Chapter 9 - Mercenaries

Half an hour passed as they waited for group three to arrive. Suddenly the silhouette of the two girls and the twins appeared, approaching from the city center.

"Guuuyss~ we're backkkk~" Len exclaimed running a quarter of her normal speed. "Guess what we learned? 20 women had apparently gone missing in the surroundings of Thilai Valley in the last 2 weeks." She explained excitedly, jumping up and down.

"That's a great lead," Reisa replied with a warm smile, patting Len's head.

"After arriving at Heibrook City, we'll wait until sunset, gain more information and arrive at Thilai Valley by nightfall," Alastair instructed.

"Understood," the squad chanted in unison.

Another half an hour passed and both the mercenaries, horses, and carriages had arrived.

"Hi there, we're the Heavensword Mercenary group." A bulky man around his 30s introduced himself, walking up to Leon, with his arm outstretched "I assume you're the leader of this group?"

Leon looked at the outstretched arm, looked at Alastair then looked back at the man, completely flustered.

Alastair gave a small nod.

"Uh, yes," Leon replied awkwardly. Shaking hands with the fellow. "We would like to head out straight away if that's alright with you guys," Leon asked, his tone completely changed from his usual barbaric attitude. Even Enga was staring with his mouth gaping and eyes wide open.

"Wow, Leon with manners. Is the world going to end today?" He muttered under his breath.

Leon felt a vein pop in his head as he forced himself to smile and focus on the current task.

"Wow Leon with self-control. The world is definitely ending..." Enga mumbled again, scratching his chin.

Another vein could be heard popping.

"Stop it," Reisa scolded Enga, hitting him lightly on the head and giving him a stern look.

"We're alright with leaving now," the mercenary leader replied after confirming the situation with his group.

The three groups each hopped into a carriage as the mercenaries got on the front and prepared for departure.

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With only the occasional bandit and monster in the way, the 5-hour journey to Heibrook was way more relaxing than expected. In the first carriage, Reisa had fallen asleep, Seilon was polishing his sword, while Alastair also had his eyes closed and his arms crossed.

The second carriage was a lot more festive with the two girls and the twins somehow acquiring sweets of all kinds. The sound of laughter could be heard all the way to the other carriages.

In the third carriage, the atmosphere of depression would be touched. Enga and Jyn sat on one side of the carriage whilst the other side was completely occupied by Leon. Every 30 seconds or so, the impatient Leon would start a sudden ruckus about wanting to fight something, or wanting to go for another drink. So the other two had to keep a constant lookout.

"Another tantrum coming in 5 seconds" Enga whispered to Jyn,

Jyn nodded, getting into position.

5 seconds later, Leon took out his axe as the carriage began to shake.

Within the carriage, Enga could be seen holding down both of Leon's arms whilst Jyn confiscated the weapon, holding it as far away from the muscle-head as he could within the cramped carriage.

"Gahhhh! I'm so boreddd!!" Leon cried, struggling to get Enga and Jyn off of him.

The carriage stopped shaking.

"Um. Is something wrong inside?" A voice could be heard from outside.

"No! It's nothing!" Enga replied, glaring at Leon, finally releasing his grip. "We're confiscating this. You get it back after we arrive,"

He sits back down as Leon sits down, clearly sulking.

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Another half an hour passes as a knock on the carriage door could be heard.

Seilon stood up, and opened the door,

"Heibrook is up ahead, maybe around another 5 minutes," a mercenary explained, the wind slightly muffling his voice.

"Ok. I'll alert the others," Seilon replied, closing the door.

"Reisa." He whispered, tapping her shoulder,

Reisa groggily opened one eye.

"5 minutes until we're there." He continued to whisper.

"Mn." She replies, stretching and yawning.

Seilon looked over at Alastair, only to see him already awake.

They all quickly got out of the carriage, stretched their limbs, and looked around.

The sky was a radiant pink with a hint of orange. The sun sat on the horizon, ready to disappear any minute. Just up ahead were the gigantic walls of Heibrook City. Twice the size of the one they just came from. The queue outside was also twice the size.

"We'll leave you here," the mercenary leader said as they arrived right behind the queue.

"Thank you so much," Reisa smiled handing over a pouch of coins, "50 silver, just as promised,"

The mercenary quickly counted up the coins, smiled, and bid farewell to the squad.

"Thilai Valley is about an hour walk and 20 minutes run from the city. We'll rest until sunset and depart tonight." Alastair instructed, getting ready to join the queue.

"Understood!" They chanted, lining up behind him.