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“Your information is outdated.”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?”
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