Mercenary System: I can increase innate potential !

Chapter 66 News

"Because that means it's really fucked up, and the band's facing extinction, hic."

This shocked Charles.

What kind of talent could be so important and especially so powerful?

This exchange intrigued Charles deeply, making him increasingly curious.

Just then, the3rd mercenary at the table intervened.

"Or that the boss is very angry."

"Bahaha it's true I've heard about that too, hic."

Charles looked at Tristan, who was smiling ruefully, seeming to know what they were talking about.

Tristan quickly recalled the anecdote about his boss being foolish enough to punch one of Baron Irut's knights in the face.

Come to think of it, he was rather proud to have such a powerful and courageous leader, but at the same time he wasn't sure if it was a good thing that his boss could be so impulsive.

Suddenly, a powerful voice drew everyone's attention.

Everyone looked at a man standing in the inn.

This was a strange man, not one of Baron Irut's mercenaries or soldiers.

He was also dressed very strangely, looking like a bard.

"Brave gentlemen, have you heard what's going on in the south?"

"But from the looks of your stupid faces, I guess not haha!"

As he insulted everyone, most people looked at him with displeasure while others looked at him with interest and curiosity.

"Stop being such a smartass, stranger, or you'll find out just how sharp my blade is!"

A soldier threatened the tourist in all seriousness.

"Go on Ivan, tear him to pieces!"

"Yeah, cut him into a thousand pieces and feed them to the animals!"

"Next time you open your mouth, it'll be to spit out your teeth stranger!"

...

The atmosphere quickly turned chaotic as the man provoked some hot-blooded men.

"Stop acting like savages, and let's hear what this man wishes to say."

A light voice ran through the tavern, but everyone fell silent instantly as they recognized the speaker.

It was the vice-chief of the saber-toothed tigers, Andrew.

Many of those present had seen Andrew's fearlessness on the battlefield, and the rest had heard about it.

No one had the courage to challenge his words.

"Will I ever be like him?"

Charles's thoughts flared as he watched Andrew's poise.

By sitting back in his chair and speaking softly, he had calmed countless fierce men in one fell swoop.

But the stranger was not at all perturbed.

"haha, thank you dear friend, what's your first name?"

"Andrew. Tell us this famous news or I'll let these men do what they wish with you."

"Ohoh, in that case indeed I have no choice but to tell you this news."

The stranger wasn't at all frightened when he answered this, in fact he took it with humor.

"I bring news from the south, where the winter winds blow earlier than at home. Dark news, spreading like a shadow over our lands..."

Murmurs rose again, some exchanging worried glances. The man raised his voice to cover the low hubbub.

"The orcs, my friends. They're back. Again. This winter."

A shiver ran through the room. Faces froze, mugs froze halfway between table and lips.

"I was at the gates of Ravemont County, where the story goes that scouts were massacred near the border of the Black Mountains. Their bodies... unrecognizable. Tracks in the snow leave no doubt. The orcs are getting organized, and this time, they're not just targeting isolated farms. No...

They've raised an army. A real one."

The murmurs intensified again.

"Count Ardan is preparing his defenses, but he's alone, far too isolated to face this threat."

"It is said that the orcs plan to march towards the southern lands, devastating everything in their path. The viscounts who border his domain are already on the alert, and missives have been sent to the surrounding barons, but..."

The bard paused, weighing his words as if to increase their gravity.

"Some say these creatures won't stop there. They don't just want to plunder the food as usual."

The seriousness of the matter suddenly increased.

If the matter was mishandled, the Kingdom could lose land!

"They would seek to take these lands before spring."

A heavy silence fell over the inn.

Some of the old soldiers, those who had already known the fear of an orc invasion in their youth, suddenly looked more pallid, as if buried memories had come to haunt them once again.

"And... that's not all," continued the bard in a lower voice, prompting everyone to listen.

"What do you mean by that?" tossed Andrew, frowning.

The bard sighed and looked down.

"There's talk of alliances between certain orc tribes and humans, traitors who sell them information. Others say that dark sorcerers lurk in the mountains, offering orcs powers they never had."

The mercenaries and soldiers looked at each other, aghast, sensing a far greater threat looming on the horizon.

"So... what do we do?" asked a voice in the crowd.

A young man with blond hair, followed by a young woman with long brown hair, entered the inn at that very moment and replied.

"Absolutely nothing."

Simultaneously, the young man glanced casually at the stranger.

The latter simply smiled in response.

"We'll simply go where there's money, if there's no money then you won't find our mercenaries there."

"As for the soldiers, try to keep your heads on your shoulders until the fighting is over."

"When that happens, the Kingdom will already have intervened and put down the orc attack."

"In any case, you're overestimating your strength and underestimating the monsters in the Kingdom."

Panic inside the inn was immediately quelled.

"The boss is right, there's always someone all the way up there to block out the sky when it falls."

"Even if we went, we'd only be cannon fodder!"

"Anyway, these nobles have their own troops as well as the kingdom that will support them, how can this go wrong!!!

...

Maxime took one last look at the mysterious man, then went straight off with Laura.

He'd just dropped by because he'd overheard what was being said in the inn while he was wandering around town with Laura.

"That man was strange, and above all he gave me a feeling of danger."

Laura was worried as she said this.

From the moment she'd entered the inn, she'd felt like a knife was at her throat.

"Yes, I felt the same way. Hoping he won't get involved in our business..." replied Maxime, while adding something else.

"Time is extremely important to us. As long as we give it time, the strength of our mercenary group will become powerful."

"Are you thinking of Charles when you say that?"

"Not just Charles, despite his potential, it'll be a long time before he has the strength of a knight, even with the help of my talent."

The two continued chatting while the atmosphere in the inn returned to normal.

The bard sat down quietly on one of the stools at the inn's counter, which also doubled as a bar.

"What an interesting young man, to be able to be so strong but also gather so many talents around him and simultaneously have so much respect from his subordinates, he really is exceptional."

"Each of these points could make him a genius even in the empire, but he had to possess only a low-level knightly talent as well as a vulgar talent for endurance and strength."

Surprisingly, this strange man could instantly analyze the talents Maxime possessed apart from his main one.

"He's not even a noble. At most, he could become a baron, and that would already be the achievement of a lifetime."

"Where can I find a true genius who could save us all?"

The stranger's eyes became extremely deep and mysterious.

"Besides, I hope the old fuddy-duddies of this Kingdom's royal court don't underestimate the orc invasion, or they'll deeply regret it."

Thinking of a certain existence among orcs, even he was intimidated.

The mercenary who had threatened the bard rose to his feet.

"Stranger, why are you so quiet all of a sudden!?"

The latter turned, and his eyes, still not having returned to the original, fixed on the mercenary.

"Brave gentlemen, would you like me to sing you a song from my homeland?"

The bard's gentle voice echoed through the inn.

But the mercenary who asked the question was entranced by the bard's mysterious eyes and temporarily unable to answer.

But other soldiers and mercenaries saw nothing and began to shout.

"Go on champion, we're all listening!

"You'd better sing well, considering the shitty atmosphere you created earlier!"

The atmosphere in the inn picked up again.

No one had noticed the anomaly in the bard's eyes, except the mercenary, who was now watching with suspicion as this unknown man sang softly around the inn and set the mood.