Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
If Alfred’s aura could be compared to the ocean, then Sean was like a coral at this point. No matter how strong or intense the aura was that Alfred was emitting, even with a trace of killing intent mixed in, Sean showed no sign of fear, but just sat quietly and locked eyes with him.
There was no flash of clashing blades or intense argument going on. It was just the two men, their aura spreading outwards in intense waves, resulting in many of the patrons around them feeling like their heart skipped a beat. There was no shortage of people with a rank three profession in the tavern, although many of them were at a lower bronze level in terms of ability. Still, who among them had not seen bloody combat or fought for their lives? Though they had such experiences under their belt, their minds were emptied of everything but fear under Alfred’s oppressive aura.
In this aspect, their performance was lacking compared to Sean, an apprentice who was not even at a lower bronze level.
“Ahem.” Someone coughed softly, breaking the silence in the tavern in an unexpected way.
Nobody knew who had made the noise, but in that instant, as though he had suddenly come to realize something, Alfred withdrew the aura that was bursting out from his entire body. The tavern had begun to fill with a chilly atmosphere, but at that moment it felt as though the heat had returned, and the air warmed.
Sean looked thoughtfully towards the boss of the tavern: this guy was no ordinary person either, but why was there no record of him in the forums back then?
Noticing that Sean was looking at him, the owner of the tavern smiled and nodded while raising a gold coin in his hand; it was a gesture of appreciation for Sean’s generosity. Faced with a character like him, Sean naturally returned the smile. In truth, 5 gold coins was not a sum of money he was concerned about, as he was still carrying 5 cash coupons from the United Continental Business Guild. If he were to exchange them for Portoroa gold coins, he would get approximately 7,150 gold coins.
The exchange rate of continental gold coins and Portoroa gold coins was 0.7 to 1.
“Let’s get back to the main topic.” Sean turned his head back to face Alfred. “Do you really believe that this is the best you can do for your daughter?”
Alfred remained completely silent.
“First things first, aside from being a mercenary, how else are you going to earn money?” Sean cut right to the chase, as he bluntly called out Alfred’s current weak points. “Are you just going to depend on the chump change you make from these menial jobs? How much are you earning in a day? Look at your dinner, it’s a minced meat stew worth 5 copper coins. Your daughter has been living in Sir Fregan’s mansion for so many years now, and what has she been eating?”
Alfred clenched his fists tightly. “She’s not particular about what she eats!”
“Okay fine, let’s not talk about food. What about the clothes she wears, or the house she lives in?” Sean snorted lightly, “Let’s assume your daughter doesn’t care about what she eats or wears, then are you telling me you’re going to let your daughter sleep on the streets like you? Even if she could take it, what would happen if she fell sick from a cold or some other illness?”
Although Alfred would become the God of War in the future, now he was an extremely doting father. At that time, he did indeed end up leaving Cyroda Village afterward for unknown reasons, but by the time he had returned to the village, war had broken out between the Portoroa Kingdom and the Serian Kingdom. For a while, the Tindus Domain was occupied by the enemy because of Count Mario’s ambitions, and during this time the fires of war had taken his daughter’s life.
During that military campaign, the Starfall Forest had become a key strategic zone for both kingdoms, though most of the events related to it were player quests. Afterward, the Portoroa Kingdom even reconstructed a forward outpost inside the forest. It was also because of the war that players discovered the rank five dungeon inside Starfall Lake, though Sean only found out about this from the forums. At that time, he had already signed on with the company’s strategic battle plan and been transferred to the east side of the continent.
Alfred’s wife had run away with another man, and his daughter later perished in the war. He was most definitely, one hundred percent, a tragic character. Though, perhaps it was precisely because of these tragic events that Alfred was pushed forward, inspiring him to unlock his full potential and later become what would be one of the strongest NPC characters in the game.
“If you want to give your daughter a better life, your only option is to return to your old job.” Sean saw that Alfred was not speaking to him again. Of course, he could not continue to sit here with Alfred forever, so he pushed on with his line of questioning, “But if your daughter came to live with you, and you were constantly away for work, what would happen to her? Or maybe, in the worst-case scenario, if something ever happened to you, what would she do? Could she go back and continue living with Sir Fregan? Would that even be possible?”
Alfred had fallen into a deep silence.
“If you really want the best for your daughter, you should come with me.”
“Go with you?” Alfred did a double-take, then laughed coldly. “If I become a mercenary with you, what’s the difference between that and returning to my old job? I might as well go become an adventurer. I would get more time to myself, more freedom, and the job is also much less dangerous.”
Adventurers, mercenaries, and pioneers formed the three largest guilds in the Miracle Continent. These three guilds were unlike other organizations like the Warrior Association or the Magician Association, which had strict profession requirements for entry, because any profession was welcome to join. Even so, not just anybody could join the guilds. First, one needed to pass a test to prove their ability before they could enter any of the three guilds, as the benefits the guilds provided were pretty good, after all.
Among them, the Adventurer Guild offered quests that were the least dangerous, mainly focusing on tasks such as exploring a region or gathering intelligence. Though combat was still inevitable, few quests were targeted at fighting enemies. Even if there was the occasional quest to fight a demonic beast, it would be undertaken with members from the Demon Hunter Guild. Also, it offered a degree of freedom that the other two guilds couldn’t compare with, as it was fine if one did not accept any guild quests for over a year and a half.
The only downsides were that the quest rewards were the lowest out of the three guilds, and the average quest could take a long time to complete, sometimes spanning several months, or even a year or two.
As for the Mercenary Guild, compared to the Pioneer Guild, it was not very dangerous. Generally speaking, only very strong guilds would be handing out quests with a high danger level. In the Mercenary Guild, the quest difficulty, level of danger, and the quest reward were directly proportional. The degree of freedom one enjoyed varied for each member. For example, the commander of a mercenary team was free to choose whether or not to take up a quest, but the members in the mercenary team had no choice but to follow the commander’s orders.
The Pioneer Guild offered the most dangerous quests, and there was even a principle of absolute command in place. This meant that if one did not have a valid reason, once a letter from the Pioneer Guild came, one had to report straight to the Pioneer Guild to jointly discuss matters relating to purification of the Land of Black Earth, gathering Fire of Revival, and so on. Refusal to do so was not an option. However, because of the high risk involved, the guild offered the best welfare benefits of the three guilds, and they would also take care of the families of members killed in action.
Alfred was once a commander of a mercenary team, and was well aware of the ins and outs of the business. He had previously considered returning to his old work, but the difficulty for him was trying to rebuild a new mercenary team. This was why he said he wanted to be an adventurer. It was not said out of spite or any kind of senseless rambling, but it showed that he had indeed put serious thought into the matter. It was because adventurers could work solo or in a group, but ultimately the level of freedom was still much higher than being on a mercenary team.
It did not work like a mercenary team, where once you were in, you needed the commander’s approval to leave the team, or else it would be akin to destroying your future career as a mercenary.
In light of Alfred’s aversion towards Sir Fregan, some of his distaste carried over to the rest of the aristocracy, which included Sean, who was presently dressed like one of them. However, this was something he would never admit and would never say to anyone.
“You’ll have more to hope for if you follow me.” Sean laughed, saying with a confident expression, “It’s just as I told you before, my mercenary team is destined to be world-famous, so if you follow me you won’t be disadvantaged… Furthermore, I can give you my word that if you want to leave the team one day, I will not get in your way. You can leave the team whenever you please.”
When he heard this, Alfred was visibly moved, but his many long years of experience helped him to quickly regain his composure. “How can you guarantee that?”
“By my character and my credibility,” Sean replied matter-of-factly.
Alfred was stunned speechless.
“Trust me, nobody would willingly damage their own reputation.” Seeing the look on Alfred’s face, Sean could guess what he was thinking, so he said the catchphrase that Alfred himself was known for saying back then.
As expected, hearing the words used on him gave Alfred a shock, and he took a moment before he looked up towards Sean, asking with a solemn tone, “Why do you want to recruit me?”
“Because I need you,” Sean answered plainly. He was to be the future God of War, no one would not want him on their team. “From my point of view, you’re much more important than you think you are. And I can promise you now that I just need three years at most. After three years, you will definitely be reunited with your daughter, and when that time comes, whether you decide to leave or to stay, I will respect your decision.”
Hearing Sean’s sincere words, Alfred was silent for several seconds, before he finally nodded in acknowledgment. “I understand, commander.”
Alfred was a very down to earth person, so once he had made the decision to join Sean’s mercenary team, he called him ‘commander’ very naturally, without any other hidden meaning.
At the same time, when Alfred uttered the word ‘commander’, Sean knew that his gamble had paid off. Now that he was in the real world, he did not have to follow any more strategy guides or quest lines. Aside from some critical events that needed time to set up, there were a lot of things he could try experimenting with now.
However, the most important thing to him right now was to build the framework for his mercenary team. This was the only way he could retrieve Alfred’s daughter and reunite them as a family, which would lead to Alfred feeling a sense of belonging on his mercenary team. At this point, while Alfred had agreed to join, the reality was that he did not share in the mercenary team’s identity, nor did he feel like he belonged, and his loyalty was still not even worth mentioning.
“Since you have agreed to join us, I need to get an understanding of your abilities,” Sean suddenly said. “After all, you haven’t held a weapon in more than a year, and I don’t know if your skills have gotten rusty. So come look for me tomorrow before noon at the Warm Breeze House south of the village, and I’ll have you take a test. Any problems?”
“No,” Alfred answered crisply, shaking his head.