The True Face Of A Mercenary

"You, train me?"

"Yes. I think it's pretty obvious, but I'm more skilled with the sword than you. I may not have experience fighting with a sword as big as the one you use, but I know how to use a sword in general."

"I know that, but the tournament is in two days." Kies knew that Nell was far better at wielding a sword than him but there were a bunch of problems with this plan. Like he just said, the tournament was in two days and that was hardly enough time for him to learn how to use a sword (that wasn't his). Unless he trained tirelessly for both days, he wouldn't improve enough for his sword skills to be enough to win against people in the tournament.

And he couldn't do that if he wanted to because of a second problem. He needed to finish this request as fast as possible so that he could accept another one. They were in a rush to make money. There was no time for him to waste on training. If this request is going to take this long to finish then he had no reason to continue through with it.

"I know that the pay isn't exactly the best, but I really need your help with this," Nell begged him. "Please." She knew that mercenaries only took jobs because they needed the money and that they would leave if risks outweigh the reward. "It's for the Otane. They're going to end up hurting a lot of people if they get away with their plans." This wasn't a matter of doing it for the money anymore. If he chose to abandon the request then he was also letting the thieves do what they wanted.

"You will have to ask her about it," Kies pointed at Wompa. He wasn't the one in charge of decisions here. He just did whatever Iris, Sirks, and Wompa told him to do since they had what he wanted. If Wompa decided that she wanted them to go through with this request then Kies was happy to oblige.

"Huh? She's the one who decides things? I really thought that it would be you."

"Things aren't what they seem. I might be a better fighter than her, but she's my boss."

"Oh really. Interesting... By any chance, are you two..."

"No."

"But I didn't even say it yet."

"You don't need to. I know what you're going to ask." A boy and a girl traveling together. This was bound to bring up questions like the one Nell wanted to ask him.

"Are you siblings then?"

"No."

"What? But you two look so cute together. Are you telling me the truth?" Nell stared Kies in the eyes to see if he was lying or not.

"No. If you don't believe me, you can ask her when she wakes up... If she does wake up. I don't know what you did to her but she seems to be out cold.

"Ah, what a waste. You two should really try hitting it off."

*Sigh* How did they end up talking about this? They went from talking about something important to something completely useless. "Can we get back to what we were talking about?"

"Oh. Yes, we should probably do that. Anyway, like I said, we can't let the thieves get what they want. I really need you to help me here. But I guess you're not the one that I should be asking about this," Nell looked at Wompa. "I really wonder when she's going to wake up."

"I'll wait outside then I guess," Kies told her. Since it was Wompa who she needed to ask about it, Kies had no reason to be here. He left the room and went back outside to where the sword was. He sat down next to it and sighed. Why did he have to do all of this just to get the fragment? It was really a headache that he didn't want to deal with. Hopefully, Iris and Sirks were having better luck than them.

***

"Third one done. Wow, we're quick. What request do you think they're on?" Iris said as she handed in the completed request with the commissioner's signature to the receptionist.

"Don't know. We haven't seen them in a while so they're probably busy."

"Do you think they got more than us?"

"Yes. We spent the entire afternoon stuck on one. There's no way they didn't get more than us."

"You're right. Ugh, if only I didn't choose that one. Who would've guessed that looking for a lost cat in the city is so much work?"

"I did. But you didn't listen to me and chose it anyway. In the first place, why did they want mercenaries to handle a job like this?"

"Guess there's no one else who wants to take the job?" Iris shrugged her shoulders. She and Sirks walked over to the board of requests again and looked through the remaining ones. They were all time-consuming jobs that required multiple days to complete. "I don't think we have time for another one. Looks like we're just going to wait for hoodie and sis to come back."

"Hoodie?"

"Yes, we don't know his name. He still refused to tell us." Iris chose to call him that for the time being until she learned what his name is. "I will find out one way or another..."

Sirks heard Iris mumble that to himself and shifted a little away from her but didn't say anything. He knew that she had her eyes set on something, there was nothing that was going to stop her from accomplishing her goal. He felt bad for the guy for having to deal with this princess.

"Should we wait outside?" Sirks asked her. He looked around the room and saw that there were some mercenaries eyeing Iris. He couldn't blame them since she was quite the looker, but it was probably in their best interest to not attract unnecessary attention.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea."

The two of them turned to leave the tavern but it was too late. A group of mercenaries got up from their table just having finished their drinks and approached the pair.

"Hey old man, are you her father or something?" a big bulky man in his forties asked Sirks. He had a messy beard and countless scars on his face. His breath reeked of booze and he was swaying from side to side as he stood in front of them.

"F*ck..." Sirks muttered a curse to himself. Just their luck. This wasn't going to be easy for them to get out of. There were six of them and they were all as drunk as the first one. He had no way of reasoning with any one of them and he saw that the other mercenaries in the place weren't going to do anything about it either. They were all watching the show while having their own drinks.

"Hey, answer me! Is this your daughter?" the drunk mercenary asked again, this time a bit more aggressive.

Ugh... If only that woman with the eyepatch was still here. As it turned out, she only worked here on the morning shift and got off in the late afternoon. They had no one that could help them out of this mess.

"Excuse me, but it's rather late. We haven't had dinner yet so-"

"Is she your daughter!? Yes or no!?" The mercenary didn't care about what Sirks had to say and demanded that he answer the question.

"..."

Sirks glanced at Iris and she also glanced at him. The two of them nodded their heads and looked back at the mercenary. "Tell me already, old man. Don't make me-" *Hic!* "-don't make me have to force it outta you."

"I really wish you would put something over your face..." Sirks said in an annoyed voice.

"Huh!? What did you say!?"

"No, not you," Sirks told the mercenary. "I'm talking to her," he turned to Iris.

"It's not my fault I'm so pretty."

"But it is your fault for not covering your face!" As Sirks finished saying the sentence, he punched the drunk mercenary in front of them as hard as he could in the face. The mercenary fell back, landing on the table he and his pals had been sitting at just a minute ago. He laid motionlessly on the table and the entire tavern became quiet.

"Run!" Sirks shouted.

Iris bolted out for the exit. The five mercenaries tried to stop her but Sirks intercepted them and tackled two of them to the ground. The other three were too dizzy and out of it to move well and they let Iris slip right past them. The princess made it to the exit and opened the door.

"I'm out. Sirks, you-" Her voice was cut off when someone suddenly grabbed her and threw her back into the room.

"Iris!" Sirks tried to get up and run to her but couldn't. The five mercenaries had him pinned down on the floor and he couldn't move. "D*mn it!" His plan was to have Iris escape outside while he dealt with the drunk mercenaries. It was a simple plant once the mercenaries realized that their target was gone, they had no reason to mess with him anymore and would let him go. This way, he would walk out of here with only a couple of bruises.

"Well, well, where do you think you're going, girl?" Sirks looked over at where Iris was and saw that she was also pinned down to the ground by someone. A man had his foot on her stomach and was preventing her from getting up. Iris punched at the leg and wiggles around, trying to free herself but couldn't.

"Get your foot off me!" Iris shouted at the mercenary.

"No can do. I need you to repay me for what your friend did to me earlier," the man pointed at Sirks.

"What I did? I don't even know you!" Sirks didn't recognize the man at all and this was his first day as a mercenary. How could he have made grudges with someone here already if he never spoke with anyone here at all?

"Oh, did you forget? I'm the guy that you fought with this morning," the man introduced himself to Sriks.

"So you're angry that you lost to me and you want to take revenge on her? You're a huge coward."

"Oh, am I really one now, mister ex-soldier?"

"What?" Sirks froze when he heard what the mercenary called him.

"You can't hide it from us. Did you think we really wouldn't find out? The way you swing your sword isn't like any of us. Only an idiot wouldn't notice. And I don't think I need to tell you what we do to soldiers here."

Soldiers and mercenaries don't get along well in Otane. The reason is that most mercenaries are people who fail the test to become soldiers and are forced to become mercenaries in order to make money and survive. Because of this, mercenaries are not very fond of soldiers since they themselves can be considered failed soldiers.

Sirks knew that joining the mercenary guild was a bad idea but Iris was persistent about the idea since she thought it would be "fun." It was safe to say that she probably wasn't having fun anymore.

"Hm... Young girls aren't my type, but I'll make an exception today."

"Get your hands off her!" Sirks tried to get the mercenaries off him but there were too many of them for him to overpower.

"Hey you two, come help me hold her down." Two of the drunk mercenaries got off Sirks while the other three continued to hold him down. The sixth one that Sirks punched in the face was still unconscious and lying on the floor next to a table and so he wasn't a threat, but five was still more than what he could handle.

The two mercenaries went over to Iris and held her legs and arms down while the third man began to undress her. "Stop! Get away from me!" Iris managed to get one of her legs free and kicked the man in the face.

"You b*tch!" Blood trickled from his nose. He grabbed Iris' foot before she could kick him again and punched her in the stomach.

"Ah!"

"How'd that feel? Yeah, it doesn't feel too nice to be on the receiving end, does it? If you know what's good for you, I suggest you be obedient and let us have our fun."

The mercenary proceeded to reach his hand out and put it under Iris' shirt, causing her to scream loudly. "Shut your mouth!" The mercenary slapped Iris across her face and didn't stop.

Sirks tried again to get up but the mercenaries continued to keep him down. "Uh-nuh. You're not going anywhere."

"I'll rip your throats out!" SIrks headbutted one of the mercenaries, causing him to loosen his hold on his right arm. He grabbed the second mercenary by the beard and yanked it hard, freeing his left hand as well. He then put his hands around the neck of the third mercenary who was sitting on his legs and squeezed it as hard as he could. But before he could kill him, the other two mercenaries jumped on him again and dogpiled on top of him. Sirks kicked and punched the two drunk mercenaries but couldn't get them off.

Completely out of breath, Sirks fell back onto the floor, unable to move anymore. "Ugh..." Where the h*ll were the other two? They needed their help right now. He needed to stall for a bit more but it wasn't possible in his condition. Sirks could only watch as the mercenaries took off Iris' clothes.

But just before the mercenary could take off the last layer of Iris' clothes, a bottle came spinning through the room and hit the mercenary in the face. Glass shards flew everywhere and the mercenary fell backward. Everyone turned to see who threw the bottle.

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