"I'd be careful, Hubert," Maxi replied with a smile.
Hubert was Baron Irut's first na.
Maxi left as planned with his n.
Watching Maxi leave, Hubert turned to Jack who was still standing by his side.
"Jack you're watching Baron Kenepis from our northern villages, and you're putting the squeeze on him so he doesn't dare go too far."
"That old man's too shy to take on, aren't you worrying a bit too much?" replied Jack curiously.
"I don't know. I prefer to be cautious especially with so many people out to get ."
The saber-toothed tigers returned to the inn where they had stayed the previous night, and rested there.
Maxi didn't want his n to travel at night, believing it could be dangerous.
Naturally, their presence was quickly made known, and all the inn's guests were quick to ntion it.
"They say upstairs are the famous rcenaries..." whispered a rchant to a friend of his.
"What's so special about these rcenaries? Most of them are simply cannon fodder for the nobles."
The friend in question wore an air of disdain as he replied to the rchant.
The trouble was, he spoke in a loud voice, attracting many hostile glances.
This friend quickly noticed these stares and began to wonder where the problem lay in what he had said.
"Are you sick of talking so loudly about rcenaries? If you want to get yourself killed, it'll be without !"
The rchant looked particularly displeased but continued to whisper to his friend.
"Right now these rcenaries are ultra popular in town, don't you know why?"
The friend finally beca curious.
"Why?"
The rchant smiled slightly and leaned toward his friend.
"Because these rcenaries defeated two apprentice knights, including the young genius Henry!"
The man looked extrely astonished for a mont, but suddenly cald down.
"A dozen seasoned rcenaries attacking young geniuses in a group, what have they got to be proud of?"
The rchant smiled with slight contempt at his friend's words.
"A dozen rcenaries? No, these apprentice knights were defeated in individual combat by these rcenaries. I think they were even younger than they were."
The friend opened his eyes wide in surprise.
"That's impossible!"
"And it's not over yet."
The rchant looked mischievous, watching his friend as he sipped his pint of ad.
"Drop the info, it's okay..."
The rchant laughed lightly and decided to satisfy his friend's curiosity.
"Before the dumbfounded eyes of the crowd watching the excitent, Knight Jack appeared and decided to teach the young rcenaries a lesson for daring to resist the baron's authority."
"But just then, a young man with blond hair and blue eyes erged from behind the rcenaries."
"It is said that this young man is the leader of the rcenaries and that he and his n were guests of the baron."
"So after so unpleasant things appeared one after another in the evening, this young leader exploded in anger and sent Knight Jack flying!"
The man in front of the rchant spat what he was drinking on the table in surprise.
"I beg your pardon? A rcenary dared to hit a knight and on top of that sent him flying!?"
The rchant laughed aloud.
"Of course! That's why these young rcenaries have such a good reputation in town right now!"
The friend looked astonished.
"At the sa ti the gulf between the nobility and people like us is so huge...it's crazy that rcenaries from nowhere can take them on!"
The rchant nodded.
"That's for sure, but there's a second reason why we definitely shouldn't be talking badly about these rcenaries right now."
"Really? Why?"
The rchant remained silent for a mont, looking at his friend.
"All right, you've won, you greedy rchant. Spit out the truth now."
The man in front of the rchant put 3 bronze coins on the table while swearing.
"Many people now wish to join this rcenary group, thinking they can change their future and climb the social class ladder in the future."
"They literally represent their hope to change their lives and gain wealth and fa."
When the rchant declared this news, the man was also slightly tempted, but ended up shaking his head.
"How could it be so simple? We don't know the background of these young n, but to gain power you always have to pay the price."
Maxi, who was upstairs, heard these words.
With his physique, all his senses far exceeded those of ordinary people.
"Indeed, no power is easily granted. Here the price is to remain loyal to forever and risk your life on the battlefield."
"I wonder how many of my rcenaries will still be alive, just by the end of the year."
Maxi had been thinking about this for a while.
So far none of his rcenaries had died, and all was well.
But he knew that there was a very good chance that so of his n would die on the battlefield in the near future.
Other people in the inn also discussed the saber-toothed tigers, but Maxi decided not to pay any more attention to them and simply fell asleep.
The next day, Maxi and his n set off early to prepare for war as quickly as possible.
Around lunchti, they arrived at the bandits' forr camp.
Their arrival ca as a pleasant surprise to the more than 50 rcenaries who had stayed behind, along with the won and children.
Yes, despite his words, Maxi decided to shelter these won who had lost hope in life.
He simply couldn't bear the thought of excluding them from the cave and leaving them to fend for themselves in the forest.
Maxi mainly went to talk to Romuald about what had happened in the camp during his absence.
Romuald told him that most of the won had regained so energy and were helping out with the camp's household chores.
One in particular even chopped wood with the rcenaries, despite her extrely weak physique.
She exuded a powerful resolve that made many rcenaries admire her.
So wanted to court her, but she firmly rejected any man who wished to approach her.
But Laura developed a certain rapport with the woman, and they beca friends.
Maxi was intrigued.
"What's her na?
"Yda," Romuald answered simply.
Maxi tried to rember the na, then continued talking with Romuald.
Everyone here stayed another 3 days to prepare for their departure to Plouta.
Counting Maxi's departure to Hydrocamp, his return and now these 3 extra days, it had been 5 days since the forr bandits had joined the saber-toothed tigers.
During these 5 days, the new recruits were able to discover just how beneficial Maxi's talent was.
Romuald assigned tasks to everyone, but left more free ti for training to the rcenaries who had expressed their wish to join the battlefield.
Although they didn't have ti to reach the level of elite soldier, most were able to attain 1.3 physical points.
This attracted the envious glances of the forr bandits who had decided to beco the saber-toothed tigers' logistics staff.
They themselves had not progressed due to lack of free ti.
But no one changed their minds, believing that staying alive was the most important thing right now.
Maxi respected these logistical personnel, because if he'd been in their shoes, he thought he'd have chosen security at first too, and then, once he'd beco strong enough, he'd have asked to beco a real rcenary.
At dawn on the 6th day, when the first glimrs of sunlight pierced through the morning mist, the rcenaries stood ready, lined up and silent.
Each wore his or her own equipnt, giving the ensemble a motley look. The colors of their cloaks and capes ranged from dark brown to olive green, earthy tones that allowed them to blend into the countryside.
Despite this diversity, a clear cohesion reigned in the group.
The mont Maxi waved his hand, they set off, leaving the camp and heading into the forest, straight for the battle ahead.
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