Two days later, the ti for the scheduled eting arrived.
As soon as dawn broke, Mudrick woke up.
He hadn’t slept well in his rcenary headquarters for the past two days.
Yesterday, he had even decided to stay at an inn.
Sleeping alone in that empty base felt... off. He kept worrying that soone might sneak in during the night and kill him.
Of course, a Tier 7 warrior normally wouldn’t have to worry about being assassinated in his sleep—his instincts would alert him to danger.
But what if the enemy used a high-grade paralysis toxin?
If they had access to sothing strong enough to incapacitate a Tier 7, though... then he was dood either way.
In this line of work, you lived by the sword and died by it. Mudrick had already co to terms with that.
After fixing his clothes and checking his reflection in the mirror, he left the inn and headed to the city gates.
Glancing back at the bustling streets of Saint Roland City one last ti, he then stepped outside.
He owed his n an explanation.
And he owed himself one too.
—
When he arrived at the forest on the outskirts of the city, sure enough, he saw soone waiting for him in the distance. Upon seeing Mudrick approach, the person bowed.
“Captain Mudrick, co with .” Saying this, he turned around, exposing his back to Mudrick without a care, and led the way forward.
Mudrick frowned. He wasn’t sure what kind of trick they were playing, but given the situation, he had no choice but to play along.
So, he followed the man into the depths of the forest.
There, in a clearing, he saw familiar faces.
Litte, Virgil, and behind them—the captured mbers of the Iron Wolf rcenary Group, bound and restrained.
“Captain Mudrick, long ti no see.” Litte greeted him with a smile.
As if she had completely forgotten the insults he had thrown at her just days ago.
“Indeed, it’s been a while. I’ve been thinking about you a lot these past few days, Young Master Litte.” Mudrick said, licking his lips, making Litte feel utterly disgusted.
But since this was supposed to be a negotiation, she forced herself to suppress her discomfort.
“Captain Mudrick, despite our previous conflict, I still hope we can resolve things peacefully.”
“I understand that, as rcenaries, your primary concern is money. You were simply carrying out a commission—you weren’t in the wrong.” Litte continued.
“But because you overestimated your own strength and failed to complete your mission, you ended up provoking us.” Litte looked at Mudrick. “So, I hope you’ll tell us who hired you.”
“If you do, I’ll release your n and even compensate you. We can settle this matter once and for all.”
“But your sincerity is lacking,” Mudrick keenly noticed the problem. “You’re only showing a few of my n, aren’t you?”
“To prevent you from using force to take them all back at once, I deliberately brought only a few of them here,” Litte explained.
After all, she couldn’t exactly say, “Your n committed cris, and the Doctor already took care of them.” Could she?
Then there’d be nothing left to discuss—might as well just start fighting.
“Alright, I’ll give you that—you’re quite cautious.” Hearing this, Mudrick didn’t argue. He simply nodded, accepting the explanation.
“But you should know, rcenaries never ask about their employer’s identity. We only care about the money.”
“Besides, do you really think the person behind this job would hesitate to spend a little extra to hire an interdiary?” Mudrick sneered, looking at Litte.
“...So, there’s no room for negotiation?” Litte asked, suppressing her voice.
“It’s not a matter of there being no room—it’s simply impossible to negotiate.” Mudrick shook his head. “For this job, the client went through an interdiary. Do I need to explain what that ans?”
“No need.” Litte shook her head. “But if they chose your group, that ans they trusted your strength, right?”
“You haven’t always worked through interdiaries, have you?” Litte said, looking at Mudrick.
“You little brat, how much do you know?!” Mudrick was stunned upon hearing that Litte was aware of this.
The other party definitely knew sothing.
Mudrick had a habit of keeping records and storing contracts. Now, thinking back to the night when his n went missing, he imdiately pieced together what had happened.
His room had definitely been infiltrated!
They had secretly gone through his files.
There was no other possibility.
With this realization, Mudrick glared at Litte.
“Brat, don’t you know that barging into soone else’s room is incredibly rude? Is this what you call sincerity?”
“Sincerity depends on who you’re dealing with,” Litte said with a helpless shrug. “I had a feeling that you, Captain Mudrick, might try to hide sothing from us, so I took matters into my own hands.”
“Alright, alright.” Mudrick nodded. “Looks like there’s no need for further discussion.”
At that mont, he drew his sword from his waist.
“Release them now, or die—you choose!” Mudrick said, looking at Litte.
“I think you might be overestimating yourself.” Litte smiled nonchalantly, then clapped her hands.
From the shadows of the forest, the orange-haired beastkin girl who had saved Litte and the others that day stepped forward.
She stood in front of Litte, fixing her gaze firmly on Mudrick.
“Captain Mudrick, do you think you can win against her?” Litte smiled. “I believe it’s my turn to make demands now. Hand over all the confidential files in your storage ring.”
“Otherwise…” Litte said as she drew Virgil’s sword and walked over to the captured rcenaries behind her.
“Every minute that passes, I’ll kill one of your n.” Her tone carried a chilling hint of ruthlessness.
That night, she had gone through all the Iron Wolf rcenary Group’s contracts.
The further she read, the more turmoil surged within her.
As the saying goes, where there is demand, there is a market. A rcenary group, as a hired party, should theoretically be judged separately from the tasks they accept.
But after seeing the heinous acts the Iron Wolf rcenary Group had committed, Litte made her decision—she would not spare a single one of them.
Yes, rcenaries took money to do their jobs, but it was precisely because they accepted any task without question that nobles could use them so brazenly as their black-gloved enforcers.
anwhile, there were other rcenary groups that only took legitimate jobs, such as escorting caravans or rescuing hostages. These jobs didn’t pay as well, but at least they didn’t involve atrocities.
The actions of the Iron Wolf rcenary Group might have been understandable as a ans of survival in the beginning, but over ti, they had completely deteriorated, turning into nothing more than a band of hired killers profiting from dirty work.
Many rcenaries with ideals and aspirations chose to leave after seeing the kinds of jobs the group took on. Those who remained were the ones willing to abandon all morality for money.
Would killing these people bring any sense of guilt?
Obviously not.
If the Doctor were here to witness Litte’s actions, he would surely applaud her.
He had assud Litte was still just a child, but it turned out her mindset had already matured.
At the very least, when it ca to showing no rcy, she was becoming more like Orson.
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