Arthur, clutching his shoulder, climbed up from the ground, his cold gaze fixed on Bernie, who was covering his eyes and screaming in agony, blood flowing incessantly from between his fingers.
"The kid actually won!" The mercenaries inside the bar were all stunned, their expressions as if they had seen a ghost.
Time seemed to pause for a few seconds before the mercenaries gradually reacted. Two of Blood Spike's mercenaries rushed over to check on Bernie's injuries.
"Forget him, waste! He's just a waste!" Tristie screamed in uncontrollable anger.
Mercenaries value their reputation highly. No matter how furious Tristie was, Blood Spike's mercenaries couldn't possibly abandon Bernie in front of so many people. Two mercenaries quickly carried Bernie out of the bar to seek treatment from a healing mage, hoping to save his eyes.
All eyes in the bar turned to Tristie, who, humiliated and embarrassed under their scrutiny, wished he could vanish into thin air.
"We're leaving!" Tristie couldn't stay a moment longer in Nightingale's bar.
"Deputy Commander Tristie, you seem to have forgotten something?" Edeline, Tony, and others blocked Tristie's way.
"You've already won, don't go too far!" Tristie's angry gaze fixed on Edeline, his hand holding the sword trembling slightly.
"The spoils of war for the kid, you're not planning to renege, are you?" Edeline waved the staff in front of Tristie.
Tristie turned to Arthur, "Do you really intend to take this sword?"
Tristie's voice was cold, his gaze sharp and filled with a threatening aura.
Arthur's left shoulder was visibly dislocated, blood seeping from his clothes, but he didn't make a sound. Instead, he forced a smile, "Of course, it's my rightfully won spoils of war."
"Fine, take it!" Tristie suddenly threw the sword at Arthur.
No one expected Tristie to act so abruptly. The sword, wrapped in fighting spirit, spun rapidly towards Arthur, too fast for anyone to intercept.
"You're despicable!"
Edeline raised her staff, magic elements quickly gathering. Tony, Angus, and the mercenaries of the Blue Siren drew their weapons.
No one thought Arthur could dodge Tristie's sudden strike. A typical bar brawl was about to escalate into a slaughter between two major mercenary groups.
Yet, Arthur seemed to have anticipated Tristie's attack, falling backward stiffly as a corpse, the sword flying past his face.
The sword hit the bar's wall hard, bouncing back and even smashing a large wine jar on the ground, demonstrating its immense force.
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Seeing his sneak attack fail, Tristie snorted coldly, "Edeline, the humiliation you brought me today, I, Tristie, will return it twofold someday!"
Edeline smirked, showing an indifferent expression. Since Arthur was unharmed, she saw no need to continue the conflict with Tristie and stepped aside.
"We're leaving!" Tristie was about to lead his men out.
"Hold on." Another voice sounded.
Tristie, who had just lifted his foot, stopped and slowly turned around.
"Deputy Commander Tristie, you seem to have forgotten something else?" Nightingale stood with her arms crossed, smiling at Tristie.
Tristie said nothing, threw a gold coin to Nightingale, and turned to leave.
Nightingale didn't catch it; the coin fell to the ground with a clear sound.
"Not enough, ten gold coins."
Tristie, who had just turned around, nearly stumbled, "What? You're extorting! Are these few tables worth ten gold coins?"
Nightingale looked at Tristie with a cold smile, "The tables Bernie broke aren't worth much, but what about the jar of wine you smashed?"
"A jar of wine worth ten gold coins?"
Nightingale pointed to the wine spilled all over the floor, "You smashed the best jar of Golden Pine Wine in my bar. If you don't believe it, Commander Tristie, you can taste it off the floor."
Tristie's teeth gritted audibly, knowing Nightingale was taking advantage of the situation but unwilling to stoop to verifying the wine's quality.
"It's just ten gold coins, I, Tristie, can afford it!"
"No, now it's twelve gold coins! The extra two are for the insult to me. You can ask these mercenaries, when has Nightingale ever extorted anyone?"
"That's right, Nightingale is the most fair!"
"Indeed, Nightingale has never deceived anyone!"
The surrounding mercenaries, enjoying the spectacle, unanimously supported Nightingale.
Tristie, with a face full of frustration, had no choice but to bite the bullet. Despite being the deputy commander of Blood Spike, he couldn't afford to provoke Nightingale.
Emptying both his and his mercenaries' purses, Tristie barely scraped together twelve gold coins and fled Nightingale's bar in a sorry state.
Tony, holding Tristie's long sword, approached Arthur with a grin, "Kid, you did exceptionally well! From now on, you're a member of the Blue Siren, and Tony's got your back!"
Arthur just nodded slightly, his face pale and forehead covered in sweat.
"Get lost, can't you see the kid is hurt?" Nightingale's hefty frame pushed Tony aside.
Nightingale skillfully opened Arthur's shirt, her large hands pressing on his shoulder.
As Nightingale worked, sweat dripped down Arthur's forehead. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brows but didn't make a sound.
A fragrant handkerchief gently wiped the sweat from his forehead and face.
When Arthur opened his eyes, he saw Edeline's face close to his, offering an encouraging look.
Suddenly, Arthur felt a cool sensation on his shoulder, and the pain lightened.
Nightingale was applying a black ointment evenly across his left shoulder, then wrapping it in layers of white bandages.
"The bone inside is fractured; don't move it too much. If you see a healing mage, recovery will be quicker," Nightingale turned to Edeline and said.
"Thank you, Nightingale."
"Cairns really found a treasure this time. This kid is a born mercenary," Nightingale said, patting Arthur's face.
Arthur bashfully lowered his head, a shy smile on his face.
"Kid, it's yours now," Tony handed the sword back, "You know, this rare enchanted long sword is worth at least 300 gold coins. Tristie saved for a whole year to afford it." Tony's tone was filled with envy and jealousy.
Arthur took the sword with one hand and immediately offered it to Edeline, "Teacher, may I give this sword to you?"
Edeline looked surprised, "Why?"
"It's too valuable. I'm not worthy of it, nor can I protect it."
The surrounding mercenaries were astonished. Such a young child understood the principle of "a gentleman is innocent of a crime if he harbors a jade"?
"No, I was asking why you called me 'teacher' just now?"
"Didn't Aunt Yanying say I'm your magic apprentice?" Arthur's face broke into a sly smile.