52 Nut Mercenary Part 1 (1/2)

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.”