Quit being a knight and become a mercenary

73 – Luck always comes from unexpected places

In this world, the occupation with the most certain before and after is mercenary.

I may be wondering if this is just nonsense, but when we mercenaries go to war, they fight like war-mad asuras.

Once the battle is over, unless something special happens, there is no mistreatment of prisoners.

“If you don’t want to die, put down your weapon, raise both hands and go into the building over there.”

Regardless of the Rhine-Palatinate and Montmartre, most regular troops, after capturing prisoners, beat them with spears and threatened them with weapons to prevent them from resisting.

We tried to serve them very politely without any such incidents.

“If you catch me looking away, I’ll break your head.”

“If you don’t want to die, close your eyes. “If you get caught showing up wrong, I will really kill you.”

“As long as you don’t think about running away, you won’t get beaten up for no reason.”

It’s a bit awkward to use profanity and look like a gentleman, which is not typical of real men who are crazy about drinking with women.

These are all calculated actions with their own noble philosophy and duty as mercenaries.

I was gathering my thoughts while watching the guys below me capture the soldiers stationed at Fortress Seriz.

A new recruit from our platoon approached me with a questioning look and asked.

“Platoon leader, may I ask you a question?”

I smiled and nodded at those words.

“What is it? Two is fine, so ask quickly.”

“Why are you treating the prisoners so well? To put it bluntly, don’t the regular army sell mercenaries and serfs who can’t pay the ransom to slave traders?”

There are many mercenaries in this world, but mercenaries who are captured in wars with other countries, if they are unlucky, are sold to slave traders as that guy said.

So, we can make a lot of money by treating them harshly and selling them as slaves…

‘That’s like a fool who only knows one thing and doesn’t know the other.’

I put some aura on his forehead and hit him with honey.

“Evil!”

The guy made a noise and cupped his forehead.

“You idiot, do we really have to fight only with the Rhine-Palatinate bastards?”

“Well, that’s not it, is it?”

“Yeah, just to be blunt, what if we fought with the Rhine-Palatinate sausage guys until this war? Tomorrow, we can join hands and fight together with the Montmartre slugs. So, after the war is over, it’s best not to do anything that will make each other blush.”

For that reason, mercenaries who invade enemy territory do not usually ‘loot’, but there are quite a few regular soldiers who commit everything from plunder to murder and rape.

Ah, of course, like the evil guys we usually think of when we think of mercenaries, there are some bastards who commit all kinds of heinous crimes without hesitation…

‘Our mercenary corps is a rising star, so we need to pretend to be good and take care of our image.’

“Platoon leader, Captain Dalton told me to talk to the war dealers over there and then come back.”

When another guy approached me and asked, I nodded, showing off my annoyance.

Then, when I looked in the direction where the war merchants were, they were grumbling and looking like they had chewed sh*t.

“f*ck you, you Montmartre idiots. No, why was everything stolen in such a surprise attack?”

“If this continues, I’m going to run out of money.”

“You don’t have to do anything or not as long as your life is saved.”

For those who had been captured by the enemy, they seemed quite leisurely, as if they were veteran warriors.

‘They probably think they won’t die because they see us not killing the prisoners, right?’

As I approached, everyone’s eyes lit up and they started rubbing their palms together.

“Oh, mercenary… Please just spare my life.”

The merchants of this era are almost like medicine sellers or con artists, but changing their attitude like this is just laughable.

“I won’t kill or beat him. “I don’t plan on taking anything by force.”

Everyone smiled brightly and their eyes lit up at those words.

“Are you sure?”

We don’t know when we’ll be hired by those Montmartre guys, so there’s no need to blush with them.

But later on, they become vengeful and sell only us products at a much higher price, or they intentionally supply us with poor quality food.

‘We’re all falling behind because of those bastards.’

In Korea, there is an uproar if food poisoning occurs due to the supply of spoiled food due to military corruption, but in this world, unless spoiled food is included in the meals of ‘nobles’ or people die en masse.

Because of the culture of trying to get over things on a positive note, something as bad as a dog could happen to me being ‘assassinated with food.’

Instead, if you become friends with them, you can receive all kinds of information and good items relatively cheaply even on the battlefield…

‘It’s much better to be friendly.’

“Of course, I can’t pay the full price for food or talking to prostitutes.”

Even though they heard those words, they had tears in their eyes and bowed their heads deeply.

“Oh my, we’d be grateful if you could just spare our lives. “Thank you so much for paying for the items and even the flower stand!”

“I will definitely convey the elder’s grace to our guild.”

“I didn’t even expect the full price in the first place, old man.”

I could feel that each and every one of their words was filled with sincerity.

“You guys must have worked hard to get here, so wouldn’t it be a loss to sell it at the same price as what you get in the city? So, just get twice the city price. The same goes for flower stands.”

“Okay, we will serve you warmly.”

I pulled my sword out of its scabbard and pointed it at one of the guys’ necks.

“If you make a fuss or try to backstab us, it won’t be good for you.”

When the knife was suddenly pointed at their neck, a streak of cold sweat appeared on their faces.

“Let’s start by writing a contract. “You guys know better why I’m like this, right?”

“Yes, old man.”

If we write down the contract, later when we buy something in bulk from the guild they belong to, we can get a huge discount under the pretext of ‘showing mercy to them’.

This is because even here, you can suppress the instinct of those who want to play around with the price.

‘They came all the way here to make a profit even if their lives are at risk, so if you don’t sign a contract, they will even cheat on the city price.’

“Open the store and prepare to receive customers.”

As soon as those words were said, the guys immediately dispersed and ran towards the cart they were pulling.

Originally, I was planning on leaving at least 10 times as much, but since I only received about 2 times as much, I must have suffered a considerable loss…

Everyone’s steps were quite brisk, and there was a hint of relief in their voices.

“She thought she was truly left behind when the castle was attacked.”

“It’s a shame I couldn’t pay for all the items, but where’s the double? Twice as much. “I will earn more than I owe, so I should be satisfied with this.”

“Ha, Baron Sheik, I almost went bankrupt thanks to that bastard. “That mercenary, Na-ri, saved my life.”

They say war merchants leave their conscience at home, but I am glad to see that they seem to be truly grateful for the grace that saved them from the danger of death and bankruptcy.

When they meet us again in the future, they will give us something more, and won’t they spread the word about the mercy they showed us in a situation where our mercenaries could not say anything even if they took everything away?

When I was about to go back, I saw a war merchant with heavy steps even though he had saved me from the ‘crisis of bankruptcy.’

“Well, my life was saved. “If we only receive twice the selling price in the city, we will go bankrupt if we continue like this.”

Deep down, no, in my heart, I was a little angry seeing him complaining even though I saved his life.

‘Those bastards are the kind of people who would sell their soul for more money, right?’

I immediately approached him.

“Hey, you little businessman over there.”

The guy who grumbled broke into a cold sweat.

“Why are you making such a fuss and gossiping when people showed you mercy? “What’s so dissatisfying?”

As soon as he heard me, he shook his head and waved his hands wildly in denial.

“No, no! “I’m sorry, please just spare my life!”

“Hey, look at how this guy talks. “Honestly, it doesn’t blow?”

It doesn’t seem to make sense to threaten to kill someone while saving their life.

“Is it because you are in a hurry for money?”

At those words, the businessman nodded his head.

“Yes, I heard that a war broke out this time, so I borrowed some money to get a share. “If I can’t pay this back, my younger sister and my older sister will be sold as s*x slaves to nobles.”

You crazy bastard, even if you borrow money, you should do it to the extent you can handle it on your own.

Why did you even use my innocent sister and older sister as collateral? You idiot, you bastard, this is it.

Still, in the current situation, it is actually better.

“I guess you’ll need a bit more money?”

“I have to sell five times as much as I brought to repay the money. “Two times is simply not enough.”

Originally, I would have cast ‘Alpano?’ On this guy, but I have a method that will solve this guy’s problems and benefit me as well.

In some ways, this son of a b*tch must be very lucky.

“What is your name?”

“This is Matio.”

“Do you know anything about military secrets? “It’s okay to just pick it up, so if you provide valuable information, I’ll give you money.”

From noble mtl dot com

It seems funny to ask such a question to a single merchant.

Military merchants are the ones who carry out supply duties for the military, so although they do not know military operations, they are often provided with information about when and how much the enemy army will move.

And now, for us, this kind of information is worth buying for thousands of dollars.

“If you don’t open your mouth now, you have no chance. Instead, if you give us helpful information. “This old man will give you money to exchange your money.”

Then, in front of him, I unfolded a leather pouch containing several platinum coins and showed him.

“Our mercenary unit is rich. “A merchant like you can give me enough money to start a small business.”

At those words, our Matio finished pondering and opened his mouth.

“Okay, according to the information I got, actually…”

In that way, our Mr. Matio gave us very detailed and valuable information over the course of an hour.

“…… That’s it.”

“How did you know this?”

“If I want to make a living as a military merchant, I need to know the general movements of the army I belong to, even by bribing the knights. Otherwise, there is no money.”

I wrote down all the information I heard from him and carefully controlled my facial expressions.

“First of all, today I’m going to play with my kids. Even after the others finish their business and go back, you stay here until the information is verified. “I’ll give you the money then.”

If this turns out to be correct, it will be really great…