Mercenary Wars

Chapter 194 Griffith

Mystics, elementalists, arcane scholars... most scholars believe that divination is generally not worth the risk and often warn people to stay away from divination to avoid being tricked by fate.

Theologians or pastors believe that divination is a sign of impiety.

However, many adventurers still have the habit of consulting the oracle before embarking on an adventure.

They may know or even agree with the scholars' warnings, but human nature dictates that unknown safety is sometimes more anxiety-inducing than definite danger.

Mercenaries are no different. Anyone would be wary of a rich, unknown treasure, and the best way to dispel such concerns is perhaps through divination.

Lucius clearly thought so too: "Of course, such things should be divined."

Then he looked at the vice commander, Night Owl: "Night Owl, thank you for your help."

All eyes turned to the night owl.

In the Grey Eagle Mercenary Group, Night Owl is not only the head of intelligence but also the chief diviner. Whenever the mercenary group has an important event, they need to refer to his divination results.

Under the expectant gazes of everyone, Night Owl nodded slightly, and then, as if by magic, produced a silver coin out of thin air.

He rubbed the silver coin between his fingers, closed his eyes, and muttered, "Please tell me the answer: is the value of this treasure greater than 100,000 gold coins..."

After saying that, he raised his hand and tossed it away.

The coin settled quickly.

front.

Although Lucius had already said the treasure was worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins, seeing the divination result in person still caused everyone to discuss it excitedly for a while.

The night owl continued its divination: "Please tell me the answer, are our twenty people enough to obtain the treasure...?"

The coin landed.

reverse side.

People's excitement was somewhat dampened.

There were about twenty people in the council chamber. If all twenty of them could acquire the treasure, there was no doubt that each of them would make a fortune, with each person receiving tens of thousands of gold coins.

But the result was that the twenty people were unable to capture the treasure.

“It seems this treasure won’t be easy to obtain.” Hicks stroked his chin. “How about asking about fifty more people?”

The night owl performed divination again.

The result was the opposite.

The discussion among the crowd grew increasingly heated.

The Night Owl then tried several more times and finally determined that at least two hundred people were needed to obtain the treasure.

"Two hundred people!"

"They actually need to mobilize so many people to get the treasure!"

"Assuming the treasure is worth 200,000 gold coins, with 200 people, that's 1,000 gold coins per person, which isn't a small amount."

"Yes, and as veteran mercenaries, we can get a bigger share. I estimate we'll actually receive two thousand gold coins, which is a lot of money!"

"Once I get two thousand gold coins, I'll immediately buy a bottle of Lesser Transformation Potion to remove all these scars on my body and make myself even more handsome!"

"Why remove scars? They're a man's badge of honor! I'm going to buy a bottle of youth potion, and then get married!"

"However, a treasure that requires two hundred people to obtain... wouldn't that be too dangerous?"

"Deputy Commander Night Owl, could you do another divination? If we go, how many people will likely die?"

The night owl began its divination again: "Please tell me the answer: in the process of obtaining the treasure, will more than half of the two hundred people perish...?"

The coin landed, tails.

After several attempts, the divination results showed that the casualty rate was surprisingly low.

This excited almost everyone.

"The casualty rate is so low! In other words, as long as we go, we can get two thousand gold coins!"

"By Mosa, once I get this money, I will never again be—cough cough, it's nothing."

"It takes two hundred people to obtain it, but there is almost no danger. What kind of treasure is this?" Besides excitement, some people were also puzzled.

Listening to the murmurs of the people, Lucius said, "I think it's probably an ancient tomb like the 'Tomb of the Mistress of Camonsis,' buried very deep, requiring a large number of people to excavate, but with few traps, so it's not too dangerous."

Night Owl pondered, "It's possible the danger isn't in the treasure itself, but in the pirates. When we're outnumbered, the pirates will come and plunder us, but when we're numerous enough, they won't even lift a finger, and none of us will die."

“That makes sense!” people echoed.

Lucius seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said, "I need half of this treasure."

This statement immediately silenced the discussion in the council chamber.

People looked at each other, hesitant to speak.

Lucius taking half means that everyone else will only get half the money.

Even if they respected Lucius, they couldn't help but feel somewhat unhappy about giving up such a large benefit.

Lucius continued, “I know this sounds like a lot, but you should understand that without me, you would never have known about the existence of such a rich and safe treasure, let alone obtained it.”

"Furthermore, once we return to Southsea Town with the treasure, everyone can decide for themselves whether to stay or leave. I can imagine that some people no longer want to be mercenaries—especially after obtaining the treasure. I won't stop you then, and the mercenary group might as well disband." He seemed to sigh. "I'm about ready to retire too. Everyone will return to their hometown with wealth and fond memories. For the mercenary group, this is a good ending, isn't it?"

After a few quiet and brief murmurs...

A veteran mercenary suddenly shouted, "Boss, we'll do whatever you say!"

Lucius looked at him and said with a smile, "I told you a long time ago not to call me boss, but after all these years, you still can't change it, making us look like a gang!"

"Haha!" Several of the most senior mercenaries laughed and cursed, interspersed with reminiscing about the past.

For some reason, Lucius suddenly lowered his head, and after a few seconds he raised it again: "In that case, we'll set off the day after tomorrow. Everyone, go back and prepare."

"The treasure is beckoning us!"

"I can't wait any longer!" People left the council chamber with anticipation.

Over the next two days, the once quiet Gray Eagle camp became lively again. More than two hundred mercenaries were organized and headed to the port to board a large ship.

Gao Jiano was among them. His recent plan was simply to lay low for a while. Going to the Kingdom of Sien was an option, as was going to sea with a mercenary group. It was even a more reasonable excuse. The only slightly troublesome thing was that Dariss needed to make some additional arrangements.

"Such a big ship!" some mercenaries exclaimed as they boarded.

Standing on the deck next to the boarding stairs, Lucius said, "This 'Griffith' is one of the largest ships in the Gavin Company; it's not easy to charter it."

"Captain, what is our mission this time?" a mercenary asked as he boarded the ship.

“Yes, Captain, I heard we’ve never received such a large overseas order before,” another mercenary asked.

Often, due to the need for secrecy, only a small number of high-ranking mercenaries know the specific details of the mission from the outset.

This time was no different. Only the dozen or so people attending the meeting in the council chamber knew about the treasure; the other ordinary mercenaries knew nothing.

After all, if it were made public from the start, pirates from the surrounding area would definitely come running.

So when the mercenaries asked him questions, Lucius simply smiled and said, "No mission."

The mercenaries, of course, didn't believe it.

They simply took it as Lucius's way of keeping secret.

However, Lucius then added, "It's just a vacation for you. There's plenty of good wine and food on board, so just enjoy yourself."

"Really?" The mercenaries were skeptical.

Lucius beckoned to a distance, and a mercenary immediately ran over carrying several bottles of wine.

Lucius took the wine and casually tossed it to a few mercenaries: "Really, take it and drink it."

"Thank you, leader!"

"Mosa, you are the most generous mercenary leader!" the mercenaries cheered.

More than two hundred mercenaries boarded the ship one after another.

As the large ship "Griffith" slowly set sail from the port, the mercenaries embarked on a month-long period of leisure.

During the month-long sea voyage, the more than two hundred Gray Eagle mercenaries did nothing but eat and drink every day.

And as Lucius said, the ship was loaded with plenty of fine wine and food, enough for them to indulge in pleasure.

The Grey Eagle mercenaries aboard the Griffith were filled with a cheerful atmosphere day and night.

Needless to say, those at the lower levels didn't know the specifics of the mission; they only knew they would enjoy endless good wine and meat.

The upper echelons are also optimistic.

They knew the purpose of their journey was to find treasure.

Before setting off, they received the same divination result from both the night owl and a fortune teller they had privately consulted—the trip would be safe and rewarding.

In this situation, they were just like ordinary mercenaries, spending their days drinking and eating meat, indulging in fantasies about a bright future.

It's possible that only a very small number of people are in a bad mood.

Cassandra is undoubtedly one of them.

Cassandra's bad mood was for a simple reason—she was one of the few women on the ship and she was very attractive.

Men, especially young and strong men, make up the vast majority of mercenary groups.

In Southsea Town, male mercenaries can go to the pleasure district to have fun and vent their desires, but there are obviously no such conditions on the ship.

The month-long voyage was inevitably lonely, and as time went by, coupled with the increasingly pervasive atmosphere of pleasure, some mercenaries, unable to contain their lust, began to harbor wicked thoughts towards their female comrades.

In practice, they still abide by the rules.

However, their jokes have become increasingly excessive.

Even Cassandra, as the vice-captain and chief instructor, began to feel this disrespect more and more frequently.

This made her very depressed.

Fortunately, there were also people on board who were morally upright.

For example, Gaucano is one.

Those unfamiliar with Gaucano often doubted whether he aspired to be a priest, given that he had no vices and always wore a mosaic triangle necklace, making him appear to be a devout mosaic follower.

Only those who knew him well knew that Gaucano was not only not devout, but also had no religious beliefs whatsoever.

But they also couldn't understand why Gaucano wore a tripod necklace around his neck, a necklace worn only by devout Mosas, and Gaucano never offered an explanation for it.

In any case, given Gaucano's virtuous character and the fact that the two were quite familiar with each other, Cassandra spent most of her time with him, except when they were alone.

However, Gaucano didn't seem to be in a good mood either.

"Why do you always frown?" Cassandra noticed and couldn't help but ask.

Upon hearing this, Gao Jiano's furrowed brows relaxed, but then unconsciously furrowed again: "I have a bad feeling lately."

You mean this operation?

Gaucano nodded somewhat hesitantly.

Cassandra, however, said, "I've consulted the best fortune teller in Southshore, and his divination was similar to Nightow's—there's no danger. Hicks's fortune teller gave the same result."

Gaucano paused briefly: "I know that the divination results from Night Owl and many others all say that this operation is almost without danger, but I..."

He was a little unsure of what to say, paused for a while, and finally said only, "Well, maybe it's because I often have doubts about divination. As the saying goes, fate is a stingy and greedy magician."

Cassandra: "Have you ever had your fortune told?"

“I’ve only had one divination of my own,” Gaucano said. “The result wasn’t very good.”

Cassandra looked at him: "To be honest, I have a feeling that you have some secrets."

Gao Jiano paused for a moment, then shrugged slightly, somewhat evasively, and said, "Everyone has secrets."

“Indeed.” Cassandra nodded, then after a moment of silence, suddenly changed the subject, “In that case, how about we exchange a secret?”

(End of this chapter)