Category: The Azure Longsword

Chapter 54: A Rendezvous Under the Moon

“One vodka.” Sidlipha said.

Lekh was a small village in the Rhodope Valley, with a population of about two hundred.

The most lively place in the village was the tavern built by the river, known locally as “Old Man’s Tavern.” Basically, in the evening, whether they were farmers or hunters, the villagers liked to come here for a drink.

Today, however, there were many strangers, who looked like mercenaries. The villagers sat in twos and threes around the round tables, glancing at the seven or eight outsiders sitting at the bar, whispering among themselves.

Except for the leader who was a man, everyone else was a beautiful woman.

Hmm, they must be nobles from somewhere. Some nobles did like to be surrounded by beautiful women. As for why they were all dressed as mercenaries, it could only be said to be a special hobby of the nobles.

“Your Balkan vodka.” The tavern owner, nicknamed “Old Man,” poured Sidlipha a glass of vodka and pushed it towards her.

“Strong!” Sidlipha gulped it down, her face flushing up to her neck. She burped in admiration. “Another one.”

“You girl, you have quite a tolerance for alcohol.” Old Man said with a smile, pouring her another glass.

“I’ll have gin.” Eleanor said.

“Then I’ll have a fruit brandy.” Nuo said, looking at the menu.

“Bloody Mary.” Medea snapped her fingers.

“I want a Flying Dutchman cocktail.” Mia shouted, raising her hand.

“Children can’t drink alcohol!” Nuo forcibly pressed her hand down and asked Old Man, “Do you have any juice?”

“We have raspberry liqueur, non-alcoholic.” Old Man chuckled.

“Damn it, why can everyone else drink alcohol, but I have to drink juice?” Mia protested, waving her arms and legs. Nuo slapped the back of her neck and quickly subdued her like a cat.

Under Nuo’s clutches, Mia could only let out disgruntled purrs.

“Give me a draft beer.” Asker said finally. “What does Peggy want?”

“Just iced soda water, thank you.” Peggy said.

Soon, Old Man prepared all the drinks and brought the glasses to everyone.

“I didn’t expect there to be a bartender in this small village.” Medea said with a smile, resting her chin on her hand.

“Ah, what bartender, I’m just a barkeep.” Old Man said, “When I was young, I worked in Constantinople and learned some bartending skills. You’ve been to Constantinople, right?”

“Yes.” Asker said, “I heard that the Seljuks are about to reach Nicaea, so Constantinople is in danger now, right?”

“The Seljuks, a barbaric and backward country.” Old Man shook his head. “I heard that each of their families must have 4 children, how can they have so many children? My wife gave birth to two, and just taking care of them usually tires her to death. If we had two more, I can’t even imagine it.”

“I’m afraid that if they really attack, we won’t have a choice.” Asker said.

“No, Constantinople will be fine, it has three layers of giant walls.” Old Man said with a dismissive smile. “Besides, we have two Empresses, God will bless Constantinople.”

Asker didn’t argue, he just slowly finished his beer and put down his glass: “Do you have anything to eat?”

“For snacks, we have grilled squirrel skewers, roasted lamb chops, and apple pie.”

“Let’s have some of everything.” Asker took out a few silver coins and put them on the table.

“This raspberry liqueur is really good.” Miel said to Mia.

“Hmph, I won’t drink it!” Mia said angrily. “What’s the point without alcohol? Back when I was in the guild… Wuwuwu.”

She couldn’t continue because Nuo stuffed a piece of pie into her mouth.

“The lamb chops here are especially tender.” Eleanor pulled out the lamb chop bone and said to Sidlipha. “The mutton in our area is tougher, but it’s chewy.”

“Northerners basically don’t eat mutton.” Sidlipha said as she began to tear into the lamb chop.

“Then what do you eat?” Eleanor asked curiously.

“Mainly smoked salmon.” Sidlipha said vaguely. “And whale meat, seal meat, and walrus meat.”

“Whale?” Eleanor put down her fork. “What does it taste like?”

“Similar to fish steak, but with a thick layer of fat.” Sidlipha said, “We usually smoke it and can store it for half a year. I guess you’re not used to the smoky taste.”

“I can get used to it.” Eleanor said thoughtfully. “We also eat smoked bacon, sausage, and ham, but they’re made of pork. Sometimes we hunt bears and eat bear meat.”

“Oh, oh, oh, bear meat is delicious!” Sidlipha’s eyes lit up. “We occasionally hunt polar bears. There’s an island in the North Sea called Svalbard, where there are many wild animals.”

“Do you hunt bears with guns?” Eleanor asked.

“No, we shoot them with arrows.” Sidlipha said. “With very long arrows.”

They ate and drank until late at night, and then went back to Furnace Island drunk.

On Furnace Island, the girls had already built a simple wooden house and put four double beds in it.

The climate of the semi-plane was similar to a temperate ocean, synchronized with the outside world 24 hours a day, so going back to Furnace Island to live could also save on accommodation expenses.

Asker went alone to the shallows by the river and found a large rock to sit on.

The moonlight poured down, plating the river with a layer of silver scales. He stared at the river without saying a word, replaying the next plan in his mind.

According to the main storyline, Constantinople would soon be betrayed by the Venetians and fall into chaos under the attack of the Franks.

The attack would end in failure, and then there would be a coup in the royal court.

Theodora would be imprisoned by Zoe in a monastery.

Then, the captain of the guard, Michael, and the official scribe, Varomina, would instigate a riot among the citizens of the imperial capital, rescuing Theodora from the monastery and forcing Zoe to swear that she would never fight her sister again.

Immediately afterwards, the Seljuks would officially land on the Thracian plain, and Constantinople would be besieged for two months.

Finally, Constantinople would fall, and the two Empresses would flee to the Siris province.

This dramatic main storyline had been complained about many times by players, such as the two sisters still fighting each other while the country was in crisis, and the captain of the guard being able to instigate a civilian rebellion, which was unreasonable and illogical.

The game design team even issued a very long explanation for the rationality of the plot, which could be summarized in six words:

Dear players, I am your daddy.

There was actually nothing to discuss. After the famous movie “Titanic” was released, some rational viewers scientifically argued that a wooden board could fully support two people in the seawater, and Jack didn’t need to give the wooden board to Rose and die himself.

Then director Cameron said, this is art, do you understand art? Art doesn’t need to consider physics.

My script clearly stated on page 147 that the male protagonist must die, if he doesn’t die, the movie can’t end.

Even if he didn’t drown in the seawater, the screenwriter would arrange for other factors to make him die.

Similarly, since the game design team had arranged it, then according to the main storyline, the Venetians would definitely be blinded by greed and instigate the Frankish knights to attack Constantinople, Zoe would definitely attack her younger sister in order to seize power, and finally, Constantinople would definitely be captured by the Seljuks.

This game was called “Iron and Fire,” it was meant for players to experience the grandeur and cruelty of war. In the open beta stage, an empire was sacrificed first, which was worthy of being the opening act of the decade-long epic of total war.

Version 1, Bloodbath in the Balkans; Version 2, Holy Roman Civil War; Version 3, Attack on the Church… Each version had at least one national war, the casualties of NPCs were in the tens of millions, and the number of player deaths was even higher, exceeding 100 million.

It was precisely because of this that Asker, since he transmigrated to this world, had been so eager to recruit people, do quests, run dungeons, get equipment, refine potions, and follow the guide to push the progress every day, so busy that he didn’t even have time to rest.

Medea saying that he was mentally exhausted was not a groundless speculation.

He was indeed very tired, but he couldn’t stop and rest now.

From the open beta stage to version 1, the level cap was level 5. At the end of version 1, his team had to reach level 5 for all members, and in version 2, they had to rush to level 10.

Version 3, the Unjust Crusade, was Emperor Otto of the Holy Roman Empire attacking the Church, almost half of the continent was dragged into the fight. If they couldn’t reach level 10 in time, low-level Transcendents would most likely die in battle in version 3.

Of course, they could also hide, they could hide in the Iberian Peninsula or Britannia, but if you could hide in version 3, what about the later versions?

There would always be a time when you couldn’t hide.

“Want a drink?” A voice sounded behind him. Asker turned around and saw that it was Nuo.

Nuo looked at him with a smile, her beautiful face flushed with a slight drunkenness, looking extremely pure and beautiful under the moonlight.

Sometimes I really envy you, you don’t have to worry about anything… Asker sighed in his heart and took a sip from the bottle.

“Seeing you sighing here alone, is something bothering you?” Nuo sat down on the big rock next to him.

“I’m having a headache about how to improve your strength as soon as possible.” Asker said honestly.

“Since it’s related to the whole team, why not discuss it with everyone directly?” Nuo looked at him seriously.

“Because it’s meaningless.” Asker said, “Do you know where to find the materials for your next potion formula?”

“My next potion formula is Spirit I.” Nuo nodded and took out her Spirit I formula from her pocket, which read:

-Ingredient-

• Purified Ectoplasm

-Subsidiary-

• 3ml Blood of Hector

• 3 Seeds of Ephemera

• 1mg Benzyl Amine

-Processing-
Dissolve 1mg of benzyl amine in 3ml of Hector’s blood, add the Ephemera seeds at 1 minute, 3 minutes, and 7 minutes respectively, the error cannot exceed 15 seconds. Finally, let it stand until the liquid is clear and transparent, add the purified ectoplasm, wait until a smoky sol appears in the liquid, and then drink it.

“So? Even if you know what the materials are, can you handle it yourself?” Asker asked.

“Well, I know that ectoplasm is the residue of a ghost after death.” Nuo thought seriously. “Purified ectoplasm, I understand, it’s just washing it clean with holy water…”

“Ectoplasm dissolves in water.” Asker said, “It will disappear if you wash it with holy water.”

“Uh. Hector’s blood…” Nuo tapped her head. “This name sounds familiar, is Hector some kind of octopus?”

“Hector refers to a special kind of spiritual black dog. They go to graveyards in the middle of the night to dig up the ground and eat the rotten flesh and bones of dead people.” Asker said.

“Then Ephemera must be a kind of mayfly.” Nuo said with certainty.

“It says ‘Seeds of Ephemera,’ it’s a plant, of course.” Asker said, facepalming. “Ephemera grows abundantly along the Nile River, and its appearance is similar to reeds.”

“Benzyl amine is a benzene ring connected to a methylene group, and then connected to an amino group?” Nuo said uncertainly, seeming to have lost confidence.

“You finally got one right, you’re good at things related to science.” Asker commented.

“Asker.” Nuo said faintly. “Am I stupid?”

Chapter 53: The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

Von Kesim clutched his left shoulder, fleeing in panic through the forest, sparks flying from the severed limb.

As a cyborg with extensive cybernetic enhancements, losing an arm was a huge blow to his combat effectiveness.

Of course, he didn’t have time to regret it now. He was filled with fear and urgency from being hunted.

That gunman… he still remembered the terrifying feeling of being continuously locked on, like a mouse being played with by a cat.

Von Kesim was even certain that the other party could have killed him directly from the beginning, but they deliberately delayed each shot, calmly pushing him to the brink of despair.

Damn it! Is this really my retribution? Von Kesim recalled his life as a Templar Knight. In addition to delivering secret information for Emperor Otto, he had also committed his fair share of Templar atrocities.

He remembered that he was once ordered by the Holy See to go to the West Frankish Kingdom to purge the Albigensian heretics.

A small village of perhaps a few hundred people, all believers of the Albigensian sect.

He and his Templar companions killed all the adults, leaving only twelve children.

For fun, they let the children run free into the mountains outside the village.

Half an hour later, the Templar Knights began their hunt and slaughter.

Von Kesim alone killed four children. He liked to suddenly appear in front of the children with his gun and then pull the trigger as they looked at him with despair.

He took perverse pleasure in this feeling of hunting others, and even savored it in his mind at night afterwards.

Now, the hunter of the past had become the prey.

“Backstab!” It was not until the pain in his back that he realized the enemy had caught up to him.

Peggy’s short sword pierced his back, where the flesh had not yet been cybernetically enhanced, causing immense pain.

Von Kesim rolled, first dodging Peggy’s pursuit.

An adrenaline spray popped out of the wrist slot on his right hand. He brought it to his mouth and quickly took a puff. His mind instantly became clear and sharp.

The sound of a sharp weapon cutting through the air rang out. Von Kesim quickly sidestepped, dodging Sidlipha’s flying axe. At the same time, he raised his gun with one hand and aimed at Peggy’s head.

“Bang!”

Peggy tilted her head to dodge in a split second, but a large part of her scalp was still grazed by the bullet, revealing her grayish-white skull.

She turned her neck back expressionlessly, the flesh at the wound wriggling grotesquely, covering the skull again.

A Transcendental of the Flesh Sequence! Damn it! Von Kesim watched in horror as more people appeared from behind the trees, and a thought involuntarily arose in his mind:

Run!

Although his Templar rationality told him that turning to run would only expose his back to the enemy, the fear was so strong that it overwhelmed his reason in an instant.

Von Kesim quickly turned around and began to flee desperately.

Medea behind the tree stared at his back, her slender right hand subtly flicking her fingers in the air, remotely manipulating his fear and desire to escape.

Another gunshot rang out. Von Kesim twisted his body violently while running, taking the bullet that was originally aimed at his heart with his right chest.

The dizziness from excessive blood loss gradually surged, coupled with the nerve stimulation of adrenaline, putting him in a strange state of both unconsciousness and consciousness.

What, what am I doing? Von Kesim suddenly came to his senses.

Blindly running away would only lead to his own demise. Only by turning around and fighting could he have a chance of survival!

He quickly turned around while running, locking onto the target with his gun in one hand.

The gunshot rang out, but the bullet shot into the sky. A hand reached out from the shadows on the ground, grabbing Von Kesim’s ankle as he was sprinting, dragging him to the ground. Peggy took the opportunity to approach, her short sword stabbing fiercely at his chest.

Von Kesim grabbed the short sword with his right hand, his steel cybernetic enhancements creaking and straining, preventing Peggy’s short sword from piercing any further.

Mia’s hand reached out from the shadows again, her short sword pressing against Von Kesim’s throat and beginning to cut forcefully.

Why can’t I cut it! Mia in the shadows was tearful. Von Kesim’s neck had been cybernetically enhanced, the flesh and blood of his throat completely replaced by steel.

The short sword cut futilely on it, making a grating sound like nails on a chalkboard.

“Over there!” Noisy shouts came from behind, it seemed that the people from the Iron Cross had finally found them.

Von Kesim was still resisting the downward pressure of Peggy’s short sword when he suddenly realized that his strength was gradually draining away.

Was it excessive blood loss? No, it was life… steal… In his despairing eyes, the short sword finally slowly pierced into his chest. Von Kesim’s prosthetic eye pupils dilated, completely losing focus.

“Grab the stuff, let’s go!” Asker said quickly, scooping up the Slaughter-III rifle on the ground and throwing it to Mia. Then, with a flick of his spirituality, he sent everyone back to Furnace Island.

Leaving Von Kesim’s half-cybernetic corpse behind, he quickly ran towards the distant cliff.

Ten seconds later, the people from the Iron Cross and Free Wind arrived at the scene.

Matthews drew his greatsword with one hand and tried to turn over Von Kesim’s body, but Andrea blocked him with his sword.

“What do you mean, Andrea?” Matthews narrowed his eyes and said in a dangerous tone. “Do you want to start a war with our Free Wind here?”

“That’s pointless.” Andrea said calmly. “Von Kesim was not killed by our people, so everyone who saw it gets a share. The body will be sent to the Church, you and I split the 500-pound bounty equally.”

“Besides, his Slaughter-III rifle is also cutting-edge technology, which can be sold for about 500 pounds on the market. It seems to have been taken by that guy named Asker. Aren’t you going to chase him?”

“Chase? Of course.” Matthews sneered. “Fourth Squad, chase that guy!”

So a team of sword and shield warriors left on orders. Andrea also turned his head and gave a few instructions, sending a team of Gothic swordsmen to chase Asker.

Then the two looked at Von Kesim’s body on the ground in silence.

“Missing an arm.” Andrea said.

“Maybe it fell off somewhere.” Matthews said, “Why don’t you go look for it? I’ll watch over the body here first.”

“What if you run away with the body?” Andrea asked back.

“Then you can go after that Asker and get the Slaughter-III rifle, which is also worth 500 pounds.” Matthews said.

“Hehe.” Andrea shook his head without speaking.

“What, you don’t believe me?” Matthews said sarcastically.

“How about this, you go after that Asker, and I’ll watch over the body here?” Andrea sneered. “We’ve known each other for so many years, don’t play these mind games, it’s pointless.”

“In that case.” Matthews was silent for a moment. “Then each of us sends 10 people to send his head back to the Church and claim the bounty?”

“Sure.” Andrea said, “But I’ll personally escort it.”

…

Asker ran swiftly ahead, the mercenaries chasing behind him, not shouting any meaningless words like “Stop.”

Once they caught up, it would be a life-or-death battle, everyone knew it very well.

The cliff was ahead. Asker rushed to the edge of the cliff and turned around. The mercenaries behind him blocked his way, secretly relieved.

No matter what, he couldn’t fly now.

“Give my regards to your two captains.” Asker said leisurely. “Also, what the Church really wants is the external chip on the back of Von Kesim’s right neck.”

After calmly saying this, he spread his arms and leaned towards the outside of the cliff.

He fell.

The mercenaries looked at each other. Someone rushed to the edge of the cliff and looked down, but they could no longer see Asker.

After discussing for a while, these mercenaries could only choose to quickly return and report to Matthews and Andrea.

What the Church wanted was the external chip on the back of Von Kesim’s right neck – this was an important secret.

The reason why Asker said it publicly was just to provoke the Iron Cross and Free Wind to fight each other, so that they wouldn’t have time to chase him.

This was a blatant scheme. Although the mercenaries all knew this, they had to go back and report to their captains quickly.

As he was falling through the air, Asker manipulated his spirituality and teleported back to Furnace Island.

So only the book “Absurd Dreams” was left in his original position, bumping and rolling on the cliff a few times, and finally falling to the bottom of the valley with a “thud.”

A few minutes later, Asker teleported back again, picked up “Absurd Dreams” on the ground, and found that it wasn’t even torn.

For a treasure that could seal a semi-plane fragment, this level of durability was naturally expected.

He was now deep in the Rhodope Mountains. It was impossible to go back north to the town of Stanimaka. The people from the Iron Cross and Free Wind would definitely set up ambushes on the original route.

Now it seemed that he could only go south through the mountains to reach Lekh, and then turn east to return to Constantinople.

After careful calculation, by the time he returned to Constantinople, it would be almost the perfect time.

While Asker was trekking through the Rhodope Mountains, the Venetian fleet, carrying 5,000 Frankish knights and 10,000 knight retinues, had already sailed into the Aegean Sea.

Leading them was Marquis Boniface of Montferrat, responding to the Church’s call to support the Eastern Solomon Empire in Anatolia and fight against the invading Seljuks.

Because they knew they were going to slaughter heretics, the devout Frankish knights, although almost half-dead from the violent bumps of the long voyage, still insisted on coming out every day to wipe their spears and armor.

Until Marquis Boniface announced on the deck: “We are not going to Anatolia anymore, we are going to Constantinople.”

“What?” The Frankish knights were all shocked. Didn’t we agree to go to Anatolia to kill heretics?

“Because we haven’t received the money.” Doge Enrico of Venice came out and said, “The agreed shipping fee was 50,000 silver marks, to be paid in four installments.”

“However, the information from our bank is that only 5,000 marks have been received for the first installment of 15,000 marks.”

The Frankish knights were all in an uproar upon hearing this. They were only responsible for fighting this time and had no concept of money, so they all looked at their leader, Marquis Boniface.

The latter coughed and said:

“It’s like this. Since Constantinople sent a distress signal to the West, although His Holiness could not send Templar Knights, he called on the lords who believe in God to donate money to support them.”

“In the end, we raised 5,000 silver marks and agreed with Constantinople that they would pay the remaining 10,000 silver marks in gold of equal value…”

“Doge Enrico, please confirm, Constantinople really hasn’t paid you the down payment?”

“Indeed, they haven’t.” Doge Enrico replied. He was a blind old man in his 80s, so his words immediately won the trust of the Frankish knights.

“That’s strange.” Marquis Boniface said, “Logically speaking, we are going to rescue Constantinople, and they should naturally pay for the shipping in between.”

“There must be some misunderstanding. Why don’t we go to Constantinople first and ask the two Majesties for clarification?”

So the Frankish knights started to clamor, all saying okay, then let’s go to Constantinople to find the Solomon Emperor and pay off the debt owed to the Venetians.

Chapter 52: Continuous Tracking

“Damn it! What do we do?!” Matthews’ face was livid.

Snipers were key training targets in almost every mercenary group.

On the one hand, they were used to deal with high-level Transcendents, and on the other hand, they were also used to suppress enemy snipers.

As the saying goes among gunmen, “Only a sniper can deal with a sniper.”

Now that two snipers were dead, he and Andrea would definitely be reprimanded by the main group, there was no escaping it.

“You’re the damn leader of a mercenary group!” Andrea was about to explode, roaring without regard for his manners, “And you’re asking what to do? Ask your mother!!!”

“What’s wrong with me venting a little?!” Matthews retorted. “Don’t you feel bad that your sniper is dead?! What are we going to do next!”

“Send in the reserve sniper!” Andrea roared. “If that doesn’t work, send in the spotter!”

As soon as he said this, the reserve snipers of both mercenary groups became terrified.

It was one thing to die gloriously on the battlefield, but it was another thing to die in a sniper duel in front of everyone.

Dying on the battlefield was mostly bad luck, but dying in a sniper duel… that was purely being inferior in skill! It was shameful to die like that!

“Did you see that clearly?” Asker picked up the beret on the ground, the bullet hole still smelling of gunpowder.

“He’s strong.” Miel commented.

“Are you afraid?” Asker asked.

“No.” Miel said.

“Then let’s go.” Asker said.

“Where are the reserves?!” Andrea spoke again, so the reserve snipers could only reluctantly crawl out, suddenly exclaiming and pointing ahead: “Captain?!”

Matthews and Andrea looked at the same time and saw a man and a little girl rolling to the windowsill, skillfully picking up the sniper rifles left behind by Lyon and Franz after their deaths, and then carefully moving along the wall with their backs against it.

The two captains looked at each other, Matthews’ gaze clearly saying: “Is that your man?”

Andrea shook his head and stared at Asker’s back.

He naturally recognized this strange leader of the “Azure Longsword mercenary group,” but who was that pink-haired half-elf little girl? Had she appeared before?

“Listen up, the tactic is very simple.” Asker leaned against the wall and said to Miel with a smile. “I’ll throw the hat up to attract one of his shots, and then we both lean out of cover at the same time.”

“There will be muzzle flash when he shoots, you can use that to capture his position, and then snipe him. Good idea, right?”

Damn it! All the mercenaries present cursed silently in their hearts. Wasn’t this the plan proposed by the two dead snipers just now?

“Good idea.” Miel was oblivious to the inner thoughts of the mercenaries present and just said indifferently, “But, at such a long distance, I may not be able to capture the position of the muzzle flash.”

“It’s okay.” Asker said with a smile. “If you can’t see it clearly once, just look a few more times.”

The atmosphere was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was cursing frantically in their hearts: What the hell is “look a few more times”? Do you think the other side is practicing with you?

“Hmm.” Miel lowered her head and looked at the sniper rifle in her hand.

Asker pondered for a moment and suddenly asked: “Have you used a sniper rifle before?”

“No.” Miel shook her head.

“Holy crap! What the hell are these two! Are they comedians you hired?” Matthews finally couldn’t help but complain. “Never used a sniper rifle before, and dare to come out and have a long-range sniper duel with the Templar Knight Von Kesim? Are they here to make us laugh?”

“Shut up!” Andrea snapped. “Captain Asker! Do your people need support?”

“Thanks.” Asker replied. “Not for now, let’s try it out first.”

“Oh my God! I must be seeing things, I’m having ridiculous hallucinations.” Matthews was finally speechless, rolling his eyes upwards like a dead fish, his expression completely speechless.

Andrea’s face was gloomy, his hands on the ground, silent.

“Do you need to test fire a few shots?” Asker asked finally.

“No need.” Miel replied.

“Then let’s start the countdown.” Asker nodded. “3!”

“2!”

“1!”

The green beret was thrown high into the air again.

On the distant mountaintop, Von Kesim pulled the trigger before realizing that it was that beret again.

At the same time, figures holding sniper rifles appeared again at the windowsill below, quickly aiming their guns in this direction.

In the center of his prosthetic eye, a red bolded “WARNING” alert flashed.

WARNING! FIRING-LOCKED!

Von Kesim rolled without hesitation, the bullet hitting the spot where he had been lying, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The lock-on warning was another function of his prosthetic eye.

Whenever an enemy with a gun appeared in his field of vision, the database in his prosthetic eye would quickly analyze the type of firearm and generate a corresponding virtual trajectory based on the angle of the muzzle.

If the end of the trajectory pointed at himself, it would pop up a “lock-on warning,” prompting him to leave his current position as soon as possible to avoid being hit and killed by the enemy’s firearm.

Rolling several meters away, he put his eye to the sniper scope again, his crosshairs quickly aiming at the head of one of them.

At this time, the red lock-on warning appeared on his retina again.

There were two enemies. Even if he and the other side fired at the same time, it would most likely be a one-for-one exchange, which was naturally not worthwhile for Von Kesim himself.

So he had to roll again, letting the bullet that hit his original position miss.

After two consecutive rolls, Von Kesim exhaled heavily. Just as he was about to aim again, the red warning pop-up on his retina appeared again.

WARNING! FIRING-LOCKED!

This was damn ghostly! Von Kesim hurriedly rolled.

The moment he dodged the other side’s shot, the lock-on warning popped up again, forcing him to leave his spot again.

This is not right! Von Kesim, forced to dodge continuously, finally realized that such a terrifying continuous tracking ability…

There must be a Templar Knight on the other side! Or a high-level sniper of similar level!

He had to get out of the opponent’s range as soon as possible!

Von Kesim glanced out of the corner of his eye while rolling and realized that the sniping position he had chosen was too bad. The nearest safe area was more than ten meters away.

But he could only keep rolling and dodging, otherwise, with the opponent’s firing speed, he would probably be headshotted as soon as he stood up.

In the castle, Asker pressed the recoil grip of the sniper rifle against his shoulder and fired at the distance at a rate of one shot per second.

The gunman on the other side seemed to have gone silent, there was no return fire so far.

The mercenaries behind the cover looked at each other and quickly realized that something was wrong, their eyes full of confusion.

“This…” Matthews said incredulously, suddenly clapping his hands excitedly. “Could it be that Von Kesim has run out of bullets?”

“Idiot!” Andrea cursed without holding back.

“Did you see clearly?” Asker continued to fire, asking.

“Didn’t see any muzzle flash.” Miel was silent for a moment. “But, I saw someone rolling around on the mountaintop.”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Asker said quickly. “That’s him, shoot him.”

Miel looked speechless. You’ve already forced him to the point where he can’t even fire back, can’t you just kill him directly?

But she seemed to have realized that Asker was giving her a chance to practice sniping in actual combat, so she silently moved the muzzle slightly, estimated the lead time for the opponent’s dodge, and put her finger on the trigger.

A gunshot rang out, and Von Kesim’s left arm flew up. The bullet hit his left shoulder, blowing off his entire left arm.

He hurriedly rolled to the left again, finally hiding behind the slope, disappearing from the sniper’s field of vision in the castle.

“He escaped.” Miel put away her sniper rifle. “I only hit his left shoulder.”

“What a pity.” Asker said as he propped himself up on the windowsill and jumped out. “Chase him!”

Miel immediately jumped over the windowsill as well.

Leaving only the mercenaries in the castle, each with a dumbfounded and incredulous expression on their faces.

“Wait, he took our sniper rifle!” Matthews exclaimed.

Damn it, is that really what you’re focusing on!

Andrea abruptly stood up from behind the cover and roared in frustration:

“What are you all standing there for! Chase them!!!!”

Asker and Miel rushed out of the castle and quickly entered the lush forest.

“Call Mia out.” Asker said and sent Miel back to Furnace Island.

A few seconds later, Mia teleported from Furnace Island to the real world, her eyes quickly scanning the surroundings, and asked: “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a sniper on the mountain, he’s our target.” Asker said quickly. “Did Nuo tell you about it?”

“Yes, that Templar fugitive named Von Kesim, right?” Mia nodded.

“That’s right.” Asker said, “The Thieves Guild should have tracking training, right? I’ll take you there first.”

He took Mia and after about ten minutes, they finally reached the mountaintop.

“Wow, was this place plowed by bullets?” Mia exclaimed, her eyes widening as she looked at the pockmarked ground full of bullet holes.

She bent down and picked up a severed metal arm. “What’s this?”

“A mechanical prosthetic limb.” Asker said, “Von Kesim’s left arm was broken by Miel’s bullet. Look around and see if there are any traces we can track.”

“Hmm.” Mia looked around. “Found it.”

She parted the bushes, revealing the footprints underneath: “Look at these footprints, one deep and one shallow, they should be Von Kesim’s.”

“Because his left arm was broken, his body was unbalanced, so his right footprint is obviously deeper.”

“Hurry up, hurry up.” Asker urged.

“Don’t rush me!” Mia rolled her eyes. “Tracking is a very delicate job, you know? Last time, in order to steal something from a noble, I followed him for three whole days! Even when he went to the toilet…”

“Keep talking, the people from the Iron Cross and Free Wind will catch up soon.” Asker said with a straight face.

“There are also competitors?” Mia was startled. “Why didn’t you say so earlier, this way!”

She quickly led Asker into a small path and sped forward, chasing for about a few hundred meters.

“Not right.” Arriving at a clearing in the forest, Mia suddenly said, “The footprints here are very messy, the other party may have detoured, deliberately trying to interfere with our judgment.”

“Keep going.” Asker said.

“It’s easy for you to say ‘keep going’.” Mia walked around the footprints a few times, reached out and measured the depth of the footprints, the direction in which the grass was flattened, and also checked the surrounding tree bark.

“It’s definitely this way.” She pointed in one direction and said, “Hmph, trying to cover up the footprints… you can’t fool me, Mia. When it comes to playing with mud, you’re still a novice!”

Is this something to be proud of? Asker slandered speechlessly.

“How far away is he, can you estimate?”

“Judging from the moisture of the mud, about five or six minutes ago.” Mia said.

“Okay.” Asker said, and suddenly returned to Furnace Island. The next second, he brought everyone back to the real world.

“The boss is just ahead!” Asker announced to everyone. “Let’s quickly go over the tactics!”

Chapter 51: Sniper Duel

“Matthews?!” Andrea’s expression remained unchanged, but his voice seemed to be squeezed out through gritted teeth. “What are your people doing here?”

“Hehe, of course we’re also here to find that Templar wanted by the Church.” The man who walked in had a mustache and wore a greatsword and a short sword on his waist.

Behind him, lightly armored warriors with swords and shields filed in, faintly confronting the Gothic swordsmen.

“Want to have a go here?” Andrea sneered. “Best of three, loser backs off?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Captain Matthews replied sarcastically. “Even if we win, will you Iron Cross really back off obediently?”

“Of course.” Andrea said righteously. “We Iron Cross always keep our word. Unlike you Free Wind, who are known for breaking agreements after negotiations.”

“Are these people also mercenaries?” Nuo asked in a low voice from the back of the crowd.

“Free Wind (Ventlibre), a famous mercenary group from the West Frankish Kingdom.” Asker replied. “They are arch-enemies with the Iron Cross mercenary group.”

“Of course, any large mercenary group with a sufficient scale will inevitably have conflicts and grudges. After all, there are only a few high-paying jobs in the world each year, and they have to fight tooth and nail for each one.”

“Oh, oh.” Nuo took out her notebook and jotted it down, her heart filled with interest in these anecdotes of the mercenary world.

“If you’re not going to fight, then why are you blocking us at the castle gate?” Andrea asked him rhetorically. “Are you planning to kill us all here in advance to monopolize Von Kesim’s bounty?”

As soon as he said this, the surrounding mercenaries started to make a commotion. Matthews’ face changed slightly, and he immediately sneered:

“Don’t try to sow discord, we Free Wind are not so low as to attack these idle mercenaries.”

“It’s you Iron Cross who are playing a clever game. The Church offered a bounty of 500 pounds for Von Kesim, and you only offer 5 pounds for clues? You’re really treating everyone as cheap labor!”

“Gentlemen!” Matthews turned to the crowd and said loudly, “Whoever finds clues about Von Kesim can come to our Free Wind mercenary group. We will go together to kill Von Kesim, and we will split 100 pounds of the bounty as a reward!”

The crowd immediately became excited. These idle mercenaries were basically in groups of three or five. Even for a team of 5, splitting 100 pounds of bounty would give each person 20 pounds, far exceeding the price offered by the Iron Cross.

As for participating in the siege of Von Kesim, as long as the price was high enough, who here would be afraid of death? Those who were afraid of death wouldn’t become mercenaries.

“Hahaha.” Andrea sneered. “Playing the betrayal card again, aren’t you tired of it, Free Wind? Last time in Bourges in West Francia, you also offered a bounty of 100 pounds, but all the mercenaries who provided clues died in battle… Did you send the 100 pounds to their families later?”

“You still have the face to mention what happened in Bourges?” Matthews immediately turned hostile and retorted angrily, “If it weren’t for you Iron Cross ambushing us outside, would those mercenaries have died innocently? Those idle mercenaries have no grudge against you, how dare you kill them!”

“Those mercenary brothers who have already received 2 denarii, do you really think that the Iron Cross will do charity and pay you? Be careful, you might get the money but not live to spend it!”

These two men were both mocking and belittling each other, and righteously denouncing the other side. Their words were provocative and aimed to sow discord, making the surrounding mercenaries confused. This… which side should they believe?

“This is wonderful.” Medea crossed her arms, her expression full of amazement. “I thought mercenaries were all muscle-brained brutes, I didn’t expect them to be so scheming.”

“This is already considered relatively peaceful.” Asker said, “If they really want to play dirty, their tricks are more than you can imagine.”

“For example, ambushing at the exit of a passage and waiting for their competitors to come out after completing a mission to kill them; or pretending to be an employer, deliberately concealing the danger of a mission as simple, and then tricking their competitors into going to their deaths.”

“And sending spies to infiltrate their competitors’ teams, then quietly creating division and infighting within the team, finally getting rid of the leader and taking over… There are many similar cases.”

“Would they really do that?” Nuo almost trembled with fear. She felt that she was as innocent as a little white flower. The examples Asker gave were already beyond her imagination just by description.

“That’s why I want to form a small team.” Asker replied. “Once the number of people increases, all kinds of strange troubles will follow. It’s better to keep it at around seven or eight people, all of whom know each other well.”

While the three of them were whispering behind, the argument over there finally came to an end.

The people from the Iron Cross mercenary group stood on the right, continuing to pay the mercenaries.

The people from the Free Wind mercenary group stood on the left, clearly keeping a distance from the Iron Cross.

Idle mercenaries kept approaching, inquiring about the bounty and the specific split. Matthews answered all of them with a smile.

No matter how much the two large mercenary groups disliked each other, it was a good thing for the idle mercenaries. Some quick-witted ones had even thought of getting benefits from both sides:

If they really found clues about Von Kesim, they would first get the 5 pound bounty from the Iron Cross, and then join the Free Wind’s combat team, getting the bounty from both sides.

A mercenary walked out of the castle gate, took out the two silver coins he had just received, and examined them carefully under the midday sun, as if he was discerning their authenticity.

The next second, his head exploded out of thin air, as if a miniature bomb had been planted inside.

“Enemy attack!” The first to raise the alarm were the sword and shield warriors from the Free Wind. Including Matthews, everyone rolled on the spot and tumbled behind pillars and walls.

The Iron Cross mercenary group on the other side also reacted extremely quickly, dropping to the ground and quickly crawling to find cover.

The remaining idle mercenaries did not have such high tactical quality. The sound of glass shattering rang out, and another standing mercenary was headshotted. Only then did panicked screams erupt from the crowd. Some drew their swords in confusion and looked around, some fled through the door in panic, and some subconsciously looked around, imitating the people from the large mercenary groups and lying on the ground, dumbfounded.

Continuous headshot sounds came from outside the castle, ringing out at a regular rate of two shots per second.

On the distant mountain peak, Von Kesim, lying in the grass, held his sniper rifle and pulled the trigger steadily and rhythmically.

Bullets shot out from his gun, flying through the long distance in the air, accurately killing the mercenaries who fled the castle one by one.

Soon there was no one standing outside the castle. Von Kesim spat out the grass stalk in his mouth, a mocking smile appearing on the corner of his scarred lips.

With a “bang,” the Gothic swordsman behind the pillar fell to the ground. The sniper rifle bullet pierced through the concrete pillar and through his neck.

Half of the strong Frankish man’s neck was broken, exposing a large area of flesh, vertebrae, and trachea. He fell to the ground, convulsing and lifeless.

The moment the gunshot rang out, Asker extended his spirituality, sending Medea and Nuo back to Furnace Island. He himself rolled on the spot and slid, hiding in the small space under the stairs.

“This is the prosthetic eye memory function.” Looking at the fallen corpse in front of him, he thought to himself.

The so-called prosthetic eye memory meant that Von Kesim’s cybernetic prosthetic eye could record the traces of enemies within his field of vision.

Any enemy who had been exposed to the prosthetic eye’s field of vision, even if they hid behind cover in time, the database in the prosthetic eye would “remember” which cover they had hidden behind, and then the sniper rifle could calmly shoot blindly, the bullet penetrating the cover and causing damage.

“Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!” The distant gunshots rang out again. With the first shot, a mercenary hiding behind the wall screamed, the bullet breaking his arm, leaving only a little skin connecting it;

The second shot missed, hitting a hole in the limestone floor;

The third shot shattered the edge of the stone table, headshotting the mercenary hiding behind it, his body slumping down.

“His prosthetic eye has memory function!” Andrea roared. “We can’t go on like this! Otherwise, even if we hide behind cover, we’re just targets for him!”

“Why don’t you send out your sniper?” Matthews also roared in a low voice.

“Of course we have a sniper!” Andrea’s eyes widened. “Don’t you? Each side sends one person, no more nonsense! If we keep hiding, we’ll all die!”

“Lyon!” Matthews turned his head and shouted.

“Franz!” Andrea also shouted.

So the two snipers crawled out of their cover, each finding a window to ambush, taking off the sniper rifles hanging on their backs.

“I don’t like this feeling.” Lyon, the sniper from Free Wind, muttered. “The enemy is in the dark, we’re in the light, this is simply suicide.”

“Don’t say unlucky things.” Franz reprimanded him. “I’ll throw a hat up to attract one of his shots, then we both lean out of cover and shoot at the same time.”

“You can judge his position based on just one shot?” Lyon sneered.

“His sniper rifle is a Slaughter-III, it can’t be equipped with a muzzle brake, there will be muzzle flash when he shoots.” Franz was silent for a moment and asked, “What level is your Vision Sequence?”

“Vision II.” Lyon was silent for a moment and smiled. “You too?”

“That’s right.” Franz said, “The moment he shoots the hat, we capture the position of the muzzle flash, one shot kill. This is a sniper duel, whoever is faster survives.”

“Although it’s an unfair duel, at least there’s a chance of winning.” Lyon held the cross on his neck and muttered in a low voice as if praying. “Let’s do this.”

“Okay.” Franz took off his green beret, took a deep breath, and said, “Countdown.”

“3.” He said. A few more gunshots rang out, and another mercenary was hit in the hall.

“2.” Matthews and Andrea also looked solemn, their expressions grave.

“1.” Asker behind the stairs disappeared, and in the blink of an eye, he reappeared with Miel.

The green beret was thrown high into the air, and the two snipers abruptly leaned out of the windows.

A gunshot rang out, and the beret was instantly knocked away, flying over the stair railing and landing in front of Asker and Miel.

Found him! Franz and Lyon’s pupils constricted sharply. Through the scopes of their sniper rifles, they saw the tiny muzzle flash on the mountaintop that disappeared in a flash.

They both pulled the trigger and fired at the same time!

The next second, Lyon’s body flew backwards. The sniper rifle bullet hit his skull, and like opening a beer bottle cap, his entire top of his head was blown off.

He missed! He dodged!

Franz’s mind was stretched to the limit. He knew that there was no mistake in their sniping just now. It must be that Von Kesim rolled after shooting and had anticipated their attack, leaving his original position!

Suddenly, he saw a flash of light on the mountain, and then it disappeared.

It was the reflection of the sniper rifle scope! He immediately aimed his scope at the location of the light and pulled the trigger again.

“Bang!” A bloody hole appeared on Franz’s forehead, the sniper rifle slipping from his hand and landing on the ground with a crisp sound.

On the distant mountaintop, Von Kesim sneered and continued to reload, releasing the silk thread wrapped around his finger.

The other end of the silk thread extended to the branches above his head, and the glass mirror fragments shattered by the bullet fell down, rolling a few times on the grass.

Chapter 50: Poaching

Joining the ranks of the Iron Cross mercenary group’s hiring process was unexpectedly smooth.

On the one hand, it might be because the Iron Cross was short of manpower for this operation; on the other hand, it was also because there weren’t many mercenaries nearby.

The prosperous imperial capital of Constantinople was like a black hole, sucking away all the mercenaries from the entire Thrace province. As a result, even though the Iron Cross had opened up recruitment locally without any threshold, they only hired about a hundred mercenaries.

This amount of manpower thrown into the mountains was probably not even enough to make a splash.

The hiring price was 5 denarii per day, which was considered a relatively low price in the mercenary business.

However, considering that they didn’t need to participate in battles and were only responsible for helping the Iron Cross find someone in the mountains, this price was quite reasonable.

After all, there were plenty of jobs that paid dozens of denarii or even a few pounds, but they were all dangerous missions that required risking their lives.

In comparison, slacking off in the mountains for a whole day and then getting paid to leave wasn’t unacceptable.

The meeting place was an abandoned castle at the northern foot of the Rhodope Mountains.

The mercenaries entered the hall sparsely and saw the Gothic swordsmen of the Iron Cross standing in rows with their hands behind their backs, their expressions solemn and serious.

Standing on the second-floor platform was a knight in powered armor, leaning against the railing and looking at the crowd boredly.

“A Holy Roman knight?” Medea frowned.

“I heard that those who can wear powered armor are at least knights with fiefs in the Holy Roman Empire.” Nuo said in surprise. “Do knights also become mercenaries?”

“Your information is outdated.” Asker said, “At this point in time, Emperor Otto has already cracked the Church’s armor technology and started mass-producing powered armor domestically. When we have the opportunity later, we can also go to the Holy Roman Empire and buy a few sets.”

“Listen up, mercenaries!” Seeing that the mercenaries below had all arrived, the armored knight on the second floor took out a loudspeaker and shouted at them:

“Those who are here are basically willing to accept our Iron Cross’s employment and go into the mountains to find the Church’s wanted criminal, Von Kesim, right?”

“Let me emphasize the price again. If you confirm that you accept the employment, we will pay you 2 denarii on the spot.”

“At the end of today, if you haven’t found Von Kesim, come here to collect the remaining 3 denarii.”

“If anyone is lucky enough to find traces of Von Kesim, and we confirm that the clues are true, we will directly pay him a reward of 5 pounds!”

“Of course, some cunning guys might think, I’ll take the 2 denarii and then slip away, can you Iron Cross catch me?”

“Let me put it this way, if you want to take advantage of these few denarii, we are not short of money. What we want are effective clues!”

“You don’t have to face Von Kesim directly, as long as you find his traces, come back and report to us immediately! I’ll emphasize the reward again, 5 pounds!”

The armored knight’s words immediately caused a commotion among the mercenaries below.

Obviously, those mercenaries who might have had the lazy idea of “I’ll take the money and just wander around in the mountains” now had their attention drawn to the price of “5 pounds.”

If they didn’t find Von Kesim, they would only get 5 denarii per day.

But if they found him, the reward would immediately increase 100 times!

With such a price comparison, most of the mercenaries immediately abandoned their original intention of slacking off and began to prepare to enter the mountains and search vigorously.

After all, whether or not they could find clues completely depended on luck, and similar to the gambler’s mentality, people always subconsciously thought that they were the luckiest one.

Soon, the Gothic swordsmen set up tables below, and large bags of silver coins were thrown onto the tables.

Unlike the banknotes commonly used in the Eastern Solomon Empire, the Holy Roman mercenaries preferred to use these heavy gold and silver coins for payment.

Opening the bags, the beautiful silver light almost blinded the mercenaries, so they quickly lined up in an orderly manner to collect their money at the tables.

“2 silver coins.” The Gothic swordsman on the other side of the table took out 2 silver coins from the bag and threw them into the mercenary’s hand.

The Gothic swordsman next to him took a picture of the mercenary who had received the silver coins with his mobile phone, waved his hand impatiently, and urged: “Move along, move along!”

“They also want to take pictures?” At the back of the line, seeing the clicking sounds in front, Nuo immediately showed a worried expression.

“To prevent people from collecting money repeatedly, I guess.” Medea said coldly.

“Is there a problem?” Asker noticed her unease.

“It’s not very convenient for me to be photographed.” Nuo frowned.

Her elder sister Capasirin knew the high-ranking members of the Iron Cross, so conversely, they might also know her, Capasirin’s younger sister. It would be troublesome if her face was recognized.

“Yeah, with our beauty, if our pictures are taken and stored in their phones, who knows what dirty things they might do with them.”

Medea also thought of another problem and couldn’t help but shake her head in disgust. “No, just thinking about it makes me want to lose control.”

“Then don’t take pictures.” Asker said.

Soon it was their turn. Asker walked in front and pointed to the two girls behind him:

“We’re together. Just take a picture of me.”

“That’s not possible.” The Gothic swordsman refused. “If we only take a picture of you, what if these two line up again to collect money?”

“Come on, how many female mercenaries are there here?” Asker said with a smile. “You can recognize them even without looking at the pictures, right?”

Perhaps because the negotiation took a little too long, the mercenaries behind them started to get noisy.

So the armored knight who had spoken before was also alerted, walked over with his men, and asked: “What’s going on?”

The Gothic swordsman briefly explained the situation in a few words.

The armored knight nodded and said:

“Female mercenaries, no need to take pictures. Give them the money.”

His gaze fell on Nuo and Medea, and he suddenly noticed the medical backpack behind Nuo: “Battlefield medic?”

“Military nun(sister).” Asker corrected.

“Oh.” The armored knight pondered for a moment and introduced himself. “I am Andrea, the current leader of the Iron Cross mercenary group’s Eastern branch.”

“Nice to meet you.” Asker said, “I am the leader of the Azure Longsword mercenary group.”

Andrea: ???

The Gothic swordsmen behind him also looked at each other.

Damn, this reaction was wrong! When the leader introduced himself before, shouldn’t the other party immediately show an expression of worship like “Wow, so you’re a high-ranking member of the Iron Cross mercenary group”?

What the hell was this equal introduction! Are you worthy?

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Andrea was silent for a while, and finally said politely.

“Eh, have you also heard of our ‘Azure Longsword’?” Asker said in surprise.

“Pfft!” Medea behind him couldn’t help but laugh. The charming demeanor she revealed for a moment almost made the Gothic swordsmen behind her stare.

The corner of Andrea’s eye twitched, and he barely swallowed the curse “Who the hell knows you.”

In addition to being the leader of the mercenary group, he was also a small lord under the Duchy of Bavaria, so he still had basic noble upbringing. He could only nod with difficulty:

“Hmm… I’ve heard of it before…”

“That’s great.” Asker said with a smile. “Then I wish us a happy cooperation this time.”

Andrea was silent for even longer this time, and finally said: “Definitely.”

Taking the 6 silver coins given by the Gothic swordsman, Asker turned around and called to the two girls: “Let’s go.”

The armored knight Andrea also turned around with relief, and suddenly felt something was wrong. Wait, what was he going to say just now?

“Wait a minute!” He hurriedly called out to the three who were about to leave, walked quickly to Nuo, and asked, “This lady is a military nun?”

“Yes.” Nuo nodded. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“On behalf of the Iron Cross mercenary group, I extend a sincere invitation to you.” Andrea said solemnly. “We offer you the position of senior healer in our Eastern branch. If you are interested, please consider it.”

“Oh, he’s here to poach.” Medea said jokingly. “Asker, you’re facing a team crisis.”

Before Asker could answer, Nuo had already politely declined: “Thank you, but I’m not interested.”

“If I’m not mistaken, you should be a military nun who graduated from the Solomon Theological Seminary full-time.” Andrea continued, “No more than 60 military nuns graduate from the entire continent each year: half of them stay in Solomon City, joining the Church or the Santa Maria Hospital; a quarter of them work in the courts of various countries, serving as personal physicians for princes and nobles.”

“No more than 10 enter the mercenary industry, and they basically all choose well-known large mercenary groups. In this regard, our Iron Cross’s treatment is quite generous in the industry. We can offer you a monthly salary of 20 pounds.”

“Sorry, it’s not about the money.” Nuo continued to decline with a smile.

Not about the money? Could this mercenary group called Azure Longsword offer you a monthly salary of more than 20 pounds? Andrea’s mind raced. If it wasn’t about the money…

His gaze fell on Asker. Hmm, judging from his appearance, he seemed to have Dragon Kingdom blood. This handsome man with an exotic charm should be very admired by young and ignorant girls. In other words, it was a matter of feelings.

“Captain Asker.” Since he couldn’t poach the girl, he might as well poach her boyfriend together. Andrea looked at Asker and asked tentatively, “Are you interested in joining the Eastern branch of our Iron Cross mercenary group?”

“I’ve already formed my own mercenary group.” Asker said.

Damn it! Andrea cursed fiercely in his heart. Your “Azure Longsword,” there are hundreds of similar names on the entire continent, who knows what kind of unknown small mercenary group it is! How could it be more promising than joining our Iron Cross?

After being rejected three times in a row, he finally lost his patience and could only force a smile:

“In that case, I hope we will have the opportunity to cooperate in the future.”

“Aren’t we cooperating now?” Asker asked strangely.

Andrea turned around with a blank expression, his heart filled with deep confusion. Why was it so difficult to communicate with these guys? Just then, a playful voice suddenly came from outside the door:

“Yo, 5 denarii per day for outsourced employment, 20 pounds per month for official members, when did the Iron Cross become so rich? Can my brothers also participate?”

Chapter 49: The Hunt Plan

When the imperial agent sent by Empress Zoe arrived at the doorstep of Asker’s ancestral home, he found that it was already empty.

On the train heading west, Asker was boredly scrolling through his phone. Nuo sat in the window seat next to him, looking at the scenery of the plains outside the window with interest.

“Asker?” She turned her head and asked, “Where are we going?”

The other girls continued their daily training on Furnace Island. Only Nuo and Medea, who had nothing to do, heard that Asker was leaving Constantinople and clamored that they were bored staying in the semi-plane and wanted to come out and get some fresh air on the train.

“Our destination is Stanimaka.” Asker answered, staring at his phone. “A military town located in the south-central part of the Thrace province of the Empire.”

“Are we going on a treasure hunt?” Nuo asked curiously.

“No, we’re going to fight a world boss.” Asker replied, handing her his phone.

Nuo looked at the phone screen and saw a news article displayed in the browser:

“From the Solomon ‘Pravda’ Issue 327.”

“It has recently been confirmed by the Church that the Templar Knight Von Kesim has betrayed the Church. His true identity is a secret agent of Emperor Otto of the Holy Roman Empire, and his purpose in infiltrating the Templar Order is to spy on the Church for a long time.”

“His shameless betrayal has angered the Holy See, and Cardinal Clement has been dispatched to hunt him down.”

“According to reliable sources, Von Kesim has been wounded by His Eminence and has fled all the way to the border of the Eastern Solomon Empire.”

“Currently, the Church has issued a heretic pursuit order. Any mercenary group that kills Von Kesim and brings his intact head back to the Church will receive a bounty of 500 pounds and the qualification to apply for the Templar Order.”

“Note: Von Kesim’s cybernetic enhancements have reached 70% (extremely dangerous). His equipped weapon is the Slaughter-III rifle, which can switch between assault and sniper modes. Assault mode fires five-round bursts; sniper mode fires two-round bursts, equipped with auto-aim and laser assist modules, very powerful. Those without experience in dealing with gunmen should proceed with caution.”

“This Slaughter is a blue-named rifle from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse series, and it can basically be used until the mid-to-late game.” Asker said lightly. “Military firearms basically all come from the Solomon Church, and there is no way to obtain them through civilian channels, let alone such high-end goods with auto-aim modules… We can ignore the boss’s bounty, but we must get this rifle.”

“What is a blue-named weapon?” Nuo entered curious baby mode. “And what is an auto-aim module?”

“White, green, blue, purple, orange, equipment is graded from low to high.” Asker replied. “Generally, weapons are white. If they are made of special materials, such as the meteorite armor Eleanor is wearing, they belong to the green excellent grade.”

“On this basis, if they are equipped with supernatural runes or high-tech accessories, they are blue-named equipment; a large number of integrated accessories or runes forming a magic circle belong to purple-named equipment; orange is the highest grade of equipment, almost every piece of orange-named weapon is unique.”

“So this rifle is a blue-named weapon, which is considered a very good grade.” Nuo said thoughtfully.

“That’s right.” Asker said, “It’s possible to upgrade it to a purple-named firearm later on, and it’s also a sniper rifle. Do you know the maximum range of a sniper rifle?”

“Uh, 1000 meters?” Nuo guessed.

“2000 meters.” Asker said, “Any further than that, the trajectory will be affected by gravity and crosswinds, and whether it can hit the target completely depends on luck.”

“The auto-aim module can break through this limitation. It is a device that emits infrared lasers, hitting the enemy with invisible lasers, and then the bullet will automatically correct its trajectory in the air, accurately hitting the enemy along the infrared beam path.”

“A sniper rifle equipped with an auto-aim module has a range within sight. As long as you can aim, you can hit someone even if they are 20,000 meters away.”

“But under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t deal with the enemy at such a long distance, right?” Nuo asked in surprise, thinking to herself, would she have to run a few kilometers away to set up her gun when she encountered an enemy in the future?

“Normally not, but there is one exception, which is when facing high-level enemies.” Asker replied. “Assuming we have a level 19 enemy, whose main sequence is psychic ability and has mastered similar laws, then even if all of us together are not his opponent, we will basically be controlled the moment we get close to him.”

“However, if it’s a sniper, there is a chance to snipe him from a long distance. After all, there are very few laws or bloodlines that can sense or attack enemies more than two kilometers away. Sniper rifles have an overwhelming advantage in this regard.”

“Theoretically speaking, a good sniper only needs one bullet to kill a spirit-focused Transcendental below demigod level. If it’s a bloodline that focuses on physical strength, such as giants, dragons, or flesh, then a few more bullets will do.”

“There is a saying that ‘below demigod, all are mortal flesh,’ that’s the reason.”

The two were chatting when they saw Medea appear at the entrance of the carriage, carrying a plate of peeled hazelnuts.

“You’re so slow.” Asker joked.

“No way, I was hit on by a group of stinky men on the way.” Medea said nonchalantly. “Some of them even tried to touch me, the dirty desire in their eyes was obvious even without me using my abilities.”

“Then didn’t you…” Nuo was shocked. She also knew that Medea had androphobia. If she had really been harassed on the way… then probably the whole train would have exploded.

“Besides my stunning beauty, I’m also a psychic, okay?” Medea rolled her eyes at her. “One group mental suggestion, and they all ran to the toilet with diarrhea.”

“Okay.” Nuo breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn’t help but feel sorry for the men queuing at the toilet door. Don’t offend a psychic, no matter what, otherwise who knows what messy thoughts will be planted in your mind.

A few hours later, the train arrived at Stanimaka, a small town in the Thracian style, mainly with white-walled and red-roofed Orthodox-style buildings.

As soon as the three got off the train, they saw a dozen heavily armed mercenaries standing on the platform, all burly Franks, with yellow beards and curly hair, drinking canned beer and chatting, their voices like thunder.

They were using special-looking giant two-handed greatswords, the hilts alone as long as a person’s forearm, with double crossguards and handguards. Because of their large size, it was impossible to have scabbards, so they were just wrapped in cloth strips and carried on their backs.

“Gothic two-handed swordsmen.” Asker clicked his tongue. “The most reckless profession, see the greatswords they’re carrying? That kind of sword requires a special technique to wield, once it’s swung, there’s almost no skill involved.”

“Many people used to like this profession, and they even formed a ‘Greatsword Cult.’ Coupled with a bloodline that focuses on explosive power, they are indeed difficult to deal with in the early game.”

“Giants in the flesh are often dwarfs in the mind.” Medea commented. “Their resistance to psychic abilities must be very weak.”

“Asker.” Nuo looked over there and asked, “Look at the emblem on their back armor cloaks, a cross greatsword surrounded by thorns, is this the mark of a mercenary group?”

“The largest mercenary group in the Holy Solomon Empire, Iron Cross (Stahlkreuzung).” Asker replied. “It is said that they have over ten thousand official members.”

So they were the Iron Cross… Nuo suddenly remembered that her elder sister had mentioned that she knew the leader of the Iron Cross mercenary group and said that she could introduce her to them.

Thinking of being surrounded and flattered by these Frankish strongmen, she immediately shivered in disgust.

It was better to stay with Azure Longsword, where everyone was familiar and lovely girls.

And Mr. Asker, the only male in the group, didn’t make her feel disgusted.

Perhaps because the three of them had been staring over there for a while, a Frankish mercenary noticed their gaze, said something to his companions while pointing at them, and then turned and walked towards them.

Nuo immediately looked a little scared and hid behind Asker. Medea looked at them coldly and snapped her fingers.

“Get lost.” She said.

The Frankish mercenaries didn’t hear her voice, but they seemed to fall into hesitation and mental struggle, and finally turned around and left reluctantly.

“Trying to hit on you?” Asker asked.

“No, they were trying to provoke us. They don’t like being watched.” Medea said lightly. “Also, I read something interesting from their shallow memories.”

“I guess they are also looking for that world boss.” Asker said. “Von Kesim, right?”

“That’s right.” Medea said, “It is certain that Von Kesim, as a fugitive from the Church, has been targeted by many mercenary groups, the Iron Cross is just one of them.”

“They suspect that Von Kesim is in the mountains south of the town, the locals call it the ‘Rhodope Mountains.’ After crossing the mountains, you can reach the north coast of the Aegean Sea, and then you can basically escape by finding any ship.”

“I heard that this Von Kesim is a spy planted in the Church by Emperor Otto of the Holy Roman Empire?” Nuo said thoughtfully. “If so, why doesn’t he go back to the Holy Roman capital of Aachen for protection? Why does he go south to try to escape by sea?”

“Because those who engage in intelligence work never have a good ending.” Medea sneered. “He serves not the Holy Solomon Empire, but Emperor Otto himself. For the many Saxon lords within the Empire who believe in Catholicism, he is just a shameful Frankish traitor, a despicable person who betrayed both the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic faith.”

“Besides, his identity has been exposed, and he has lost his greatest value to Otto. Should he go back to his country and surrender, betting that Otto will protect him out of consideration for his past merits?”

“So he can only choose to flee to the East?” Nuo asked.

“Besides the Seljuk Empire in the East and the Mamluk Sultanate in the South, who else can protect a traitor declared an ‘apostate’ by the Church?” Medea asked her rhetorically.

“That’s so pitiful.” Nuo said with some compassion. “Isn’t that being an enemy of everyone?”

Medea rolled her eyes, expressing her disdain for Nuo’s sudden surge of maternal sympathy.

“Nuo.” Asker sighed. “Every NPC becomes a boss for a reason.”

“For an NPC with a Templar background like this, it’s not an exaggeration to say that he has killed countless people in his life. If we Transcendents were discovered in the West, we would either be killed on the spot by the Templar Knights, or captured and burned alive at the stake. If we had families, even our families would be slaughtered.”

“Uh.” Nuo immediately felt her sympathy disappear. “Then let’s go find this Templar Knight… uh, this boss now.”

“I have an idea.” Medea said, “Since the Iron Cross is also looking for this Templar Knight, in this unfamiliar foreign land, they will definitely hire idle mercenaries nearby to help them gather intelligence and do odd jobs. Even if they confirm that Von Kesim is in the mountains, they will still need a lot of manpower to enter the mountains and hunt him down, right?”

“You mean, we accept their employment on the surface, but in reality, we use their intelligence channels to locate and find this boss?” Asker asked.

“That’s right.” Medea sneered. “My psychic ability can read their shallow memories. Once the people of the Iron Cross find Von Kesim, their strong desire to pursue him will be like fish surfacing for air after rain, impossible to hide in the shallow layers of their mental bodies. As long as I read it, I will know where Von Kesim is.”

“The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.” Asker nodded.

“That’s roughly the meaning.” Medea pondered for a moment. “Hmm, this analogy is quite interesting.”

“Then let’s do this.” Asker finally made the decision and finalized the next course of action.

T/N:厚鳞柯-

Meaning: Lithocarpus pachylepis A. Camus(plant) 

or

literally “Thick Scales” (referring to the tree’s branches, stems, or stalks, or figuratively, an ax handle)

 

Chapter 48: Medea’s New Ability

“I choose the Titan path.” Sidlipha said without hesitation.

“I thought you would choose ‘Barbarian’.” Asker said in surprise. “After all, it’s the same name as your arena nickname.”

“I chose ‘Barbarian’ as my nickname because it sounds powerful.” Sidlipha said, “But isn’t ‘Titan’ obviously more powerful?”

You choose your bloodline based on which one sounds more powerful? Asker frowned. Wait, there seems to be nothing wrong with that???

“The first potion formula for Titan is Strength X.” He finally decided not to dwell on this and said, “It can increase your muscle explosive power and endurance, you can pay attention to it yourself.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.” Nuo replied.

“Where did you come from?” Asker turned around and saw Nuo standing behind him, holding a notebook and writing something.

“I’ve been here the whole time.” Nuo said, “You haven’t assigned me any training tasks since the basic course ended, have you?”

Asker was stunned for a moment and realized that it was indeed the case.

A week ago, he had finished explaining the key points of basic attack, defense, and dodge, and then he let everyone practice by themselves or spar with each other.

After the basic course, it was time for individualized training.

For example, Peggy used a sword, Eleanor used a spear and shield, Sidlipha used battle axes, Mia used daggers, and Miel used firearms. Different weapons had different moves and fighting styles, so he taught them accordingly.

Anyway, he was a “Weapon Master” in his previous life, and he could basically handle any weapon.

Only Nuo and Medea, these two were not combat professions, so they had nothing to do after the basic course ended.

Medea was lazy by nature and had long since disappeared to slack off somewhere.

Nuo wandered around idly, occasionally healing her injured companions during training. The rest of the time, she was also very bored.

“How is everyone’s potion digestion progress?” Asker asked.

“Let me see.” Nuo flipped to the first few pages of her notebook, cleared her throat, and said:

“Eleanor, level 1, potion fully digested; next is ‘Perfect Physique X,’ formula available, need to find materials.”

“Me, level 1, almost finished digesting; next is ‘Spirit I,’ formula available, also need to find materials.”

“Miel, level 0…” Nuo looked up in confusion and asked, “Haven’t you chosen a bloodline path for her?”

“I have.” Asker replied. “She chose ‘Destiny Archer,’ a shooting bloodline that emphasizes ‘luck’ and ‘intuition.’ The first potion formula is ‘Agility X.’ Continue.”

“Okay.” Nuo quickly added this line of records.

“Next is Mia, level 2, potion almost digested, at least that’s what she said. As for her bloodline path…”

“Shadow Dancer.” Asker said, “If she had only taken ‘Agility X’ or ‘Shadow I,’ then there would be more Agility bloodlines to choose from.”

“But she has already taken two potions, obviously the Thieves Guild has already laid a good foundation for her. We just need to arrange for her to continue in this direction.”

“I see.” Nuo nodded and continued to complete the records in her hand.

“Peggy, level 2, recently took Life Steal I, hasn’t digested much of the potion yet.”

“Sidlipha, level 0, need to find the formula for ‘Strength X’.”

“Medea, level 2.” Nuo paused and suddenly said, “By the way, she seems to have gathered all the materials for the new formula.”

“Oh.” Asker was also a little surprised. “That blood… she found it?”

“Hmm.” Nuo was also a little embarrassed, her face flushed as she said, “She should be preparing the potion on the third floor in the real world now.”

“Let’s go and have a look.” Asker said.

The two returned to the real world and went to the third floor. They saw Medea excitedly holding a mortar, putting the Lithocarpus pachylepis in it and pounding it hard.

In a porcelain bowl on the table next to her, there was a thin layer of dark red blood.

“Hehe.” Asker laughed. “Medea, where did you get this blood…”

Then he saw Mia squatting in the corner, clutching her lower abdomen with both hands, and fell silent in embarrassment.

“My stomach hurts so much.” Mia groaned tearfully. “Am I going to lose control? Am I going to die?”

“Maybe you just need to drink some brown sugar water.” Asker said slowly.

“No, that’s just a psychological effect.” Nuo sighed, took out painkillers from her backpack behind her, and said, “Take some ibuprofen.”

She fed Mia the medicine and pressed her right hand on her lower abdomen, activating Healing Touch, finally easing Mia’s almost convulsing face.

Asker looked out the window, feeling a little melancholy.

It was another world after all, many strange things that wouldn’t appear in the game world existed here for real…

Medea had almost mashed the Lithocarpus pachylepis into powder, emitting a foul smell like hydrogen sulfide.

She put it into a beaker, measured out 10ml of medical alcohol and poured it in, gently swirled the bottom of the beaker to mix it, and saw a faint reddish color appear in the alcohol.

She set up a tripod, installed a funnel for filtering, filtered out all the liquid in the beaker, then poured in the blood from the porcelain bowl, swirled it to mix, and finally poured it onto the Bosnia Bay geoduck.

The moment the red liquid dripped onto the clam meat, it quickly seeped in, leaving nothing behind, and then began to emit a tempting aroma.

Medea swallowed, then put on a determined expression, chewing and swallowing the clam meat in a few bites. Suddenly, flames rose from her body, engulfing her whole being.

Medea in the flames raised her head, her whole body slowly levitating from the ground, her out-of-control psychic shock sweeping towards the surroundings, containing intense pain, irritability, and rage, almost knocking Nuo and Mia unconscious.

Fortunately, Asker reacted quickly and instantly sent the two of them into Furnace Island.

The out-of-control state only lasted for six or seven minutes, but for Medea, it felt like a century. Finally, she managed to restrain her previously scattered spirituality, her body falling to the floor. After a long time, she raised an arm and said with difficulty:

“Level 3… Heal me quickly…”

So Nuo was released by Asker again, hugged Medea and gave her emergency treatment, allowing the red-haired beauty’s damaged spirituality to recover.

“How do you feel?” Asker sat on the windowsill of the study and asked casually. “Does the new ability meet your original expectations?”

“Not bad.” Medea sat up weakly, brushing her messy long hair behind her. Seeing that Nuo had taken out her shorthand pen and notebook again, she chuckled and said:

“I said before that the mental body, as a symbol of the self, is composed of the id, the superego, and the ego. My new ability corresponds to the symbolic representation of the id, the dominant factor of the spirit that exists in the flesh.”

“It allows me to perceive the potential impulses of nearby mental bodies, mainly the chaotic thoughts within the flesh.” She turned her head and looked at Nuo, who was writing rapidly. “For example, I can now perceive: Dear, you are a little thirsty, but your thirst for esoteric knowledge is suppressing your thirst for water.”

“Eh, that’s true.” Nuo, reminded by her, immediately felt it strangely and admitted, “Indeed, I haven’t had any water since I woke up this morning.”

“Can you see any thoughts in my body?” Asker asked lightly.

“Hmm…” Medea pondered for a moment. “There are many thoughts in your body, but they are all very small… It’s because your superego is too strong, suppressing all the distracting thoughts in your body. The most obvious one at the moment should be…”

“Fatigue.” She nodded in confirmation. “Your body is very tired, it wants you to stop thinking and have a good sleep.”

“There are too many things to do, it’s not time to rest yet.” Asker shook his head and continued to ask, “Besides perception, what other effects does your new ability have?”

“I can slightly grasp the subconscious of the surrounding mental bodies and subtly influence them.” Medea replied, asking Nuo, “Do you mind demonstrating for me?”

“I don’t mind, let’s do it.” Nuo immediately said excitedly.

On the one hand, she wasn’t worried that Medea would hurt her, after all, Asker was also here; on the other hand, she also wanted to personally experience and understand Medea’s new ability.

“Amplify.” Medea whispered.

“Huh? Eh, eh, eh, eh!” Nuo immediately panicked, reaching behind her back to scratch uncontrollably, and asked in disbelief, “What’s going on? Why is my back suddenly so itchy?”

“I sensed the thoughts in your flesh. Your back is actually a little itchy, and you have the urge to scratch it, but your consciousness didn’t notice it.” Medea explained. “I amplified this thought, which caused you to immediately reach out and scratch your back to relieve the itch.”

“So you can manipulate any thought that comes from the body’s instincts?” Asker asked.

“Yes.” Medea said, “For example, if the enemy is in pain from an injury and has the urge to flee, then I can amplify this urge and force him to turn and run.”

“But the amplification ability is limited. The enemy may realize that I am manipulating his mind and try to suppress and endure it with his will, then I will be powerless.”

“It’s more suitable as a support ability.” Asker nodded. “You first study how to use it in conjunction with your ‘Mind I’ ability, and try to strengthen your ability to control the enemy on the battlefield.”

“If you have any questions, or have new ideas you want to try, you can come to me directly, and I will also give you some professional advice.”

Chapter 47: Aid from the West

“Based on the current results, there is no problem with your spirituality or mind, Your Majesty.”

After a week of careful examination, the court mage, Droypus, carefully chose his words as he replied to Empress Theodora:

“The other party should not have left anything malicious on you. To be safe, we will continue to observe you for three more days.”

Theodora stood on the balcony of the palace, overlooking the rows of gray rooftops below, and frowned:

“That island… where exactly is it?”

“The most likely possibility is the world of the collective unconscious.” Droypus pondered and replied. “The gray fog you saw on the outer sea of the island should be the boundary between the unconscious and materialization.”

“The second possibility is the spirit world, opening up a space similar to the main plane in the spirit world through a magic circle, and the gray fog may be caused by the effect of the magic circle.”

“The third possibility is that you are indeed still in the main plane, but you were teleported to a certain place. In the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, there are countless islands like stars in the sky. It is very possible for someone to control one, but the ability to teleport over long distances is relatively rare.”

“Of course, as for the legendary semi-planes, or the three sub-planes of the Abyss, Purgatory, and the Underworld, we will not discuss them for now since they are too far-fetched.”

“Understood.” Theodora nodded slowly, looked at Lady Varomina, the official scribe who was attending by her side, and nodded. “You may leave now.”

“Yes.” Droypus bowed and left.

“Your Majesty.” Varomina curtsied slightly. “The West has replied. Empress Zoe is waiting for you at the Palace of the Golden Throne.”

“Lead the way.” Theodora replied.

Arriving at the Palace of the Golden Throne, Theodora quickly learned of the West’s response to their request for troops.

First was the bad news from the Holy Solomon Empire.

Emperor Otto seemed to have made up his mind to interfere in the power shift at the top of the Solomon Church.

The Church’s countermeasure was to instigate Duke Wolf of Kirchberg within the Empire to secretly oppose and obstruct Emperor Otto.

Although the two sides had not yet engaged in large-scale conflict, they were both preparing for war, so the Holy Roman Empire was unable to send troops to support the Eastern Solomon Empire’s war effort.

Then came the reply from the Church. They had also invested all their resources in the confrontation with Emperor Otto and were unable to send Templar knights to support their Solomon brothers in the East.

Civil strife broke out in Hungary, and the messenger lost contact within the country, so it was obviously impossible to count on them in the short term.

The only good news probably came from Venice. It was said that although the Church could not send troops, Pope Innocent himself signed a Holy War decree, calling on a group of Frankish knights who brought their own food and equipment. He also negotiated with the Venetians, intending to let them travel by naval ships to provide support.

These Frankish knights were originally small lords from the Holy Solomon Empire and the West Frankish Kingdom.

Because Emperor Otto and the Church were almost openly confronting each other, each instructing their subordinate dukes to expand their territories and strengthen their power, these barons and viscounts who originally owned a castle, a town, or even a village were almost all incorporated or defeated overnight. They lost their ancestral lands and could only come to the East to seek a living through adventure.

For the Franks, as long as there were battles to fight and wealth to plunder, they didn’t need the Empire to pay extra.

However, what was unacceptable was the price offered by the Venetians:

Transporting these Frankish knights and their retinues required the construction of a large number of ships.

The Venetians’ shipping price was 50,000 silver marks, equivalent to about 25,000 pounds in imperial currency, which could be paid in four installments.

The down payment required Constantinople to pay 7,500 pounds, and the Venetians would only set sail after seeing the money.

“This is outrageous!” If her elder sister hadn’t been present, Theodora would have wanted to tear the diplomatic document to shreds. It wasn’t that the Eastern Solomon Empire couldn’t afford this sum of money, but the Venetians’ attitude of taking advantage of the situation was really annoying. When did the noble Solomons have to be subjected to such shameless diplomatic extortion?

“Negotiations are like this. The other party asks for a sky-high price, and we counter-offer.” Zoe, however, was not as furious as her younger sister, but just said leisurely, “The Venetian envoy is also here, we can discuss the specific terms.”

“Sister, are you really going to cooperate with the Venetians?” Theodora was still angry. “It’s not like we have to use the Venetian navy. Since these Frankish knights are willing to support us, can’t they just come by land?”

“These knights are already concentrated in Venice.” Zoe looked troubled, sighed, and said, “If you let them come by land, maybe half of them will be intercepted by Otto, and then the other half will be intercepted by the Wolf family and pulled to participate in the Holy Roman Empire’s civil war.”

“Besides, we also need the Venetian navy to besiege the west coast of Anatolia, otherwise, once we lose Nicaea, the Seljuks will be able to transport troops by sea and deploy them to the Thracian plain.”

The Grand Domestic and the cabinet members also rushed to the palace, and soon the two Empresses’ heated discussions with their ministers could be heard again. It was not until 3 am that they reached a preliminary consensus.

It was already 8 am when the Venetian envoy was summoned to the palace.

The envoy was wearing a red and white classical robe and looked like a wealthy and amiable merchant, but his words were bland yet aggressive.

It was not until noon that the two sides finished bargaining and finalized the final terms that they could both temporarily accept.

“A down payment of 5,000 pounds of gold, the remaining 2,500 pounds will be raised by the Church through fundraising, but the Empire must sign a loan agreement with the Bank of Venice…” Theodora read it carefully and sighed silently in her heart.

Faced with the Venetians’ exorbitant demands, this was already the lowest price they could get.

“Sign it.” She said as she stamped it with her small purple seal, in quadruplicate, and then handed the contract to her elder sister Zoe.

“I didn’t bring my seal.” Zoe frowned. “I probably forgot it at the Boukoleon Palace, I’ll take it back and stamp it later.”

She put the contract away in her sleeve and left the Palace of the Golden Throne with the official scribe, Varomina.

Walking in the corridor of the palace, Zoe suddenly said as if unintentionally:

“I heard that last week, my younger sister had hallucinations?”

“Yes.” The official scribe, Varomina, didn’t dare to hide it and reported truthfully, “Empress Theodora met with the heir of the Achilles family in a tavern in the city last week, and then mysteriously disappeared for half an hour.”

“After returning, Her Majesty claimed to have been transported to an island in the middle of the ocean. The court mage advisor, Droypus, analyzed that Her Majesty was most likely sent to the world of the collective unconscious.”

“The Achilles family, is that the family whose ancestors came from the Dragon Kingdom?” Zoe pondered for a moment. “I remember this family should have all died out 40 years ago in the Sclerena rebellion.”

“At that time, a branch of the Achilles family stayed in Constantinople and supported Emperor Basil.” Varomina added. “Because of this, although the Achilles family suffered heavy losses and now there is almost only one heir left, no noble dares to covet their wealth.”

“Even the late Emperor Constantine (Emperor Basil’s younger brother) took good care of the Achilles family.”

“I see.” Zoe said lightly. “Find the heir of this Achilles family and find out what happened that day.”

“If he really has the psychic ability to open up a world in the collective unconscious… ask him if he is willing to serve the royal family as my personal mystical advisor.”

“Understood, Your Majesty.” Varomina nodded slightly, subconsciously understanding Zoe’s implication.

If he was willing to serve the royal family, then the matter of Empress Theodora’s disappearance could be put on hold for the time being.

If he was unwilling, then naturally there would be other ways to deal with it later.

…

“Ha!” On the top of the mountain peak of Furnace Island, the battle axe and spear crossed, sparks flying from the metal.

Sidlipha stepped forward, stretched out her arms, and her two axes whirled like a storm.

Whirlwind Slash!

Eleanor raised her shield and turned around. Under Sidlipha’s storm-like attack, her shield trembled as if wailing, but it was never knocked out of her hand.

Suddenly, she swung her shield, passing through the gap between the two whirling battle axes, and hit Sidlipha’s chest.

As she staggered Sidlipha, a cold light flashed behind the shield. The spear shot out like a dragon, stabbing straight at Sidlipha’s abdomen.

Sidlipha’s body was knocked backwards. In a split second, ignoring her balance, she abruptly swung her axes out.

With a loud clang of metal clashing, Eleanor’s spear in her right hand was deflected, but her left hand still stubbornly held the shield, protecting her chest.

Sidlipha fell to the ground on her back, gasping for air, and suddenly burst into laughter.

“What are you laughing at?” Asker walked over and looked at her with an idiotic expression.

“It feels so good.” Sidlipha said.

“The Whirlwind Slash lasted too long.” Asker reprimanded her. “Why did you spin so many times? Are you a fan? You have to learn to actively stop the skill!”

“When the enemy is not under your control, the duration of any skill release cannot exceed 3 seconds, otherwise it is easy for people to see through and counter it!”

After saying that, he turned around again and instructed Eleanor:

“The timing of your shield bash and grapple was excellent, but the subsequent Dragon Spear was not well executed. The enemy is not a wooden dummy that doesn’t fight back. Before each attack, you have to think about what to do if your attack is dodged? What if it is blocked? What if it is parried?”

“If your operation was more refined, you could stop the Dragon Spear after the shield bash, wait for her axe to swing in vain, and then thrust out the Dragon Spear again, she would have no way to parry it. This detail is not difficult for you to do with your current strength, but you must have this awareness.”

“Okay.” Eleanor nodded and went to meditate on the side.

This was a habit she had recently developed. During meditation, she would replay the details of the battle just now in her mind and verify and summarize them one by one.

Sidlipha lay on the ground to rest for a while, then got up again, full of energy, and began to practice activating and stopping the Whirlwind Slash.

Asker pondered for a moment and suddenly asked:

“Have you decided?”

“Decided what?” Sidlipha was stunned. “You mean, becoming a Transcendental?”

“I mentioned it to you yesterday.” Asker reminded her. “Two bloodline paths for main DPS and burst.”

“The first is the Barbarian path, which will grant you the ability to use two-handed weapons, allowing you to activate your own spirituality and enter a controllable state of frenzy, greatly increasing your physical strength in a short period of time.”

“At the same time, it will also grant you the power of bloodlust. Every time you successfully kill an enemy, your spirituality will be satisfied, your injuries will heal to a certain extent, and your combat ability will be temporarily enhanced.”

“The second is the Titan path.” Asker continued. “You will have the bloodline of a frost giant. When activated, your body will be over three meters tall, and your skin will have extremely strong physical and magical resistance.”

“You will master the power of frost and lightning. Any enemy who attacks you will suffer frost damage, and your lightning will jump between enemies, paralyzing them and burning their internal organs.”

“You will also have an ancient aura, which will allow you to automatically identify ancient ruins and artifacts, making you less susceptible to illusions and psychic influence.”

Chapter 46: Inspecting the Troops

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Theodora said gracefully. “Captain Asker, your mercenary team is very special… I see that most of the members are women?”

“Yes.” Asker said, “But this is not the result of my deliberate selection, but because the suitable candidates I encountered happened to be women.”

Whether you believe it or not, I believe it anyway… he added silently in his heart.

“And they all happen to be beautiful women?” Theodora said humorously, with a hint of playfulness in her tone.

The girls beamed upon hearing the “beautiful women” comment.

“Yes, it’s just a coincidence.” Asker replied, “As you can see, although most of my team members are women, there are no other common factors besides gender.”

“They come from different ethnic backgrounds, have different appearances, and even different personalities and habits, which is enough to prove that I don’t choose teammates based on personal preference.”

Maybe it’s just because your hunting menu is more diverse… Theodora thought warily, and heard Asker say:

“Let’s not talk about this, let’s continue to introduce the team’s strength. It just so happens that my teaching plan has reached the second lesson. If you are interested, you can also sit in.”

“Okay.” Theodora nodded.

“Girls!” Asker cleared his throat and said to the girls, “In the last lesson, we talked about the Eight Tactical Forms, and everyone should have practiced them. This lesson, we will talk about defense and dodge.”

“Peggy, step forward!”

Peggy walked out with a cold face and drew the short sword strapped to her outer thigh.

“Attack me head-on once.” Asker said.

Peggy didn’t answer, but instantly disappeared from her spot. The next second, she had flashed in front of Asker, her short sword thrusting straight at his chest – which was blocked by Asker’s sword.

“So fast!” Theodora’s eyes widened slightly, her pupils constricting. There was no doubt that this Peggy was a Transcendental, and one whose physical strength was focused on explosive power and control.

If she herself had been facing the attack, she would probably have been pierced through the heart by now… Achilles could actually block such a high-speed attack? His strength was probably much greater than she had previously judged.

“Blocking, the most basic defensive move.” Asker maintained his posture and demonstrated. “What you need to pay attention to is that when the enemy’s attack is successfully blocked by you, the enemy’s body will enter an abnormal state called ‘rigidity.’ In the rigidity state, the muscles in the enemy’s arms are temporarily paralyzed due to violent shaking and unable to move.”

“The normal rigidity time may be less than 0.1 seconds. However, the stronger the enemy’s attack, the longer the rigidity time after being successfully blocked.”

“If the time is long enough, you can seize this opportunity to counterattack. The enemy in rigidity is unable to respond.” Asker said, instructing Peggy, “Attack again.”

Peggy nodded and swung her short sword again from her spot. Asker blocked with his sword horizontally. The moment the metal clashed, his right knee lifted sharply, hitting Peggy’s lower abdomen. She flew backwards, fell to the ground, and rolled a few times.

“So ruthless.” Nuo and Mia whispered. “Is it because Peggy has the quick recovery ability of Flesh I that Asker is so heavy-handed with her? It makes my whole body ache just watching.”

“Under normal circumstances, the rigidity time caused by blocking is not enough for you to launch a counterattack.” Asker continued, “At this time, we need the second defensive move: blade clash, which is to parry the attack with your own attack. Using your attack to deflect the opponent’s attack can make the enemy enter a longer state of rigidity.”

“Sidlipha, step forward!” He beckoned. “Give me an axe.”

Sidlipha immediately stepped forward excitedly upon hearing this and threw the battle axe from her waist to him.

“Come on, attack me.” Asker caught the battle axe.

“Alright!” Sidlipha roared and raised her battle axe with both hands to chop down. It was the advanced version of “Lion’s Fang” that Asker had taught her last time, “Mountain Splitter.”

As the axe blade fell, another silver light met it head-on. Asker swung his right hand upwards with the battle axe, deflecting the Mountain Splitter with a clang, and at the same time, his left fist punched out, hitting Sidlipha hard in the lower abdomen.

She screamed, clutched her abdomen, and fell to her knees, her face contorted in pain, tears streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably.

“I take back what I said just now.” Nuo and Mia muttered. “He’s ruthless to everyone… It’s a good thing we’re not combat professions.”

“If blocking is passive defense, its advantage is stability, but there are fewer opportunities to counterattack.” Asker summarized the defense lesson. “Blade clash is an active counterattack. Although it can cause a longer rigidity state, it is also riskier – if you fail to clash blades, the enemy’s knife will hit you. Have you all remembered?”

“We remember!” Looking at Peggy and Sidlipha who were miserably getting up from the ground, the remaining girls quickly said in unison, afraid that he would find someone else to demonstrate again.

“Okay, let’s talk about dodging next.” Asker nodded. “There are four forms of dodging: sidestep, hop, roll, and slide. Eleanor, step forward!”

Eleanor walked out with a solemn expression, mentally prepared to be abused.

“Here.” Asker threw his sword to her. “Attack me continuously with the sword.”

“Okay.” Eleanor took the sword, then assumed a stance and slashed down with a Right Lion’s Fang.

Asker took half a step to the right, dodging the sword slash, and said, “Sidestep, the fastest dodge move, each movement distance is half a step to one step.”

Eleanor continued to pursue and slash, and he dodged with consecutive sidesteps, each time narrowly avoiding the blade just as it was about to hit him, making the girls extremely nervous.

Theodora also sat there, her eyes above the veil sparkling.

This guy named Asker was so strong!

Although she didn’t understand martial arts, she could see that Eleanor was attacking with all her might, without holding back at all.

The fact that Asker could easily dodge all her attacks could only mean that the two were not on the same level in terms of awareness and technique.

“Sometimes, when the enemy’s weapon is longer or has a larger attack range, you need to use other dodging methods.” Asker said as he hopped backwards, avoiding Eleanor’s horizontal Eagle Cut. “Hop, each movement distance is one to two steps.”

“Roll, each distance is more than two steps.” He suddenly leaned to the left, his whole body rolling a distance away, then getting up. Eleanor looked at him speechlessly and stopped her movements.

Asker stood up and said: “Hops and rolls each have their advantages and disadvantages. Hops are faster to activate, but there is a period of being airborne during the jump. When you are attacked while airborne, you cannot dodge.”

“Rolls require curling up and getting up, making them slower to activate, but rolling will lower your body and reduce the area you can be hit.”

“Finally, there’s the slide.” Asker said as he charged forward a few steps and slid across the ground, reaching Eleanor’s feet, then bouncing up. “The slide lowers your body even lower than a roll, so it’s even harder to be hit.”

“The problem is that slides have a prerequisite action, which is that you must be moving to slide. Also, after the slide is completed, you need to bounce up, which involves the strength of your abdominal muscles and requires corresponding exercise.”

“That’s it for the basic course.” Asker concluded. “Next…”

“Practice each move a thousand times.” The girls said in unison.

“That’s right, it seems that everyone is very self-conscious.” Asker waved his hand with satisfaction. “Go ahead!”

The girls tearfully went to practice on their own.

Coming to Theodora, Asker asked with a smile:

“So, what do you think of our team?”

“Your teaching methods and content…” Theodora thought for a moment and said slowly, “They really opened my eyes.”

“Really?” Asker shook his head. “But these are all publicly recorded in ‘Tactics,’ they are not some unseen secret.”

Theodora was silent for a moment, feeling puzzled.

Emperor Leo III, the author of “Tactics,” was historically nicknamed “the Wise.” The reason was that although he claimed to be very knowledgeable about war, all the battles he personally commanded ended in disastrous defeats, so the citizens of Constantinople deliberately called him “the Wise,” the irony self-evident.

His book “Tactics” was also known as the “Bookworm’s Art of War” in the Empire.

For example, regarding Lion’s Fang recorded in “Tactics,” Leo III claimed that “the ultimate application of Lion’s Fang is that even if the enemy uses an upper block or blade clash, Lion’s Fang can still forcefully cut off the opponent’s weapon and cleanly split and crack their crown.”

“To cut off the weapon, you must hit the center of gravity of the blocking weapon.”

“Taking a sword clash as an example, the sword body is divided into two areas, the part close to the hilt is the ‘strong end,’ and the part close to the tip is the ‘weak end.’”

“If your Lion’s Fang hits the ‘weak end,’ that is the easiest place to deflect force on the sword body; if it hits the ‘strong end,’ that is the thickest and hardest part of the sword spine.”

“Only by hitting the junction of the ‘strong end’ and the ‘weak end’ can you have a chance to cut off the weapon, because that is the most vulnerable point of the entire sword.”

When readers read this, they might feel that the book made some sense, at least it seemed that there were no flaws.

But when they actually practiced, they realized – Damn it, the enemy’s sword doesn’t have a marked center of gravity, how can you have time to identify the location of the weapon’s center of gravity in a split second?

If you hesitate for even a moment, the enemy’s sword will already be slashing back at you!

Like most people, Theodora also felt that Leo III’s “Tactics” was too divorced from reality.

Some theories were still worth learning, such as the four vital points on the human body.

As for those overly detailed and even digitized conclusions, such as “slash in a straight line at a 35-degree angle” and “strike the midpoint between the shoulder blade and the triceps,” they were simply armchair strategizing…

However, listening to Asker’s meaning, those seemingly fantastical theories written in “Tactics” were actually achievable?

Theodora secretly took note of this, deciding to find time to study it later.

“Then let’s stop here for today.” The two chatted politely for a few more sentences, and then Asker said with a smile, “Please allow me to see you out.”

“What, are you trying to get rid of me, Captain Asker?” Theodora said jokingly.

“Of course not, if you want to stay here, we are naturally more than welcome.” Asker said, taking out a common mercenary employment contract and handing it to Theodora. “If you make up your mind at any time, please come find me with the contract.”

With that, he activated “Absurd Dreams” with his spirituality. The surrounding scene changed, and the two returned to the tavern.

The tables and chairs were in disarray, and Michael and the two Kingsguard officers were searching and rummaging everywhere, their anxiety and panic evident.

“Lord Michael.” Theodora called softly.

Michael jolted, hurriedly turned around, and saw Her Majesty standing behind him, alone – Asker was nowhere to be seen.

T/N: “Born in the purple” is a phrase that originated in the Byzantine Empire and refers to a child born to a reigning monarch or emperor while they are still on the throne.In ancient times, the color purple was a symbol of imperial power and royalty. Only the emperor and his family were allowed to wear garments dyed with the expensive and highly prized Tyrian purple, a dye extracted from the secretions of the murex snail. This made purple a color associated with wealth, power, and nobility.When a child was “born in the purple,” it meant that they were born while their father was still the reigning emperor, and therefore, they were born with a legitimate claim to the throne.

Chapter 45: The Arcane Mage

If there was one NPC in the “Iron and Fire” game world that was truly famous, it was undoubtedly Theodora.

The Imperial Purple Princess Theodora, known as the “Most Beautiful Woman in the Game.”

This “game” didn’t just refer to “Iron and Fire,” but almost all games that had ever been released. Almost all female NPCs known for their beauty couldn’t compare to her in appearance.

The character modeling of this NPC alone cost $130 million for the head model.

Including the distance between her eyes, the length of each eyelash, the height and width of the bridge of her nose, nasolabial folds, the shape of her forehead, and the position of each tooth, all were designed by 13 of the world’s top game design teams, ensuring that it simultaneously met the aesthetic and cultural standards of both Eastern and Western nations.

A month before the official release of “Iron and Fire,” the game company used a completed video of Theodora dancing for a marketing campaign that became a huge hit.

After all, no matter when or where, beautiful female NPCs were a major factor in attracting attention to online games.

And the result was just as the game company expected. Theodora’s “peerless beauty” was praised by the media as “a perfection that normal humans cannot grow,” and, together with the upcoming game “Iron and Fire,” appeared on major game forums, video websites, hardcore gamer circles, cosplay costume groups, comic convention booths, life-size models of pillows and figures, plastic surgery hospitals’ hottest templates, adult store advertising posters, and convenience store signs in third, fourth, and fifth-tier cities and rural areas.

Although the last few were not the communication channels that the game company wanted… In any case, the marketing effect was perfect. Theodora, the most beautiful woman in “Iron and Fire,” as a beautiful NPC, was destined to be recorded in the annals of gaming history.

At this time, looking at Theodora’s beautiful eyes exposed from the veil, the first thought in Asker’s mind was, “Why are you wearing a veil! I would recognize you even if you were turned to ashes!”

“This beautiful young lady is right!” Before he could speak, Sidlipha had already shouted, “Since he’s going to be shot anyway, why don’t you let me execute him!”

As she spoke, she raised her right battle axe and chopped off the young man’s head in one fell swoop, so fast that even Eleanor couldn’t stop her.

Theodora froze, seemingly not reacting either.

“Sidlipha.” Asker said, covering his face. “The legal execution she was talking about is an execution carried out by a specific executor recognized by the government. You directly chopping off his head like this is called murder!”

“Huh?” Sidlipha tilted her head, not understanding the difference between murder and legal execution.

“Forget it.” Theodora came back to her senses. “This kind of scum, it’s better to kill him than waste the Empire’s judicial resources.”

She looked at Asker, a smile returning to her eyes: “You are Asker Lepidus Achilles, right? The current heir of the Achilles family? Now running a mercenary group?”

“Yes.” Asker nodded, just about to hear what the other party would say next, when a thought suddenly flashed through his mind:

Theodora’s bloodline seems to be a level 2 “Matter Mage”? An Arcane spellcaster who has mastered Storm I and Intelligence X! This seems to be a good fit for my team’s current needs.

Pulling an Empress NPC into his team as a mercenary, this rebellious thought… sounded surprisingly appealing?

Asker thought about it for a moment. His current team had ordinary people like Miel, Sidlipha, and Mia, as well as rich girls and noblewomen like Nuo and Eleanor, and even an Imperial princess like Medea.

If there was one more Empress… it wouldn’t make much difference, right?

“Excuse my rudeness, may I ask who you are?” Asker said with a chuckle.

Theodora was about to speak when Asker suddenly interrupted her, said “Oh” and said: “I understand! You must have heard of the reputation of our ‘Azure Longsword’ mercenary group and came here to join us, right?”

Theodora: ???

“Let me tell you, we are currently short of an Arcane Mage, and if you are the one we are looking for… I noticed you have a mithril tattoo.” Asker coughed and said, “That’s a surface magic circuit, right?”

“Ah, yes.” Theodora thought for a moment and decided not to reveal her identity to the other party, but to try to probe the other party’s situation first.

The reason was simple, she wanted to recruit and hire the other party as her guard, but the premise was that this Achilles’ strength was indeed as outstanding as shown in the video.

Otherwise, if she accidentally recruited a poser, losing money would be a small matter, being ridiculed by her elder sister Zoe would be a real shame.

“How strong is your ‘Azure Longsword’ mercenary group?” Theodora asked casually.

“It depends on what your criteria for evaluating strength are.” Asker said, “If it’s about size, we currently only have 8 people, and it won’t exceed 10 in the future. Because we plan to take the small elite route.”

“Then what about combat capability alone?” Theodora asked.

“Number one in the universe.” Asker replied.

“Cough!” Eleanor behind him coughed awkwardly. This “number one in the universe,” wasn’t that bragging too much?

Sidlipha, on the other hand, nodded repeatedly and said:

“Hmm, hmm, hmm, although we are the best in the universe now, don’t think that our strength will stop here. One day we will become…”

She paused and asked Eleanor quietly: “What’s bigger than the universe?”

“Nothing.” Eleanor said, both amused and annoyed. “The universe is the biggest.”

“Oh.” Sidlipha suddenly realized and blamed Asker. “Hey, Asker, we have to be humble. We’re already the best in the universe now, what are we going to do in the future? Is there still room for improvement?”

“Then number one on the continent.” Asker said casually.

“Number one on the continent is good.” Sidlipha nodded in agreement, making Eleanor behind her look dumbfounded. This “number one on the continent”… didn’t seem to be any different from “number one in the universe,” hello!

“Hehehe.” Theodora covered her mouth and chuckled. “Captain Asker, you are really an interesting guy. Of course, so is that warrior lady.”

Outside the door, the two military officers and guards heard the Empress’s laughter and wondered to themselves.

Could this Achilles be a smooth talker who took the route of flattering the monarch?

Seeing that the other party was still smiling politely, Asker sighed in his heart.

Sure enough, it was basically impossible to persuade the other party with just words. He had to put up a gambling chip.

“Words are not enough.” Asker also smiled. “Why don’t you see for yourself how strong our team is?”

“Okay.” Theodora also smiled back with interest, thinking to herself, what was the other party going to show her?

Under her puzzled gaze, she saw Asker put one hand on the book at his lower back, his spirituality stirring, enveloping the four people around him, and the surrounding scenery immediately changed.

The dirty tavern disappeared, replaced by the mountaintop in the afternoon. In the distance was the vast ocean, with grayish-white fog covering the visible horizon, as if it were the end of the world where water and sky met.

Theodora’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly and calmly gathered her hands, her right hand pressing the alarm button on her sleeve.

No response? That’s not right, this was no longer Constantinople, so the signal couldn’t be sent out at all!

It looked like an island, could it be some kind of long-distance teleportation array? In other words, she was now alone, brought here by the other party, and most likely already outside the territory of Constantinople!

What was this Achilles trying to do?!

She slightly turned her head and calmly observed the surroundings with vigilance. She saw a construction site building a house, and the people carrying materials and working were all young girls.

“Asker! You’re back!” Nuo ran over excitedly, like a wife welcoming her husband home, then her puzzled eyes fell on Theodora.

“This is…” She was stunned for a moment and asked Asker in a low voice, “Arcane Mage?”

“Yes, but she hasn’t signed a contract with me yet, she’s just here to observe.” Asker explained.

“Oh.” Nuo nodded, then smiled gently and extended her hand to Theodora generously.

“Hello, I’m Nuo Valennis Licinius.”

“Licinius?” Unlike others, Theodora almost instantly recognized the surname, which was one of the thirteen oldest and most prestigious families in Solomon City. She also extended her hand and shook it with her, saying:

“Hello, my name is… hmm, my name is Thira.”

(Thira, short for Theodora.)

“As you can see, our team has already taken shape.” Asker called the girls over and introduced them to Theodora one by one. “Nuo is our team healer and the current logistics manager.”

“Eleanor, front-line defender, responsible for attracting enemy fire.”

“Sidlipha, Strength DPS, responsible for killing heavily armored enemies.”

“Peggy, Agility DPS, responsible for taking down unarmored or lightly armored enemies.”

“Medea, Psychic, responsible for influencing and controlling enemies from the consciousness level.”

“Psychic?” Theodora was slightly taken aback, this was a rare profession.

Medea glanced at her indifferently, and a suspicious look suddenly appeared on her face.

This girl wearing a veil… wasn’t she Empress Theodora, who had just ascended the throne? Holy crap! Asker, how did you bring the Empress here!!!

I think I smell a conspiracy. Medea secretly became excited and said with a friendly smile:

“Hello, you’re Thira, right? What a beautiful name.”

“You flatter me.” Theodora responded with a secretly guilty smile.

“Continue the introduction.” Asker, like the host of a banquet, enthusiastically introduced Theodora to everyone present. “Mia, our scout, responsible for early warning, reconnaissance, and trap detection.”

“And lockpicking.” Mia added.

“No.” Asker said disapprovingly. “We are a completely legitimate mercenary group, we would never do anything like picking someone else’s lock.”

He gave Mia a warning look and continued:

“This is Miel, a rookie gunman, responsible for long-range fire suppression.”

“Finally, this is yours truly, Asker, team leader and commander.” Asker put one hand on his chest and introduced himself last like a gentleman.