Chapter 137: Act 70 – The Wind Among the Mountains
“Didn’t expect the Lord to have such advanced swordsmanship.”
Antinna praised without reservation as they walked. The only time she witnessed Brendel going all out was at Bruglas’ underground auction, but back then, she was busy dragging Romaine to escape, with no time to pay attention to how Brendel dealt with the spirit puppet captain.
The footsteps of the three echoed through the inn’s hollow corridor in the rock wall, and a series of empty sounds extended forward until the dim end of the passage. The innkeeper had carved stone windows in the rock wall for lighting, and looking ahead, natural light cast pale and weak spots on the dark, gloomy floor at intervals.
“Yes, Brendel has always been impressive,” Romaine added somewhat smugly, squinting her eyes – it bore some innate charm. This Business Lady glanced back at Brendel with a smile that made his heart race, instinctively worrying that she was concocting some strange idea again.
This worry was not unfounded; before leaving the Forest Capital, Romaine had not been at all demure, first posing as a merchant from the guild to visit local nobles and investigate the market, then covertly seeking members of the Thieves’ Brotherhood to acquire a map from Magitan to Shubli – which was indeed audacious, considering that in this era, drawing maps illegally could risk the gallows.
Of course, this matter was initially concealed from Brendel; if it weren’t for the fact that this young lady could never hide her words in front of him, he would probably still be unaware of her secret activities. Hoarding maps, posing as nobility, forging documents and credentials – Brendel initially thought he had already disregarded the laws of this ancient country enough, but he realized that the Business Lady had likely never cared about the black-covered Kingdom Codex from the start.
In fact, he suspected that she didn’t even know there was such a codex.
However, Romaine was cautious outside, as shrewd as a little fox, not revealing any clues. It was only because Brendel discovered her secretly counting money on the coach that he realized this little girl had managed to earn some pocket money through these illicit means.
Naturally, Brendel had sternly warned her about this, but the Business Lady only appeared to accept it humbly, mumbling a couple of agreements, probably only Martha would ever know how much she truly took to heart.
“What are you thinking about again?” Brendel couldn’t help but ask.
“Nothing,” Romaine quickly shook her head vigorously.
“If there’s nothing, why are you so nervous?” Brendel’s suspicion deepened, he asked impatiently.
“Am I that nervous, Brendel?” Romaine touched her small face, wide-eyed and curiously asked.
“Don’t change the subject, that trick doesn’t work on me anymore, Little Romaine.”
“D-Don’t call me that…” The Merchant Maiden pouted, but quickly her eyes brightened: “Brendel, can I go out for a walk by myself?”
“Of course not.”
Brendel firmly refused. He wasn’t worried that this lovely little town of Shubli would be thrown into chaos by her, but he had other considerations. Today, in front of everyone, he had fought against Bud and subdued everyone present with his master-level sword skills; even the ‘Maned Wolf’ Macaro couldn’t express himself anymore—but this was only a surface phenomenon. As the warrior’s blood cooled, Brendel felt his thoughts becoming clear again.
In past games, it was quite common for single mercenaries or adventurers to temporarily join an unfamiliar mercenary group during their travels, in fact, anyone could encounter trouble while traveling and have to rely on others for help.
Though Article 314 of the Mercenary Decree seldom appeared in formal contracts, such behavior of single individuals merging into unknown groups was not uncommon. In name, they acted with the group, but in reality, everyone looked out for themselves. Thus, aside from helping each other out, there wasn’t much significance.
Therefore, the stipulation in the texts that mercenary groups could impose tests on new members was often just empty talk. Thus, the unusual actions of ‘Maned Wolf’ Macaro and Bud this afternoon seemed to carry deeper implications.
Brendel could distinctly see the strong suspicion in the eyes of the middle-aged man standing next to Bud. But was this suspicion necessary?
He felt puzzled.
Then he couldn’t help but recall the incident he encountered outside in the afternoon. From the behavior of that young man named Aike, it seemed that this mercenary group’s operation to eliminate bandits was not as straightforward as it appeared. What he wanted to understand was whether they had ulterior motives or were facing some trouble.
He certainly hoped these mercenaries did not have the same objective as him, or that would be trouble.
With that thought, Brendel couldn’t help but frown deeply.
“Brendel, what’s wrong?” Romaine blinked: “Are you angry with me?”
“Certainly not.” Brendel shot her a glare, knowing full well that this young lady was not afraid of his anger but was simply trying to strike up a conversation. He turned back and asked: “Antinna, what did they just say their mercenary group was called?”
Suddenly, he remembered something that was a new question for him.
“The Gray Wolf Mercenary Group.”
“Gray Wolf?”
“What’s the problem?” Antinna asked.
“Nothing,” Brendel casually replied, then murmured to himself: “…Gray Wolf Mercenary Group, Gray Wolf?” It shouldn’t be the Shanmulan Mercenary Group, right? ‘Maned Wolf’ Macaro should be that person. No doubt, the middle-aged man looks exactly as described, it shouldn’t be a mistake. But why would the mercenary group have a different name?
Could there have been some historical changes?
He raised his eyebrow, considering another possibility that the mercenary group had renamed themselves, but in this field, changing names wasn’t a trivial matter. Not to mention the cumbersome and massive undertaking of registering with the Adventurers’ Guild under the Temple of Fire. Normally, declarations would never succeed unless something significant occurred.
A significant change?
Brendel lifted his head, looking at the shaft of natural light cast on the ground through the stone window ahead, the expressions in his deep brown eyes shifting.
…
“How is it?”
The middle-aged man with red hair touched the scar on his face and turned back to ask.
Standing at a height, the cool breeze brushing his face felt pleasant, and he couldn’t help but squint, staring at Shubli town below. The town seemed like a hill formed by artificial stacking, with winding and winding stairs climbing up the increasingly steep slopes.
The name ‘Maned Wolf’ Macaro had echoed loudly in the mercenary world for about six or seven years. This name was first left when he entered the business. It implied his courage and recklessness in battle, fighting like a fierce head wolf. Because in the mountainous area south of Erluin, the head wolf was also called the Silver-Maned Wolf, hence the name.
“Ha.” Bud rested his hand on his forehead and smiled: “That kid’s military swordsmanship is extraordinary, almost reaching a master’s level, but among the army…”
He suddenly coughed: “You know what I mean — if we’re just talking about talent and skills in swordsmanship, I’m not as good as him. That young man named Brendel is a true genius, born for the sword. It’s hard for me to believe someone can understand swordplay so deeply at such a young age. You know, I even feel constrained in front of him—”
He smiled: “Before meeting Master Aike, I never believed there were geniuses in this world. One could only reach such a level through personal effort and sweat. But after meeting Master Aike, especially after today’s events, I increasingly feel I made a mistake.”
Having said that, he revealed his white teeth with a smile.
“You’re comparing him to Master Aike?” Macaro turned back. The scar on his cheek was rumored to have been left in a battle with the Night Children. But those familiar with him knew that the scar had been there long before he became a mercenary: “I don’t see that young man has such skill.”
“That’s why you are the commander and I am the swordsman.”
“So, you hold him in high regard?”
“Indeed, but that young man reminds me of someone familiar.”
“Who?”
“A stiff fellow. Let’s not mention that. I want to say I don’t think this young man is an undercover agent sent by ‘The Cards’.” Bud said: “If they had such outstanding backup talent, it would have been known long ago.”
Macaro shook his head and smiled slightly: “Hard to say, this time is too sensitive. I can’t believe ‘The Cards’ came here just to snatch a task from us; Shubli is just a small town with little benefit, what could be so enticing?”
“You’ve mentioned this before, haven’t you? You think they have ulterior motives?” Bud turned back and asked.
“Exactly.”
“What could their ulterior motives be? Do those lizardmen bandits have some secret agenda?”
“Unclear, but Aike has been acting strangely in the past few days,” Macaro closed his eyes, taking a deep breath: “That worries me. I can’t let a bunch of ill-intentioned guys follow us indefinitely. The last mission was also disrupted by these guys; this time I want a permanent solution.”
Bud looked at him.
“Did the Master agree?”
Macaro nodded, then shook his head: “The Master didn’t say anything.”
“Then what about waiting a bit longer?”
“Can’t wait anymore, the shepherd is catching up, didn’t you sense it?” The ‘Maned Wolf’ replied against the wind: “We depart within three days at most.”
“And what about that young man?”
“Let him come along.”
…
(PS. Everyone is a civilized person, please don’t take your anger out on me, they are already quite pitiful = = .) (To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please log on, more chapters await, support the author, support legitimate reading!)
