Kingdom's Bloodline, page 448
What was the probability of them running into an owner of a tavern being robbed while they were out disposing a corpse?
"Marina, where are your manners? Why aren't you inviting our two new friends to sit down?"
Ricky still seemed very easygoing, "By the way, let's have a drink, but not alcohol. I'll need them to stay sober."
When he said these words, he fixed his gaze on Tampa.
'Let's have a drink, but stay sober.'
Thales and Quick Rope looked at each other in shock and bewilderment. They exchanged their thoughts and feelings using their eyes.
'What are they doing?'
'I don't know!'
The mercenaries around them were still staring coldly at the both of them. An intimidating force unique to the mercenaries spread out from them as they whispered and laughed disdainfully at the two.
Marina raised her eyebrows. She gestured to Thales and Quick Rope with her chin, then kicked an empty table next to her.
"Did you all hear that?"
Thales and Quick Rope cast a glance at each other, unsure if they should sit down.
Marina sighed.
She lowered her head and took out both of her swords with a "swoosh".
When she lifted her head with a fierce expression…
Thales and Quick Rope had already moved to the chairs by the empty table, as though they teleported there.
They propped their hands on the table, sat upright, and showed their white front teeth, smiling obediently.
Their swiftness, obedience, and sweet smile caused Marina, who was ready to see blood, to become a little frustrated.
The mercenaries behind her came with two drinks from the bar counter, and they rudely slammed them on the duo's table.
Thales and Quick Rope subconsciously shrank.
They pulled their hands back from the table and tried to stay away from the two drinks.
"What, worried they're poisoned?" Marina looked at them contemptuously.
"We're not thirsty," said the well-behaved Thales.
"Really not thirsty," said the obsequious Quick Rope.
Marina sighed again when she looked at the sincere gazes from the duo.
She raised her swords, and the two mercenaries behind her stepped forward quietly.
"So, you'd rather have your hands empty because you want to be able to pick up your weapons at any time?"
As soon as she said those words, Thales and Quick Rope quickly shot their hands out together in a show of great sense. With just one stretch and one pull, the beer glasses were in their hands.
It was all done in one breath.
Their heads were lifted from the huge beer glasses at the same time, and they had friendly smiles on their faces.
"Of course not…" said the enthusiastic Thales.
"Why would we do that…" said the humble Quick Rope.
Marina cocked an eyebrow and her face twitched when she saw the two giggle.
She snorted disdainfully and put her weapons away.
On the other side, Ricky, the leader of the mercenaries looked at the duo's expressions and sighed softly. "Based on their expressions… I guess you were just bluffing, Tampa?"
Tampa, the protagonist of the abduction, coughed with an unpleasant expression.
"Listen, you're acting really conspicuously. The camp won't stand by and just watch."
Ricky stared at the two new guests with interest, then he turned to look at the owner again.
"They'll be busy killing things in the desert, and this is just a personal grudge," Ricky said with a smile. "So, they really won't care."
Tampa's expression became more and more stiff, "You know, you're destroying Blood Whistle's reputation. No employer or referral will be willing to hire a mercenary group with a criminal…"
"Reputation…"
Ricky nonchalantly said, "Don't you know? This is a one-time deal. We are ready to leave Blade Fangs Camp, and even quit this line."
Thales, who held his beer glass tightly, looked around at the mercenaries in the tavern. Their silence gave the atmosphere in the tavern a strange sense of tension.
'A one-time deal…'
That made Thales extremely uneasy.
That meant that the group of people did not care about all the possible consequences of their actions.
Hence, how could he and Quick Rope, the two innocent people dragged into this mess, get away safely?
"I have no enmity against your Blood Whistle!"
Tampa slammed the table and gritted his teeth as he pointed at Ricky. "Hey, it was your people who weren't careful enough and snatched those important people's loot. They were then caught and sent to prison. I've tried very hard to help you…"
As Tampa defended himself, the middle-aged man next to Ricky named Klein shook his head and laughed as he said to Masked Man, "Not careful enough?"
"Shut up," Masked Man retorted rudely.
Thales silently watched their interaction.
According to Ricky's introduction, Klein was a swordsman from Northland. Masked Man had a dangerous identity. They just joined Blood Whistle.
However, judging from their current behavior, the unfamiliarity and distance other people would otherwise have—just like Quick Rope in Dante's Greatsword—when they just joined a group was absent from them.
It was as if they had known each other for a long time.
The two of them had just joined the group, and they were already sitting with the leader of the team. The other mercenaries in the tavern, including Marina, who seemed to be a senior member of the group, did not seem to have any opinions about it.
'There's something wrong.'
Thales committed the puzzling fact to his memory.
'This so-called mercenary team isn't as simple as they seem.'
"If you want to blame this on me or want to earn a huge buck before you leave, then you've come to the wrong person." Tampa continued trying to defend himself.
Nonetheless, Ricky lifted a finger and silenced the three people who wanted to speak.
"This doesn't have to do with any businesses or grudges, old friend," he said plainly.
Tampa was slightly taken aback.
"Then what do you want? Mercenaries?"
Ricky smiled
"What we want may be rather much…"
There was a hint of sagaciousness and wariness.
"But first of all, you can answer a question for us."
Tampa frowned.
Thales instantly felt that there was something wrong when he saw the situation and heard how unbothered Ricky was about Thales as well as Quick Rope's presence when he asked his questions.
Ricky's expression turned serious. "About twenty years ago, there was a mercenary group called the 'Nine Powerhouses'. They were active at the borders of the desert, you know that, right? Just today, I heard you talking to the young man about it."
Ricky pointed at Thales, and their gazes on him made his cheek muscles go numb from all the smiling he did.
'Nine Powerhouses?
'What? Did Tampa talk about this?'
Tampa looked at Ricky with a suspecting look. "So?"
Ricky nodded.
"The leader of that team is a skilled young man. Now, he should be about forty or fifty years old." Ricky placed a hand on the table, then slowly rubbed his fingers together as if he was recalling something.
"His sword style is very special. His offences and defences are one and the same. He has a variety of skills from different schools of martial arts, but he can connect all of them smoothly and use them without problem. When he fights against his opponents, he usually acts beyond their expectations and catches them off guard…"
Thales noticed that some of the quiet mercenaries in the distance had tense expressions.
"Even when he faces strong enemies or even when he's surrounded, he will not be at a disadvantage, resisting the pressure of being in an unfavourable position," Masked Man suddenly said from the other side of the table. He sounded old as well.
Ricky nodded slightly and looked into the distance with a ruminating gaze. "Exactly."
He turned to Tampa. "Who is he?"
At first, Tampa was startled.
"Just because of this?"
"This is very important. You are the master here, you should know him," Ricky whispered.
Tampa took a deep breath.
"It's been too long ago. When the Nine Powerhouses was formed more than twenty years ago, I was just a poor fool…"
He shrugged. "How would I know?"
Ricky blinked and nodded in a friendly manner.
"You may not be old enough, but…"
The leader of the mercenaries leaned forward with a confident expression.
"This is My Home."
Tampa was baffled. "What about it? This is a tavern, not the Secret Intelligence Department."
Ricky snorted coldly.
"You know, you have a good sign board."
Tampa went a little stiff.
"Two hundred years ago, the first supreme queen appeared in Constellation, Erica Jadestar. She ascended the throne as the crown princess."
Ricky smiled as he said, "She beat up the Eckstedtians time and again, causing them to flee in panic. They even had to make their territory smaller and give up on Cold Castle.
"This is the origin of that joke, you know? Only when it is under the leadership of women and children can Constellation defeat Eckstedt. Which is kind of true. Look at 19-year-old Sumer I, Queen Aixora who rode into war herself, the Queen Dowager Iron Spike, Queen Erica, and our very recent addition, the Fortress Flower."
Masked Man snorted in disdain after he heard Ricky's words.
Erica, the Conqueror of the North...
Thales had heard of her before.
Of course, it was from the very indignant Northlanders' view.
It was said that Princess Erica was wild, and her desires were boundless. Before she was crowned, it was difficult to marry her off because of her bad reputation and her unknown father. For the sake of power, she even used her beauty and body to seduce her enemies so that they supported her position as queen. She even tempted Bolton Stustel in a crafty and obscene manner. The wise Common-Elected King of Eckstedt refused the Queen's "superficial beauty and ugly heart" ('Basically saying that he did not want her on the surface'—Thales' history book, note 4). He stuck fast to the interests and principles of the Northlanders, but was captured by the angry Queen of Whores through her schemes ('Capturing him from another state, then bringing him back from Fort End to Eternal Star City'—Thales' history book, note 13). Unfortunately, he fell into her clutches ('The body is very honest'—Thales' history book, note 15). He was imprisoned in the castle all year round, tortured at night, and suffered great humiliation (Every time Saroma saw it, she would curiously ask Thales why he laughed so strangely).
At the same time, the despicable Constellatiates secretly gathered their forces together and took the opportunity to attack. The Eckstedtians were worried about the safety of their king ('How is he still not dead?'—Thales' history book, note 24), but they were like a headless dragon. Their people were like scattered sand. However, the Eckstedtians resisted the Constellatiates with their tenacious strength. They fought bravely, and built an unyielding line of defense in front of Cold Castle ('And then lost Cold Castle'—Thales' history book, note 37). In the end, they crushed the evil schemes of Constellation's Queen of Whores.
By the way, the history book filled with Thales' nonsensical remarks and private notes was discovered by the female official, Ginghes in the end. After Lord Nicholas, the archduchess' guard, read it, he was deeply moved by it. He decided to reward Thales by throwing the book into the fireplace so that it could contribute slightly in providing warmth for Heroic Spirit Palace during the cold winter.
Thales shook his head, then focused his attention on the things before him.
Ricky continued, "But Erica's later years were not very pleasant. The Conqueror of the North was overthrown by her younger brother and forced into exile in the Western Desert. She ended up surrounded by enemies every single day and was also continuously betrayed. She died depressed.
"The forces loyal to Queen Erica fled to Blade Fangs Dune. They were not willing to work for the cruel Red King, and their actions were approved tacitly by the Duke of the Western Desert. They refused to join the Red King in his repeated conquests and acts of putting down rebels. But at the same time, they were not willing to fade into obscurity after they left their homes. So they chose to continue to fight on the western border for the duke and the country in the name of mercenaries."
Ricky pointed at the door and smiled. "This is what it means by 'Queen Erica's last wine goblet.'"
Tampa took a deep breath.
"This is what the glorious history—or what they thought to be history—of the Western Desert mercenaries. Since then, My Home became the dispatch center for the mercenaries in Western Desert, even though they couldn't say it out loud."
Ricky stared at him intently. "It's been more than two hundred years. The political situation has changed numerous times, the crown has been passed to various people, but My Home has always been the center for the mercenaries in the Western Desert, a sacred place for many people.
"And just like all the masters here, you, Tampa, took over the position and information of the previous owner, moving between the underground and legal forces in this place. You've played an intermediary role in the sacred land of the mercenaries. You contacted the officials in the camp while you provided refuge for the mercenaries who were away from the kingdom and its law. You introduced work to them, and your authority was their guarantee.
"Every experienced mercenary or mercenary group who comes to Blade Fangs Camp will come here to greet and be acquainted with the local tyrant so that they can form connections. So you know the general situation and even the details of almost of every mercenary group. As long as they visited this place or came here searching for business, they'd leave their record with you."
Tampa sighed slowly.
"You may not be the most powerful and most authoritative person in this chaotic camp, Tampa, but you are definitely the one who knows the most." Ricky's gaze turned sharp. "Maybe, you know too much.
"Look, we came to you for a reason. "
Tampa frowned.
"Now, tell me, Tampa...
"Who is he?
"Where is he now?"
Ricky whispered, "The leader of the Nine Powerhouses who wielded the sword."
At the same table, Klein and Masked Man also turned to Tampa and stared at the owner of the tavern from both sides.
The gazes of the mercenaries turned scarier
Tampa clenched his teeth and his face twitched.
However, he still shook his head. "No, it's been over twenty years. It's been too long, and they disbanded long ago. I don't remember anything…"
Ricky's smile slowly faded.
"It seems that you haven't realized the resolve we've made by coming here today," he said coldly.
After that, Ricky nodded slightly at Marina.
Marina smiled mysteriously and put her hands on the shoulders of the two new guests.
Thales and Quick Rope turned their heads and looked at her in confusion.
'What is she trying to—'
At the next moment, Thales felt something piercingly cold shoot into his entire body through Marina's palm!
*Clang!*
Thales and Quick Rope's beer glasses fell to the ground at the same time!
Thales jolted.
It was cold...
Extreme cold.
It felt as if someone had suddenly turned his blood into iced water.
The cold flowed through his blood vessels.
At that moment, Thales was as white as a sheet.
It was…
That was not all. There was also an unbearable dull pain in that chill. The cold and pain were like a pair of brothers charging forward with all their strength, not thinking about turning back. Their charge was violent and filled with madness as they invaded his nerves inch by inch.
'Sh*t!'
Aware that something was wrong, Thales shrank back. He wanted to resist the terrible force.
Quick Rope reacted faster than him.
"Aarghhhh—" the former Prince of Eckstedt screamed!
Quick Rope widened his eyes. He looked frightened and in pain, as though he just saw the legendary ferryman of Hell's River .
His face was contorted while that strange cold invaded his body.
Tampa stared at the two tortured people in a dumbfounded manner.
The mercenaries looked calm and even smiled, as though that was something they always saw.
Thales gritted his teeth in pain as well. The chill made him extremely uncomfortable, but his body was numb, and it was difficult for him to free himself from it.
Just then…
*Boom!*
A force that had been quiet in Thales for several days suddenly awakened in his body!
The Sin of Hell's River reacted swiftly, as quickly and mightily as an explosion. It filled Thales' entire body at the speed of a beast rushing out of its cage, and a flood charging in when the floodgate was lifted.
It surged towards the cold force rampaging in his body.
'What happened?' Thales thought. He was a step too late in reacting to the situation.
In one breath, the Sin of Hell's River charged head-on against that power.
Immediately, Thales started to shake non-stop!
However, it was not because of the chill and dull pain.
In truth, the pain and cold from the power had faded away slowly.
Yet, the other monster filled up his body without hesitation. The Sin of Hell's River surged and invaded every inch of his body like a provoked beast. Its undulations were intense, and they occurred at a frequent pace. The feeling was second only to the moments when his life was in danger.
Thales was shocked.
'What's going on?'
That was not all, though.
The Sin of Hell's River was like a magic potion that could bewitch a person. It quietly crept up his mind. His Hell's sense was activated without him calling out to it. His eyes subconsciously focused on Marina's vitals: her eyes, throat, chest, armpits, belly…
