Mercenary System: I can increase innate potential !

Chapter 89 Who's Baron Irut?

Maxime paused for a moment, watching the vibrant city, and murmured to himself:

"For how much longer?"

After being allowed into the city, Maxime and his mercenaries separated from the crowd on the central alley and moved into a cobbled alley, looking for a place to rest.

The group, exhausted by the battles and the night's flight, was in desperate need of sleep. Rodrigo suddenly raised his hand and pointed to a carved wooden sign depicting a sleeping dragon, called L'Auberge de l'antre du Dragon.

They entered, and were greeted by a puff of warmth and a delicious smell of stew.

All the mercenaries began to swallow thanks to the smell mixed with the cries of distress from their stomachs.

The innkeeper, a stocky man with grey hair and bright eyes, quickly sized them up. But despite their dirty, battle-scarred outfits, he didn't neglect them.

The weapons they carried made it clear that they were not to be trifled with.

On the contrary, he knew better than to offend powerful fighters whatever their appearance.

"Good evening and welcome to the Auberge de l'Antre du dragon, what can I do for you?" he asked in a slightly husky voice.

Maxime placed a few gold coins on the counter, a payment that more than covered their needs.

"A good meal and beds for 30, please."

The innkeeper nodded and handed them iron keys, indicating the staircase to the upper floors.

"Your meal will be ready in 15 minutes, you can rest in your rooms.

"Your room numbers are indicated on the keys.

"A member of our staff will come and let you know when your meal is ready."

Maxime was satisfied and let the mercenaries disperse with their keys.

Some collapsed on the beds as soon as they were in their rooms, others took the time to remove their dusty boots and tend to their wounds.

As for Maxime, he sat on the edge of his bed for a while, his mind still tense, mentally replaying the latest events.

The image of the orc army advancing under the trembling light of their torches still haunted his thoughts.

Especially that mysterious orc shaman, he really thought for a moment that they would have been forced to engage in combat with those orcs.

If that had happened, even he didn't know if he would have made it out alive.

Shortly afterwards, a woman passed through the rooms to warn that the meal was ready.

Some of the mercenaries had already fallen asleep, but they were shaken by their teammate to force them to go and eat.

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At dawn, after a few hours' restful sleep and a hearty breakfast, Maxime gathered his men in the inn's great hall.

They had all had a chance to take a bath in the water, while their equipment had been washed by the inn's staff.

They were much more presentable than when they had returned to town.

Now they had to appear before Count Ardan with proof of their battle and claim their reward.

Each mercenary's features were marked by fatigue, but a gleam of determination shone in their eyes.

Proudly carrying the saddlebag containing the orc ears, the group once again made their way through the streets of Lapi, which was slowly waking up under the first rays of the sun.

Their passage through the streets frightened some of the town's citizens, as the aura they exuded in the street was still marked by the previous battles they had experienced.

Unlike the civilians who circulated here and lived a happy, peaceful life, the mercenaries had seen blood, killed with their own hands, and put their lives on the line in recent days.

So obviously, there was something of a collision between the two worlds when they came face to face.

As they walked towards Count Ardan's mansion, a group of young men in burgundy uniforms crossed by gold embroidery blocked their path.

Leading the way was a young man named Leo, a tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed man who stopped them with suspicious eyes.

"Well, what do you hope to achieve by parading around like that?" challenged Léo.

Maxime, aware of the futility of a conflict here, replied calmly.

"We're mercenaries. We're on our way to the manor to show the count our military merits and claim our reward."

The young teenagers were surprised, but when they saw that the mercenaries were mostly around their own age, they burst out laughing.

Another apprentice, Tomas, a dark-haired, square-jawed boy, raised an eyebrow.

"Are you making fun of us? How could poor mercenaries like you kill orcs? Even apprentice knights like us have to risk our lives to kill just one!"

Maxime took another look at them.

Lapi deserved to be a count's capital; they could meet a dozen apprentice knights at random in the morning.

However, he was far too busy to waste time with apprentice knights who were obviously still in training and had therefore never seen blood.

"Andrew, could you please clear the way?"

The latter agreed with a big smile at Maxime's request.

"It's my pleasure to do it."

Seeing a red-haired young man emerge from the mercenary group, the apprentice knights felt contemptuous.

"What do you plan to do?" asked Leo, curious.

"Clear the way of course, what else could I do?"

The apprentice knights were particularly angry on hearing this, especially Tomas.

"We're apprentice knights from the purple knight academy!"

"Our academy trains over fifty powerful apprentice knights every year!"

"Do you really think a mere mercenary like you can defeat us?"

In this world, apprentice knights almost never joined mercenary groups, as the risk/reward ratio was far more attractive when they served nobles than when they risked their lives as mercenaries.

What's more, the profession of apprentice knight in the service of a nobleman was far more glorious than that of apprentice knight in a mercenary group.

In fact, apprentice knights joining mercenaries were seen as waste products with no potential and a rebellious streak.

As a result, Ultia and Henry found it even more difficult to make a choice beforehand.

"Ohhhh are apprentice knights from an academy so powerful?" exclaimed Andrew with a contemptuous smile.

"Of course they are! Our breathing method and our training are far more qualitative than all the apprentice knights you could find at barons and viscounts!" replied Leo, confidently.

"Exactly, we're one level above!" continued Tomas.

"During the tournaments held in the capital, we regularly manage to have an apprentice knight in the top 10!"

"Our apprentice knights from the south are well known for their fighting power!"

Andrew felt like laughing to hear these guys boasting so much about their performance.

Then suddenly he had a good idea.

"In our mercenary group, we have two apprentice knights who come from Baron Irut's territory, would you like to have a match?"

"Apprentice knights in your mercenary group?"

"And they want to compare themselves to us?"

"Is this a joke?"

"Who's even Baron Irut?"

"Do you know the guys?"

"No, never heard of them..."

The apprentice knights of the purple knight academy burst out laughing.

"Do you accept or not?"

Andrew's firm, powerful voice calmed the apprentice knights' ardor.

At this point, somehow, they sensed that Andrew was a particularly strong individual.

"Yeah, we accept." finally replied Leo with a confident face.

The ruckus began to draw many villagers into the street.

Seeing that the situation could get out of hand, the apprentice knights proposed to have the duel at their academy.

Andrew then looked to Maxime for authorization.

Maxime gestured with his hand that he didn't care and could accept.

"All right, we'll follow you."