Mudrick cursed under his breath as he made his way back.
Tonight had been full of twists and turns. After drinking, he had co across a little girl on the street and was quite enjoying himself teasing her—until she stomped on his foot and ran off.
After finally catching up to her, she revealed that she was actually a boy—none other than Litte, the one he had previously offended.
She even taunted him about his vice-captain, provoking him further.
Enraged, he had beaten Litte’s Tier 6 bodyguard and was about to teach Litte a lesson—only for a Tier 7 beastkin girl from the Orchid Tavern to suddenly appear.
Had this happened under normal circumstances, Mudrick wouldn’t have feared her. But he had just exhausted himself fighting Virgil, and being on her turf, he didn’t dare to reveal all his trump cards.
So he had no choice but to back down.
After leaving behind a harsh warning, Mudrick turned and walked away.
Then, he ca across several of his drinking buddies lying beaten and bruised on the street.
Hurrying over, he checked their injuries. Thankfully, they were only badly beaten, with no permanent damage or life-threatening wounds. He let out a sigh of relief.
“Damn it, if I had known you bastards were this underhanded, I would’ve crippled a few of your people as well!” Mudrick muttered, deciding to head back to his headquarters and get reinforcents to carry his n back.
However, as soon as he reached the base, he noticed sothing was wrong.
The new recruit who had been assigned to guard the entrance was missing.
He imdiately rushed inside.
At that mont, a rcenary was coming down the stairs, presumably heading to relieve himself. Seeing Mudrick, he quickly straightened up and saluted.
“Good evening, Boss!”
“Where’s the recruit who was on guard duty?” Mudrick asked bluntly.
“Huh?” The rcenary blinked, scratched his head, and walked toward the door. “What’s wrong, Boss?”
“Shit!” Mudrick cursed, slapping the rcenary on the head. “Wake the hell up! I asked you—where’s the recruit who was supposed to be guarding the door?”
“I have no idea!” The rcenary shook his head. “Where could he have gone?!”
“You idiot!” Mudrick stord up the stairs, kicking open the doors to the sleeping quarters one by one.
“Get the hell up, all of you!” he bellowed, rousing the rcenaries from their sleep. “Assemble downstairs!”
Though irritated at being woken up, the rcenaries quickly fell in line. After all, Mudrick was the kind of boss who could crush them with one hand—they didn’t dare disobey.
One minute later, Mudrick stood in the main hall, counting his n and barking orders.
“Who was the last one to co down? Is there anyone still upstairs?”
“I was the last one. I checked the last room—nobody’s up there,” a middle-aged rcenary reported.
“Good.” Mudrick nodded. “So of our n got jumped outside the tavern. Go and carry them back.”
“And find the recruit who was supposed to be on guard duty—bring him back to . I’ll interrogate him personally.”
At his command, the rcenaries sprang into action.
One group went to retrieve their injured comrades from the tavern, while another fanned out from the base, expanding their search radius to locate the missing recruit.
Mudrick headed up to the third floor and saw that his vice-captain’s door was still locked. A bad feeling crept into his gut.
He recalled Litte’s words.
Could it be that all his n had really perished in that mission?
That didn’t seem possible. Even if the others had fallen, his most trusted lieutenant—who had been with him since the Iron Wolf rcenary Group was founded—should have at least escaped.
He was a Tier 6 assassin, after all. If nothing else, he should’ve been able to flee.
He must have run into trouble.
Thinking this, Mudrick entered his own room. What he failed to notice was that the lock—though undisturbed—montarily glead as if freshly polished.
The Doctor had exceptionally sharp counter-surveillance instincts. After searching Mudrick’s room, he recorded all findings using a magic recording stone and painstakingly restored everything to its original state.
As a result, when Mudrick entered his room, he detected nothing amiss.
Though an uneasiness lingered in his mind, he relaxed after thoroughly checking his security asures and finding no signs of tampering.
Looks like soone tried to co after but wasn’t up to the task.
With that thought, he lay down.
Having worked up a sweat before bed, Mudrick felt quite exhausted.
He decided to sleep until his n returned with their reports.
With that thought, he drifted off.
—
In the Imperial Capital, the Iron Wolf rcenaries arrived at the location Mudrick had specified—the place where their comrades had been beaten outside the tavern. Just as they prepared to carry their injured comrades away, they found themselves surrounded.
The gang mbers who had beaten their comrades earlier had returned.
And this ti, they brought even more reinforcents.
—
anwhile, the rcenaries searching for the missing recruit had also split up.
Four rcenaries were sent to retrieve their injured comrades, leaving just four to comb the area for the missing recruit. To improve efficiency, they split into four directions.
One of the rcenaries spotted a man in a suit in a secluded alley.
The Doctor.
The Doctor saw the rcenary as well and imdiately put on a harmless, hopeful expression.
“Sir! Oh, thank the heavens! Can you help ?” he called out, approaching the rcenary. “I just ran into soone in this alley—he grabbed my leg, claiming to be from the Iron Wolf rcenary Group. He demanded money for his life, then passed out.”
“I was about to call the guards, but I was afraid he’d run away. I’m just a weak man—I can’t carry him alone. Could you help ?”
Hearing this, the rcenary’s ears perked up. He walked toward the Doctor.
“No problem. If he’s one of ours, I’ll recognize him. No need to call the guards—just take to him.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you!” the Doctor said, nodding eagerly. “By the way, are you really rcenaries?”
“Of course,” the rcenary said, deliberately flashing the small knife at his waist.
The Doctor flinched back, widening the distance between them.
The rcenary sneered internally.
Hah, dressed all fancy, but he’s just a coward.
“Sir, are rcenaries always this... violent?” the Doctor asked cautiously.
“Of course. We live by the sword, never knowing if today will be our last. Why would we bother restraining ourselves?” the rcenary said.
Of course, in front of Mudrick, none of them dared to even breathe heavily.
As they continued chatting, they reached the alley’s depths.
The rcenary spotted the unconscious recruit slumped against a wall.
“Yep, that’s him. But why does he look like he was placed here?”
“Oh, I actually found him sowhere else. I figured leaving him on the street or at soone’s doorstep would be bad, so I used all my strength to drag him here,” the Doctor explained.
“Alright, thanks.” The rcenary patted the Doctor’s shoulder.
“Before you take him back, can I ask you one last question?” the Doctor asked, looking at the rcenary.
“Sure.” The rcenary nodded.
Half a minute later, the Doctor examined the scalpel in his hand, now stained with blood, then looked down at the corpse at his feet.
He sighed.
Then, he dragged the body to a trash bin at the alley’s end and shut the lid.
A pity he didn’t have a clinic in Saint Roland City—otherwise, this body would’ve made for valuable dical research material.
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