those with money usually prepared three horses, taking turns riding two of them while the last was used to carry goods. A normal mercenary was lucky to have even one horse. Aini had bought eight horses and left them in someone else’s care.
How an adventurer chose his horses was a lesson in itself. First, they couldn’t choose a standard army horse, as those horses were very demanding when it came to the standards of the grass they ate and any wild grass would cause their stomachs to be upset. They had to choose the short horses that came from the Wusu River. Even though they couldn’t run fast, they weren’t afraid of heat or cold and could survive on anything. Their stamina was much better than the army horses, which were better at sprinting. If need be, they could be used to pull a cart.
After that, it was time to pack their luggage. Saleen and the others had long since lost their tent back in the Chaotic Swamp. Saleen had also given his gold bottle to Canghong, and Sika’s water bag had a hole in it. All of these needed to be replaced.
In regards to weapons and armor, Saleen was a mage and did not need any of that. There were no holes in his magic robes. Sika’s armor was of a decent quality, and even after many rounds of fighting there was no damage to it. This was something worth a few thousand gold coins.
However, upon seeing the brand on Sika’s armor, Aini made a very obvious pout. Sika’s armor was from the "Forest Weaponry Store". This weaponry store was from the Williams Family of the Qin Empire. The Williams and Clyde families were competitors, especially in the business of weaponry, and had been so for the past century.
Aini chose a pair of gloves for Saleen and put one on his left hand, covering it to make it less frightening. These magic gloves were a magic prop as well. They were completely white and had been handmade using alchemy. The material was not normal snow silk. A snow silkworm was a Grade 1 magic beast that could be reared and its silk was not expensive. What was expensive about these gloves was the handiwork.
Putting on these gloves did not seem to affect a mage’s magic, but they in fact increased the effects of water based magic. Snow silk was also used to make soft armor that was incredibly tough. When a mage put on these gloves, they could effectively protect their precious hands. Some bandits who specialized in using daggers would dye this glove black to replace the leather they used to protect their hands.
Aini even helped Sika change out her leather bag. The bag that had been given to her at the Forest Weaponry Store had no compartments, and shoving everything inside had made it a mess.
After two days of preparations, a suitable mercenary regiment came knocking at the door. This was an eight member mercenary regiment, and upon receiving the mission at the union, they had come immediately to Aini’s shop.
Seeing that Aini had not said a word with his brows furrowed, the mercenary leader gave a loud laugh and pointed to his badge. He said to Aini, "We are a Grade 5 mercenary regiment. It’s just that we’ve been lazy in recruiting anyone."
This mercenary had a large body. He looked impressive, and had short black hair and a typical Qin face. He was clad in heavy armor that simultaneously did not appear cumbersome. His green cape was filled with holes, but his armor, on the other hand, had been polished until it shone.
"I’m Flamenco, the leader of the Nut Mercenary."
Flamenco took off his glove and extended his hand, giving Aini a firm handshake.
"Nut Mercenary? The one that defeated the Squirrel bandit gang?" Aini’s face changed color. Originally, he had planned to hire more mercenaries to escort him and Saleen back to the Qin Empire. They were carrying too much money with them and needed to hire many mercenaries with good credentials.
The Nut Mercenary had a reputation cleaner than restorative water, and their skills were above average too.
The Squirrel bandit gang had been a lower than average bandit gang but had been very infamous. They had not had a lot of people in their gang but had stayed on the wanted list for the past hundred and twenty years. Since the gang had been established, they had taken up many cases that were neither too big nor too small. They had been incredibly cunning and had never failed before.
Legend had it that the Squirrel bandit gang had a high-grade mage with them, and even the existence of a blasphemer.
Two years ago, a newly registered mercenary regiment took the mission to eliminate the Squirrel bandit gang. It had been the Nut Mercenary. At that time, the entire mercenary world had treated them as a joke, not only from their name since a nut was meant to be eaten by a squirrel, but because this mercenary regiment had only eight members. They had too few people.
At that time, when the Nut Mercenary accepted the mission, they had needed to pay a deposit of ten thousand gold coins. If the mission was not completed within the time limit, then the ten thousand gold coins would be forfeited.
Half a year later, the Squirrel bandit gang was completely defeated and the Nut Mercenary immediately jumped to a Grade 5 mercenary regiment. They became a legend that inspired many low-grade mercenaries. As for the name "nut", it stuck with them and was no longer just a temporary name for some nameless mercenary regiment.
Saleen had only registered to be a Grade 1 mercenary and had only been given a number. Even if he were to give them a name, it wouldn’t be recognized in the mercenary world. If a Grade 4 mercenary and above wanted to use the name, Saleen’s mercenary regiment would have to give it up.
Only with a name could a mercenary regiment be considered a true one.
This was an unspoken rule of the mercenary world, and hence the ones who really earned money were always the high-grade mercenaries. The lower their grade, the poorer the mercenaries were, and some even ended up as bandit gangs.
Aini’s shop could not host that many people, hence they returned to the inn that the Nut Mercenary were staying at before both sides sat down to talk about the general terms of employment. Even though the Nut Mercenary had accepted the mission, without Aini’s approval, other people could still take up this mission.
"It will just be the four of us. Send us to Karen prefecture. It’s a five-star mission with food and lodging provided and a commission of five hundred gold coins."
"Karen Prefecture is too far. With only a commission of five hundred gold coins, not many mercenaries will accept it, am I right?" Flamenco was a little unhappy. The road to Karen Prefecture was long, and even with horses, it would take them three months to get there. That amounted to around a hundred plus gold coins per month. They might as well fight some magic beasts in the Chaotic Swamp and sell their magic nuclei.
Moreover, failing a five-star mission came with a hefty punishment, and Flamenco would still need to pay a large deposit. If they had been low-grade mercenaries, a five hundred gold coin mission would have caused a stir, but the Nut Mercenary did not care about this meager money.
"I’ll give you another piece of phlogopite once we reach Karen Prefecture," Aini said confidently.
Flamenco was enticed and asked cautiously, "How big is it?’
Phlogopite had little meaning to a mage, but for a swordsman, it was a fantastic material for creating weapons. This item by itself was rare, and if it landed in the hands of a mage, there was a high chance that it would be casually used up. It was rare for a swordsman to possess it.
"This big." Aini gestured with his hands and said, "It can add an entire magic pattern onto a heavy sword."
Flamenco thought for a while. Llooking at his teammates, he asked cautiously, "Could I have two? I don’t want the five hundred gold coins anymore, and I can still give you another five hundred gold coins for it."
Aini took a glance at Saleen who nodded his head. The phlogopite had been suggested by him. For this, mercenaries would put in their utmost effort and even if someone else offered a higher price, they would not betray their employer. However, Aini didn’t have any phlogopite on hand and needed to ask Saleen for his opinion.
"Alright. We will leave at the start of the month. I will take care of your expenses for the next two days."
Flamenco laughed and said, "That won’t be necessary. Have you all packed your luggage? Do you need our help?" Seeing his forthrightness, Aini laughed, "We have prepared already. We have eight horses too. All of them are Hetao short horses."
Saleen kept quiet throughout their discussion, his eyes on a person from the Nut Mercenary. He was dressed in a white robe and was the mage that he had crossed paths with before coming to the inn.
There was nothing unusual about a mage in a Grade 5 mercenary regiment. What was unusual was that the mage was only Grade 2. Saleen thought that this was too much of a coincidence…
The mage was watching Saleen as well. He found it strange that when Flamenco had asked about the phlogopite, Aini had needed to consider Saleen’s opinion. Could this Grade 1 mage be the person that they would actually be protecting?
After looking at each other for too long, the atmosphere had taken an awkward turn. Luckily, the mage didn’t have an eccentric temper and took the initiative to talk to Saleen. "We meet again. Hello, I’m Walnut."
"Saleen," Saleen replied. He had a general judgement already. This was a commoner who had come from a poor background. Since mages did not have nicknames, Walnut was his real name. This mage might even not have had a surname. From such a poor background, he had managed to rise to a Grade 2 mage. He must have been a genius.
Flamenco said, "Let’s introduce one another when the team sets off. Mr. Aini, could we leave for a day? We need to make a trip to the forest."
Aini nodded in agreement. "Sure. Let’s meet at the start of the month."
Saleen kept his paranoia to himself. That mage could not have been here for him. Since they had escaped from the Chaotic Swamp, no one here could have known of him beforehand. Also, what had happened within the Chaotic Swamp could not have leaked out. He was worrying too much. If Aini had wanted to find someone else to scheme against him, he wouldn’t have found someone that Saleen had already seen.
Beside the inn was a restaurant, and the two establishments were joined together. The day before they set off, everyone gathered for a meal to get to know each other.
Getting a private room, the twelve of them sat around a large table. This arrangement was only possible in a restaurant meant for mercenaries.
However, the mercenaries in the Qin Empire seemed much quieter than the ones in Sikeqinya. Even though the people of the Nut Mercenary were still wearing their soft armor and held their weapons in hand, ready to fight, they weren’t as rowdy and everyone spoke in hushed tones.
Saleen happened to be sitting beside that mage, and the two made eye contact and laughed. Saleen now realized that he was being oversensitive. There were many mages in the Qin Empire, and meeting a few was nothing out of the ordinary.
"I’m Saleen."
"I remember. You’re from the Qin Empire?"
"Nope, I’m from Sikeqinya."
"Ha, you have a pretty pure accent." Walnut laughed and Saleen followed suit. The past few days, he had been correcting his accent with the help of Aini. For a mage, learning a language was a very important skill. If a mantra’s pronunciation was wrong, it would be twice as hard to learn new magic.