To be honest, when Gwen first thought of setting up an intelligence network based on middle and low-level people, the first thing he thought of was not the thugs, thieves, and gangsters in the slums and alleys, but the mercenary friends of Byron Knight.
Byron Knight became a mercenary halfway through his life. In his early years, he was a well-known mercenary leader active in the Southern Territory. He had a small team and a wide range of connections. Gwen knew this. He also knew that Byron Knight's pledge of loyalty to the Cecil family was a major setback in his mercenary career. It was said that he lost all his men in that setback and almost lost his life. If it were not for the help of the former Viscount Cecil, he would have lost his life. Now, he was no longer a mercenary, but a noble with his personal strength and years of loyal service. He had become a Knight, but the connections he had back then had not disappeared.
Or rather, it was precisely because a mercenary had coincidentally entered the circle of nobles that Knight Byron became even more popular in the mercenary world. No one would reject the opportunity to establish a relationship with nobles. Even if it was a declining noble family, it was still a great source of income for mercenaries who were in urgent need of business.
Gwen had borrowed Byron Knight's mercenary connections in several operations in the Southern Territory, including the process of spreading news, recruiting refugees, and attracting business trips. But when building the intelligence network, Gwen finally chose to let Amber contact her "friends".
First of all, in terms of loyalty, mercenaries and slum thugs were about the same. Their loyalty was based on money, and in comparison, the thugs' "loyalty" was even cheaper. Secondly, in terms of being well-informed, mercenaries were not as good as "rats in the gutter". The latter were at the bottom of society, so they needed to be smarter to survive, and they themselves were the source of information for many mercenaries. Lastly, mercenaries were very unreliable, and that was, the best among them were almost inextricably linked to the nobles. Some experienced mercenaries had even secretly become the shadows and informants of some nobles. In fact, it was the goal of many mercenaries to secretly become the lackeys of the nobles. On the contrary, the slum thugs … they could not enter the eyes of the nobles, and all of them were "independent." Finally, mercenaries were very unreliable, and that was, the best among them were almost inextricably linked to the nobles. Some experienced mercenaries had even secretly become the shadows and informants of some nobles. In fact, being the lackeys of the nobles was the goal of many mercenaries.
For Gwen, who needed to build a "clean" team, the rats in the gutter who did not belong to any forces were obviously more in line with his requirements.
As for those people's ability, discipline, obedience, loyalty, and so on, they could be slowly cultivated. Byron Knight was a clear example. He used to be a lawless mercenary leader wandering in the gray area, but now he was upright … Oh no, honest … Oh no, fair … Didn't he also become a skilled comedian?
Gwen did not know what Amber's past was like. He was not a person who liked to inquire about other people's private affairs. He only knew that although the half-elf thief was not strong in combat, she was a master of shadow. She used to mix in the gutters and alleys of the old Cecil territory, but except for sneaking into the Cecil family's ancestral grave and being caught on the spot, she did not make any big movements. But three days ago, after chatting with Pitman for a while, he learned that Amber, who seemed to be just a joker, used to be a troublemaker.
In other words, before Cecil took charge of her fixed crimes, she had been living a life of roaming crime.
After learning this, he did not hesitate to throw this half-elf, who had nothing to do but mess around in the territory every day, and who had a surprisingly large appetite, out of the territory and let her do some work as a Lord's personal guard.
Leslie Territory, in another town north of Tanzania Town, the "Black Whistle" Tavern was brightly lit. The gangsters, thugs, thieves, and swindlers were starting a new round of drinking all night. Before the silver and copper coins in their pockets were used up, they would drink all day long.
The owner of the tavern, "Scarface Anton", who had an ugly scar on his face, sat behind the bumpy bar. He casually wiped the cup in his hand with a dirty rag, but his eyes did not relax as they swept back and forth between the hoodlums and scoundrels who were drinking and shouting. He did not mind people drinking and making trouble in his tavern. He did not even mind these people smashing things here when they were fighting, but if someone drank and smashed things and did not pay the bill, then he would mind very much.
The tavern was filled with an unpleasant smell. The cheap and shoddy drinks, moldy wood and corners, and the smell of sweat from not bathing for a long time mixed together, made the environment here abnormally bad, but no one was willing to leave this place. At least it was warm here, better than the world of ice and snow outside.
Another two drunkards started to cause a ruckus, tearing each other into a ball. Anton signaled with his eyes, and immediately, two strong men stepped forward and kicked the two drunkards to the ground. Then, they dragged them to the corner and let them cause a ruckus.
This was the daily life of these sewer rats.
They were the "rich" in the slums, scum and reptile in the eyes of the nobles, information peddlers in the eyes of the mercenaries, and "villains" in the eyes of the honest and well-behaved civilians. Most of them had some hidden skills, such as half-baked stealth skills, one or two tricks, born with brute strength, or just enough brains to fool people to death. With these hidden skills, they could establish a relationship with the mercenaries or merchants passing by, and rely on swindling or selling information to survive.
But these people never accumulated money. Although each of their "business" could earn them more money than the income of the poor for half a year, they always spent the money quickly because they often dealt with mercenaries and were not liked by the lords. They knew one thing very well: life was unpredictable, and they could only enjoy it while they could. Who knew when the mercenaries who bought your information would come back and chop you with a knife to vent their anger — even if your information was true.
The lords would not protect them under such circumstances.
So they enjoyed it while they could. In this cheap and dirty tavern, no one except sewer rats would want to patronize. Every time, they would make a scene until dawn. And if one day they found that there was one less person drinking in the tavern and that person did not appear in the town, they would laugh loudly and say loudly, "Shhh — another poor guy!"
Anton threw the cup in his hand under the bar. He counted the people in the tavern and turned to ask the waiter beside him, "Why didn't the old cripple come?"
The waiter shook his head and said, "I don't know. He hasn't been here for two days. I heard he was chopped to death."
Anton frowned, and his ugly facial features twitched even more. But before he could say anything, a short figure in a cloak suddenly approached the bar. A few copper coins fell in front of him, and a low female voice came from under the cloak, "Rye wine."
When did this person appear?!
Scarface Anton's heart skipped a beat. He clearly knew everyone who would come to this tavern. Furthermore, he himself was a half-baked "lurker" who knew a little bit about shadowy techniques. However, this stranger had appeared in front of the bar without making a sound. Neither he nor his waiter could remember how this stranger appeared!
But even though he was shocked, he still calmly poured a cup of low-quality rye wine. When he handed the cup over, he secretly looked under the hood, only to find that there was only a shadow that could not be dissolved.
Pretending to be mysterious.
Anton raised his vigilance and signaled the waiter to check on the movement outside the door. But as soon as the waiter took a step forward, the woman in the cloak spat out all the ale she had drunk. Her movement was so loud that it was as if she was afraid that no one would notice it. After she spat out the ale, she smashed the cup on the bar counter. "You f * cking used to mix ale with water. Now you are mixing ale with ale?! You are mixing ale with ale now, right?! Believe it or not, I'll smash this place! "
The people in the tavern looked like they were drinking and fooling around, but everyone had sharp ears and eyes. In an instant, almost everyone noticed the movement next to the bar counter, and as they were familiar with the "rules", they immediately realized that someone was here to cause trouble.
What happened next happened in an instant: everyone near the bar counter almost teleported to a far distance. Everyone picked up their cups and food and found the best place to watch the show. The swindlers began to bet on the nearby tables, and the thieves seized the time to find someone to rob.
Anton slowly threw the rag and cup in his hand to the side and slightly moved his strong shoulders. But in his heart, he was relieved. It's just a troublemaker, then it's much easier to deal with.
My fist will teach this reckless guy how to behave.
The short figure in the cloak in front of him raised her hand and pulled down the hood that originally covered her face, revealing a half-elf face.
Anton looked at the face and raised his arm to make his chest muscles bulge. His scarred face showed an ugly smile and said, "Big Sis, I'll show you how to smash a rock on my chest. Do you want to see it?"
The people in the tavern who were ready to watch the show were speechless.
Amber glared at the bald ugly man and said, "Damn it, why are you even more shameless than before?!"
"After showing off your muscles, you realize that you can't beat the other party so that you won't look so embarrassing. You specifically told us this in the past." The smile on Anton's face became brighter, or more accurately, uglier. "Big Sis! It's really you! Where have you been all these years?! "
At this time, the people in the tavern seemed to have finally recovered from their stupor. Whispers began to sound from all directions. Some of them obviously recognized who the person standing in front of the bar counter was. Some were shocked, some were surprised, some were in awe, but without exception, they quickly became excited. The rest were obviously confused. They began to whisper to the people next to them, asking about the half-elf who suddenly appeared. These people were mostly newcomers who had been active in the tavern for the past two years.
Amber's pointed ears trembled. She turned her head and looked at them with a smile. "There are a lot of newcomers. Almost half of them don't know me."
Anton whispered next to her, "You've been away for several years …"
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
