The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations Chapter 660

Episode 660: For Justice. (2)

Rio looked puzzled. He didn’t understand why she was suddenly acting friendly after just watching him coldly.

Giselle continued to support Rio, whether he looked at her strangely or not.

“Okay, since you said there’s no time, let’s talk about the details as we go. Hey, you guys, hurry up and pack your bags. It’s finally your first request.”

“…….”

The three people just blinked and looked at Jiselle. They were unable to adapt to the atmosphere that had suddenly changed.

But when Jiselle bit her lower lip and glared, everyone immediately moved.

Rio looked at Giselle, who was suddenly pretending to be friendly, with a suspicious look.

He actually didn’t expect much from the three of them. They all looked too young and handsome for mercenaries. What he wanted was an experienced and powerful mercenary.

What Giselle said also bothered me.

“Your first… request?”

Who is Jiselle? She immediately caught the anxiety and distrust in the other person’s words.

“Haha, don’t worry too much. I’m a 5th circle magician.”

“5 circles?”

Rio was surprised. He had never seen a 5th circle wizard before. Wizards of that level were rare.

But I couldn’t believe that this person who looked so young was a 5th circle member.

Jiselle snickered and waved her finger. Then, a huge spear of magical power appeared in the air.

“Oh, oh… … .”

Rio was amazed. As Giselle waved her hand again, the spear of magic rose into the air.

Kwaaang!

The window flew through the roof in an instant. Rio’s face lit up when he saw it.

“Wow!”

He opened his mouth and cheered without realizing it. It seemed like he could kill any knight in one go.

Although it was true that the wizard was at a disadvantage compared to the knight in a head-on fight, Rio was not worried.

‘That’s enough! You should be able to kill your opponent before he gets close!’

The window was created in the blink of an eye. It could kill the knight before he could even get close. Rio, who was not familiar with combat, could only think of so much.

At last, with a glimpse of hope, he held Giselle’s hand and thanked her again and again.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“What, I’m glad I could help you defeat evil. Shall we get going?”

“yes!”

Jiselle and her party immediately followed Rio. Jackson, who had been standing there blankly, muttered while looking at the hole in the roof.

“Oh my god, those guys are really… … .”

I thought the repair costs would be quite high. But I didn’t want to argue about it since I had already received the money.

Jackson shook his head and sighed.

“By the way, a new mercenary group is behaving like a lord right from their first request… … They really are fearless.”

Even if they won the showdown, they would probably have to run away to another region. It was a bit disappointing for Jackson, who was trying to be friendly with them.

Julian quickly approached Giselle and asked.

“What? Why are you suddenly like this? I said I need to hear from both sides. And I said that dueling the great warriors isn’t a very helpful request.”

“I think I can help you.”

“They might be the bad guys?”

“Gold is good.”

“what?”

“No, that’s not it. Anyway, I can tell just by looking at it.”

“…….”

“I said that to teach you guys.”

“…….”

“Oh, come with me, I have a plan.”

“……okay.”

Jiselle is someone who can change her attitude whenever necessary. The three of them were confused, but they watched and learned diligently.

Rio introduced himself to Giselle again.

“I am Rio, the successor to the Lacus Group. First of all, thank you for accepting my request. How should I proceed with the contract?”

“I will decide on the commission after hearing the whole story first. Let’s talk in detail first.”

“Yes, let me explain the situation in detail… … .”

The Lax family was a fallen noble family. Although they had no title, the current head of the family was very resourceful and led a fairly large merchant group.

As part of the Barony of Magrel, they were able to trade with the lord and acquire manors of considerable size.

“Until now, as long as we paid our taxes, the lord didn’t really interfere with us. The taxes we paid were quite large. But not long ago, a gold mine was discovered in the territory.”

Part of that mine lay on land owned by the Lax family.

There was a big slope at the top of Lax, because even the top could have mining rights, albeit only to a small extent.

The upper class gave half of the mining rights to the lord according to the law. It was necessary to do so because gold was considered one of the main resources of the territory.

The upper class of Lax could only have half the mining rights to a part of the mine, which they were satisfied with as it would bring them enormous profits.

“The problem is that the lords are starting to covet our mining rights as well.”

The mining yield from that ‘part’ was enormous, so it was understandable for the lord to be greedy.

However, the upper part of Lax had obtained mining rights with permission. Baron Magrel had no reason to take them away.

So they hatched a conspiracy.

Rio continued, his face distorted with indignation.

“The director I worked with for 20 years betrayed me.”

“The General is betraying you? Someone like Claude… … No, please continue speaking.”

“Yes. He hid some of the gold by manipulating the amount mined, and he falsely accused us of not paying our taxes properly. My father collapsed in shock at the governor’s betrayal.”

In addition to mining rights, taxes on profits must also be paid. In other words, the lord’s excuse for pressuring the upper echelons of Lax was tax evasion.

The lord had false ledgers and accused the upper echelons of Lax. The general who had already been handed over to the lord had already fabricated all the evidence together with his servants.

“The Lord said he would forgive us if we handed over all of the assets of the upper class. We asked the Crown to mediate and give us time to properly investigate. But… … .”

There was no way an opponent who had already decided to take the mine would give him that much time.

In this era, tax evasion was considered a crime tantamount to treason, but the Rax merchants had considerable prestige in the region.

There was a justification, but to anyone who saw it, it seemed like the lord was being greedy. So the lord declared a showdown of honor.

“If we lose the duel, we will confiscate all of the assets above. The gold mine will be included as a bonus.”

The anxious Lax merchants told the lord that they would give up the gold mine. However, the lord, who had decided to take this opportunity to take over the merchants in their entirety, refused to do so.

It was a time when everyone was greedy without hesitation if they had the chance.

The upper echelons of Lax ended up losing everything they had built up so far.

“It is a sin to be powerless in this day and age.”

Rio finally shed tears.

The lord sent out the best knights in the territory. However, those hired from above were not of that level of skill.

There were a few who could use mana, but they were all poisoned and collapsed.

“There are traitors at the top, but we don’t even know who they are.”

There was no one left to go to the showdown. I tried to recruit mercenaries, but word had already spread and everyone refused.

It’s hard to beat the best knight in the realm, but even if you do win, the aftermath is tiring.

That’s how Rio ended up in this city, which was quite far from the manor.

Jiselle nodded. It was a common conspiracy that the powerless could not avoid.

“Okay. That’s what happened. Our ‘Julian Mercenary Corps’ can take care of that. But even if we win the fight, wouldn’t that be a problem? The lord will definitely retaliate.”

Rio’s complexion darkened. Even if he won the fight, he would only gain some time.

They will definitely come up with another excuse to cause trouble.

It can’t end as a showdown of honor then. They’ll definitely move the military.

“So… … For now, if we somehow get through this, we’ll try to negotiate again to just hand over the gold mine. We’ll try to keep what’s left. Right now, we can’t ask the surrounding territories to mediate.”

It’s a gold mine. The surrounding lords would want to eat it if they had the chance.

If the upper echelons of Lax asked for help, it was obvious that they would somehow start a war under that pretext.

Rather, that is why I could not ask for help from other territories.

“The lord will probably keep watching us. If he discovers any attempt to go to another territory, he will kill us first.”

That was why the lord had declared a showdown of honor. It meant that if he did not ask for help from other lords, he would spare his life.

I don’t know if they’ll really let me live though.

Rio sighed and continued.

“There are traitors within the upper ranks, and we don’t even know who they are. If we show even the slightest sign of unrest, the Lord’s army will move. There’s nothing we can do.”

“If you want, we can help you.”

“Yes? How do you mean?”

Jiselle said with an indifferent expression.

“I can guard the top until the armies of the surrounding territories arrive.”

Rio stared blankly at Giselle. How could they possibly stop the lord’s army with only four people?

No matter how great their skills were, it was impossible for him to do it with common sense. And even if they had that much ability, Rio had no intention of doing it.

“It’s okay. We can’t start a war in the territory because of a gold mine. Many innocent people will die.”

“Are you serious about that?”

Rio smiled shyly.

“This is my hometown where I grew up. Everyone from the staff at the top to the people in the territory are long-time customers and friends. How could I watch them get hurt?”

“Aren’t you a merchant?”

“My father has told me many times that I have no talent as a merchant. But what can I do? My heart is like that… … .”

Jiselle looked at Rio, who was scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, and then snickered. She could see the sincerity in his face.

“He certainly doesn’t seem to be the type of person who would be a merchant.”

It was a personality that did not fit this era. So, he must have been at a loss, unable to solve even such an easy task.

In fact, there are quite a few things you can do even now if you put your mind to it.

What can I do if he doesn’t want to? I had no intention of forcing him. Even if I were to bring in other territories, the Lacus Group would not be able to handle it anyway.

‘I see a lot of fools these days. Did they bring me to this era to help the fools?’

Jiselle snickered at that thought.

Julian and Deneb, who had been listening quietly from the side, also smiled. This was because they were touched by Rio’s warm heart.

Only Kyle was whispering with Dark that he was a bit of a loser.

After some time, the group arrived at the base at the top of Lax.

There were quite a few small houses built around the top. People who worked at the top or lived off of it formed a small village.

They all had dark expressions on their faces because they knew what was going on. But when they saw Rio, they tried to smile and greeted him.

“Your Majesty, have you had a nice trip?”

“Don’t worry too much about the upper level.”

“We will take responsibility for the uphill journey and make sure to have a good time.”

Rio smiled and nodded to those who said that.

Just by looking at him, you could tell that Rio was quite popular in the neighborhood.

As soon as they reached the top, Giselle and her party were treated with the utmost hospitality. Giselle sat haughtily as if it were a given and ate tea and fruit.

Yulien, Deneb, and Kyle felt a little burdened, but they didn’t worry too much. They believed that with Giselle’s skills, she could beat any knight.

Rio asked cautiously.

“But… …you haven’t told me the amount of the request yet.”

Jiselle glanced at Rio and nodded.

“I see. Since it’s your first request, I’ll give you a special discount.”

“Thank you. How much will it be?”

As always, Giselle held up three fingers, which had now become something of a symbol to her.

Rio asked, hoping it would be cheaper.

“3 gold?”

“…….”

“Haha, sorry. Then… … it wouldn’t be 30 gold, but would 300 gold be okay?”

Yulien, Deneve, and Kyle were shocked by Rio’s words. 300 gold? The three of them had never even seen such a large sum of money.

300 gold is a huge amount of money. It is more than enough for most mercenaries to risk their lives for.

But Giselle had a calm expression. 300 gold was too little for him.

‘Even when I had no power or anything, the money I received as a donation from Amelia was 20,000 gold.’

As I stood there with that thought in my mind, Rio gulped and said.

“I’m willing to give you even 3000 gold.”

The warriors were even more surprised by those words. Kyle even started making plans to retire.

But Giselle closed her eyes and shook her head.

“…….”

The next is 30,000 gold. That’s an amount that would make the top tier sway. No, I couldn’t even get that much money in cash right away.

Everyone’s face turned pale at the enormous amount of money.

Rio said in a trembling voice.

“30,000 gold… I’ll somehow get it for you.”

Anyway, if the top fails, everything will be lost. I had to give the opponent what he wanted.

Jiselle snickered and shook her head again.

“I think there is some misunderstanding… … I don’t plan on receiving such a large sum of money at once. Wouldn’t that cause problems in the upper management?”

“Excuse me? Then what does the three fingers mean… … .”

“I think 30% would be appropriate.”

“yes?”

“I will only receive a 30% stake in the gold mine you own.”

Jiselle laughed heartily.

It meant that we would remain close friends for a long time to come.