30 – Mercenary Episode 30
＜Episode 30: Mercenary＞
At the entrance of Dongribeo Village.
There, I encountered the supervisor of the mercenary guild.
In her early twenties.
Taller than the average woman.
Despite the long journey, she was neatly dressed and had well-kept hair.
A large stack of documents in one hand.
And a face without a single expression.
‘Can’t underestimate her just because of her young age.’
Come to think of it, there was no one I could underestimate since I came to this otherworldly realm.
Step by step.
She walked towards the front of the supervisor.
And she spoke first.
“Welcome, Supervisor.”
Whether she was a supervisor or had a strict personality, I am a noble.
A small aristocrat in this writer’s creation.
She lowered her voice, making me aware of the gap between us.
The director bowed his head.
“Nice to meet you, Lord Elwin.”
More dignified than I thought.
If it goes like this, running the mercenary guild will be a bit easier…
I thought,
A small crack appeared in the expression of the director who was bowing and rising.
‘He seems angry. Did I offend him for no reason?’
“We’ll head straight to the Mercenary Guild.”
The director and the accompanying staff walked straight to Seriver.
“Is the director angry?”
“Huh?”
Isaac asked, puzzled.
“No, he’s angry. Didn’t you see his expression when he greeted you earlier?”
“I did. But it looked the same to me?”
“Isaac, you’re denser than I thought.”
“Me? That’s not true at all. Sir.”
Isaac bowed and hurriedly followed the director.
It was because Isaac was supposed to guide them originally.
I also followed them from a distance.
Seriver.
Arrived at the Mercenary Guild.
The supervisors, astounded by the tremendous scale, gaped in awe.
The head supervisor was no exception.
Though a subtle change, she was surprised as well.
Tap. Tap.
Isaac poked her waist, beckoning her attention.
“Look. Look. Did you see the supervisor’s expression change?”
Isaac alternated between me and the supervisor.
Then,
“It remains the same, master.”
Isaac replied with an awkward expression.
“You don’t see that? Look closely. The space between the eyebrows and the forehead has slightly widened, right? The jaw muscles have subtly loosened? Even the lips are a bit apart.”
Isaac stared at the supervisor again.
“I’m not sure. The lips are tightly closed…”
“No, it’s not about being slightly apart. It means there’s a release of tension in those Anda lips.”
Isaac gave up scrutinizing the supervisor and fixed his gaze on me.
“Master, perhaps…”
“Hmm? What is it?”
Isaac’s expression was peculiar.
A suspicious expression.
No way?
“No. Am I interested in being a supervisor? No way.”
“What? That’s not what I meant. I heard something before.”
“What is it?”
“They say that someone who has eaten a lot of eye contact rice can easily perceive even small changes. Of course, the owner wouldn’t be like that. hahahaha.”
Isaac finished with an awkward laugh.
Isaac’s words were casual, but it hit me hard.
It’s because Isaac’s words are right, that I’ve become able to perceive even the slightest changes in expressions.
From Noble mtl dot com
I spent four years eating eye contact rice in the vampire territory.
As the fiance of the famous Second Duchess Alencia, who is known for being cold and rational.
Tch.
I placed a hand on Isaac’s shoulder.
“You know too much about me.”
“… What? What are you suddenly talking about, Master?”
“Just forget it. Now go and guide them. We can’t keep them waiting at the entrance forever.”
“Yes, yes, I understand.”
Isaac hurriedly headed towards the entrance of the mercenaries’ guild.
Though I called it eye contact rice, it was actually adaptation.
Adapting to fit with Alencia.
Even the comfortable conversation with Isaac right now could be considered adaptation.
When I first came to this new world, it felt awkward to talk to someone older than me.
But now? I don’t feel that way anymore.
Talking to Isaac has become quite comfortable.
That’s why we can joke around like this.
.
.
It took a week to install the magic system.
After the installation staff left, only the supervisor and a few others remained.
“Did you hire employees?”
“Of course.”
I introduced the five slaves I had chosen in advance.
“They will do the work.”
“Slaves, huh?”
“Aren’t they slaves?”
“Not exactly. Well then, I will proceed with employee training.”
The supervisor greeted and focused on employee training.
.
.
As the Mercenary Guild was shaping up both internally and externally,
the Innocent Mercenary Corps returned.
I quickly moved my eyes, counting the numbers.
Fortunately, there were no fatalities.
But there were some injuries.
A welcome feast awaited us at the Mercenary Guild’s dining hall.
They had slaughtered a cow from the farm.
As we enjoyed the feast together,
I could tell Lynon wasn’t in a good mood.
“Lynon, was there an issue with the troll extermination?”
“No, there wasn’t. We took down all 11 trolls. We also searched the vicinity, but there were no more trolls.”
“But your expression says otherwise.”
Lynon turned his chair towards me and sat down.
“Well, I used the healing potions Lord Elwin gave us.”
“How many?”
“All of them.”
We had been generously provided with healing potions.
And now, they were all used up.
I forced a smile, trying to conceal my disappointment.
“Well then, if he gave them to use, we should use them. As for the cost…”
“I don’t have that much money right now.”
I knew.
So, that’s how it is.
“Hmm… What do you think then?”
“I’ll go to the continent and make money as quickly as possible. With that money…”
He raised his hand to stop the speech.
“How can I trust you?”
“Our Innocent Mercenary Corps is as reliable as trust itself…”
Once again, he interrupted Inon’s words.
“What if we do it this way instead? Since we’ve just formed as a mercenary guild, we could take on contracts here and hunt monsters.”
“That’s a good suggestion, but it’s difficult to make a lot of money on Monster Island.”
Inon mentioned the concern he had before.
Due to the nature of Monster Island,
profits are lower than on the continent.
Food prices are high, and the prices of monster products are kept low.
I took out the prepared contract document.
It listed contracts for hunting Black Goblins, Black Orcs, Black Trolls, and Black Ogres.
Inon looked up after reading the contents.
“Did you say they pay per head for these contracts?”
“That’s right.”
“And the limit… how many heads can we take?”
“There’s no limit. It’s unlimited until I end the contract. What do you say? Will you hunt here?”
“Who owns the rights to the monster loot?”
“Of course, it belongs to the mercenary who defeated it.”
Inon passed the paper to another member and fell into thought.
The paper continued to circulate among the members.
In the end, the power that moves mercenaries is money.
If one can earn more money on the continent than in Ireland?
Mercenaries will stay here.
So, they made a request.
Changing ‘continent revenue ＞ Ireland revenue’
to ‘continent revenue ＜ Ireland revenue + subsidy.’
Though it took the form of a request, in the end, it’s a subsidy paid to mercenaries.
As time passed,
the opinions of the Innocent Mercenary Corps converged.
“We will accept this request.”
Phase one success.
They’ve secured the Innocent Mercenary Corps on Monster Island.
‘Next is phase two.’
“Inon, how are the financial conditions of the Innocent Mercenary Corps?”
Inon’s expression darkened.
“Not good. We had many casualties fighting the Twin Ogres. We’ve nearly depleted the mercenary corps funds then. Moreover, now… we’ve incurred debts.”
He looked at me as he spoke of debts.
“Ah, truly unfortunate.”
His expression and tone were not exaggerated.
“Listening to such a sad story, I cannot help but assist. Indeed, we cannot withhold benefits from mercenaries working for Ireland.”
At the mention of benefits, the expressions of the mercenaries changed.
From incredulity to expectation.
“What do you mean by benefits?”
Once again, he produced a prepared document.
“That’s right. It’s called the referral system.”
He unfolded a paper with the referral system written on the table.
While pointing out the important details, he explained.
“If you recommend a new mercenary to come here! We’ll pay the person who recommended them 10% of the mission fee that mercenary completes.”
The referral system.
This was a method widely used on Earth.
In games or websites, there are cases where you have to write down a referral.
By doing so, benefits are given to those who recommended you.
It could be cash or a membership.
And to gain these benefits, many people promote the game or website.
“So… if I bring 10 people, and 10% times 10 is… I could earn the fee of one person just by sitting still?”
A seemingly puzzled mercenary asked.
His eyes sparkled like stars in the sky.
“Yeah, that’s right. If we bring in 20 people, we can have fun and make twice the commission fee.”
At that moment, Inon chimed in.
“Unlimited recommendations? How many times can we do it? Or is there a time limit?”
I raised my finger.
“One year. How about that? Isn’t it doable?”
The members of the Innocent Mercenaries began to discuss among themselves.
And the conversation gradually took a positive direction.
If we invite them, we’ll pay 10% of the commission fee for a year.
It was a situation where recruiting mercenaries was more profitable than hunting monsters.
“That’s why I chose the Innocent Mercenaries.”
The Innocent Mercenaries.
Among the mercenary groups recommended by the guild leader, they were the weakest.
Yet, I chose them.
Why? Reputation, and the connections made by helping many people.
For that, the Innocent Mercenaries were perfect.
At that moment,
Bang!!!
“Elwin, what on earth are you thinking!?”
The supervisor, who was in a corner of the dining table, stood up and banged the table.
