The next day…
Lux asked to bring his entire rcenary Group with him to look for "food supplies" and left the Ammarian Encampnt after breakfast.
Once they were two miles away from the camp, the Half-Elf told everyone that he had sothing very important to tell them.
When everyone was properly seated and ready to listen to him, he told them about his attempt to contact the Yelan Encampnt, which surprised everyone including Lux's circle of friends.
The red-headed teenager then told them that the two Great Generals of the Yelan Army gave him a very generous offer to switch their allegiance and jump to their side of the battlefield.
When Lux showed everyone the bounties and the rewards that they would get once they completed their mission, all of them were ecstatic.
So of them never imagined that they would get a Pseudo-Legendary Weapon just by doing a quest, and it made them look at the Half-Elf as if he was an idiot for not accepting such a generous offer right away.
Lux knew that now was the ti to tell them the bad news, and just as it did to him, the bad news wiped the smiles and excitent from everyone's faces.
—-----
< Penalty >
– You and your rcenary Group will lose 2,000 Stat Points imdiately, which will be evenly taken out of your current stats.
– You and your rcenary Group will each lose 1,000,000 Gold Coins for breaking your contract.
—-----
"One million gold coins just for breaking the contract… this… isn't this too much?"
"I don't even have 100,000 gold coins. How can I possibly pay that penalty?"
"Hiss…. 2,000 stat points. This is so brutal."
Just as Lux expected, after seeing the penalty, everyone felt very conflicted about whether they should switch sides or not.
Nero, Malcolm, Henrietta, as well as the leader of the representatives of the Xynnar War Pact nad, Jasper, felt that this was simply too much.
"I will not force you guys to switch sides because I understand that the penalty is simply too much," Lux said after several minutes had passed. "However, I've decided to switch sides to the Yelan Camp because I've fought with them once. Also, there is one more reason, aside from my personal bias, why I want to switch sides. They are very generous when it cos to rewards."
The mbers of the different factions couldn't refute Lux's words when it ca to the rewards, their offer was truly too good to be true. If not for the penalty, they would have been begging him to accept the quest of switching allegiance at once.
"I'd like to switch sides, but the penalty is simply too much for . I only have 150,000 Gold Coins in my storage," a mber of Nero's Guild said with a pained expression. "I can't pay for the penalty."
Lux nodded in understanding before crossing his arms over his chest.
"You know, I've been thinking about this problem all night, and I have co to one solution," Lux stated. "I decided to make my Father, Alexander Von Kaizer, shoulder the gold penalty for the Storm Dragon's Guild, as well as my friends Henrietta, Cai, Keane, Einar, Val and Xander."
After hearing this news, the mbers of the Storm Dragon Guild looked at the Half-Elf as if he was an angel.
As for Cai and Keane, they couldn't stop the corner of their lips from twitching because they knew how filthy rich the Half-Elf was due to his hoard of Draconium Ore. And yet, he still used his own Step-Father to pay for the penalty for them.
—--------------
Barbatos Academy…
Alexander calmly set his teacup on top of the table as he looked at the projection in front of him.
If one were to look closely, they would be able to see that the corner of his lips was twitching a bit.
Iris, on the other hand, covered her lips as her whole body trembled. She was doing her best to not laugh out loud at how bold her fiance's action was.
Even Alicia, who was always on Lux's side, couldn't help but pinch the bride of her nose because of the Half-Elf's declaration
Pay the gold penalty of the Storm Dragon's Guild and Lux's friends?
That was twenty-one million gold coins!
Although Alexander could afford it, that didn't an that he would simply take out that amount of money just because Lux said that he would shoulder it.
"S-Sir… you don't have to–," Alicia was about to say that the Headmaster of Barbatos Academy didn't need to agree to Lux's shaless declaration.
However, before she could finish her words, the Saint raised his right hand, and gestured for her to stop whatever she was going to say next.
"It's fine," Alexander replied. "I'll shoulder the penalty."
Alexander looked at the Half-Elf with a critical gaze.
Lux had never been willful in the past and never dared to ask him for anything. Since the Half-Elf decided to use him to pay the penalty, it ant that the latter was confident that he could pay him back for the money that he would lend him.
Iris looked at her father with a smile of satisfaction. Just like Alexander, Iris also knew that her fiance wouldn't do sothing so shaless unless he had sothing of equal value to exchange.
For now, they just continued to watch the projection and see how the discussion with the rest of the group would play out.
—--------------
"What about us?" Malcolm asked. "Can't you pay the penalty for us?"
"Don't worry, I also thought of a good way for you guys to bypass the gold penalty issue," Lux replied with a smile. "Actually, this is not really a problem. You'll just need to ask Emperor Andreas to pay for your share. Simple, right?"
"W-What did you say?!" Malcolm's face imdiately beca pale after hearing the Half-Elf's words. "A-Are you insane? That's Emperor Andreas. He's not so kind of generous rchant that will throw away five million gold coins for the likes of us!"
Lux nodded in agreent because he also believed that the Emperor of the Vahan Empire wasn't that generous.
However, the Emperor was ambitious.
Lux knew that what had happened in the Vahan Empire was sothing that Emperor Andreas had staged in order to make things difficult for him.
Although it was not the Emperor who had ordered the farce to take place in the Coliseum, he gave it his silent approval, making him guilty in Lux's books.
Because they cornered him to the point that he almost got seriously injured, Vera was forced to show up despite the fact that she was still recovering from her injury in order to save Lux. Because of this, she suffered from a backlash and had to rest for an indefinite period of ti.
"Don't worry," Lux said. "If your Emperor is given the choice between failing this mission or getting a higher chance of success, then five million gold coins is nothing to him. My Father is going to toss twenty-one million gold coins for my sake, and your Emperor can't even take out a asly five million? Is he that much of a cheapskate?"
Malcolm and the other representatives of the Skystead Alliance looked at the Half-Elf as if he was suicidal. They were wearing artifacts that allowed the outside world to hear and see what they were hearing and seeing.
They were sure that at this very mont, everyone outside the Domain of the Fallen had heard the Half-Elf's words by now.
"The sa can also be said for the Xynnar War Pact and the Six Kingdoms," Lux stated. "If they can't even shoulder one million gold coins then you guys can stay in the Ammarian Camp and declare that your rcenary Leader decided to switch sides.
"Naturally, although you remain on their side, they might treat you as spies, and you will always be under suspicion for every wrong thing that happens in the camp. I'm sure that General Phobus will be more than happy to use you as target practice for his throwing knives."
Everyti quieted down after hearing the Half-Elf's words.
After the successive losses of the Ammarian Camp, General Phobus was like a ticking ti bomb. No one wanted to be around him, and the only one that could stay by his side was the Vice-General, who had been sent by his family to aid him in the war.
Nero then cleared his throat to catch Lux's attention, and the latter glanced in his direction, telling the Guild Master of the Storm Dragon Clan that he had his attention.
"Now that the million gold coins are resolved, how do you plan to settle the 2,000 stat points decrease?" Nero asked. "Most of us stepped through the Initiate Rank after absorbing the Beast Cores we gained from the mission. Once we switch sides, we will lose those points and regress to being Apostles. How do you plan to deal with this problem?"
Everyone also perked their ears as they looked at the Half-Elf who still had a calm expression on his face.
"Actually, the answer to that is simple. All we need to do is…"
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