[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
Chapter 170: Split (1)
***
The rcenary King’s Collapse
“Father… collapsed?”
Athena’s face drained of color at the rcenary’s words.
“What do you an? Why did Father collapse?”
“I… I don’t know either. I only know that the rcenary King was found collapsed about a week ago.”
Athena’s body staggered. Damien supported her to prevent her from falling and asked the rcenary,
“Where is the rcenary King?”
“He, he’s in his quarters. The other purebloods are taking care of him…”
Before the rcenary could finish speaking, Athena ran towards the rcenary King’s quarters. Damien followed her.
The tent where the rcenary King was staying was much more splendid than the others, so they were able to find it quickly.
At the entrance of the tent, a woman sat with a bow in her hand. It was Cynthia, the rcenary King’s confidante.
“Cynthia!”
“You’ve co, milady.”
Cynthia replied with a calm face. She opened the door of the tent and spoke to Athena.
“The rcenary King is inside. Please go in.”
“Th, thank you.”
Athena entered the tent with Cynthia. Damien followed the two of them.
The rcenary King was lying alone in a bed that was big enough for three or four people to sleep in at the sa ti.
The rcenary King looked exactly the sa as when Damien had last seen him, like a young boy.
The only difference was that his eyes were closed and he didn’t move at all.
“Father!”
Athena grabbed the rcenary King’s hand, but he didn’t open his eyes even at his daughter’s call. He looked like a dead man.
Tears soon welled up in Athena’s eyes.
“W, what happened? Why did Father collapse? He was so healthy that he couldn’t be collapsed like that!”
“We haven’t figured out the cause yet.”
“But we have to do sothing!”
“We’ve tried everything from potions to magical tools, but he just won’t wake up.”
At Cynthia’s explanation, Athena bit her lip without saying a word.
‘The rcenary King collapsed at this ti?’
Damien looked at the rcenary King and fell into thought.
What Damien knew about the Fafnir rcenary Company was that the rcenary King had fallen for the dark mage’s trick and split the rcenary group.
‘There’s no guarantee that what I know is true. I didn’t see it myself.’
The information Damien knew was only what he had heard from others. The truth might be completely different.
‘There’s no way soone like the rcenary King could just collapse.’
The rcenary King was a powerhouse that surpassed the Master Class. His body and soul had long since transcended humanity.
And yet, such a person had not only fainted but was also unable to regain consciousness? Soone must have intervened.
‘The only person who could do sothing like this is… Rubia.’
What was incomprehensible was how she had managed to bring down the rcenary King.
The rcenary King was a Transcendent, and he also had the blood of a dragon flowing through his veins.
That’s why the rcenary King had a natural resistance to drugs and curses.
‘No, the dragon’s bloodline is a strength, but it’s also a weakness.’
There was no creature in the world that had been studied as much as the dragon.
This was because, from a researcher’s point of view, there was no creature as fascinating as the dragon, with its imnse power as the strongest on the continent and its nurous abilities.
Mages and dark mages alike had studied dragons, and as a result, many of their weaknesses had been uncovered.
Of course, knowing a weakness didn’t an that one could do anything about it.
‘But the rcenary King is not a dragon in the strict sense. Moreover, he has the fatal flaw of being attracted to won.’
There was no way the rcenary King would have left a beautiful woman like Rubia alone.
So there must have been plenty of opportunities for Rubia to manipulate the rcenary King.
‘Hmm?’
As Damien observed the rcenary King, he realized one thing.
It was so faint that no one else would have noticed it if it hadn’t been for Damien.
‘Rubia, you’ve played a pretty interesting trick.’
Damien smirked as he thought this.
It was then that Cynthia spoke to Athena.
“Milady, I understand that you’re going through a difficult ti, but you need to pull yourself together.”
“An ergency eting will be held soon. As a first-generation pureblood, you must attend.”
At Cynthia’s words, Athena wiped her tears with the back of her hand and stood up.
Athena walked out of the tent first. Damien was about to follow her.
“Sir Damien.”
Cynthia stopped Damien and said,
“Please take care of the young lady.”
***
Damien and Athena headed to the eting place that Cynthia had ntioned.
Inside a large tent that had been set up temporarily, chairs were arranged in a circle.
Many rcenaries were already sitting in the chairs, talking loudly. Their expressions were all very serious.
‘This is amazing.’
As soon as he entered the eting room, Damien couldn’t help but be impressed.
Among those sitting down were a large number of Master Classes.
‘Blade Storm, Blue Lightning, Executioner… I never thought I’d see them so soon.’
Among them were so Masters that Damien had fought himself. They were all faces that he could acknowledge.
However, it wasn’t just Masters that were present. There were also purebloods who were High Class.
In addition, there were middle-aged won present.
They didn’t train their bodies or cultivate mana. To the outside eye, they seed like ordinary people.
However, the purebloods treated these won with respect. Even the Masters did the sa.
‘They must be the leaders of the factions.’
The Fafnir rcenary Company was divided into several factions.
The core of each faction was the rcenary King’s won, in other words, the mothers of the purebloods.
“It seems that everyone who is coming has arrived.”
One of the middle-aged won stood up and spoke. As she did so, the eting room fell silent in an instant.
Damien recognized the woman’s face imdiately.
Claire Fowler.
She was the rcenary King’s first woman and the leader of the largest faction. Rubia also belonged to that faction.
“It has been a week since the rcenary King collapsed. During that ti, we have not been able to handle any requests. I felt that it was ti to appoint a proxy, so I called this ergency eting.”
The other rcenaries nodded at Claire Fowler’s words.
The Fafnir rcenary Company was the best rcenary group on the continent. Requests ca from all over the continent.
Soone needed to take over the operation of the rcenary group in the rcenary King’s place.
“So who do you plan to choose as the proxy?”
A woman sitting on the opposite side of Claire Fowler asked.
She looked a little older than Claire Fowler, but she was still old.
“Surely you don’t plan to choose soone from your side, Claire?”
Susan asked in a sharp tone. Claire smiled and said,
“Of course not. I plan to gather everyone’s opinions and entrust it to the most suitable person. So please all speak up and nominate a candidate.”
Susan looked at Claire with a very suspicious expression and said,
“You’re not going to rig the vote, are you?”
“Then I will be the first to make a recomndation. I think my son, Lennox, is the right person.”
As soon as Susan spoke, another woman from a different faction opened her mouth.
“Lennox? That guy failed a request last ti and caused a lot of damage to the rcenary group, didn’t he?”
Susan’s face flushed red at the woman’s words.
“T-that wasn’t Lennox’s fault! It was the Empire’s fault for interfering!”
“Joey is much more suitable to be the proxy than Lennox. Joey is recognized by the rcenary King for his skills and he is also running his own rcenary group!”
“Joey? He’s not good enough! How can he be the proxy with his skills?”
The words and actions of each faction beca increasingly rough. The atmosphere was so heated that it was starting to look dangerous.
“How can we trust Lenic’s judgnt! He’s definitely going to tarnish the reputation of the Fafnir rcenary Company!”
“Ha! What about Thomas? You don’t seriously think that idiot can be the proxy, do you?”
The word “family” did not apply in this place.
It was filled with hyenas who were after the attractive position of the rcenary King’s proxy.
“These idiots… Father is collapsed, and what are they doing… .”
Athena sighed and muttered. Damien agreed with Athena’s words.
‘I wondered why the Fafnir rcenary Company were divided… .’
It was all because of power.
The power struggle between the factions was more intense than Damien had thought.
Until now, they had been suppressed by the overwhelming presence of the rcenary King.
In the absence of the rcenary King, the conflict had finally exploded.
‘If this conflict continues to escalate, there will be an internal war.’
It was unclear how this ca to be blad on the rcenary King.
There was only one thing that was certain.
‘We can’t let the rcenary group split up like this.’
The Fafnir rcenary Company was the third most powerful force after the Empire and the Church.
However, in the process of fighting each other in the internal war, its size was greatly reduced.
If the Fafnir rcenary Company had maintained their full strength, humanity would not have been defeated so easily by Dorugo in the War of Destruction.
‘To stop this, we need to wake up the rcenary King first.’
While Damien was lost in thought,
“But it seems like there’s soone here who doesn’t belong.”
Claire Fowler raised her voice again. Her gaze was directed at Athena.
“Athena, why are you sitting here?”
When Athena opened her mouth to protest Claire Fowler’s question,
“That’s right. Did that child have the qualifications to do so?”
Susan agreed with Claire’s opinion. She was not the only one.
“She hasn’t reached the position or the level yet. It doesn’t seem like she’s qualified.”
The won from the other factions also agreed with the two of them. It was as if their previous fight had been a lie.
“Athena, will you leave now?”
Claire spoke in a soft voice and pointed to the door.
It was practically an eviction order.
***
In the end, Athena had no choice but to leave the eting room without saying a word.
“Stupid idiots.”
Athena muttered angrily. She looked back at Damien and said,
“What’s the big deal about being alone……? Is this how they’re going to act……?”
Since Athena was favored by the rcenary King, she did not belong to any faction.
The other factions must have been unhappy with Athena monopolizing the rcenary King’s favor.
So much so that they were ready to pounce on Athena as soon as the rcenary King’s shield disappeared.
“I’m sorry…… I wanted to send soone to the Kingdom of Grape as soon as possible to get the compensation…… but it looks like it will take so ti.”
“That’s not good.”
With the rcenary King collapsed, it was unclear when they would be able to send soone. It was clear that they would have to wait indefinitely.
“R, right…… I’ll try to find a way soon……”
Athena spoke with a dispirited expression, as if she had misunderstood Damien’s words.
“That’s not what I an. I’m saying that we need to wake your father up quickly, because we don’t have ti to wait.”
“Huh? Wake him up? Y, you an there’s a way?”
Damien nodded at Athena’s question.
“T, then you should have said so earlier! L, let’s go quickly!”
Damien stopped Athena as she tried to run off.
“That’s not the way.”
“What do you an? Father’s tent is over there.”
“That’s a fake.”
Athena made a face like she was talking nonsense. Damien spoke to her in a firm tone.
“The real one is sowhere else.”
***
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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