Maxi paused for a mont, watching the vibrant city, and murmured to himself:
"For how much longer?"
After being allowed into the city, Maxi and his rcenaries separated from the crowd on the central alley and moved into a cobbled alley, looking for a place to rest.
The group, exhausted by the battles and the night's flight, was in desperate need of sleep. Rodrigo suddenly raised his hand and pointed to a carved wooden sign depicting a sleeping dragon, called L'Auberge de l'antre du Dragon.
They entered, and were greeted by a puff of warmth and a delicious sll of stew.
All the rcenaries began to swallow thanks to the sll mixed with the cries of distress from their stomachs.
The innkeeper, a stocky man with grey hair and bright eyes, quickly sized them up. But despite their dirty, battle-scarred outfits, he didn't neglect them.
The weapons they carried made it clear that they were not to be trifled with.
On the contrary, he knew better than to offend powerful fighters whatever their appearance.
"Good evening and welco to the Auberge de l'Antre du dragon, what can I do for you?" he asked in a slightly husky voice.
Maxi placed a few gold coins on the counter, a paynt that more than covered their needs.
"A good al and beds for 30, please."
The innkeeper nodded and handed them iron keys, indicating the staircase to the upper floors.
"Your al will be ready in 15 minutes, you can rest in your rooms.
"Your room numbers are indicated on the keys.
"A mber of our staff will co and let you know when your al is ready."
Maxi was satisfied and let the rcenaries disperse with their keys.
So collapsed on the beds as soon as they were in their rooms, others took the ti to remove their dusty boots and tend to their wounds.
As for Maxi, he sat on the edge of his bed for a while, his mind still tense, ntally replaying the latest events.
The image of the orc army advancing under the trembling light of their torches still haunted his thoughts.
Especially that mysterious orc shaman, he really thought for a mont that they would have been forced to engage in combat with those orcs.
If that had happened, even he didn't know if he would have made it out alive.
Shortly afterwards, a woman passed through the rooms to warn that the al was ready.
So of the rcenaries had already fallen asleep, but they were shaken by their teammate to force them to go and eat.
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At dawn, after a few hours' restful sleep and a hearty breakfast, Maxi gathered his n in the inn's great hall.
They had all had a chance to take a bath in the water, while their equipnt had been washed by the inn's staff.
They were much more presentable than when they had returned to town.
Now they had to appear before Count Ardan with proof of their battle and claim their reward.
Each rcenary's features were marked by fatigue, but a gleam of determination shone in their eyes.
Proudly carrying the saddlebag containing the orc ears, the group once again made their way through the streets of Lapi, which was slowly waking up under the first rays of the sun.
Their passage through the streets frightened so of the town's citizens, as the aura they exuded in the street was still marked by the previous battles they had experienced.
Unlike the civilians who circulated here and lived a happy, peaceful life, the rcenaries had seen blood, killed with their own hands, and put their lives on the line in recent days.
So obviously, there was sothing of a collision between the two worlds when they ca face to face.
As they walked towards Count Ardan's mansion, a group of young n in burgundy uniforms crossed by gold embroidery blocked their path.
Leading the way was a young man nad Leo, a tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed man who stopped them with suspicious eyes.
"Well, what do you hope to achieve by parading around like that?" challenged Léo.
Maxi, aware of the futility of a conflict here, replied calmly.
"We're rcenaries. We're on our way to the manor to show the count our military rits and claim our reward."
The young teenagers were surprised, but when they saw that the rcenaries were mostly around their own age, they burst out laughing.
Another apprentice, Tomas, a dark-haired, square-jawed boy, raised an eyebrow.
"Are you making fun of us? How could poor rcenaries like you kill orcs? Even apprentice knights like us have to risk our lives to kill just one!"
Maxi took another look at them.
Lapi deserved to be a count's capital; they could et a dozen apprentice knights at random in the morning.
However, he was far too busy to waste ti with apprentice knights who were obviously still in training and had therefore never seen blood.
"Andrew, could you please clear the way?"
The latter agreed with a big smile at Maxi's request.
"It's my pleasure to do it."
Seeing a red-haired young man erge from the rcenary group, the apprentice knights felt contemptuous.
"What do you plan to do?" asked Leo, curious.
"Clear the way of course, what else could I do?"
The apprentice knights were particularly angry on hearing this, especially Tomas.
"We're apprentice knights from the purple knight academy!"
"Our academy trains over fifty powerful apprentice knights every year!"
"Do you really think a re rcenary like you can defeat us?"
In this world, apprentice knights almost never joined rcenary groups, as the risk/reward ratio was far more attractive when they served nobles than when they risked their lives as rcenaries.
What's more, the profession of apprentice knight in the service of a nobleman was far more glorious than that of apprentice knight in a rcenary group.
In fact, apprentice knights joining rcenaries were seen as waste products with no potential and a rebellious streak.
As a result, Ultia and Henry found it even more difficult to make a choice beforehand.
"Ohhhh are apprentice knights from an academy so powerful?" exclaid Andrew with a contemptuous smile.
"Of course they are! Our breathing thod and our training are far more qualitative than all the apprentice knights you could find at barons and viscounts!" replied Leo, confidently.
"Exactly, we're one level above!" continued Tomas.
"During the tournants held in the capital, we regularly manage to have an apprentice knight in the top 10!"
"Our apprentice knights from the south are well known for their fighting power!"
Andrew felt like laughing to hear these guys boasting so much about their performance.
Then suddenly he had a good idea.
"In our rcenary group, we have two apprentice knights who co from Baron Irut's territory, would you like to have a match?"
"Apprentice knights in your rcenary group?"
"And they want to compare themselves to us?"
"Is this a joke?"
"Who's even Baron Irut?"
"Do you know the guys?"
"No, never heard of them..."
The apprentice knights of the purple knight academy burst out laughing.
"Do you accept or not?"
Andrew's firm, powerful voice cald the apprentice knights' ardor.
At this point, sohow, they sensed that Andrew was a particularly strong individual.
"Yeah, we accept." finally replied Leo with a confident face.
The ruckus began to draw many villagers into the street.
Seeing that the situation could get out of hand, the apprentice knights proposed to have the duel at their academy.
Andrew then looked to Maxi for authorization.
Maxi gestured with his hand that he didn't care and could accept.
"All right, we'll follow you."
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