"Now to us."
Maxi, who had now deactivated the talent, no longer had the aura that escaped, but to these very ordinary bandits, he still looked terrifying.
Only Organ and Laura seed calr, although they had a complicated look.
In the kneeling crowd, so kept their heads down in prayer.
Maxi stepped into the kneeling crowd and touched a few shoulders.
When these people felt a touch on their shoulders, a violent shiver ran through their bodies.
Then Maxi calmly returned to his position under the dubious eyes of the bandits and rcenaries.
"All those whose shoulders I touched, stand up," he ordered.
Seeing a few familiar faces, so of the rcenaries seed surprised at first, before a violent anger seized them.
"Co up behind now", Maxi demanded in a cold tone.
But so of the rcenaries couldn't contain their patience.
"Boss, how are we going to kill them?" asked Izo, his right hand holding his sword with blood still dripping from it.
"Let at least kill one of them, Captain," interjected Andrew.
Other Quessoi rcenaries didn't speak up, but their expressions revealed that they wanted an abnormally high level of hatred.
After all, these were the bandits who had extorted Quessoi for years, until the village had recently rebelled and been exterminated.
But Maxi didn't answer them; instead, he began to question most of the bandits to find out about each other's past.
In particular, he questioned Organ and Laura.
Both were particularly receptive, so Maxi was able to sort through the bandits in just a few hours.
Surprisingly, most of them had only recently been recruited and were simple villagers before that.
Each had his own catastrophe and was converted by the man in the black mask into a bandit.
It was said that once they had beco bandits, their physique would naturally increase in a few days, from 0.2 points to 0.4 points, depending on their potential.
"Probably the talent of the player in question, it's a pretty good talent," Maxi thought.
Getting started is always the most complicated part of Eternity. Once a certain level of strength had been reached, players gained a great deal of freedom and security.
Of the 45 bandits still alive and well, only a few had committed atrocities in neighboring villages, while the rest were simply trying to survive but still maintaining their morale.
Perhaps over ti their values would have changed, but that's all hypothetical, and since that didn't happen, Maxi could always use them.
Once his interrogation was over, Maxi returned to where the bandits had gathered.
"Andrew and the Quessoi rcenaries, you can take the standing bandits and do with them what you like," Maxi announced, without expressing any emotion.
The standing bandits began to take fright.
"No, please, I'll do anything for you! I'll even beco your dog if you want to!"
" too, I can easily take care of cooking, cleaning or anything else you want!"
"I can beco your cannon fodder if you want! As soon as a dangerous mission erges, I'll be on the front line!"
...
Andrew didn't bat an eyelash, he simply looked at the other Quessoi rcenaries and then they all nodded as if they'd agreed beforehand.
Andrew, Terry, Jas, Piedro, Izo and Peter, the six rcenaries from Quessoi, stepped forward at the sa ti, then decapitated on the spot each of the bandits designated by Maxi.
Heads flew and blood spurted before the horrified eyes of the remaining bandits. Although they hadn't known each other long, this scene would mark them forever.
"Just that?" asked Maxi, curious.
"Torturing them won't bring our loved ones back," replied Andrew.
Maxi nodded, understanding.
With that, Andrew and the 5 Quessoi rcenaries erged from the cave.
"I guess they need to take a breather now that their vengeance is complete," Maxi thought.
"I wonder how I'd react if...No let's not think about it, it'll never happen."
Andrew, now outside the cave, was contemplative as he gazed up at the sky.
"Mom, dad, my sister. The people who hurt you are finally being punished," he thought as a drop of water fell down his face.
The 5 other rcenaries behind Andrew sat on the ground, all staring up at the sky.
No one knew what they were thinking.
Back in the cave, Maxi took a serious look at the remaining bandits.
"Today I have two options to offer you", he announced to the bandits kneeling before him, still surrounded by a score of saber-toothed tigers including Romuald, Tena and his brothers, Rodrigo, Ernest...
The forr bandits listened attentively.
"Firstly, you can beco the logistical staff of our rcenary group, you'll enjoy all the benefits brought by my talent and you'll never have to go to a battlefield."
"You won't, however, get a salary without at least 3 years' service, but you'll be provided with proper room and board."
"After 3 years of service, you will get a minimum monthly salary of 10 silver coins. The exact salary will depend on your performance and position."
"If you choose this option, you'll have to stay with our de rcenary for at least 5 years."
The bandits were deeply impressed by such benefits. They had already learned the power of the talent of the man in front of them, not to ntion that they would also be housed and fed.
For them, this was already the pinnacle they could hope for in this life.
After all, who would risk becoming a bandit if they had enough food and a roof over their heads?
A wage of ten silver coins was also more than adequate, bearing in mind that the average inco per adult civilian was 15 silver coins. But these civilians had to pay for their own food, as well as various housing expenses.
If these civilians could keep 4 or 5 silver coins a month, that was already great.
Of course, if they had children, the monthly savings could only be counted in bronze coins.
"Second option: join our rcenary group," Maxi declared.
"You'll directly get a salary of 50 silver coins each month, then your salary will increase to one gold coin per month after one year of service in our rcenary group."
"You'll be exempt from all household chores and can spend your free ti doing whatever you want unlike the first option."
"You will also have access to various benefits that are specific to our rcenary group if you are injured during a mission or the like."
"By choosing this option, you can also hope one day to beco one of the greatest n in this world by accumulating rits in our rcenary group." concludes Maxi.
Of course, there's the third option, which is to regain your freedom and leave the cave on your own.
But no one knew if Maxi would let them leave alive if they really chose this option, not to ntion the fact that they were already well aware of the saber-toothed tiger leader's talent as Maxi had already ntioned the effects to them during the interrogation.
"Now determine your fate."
"Stand up and stand to my right if you wish to choose the first option. If you wish to choose the second option, stand to my left."
The bandits looked at each other, hesitating slightly.
In the first option, they would indeed get Maxi's talent, but in the end they would never really benefit from it, as they would always have to work for the comfort of the active rcenaries.
They'll also never enjoy the glory and adrenalin of rcenary life.
And above all, if they have children, they will indeed be able to feed and house them with difficulty, but that's all it ca down to, their future could be imagined.
With the second option, they could beco a powerful man as well as ensure a bright future for their children as they'd always dread of, but they'd be putting their lives on the line.
Laura was the first to stand up and move to Maxi's left.
"Maybe, thanks to this man, I'll be able to find my sister," Laura thought, looking at Maxi's back.
When Organ saw Laura stand up, he sighed as he made a big decision.
"Ahhhh, as an old man at this rate I won't last much longer, so I might as well try everything to increase my lifespan by a few more decades." he thought with a smile, happy at the opportunity.
Then he stood up and moved to Maxi's left.
But his smile was frightening, as his face still hadn't healed from the damage left by Rodrigo.
Watching his opponent pull up behind Maxi, Rodrigo wasn't sure what to think.
"That old man is far too tenacious, I'd so much like to lie down on the floor and sleep there."
"I just hope he doesn't hold a grudge for the blows I inflicted on him," Rodrigo murmured, slightly worried about this new teammate.
Rodrigo himself, though fully healed, felt terribly tired.
The energy used to improve the physique and heal wounds didn't co from nowhere.
So for Rodrigo, who had had a very fierce fight, he was feeling at the end of his rope.
Finally, of the 45 bandits remaining after the death of the man in the black mask, 7 had been killed by Andrew and the 5 other Quessoi rcenaries. 32 went to Maxi's left, while only 6 decided to go to Maxi's right.
Maxi smiled with satisfaction at the result: these bandits were all people with little or no family, and they had enough courage to go into battle. This t Maxi's standards.
"We'll go from 30 to 62 rcenaries plus 6 people in logistics, after so training we should be able to get back at Baron Barthon and intervene in the war. We should also be able to negotiate a good contract directly with Baron Irut."
Gold coins seed to rain down around Maxi, so happy was he.
"And in that cave, I'm sure there must be lots of gold coins and equipnt," he thought with a smile.
"Co on Organ, Laura, show the way to your chests!" he ordered happily.
Maxi quickly turned and walked towards the back of the cave.
This slightly shocked the bandits who were used to his cold face and emotionless tone.
But the new rcenaries didn't seem surprised, as they were already used to their leader's rapidly changing emotions.
Maxi soon arrived at the bandits' camp and all he saw was a lot of trouble.
"Damn, why did I forget that detail..."
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