"Hahaha, what a joy!"

Watching the light in the opponent's eyes gradually disappear, Tix pulled the dagger out of the opponent's chest contentedly and wiped the blood on the blade with his clothes.

After going through a bloody battle, they completely wiped out all the members of the Raging Tempest Mercenary Group who were sent into this booby-trapped mission with minimal losses on their side.

Tix looked at his nemesis, Olsen, who was kneeling half-kneeling with a huge axe not far away, with a complicated gaze—there was joy, serendipity, and a touch of sadness.

It was joyful because The Raging Tempest will be weakened a lot after a big part of their force was wiped out in this forest today, which was nothing but beneficial to his mercenary group.

On the other hand, it was quite a pity to see such a powerful mercenary, who should’ve been a big help for the country in the imminent war against the Republic of Harmonia, pick the wrong side. No matter what, they had been fellow compatriots in Rosewood Town for a long time and also used to be citizens of Arrentia Kingdom. Tix couldn’t help but feel a little bit melancholic, but more than that—anger!

After hearing the truth from Aurora, Tix knew all that transpired today was a part of Republic Harmonia’s scheme to take down Brigitt City and start their conquest of Arrentia Kingdom.

He originally still wished that, no matter what kind of grudge and conflict they had before, the men from Raging Tempest, including Olsen, wouldn’t betray their country and fight with them side by side against the despicable Republic of Harmonia. However, after today, he realized it was just an empty wish, and a shred of hope in Tix’s heart vanished completely.

Even if these Raging Tempest bastards survived this ordeal, Tix wouldn't dare put his trust in them, fearing that once the war began, they would stab their comrades in the back without hesitation, so Tix didn't feel the least bit guilty about disposing of them earlier.

It’s because…

They were all enemies! All future traitors!

Although nothing was ever absolute, he couldn’t gamble with his life trusting these scumbags from Raging Tempest Mercenary Group, a place where trash gathered together!

"Olsen, you lose." Tix walked to his side and spoke calmly.

"Lose?" Olsen shook his head dully and sneered, "I am indeed lost, but it’s not your turn to act smug. I ain't lost to you, fucking prick.”

Tix shrugged his shoulders and said, “Is that even matter? Lose is lose; that fact will not change in the least regardless of who wins."

"Hehe... is it all her plan?" Olsen didn’t argue anymore, smiling wryly as he watched Aurora sit not far away, having her wounds treated by Claudia.

"Is it that important, Olsen?" Tix emphasized, sneering at him with ridicule.

"At least for me, it's very important. I just don't want to die without knowing the truth."

Tix sighed and nodded, "It’s indeed Lady Aurora’s plan, and it won’t stop here either, your leader and your entire group will soon follow… She already has a plan in mind.”

“Hahahaha. What an arrogance!” Olsen laughed back angrily and snorted. “Do you think our boss will be defeated with her meager strength and a little bit of cleverness?”

Before Tix could refute it, Olsen didn’t give him a chance, pulling out the dagger from his waist and stabbing it into his heart. Tix was taken aback by his action; no words came out of his parted lips. At the last second of his life, Olsen sneered at Tix, a bloody smile adorning his face full of hatred.

"I’ll wait for all you bastards in hell..."

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After confirming Olsen’s death, Tix raised his hand toward his group. “Brothers! Olsen has been slain; clean up the battlefield!”

"Whoaa!!"

Moon Wolf’s mercenaries raised their weapons and cheered together proudly. Afterward, they started rummaging through the Raging Tempest mercenaries’ dead bodies, searching for their belongings.

Whether it was weapons they held, coins and jewelry in their bags, or all kinds of medicinal materials, as long as they could find out, they all packed them up cleanly. Even their clothes were almost not spared by them.

"Claudia…"

"What's up, Captain?" Claudia, who was treating Aurora's injuries, couldn't help asking when she heard her name called.

Aurora pointed to Jeffrey's corpse, showing a sly smile. "You know, you better hurry up and do your task before it’s too late."

Claudia grimaced at the sight of Jeffrey’s rapidly decaying body. It was common knowledge on the Sacred Lunar Continent that when someone died, their body would collapse and disintegrate, along with the dissipation of the mana back into nature.

The higher someone’s magic power, the faster their body would turn into nothingness.

Claudia couldn’t help but shoot Aurora a resentful look, which was easily ignored by Aurora regardless.

“Fine…” Grumbling, Claudia closed her eyes in resignation, and stood up, reluctantly dragging her body toward Jeffrey’s decaying corpse while trying her best not to look at the disgusting sight in front of her as her hand groped about under his tattered robes.

“Master is really bad.” Flamme watched the vomiting Claudia with a pitiful gaze and mumbled in a flat tone as she saw the wicked smile on Aurora’s face.

“Well, it can’t be helped. I’ve always been unlucky with this kind of thing. You’re also my sword spirit, Flamme, so you may also be infected with my bad luck. So, we can only rely on our little Claudia to make a fortune.” Aurora, without even a little bit of shame, preached sagely to Flamme.

“….”

Flamme shut her mouth and said nothing more. After all, who told her to have someone as shameless as Aurora as her master? So, she could only mourn for Claudia in her heart.

"Captain, I only found these things." Finally, Claudia came over with a few things: a ring, a gold-coated letter with a mark of the Temple bathed in holy light, and a black book.

[ Ding! Congratulations to Player Aurora for completing the mission - The Beginning of The Conspiracy. ]

[ Obtain the Pied Piper of Hamelin Ring x1, 2000 experience, 10 silver coins. ]

[ Congratulations to the player Aurora for reaching level 10. Obtain 1 skill point. ]

Leaving aside the system’s reward for completing the quest, Aurora was quite surprised by the additional letter and book.

[ Instruction letter from the Republic of Harmonia (you can submit it for a lot of rewards and prestige points) ]

[ Snake Totem Secret Art (dark elemental magic, skills can be obtained immediately after learning - Black Serpent Body Strengthening Technique) ]

Recalling Jeffrey’s state after the transformation, Aurora shook her head in disgust. There was no way she would use such an abhorrent technique; she didn’t have that heavy a taste at all!

‘Better sell it to Nightingale Chamber of Commerce for a lot of cash!’ Aurora decided without much hesitation. She did a little math in her head and estimated that just with this book, they could refill their empty stash to the brim.

‘It’s all thanks to Claudia’s golden touch, we definitely have to develop her more in the future…’ Aurora laughed secretly in her mind.

Claudia, who caught a glimpse of an evil smile on Aurora’s beautiful smile, couldn’t help but shudder involuntarily while lamenting her fate.

"Lady Aurora, what should we do with this black snake?" Tix came over to inquire.

After all, a huge black snake must be worth a lot of money, whether its scales, fangs, or most of its parts were particularly good materials, whether they were sold directly or processed to make equipment.

“You can deal with it as you see fit, Mr. Tix. For the share, let’s say we’ll divide it 50-50 as we agreed before.”

Tix nodded and immediately called his mercenaries to dismantle it, and when they were done, Aurora's side was almost recovered.

Aurora put her own share into the inventory under Tix’s envious gaze. Tix mistakenly thought that what Aurora used was a spatial item, which could cost their group most of their fortune to acquire the smallest one. He couldn’t help but feel jealous of this rich woman.

She didn’t know what was running through Tix’s head. Even if she knew, she wouldn’t care either. After their cooperation, Tix wouldn’t dare have an idea about her possession. Not that he was that kind of person, though.

Aurora and her companion left first, followed by Tix and his mercenaries a while later to prevent any suspicion from arising.

They also didn’t forget to destroy all traces of the battle, including dealing with the corpses of Raging Tempest’s mercenaries to elude the gaze of the mercenary association that would surely visit the scene for investigation. After all, the magical power contained in these mercenaries' bodies may not vanish completely in a short period of time.

"Mr. Tix, we will excuse ourselves first. We will definitely visit your mercenary group when we have the opportunity in the future."

"No problem, Lady Aurora will always be a friend of our mercenary group."

Before leaving, the two held each other's hands tightly and smiled slightly. After this incident, the Glory Mercenary Corps finally gained a true ally in Rosewood Town.