Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 173 (Part 2)

Rodin waited briefly outside with Karis and Jena. Less than ten minutes later, Larry and Bianca came out.

“The request?”

“Of course we accepted it. Ah! We need to go to the Mercenary Guild.”

“Let’s go.”

Mercenaries were people who handled dangerous work. Murder, assassination, theft, escort, subjugation—there was nothing they didn’t do. In a way, it wouldn’t be wrong to call them a criminal organization.

From that perspective, the Mercenary Guild was a gathering place for those who took on dangerous work.

That’s why the lords of each territory did not permit Mercenary Guilds near their own estates. They preferred to avoid friction with such “rough” individuals.

The same was true for the Duchy of Lientas. The Mercenary Guild was quite a distance from the lord’s castle where they had held the consultation.

So Rodin’s party had arrived by carriage. They had left the carriage at the castle’s entrance and reclaimed it upon leaving.

“A six-star request, huh. It’s all thanks to you, big bro.”

“You’re the ones who brought the request.”

Rodin stared blankly out the window of the carriage. The weather was unusually gloomy today.

“Hey, big bro. About earlier…”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“That thing you said about the princess actually being a prince… did you really have to say that?”

Larry knew Rodin wasn’t someone who talked much. For his age, he was unusually cautious, and he didn’t speak recklessly or without meaning.

So Larry couldn’t understand why someone like Rodin would say that the princess was actually a man.

From his perspective, that wasn’t the kind of place or time to make such a statement.

“I said it on purpose.”

“On purpose? You had a reason for it?”

“Mm. I couldn’t tell whether Duke Lientas was friend or foe.”

“Then shouldn’t you have said even less? Now it seems like Queen Regina and that prince are the only ones in danger.”

Larry wasn’t wrong. Under normal circumstances, Rodin wouldn’t have gone out of his way to reveal the prince’s identity.

But on the way to the lord’s castle to meet Queen Regina, Larry had told him something.

Larry had said that there were around twenty people participating in this request. Meaning, aside from their own party, there were about fifteen other mercenaries involved.

“Sometimes, figuring out who’s friend or foe is more important than the danger right in front of you.”

“So… you said it just to find out if Duke Lientas is an enemy?”

“Yeah. If the duke has something else up his sleeve, he’ll likely make a move tonight.”

If the Duke of Lientas had ulterior motives, they couldn’t trust the other mercenaries working with them. They would have to keep watch on them all the way to the Kingdom of Lvein.

However, if the duke proved trustworthy, their suspicion toward the other mercenaries could also be somewhat eased.

Of course, that didn’t mean they could let their guard down completely. But at least, they could afford to lower their alertness by one level.

“You’re planning to act, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I have to.”

The carriage slowly passed through the commercial district. On both sides, countless shops were energetically calling out to customers.

—

After completely passing through the commercial district, the Mercenary Guild building came into view.

As expected of the greatest city in the Kingdom of Maven, the Mercenary Guild was enormous. Many mercenaries were entering and exiting through its wide, double doors.

“Let’s go in.”

“Yeah, let’s.”

This time, Rodin would also be participating in the mercenary request as a mercenary himself. Excluding potion delivery, this was the first request he was taking on.

As soon as he presented his platinum badge at the counter, they were guided to a VIP reception room.

Larry, Bianca, Karis, and Jena—who came along—were also seeing the Mercenary Guild’s VIP room for the first time.

“Wow! This is my first time here.”

“Big Brother Rodin, this place is super huge.”

The VIP reception room wasn’t exclusively for platinum-badge mercenaries. If the request was important enough, even gold-badge mercenaries could enter.

What was clear was that this place was absolutely off-limits to iron-badge mercenaries.

If Larry and Bianca wanted to enter this place without Rodin’s help, it would take them at least several decades of effort. That was assuming they continued to grow steadily. Otherwise, they might never get in their entire lives.

“Please have a seat. We’ve been expecting you, Mage Rodin. And… Miss Karis the swordswoman.”

“Hmm?”

“Word is spreading fast. They say you defeated platinum-badge mercenary Hurst on the Kantros Plains.”

It might mark the appearance of a new platinum-badge mercenary. That was why the branch manager of the Mercenary Guild couldn’t take his eyes off Karis.

“My lord.”

“Do as you like.”

These days, Rodin was trying to give Karis and Jena more opportunities to make their own decisions.

Rodin believed that Karis and Jena could break free from a passive life of simply following orders. Given the nature of their souls, it wasn’t impossible.

Elanerien, the imperial princess of the Magic Empire, was a brilliant mage, but even she couldn’t create living souls. She could create physical bodies, but forming souls was impossible.

So she would forcibly tear out the souls of other living beings and insert them into combat dolls. Some black magic was involved in the process.

Phantom beasts.

That was the essence of the souls that Princess Elanerien implanted into the combat dolls.

She even experimented with human souls but quickly realized that even souls aged and decayed, and so she turned to phantom beasts. They were beings of eternal life, unaffected by aging.

In other words, Karis and Jena were akin to phantom beasts. They just didn’t realize they were phantom beasts themselves, and their bodies had simply been constructed for battle.

“I’m satisfied with my current rank.”

“Oh? May I ask why you’re choosing to remain at the iron badge?”

“There’s no reason to move up.”

“Haa… I understand.”

Faced with Karis’s firm stance, the branch manager of the Mercenary Guild eventually gave up. He realized there was no point in forcing the matter.

“We’ve come to formally accept the request.”

“Ah! Mage Rodin, please wait just a moment. I’ll bring the contract.”

The branch manager disappeared somewhere and returned in less than five minutes.

“Here is the contract. The signatures of Duke Lientas and Queen Regina Hesword are already in place.”

“Does signing here finalize it?”

“Yes. Departure is in two days, at 8 a.m. If you’re late, a penalty fee will apply.”

Rodin signed first. Then Larry, Bianca, Karis, and Jena signed in order below him.

“Then, I wish you all success in completing the request safely.”

The contract was finalized. But their business wasn’t quite over yet.

Hyung_Otaku2

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