Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 204 News about Julia the Little Cat and Toussaint

Julia, the little cat, is a woman in her twenties from Kovir. This country has been known as the land of mercenaries for hundreds of years, and the entire army is even replaced by a few large mercenary groups. Therefore, becoming a mercenary in that country is a very common but also something that people yearn for.

This woman is a proper military talent who graduated from a military academy. However, because she is still young and has not been in the mercenary world for long, she has not grown into a large force. She currently leads a small mercenary group with less than thirty members.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries and self-introductions, the two sides quickly got down to business.

Julia the kitten is of above-average appearance, with a small bust but a very tall figure.

She was very polite, and her appearance was clearly carefully groomed. The two burly men behind her, on the other hand, were rather rugged, one bald and the other with short hair, their faces covered in mud.

This is normal, though. In the Middle Ages, there were no good things like shampoo. Long hair was prone to lice, difficult to manage, and could cause illness. So many men would choose to shave their heads or have short hair. Moreover, shaving one's head would make one seem less daring and reduce a lot of trouble.

"Mr. Wayne, let's get down to business. What is the task you've hired us to complete? And what is the payment?"

Wayne gave a gentle smile, then looked at the two men behind the little cat and said directly:

"Miss Julia, I would like to speak with you alone. As for whether you will tell your group members later, that is up to you."

Little Cat frowned upon hearing this, but still gave the two burly men behind her a look. The two men obediently left the house, clearly showing that this female mercenary leader was quite prestigious in her team.

After the two left, Wayne brought a pineapple honey cake from the kitchen and placed it in front of the little cat. He noticed the usually capable mercenary unconsciously sniffle, but forced a serious expression, and then smiled and said:

"As I said in my letter, Miss Julia, this employment request of mine is absolutely the biggest one you will ever receive in your life, and it is a request that will change your destiny."

Seeing the female mercenary frowning and looking incredulous, Wayne didn't explain further, but continued to ask:

"Before explaining the commission, I'd like to know one thing, Ms. Julia: how do you view the elves, dwarves, and other non-human races? To put it bluntly, do you hate them, like them, or don't care about them at all?"

Upon hearing Wayne's strange question, the little cat Julia pondered cautiously for a moment. Since Wayne currently appeared as a completely human, she wasn't sure which side her employer favored, so she honestly answered:

"I treat them as my own kind. I neither hate them nor like them, but I don't discriminate against them or treat them as outsiders. In our Kingdom of Kovir, there are also some elves and dwarves who do not suffer much rejection."

Upon hearing Julia's answer, Wayne nodded in satisfaction. This answer was quite realistic, and the Kingdom of Kovir had only been mentioned briefly in the original novel and game without much specific description. However, as a mercenary nation, it was bound to be more inclusive. Wayne was quite curious about this country and would definitely visit it sometime in the future.

After receiving Little Cat's reply, he coughed lightly and said in a serious tone:

"Miss Julia, in a sense, my request this time is not a combat mission, but a very meaningful rescue operation."

"As a mercenary, an experienced lady, you should be well aware of the status of non-human races among the northern kingdoms."

"The task I entrust to you is to rescue these oppressed and pitiful people, bring them to a safe place, and then I will send people to escort them away."

Julia was taken aback by his words, gave Wayne a strange look, and asked in a low voice:

"Save them?"

Wayne's expression remained unchanged as he nodded and said affirmatively:

"Yes, to save lives!"

"I will not impose any restrictions on the means by which you carry out this commission; I will only pursue the final result."

"Whatever means you use, whether you rescue them from thugs, buy them from prison, or even deceive them into trafficking them."

"Regardless of age or gender, as long as you escort them to the safe location I designate, I will reward each member of the Elf race with eight crowns, while each member of other non-human races will receive a reward of five crowns."

"Before I call a halt, there is no limit to the number of elves you can bring to me. In other words, if you can bring me 10,000 elves, you will receive 80,000 crowns."

Hearing about such a generous reward, Julia opened her mouth in surprise. Eighty thousand crowns—this was an astronomical figure she never dared to dream of. You must know that the largest commission in the entire Northern World in thousands of years, which hired an army of tens of thousands of people to win a very brutal war, only cost a little over one million crowns.

Wayne was pleased with Julia's surprised expression. Although there are many kind people in this world, it's better to gain more benefits than to do something without personal gain.

His commission this time highlights the principle that a generous reward will surely attract brave men.

"Initially, I will pay you 100 crowns as start-up capital. Once the first batch of more than 50 people has achieved the mission objective, I will prepay you another 300 crowns."

"Of course, this mission is a secret mission, although I won't say that it's forbidden to leak it, or what the punishment will be if it is leaked."

"However, you are a smart woman, Miss Julia. The more people know about this, the more likely it will be obstructed and met with hostility from certain racists. You'd better arrange for someone you trust to do this. How to do it quickly and well is up to you to figure out."

After hearing Wayne's request, Julia immediately fell into deep thought. She didn't care why Wayne did it, as that wasn't something a mercenary needed to know. She was just considering whether the difficulty of the request was proportional to the reward, and whether it was worth her effort.

As for things like morality and principles, those are luxuries she would consider later.

After considering for about four or five minutes, Julia nodded to Wayne, then extended her hand and said:

"Mr. Wayne, after careful consideration, our Cat Paw Mercenary Group accepts your commission."

"However, for safety's sake, we must sign a contract. This matter concerns the future of the entire group, and we must ensure that nothing goes wrong."

Wayne had no objection to the request, and after discussing some details, the little cat Julia took her leave.

However, before leaving, she suddenly blushed slightly and asked a question in a low voice.

"Mr. Wayne, may I take this cake with me?"

Wayne almost burst out laughing at the sight of that little glutton.

After Julia left, Francesca, who had been sitting by Wayne's liquor cabinet, eavesdropping on the conversation and admiring the fine wines in the cabinet, slowly revealed herself.

She looked at Wayne with admiration and first praised him, saying:

"That's a really good idea, Wayne. Using human mercenary groups to do this will not attract too much attention and will allow us to achieve our goal more effectively."

"Perhaps I should also find some trustworthy mercenary groups and ask them to help us rescue our people."

Then, in a gentle voice with a hint of warning, she said:

"However, many humans are ultimately untrustworthy. You must pay attention to details and try not to let them associate you with Dante's identity."

"And don't appear in front of them using that identity."

"Otherwise, it could very well bring you a lot of trouble with your current status."

Faced with the elven sorceress's sincere suggestion, Wayne said he would take it to heart. The two then chatted about the elves, the Brotherhood of Warlocks, and how to help more elves in the future, before concluding their visit.

Although the two sides have already established some cooperation and shared goals, trust still needs more time to be cultivated. Some things will not be brought up unless mutual trust has reached a certain level.

Before Francesca left, the sorceress told Wayne an interesting piece of news.

Currently, in the southern kingdom of Toussaint, several witchers are on a hunting mission, seemingly tracking a pterodactyl. Some of them have been injured. These witchers are all from the south and are not members of the Wolf School.

Upon hearing this news, Wayne asked the sorceress with a rather amused tone:

"Madam, your information network is truly impressive. Toussaint is so far away, yet you managed to obtain this information, especially regarding something I'm very interested in. I'm quite flattered."

Francesca covered her mouth and smiled, her stunningly beautiful face a feast for the eyes. She said modestly:

"I have to thank you for that inspiration, Wayne. I've already started recruiting some informants in some inconspicuous places to pass on special messages to me."

"Just like you said, humans are easily bought with money; if you pay enough, someone will do things for you."

"However, it was one of my sorceress colleagues, Fringilla Vigo, who informed me of the news from Toussaint, and she is currently in the Kingdom of Toussaint."

"If you are going there soon, I can give you a letter of introduction so that this sorceress can provide you with the assistance you need."

Wayne, upon hearing this, did not hesitate but instead said:

"Thank you for your help, ma'am, if it's not too much trouble."

………………

Over the next few days, Wayne and Little Cat discussed the details of the contract in detail, and finally, after dinner on the third day, they signed a complete contract with legal effect.

After receiving Wayne's initial funding, the energetic mercenary didn't hesitate and immediately left Vizima with her two subordinates, ready to reunite with her team members and make a big splash.

Just as Wayne said, if this commission is handled well, it could be a mission that changes the fate of the entire mercenary group, and no ambitious person would miss such an opportunity.

According to Wayne and Julia's plan, they would not start with the Kingdom of Cordwin, which was the most harsh on non-human races, but would instead start with other countries, recruiting manpower and attracting non-human members who wanted to relocate.

Once Julia's Cat Paw Mercenary Group has grown stronger and has enough manpower and military support, they will then tackle the tougher challenges.

The first stop they've decided on is the Kingdom of Temuria. Julia plans to start in the slums of Vizima, where a large group of non-human races, numbering nearly a thousand, live in hardship.

Everything is difficult at the beginning. Once you get through the tough initial stage and establish an effective workflow, it will be easier and more efficient to handle such matters in the future.

After settling the contract with Julia's Cat Paw Mercenary Group, Wayne took some time to return to Middle-earth and transport the pipe factory, which had filled a whole warehouse, back to the Wizarding World.

Fortunately, like fine wine, tobacco will become more fragrant and mellow the longer it is stored within its shelf life, so Wayne doesn't need to worry about its storage for the time being, at least not for the short term.

After dealing with the trivial matters in Middle-earth and Vizima, Wayne, with the help of Francesca, used a portal to instantly arrive in Toussaint, which would later be known as the fairytale kingdom.

In this magical land, he not only has a group of fellow witchers, but also many things worth exploring, waiting for him.

(End of this chapter)