"What's going on outside?" Veronica walked up to the man: "Did the person following us leave?"
"No, that person hasn't left yet." Laine said softly. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel{f}ire.net
Their plan today was initially to scout the movements of the Aesthetic Society, but as soon as they appeared in the Shield Coin District, they realized they were being followed.
The stalker was exceptionally skilled. Laine and Veronica tried to take a few detours, but the stalker kept tailing them persistently. That lingering gaze followed them down an entire street without stopping.
So Laine and Veronica decided, to just act as if they were on a date, strolling around, trying on clothes. They visited almost half the district's tailor shops, each buying quite a few clothes.
"Still not gone? They're really persistent." Veronica bit her lip: "So what did you see?"
"Do you remember my experiences in Nord? At that time, there was a mercenary corps acting alongside me..." Laine briefly explained the situation to Veronica and then said: "You continue trying on clothes while I go out and take a look."
"Dear, our main goal is to complete the mission, not really to buy clothes. You go out and see what's going on first, I'll be right there." Veronica shook her head, indicating Laine should go out first and see, and she would join him shortly.
So Laine walked out of the tailor shop, and he found that the last remaining members of the Blood Axe Mercenary Corps were gathered at the street corner nearby. A few people dressed as sailors were holding them tight, not letting them go, and the person leading them clearly looked like the captain.
"Fraud! Deceiver! Pay up quickly, or I'll have the guards arrest you all! Lock you in the water prison!"
"Captain, we have no intention of deceiving you. We are victims too. Blood Axe prides itself on integrity. We had no intention of deceiving you with lead blocks. Our commission also turned into lead blocks."
Outside, there was a quarrel. The captain and sailors subtly surrounded the members of Blood Axe Mercenary Corps. Amelia, dressed only in thin fur clothes and tight leather pants, was shivering in the cold wind, her cheeks pale pink from the cold, but still trying hard to explain: "The Great Alchemist handed over the commission in front of the Captain."
"Impossible!" The captain standing in front of Amelia was much taller than her, with Amelia only around 163 cm tall, appearing petite in front of the 190 cm tall captain. Especially with the captain's fierce appearance, it made the girl's figure seem even frail.
The remaining members of the Blood Axe Mercenary Corps looked rather bleak, while Vice-Captain Viert's face was filled with guilt and anger. Laine only then noticed he was holding some lead blocks.
"It must be you! You coveted the gold and quietly switched it to lead blocks during the journey, then pretended to be victims to deceive us!" The captain's face was full of rage as he reached out to Amelia: "Let me see, is the gold hidden on you, little bitch?"
"Ah!" Amelia exclaimed and retreated repeatedly. The not-so-strong female mercenary was grabbed by the shoulder.
"Stop!" Laine seized the right moment to step forward: "What's going on? Please don't resort to violence!"
"Mr. Laine?!" Amelia saw Laine appear and instinctively brushed off the captain's hand, hiding by his side.
"You're... that Mr. Laine?" The captain realized who the person in front of him was, swallowed hard: "I didn't mean to, I'm a victim too!"
"Phew~ everyone's a victim?" The sound of high heels approached, and Veronica appeared beside Laine.
"We are all victims!" Mercenaries and sailors chorused.
Laine slowly pieced together the whole situation from Amelia and the captain.
It turned out that the day after Laine left, Emperor Karl Franz arrived in Mijordenhaven. After a brief rest, the Emperor led his army to the frontlines to face the barbarian army and won a great victory.
On the return journey of the Imperial Army, Great Alchemist Biersaze Gaert returned to Mijordenhaven once again. He proposed that he needed a group of mercenaries to assist him with a task. The specifics were unclear, but Deputy Captain Viert, who was worried about how to recover their strength in the future, was overjoyed. He felt that this was an opportunity to connect with the Imperial Royal Wizard Academy, so he decisively accepted the task.
Thus, the few remaining members of the Blood Axe Mercenary Corps boarded a ship with Gaert from Mijordenhaven, heading towards Marinburg.
The journey went smoothly without any incidents, but as they boarded the ship, the Great Alchemist did something peculiar. He took out a large sum of gold and handed it to Viert in front of the Captain. This sum included Blood Axe's commission and the ship fare.
After docking, Gaert left directly, and when the Blood Axe members opened the bag, they found that the gold inside had all turned into lead blocks!
This time, the captain was furious, firmly insisting that the Blood Axe Mercenary Corps secretly exchanged the gold and demanded they pay the ship fare.
The problem lay here: when the gold was first obtained, the Blood Axe Mercenary Corps verified repeatedly that it was pure and genuine, so when signing the contract with the Great Alchemist, they had confirmed the payment was accurate. But now that all the gold had turned into lead blocks, they had no way to plead their case.
Now the issue was that they couldn't pay the ship fare. Gaert had booked the best voyage, and the ship fare for the entire mercenary corps plus his own alone amounted to more than twenty gold coins, an amount they simply couldn't afford. Even though they did manage to get some money after completing Teresa's mission, it was still far from enough to pay the ship fee.