MC's career as foreign lord

This mercenary group was actually quite famous in Pine Leaf Town. It was composed of desperadoes, down-and-outs, and hunters. But Werner was different. He was a knight apprentice, a standard prospective professional.

If his family hadn't had some misfortunes during his studies, he would probably still be at the Holy Knight Academy, continuing his studies, instead of desperately fighting gnolls here.

However, after his family went bankrupt, he had to bear huge debts, becoming a trainee warrior, forming a mercenary group, and transforming into a hyena chasing profits.

This is why he is here now. He finally made a big score, they robbed a gnoll tribe, killed all the gnolls and cut off their ears, and took all the spoils. It can be said that it was a great harvest.

But now, he felt like he had been cursed by a gnoll shaman. Why had he been walking for so long, but he was still in the same place?

At this time, the usually carefree members of the mercenary group also felt something was wrong. They gathered around Werner and said, "Captain, have we walked into the territory of some shaman?"

"That's right, Captain, look at that bone. I threw it away before, and now you can still see the teeth marks!"

"Shaman... that's a professional. Captain, you've seen professionals before, why don't you discuss it with them and let us go!"

Although they hadn't even seen anyone, the reputation of professionals made them feel a little fearful, especially this kind of strange situation like being trapped by a ghost, which made everyone feel cold in their hearts.

Werner also felt bitter in his heart. He had seen professionals before, that's right, but what was his status then, and what is his status now? Where did he get the qualifications to negotiate with a mage who had set up such a magic circle?

But there was no way. If he didn't negotiate, they would probably be trapped here to death!

This was a reality they couldn't accept. They had finally gone on a hunt, and hadn't even had time to enjoy it yet, so how could they be willing to die here?

He raised the torch, and then he saw a detail they had ignored, a half-person-high wooden sign standing by the roadside, with the words "Private Territory, No Trespassing!" written on it in Common.

Werner grabbed a burly man over, "Dave, is this the unclaimed wasteland you were talking about? It's obvious that this is a professional mage, who specifically put up a sign here to remind us!"

The man named Dave was obviously a little confused, and scratched his head, "That's impossible. When we went out a week ago, this was clearly still a wasteland..."

"Damn it! Let's set up camp here first, and then go around here early tomorrow morning!"

As soon as Werner said this, all the mercenaries calmed down. They were all people who licked blood from the edge of a knife, so naturally they knew that panic was useless at any time. It's better to conserve energy!

"Dave, you take a few people to guard the first half of the night, and I'll take the other people to guard the second half of the night!" Werner ordered. He had to have enough trust in the people in the mercenary group. This was also Werner's life creed.

"Don't worry, Captain, this place is as solid as a rock!" Dave said, and started to be vigilant with his knife.

The rest of the people spread out their blankets, set up tents, and soon went straight to sleep. Whether it was friend or foe, human or ghost, that would have to wait until tomorrow morning!

When Zhou Ren woke up, the sun had already shone obliquely through the gap left on the wooden wall. He touched the head of the bed a little dazed, and touched a piece of broken leaf, and then he remembered what the situation was now.

He sat on the head of the bed, and slowly eased his head. With the sun shining, his head gradually became clear. Rubbing his sore shoulders, he muttered: "No matter what today, I have to make a bed!"

After complaining, he continued to work.

Zhou Ren turned over and got out of bed, put on his black robe again, ran to the river to simply rinse his mouth and wash his face, and then returned to the front of the wooden house, sitting on a wooden step that he had just made.

His breakfast was very simple, a lemon and an apple solved everything. I have to say that the lemon that fell from the oak tree tasted really good, sweet and without a trace of sourness.

However, just as Zhou Ren was enjoying his leisure time, he heard shouts from the other side of the field!

"Roar! Grandpa Dave is invincible!" Judging from the voice, it was a stout man. Zhou Ren ran more than a thousand meters, holding a wooden pickaxe, and looked towards the place where the sound was coming from.

Then he saw a strange scene, a group of mercenaries wearing leather armor or iron armor were trying hard to run towards his territory.

In fact, it can't be said to be running, but rather like a kind of exercise. They were desperately struggling on the edge of the territory, seeming to want to break through the invisible air wall.

Not to mention, someone really broke through that layer of wall and rushed into it for several meters, and then in the next moment, was teleported to the door, and laughed with his companions beside him.

Zhou Ren was helpless, who are these people? After discovering that their territory could not be entered, it became something for them to play with?

He was both angry and funny, took out his territory authority manual, and changed the territory's entry authority from repulsion to prohibition.

In the next moment, several people who were about to rush in suddenly bumped into the invisible wall, and several people who had already rushed in were stuck in a position like air, their faces flushed and unable to move even a little bit.

"Magician, please stop and let them go!" At this moment, Zhou Ren heard a voice coming from behind him. A strong man wearing silver armor gave himself a bowing knight salute.

He waved his hand, closed the book page, and took out a small magic wand placed in his coat pocket. Those people also suddenly disappeared at this time, reappearing at the door of the territory.

Such a move really had a bit of a magician's presence, directly shocking everyone present, and everyone did not dare to breathe loudly.

"Why are you here?" Zhou Ren asked, he was also very curious, this is not a good place for him, what are these people doing here?

Werner's face was a little embarrassed. Seeing that his companions were fine, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and said, "Sir, we didn't deliberately break into your territory. We really couldn't find the way!"

He touched the invisible transparent wall beside him, and the bitterness on his face was much less. If there had been this wall just now, they would have found their way out long ago, so why bother struggling here?

"So that's how it is!" Zhou Ren nodded, "Then let me tell you, all the land from here to the entrance of the town is my territory. If you want to pass, just take that path!"

He pointed to a small path to the side, overgrown with weeds, suggesting that these people usually traversed this wasteland and hadn't noticed it before.

Werner hurried over, a look of joy on his face as he saw the unobstructed path. "Thank you for pointing the way, sir! Let's take our things and go this way!"

Zhou Ren watched them hurrying, raising his hand. "Wait!"

The mercenaries stopped immediately, momentarily conflicted. Should they leave or stay?

Werner turned around, a smile plastered on his face. "I wonder if there's anything else, sir?"

Zhou Ren looked at his smile, finding his address somewhat odd, but it wasn't a big deal. "Are you going to the town?"

"Yes! We just defeated a pack of gnolls and are going to sell the spoils!" Although apprehensive, the mercenary band was still quite proud.

Zhou Ren nodded. From what he learned yesterday, gnolls, kobolds, and goblins in this world were essentially bandits and outlaws in the wild, robbing travelers and pillaging villages, a true scourge.

So even these mercenaries who came for money were actually soldiers protecting the country. As long as they didn't harm civilians, they were heroes of this town.

Zhou Ren quickly understood this and asked, "Then, I wonder if I could take a look at the spoils?"

As soon as he said this, the mercenaries immediately raised their weapons. Taking their lives might be negotiable if the price was right, but taking their money was out of the question!

Zhou Ren couldn't help but chuckle at their alarmed appearance. "Don't get excited. I'm just looking at your things, and I'll pay for them. If you have wool, leather, meat, or metal, I can buy most of it from you!"

He tossed out a bag of gold coins. "Don't worry about me not having enough money, and don't think about trying to cheat me!"

Zhou Ren was quick to embrace his role, even though he wasn't familiar with his mage identity yet (he didn't know what 'class' meant in this world). But in this territory, he was invincible.

The clinking of the gold coins was indeed tempting, but none of the mercenaries moved, watching Werner pick up the coins and lay them out one by one. There were a full hundred!

Even Werner was a little shaken holding this money. He calculated slightly, and all their goods combined might sell for eighty-odd gold coins, which was already a great victory, enough for them to splurge in town for a long time.

And now he had a hundred in his hand. If he could take this back, his ten-year debt would finally be cleared!

Unfortunately, he could only dream about it. Although this mage didn't seem as eccentric and unapproachable as those in legends, he wasn't easy to deal with either.

"Your Excellency Mage!" He finally found an address that didn't sound so awkward. "Our spoils, besides the gnolls' ears, are probably just some furs and metal items that are worth money."

That was what Zhou Ren wanted. "Let me see, what kind of metal and leather do you have?"

"You can look, but can you release your restriction on us? We promise not to touch a single blade of grass or tree in your territory!" Werner said. They weren't close, so talking was fine, but examining the items wasn't very convenient.

Zhou Ren nodded, granting them entry permission. A flash of light passed, and they entered the territory as easily as a knife cutting through tofu.

The mercenaries obediently unloaded their bundles. After Zhou Ren gave them permission, they curiously walked into the territory, even jumping around in the field, seemingly trying to test the things they had encountered before.

They were just a group of mercenaries who didn't understand anything. They had strength, so they seemed particularly brash!

Zhou Ren squatted down, curiously examining the contents of the bundles. Sure enough, there were only some metal chunks, furs, and raw meat, but they seemed to be pretty good?

He tried them out, and they were all leather and wool recognized by the MC system. Wait, there were other furs too. Although he didn't know what they were for, it was always good to collect them.

As for the various raw meats, he put them all into his backpack, leaving only some metal chunks of unknown color and some black stones, as well as some knives, swords, and armor.

Zhou Ren didn't touch anything except the metal, returning them as they were. The rest, however, turned into streams of light and entered his hands, further shocking the surrounding mercenaries.

"Where did you get these things?" Zhou Ren pointed to the black stones left on the ground. As expected, it was coal.

"Your Excellency Mage!" Werner replied, "It's from a cave east of town, but that cave is often haunted, so few people go there!"

"Haunted? A haunted gold mine, huh?" Zhou Ren noted the location. In any case, it was a coal spawn point, hopefully a large mine.

He finally didn't have to run to burn charcoal himself. No amount of wood could withstand that kind of use!

"Alright!" He took the remaining coal. "Take the rest back! I don't need these things anymore!"

"Thank you, Your Excellency. Here are the fifty gold coins back!" Werner was uncharacteristically well-behaved, obediently returning the extra gold coins to Zhou Ren, making the young mage take another look at him.

He felt much better now. Since these people knew the rules and weren't ordinary vulgar mercenaries, he could consider doing some business!

Zhou Ren put his hands behind his back and continued, "Since you know the rules so well, I can give you a chance!"

Werner was stunned. "A chance? What chance?"

Zhou Ren laughed. "You'll probably be passing through here quite a few times in the future, for these gnolls?"

"Yes! The bounty from Lord Varro of Val City allows us to exchange gnoll ears for gold coins in every town!" Werner said. "A pair of ears is worth a silver coin!"

Zhou Ren remained noncommittal. He didn't really care about that. "In the future, if you still have these kinds of gains today, you can come to me. I can offer to buy them! At least it won't be lower than the market price, how about it?"

"Then thank you very much, Your Excellency Mage!" Werner seized the opportunity, reacting quickly.

"Go then!" Zhou Ren waved his hand, watching the group leave.