Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 278 A New Ally, Margarita

Wayne witnessed Julia's actions and couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for the woman's decisiveness and judgment.

Great, he likes this kind of clever and ambitious subordinate who isn't presumptuous.

He got up, took a bottle of expensive red wine from the wine cabinet, poured a glass for himself and Little Cat, and then said calmly:

"You have more to do than this. I have a bigger plan that requires more mercenaries, a mercenary legion that is loyal only to me."

"This mercenary legion is different from the ordinary mercenaries you currently manage who handle miscellaneous tasks; they are war mercenaries who specialize in combat."

"My plan is to form a mercenary army of 20,000 men within three years."

"Ten years later, the number of troops in the Corps has expanded to 50,000."

"I want this mercenary group to become the largest mercenary group in the North, the largest in the world."

Although Wayne's tone was quite calm, his words startled Julia so much that she almost spat out the red wine in her mouth.

A mercenary group of 50,000 people? That's a joke. Even most of the powerful northern countries would have a hard time organizing such an army.

It's important to understand that even though Kovir is known as the nation of mercenaries, boasting the largest number of mercenary groups in the entire north, and even possessing a military academy dedicated to teaching mercenaries military knowledge, Kovir's most powerful mercenary legion only has a few thousand members, at most no more than ten thousand.

Aside from the fact that the large number of people makes them difficult to manage, and that the lack of war results in idle personnel and wasted money, other reasons for the problem are...

The most important reason is that kings could not allow a mercenary group of more than 10,000 people to exist, as that would likely affect their rule and threaten their rights.

Even those mercenary groups with more than a thousand members, most of their behind-the-scenes leaders have royal blood or are agents of some great nobles.

When it comes to controlling their own power, rulers of any dynasty have always preferred to kill the innocent rather than let the guilty go free.

Julia wiped the spilled red wine from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, trying to calm herself down.

If Wayne hadn't been her major benefactor and a powerful figure she couldn't afford to offend, this strong-willed and outspoken female mercenary leader might have already started mocking him.

She reassured herself that this was just random advice from an amateur and shouldn't be taken to heart. Then, she forced a smile and said sincerely:

"Boss, your plan is indeed quite ambitious and worth our efforts."

"However, there is a small issue to be aware of."

"In most kingdoms in the north, nobles and lords are not allowed to have mercenary groups with more than a thousand members."

"Even a mercenary group of just a few hundred people will be a focus of their attention. Most of the time, these mercenaries can't even enter the city and won't receive any commissions or missions."

"Boss, unless you can get special permission from a certain king, it's basically impossible for a mercenary group of more than 10,000 people to appear, and they won't be allowed to enter the territory of other countries."

"At this size, any country's spies would be constantly monitoring the mercenary group's movements; there's no possibility of them hiding."

Julia spoke very carefully, always wearing a fawning smile, afraid that the big spender in front of her would be angry with her words, or insist on acting recklessly and giving orders haphazardly.

The Cat Paw Mercenary Group is currently at a crucial stage of development and absolutely cannot do without the financial support of its major backer.

After listening to Julia's words, Wayne did not show any dissatisfaction. He did not understand the information the little cat had given him, nor had he known about it before. However, this did not conflict with his original plan. The little cat's rebuttal proved that she was not a yes-man, but had her own ideas.

Wayne immediately calmed Julia down and then briefly explained his plan to build a super business guild to her.

Finally, he looked at Julia with a meaningful gaze and said in a calm tone:

"In the not-too-distant future, my Wayne Merchant Guild will have its own stronghold in any city or town in the North, and each stronghold will have its own armed guard."

"With hundreds of strongholds and hundreds of caravans, even if tens of thousands of people are hidden in the heart, they will be inconspicuous. This mercenary group only needs to obey my orders, apart from protecting the safety of caravans and strongholds. They do not need to serve other people's wars."

"This is a long-term and ambitious plan, and the position I've reserved for you is crucial."

"However, the choice is yours, Julia. You can still choose to focus on your current work of saving inhuman races and not get distracted by anything else."

"I think the conditions I've offered should easily attract other outstanding talents to work for me."

But no sooner had Wayne finished speaking than Julia interjected:

"I'm willing, boss, I'm willing to handle this for you."

The little cat looked very excited, her eyes were slightly bloodshot, and her face was flushed.

Just kidding. If you had the chance to lead a mercenary group of tens of thousands of people and become a great figure destined to be remembered in history, I'm afraid a lot of people would be willing to sell their souls for it.

Julia was highly suspicious that Wayne was just making empty promises and that nothing would ever come of them.

How much money and how powerful a background would it take to build such a super business association?

However, in the Middle Ages, when upward mobility was extremely scarce and uncertain, why refuse such an opportunity to try?

If what the boss said is true, then her life will have been worthwhile.

Wayne smiled and patted Julia on the shoulder, quite pleased with her positive attitude, and then said:

"I will discuss the specific procedures with you later."

"What you need to do now is to select members who have leadership skills and are trustworthy, pick them out, and in the future they will become leaders of small teams of dozens or hundreds of people."

"You need to find a way to ensure their loyalty, whether it's signing a contract with them, using a combination of kindness and severity, or offering monetary incentives. In short, you must ensure that they will obey."

"But there's no rush. You'll have plenty of time to work on this in the future."

As he spoke, Wayne lifted the little cat's beautiful face with his finger and said with a seductive tone:

"And you should know that I am someone who possesses extraordinary power, capable of doing many things that are unimaginable to ordinary people like you."

"As long as you do your job well and achieve results that satisfy me, I will grant you the immortality that mortals dream of, allowing you to live for hundreds of years, and giving you even greater strength, transcending mortals and becoming a powerful being you never dared to dream of."

………………

After Julia the cat left with her hopes for the future, Wayne went to a shop in the city and met with Leto and the others who had almost settled down in Vizima City.

After having a detailed conversation with the Viper School witchers, they agreed to travel to the Kingdom of Cordwin to carry out their mission and return together to Kaer Mohen after the mission was completed. Then, they returned to Kayla's mansion.

It was already dusk when Wayne returned to the mansion. Only Maisie, the young maid, and a few other servants were home; Kayla had not yet returned.

He thought for a moment and realized that there wasn't enough time to do anything productive, so he decided to cook a big meal himself to reward Kayla and Maisie for their enthusiasm last night.

However, to Wayne's surprise, when Kayla returned, she was accompanied by a sorceress he had met a few times before.

Margaret, the current headmistress of Aretusa Academy, is a sorceress with an incredibly large bust and a figure as perfect as a marble statue.

When the two sorceresses returned, Margarita saw the large table of delicious-looking food Wayne had prepared. She immediately let out an excited squeal like a little girl, then rushed over, hugged Wayne tightly, kissed his handsome profile, and said with a radiant smile:

"I'm so lucky, Wayne."

"For the past two years, every time I eat, I always think of the delicious food you made, and I always miss it."

"I'm so happy that I can enjoy these delicious foods again so soon after arriving today."

Embraced by Margarita's warm and soft body, Wayne glanced at Kayla in surprise, only to see her give him a flirtatious look. Wayne couldn't help but smile wryly.

He patted Margarita on the back and said gently:

"Welcome, Margarita, it's been a long time since we last met."

"Kayla didn't tell me you were coming today, otherwise I would have prepared even more delicious food to treat you."

Hearing Wayne's welcome, Margarita's smile widened. She turned and walked to Kayla's side, pulling up the petite sorceress who was half a head shorter than her, and said with a smile:

"Kayla told me she's preparing to compete for the bounty, and you'll be her ally, protecting her during this mission."

"Actually, she had invited me to work with her before, but I hesitated because I was worried that without qualified soldiers to protect us, the mission would become very dangerous."

"But now that you, a powerful demon hunter, have joined us, I have no reason to refuse. This time, we'll team up and help Kayla hunt down that undead monster from another world."

Wayne raised an eyebrow in surprise upon hearing this, not expecting that Kayla could find Margarita to be her ally.

It's important to know that Margarita's ability to become the current headmistress of Aretusa Academy speaks for itself; she is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding sorceresses.

According to what we learn in the game, Principal Margarita is a rare female sorceress with a very kind personality. She is not greedy for power and is even willing to sacrifice herself for her students.

She was probably one of the few sorceresses who wouldn't resort to scheming and trickery for a position as a prospective member of the Supreme Council.

With her help, Kayla's chances of success on this mission have increased significantly.

Once everyone was seated at the table, and even Maisie, with Kayla's tacit approval, somewhat nervously sat down next to Wayne, the group enjoyed their meal while chatting happily about gossip.

Wayne asked Margarita in a joking tone:

"Ms. Margarita, Keira must have gone to great lengths to invite you this time, right?"

Margarita wore a blissful smile as she enjoyed her meal, devouring a cream cake. She didn't seem to care that the creamy white frosting fell onto her almost completely exposed chest.

Only after she had eaten the entire cake did the female principal lick her fingers with her sexy lips and say with a carefree laugh:

"Kayla is one of my most outstanding students, and I also like her personality very much, so for this commission, I only accepted five thousand Orens from her as a service fee."

"As you can probably guess, besides her, many other people have invited me."

As she spoke, Margarita winked at Wayne and said with a smile:

"Time is a magical thing. Only in young sorceresses like Keira and Triss can we still see what sincerity and responsibility mean."

"After a sorceress reaches her first hundred years of age, many of her precious qualities will slowly disappear."

"Many people eventually become the kind of person they hate."

Wayne nodded, seemingly understanding, upon hearing this. He realized that Margarita wasn't as carefree as she appeared; she probably understood many things much better than many insiders.

But that's normal. Margarita has lived for almost two hundred years. In such a long time, even the most naive person would be honed into a shrewd and calculating individual.

Moreover, Margarita must possess exceptional intelligence and emotional intelligence to have become the principal of Aretusa Academy; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to reach that position.

Therefore, the fact that she has been able to preserve her kind and noble character after such a long period of hardship shows that she is a person worthy of admiration.

The dinner was very enjoyable. After three years of honing his skills, Wayne's culinary skills had reached a new level, making the meal even more delightful and memorable than the one Margaret had eaten there last time.

After Maisie left midway through, the three discussed some details about the mission in detail and set the departure time for the morning of the third day before temporarily separating.

Wayne first studied magic for two hours, and when night fell, he went to the bathroom alone to take a good bath and relax.

However, to his surprise, while he was halfway through his bath, lying in the hot water and enjoying the soak, Kayla and Margarita, wearing loose bathrobes, walked into the bathroom chatting and laughing.

They weren't surprised to see Wayne lying in the bathtub. Instead, they boldly admired Wayne's masculine body while whispering about his impressive performance in bed the night before.

The explicit words and ambiguous tone made Margarita burst into laughter.

Seeing this, Wayne awkwardly covered himself with a towel, then said to the two female sorcerers:

"Ladies, discussing this kind of thing in front of someone is hardly ladylike behavior!"

"How about you come in after I've finished showering?"

Unexpectedly, after hearing Wayne's speech, Margarita's smile became even brighter.

The two entered the bath without any attempt to conceal themselves. Reaching Wayne's side, Margarita reached out and touched Wayne's strong muscles, saying with a smile:

"What are you afraid of, you grown man? Aren't Kayla and I beautiful?"

"Actually, when I helped Kayla this time, she agreed to a small request of mine."

"I've always wanted to try what it's like to sleep with a Witcher, but I don't like those smelly, ugly monsters. You're the one who best suits my aesthetic, Wayne."

"However, if you refuse, I won't force you."

As a man, a witcher, no one could resist such temptation.

(End of this chapter)