Free Web NovelChapter 2046: Mission Back
She nudged Garan, who spoke after a pause.
"My condolences," Garan said with that usually baritone voice of his.
"Well, if you’d excuse us, we truly need to leave," she said. "If you distrust us so much, you can come with us to the Mercenary Hall, witness us leave with your own eyes."
She realized that Pallo was tittering between letting them go despite his greed, and bridge-burning was because of their connections with Erol.
"Make an oath first, and you can leave."
"What?"
"Make an oath."
"We come from a Level 2 town as well," she said. "If there is no need to be hostile, there shouldn’t be, right?"
Forcing someone to make an oath just to prove themselves was akin to asking someone to undress to prove they did not have weapons.
Unless it was a true life-and-death requirement—and unless they were unwilling or presented themselves to make oaths—no one would be willing to be forced to it.
"Make an oath that you will return here with your family and serve me."
Althea wanted to laugh, while the air around Garan froze directly.
The guards immediately went into a fighting position.
The greedy Lord had been wondering how he could keep them, or otherwise get an advantage.
He had been fantasizing about getting these two on his side for days. How could he be reconciled with getting nothing?
Should he take them as hostages or something? They could investigate the other place before making an announcement.
But then he felt the room’s temperature go down so much. They were people who were used to the heat, and their tolerance for the cold was lower than others.
"Final Offer: We can make an oath that the two of us would not attack Metteo Town or assist Erol," she said. "We won’t even show up here within the next year or so."
When Althea saw he was still unwilling, she let out her final warning. She had seen the state of this town; even if they went to war, Althea definitely wouldn’t lose.
Of course, she was the Lord who’d like to avoid wars as much as possible. For now, she wanted to leave here without a fight. They had better things to do. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
"Don’t underestimate us, Lord Pallo. Even if you outnumber and outlevel us, we won’t go down without taking at least half of you."
...
The tense staredown ended with Pallo letting them go with gritted teeth.
The men around here had all been injured from the fight with Erol’s faction; he could not risk losing more talents. There were survivors from that side, after all. The enemy could take advantage of their weakness.
Althea and Garan left the building without shedding blood. However, Pallo’s people still followed them to their next destinations: the Center and the Mercenary Hall.
The guards watched them make an oath, with someone even writing their oath verbatim. They also followed until they went to the Mercenary Hall to take a mission, including where they were heading.
Seeing them standing right behind them while perusing the available missions was quite...annoying.
The couple looked for the available missions associated with familiar territories first. The missions that’d show were only missions they were allowed to take and within the distances allowed at the level of their mercenary team.
They saw that there was no proper mission in Illyan at this time, so they had to choose another Town. By Proper, this meant a mission they were willing to take.
There was actually a mission: a.k.a. Finding the missing heir.
They didn’t bother with it at all. Anyway, as long as it was in the Northeast of Metteo Town, it was not out-of-way, so it was fine.
Althea handed several silver to the receptionist, asking which among the missions were in the Northeast direction of Metteo Town, the farther the better.
The receptionist happily enumerated three territories, and they just had to choose which mission was convenient.
Like this, their next destination was decided. Interestingly, this mission involved the delivery of a set amount of processed Igneus Plant. This was extremely convenient and even a bit lucky for them, considering they were at the source of the plant already.
Behind them, the guards saw the mission details and saw that it was set in a town not associated with Metteo Town. They looked at the couple.
"Your hometown?"
The couple shook their heads.
"No, our town is too far away; One jump is not enough," Althea said. "We’re taking another mission."
Instead of heading to the arrays, they headed out, and the Lord’s guards followed behind them.
Althea rolled her eyes. "You’ve seen the mission requirements. Are you going to come with us while we prepare it, too?"
"The Lord ordered us to accompany you until you leave the territory."
The couple just ignored them and headed to Josef’s shop. It was open, and there were customers. What they did not expect was to see Josef’s state. He was even lacking an arm.
"What happened?" Althea asked as she rushed over to him. And...why was he still working at that state? Shouldn’t he be resting now?
"Well, it’s just the normal internal conflict in this town," he explained, his eyes passing over the men behind the couple. "I was passing by, and...got unlucky."
The couple did not speak. freewēbnoveℓ.com
They knew he was allied with Erol, who was apparently blacklisted and kicked out of the territory. Maika might also have been implicated, but they did not dare ask for them, lest it make things worse for their side.
"Don’t worry though," he said. "Those traitors should’ve died horrible deaths outside."
"Those rebels didn’t stand a chance. They did not even get to fight properly," When he said this, there was a hidden tone of bitterness underneath. Fortunately for him, only those close enough would’ve noticed, and the Lord’s guards only looked proud.
"It’s good that you’re leaving without seeing the ugly conflict in our town," he sighed, looking at the couple while he packed the products using just one hand. "It could get troublesome. Wars only hurt the innocent."
Althea and Garan looked at each other, but did not say anything.
They liked Josef as a person, but this battle was, ultimately, not theirs to fight.
