Chapter 82 (1/2)

Chapter 82: Gaining a Noble Ally

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Sure enough, the illusion in the passages was gone and the conditions in the cave returned to normal. Finally, it was over.

They all heaved a sigh of relief.

“Should we search for spoils before leaving the cave?” Link suggested.

The mercenaries agreed immediately. They had almost lost their lives fighting in this cave, even Link was stabbed with a sword. How foolish would they be to leave with their hands empty?

Moreover, Link seemed to be in good spirits now and there were no visible signs of fatigue from the serious wound. In fact, he looked much better now. That made the mercenaries less anxious to go back and tend to Link’s injuries.

Only Anderson hesitated. He was a Royal Knight of the Norton kingdom. It didn’t seem befitting of an honorable Knight to kill men, set fire to the corpses, then rob them of their belongings.

“Are you sure we should be doing that? Maybe we should hurry back to rally the militia,” said Anderson. He had to be careful not to tarnish his pride and honor as a member of a noble family and a Knight.

Link himself was the son of a Viscount so he perfectly understood the underlying sentiments that made Anderson reluctant. Even so, he’d much prefer to live and thrive rather than die in the name of idealistic concepts like honor and chivalry!

Still, Link knew that integrity was without its merits. He and Anderson had fought together in this mission, so they were comrades now. He had to find a way to persuade Anderson without making him think that his integrity was in question.

“General Anderson, if we are to call in the militia, then we’d have to divide the share with them as well. Plus, there’s no way of keeping a secret when many people are involved, so words will surely spread out and more people will try to grab a slice of the cake. Ultimately there’d be next to nothing left for everyone. Wouldn’t it be best to divide everything amongst just the five of us?” said Link.

Before Anderson could interject, Link continued, “General, before you refuse, why don’t you think of your son? You said he’s already started his training. I’m sure he wants to become a Knight just like you when he comes of age. But a Knight will need armor, a horse and his own weapons – and none these things come for free. Why don’t you stop and consider how much the loot might benefit your son in the future?”

When Link put it this way, Anderson was no longer able to argue with him. Link’s words had hit upon the things that had been worrying him lately.

It was true. What good was there in being an honorable Knight if he couldn’t secure a good future for his son? At least, with enough gold coins, he could provide his son with some high-quality magical gear.

Ah, what was the point of getting hung up on his own honor? He should be thinking about more practical things like gold coins!

“Let’s do it, then!” said Anderson, completely beguiled by Link’s sly rhetoric.

Soon after, they began to search for everything inside the Syndicate’s lair.

Anderson’s movements were still clunky and unsure. He still couldn’t completely let go of his ideals as a Knight. The mercenary trio, on the other hand, were professionals in this regard. They swept through the cave like a swarm of locusts, much to the wonder of Anderson who stood staring at them on the side.

Meanwhile, Link didn’t help much as he needed to rest. But when the rest of them were preoccupied with the search for booty, he surreptitiously sneaked away into the dark hall in the underbelly of the cave to pick up the black crystal from under a pile of gravel and put it in his storage pendant.

When the others noticed he was gone, they assumed that he was away to examine the Elemental Puppet, so they didn’t give it much thought.

Half an hour later, the four of them gathered in the first hall in the Syndicate’s lair where they found the cursed Magic Seal.

Lucy began to count and record everything one by one.

“1400 gold coins, 38 steel swords, 30 sets of new leather armor, 3 barrels of 50-year-old aged wine, a pair of gold figurines… The estimated total value should be at least 3500 gold coins.”

As expected, the Syndicate was much wealthier than the Dark Brotherhood.

3500 gold coins! Even Anderson couldn’t keep himself from gulping in awe at the sheer wealth in front of their eyes. He was a noble Knight who lived in a large manor, and had additional income from the land he owned, yet his annual income had been no more than 150 gold coins. Who would’ve thought that an underworld organization like the Syndicate would possess such unimaginable wealth! The fact simply boggled his mind.

What a dastardly group of thieves! It seems I must search and clean out more lairs of thieves from now on. The Knight was quickly turned into a sly fox by the irresistible temptation of gold coins.

And now it was time to distribute the loot, which was decided by Link. Anderson had no objections to this. He had seen and understood how Link was the core of the group, and that they had even managed to defeat an evil demon under Link’s command. Anderson had recognized the young Magician as a peerless and fearsome man and he was ready to concede to his decisions.

“There are five of us and about 3500 gold coins. The four of us will share 2300 gold coins among ourselves. General, you should get 1000 gold coins out of the share. As for the remaining 200 gold coins, 50 of them should be given to Jacques’s family as his pension, and the rest should be divided among the militia. After all, they’ve made contributions, too. What do you think, General?”

Anderson was speechless. 1000 gold coins were far beyond his expectation! He thought of the contributions each of them made. Link was the brain of the mission, and Jacker was the strongest Warrior who had played a huge role in defeating the Elemental Puppet by restraining the puppet and giving Anderson the perfect opportunity to give it the final blow. All he did was one simple move for him, with no risk at all!

His esteem and position as a Royal Knight had not been the slightest bit useful to the mission. How could it be of any use when Link had the support of a much more exalted figure like Princess Annie?