As much as the people of Zanna wanted to attack Ashton and his troops, they had no choice but to ingest their anger. However, there was another bitter pill they couldn't swallow.
With Nico and Cyclops gone, no one could save them from the horde, even if the rcenaries decided to spare their lives. Typically, they would have begged the rcenaries to stay and help, but that wasn't an option anymore as they were the ones who tried to exploit them as free labour.
No one in their sane minds would help them after the stunt they pulled. Hell, they would be lucky if the rcenaries decided the leave them alone and go their way.
"Let's leave before things get chaotic here." One rcenary suggested.
No one opposed his suggestion. It would take around three hours for the horde to reach the city's outer walls. The rcenaries had plenty of ti to depart and leave the treacherous bastards to fend for themselves.
However, there was soone who objected. Surprisingly, it was the man Nico, and the Cultists wanted to screw over the most.
"Don't give that look; I'm not pitying them or anything." Ashton shrugged, "I don't know how loaded your bank accounts are, but I'm not leaving without recovering the fuel and travelling expenses I had to incur. Fuel prices are no joke!"
Now that Ashton pointed it out, the rcenaries were unsure about leaving without appropriate compensation. After all, so of them had to pay thousands of Yenos worth of fuel to get to Occuna, and leaving barehanded would only do them more harm than good.
That said, they weren't sure how will they get their money back. With the contractor dead, it wasn't like the citizens of Zanna were going to empty their pockets for them. To top it all off, Nico employed them, not the citizens, which ant they were not bound to pay rcenaries for their work.
However, judging by Ashton's confidence, they knew he had so plan in his head.
"We don't need them to pay us. The treasure is headed our way after all." Ashton said with a smug smile.
"Surely you don't an-"
One of Nico's forr teammates began to yelp, but Ashton imdiately cut him off.
"Of course I do," Ashton said before facing the rcenaries, "We'll sell the beast corpses and make ourselves so money. Unfortunately, that'll an we will be saving these ungrateful bastards in the process. Don't fret, though; taking the corpses should be enough punishnt for them."
Zanna wasn't a city with a lot of ways to generate revenue. Being located on a distant island of the planet, the only resources they had control over were the beasts and very few natural resources.
Whenever a horde appeared, they would subdue the beasts and then sell them off at high prices. Without significant competition, they could set ridiculous prices for raw materials generated by the beasts, and the buyers had no choice but to agree to their outrageous prices.
That said, if the rcenaries took everything from them, Zanna would die a slow death. Without the corpses, they won't be able to hire help even from the shadiest organisations, and without help, they won't be able to repel future hordes.
Forget about hiring help. They won't be able to repair the damage caused by the hordes, and fighting savage beasts in that condition was nothing less than suicide. With his plan, Ashton was essentially ramming them to their doom while coming out as a 'good guy' for helping them.
"You can't do this!" Qalea, Nico's left-hand woman, yelled at the top of her lungs, "That's not what the contract-"
"Contract? What contract?" Anna acted surprised and gasped, "Oh, you an the contract which beca void when your leader died? Sorry to say, but you can do nothing to stop us."
"I-I'll offer you a new contract!" Qalea panicked, "We'll pay you four tis the money Nico offered, but please just leave half of the corpses to us-"
At this mont, Ashton had enough of their bullshit. These bastards did not hesitate for a mont before screwing others over, but now that they were facing the sa treatnt, suddenly it was unfair?
"A contract? It seems you're unaware of the situation you're in." Ashton calmly walked up to her, "You're fucked. You wanted to fuck us over, but I shoved a reverse card straight up your asses. Get lost if you don't want soone else to shove sothing in your ass."
[I almost believed you were doing it for revenge, haha!]
'All warfare is based on deception.'
[You thought of the line by yourself?]
'Nah, Sun Tzu did. Unlike a certain body-less bastard, I don't take credit for soone else's work.'
[...]
Different from the other rcenaries, Ashton was full of funds. Loss of a few thousand yenos wouldn't have any long ti consequences for him either.
However, he needed corpses, a lot of corpses, for so other reason, naly to create a lich. At least, that's what was written in the grimoire. The reason why he wanted other rcenaries to contribute was to ensure the safety of his faction.
While he was strong enough to protect himself and his lieutenants, the others were inexperienced and could beco dinner for the beasts. Having the support of other factions would solidify the position of his forces.
The rcenaries get their money, Ashton gets his corpses, and together they'll get their revenge on Zanna. It was a complete win-win situation for them.
After pondering for a few more minutes, most of the rcenaries agreed to fight off the horde together while so left to 'inform the association' about the crap Zanna had pulled.
"I'm pretty sure they just wanted an excuse to run away." Vimur shrugged, "What a bunch of cowards."
Everyone laughed at his reaction. In the anti, Ashton and the leaders from the other factions were busy holding a eting. They had decided to fight, but they needed a strategy first. Thankfully, Astaroth and his years of experience were on their side.
Reviews
All reviews (0)