The corridor that Maxi walked alongside Count Ardan was lined with tapestries depicting the exploits of the academy's most renowned knights.
"Curious about these knights?" asked the Count, his voice echoing down the corridor.
"Rather yes, at what points are they strong to have their portrait hung here?"
Maxi was genuinely curious, this world has its own history, and each story has its own singularity that makes it interesting.
"Most of them are as strong as , if not stronger than ."
"So powerful? These are people who have reached at least the stage of grand knight?"
The Count nodded as he walked on.
"Correct, with the exception of a few people who were on the borderline of the knight stage and who perford particularly important ritorious deeds."
"Otherwise I've heard rumors about you, Maxi."
"The count is joking, what kind of rumors can circulate about a rcenary without renown."
"Yet I have heard rumors about a very powerful young man who grows stronger and stronger, possessing a strength that could explode at any mont."
"He also has under his command ordinary forr villagers who in a very short ti have beco as strong as apprentice knights."
After the Count ntioned the na of the rcenary group, Maxi already expected the Count to have a lot of information on them.
But he was still surprised to learn that the Count knew so much about him.
"These rumors are exaggerated, one doesn't beco stronger overnight, but it must be said that I have a certain eye for spotting people with potential."
Maxi preferred to play the modesty card mixed with a little truth rather than say directly:
"I have a monstrous talent that ans anyone can beco as much as an elite soldier in a very short ti or even an apprentice knight for those if the original talent is better than average."
The Count stopped abruptly and turned his head towards him, his gaze piercing.
"Your n have potential, that's undeniable. But what interests is you, and what you're really after by coming here. Gold? Glory? Or sothing deeper?"
Maxi hesitated for a mont before answering, his voice lowered, almost ditative:
"What I'm looking for goes beyond gold or glory. I want to offer my n and those who follow us the chance to choose their own path, far from the inflexible laws of lords and knights. I want to show that we can beco a force in our own right, without having to bend the knee a nobleman."
Obviously this was all bullshit, what in this world was more important than gold to Maxi?
A slight smile appeared on the Count's lips, revealing a mixture of approval and intrigue.
"You remind of soone, Maxi. Soone who once wanted to change the world without submitting to the rules that already existed."
He resud his walk, and Maxi followed him in silence, pondering the aning of these words.
"What was this man's na?"
Count Ardan didn't answer imdiately, as if pondering whether he should answer this question.
"His na was Igor," he finally replied in a flat tone.
Maxi made a note in his head to research the subject later, as Count Ardan obviously didn't want to talk about it in depth.
A few monts later, they finally reached the Count's office.
It was a room of impressive dinsions, with bookcases covered with rare manuscripts and detailed maps of the kingdom.
A large window overlooked the training yard, where duels between rcenaries and apprentices were beginning to intensify.
Ardan walked over to a table in the center of the room and placed a sealed parchnt on it.
"Before we talk about military rits or anything else, there's sothing I wish to show you, Maxi."
He tore off the seal and unrolled the parchnt on a large table in the middle of the room.
Maxi's eyes crinkled as he read the words written on it.
It was a report detailing the appearance of new troop movents on the kingdom's frontier, particularly the troops of Count Ardan, Baron Roulf, Viscountess Elda and other nobles.
There was also ntion of the movents of various orc armies, including the one Maximus had encountered before arriving in Lapi.
"You understand why I'm showing you this, don't you?" asked Ardan with an intriguing smile.
But Maxi shook his head.
"How could I guess the Count's thoughts? Could you enlighten ?"
The Count placed his hands on the table and leaned towards Maxi. Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire
"It's no accident that I agreed to receive you so promptly. Your group and your talent could play a key role in the war against the orcs."
Maxi looked up as he t the Count's intense gaze.
"Yes, and that's what I intended to do with my rcenary group."
The Count nodded slowly.
"Except you're not just going to participate, Maxi. I want you to beco a pivot, a point of balance in this storm."
The silence that followed was heavy, while outside, the sound of clashing blades continued and could be faintly heard in the room.
"I hope you're joking," Maxi finally added with displeasure.
"Among the orc armies there are many orcs comparable to knights, to send us against them is to send us to die."
The Count continued to smile, clearly not worried that Maxi would refuse.
"I'm not asking you and your rcenaries to go against these armies."
"On the contrary, I'd like you to do the things you already know how to do."
Maxi frowned, confused.
"aning?"
"Save the villages." the Count replied directly.
Then he went on to explain:
"Orc armies, for greater efficiency, dispatch their armies quickly to eradicate as many villages as possible in a short ti, while plundering as much food as possible."
"For us, this increases the difficulty of the task enormously, as our manpower is limited and not flexible enough."
"So we're in urgent need of help right now."
"And for that I'm prepared to pay a high price."
Maxi finally understood the Count's intentions, and it was indeed up to them.
"How much would the salary be?"
"300 gold pieces, adding a bonus of one gold piece per orc killed, while an orc with the strength of a knight will count for 100 gold pieces."
Maxi was about to negotiate the price, seeming slightly too low in his opinion, but before he could, the Count added a short sentence.
"Oh, and it's 300 gold pieces a week, not a month."
Maxi was shocked but contained his surprise inside himself.
"A count's wealth is indeed beyond my imagination," Maxi thought silently.
Thanks to the Count, Maxi will be able to earn at least 1,200 gold coins - a huge fortune at his stage!
With such a sum coming his way, Maxi couldn't help but have an exciting thought.
"Maybe I'll have enough to improve my talent?"
[NOX LIMIT level 1 (rank unknown) (0/1000)]
"Let's try to save as much as we can this month."
"I wonder what might happen once the talent is improved?"
Maxi had a vague intuition that upgrading didn't improve existing effects, but rather that it would unlock a new effect.
But for the mont that didn't matter.
"That's a generous offer, Monsieur le Comte, but I have one condition."
"Tell , Maxi?"
"I wish to retain full power over our movents, aning that you can issue missions and we are free to accept them or not."
"At the sa ti, in the field, I remain the person who gets the final say on the fate of my n."
The Count hesitated only a mont before nodding.
From the outset, he had no intention of controlling the movents of Maxi and his rcenaries.
On the contrary, he was spending a little money to get a surprise.
Yes, a surprise.
He was making a bet here.
If it succeeded, so much the better; if not, he'd only be a little disappointed.
"I hear your request, Maxi, and I accept it. You'll have carte blanche to conduct your operations as you see fit, provided you deliver regular reports on your missions. And believe , these reports will be closely scrutinized."
Maxi nodded, satisfied with this clause.
"We have a deal then," he replied, extending his hand towards Ardan.
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