Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
Chapter 521: Orcs Enter Black River City
Mercenary Groups and Adventurers hold extraordinary significance for a border city like Black River City. The establishment of a powerful mercenary group can even drive the economic development of the entire city.
This is not an exaggeration. Powerful mercenary groups can often resolve various commissions posted by residents. Secondly, they can hunt more high-level monsters in the wilderness and find precious treasures to supply the city’s auction houses. With high-level magic cores and treasures, grand auctions will attract more merchants. Residents and merchants exchange supplies. Merchants resell items. Many merchants even find business opportunities and purchase property in Black River City, some even settling down there directly.
A booming economy will attract population inflow into Black River City. The population will gradually provide productivity and military strength to the city, ultimately improving the overall development level of the city. Therefore, Black River City has always maintained an open and inclusive attitude towards mercenary groups.
Now, a powerful mercenary group is right before them. The knight felt that no matter what, he couldn’t refuse them. Perhaps, as these strong men said? They are indeed ugly, but they are gentle and kind? After some internal struggle, he decided to go down with two soldiers to take a look, but his current leather armor wouldn’t do. He walked into his temporarily residing tower, took off his leather armor, and put on the heavy armor used for charging into battle. Still feeling uneasy, he also took the diluted Life Water from Your Majesty Winter and a tower shield taller than himself. Only then did he feel a slight sense of security.
“You, you, come down with me to see!”
The two soldiers pointed at by the knight wailed, resigned to their fate, and followed the knight down the city wall in trepidation. They had already prepared themselves mentally. If those strong men made any moves, they would run away without looking back!
The three of them descended the city wall in a throng and moved in front of the Orcs. When looking from the tower earlier, the knight thought these people just looked a bit intimidating. Once they were up close, he regretted it a little.
The bald man at the head of the group had pectoral muscles almost bigger than his wife’s, and his chest hair was more dense than his hair. His height was even more considerable, a head taller than the knight. He stood there like an iron tower, with a single-edged heavy axe strapped to his back. The axe blade was as wide as a palm and covered in dark red bloodstains. Could his heavy armor really withstand this thing? The two ordinary soldiers fared even worse. They only dared to hide behind the tower shield held by the knight, their legs trembling uncontroll4.
“Ahem, you, you, show me that mercenary group’s emblem again?” The knight was secretly on guard, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at any moment. Bart and Pet quickly took out their emblems and handed them to the knight. “Here, please look, we are really good people!” The word “you” slightly eased the knight’s heart. After all, if they were truly bad people, they wouldn’t address him with such respect.
The knight pretended to be calm and carefully examined the emblem in his hand. It was indeed a high-quality adventurer’s guild emblem, not a shoddy imitation. The five large characters “Savage Mercenary Group” in the center were even engraved in gold. “Hmm, your identities are not a problem. Just register your names…” The knight took out a roster and a goose feather pen and was about to hand it to Pet.
“Sir Knight, we cannot write.” Pet was a little embarrassed. Transforming into human form was already their utmost effort. If they had to learn how to write the common language of the human continent, they might as well be killed. This mission would be abandoned. Regarding this issue, the sheepskin scroll left by Layton happened to have a hint. Pet appropriately took out a money bag and handed it to the knight, but it didn’t contain money, but three Tier 2 magic cores, worth about thirty silver coins. This was a characteristic of a mercenary group. They didn’t have much money on them when they came back, but they had plenty of materials.
“What are you doing? Trying to bribe me?!” The knight’s eyes widened, and a cold glint flashed from his eyes under his helmet. “There is no point in doing this. You still have to register your names obediently, otherwise, I will not let you enter the city even if I die. Also, do not attempt to attack me. All the defensive siege weapons on the city walls are already aimed here!”
“I think you must have misunderstood.” Pet grinned a ferocious smile. “We cannot write, so we want to ask you to help us write. This is not money inside, just three magic cores, as a fee for your help in writing.”
“Is that so?” The knight was stunned. He took the money bag and saw that it did indeed contain three Tier 2 magic cores, and his worry lessened. He thought to himself, these strong men, although they look unreasonable, are quite sensible in their dealings!
“Alright then.” The knight accepted the money bag, holding the sheepskin scroll in his left hand and the goose feather pen in his right, with the tower shield propped on the ground. He politely said, “You, you, what are your names?”
Bart: “I, I am Ba… Baga!”
Pet bowed slightly and said, “Lord, my name is Pet!”
“Hmm…” The knight noted down the names of these two mercenary leaders. Then, he sternly warned “Pet” out of the corner of his eye, “Black River City is a city ruled by Your Majesty Winter. There are many rules that you must know in advance and cannot violate. First, do not defecate or urinate anywhere. We have dedicated toilets for you to use. Toilets are completely free of charge, no need to pay. If anyone charges you, they are a骗子 (liar), so don’t be polite, grab him and send him to the Department of Military and Government. Second, do not disturb the residents in the city. Mercenary groups have the same status as residents in our Black River City. Do not think that you are superior just because you can kill a few monsters. Third, you may encounter some people in the city who like to ask you for missions. They have colorful hair and strange names. They are members of the Foreigner Legion. If you need anything, you can ask them for help. As long as you provide sufficient compensation, they are almost omnipotent.”
After speaking, the knight took a breath and took a sip of water from the kettle at his waist. “Alright, that’s about it. Do you remember? Oh right, control your subordinates. If you patronize prostitutes, remember to pay. The prostitutes in the brothels are also protected by law.”
The Orcs nodded in a daze. Bart and Pet were slightly better. At least their eyes were clear, unlike the other Orcs whose eyes were dull, clearly not understanding anything.
“Since you understand, follow me.” The knight nodded with satisfaction. He now agreed more with the identity of these strong men. Just as they said, although they looked fierce, they were easy to get along with. The next step was to keep them in Black River City as much as possible to contribute to its development.
“Recently, Black River City is implementing a people-friendly policy,” the knight introduced as they walked. “Any mercenary group that decides to settle in can receive a free base of operations and a VIP discount card for 20% off. All your consumption in this city will be 20% off, including all taxes, and even visits to brothels will enjoy an 80% discount! Are you considering settling in?”
The Orcs: “Õ_Õ???”
Brothers, if you have time, please recommend this book and give it some electricity. I can’t hold on much longer QAQ. Although I really want to finish it, Penguin (author’s nickname) needs to eat…
