The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Chapter 401 - Roles

            It took three days for the group to reach the base of the nearest mercenary group. In the meantime, Zaos started to wonder if he didn't make a mistake… even the nights were pretty hot in that country. Still, despite the fact that the wind solved the problem when Zaos didn't try to block it at night with his tents. It was weird to camp like that, but it seemed that there was no other option. Aleni seemed used to the climate, and weirdly enough, even Milliendra seemed fine… Zaos was the only one who woke up a night drenched in sweat several times.

"I suppose I like the cold better…" Zaos furrowed his eyes while he recalled the period where he stayed in the north for three years.

            The first town they arrived in was called Anaka, and the group allocated there called themselves the wolves of the desert… even though there weren't deserts around. Apparently, that group had three siblings that were the leaders. They were Dalli, Jaki, and Olli… the town was pretty large considering that it had many groups' mercenaries in that region and that one was just one of many. It had around five hundred houses, and ten of those were supposed to be commercial buildings or shops that helped the wolves of the desert.

            Zaos clicked his tongue when he saw three guards in the town's southern entrance, but it seemed the mercenaries weren't guarding only there. Still, much to his surprise, they didn't do anything to his wagon aside from looking with attention. When they saw Aleni and Milliendra, they lost interest.

"It seems that they are only looking for previous enemies and spies," Aleni said.

"Why can't they assume that other groups would use kids to make spies look less suspicious?" Zaos asked.

"Your image of mercenaries is quite…" Aleni said and then noticed that she was probably trained by someone who had ties with them. "Anyway, they wouldn't use such a tactic and tarnish their names. If you want to be successful as a mercenary or as a leader, you have to show that you are capable by using your own strength, not cowardly tactics. Once rumors that someone uses dirty tactics like that, their career is pretty much over."

"I guess that makes sense," Zaos said.

                    Zaos tried to keep his guard up just in case, but a good smell suddenly made him relax. It was almost time for lunch, and Zaos wanted to eat something more fresh-looking… following the good smell, Zaos found an inn that had a tavern in it. Zaos didn't like those places since Milliendra needed to sleep early, and those places stayed noisy until late in the night. Unfortunately, Zaos only saw another inn, and that one didn't like a pretty good place to sleep.

"I suppose it can't be helped…" Zaos shrugged.

                    After renting a room and then unpacking their things, Zaos took Milliendra and Aleni to have lunch in the tavern. It was noon, so the place wasn't that noisy. While Zaos wasn't a fan of fish, the one that he ordered in the restaurant was strangely tasty. It was probably due to the condiments they used.

"Daddy, this is good, but why is it so sour?" Milliendra asked.

"It is good, because it is sour," Zaos replied.

                    That didn't make any sense in Milliendra's head, and Zaos laughed a little when he saw her making those confused expressions. In any case, it seemed that Zaos had some really weird preconceptions regarding the mercenaries' country. Milliendra was drinking some lemon juice, and it was fruit that could only be cultivated in the mercenaries' country. Still, he had imagined that they didn't cultivate their lands… or perhaps only the craziest mercenary leaders don't do that. Some people think that just stealing is less time-consuming…

"It seems the war is finally over… the Sairus kingdom won and now they are the major power in the world."

"You can't respect that power, they used assassins to kill many officers. I also heard that the queen and king were killed by assassins. I also heard that the assassins killed them while they were in bed… what a nasty bunch."

                    Zaos knew that rumors rarely spread the true information about certain incidents. Still, it troubled him the fact that people were thinking that he was a nasty assassin that killed people when they were having fun in bed.

"You look troubled," Aleni said with a smile on her face. "Why?"

"You already know the truth, so don't ask why," Zaos said and then sighed.

                    Zaos and Aleni ate their lunch very slowly because they wanted to hear a few things more before returning to their room. While Aleni could always gather Intel easily at night, certain people only have the courage to say certain things during the day. In the end, that worked out well for them.

"It seems that the desert wolves are planning another big campaign."

"That doesn't make any sense, you know… after last year."

"Well, it looks like the three siblings are trying to repair the fame. After last year's defeat, they stopped growing… in any case, I wonder who their target will be. If they fail again, I bet this town will fall in someone else's hands."

                    It seemed that Zaos had arrived at a pretty good time to make a name for himself as a mercenary. While that was a good chance, he didn't want to join a group just for that. He wanted to join one that had information about the assassins that trained Aleni.. He had to be careful because most mercenaries work for several months for the same person, so there was a chance he might pick a job that would force him to protect Milliendra from a distance, and that would be problematic… Unfortunately, only Aleni could find out that kind of thing, and naturally, that type of information could be learned in the darkness of the night… Zaos looked at Aleni, and she nodded, already knowing what he had to do.