[The short journey is about to begin. What will Salin encounter in the Qinyin Empire? We'll find out by voting …]
Ainphent was free, but if he wanted to leave, he had to wait for the arrival of his family. He still had a mission in town to collect information. This might be the lowest mission in the family, but he still needed someone here.
There were four days until the end of the month, so Salin and the others had to make some preparations. The road from the Phoenix Duchy to the Qinyin Empire wasn't peaceful. There were bandits in the wilderness.
First, they had to buy horses. Wealthy adventurers would prepare three horses, two for transportation, and one for carrying goods. Normal mercenaries would be lucky to have one horse, and they wouldn't be willing to abandon it. Ainphent bought eight horses and fostered them outside.
Adventurers had to be knowledgeable when choosing horses. First, they couldn't choose the standard military horses of the Empire. Those horses had high requirements for grass, and eating weeds would cause diarrhea. They had to choose ponies from the Usu River in the middle of the continent. Although they didn't run fast, they weren't afraid of heat or cold and could survive on anything. They also had much more endurance than military horses, and could be used to pull carts when needed.
Then, they had to prepare luggage. Salin and the others' tents had long been left in the Chaos Swamp. Salin's metal canteen had been given to Cang Hong, and Schica's water bag had been left behind. They had to buy new ones.
As for weapons and armor, Salin didn't need them as he was a Magician. His magic robe didn't have a single hole. Schica's leather armor was of good quality. After a few battles, it didn't even wear out. It was worth thousands of gold coins.
But when Ainphent saw Schica's trademark, he made an obvious pout. Schica's leather armor was produced in the Jungle Weapons Shop, and its background was the Williams family of the Qinyin Empire. The Williams family and the Clyde family were competitors, especially in the business of weapons. The two had competed for hundreds of years.
Ainphent chose a glove for Salin and put it on his left hand so that his hand wouldn't look so scary. The glove was also a magic tool. It was snow-white and made entirely by hand using alchemy. The material was ordinary snow silk. Snow silkworms were level-one magic beasts and could be raised in large quantities. The silk wasn't expensive, but the craftsmanship was.
Wearing this glove didn't affect a Magician's spellcasting at all, and it could even enhance water magic. Snow silk was also used to make soft armor, and was extremely tough. When a magician wears this kind of gloves, it can effectively protect their precious hands. Some Thieves who were good with daggers even dyed these gloves black to replace leather gloves.
Ainphent even changed Shika's leather bag. The leather bag given by the Jungle Weapons Shop did not have a separate space. If anything was stuffed inside, it would be a mess.
After preparing for about two days, a suitable mercenary group came knocking. This was a mercenary group of eight. They accepted the quest from the guild and found Ainphent's shop.
Seeing that Ainphent didn't say a word and only frowned, the leader of the mercenaries laughed heartily and pointed at his badge. "We are a level 5 mercenary group. We're just too lazy to recruit people," he said to Ainphent.
This mercenary was tall and had a dignified appearance. His black hair was cut very short, and he had a standard Qin Yin face. The heavy armor on his body didn't make him look fat. There were many holes on his dark green cloak, but the armor was polished clean.
"I'm Flamingo, the leader of the Nut Mercenary Group."
Flamingo took off his gloves and reached out his hand for a handshake.
"Nut Mercenary Group? The one that killed the Squirrel Bandits? "Ainphent looked much better. He had originally planned to hire more people to escort him and Sarah back to Qin Yin. They had too much money on them, so they had to hire a mercenary group with a good reputation. The reputation of the Nut Mercenary Group was even cleaner than Water of Restoration, and their strength was above average.
The Squirrel Bandits were a low-ranking group, but they were very famous. They didn't have many people, but they had been on the wanted list for more than 120 years. Ever since the group was established, they had always been involved in cases that were neither big nor small. They were extremely cunning and had never failed.
It was said that there were high-level magicians and even defilers in the Squirrel Mercenary Group.
Two years ago, a newly registered mercenary group accepted the mission to eliminate the Squirrel Bandits. This mercenary group was called Nuts. At that time, the mercenary world thought it was a joke. Nuts was originally for the squirrels to eat, and there were too few people in this mercenary group. There were only eight of them.
In order to accept this mission, the Nut Mercenary Group paid a deposit of ten thousand gold coins. If the mission was not completed within the time limit, the ten thousand gold coins would be gone.
Half a year later, the Squirrels were all eliminated, and the Nut Mercenary Group became a level five mercenary group. It became a legend that inspired countless low-level mercenary groups. The name "Nuts" was fixed from then on. It was no longer a temporary code name for a nameless mercenary group.
Salin's registered level one mercenary group only had one number. Even if he gave it a name, it wouldn't be recognized by the mercenary world. If any mercenary group above level four wanted to use this name, Salin's mercenary group would have to give up.
Only a mercenary group with a name was a real mercenary group.
This was an unwritten rule in the mercenary world. Therefore, the ones who made the most money were always the high-level mercenary groups. The lower the level, the poorer they were. Some even became bandits.
Ainphent's shop couldn't accommodate so many people. He first returned to the inn with the Nut Mercenary Group to discuss the details of the employment. Although the Nut Mercenary Group accepted the mission, without Ainphent's confirmation, others could still accept it.
"Just the four of us. Send us to Kelun County. Level five mission. Food and lodging included. 500 gold coins commission."
"Kelun County is too far. Only 500 gold coins commission. Not many high-level mercenary groups would be willing to accept it, right?" Flamingo wasn't satisfied. Kelun County was far away. Even if they had horses, it would take more than three months to get there. He would only earn 100 gold coins a month. He might as well go to the Chaos Swamp to kill magical beasts and sell their monster cores.
Also, the penalty for failing a level five mission was very heavy. Flamingo had to pay a large deposit to the guild. If it was a low-level mercenary group, a 500 gold coin mission would be enough to make people fight over it. But Nut didn't care about such a small amount of money.
"When we reach Kelun County, I'll give you a piece of Goldmica," Ainphent said confidently.
Flamingo was tempted. He asked cautiously, "How big is it?"
Goldmica didn't mean much to magicians, but it was an excellent material for swordsmen to make weapons. It was rare to begin with. If a magician obtained it, there was a high chance they would use it casually. It was very difficult for swordsmen to obtain it.
"About this big." Ainphent measured it and said, "It can add all the mageweaths to a heavy sword."
Flamingo thought about it and looked at his companions behind him. He asked cautiously, "Can I have two? I don't want the 500 gold coins. We can pay you another 500. "
Ainphent glanced at Salin. Salin nodded lightly. He was the one who suggested the idea of using Goldmica. Mercenaries would put in a lot of effort for it. Even if someone offered a higher price, they wouldn't betray their employer. But Ainphent didn't have any Goldmica, so he had to ask for Salin's opinion.
"Alright, we'll leave at the beginning of the month. I'll pay for your expenses for the next two days."
Flamingo laughed heartily and said, "There's no need for that. Have you all prepared your luggage? Do you need our help? "
Ainphent smiled at his forthrightness. "We're ready. There are also eight horses, all Hetao ponies."
Salin didn't say anything. His gaze fell on a member of the Nut mercenary group. This person wore a white magician's robe. It was the magician he'd passed by in front of the tavern.
It wasn't strange for a level-five mercenary group to have a magician. What was strange was that he was only a level-two magician. And Salin thought, this is too much of a coincidence …
The magician was also looking at Salin. He was also puzzled. When the captain asked about the Goldmica, Ainphent was asking for Salin's opinion. Could it be that this level-one magician was the main escort?
After staring at each other for a long time, the atmosphere became a little awkward. Fortunately, this magician wasn't eccentric. He took the initiative to say to Salin, "We meet again. Hello, I'm Walnut."
"Salin," Salin replied. He had a rough idea of who this magician was. This was a commoner magician of low birth. Because magicians didn't have nicknames, Walnut was his real name. This magician probably didn't even have a surname. For someone of such low birth to reach the level of a level-two magician at such a young age, he could be considered a genius.
Flamingo said, "Let's introduce each other when the team leaves. Mr. Ainphent, can we leave for a day? Before we leave, I need to go to the forest. "
Ainphent nodded. "No problem. We'll meet at the beginning of the month."
Salin also put away his doubts. That magician couldn't be targeting him. There was no way the people here would know that he had escaped from the Chaotic Swamp. What happened in the Chaotic Swamp couldn't have spread out. He was too suspicious. If Ainphent wanted to find someone to plot against him, he wouldn't have found someone he had met before.
The Clyde Family's caravan arrived on time. Ainphent handed over his responsibilities to his family, then moved to the Nut Mercenary Group's hotel with Salin and the others. He also brought the horses with him.
Next to the hotel was a restaurant. The two businesses were one. They would leave the next day, so everyone gathered for a meal and familiarized themselves with each other.
They asked for a single room, and the twelve of them sat around a large table. This kind of arrangement could only be found in a store that catered to mercenaries.
However, the Qinyin Empire's mercenaries were much quieter than the Scottynya people. Even though the Nut Mercenaries were still wearing soft armor, and their weapons were still on their bodies, ready to fight at any time, they did not make a big fuss. Both sides were conversing in a low voice.
Salin happened to sit next to the magician. The two looked at each other and smiled. Salin now knew that he was being oversensitive. There were many magicians in the Qinyin Empire, so it wasn't strange for him to meet a few.
"I'm Salin."
"I remember. You're from the Qinyin Empire? "
"No, I'm from Scottinyan."
"Ha, your accent is quite pure." Walnut laughed. Salin also laughed. These days, he had been adjusting his accent with Ainphent. For magicians, learning languages was very important. If you didn't pronounce the spell correctly, learning new spells would be half the effort.
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