"Ars Goetia Mercenary Group?" the Commander of the Fortress frowned as he looked at the smiling Half-Elf, who was seated across his table. "I've never heard of you guys."
"Well, there's a first time for everything," Lux replied. "Now, you have heard of us."
The Commander narrowed his eyes but didn't comment. He had already had a good look at the Half-Elf's entourage, and although they were all in their teenage years, all of them were already Grade A Apostles and above, which was already considered decent for members of a Mercenary Group.
"So, you wish to offer your services to us for a good amount of money, right?" the Commander asked.
"Of course." Lux nodded. "Everyone needs money, especially a Mercenary Group. We need to eat and buy equipment, after all."
The Commander agreed with Lux's words and took out a scroll to form a contract. "Hmm… very well. Let's talk about the price. If you are able to take out the enemy's commanders, all of you will receive a hundred thousand gold coins. How about it?"
Lux leaned back on his chair before crossing his arms over his chest.
"200,000 Gold coins," Lux replied.
"150,000," the Commander proposed.
"Okay, that is acceptable," Lux nodded. "You have a deal."
The commander then made a draft and made Lux sign it.
Naturally, the Half-Elf didn't sign it right away. He made sure to read every word to make sure that he understood the content of the contract before signing it.
According to the contract, Lux and his Mercenary Group would only get their rewards after the Commanders were killed, or they had won the campaign against the Yelan Army.
Those were the two conditions written there, and seeing that the conditions were acceptable, the Half-Elf signed it before passing it back to the Commander.
Suddenly, Lux heard a notification sound. A second later, several rows of text appeared in front of him, informing him about his mission.
—---------------
< Ding! >
< The Mission, War of Lions has been accepted! >
< War of the Lions >
Mission Rating: S
The war between the Ammar Kingdom and the Yelan Kingdom has escalated after the Ammar Kingdom's defeat a year ago.
After failing to conquer the adjacent Kingdom, the Gnomes' and their allies' morale had been boosted, prompting them to mount a counterattack. Due to their momentum, they were able to push the Ammar Kingdom back and even managed to conquer a few border towns along the way.
The Ammar Kingdom had always been the conquerors, so their latest defeat forced their King to issue a draft order to summon every able-bodied man to fight for their kingdom.
The Dwarves have also amassed a great number of weapons and armors for the battle that could break out at any moment.
< Mission Objectives >
– Kill the Two Yelan Army Generals, Watson and Sherlock.
– Destroy the Yelan Main Headquarters and capture their flag.
< Rewards >
– Each member will receive 150,000 Gold Coins
– Each member will receive one random Mythical Equipment
< Bonus Rewards >
– Bonus rewards can be obtained depending on your performance on the battlefield. Great rewards await those who managed to excel in this military campaign.
—---------------
'So this time, we are their enemies,' Lux thought as he looked at the information of the mission in front of him.
After shaking hands with the Commander, Lux and his group were immediately ordered to march to the front lines.
Since they were a Mercenary Group, they were given free reign as to how they would fight on the battlefield. The only condition the Commander asked, which both sides agreed upon, was that Lux's Mercenary group would not do anything to get in the army's way.
"Did you guys also receive a quest after I passed the contract to the Commander?" Lux asked when his group was a good distance away from the fortress.
"Yes!" Cai replied in a heartbeat. "Do we really have to kill Watson and Sherlock? Those guys are good people. I don't want to hurt them."
Lux sighed because he shared the same opinion as Cai. He then glanced at Keane, who also nodded his head, informing him that he received the quest as well.
"How about you, Malcolm?" Lux asked. "Did you get the quest?"
Malcolm nodded, which confirmed the Half-Elf's suspicion.
Anyone that is in the same party as me gets a quest. It seems that this wasn't just my imagination.
"This is weird. I've never gotten this kind of quest before," Henrietta commented. "Usually, I only get quests from the Adventurer's Guild. This is the first time I've received a quest in this manner. Nero, have you ever gotten something like this in the past?"
"Just once," Nero replied. "It was when I fought against an Abyssal Creature."
Henrietta suddenly remembered the conversation he had with one of her older brothers about quest notifications that would appear at random times.
Although it wasn't unheard of, it was quite rare, which made her wonder what conditions triggered such events.
"This is my third time receiving something like this." Malcolm decided to share some information regarding the special quest that had appeared in front of him. "I received the first quest when my father took me to an A-Ranked Dungeon to teach me how to fight one of the Bosses there.
"Since then, I've been looking for ways to trigger a similar event because the rewards from the mission would go directly inside your personal inventory."
Everyone that had a Soul Book had their own personal inventory inside it.
The space wasn't that big, only allowing up to twenty items to be stored, but it was decent enough storage if one didn't have the money to buy storage bags or storage rings.
"Is that so…" Henrietta nodded her head in understanding. "It seems like we got lucky this time. Not only will we get 150,000 Gold Coins, we will also get a Mythical Equipment. The Bonus Rewards depending on our performance is also good. I wonder what we will get when we finish this mission?"
Due to the conversation, Lux realized that he was not the only one who received these random quests from time to time. However, compared to others, his chance of triggering them was higher because he didn't have the Leveling Feature that Elysians and Solaians had.
Lux rented six wooden wagons to accommodate his Mercenary Group, which was composed of less than forty members.
Although he didn't want to admit it, he was a little excited about commanding a sizable force, which was comprised of elite members from the young generation.
All of the people with him were talented individuals in their own right, and Lux believed that if he were to know what they were capable of, he would be able to assign them to various tasks, which would make the mission easier.
'I need to have a talk with them once we arrive at our destination,' Lux thought. 'Although they might be reluctant to tell me what their abilities are, I can use the fact that we are being observed to make them comply.'
The Half-Elf closed his eyes and began to ponder what his next move should be. Right now, he had accepted the quest to kill the two Generals who had a connection with him in the past.
Truth be told, he wasn't looking forward to doing the job, so he planned to see what the current situation of the war was before making his final decision.
