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EP.18 [The Red Fox Mercenary Group Has Many Beauties]2
"What does it matter if you were a hotshot mercenary back in the day! Now you're just an old man relegated to the back room of a mercenary group with barely 30 members! And in a place where a woman is the mercenary captain!"
Kyle, with his foot on the Red Fox Mercenary Group's table,
Was clearly picking a fight based on a grudge relationship, as anyone could see.
Thus, Kyle's hooligan mouth poured out all kinds of vulgar words toward Ivan, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
"This guy is really asking for it!"
Swoosh!
This ultimately caused Ivan, unable to contain his anger, to try to stand up from his seat,
"Mr. Ivan, please calm down. You know very well that you shouldn't get involved."
Thud!
Sophia, sitting beside him, grabbed his arm and strongly dissuaded him.
"Looks like a dispute has broken out between Kyle and the Red Fox Mercenary Group?"
"Sure enough, as soon as he returns, he immediately picks a fight with the Red Fox Mercenary Group!"
Murmur! Murmur! Murmur!
With the two bulky men shouting and growling at each other,
Even in the already noisy mercenary tavern,
People began to turn their attention one by one toward the Red Fox Mercenary Group's table.
'Kekeke! Indeed, picking a fight with someone strong is how you make your provocations effective.'
Hearing the murmurs, Kyle raised the corners of his mouth with satisfaction.
The first reason Kyle targeted Ivan,
Was that visually, it created a plausible scene that filled the frame,
Allowing him to raise his troublemaking status without much effort.
'Oh, Uncle Ivan was from a brass-tier mercenary group?'
Eugene, who had been silently observing the rapidly unfolding table situation, was also influenced by this.
The unexpected information Kyle revealed was interesting.
Ivan, who had remarkably good manners and dignity for a mercenary,
Even the semi-armor he was wearing now differed from that of other mercenaries.
Wasn't it a brass-tier mercenary group that information broker Thomas testified only existed in 10 places in the empire?
Ivan Igor was from that corporate-level mercenary group.
Swish...!
Afterward, Eugene glanced to his left.
"What a bad person!!"
"Calm down, Mari! The captain has repeatedly told us not to get dragged in!"
There, proper young lady Mari was furious at Kyle's lack of manners.
Thomas mentioned Jeanne and calmed her down.
"So there's information that's come to us. About who tipped off the Management Knights."
Having achieved perfect initiative, Kyle bulged his eyes and began to run his mouth in earnest, as if enjoying the scene he had created.
'Is what this white-hair is saying now what Thomas just mentioned? About being restrained by the Management Knights?'
Glance! Poke!
Eugene looked back at Thomas and slightly poked his side.
From Eugene's perspective, Kyle seemed to think that the Red Fox Mercenary Group had reported the White Wolf Mercenary Group's issues to the Management Knights.
Eugene was checking if this was true.
Shake! Shake!
As expected, the perceptive Thomas caught Eugene's intention
And unhesitatingly shook his head firmly, conveying that Kyle's claim was a blatant lie.
"You all know, right? That our White Wolf is about to rise to Black Stone level? Then negotiations with Bronze will become smoother, and ultimately we can form a powerful cartel within this Athens mercenary residential district. You've already seen our political power that got the Management Knights' sanctions lifted. Think about it, do you think Unit mercenary groups or White Stone mercenary groups that have fallen out of our favor can get proper jobs?"
Thus, Kyle was threatening the Red Fox Mercenary Group through lies.
In any case, what he was putting forward as justification was just bait for the mercenary tavern crowd watching the Red Fox Mercenary Group's table situation,
The key keyword was to show off his power against the small-scale Red Fox Mercenary Group.
Mercenary groups ultimately need requests.
And most requests are managed by the Mercenary Association under the Imperium Empire.
However, since the management area is essentially a semi-lawless zone and much discretion is granted, the system isn't very tight.
Therefore, it operates based on the cooperation of sizeable mercenary groups.
So if several Black Stone scale or larger hooligan mercenary groups collude and apply pressure,
White Stone scale and Unit scale mercenary groups suffer.
'Hmm... There are some gaps in our mercenary group's composition...'
Watching Kyle's meticulous troublemaking,
Eugene's expression showed some realization.
'Three User levels, a great atmosphere, so they probably perform quests well with tight synergy. But our mercenary group is quite vulnerable to disputes with these hooligan mercenary groups.'
The man before him seems to be at most Runner level.
In other words, the Red Fox Mercenary Group, with its three User level members, could easily beat up Kyle if they wanted to.
But confrontations between mercenaries aren't such an arithmetic domain.
'If Jeanne steps up directly? Then it's all-out war. But if Uncle Ivan steps up, Kyle will laugh even if he gets beaten. Because the issue won't be about winning or losing, but how much of a mud fight he can have with Uncle Ivan.'
Justification and appearance are important.
Even if you win the confrontation, if those two areas are damaged, it becomes a victory with only wounds.
As such wounds accumulate, reputation deteriorates, leading to major constraints in fulfilling requests.
Furthermore, other mercenary groups will gradually start to look down on them.
Due to this structure, it's natural for Jeanne, as the mercenary captain, to maintain her position unless the opposing captain appears,
And Ivan, with his excellent career, reputation, and character,
Is a minus for the Red Fox Mercenary Group if he gets entangled with a hooligan like Kyle.
That was the second reason Kyle had targeted Ivan from the start.
'Based on position, Thomas or Mari should step up, but those two are Walker level.'
Thomas is not only Walker level but also an assassin class unsuitable for one-on-one,
And sending out 20-year-old swordswoman Mari would make the Red Fox Mercenary Group a laughingstock in the world.
'Our mercenary group doesn't have an assault captain.'
In other words, the Red Fox Mercenary Group, carefully nurtured by Grand Duke's daughter Jeanne d'Arc de Sel Orléans,
Lacks a so-called hustle player assault captain.
'But why is this white-haired bastard making such a fuss specifically against our mercenary group?'
Thus, Eugene analyzed the reason why the Red Fox Mercenary Group persistently maintained caution to a foolish degree,
And why Kyle was prancing around triumphantly.
But even hooligans need something to extort to apply pressure, right?
However, from Eugene's perspective, the Red Fox Mercenary Group doesn't have anything particularly worth taking.
Based on what he heard in advance from Jeanne, they don't have separate connections to periodically take on lucrative quests,
And their bookkeeping is meticulous, so they've never revealed their financial situation externally.
Therefore, Eugene couldn't understand what the hooligan Kyle wanted.
But at that moment, Kyle, thinking he had sufficiently dominated the atmosphere,
Soon revealed what he wanted.
"I don't want anything else. Fuck, what is there to take from this tiny mercenary group? However, I would like a sincere apology at this venue for my pure heart that was trampled by the Red Fox Mercenary Group's captain. After that, if you create a direct line with me to promote goodwill between mercenary groups, there won't be any more problems."
At the end of last year, Kyle had made advances toward Jeanne and was rejected like a dog.
A rare gem,
Jeanne possesses a uniquely radiant beauty even among noble young ladies.
Therefore, when mixed with commoners, Jeanne could be considered at a killer level.
At least she deliberately doesn't adorn herself,
Far from dressing up, she's actually ruining her appearance.
That's why she's been downgraded from killer to rare gem.
In other words, for the hooligan Kyle, Jeanne is not only the most coveted but also the most desirable trophy.
'That boisterous woman?'
Noticing this, Eugene looked toward Jeanne with an expression of utter shock.
The weight that image carries in judging people is beyond imagination.
So even if someone possesses extreme beauty,
If you've seen all their good and bad sides at home, it's human nature to feel like they're just a nuisance.
For Eugene, Jeanne was like that within the Orléans family.
That is, for him, the thought that Kyle's side was turning his eyes inside out and causing this commotion, determined to possess someone who was being treated like that,
Made it impossible for him to empathize.
But soon, Eugene's thoughts underwent a change.
'Huh? What's with that expression?'
Eugene Schneider's slightly rounded eyes,
Saw an expression on Jeanne's face that he had never seen before.
"Calm down, Mari. Trust me. Can you do that for me?"
"But Captain, that guy is so rude!"
It was Jeanne calming down the indignant Mari.
'Our precious mercenary group, I must protect this mercenary group.'
The woman before him was not Eugene's sister Jeanne d'Arc de Sel Orléans but
The captain of the Red Fox Mercenary Group, Jeanne d'Arc Obrien herself.
'More than my desires. Now, the future of this mercenary group is more important to me.'
Jeanne, who had been soothing Mari, looked toward Kyle.
A look of determination,
'If my desire to walk the path as Jeanne d'Arc, not as a Grand Duke's daughter, becomes an obstacle to my friendship with my comrades, I can abandon that too.'
It was a look that suggested she was willing to change even her existing stance.
It would be simple to cut off Kyle's head with the power of the Grand Duke's family and erase the White Wolf Mercenary Group.
However, because she didn't want to rely on that power, Jeanne had been trying to resolve it through other methods.
A mercenary group harmonized by unity, not by force,
That's the dream Jeanne wants to achieve.
That's why, even in the depths of the mercenary world, she spent a year and a half like that.
But now that approach seems like a selfish stubbornness.
Because her precious comrades, who trust and follow her, are being humiliated like this.
So Jeanne is about to break even her own convictions.
If she directly crushes Kyle, and if it escalates into a political fight between mercenary groups, she will use the Grand Duke's power to protect her comrades.
'Jeanne is serious.'
Jeanne's sincere heart for the Red Fox Mercenary Group,
It was reflected in her eyes.
As a result, it was also visible to Eugene, who was looking at Jeanne.
That's why his eyes, which had been incredulous just before, changed.
Mercenary Captain Jeanne is, even to him, a cool and attractive woman.
"I'm great enough! A mercenary with a bright future who achieved Runner at just twenty-five! Just wait and see! Soon I'll be a power player in this Athens mercenary residential district!"
Thus, against Kyle, who was running his mouth with increasing vigor,
"You..."
Just as Jeanne, having made her decision, was about to take action,
"Fucking white-haired bastard obsessed with women is ruining the taste of my drink."
Eugene Schneider cut in, opening with a thick double curse.
"!!!???"
Eugene Schneider's raw double curse, who had been consistently in invisible man mode,
Because the timing was so unexpected,
And because the quality of the curse and word choice was so viscerally rich,
Kyle, who had been in high spirits, experienced a brain freeze.
"!!!????"
Furthermore, the other comrades of the Red Fox Mercenary Group were also surprised,
"!!!???"
Even Jeanne, who was preparing to speak out, was dumbfounded.
".....??"
Swish...!
Kyle, barely recovering from his brain freeze,
Unable to control his expression, slowly looked down at Eugene sitting right in front of him.
'Using curses from my past life feels quite refreshing?'
Silence,
The mercenary tavern fell silent with Eugene's sudden cursing performance.
The aggro that Kyle had built up with his all-out effort
Was stolen by Eugene Schneider through a surprise attack.
Feeling that atmosphere fully, Eugene expressed deep satisfaction.
The words of the mercenaries so far were certainly provocative.
But they lacked the richness of cursing.
Eugene, who had tried his best not to mix in the speech patterns from his past life after recalling those memories,
Felt the need to show the power of advanced civilization in the current situation.
'Jeanne is so sincere, so I should help her.'
Eugene knows well how much his sister Jeanne had suffered from her inferiority complex.
So Jeanne's dream, which she had confessed to wanting to lead a mercenary group without the halo of the Orléans family,
Eugene Schneider had already empathized with how important that dream was to Jeanne herself.
But now her resolve to abandon even that for her comrades began to unfold.
In other words, Jeanne had grown.
It's clearly a concept that has considerably moved beyond the inferiority complex she possessed.
Therefore, Eugene wants to protect the path Jeanne desires even more.
"Who are you? Who the hell are you, you bastard! Looking at you, you seem like a newbie, and you're running your mouth without knowing where to butt in? Red Fox Mercenary Group is a complete mess!"
Having regained his mental composure, Kyle immediately went on the counterattack.
After all, even Kyle himself thinks he's a well-known hooligan in this area.
There's no image to lose.
Rather, he likes that hooligan reputation.
Why? Because he's truly trash.
In contrast, the Red Fox Mercenary Group, centered around Ivan, is a mercenary group with a relatively good image.
In other words, Kyle is now trying to regain control by portraying Eugene, who is just a new mercenary, as acting out against his mercenary group's principles without foundation.
"Me?"
Thud...!
Then Eugene stood up from his seat.
His expression was calm.
Showing no signs of being shaken by Kyle's trick,
Eugene had fully anticipated Kyle's response
And had also considered a defense method accordingly.
"I am the husband of that woman you're lusting after like a dog in heat. We've gotten to know each other very intimately, you white-haired bastard."
The defense method Eugene prepared,
Was to assume the position of a male who had possessed Jeanne.
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