Chapter 634 - A True Man Admits Defeat!
Chapter 634: A True Man Admits Defeat!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Viktor couldn’t restrain his strong urge to smile as he turned to Barter. The latter revealed a rare look of dismay and scratched his head dubiously. Then, he sprung his eyes open and nodded with might.
“Oh, yea yea yea! That’s right, Kid. Hahaha. I’ve forgotten about it… That was after the Midsummer Festival, eh? Don’t worry, I always keep my promise.”
“Yes, Mr. Barter.”
Rhode maintained the pretentious, passionate smile on his face.
“Just as I’ve thought. Seems like you’re a true man who keeps to his promise. So then, please accept this and I look forward to seeing you during the Winter Ceremony.”
Rhode passed the small bag to Barter and the latter took it over with a puzzled look. Barter tossed the bag between his hands and when he looked down, Rhode had taken half a step back and bowed slightly.
“Alright then, I have to report to the association. See you guys at the Winter Ceremony.”
Rhode entered the passage without turning back and disappeared into the corner. The duo exchanged gazes and Barter shrugged, letting out a long sigh.
“Never did I expect him… to succeed.”
As though a gigantic bear bellowing, the bustling hall of the Mercenary Association fell into silence abruptly. The crowd turned to the tall man in the corner, but Barter was uninterested in their curious gazes. He gritted his teeth while staring at the contents of the bag palely.
“That little bastard—!”
Rhode didn’t hear Barter’s snarl and perhaps he would laugh it off even if he had heard it. Barter was the one who asked for it, so who could he blame… Rhode decided to teach this man a lesson from the start of the Midsummer Festival. He beat his brains out to come up with this gift which he hoped Barter would love. Rhode had been looking forward to this moment for a long time.
Rhode leaned languidly by the window frame and gazed at the clean, white world outside the window. Early winter snow fluttered in the chilly breeze while the warm fireplace indoors formed a layer of thin white fog on the glass.
This reminded him of the conversation he had with the Mercenary Association Chairman, Lauren.
Chairman Lauren appeared much more haggard than when he was in the Midsummer Festival. As Rhode had expected, Chairman Lauren expressed concern about Rhode’s identity. According to him, this was the craze among the internal department of the Mercenary Association. However, the situation was unique, after all. In normal circumstances, mercenaries were always under the administration of the Mercenary Association. However, they were pressured by Royal Highness Lydia. It could also be said that from today onward, the Mercenary Association in the Munn Kingdom would be under the control of the three guilds and the Mercenary Association would exist only to run errands and pass messages.
Rhode wasn’t concerned about the future of the Mercenary Association. After the conversation, he had clearly expressed his stand that he wouldn’t give up his identity as a mercenary or his guild because it wasn’t part of the rules. But he had given Chairman Lauren a way out of the predicament. In exchange for maintaining his identity, Rhode expressed that he wouldn’t intervene with the management of southern mercenary groups and would hand over the forces to the Purple Lily and Cole Falcon Guilds. He knew the hostile view Southern mercenaries held toward him and he didn’t want to manage a group of guys who harbored hard feelings against him. Although the expansion of forces was naturally a great thing for ordinary guilds, it wasn’t enough to satisfy Rhode anymore.
Lauren had no reasons to object to his suggestion because he knew that this young man was at the peak of his powers in the Munn Kingdom. Even though Lauren was the Mercenary Association Chairman, he found it hard to lift his head before the young man even without these troubles. He was worried that Rhode would demand for his share of the loot of the southern mercenary groups. Since Rhode wasn’t interested in that, Lauren would gladly agree to his request. Besides, the mercenaries weren’t able to find any excuses to object Rhode anymore.
How boring.
Rhode threw the annoying matters to the back of his head. He had received some unfavorable news from Gillian regarding the development of the ‘Skynet Plan’. Although Rhode had gotten Matt’s help, the latter was only a regional merchant and his trade association hadn’t expanded to a massive scale yet. But this was fine too. Even though it would be rather tough to carry out this plan, it would lower others’ vigilance, which was fortunate for Rhode… At least no one would suspect this plan immediately.
But… Rhode was most concerned about another matter.
He extended his hand and a spotlessly white card emerged on his palm.