Chapter 101 - Invitation
The burly man with a scar was swept away by the sword, but he was not at all flustered; he had already seen through the fact that the kid was merely a brute and his fighting skills were not worth mentioning. With the double-edged sword in his hand, all he knew from the start was only chopping. Although it looked impressive, it was actually not fatal.
He knew that what he needed was a little patience…
The burly man with a scar had thought it through—as long as there was a chance, he’d order his men to attack the mage.
The corridor was narrow; without the protection of this brute force kid, he might not be able to resist the siege of more than a dozen people even if he was formidable enough. Besides, he should be a mere low-level mage; otherwise, he would not have exhausted his mana with a single spell. Now he had to rely on this kid with brute force to buy time for him to restore his mana.
What was the difference between killing a mage who had exhausted his mana and killing a chicken? That was what the burly man with a scar thought…
Then…
He heard Sean’s howl.
Sometimes, the improvement of strength was that simple.
Constantly fighting, and constantly honing.
It was a long night for Lin Li. First, he was tormented by Sean’s snoring for most of the night. Then, he was woken up by the knock of the coquettish maidservant at the door. Before he got to return to his room, the members of the Bloodwolves Thieves had come… Lin Li thought it was not far from daybreak, and he was too lazy to find another place. So, he leaned his head on the carriage and intended to spend the night like that.
“Mr Mage!”
He was just getting a little sleepy when someone tapped on the carriage.
Lin Li poked his head out of the carriage and asked angrily, “What?”
Then, he found out that the fellow who had disturbed his dreams was the fat man who had his gold tooth knocked out. Lin Li recalled that he had called himself a Felan aristocrat earlier on.
The fat aristocrat showed some fear at once when he saw Lin Li’s hostile expression. He had witnessed the mage’s companion kill more than a dozen people in the twinkling of an eye. He did not want to irritate the two men who could kill without batting an eyelid because of something wrong he’d said, so he carefully considered the words with a pleasant smile on his face before asking, “Hello, respected mage, may I take the liberty to ask if you’re going to Alanna?”
“Mhm.”
“That’s great!” Despite Lin Li’s indifferent attitude, his affirmative reply delighted the fat aristocrat. The latter leaned forward mysteriously. “Mr Mage, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dugar, an aristocrat of the Felan Kingdom.”
“What’s it got to do with me?”
“Because I’d like to hire you. Of course… your powerful companion too.”
“H-hire me?” Lin Li almost choked on his saliva.
“Yes, Mr Mage. I’m willing to hire both of you for a high price. After you’ve escorted me safely to Alanna, the remuneration will definitely be at least a four-digit sum…”
“…” Lin Li rolled his eyes. A remuneration of at least a four-digit sum? Is that 1,000 or 2,000 gold coins?
“Well, that’s a decent reward, isn’t it?” The fat aristocrat sounded rather pleased. He thought he couldn’t have read it wrong. Although these two men were strong, they had to be quite hard up. Look at the mage—the mage robe he was wearing was so worn and old, and he couldn’t even take out a decent wand. Even more so his companion, who was more powerful than a magical beast; the leather armor on him had to be worn for at least ten years. The huge double-edged sword had killed more than a dozen people, but how could the fat man not see that it was entirely due to his strength? He could stab the dozen robbers to death even with a wooden stick.
How could they not be tempted by a 1,000 gold coins with their financial situation?
Mr Mage did not respond, and the fat man was not in a hurry to rush him. In his opinion, this was just a means of raising the price.
“3,000 gold coins, what do you think?”
“3,000 gold coins? You’re so generous…” There was some derision in Lin Li’s smile, but when it fell into the eyes of the confident fat man, the very same smile seemed full of elation.
“You agree?”
“Mr Aristocrat…”
Just as Lin Li was about to reject his offer, someone else was approaching the carriage.
“Mr Mage!”
This time, it was the low-level adventurer who had a few of his teeth knocked out. This fellow had it worse than the fat aristocrat. The latter only had a golden tooth pulled out, but he actually lost several teeth. When he shouted “Mr Mage”, it was leaky and indistinct, which made Lin Li all the more uncomfortable listening to it.
Bloody hell, would you all let me sleep? Lin Li cursed inwardly. The dissatisfaction on his face was apparent.
“Greetings, respected Mage.” The Blackstone Town was enveloped in a curtain of darkness, and it was pitch-dark around the carriage. The mercenary who had his teeth knocked out could not see clearly the look on Lin Li’s face. He rushed forward and ignored the fat aristocrat beside and introduced himself, “My name is Hank, a member of the Silver Hand Mercenary Corps.”
“What?” Lin Li clenched his teeth as he struggled to suppress the urge to punch someone.
“It’s like that, Mr Mage. May I venture to ask if you are interested in joining the mercenary corps?”