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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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Chapter 170: Split (1)
***
The Mercenary King’s Collapse
“Father… collapsed?”
Athena’s face drained of color at the mercenary’s words.
“What do you mean? Why did Father collapse?”
“I… I don’t know either. I only know that the Mercenary King was found collapsed about a week ago.”
Athena’s body staggered. Damien supported her to prevent her from falling and asked the mercenary,
“Where is the Mercenary King?”
“He, he’s in his quarters. The other purebloods are taking care of him…”
Before the mercenary could finish speaking, Athena ran towards the Mercenary King’s quarters. Damien followed her.
The tent where the Mercenary King was staying was much more splendid than the others, so they were able to find it quickly.
At the entrance of the tent, a woman sat with a bow in her hand. It was Cynthia, the Mercenary King’s confidante.
“Cynthia!”
“You’ve come, milady.”
Cynthia replied with a calm face. She opened the door of the tent and spoke to Athena.
“The Mercenary King is inside. Please go in.”
“Th, thank you.”
Athena entered the tent with Cynthia. Damien followed the two of them.
The Mercenary King was lying alone in a bed that was big enough for three or four people to sleep in at the same time.
The Mercenary King looked exactly the same as when Damien had last seen him, like a young boy.
The only difference was that his eyes were closed and he didn’t move at all.
“Father!”
Athena grabbed the Mercenary King’s hand, but he didn’t open his eyes even at his daughter’s call. He looked like a dead man.
Tears soon welled up in Athena’s eyes.
“W, what happened? Why did Father collapse? He was so healthy that he couldn’t be collapsed like that!”
“We haven’t figured out the cause yet.”
“But we have to do something!”
“We’ve tried everything from potions to magical tools, but he just won’t wake up.”
At Cynthia’s explanation, Athena bit her lip without saying a word.
‘The Mercenary King collapsed at this time?’
Damien looked at the Mercenary King and fell into thought.
What Damien knew about the Fafnir Mercenary Company was that the Mercenary King had fallen for the dark mage’s trick and split the mercenary group.
‘There’s no guarantee that what I know is true. I didn’t see it myself.’
The information Damien knew was only what he had heard from others. The truth might be completely different.
‘There’s no way someone like the Mercenary King could just collapse.’
The Mercenary King was a powerhouse that surpassed the Master Class. His body and soul had long since transcended humanity.
And yet, such a person had not only fainted but was also unable to regain consciousness? Someone must have intervened.
‘The only person who could do something like this is… Rubia.’
What was incomprehensible was how she had managed to bring down the Mercenary King.
The Mercenary King was a Transcendent, and he also had the blood of a dragon flowing through his veins.
That’s why the Mercenary King had a natural resistance to drugs and curses.
‘No, the dragon’s bloodline is a strength, but it’s also a weakness.’
There was no creature in the world that had been studied as much as the dragon.
This was because, from a researcher’s point of view, there was no creature as fascinating as the dragon, with its immense power as the strongest on the continent and its numerous abilities.
Mages and dark mages alike had studied dragons, and as a result, many of their weaknesses had been uncovered.
Of course, knowing a weakness didn’t mean that one could do anything about it.
‘But the Mercenary King is not a dragon in the strict sense. Moreover, he has the fatal flaw of being attracted to women.’
There was no way the Mercenary King would have left a beautiful woman like Rubia alone.
So there must have been plenty of opportunities for Rubia to manipulate the Mercenary King.
‘Hmm?’
As Damien observed the Mercenary King, he realized one thing.
It was so faint that no one else would have noticed it if it hadn’t been for Damien.
‘Rubia, you’ve played a pretty interesting trick.’
Damien smirked as he thought this.
It was then that Cynthia spoke to Athena.
“Milady, I understand that you’re going through a difficult time, but you need to pull yourself together.”
“An emergency meeting will be held soon. As a first-generation pureblood, you must attend.”
At Cynthia’s words, Athena wiped her tears with the back of her hand and stood up.
Athena walked out of the tent first. Damien was about to follow her.
“Sir Damien.”
Cynthia stopped Damien and said,
“Please take care of the young lady.”
***
Damien and Athena headed to the meeting place that Cynthia had mentioned.
Inside a large tent that had been set up temporarily, chairs were arranged in a circle.
Many mercenaries were already sitting in the chairs, talking loudly. Their expressions were all very serious.
‘This is amazing.’
As soon as he entered the meeting room, Damien couldn’t help but be impressed.
Among those sitting down were a large number of Master Classes.
‘Blade Storm, Blue Lightning, Executioner… I never thought I’d see them so soon.’
Among them were some Masters that Damien had fought himself. They were all faces that he could acknowledge.
However, it wasn’t just Masters that were present. There were also purebloods who were High Class.
In addition, there were middle-aged women present.
They didn’t train their bodies or cultivate mana. To the outside eye, they seemed like ordinary people.
However, the purebloods treated these women with respect. Even the Masters did the same.
‘They must be the leaders of the factions.’
The Fafnir Mercenary Company was divided into several factions.
The core of each faction was the Mercenary King’s women, in other words, the mothers of the purebloods.
“It seems that everyone who is coming has arrived.”
One of the middle-aged women stood up and spoke. As she did so, the meeting room fell silent in an instant.
Damien recognized the woman’s face immediately.
Claire Fowler.
She was the Mercenary King’s first woman and the leader of the largest faction. Rubia also belonged to that faction.
“It has been a week since the Mercenary King collapsed. During that time, we have not been able to handle any requests. I felt that it was time to appoint a proxy, so I called this emergency meeting.”
The other mercenaries nodded at Claire Fowler’s words.
The Fafnir Mercenary Company was the best mercenary group on the continent. Requests came from all over the continent.
Someone needed to take over the operation of the mercenary group in the Mercenary King’s place.
“So who do you plan to choose as the proxy?”
A woman sitting on the opposite side of Claire Fowler asked.
She looked a little older than Claire Fowler, but she was still old.
“Surely you don’t plan to choose someone from your side, Claire?”
Susan asked in a sharp tone. Claire smiled and said,
“Of course not. I plan to gather everyone’s opinions and entrust it to the most suitable person. So please all speak up and nominate a candidate.”
Susan looked at Claire with a very suspicious expression and said,
“You’re not going to rig the vote, are you?”
“Then I will be the first to make a recommendation. I think my son, Lennox, is the right person.”
As soon as Susan spoke, another woman from a different faction opened her mouth.
“Lennox? That guy failed a request last time and caused a lot of damage to the mercenary group, didn’t he?”
Susan’s face flushed red at the woman’s words.
“T-that wasn’t Lennox’s fault! It was the Empire’s fault for interfering!”
“Joey is much more suitable to be the proxy than Lennox. Joey is recognized by the Mercenary King for his skills and he is also running his own mercenary group!”
“Joey? He’s not good enough! How can he be the proxy with his skills?”
The words and actions of each faction became increasingly rough. The atmosphere was so heated that it was starting to look dangerous.
“How can we trust Lenic’s judgment! He’s definitely going to tarnish the reputation of the Fafnir Mercenary Company!”
“Ha! What about Thomas? You don’t seriously think that idiot can be the proxy, do you?”
The word “family” did not apply in this place.
It was filled with hyenas who were after the attractive position of the Mercenary King’s proxy.
“These idiots… Father is collapsed, and what are they doing… .”
Athena sighed and muttered. Damien agreed with Athena’s words.
‘I wondered why the Fafnir Mercenary Company were divided… .’
It was all because of power.
The power struggle between the factions was more intense than Damien had thought.
Until now, they had been suppressed by the overwhelming presence of the Mercenary King.
In the absence of the Mercenary King, the conflict had finally exploded.
‘If this conflict continues to escalate, there will be an internal war.’
It was unclear how this came to be blamed on the Mercenary King.
There was only one thing that was certain.
‘We can’t let the mercenary group split up like this.’
The Fafnir Mercenary Company was the third most powerful force after the Empire and the Church.
However, in the process of fighting each other in the internal war, its size was greatly reduced.
If the Fafnir Mercenary Company had maintained their full strength, humanity would not have been defeated so easily by Dorugo in the War of Destruction.
‘To stop this, we need to wake up the Mercenary King first.’
While Damien was lost in thought,
“But it seems like there’s someone here who doesn’t belong.”
Claire Fowler raised her voice again. Her gaze was directed at Athena.
“Athena, why are you sitting here?”
When Athena opened her mouth to protest Claire Fowler’s question,
“That’s right. Did that child have the qualifications to do so?”
Susan agreed with Claire’s opinion. She was not the only one.
“She hasn’t reached the position or the level yet. It doesn’t seem like she’s qualified.”
The women from the other factions also agreed with the two of them. It was as if their previous fight had been a lie.
“Athena, will you leave now?”
Claire spoke in a soft voice and pointed to the door.
It was practically an eviction order.
***
In the end, Athena had no choice but to leave the meeting room without saying a word.
“Stupid idiots.”
Athena muttered angrily. She looked back at Damien and said,
“What’s the big deal about me being alone……? Is this how they’re going to act……?”
Since Athena was favored by the Mercenary King, she did not belong to any faction.
The other factions must have been unhappy with Athena monopolizing the Mercenary King’s favor.
So much so that they were ready to pounce on Athena as soon as the Mercenary King’s shield disappeared.
“I’m sorry…… I wanted to send someone to the Kingdom of Grape as soon as possible to get the compensation…… but it looks like it will take some time.”
“That’s not good.”
With the Mercenary King collapsed, it was unclear when they would be able to send someone. It was clear that they would have to wait indefinitely.
“R, right…… I’ll try to find a way soon……”
Athena spoke with a dispirited expression, as if she had misunderstood Damien’s words.
“That’s not what I mean. I’m saying that we need to wake your father up quickly, because we don’t have time to wait.”
“Huh? Wake him up? Y, you mean there’s a way?”
Damien nodded at Athena’s question.
“T, then you should have said so earlier! L, let’s go quickly!”
Damien stopped Athena as she tried to run off.
“That’s not the way.”
“What do you mean? Father’s tent is over there.”
“That’s a fake.”
Athena made a face like she was talking nonsense. Damien spoke to her in a firm tone.
“The real one is somewhere else.”
***
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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