I never remembered rain leaving crimson stains. I mean, my wife's blood might've been the culprit. Who could really say?

She seemed… surprised? Don't tell me she thought I wouldn't kill her. An eye for an eye as they say. No, the corpse left behind would make everyone think she was actually surprised about my betrayal.

All this thinking was making it hard to keep myself in check. I thought I would feel sad or something, but I only felt anger. A small trickle of water was running down my face. Was I crying? No. The rain finally got past my messy hair. She really had to pick such a dramatic day didn’t she?

The rain was calming. The sounds of thunder reverberated all around me. It was fitting that such a day would have dramatic weather. My anger softened after several minutes of standing over her body. It was time to think about the future. Burying both of them would be my priority.

***

I shot up from bed. My breathing was erratic and I felt like I was suffocating. No matter how many times I relived that night it didn't get any easier. She just had to put this curse on me. No matter what priest I went to they couldn’t stop the nightmare from happening.

The only one who could remove it would’ve been a top dog, the holiest of the holy. But their services cost an arm and a leg. In twenty years of working as a mercenary I had earned… half of the sum. That meant another twenty years of the same nightmare.

Couldn’t she find a new way to torture me?

I put on my robe. The only other thing I had on was jeans. As hard as it is to sleep with jeans on, they made me look good, so it was worth it. I left my room hoping everyone else was still sleeping off their hangovers. To my surprise, they were actually sleeping.

Lucky me I thought.

As I walked outside I noticed the city was incredibly busy. Was something important happening today? I didn't have time to think about it, I needed to eat, and the only place not swarmed by tourists was the private mercenary bar.

"Great, just peachy" I whispered to myself. The ever-present stench of alcohol mixed with vomit hung in the air. Seats were littered around, broadly organised in groups of eight. The floor creaked and moulded around the shape of my shoe. A wet thump could be heard with every step I took.

What could you expect for a private mercenary bar? I was surprised we still had a floor, or ceiling, or anything for a matter of fact. My internal monologue was finally interrupted after the bartender finally started talking.

“Ah, the man of the hour,” the bartender said as if she'd just woken up. She walked over to me, a glass in one hand and a towel in the other. Was she still cleaning up? How much did everyone drink yesterday? I literally slept for one day and missed something really important haven’t I?

“What can I get you today?”

“The usual without the hard stuff.” I should've stopped drinking. I could barely even get drunk at this point, my tolerance was too strong.

“Without?” She seemed surprised. Was my alcoholism getting that bad?

“Maybe I want to actually be conscious for once?" She gave me a soft chuckle before going back to cleaning… I guess she's just gonna tell the chef later. "Something happened yesterday?"

“Oh, everyone was celebrating because a bunch of rich people are coming in. I'm pretty sure most of them are outside right now, and some of them will probably buy a mercenary or two.” One thing I didn’t wanna deal with today was a couple of rich people coming along to hire half the mercenaries to deal with some damn rats.

“That's great news for you guys”

“It is. Even for you,” That's impossible. Did she suddenly forget about my drunken rants about eating the rich?

“Why?”

“It's the Rujkevs”

“Who?” I heard about plenty of rich people before, but who are the Rujkevs?

“You don't know them? They’re the richest nobles in all of china.”

“Huh. Why would they be personally coming to hire mercenaries? Don’t they have servants?” Nobles are usually busy battling other nobles, or marrying their cousins. Why would they be coming to a backwater town for mercenaries?

“I don’t know. Maybe they’ve heard of your money problems?” What? Did I reveal another life secret while drunk?

“A man can hope.”

Minutes rolled by with both of us chit-chatting, talking about nothing in particular. Before we knew it, the bar was packed, and the bartender actually had to do her job.

“Oi lad, when’s the rich boy coming”' Two people to my right were talking. One of them was humongous, while the other one was thin, and wearing a full black outfit, his vampiric looking clothes wouldn’t stand out in a gothic house.

“I don't know, maybe you should go ask someone who can decipher whatever language you’re speaking." Even I could come up with a better insult.

“Is that meant to be an insult, spiky-haired lad?” The spikier mercenary just turned back to fidgeting with the fork. The big guy turned around to talk to me, and I readied myself for the handshake of the century.

“My compadre! How are you doing today?” I said as our hands met.

“Head hurts pal. You missed out yesterday. You happen to know something about all them rich people.”

“Sorry, I only learned about them today.” I replied just before we heard horses galloping outside.

“That's them pal.” He got off the seat, and just charged through the door. Splinters flying all around, everyone else quickly followed. I only gone with them to satiate my curiosity.

***

Wow, their fashion choices suck. There were two people, one guy and one girl. The guy was wearing a pink and purple outfit. His jacket was unzipped, and the rest of his outfit could've been described as pajamas.

Meanwhile the girl was wearing god’s puffiest jacket. Most of the fluff was around her neck, how is she not itchy? Maybe she is and is just coping with it to look stylish.

I’m not sure they even noticed what the kids were wearing. The mass of mercenaries were asking question after question.

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“Calm down peasants. I bet none of you will even consider taking the job after he tells you what you actually have to do.” Oh? What job was so hard that even these dumbasses won’t take it.

“Hey! Stop being so pessimistic. So, any of you heard about the warlord, the one in Germany,” Oh… why would they try to hurt her? Her ideas were bad, but that didn’t merit an assassination.

They were met with silence. Everyone knew how powerful she was. I couldn't defeat her in my prime, and unlike me, age wasn’t slowing her down one bit.

“I can already tell nobody is gonna take the job, so I have to do it” The crowd around me cleared as the… siblings? Finally saw me. The girl scoffed while the guy was absolutely elated.

“Ha! I told you someone would accept.” The boy said as he pointed towards her, this only served to make her roll her eyes.

“But…” The silence hung in the air, for a split second I felt the guy's heart beat, his heart was practically beating out of his chest. I better say my condition before his heart explodes. “You gotta come with me. Both of you” The boy exhaled. Why did he look relieved?

“Oh, we were planning to do that anyway,"

Huh? What? Why? Aren't they supposed to? But then why? My thoughts were cut off by the girl screaming at him,

“Since when?! You never talked to me about it!”

They, of course, began bickering while the other mercenaries went back inside, leaving me there bewildered by them wanting to adventure. Rich people buy mercenaries to adventure because they don’t want to or are too lazy to adventure. They have more important things to do. Even if they wanted to adventure, they could do it alone.

“Ugh, just tell me about it next time.” Their small debate was over, and it was my turn to speak.

“Well, give me one hour to get my stuff. We meet at this place, alright?” They nodded.

“By the way, I'm Ethan and she is Blair.'' Oh, right, I forgot to ask about their names. But I could probably remember them via their clothing because they stood out like a sore thumb.

I dashed upstairs to get my stuff, I had too much stuff to carry in my pockets, and I had no bag because it made me look like a dork. I should’ve got a sack instead. I guess it was time to adapt, didn't I have some glue somewhere?

***

I didn’t look bad on the outside. Some trinkets were sticking out, but most of my stuff was entirely hidden under my robe.

I went down, only to see the bar trashed. Everything and everyone was on the ground. Except for the bartender.

“What happened?”

“Fight happened. The last man standing got a prize of me beating his head in with my heaviest pan.” Must’ve really been aggravating to lose such a good opportunity. My clients probably had pockets deeper than wells. Hold on, I didn't have my meal yet!

“I never got my food, what’s up with that?”

“Your usual is… a bottle of whiskey. You told me to not give you alcohol.” Um… well fuck.

“You mind coming with me for a second?” I wanted to give her something so she wouldn't forget me right away.

“Sure there ain’t anything else I need to do”

We walked into the most private area we knew of, the kitchen.

With the chef always being busy getting high off his nut, he was never in the kitchen after breakfast.

The kitchen was very dark with a small flame in the corner, a bunch of knives on the wall and some actual cooking equipment on the tables. The entire area did not have a single window and the wood floor was so oily that you could slide on it.

“What's up?” She suddenly changed her posture. I never saw her this relaxed in forever.

“Well, you know the rich kids? Well they gave me the job and now I gotta go all the way to Germany” She sighed, then gave me the best smile she could manage.

“Ah man, there goes the only good customer in this bar.” She works what has to be the most infuriating and tiring job on the planet, I don’t envy her one bit.

“Well, I'm here because not only did I want to say a final goodbye, but also because I have a gift for you.” I always loved giving gifts, and this one was the gift of a lifetime.

“So how about this? I know you love talking to me, so how about I give you my phone and whenever I get another one on my travels, I'll pass you a message” The moment I said that she shot up straight.

“You would do that?” She was ecstatic. Phones were expensive. I only got mine as a freebie from my archaeologist friend back in… the town my ex came from.

“Yeah, why not? I don't use it that much. You might need to go to the local priest to know how to use it. But hey, I barely know how to use it, and it served me well.” She was starting to cry. I even thought of something to say, but she went in for a bear hug before I could say it.

I gave her a few pats on the back before pushing her off.

“That's enough now, be safe will ya?” I gave her the phone and walked out of the bar only to see everyone running away from something. I turned my head and saw an army of skeletons. Why did they have to attack right after the bar fight?

Some royal guards were guarding the carriage and talking to my clients. As I walked up I could hear the end of a conversation with the girl saying.

“Ugh, all those damn mercenaries are blacked out and the guy we hired is nowhere to be seen. You two need to fight them.”

“But my lady, you can't expect us to fight an army of skeletons.” As I approached, the kids saw me.

“Where were you? We searched all over this damn town for you.” The girl said, glaring with the intensity of a thousand suns.

“None of your business. Now both of you will help me with this necromancer so I can see your weaknesses.” I glared at them with twice her intensity before they even considered talking back.

The town was getting darker under a thick smog. The necromancer was using every trick in the book to appear more intimidating.

“Mortals! Your reign is over. It is time for me to rule over those who wronged me.” Ah, this one was seeking revenge instead of being evil for evil's sake. It's just as bad, so who cares?

“I'm giving you the count of three to get out of this town or else,” Everyone else had already gone behind me.

“Fool! You think you can defeat me-”

“One,” The necromancer raised his eyebrow and tilted his head.

“Two,” He had a smile on his face, but was walking backwards slowly.

“And… Three.” With that, I blast off towards the skeleton army as they line up like meat shields. It was not going to help them.