Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

"What instructions did the Grand Duchess give me?"

"No. Please relax, Mr. Osset. You came here yourself. The Grand Duke hasn't decided whether to summon you yet."

"Actually, it's nothing major. It's just that when the mistress was going through the many contracts of mortals in the material world, she suddenly thought of something and she was a little worried about the contracts that you were in charge of taking over."

"Eastern Inasas, the Wenzel family, King Erich?"

Chapter 393 is not a criticism.

"Ah, of course... the plan, uh, the last time I saw him, he was still alive..."

“Very well, you mean he will soon be forcibly transformed into a devil, just as you planned, thus invalidating the contract.”

“Uh…” Zheng Ling was quite aggressive, which made Osses involuntarily shrink back. “Actually, not entirely. He… probably can’t be transformed.”

"but……"

"But what?" Zheng Ling raised her head, tilting it slightly to one side as she sized up the Bone Demon.

“That mortal king, Erich… he is dead.”

"I have no way to stop that mortal who went to assassinate him."

“Oses, you should protect him with your life. It’s written in black and white in the contract.”

"That's exactly what I did!" The Bone Demon exclaimed, laughing and crying at the same time. "That mortal was incredibly cunning! He first used a two-handed greatsword made of ordinary materials, then suddenly pulled out a battle blade forged from hellfire; he first tried to use infernal fire on me to no avail, but then immediately struck me on the head three times in quick succession! He sliced ​​off half of my head!"

"Then you should escape back immediately and then carry out the forced conversion."

"That's exactly what I did! But he caught me by the tail and forcibly kept me in the material world to kill me. I still can't figure out how he did it!"

"But... no matter what, the Grand Duke's interests haven't actually been harmed, have they? Heh, heh," the Bone Demon forced a laugh. "That old man is dead, the loophole in the contract has been bypassed, and his soul will still belong to the Nine Hells... it's really no big deal, is it?"

Zheng Ling paused for a moment, then shifted her position, casually leaning against the doorframe: "Yes, it's nothing serious, Osses. I didn't mean to criticize you; after all, I don't know the details."

"But as a colleague who also serves the mistress, I must remind you: returning one's soul to the Nine Hells is not so good, is it?"

The demon dukes have their own soul indicators, and the fact that they belong to the Nine Hells means that Erich's soul will not fall into Philna's hands as stated in the contract.

Compared to an immortal stain, this is still an acceptable outcome, but that was the commission that Raslaufer accepted, while the pledge made by Osses did not say that.

“Imagine if this situation were to spread in Fregetus, how many souls would escape control? Don’t forget, the mistress has two soul quotas, and Grand Duke Belial has entrusted her with this part of his authority. If this becomes the norm, it will be a fatal blow to both grand dukes.”

“Oses, I heard that you were promoted by Grand Duke Belial. Is this how you repay him?”

"No, this is absolutely not my intention! Zhengling, no, Your Excellency, please, you and the Grand Duke, believe this! My loyalty to both Grand Dukes is plain to see!"

“Yes, the mistress completely agrees with that,” Zheng Ling nodded. “You know your past is not glorious, but she is willing to believe that it was just a moment of confusion on your part, and that you have now completely repented and are utterly loyal to the two dukes.”

“But as you know, you still messed things up in the end. This fait accompli is like a hole in a piece of paper, hard to cover up. Do you understand?” Zheng Ling waited a moment, and seeing the Bone Demon nod in fear, she continued, “Although Grand Duchess Philna wanted to protect you, the law is unforgiving. Moreover, things have come to this point, and it’s inevitable that other colleagues will begin to question your abilities.”

"In this way, even if we force it, it will be difficult for you to advance further in the future. I think no duke would want you to come to this point, forever locked in the rank of Bone Demon. Even if you accept your fate, you will still be letting down Duke Belial for his appreciation and cultivation of you..."

"No, I won't accept my fate like this! I want to go further and serve my two masters better!" Osses shouted hurriedly. Demons usually have a superior-subordinate relationship and do not call those in higher positions "masters," but perhaps Zhengling had completely taken control of his emotions.

"Please tell me, show me the way, what should I do?"

“I haven’t even paid off my own debts, how could I possibly give you any advice?” Zheng Ling shook her head. “Besides, I don’t have the authority to give you suggestions. Anyway, the mistress doesn’t want to punish you again. After all, as you said, from the perspective of the Nine Hells, you haven’t really committed any major offenses.”

"If I demote you again, the lady of the house will suffer further damage to her reputation. That's enough."

As she spoke, Zhengling took a step back and was about to close the side gate again.

"Wait, wait! I know what I should do!" Just as the door, which could have been closed tightly in an instant, was reduced to a tiny crack, Osses finally shouted, "I've figured it out! I will do it, I will prove my loyalty!"

They're all devils; how could he not understand what Zhengling, or rather, Philna, meant? This was clearly making him willingly accept punishment, demoting him once again!

Although the hope of returning is extremely slim, there is still a glimmer of hope. However, if he stubbornly persists, the outcome may be uncertain. After all, death in the material world is insignificant to a demon, but dying again in the Nine Hells is truly death!

“Very good,” the gap widened slightly. “By the way, since this incident isn’t particularly serious, you don’t need to be too hard on yourself. A one-level demotion is fine. In my opinion, you’ll probably be back soon.”

Without that statement, Osset might have only been demoted one level, and now he would probably have to spend a long career in an even lower position.

"Perhaps this can be considered as making up for the shortcoming of his rapid promotion. If he can climb up again this time, both you and Belial will have to consider really making good use of him."

A moment later, in a special hall in the theater, as Zheng Ling returned and took the stage to describe the entire process, the guest sitting next to Grand Duchess Philna chuckled: "However, will he once again covet your seats? That's something to look forward to."

"If I lose my position, do you think you'll be safe and sound?" Philna's smile was icy. "Putting everything else aside, besides Lord Asmodeus, I'm probably the only one willing to let you exploit loopholes and not hold it against you. Otherwise, if I had that mortal kill your debtor, wouldn't you end up with nothing?"

"Oh, of course. After all, if he dies before he's even been king for a day, he'll definitely sue me in the hell court. But we're best allies, aren't we? Even if we want to kill him, we'll at least wait until he's on the throne."

"Don't worry, you create conditions for me, and I will also give back. I won't poach your people. You have two targets to meet, and the restrictions my father has set for me are extremely strict. We each have a mess to clean up."

The two dukes chuckled knowingly. They wouldn't get tired of this nonsense even if it was repeated for ten thousand years. After all, it was an essential part of maintaining their status. They themselves might not believe it, but they had to convince other great demons and beings capable of coveting this position that it was true.

The position of Grand Duke of Hell is infinitely more coveted than the throne of a mortal.

Chapter 394 Return to War

When Raslaufer returned to Zebrech, news of the death of the old King Erich and the ascension of Prince Henning had already spread throughout the surrounding area. For this kingdom of Eastern Inassace, perhaps this meant that fresh blood could finally begin to flow again.

But before that, the excess fluid in the blood vessels must be removed.

Perhaps due to the profound fear of death, Henning made no mention of Raslaufer, instead directing his criticism, as Doppler had suggested, at Earl Nedoule and Baron Scott, who were present at the time. Naturally, the two families and their allies were not pleased with such accusations.

But if simply opposing or supporting something could solve everything, then people like Raslaufer would all be out of a job.

“Going out again? You just got home,” Angelita now truly understood how Skadi felt back then. She stared wide-eyed at Leslaufer. “You’re not short of money at all!”

“That’s a different matter,” Doble adjusted his armor. “This is a mercenary, Anne. Although we can’t travel far, we can’t neglect the business at our doorstep.”

“Not to mention they’re old acquaintances.” Angelita rolled her eyes, a hint of sourness in her voice.

Henning's best weapon for taking over the inner Dole territory is naturally the outer Dole next to it. While Skuld's most reliable warband is the Dole Thorn, who else can she rely on personally besides Raslaufer?

Henning also sent a large sum of money to support this campaign, with the surplus enough to make up for the wealth that the two brothers had almost squandered. For this reason alone, Skadi had no reason to refuse. And since it was His Majesty the King's money, Raslaufer naturally had no reason not to take advantage of it.

"Then I want to go too!" Angelita ran back into the house, took out her long poem of perseverance, and said, "When Teacher Bohr comes, you'll definitely ask for an exorbitant price, and I want to make money too!"

"Your Highness," Mary quickly stepped in to stop him, "the battlefield and a journey of adventure are not the same thing. Lord Raslaufer cannot watch over you. What if something happens to you?"

“If you want to go, then go,” Surprisingly, Raslaufer tapped his armor and did not object to the suggestion. “It’s just a battle between two earls, and the total number of people usually does not exceed two thousand.”

It is true that there are many mercenaries in East Inasas, but they will not serve anyone for free, and given the individual wealth of the counts, it is often difficult to gather more than a thousand soldiers.

Of these people, about a third or even half were conscripted militia. For ordinary knights, this number might be life-threatening once it reaches a certain threshold, but for Angelita, who is also a spellcaster, it would be difficult to be effective unless this number is doubled.

“But you can’t just go to the battlefield like that, Anne,” Raslaufer said, throwing cold water on Angelita’s rising smile. “Vondal’s leather armor may be sturdy and durable, but it’s not for warriors, at least not for warriors charging into battle.”

"You need to purchase a set of formal armor, heavy and expensive, but it will save your life. However, this will make it impossible for you to make money, at least not until your teacher arrives."

Complete suits of armor are not cheap, especially before a war, when prices soar. Reislauver learned this the hard way. Fortunately, a good set of armor can usually be patched and worn for decades. If you spread the high price over each day of use, it's actually quite worthwhile.

But that has nothing to do with Angelita. Raslaufer doesn't think a princess should become a mercenary who lives a life of bloodshed—or at least a chapter leader, right?

But Angelita clearly didn't really care about making money, and she agreed without hesitation. However, even so, Raslaufer wouldn't really keep her by his side, but planned to have the girl replace Skadi as one of his bodyguards.

Dupler's pay wasn't for nothing; he had to take on the most dangerous work, and any distraction would be suicide. Fortunately, Angelita wasn't unreasonable; as long as she wasn't left at home, everything would be fine.

“Then, if you want to go, we can make room for Skadi,” Dople said, looking at Mary. “Your talent in swordsmanship is really beyond my expectations, but the swordsmanship of Corazond is more focused on duels or small-scale conflicts. If you don’t have an urgent need for blood, it’s better to stay with Anne.”

“I will protect Your Highness’s safety, and if the time is right, Lady Skadi will also be under my protection.” Mary bowed slightly. Beside Angelita, not only had her swordsmanship improved, but also her various imperial etiquette.

Although in Eastern Inasas this would be nothing more than flirting with the blind.

"Hmm, then... where's Daisy?" Leslaufer looked around, feeling like something was missing—the house was far too quiet.

“Miss Momo couldn’t stand the environment here and ran off to a tavern in a nearby town the afternoon after you left,” Mary smiled. Although the name “Daisy Dewdrop Momo” was so unlike her real name that others had no choice but to call her by her first name, the strange-sounding surname was a good idea for teasing. “If we’re looking for armor for His Highness, we might be able to find her.”

Like everyone else, the bard claimed to be "earning money to pay off her debts," but everyone knew that Angelita never intended for her to pay it back, and she didn't really want to pay it back either—she just preferred a lively environment, and the chaotic atmosphere of the tavern matched her personality perfectly.

“Then let’s leave her be,” Raslaufer waved his hand. It’s best not to disturb the bard and the tavern. “Hiring spellcasters to fight is expensive, so let’s not let Skadi spend that money.”

The room, which had only been occupied for a few days, was empty again. After placing a note on the dining table informing Daisy, the three quickly left the village. At the entrance of the nearby town, brand-new conscription notices could be seen. On the streets, ordinary-dressed civilians had quietly decreased, while the number of people wearing the leather jackets that Raslaw had worn before had begun to increase.

Just as they were about to turn into the market, they saw an old woman with gray hair that reached her ankles, her back hunched, struggling to climb onto a large wooden box. Waving a wad of messy papers in her hand, she suddenly let out a hoarse, desperate cry:

"Ice and snow turn to blood, fledgling wings fall to the ground. Behold, the end of Inasas is nigh!"

Chapter 395 The Witch's Prophecy

"what happened?"

Prophecies of impending doom or other upheavals are commonplace everywhere, and Leslaufer was used to them and wouldn't pay them much attention. But today seemed different.

Ice and snow represent winter, blood represents war or murder—the latter he had just committed, and the former is about to happen, those fledglings…

Henning had previously said that the prophecy of his succession to the throne was also obtained from a witch.

The mercenaries instinctively pushed their way through the crowd.

What are you yelling about?

“Oh, a mercenary, and one of the best,” the old woman said, though her appearance was withered and strange, her eyesight was still good, and she recognized Reslaufer at a glance. “A harbinger of war, and also the result of war, a vulture among a flock of ravens fighting over a carcass… Do you want to find out the location of the next corpse from me?”

“I just want you to explain what you were shouting about.” Raslaufer frowned. Perhaps he shouldn’t have expected to get anything serious from a rambling fellow.

“That’s not your fate, buddy. That’s what I’ve divined about Inathas’s future,” the woman, whether a real witch or not, tremblingly stretched out her hand and showed Leslaufer the papyrus she was holding. “Look at these… I can explain them to you.”

“Wisps of faintly glowing smoke and mist connect in the air, gold coins hang like fruit on a dead tree, and the constellation Anemo paces endlessly in the night… All the changes in this world are interconnected on a deeper level, and what connects these changes and us mortals is the gods of this world.”

"Gods are not omniscient, so the messages they convey to mortals are limited and one-sided. But if we pay attention and search carefully, we can find the same answer to the future in different visions, and the most recent one is war."

“Perhaps we don’t need to trouble the gods with this matter; we can just look at the notices at the town entrance,” Mary shrugged and whispered behind Leslaufer.

"No, child, no!" To everyone's surprise, the witch's hearing was also good, and she immediately cried out in rebuttal, "What I'm talking about is not a petty squabble between two counts, or a civil war within the kingdom. What the prophecy foretells is a war that will sweep across the entire Inathas!"

"Ancient prophecies return with malice, and even more ancient nightmares return to us, while humanity continues to harm one another! I believe the fledgling in the prophecy is our nascent, fragile civilization, and we will—"

Before the witch could finish speaking, the market managers quickly arrived at the scene and dragged the madwoman away. From their words, it seemed that this was not the first time she had done something like this.

“I know her, that charlatan and swindler,” a townsman who happened to be passing by muttered. “You guys are really lucky. If the person in charge had been a couple of steps later, you would have had to pay her money.”

"Did she tell you some nonsense about gold coins growing on dead trees? Actually, she hung them up one by one, and someone saw it with their own eyes! She used money wasted on people like you!"

"She's a fraud?" Leslaufer and Angelita exchanged glances.

She must have some real skills, at least some of which do match what they know—but that's hard to say.

“If you stick to a lie long enough, someone will eventually fall for it because it matches what they know. Maybe we’re the ones who should become her customers today,” Leslaufer shook his head. “Never mind, I’m probably just overthinking it. Besides, what she’s saying has nothing to do with us.”

The shaman who proclaimed the end of the world at the street corner seemed to be just an interlude. Raslaufer quickly found the shop he remembered and picked out a helmet and armor for Angelita, as well as a thin iron mask.

This little thing wasn't very heavy, but it could conceal the faces of the people from the Angrita Empire and prevent unnecessary harm. The shop owner wanted to sell another one to Mary, but she firmly refused.

“The extra weight forces me to calculate unnecessary variables, which is not good for me,” Margaret said. “No matter how thin the mask is, it is still made of iron.”

For users of the Corazonde sword technique, precision is of paramount importance. Without relying on this premise and actively abandoning mathematics as a powerful tool, everything else is futile.

In the end, Mary only bought a thick shawl, a little trick that Raslaufer often used when wearing casual clothes, which further complemented her variations in swordsmanship and footwork. Compared to her, Angreta looked like she had gained several sizes.

"Why does the front of the breastplate have to bulge out so much?" The fully equipped girl was clearly not yet fully used to her new gear. The fur-lined gauntlets tapped against the exaggerated bulge on her chest, producing a hollow, muffled sound. "Even though there's no mirror, I think I must look really stupid right now..."

“It’s the idiots who die on the battlefield, Anne,” Leslaufer laughed. “Don’t be fooled by its weight. If a blunt object like a hammer were to strike your chest, if your ribcage and chest were to follow the armor plates, it would collapse immediately.”

However, if sufficient redundancy is created in front, the force required to strike the wearer's chest will increase exponentially, and even if they are still injured, the chances of them surviving will be much higher.

Even if there were chaplains accompanying the army, most of them would not go to the battlefield, which meant that if they wanted to receive treatment, they would have to hold on until they were carried off the battlefield.

After a moment of awkwardness, Angelita finally got used to the extra weight on her body. However, when they went to the tavern to look for Daisy, they didn't see the bard. The other patrons were unaware of this and just kept complaining that the drinks tasted a bit bland today.

Daisy is skilled in a variety of singing styles and is definitely one of the best among the bards of Eastern Inathas. Once you've heard her sing, it's hard to accept the singing styles of other bards.

“Since Miss Daisy is so popular here, let’s not bother her,” Angreta’s suppressed laughter came from behind the mask. “Uncle Raslaufer, I just saw a recruitment assembly point behind the tavern. Should we go there to sign up?”

“No, why go there?” Leslaufer waved his hand. “There are no acquaintances there, so I have to participate as an individual. Those with fixed warbands go to the warband’s headquarters to report. Usually, that’s the route I usually take, but this time is different.”

"Let's go, let's go straight to the employer!"

Chapter 396 Pre-war Planning

While ordinary mercenaries are armed and armored, it is quite difficult to recruit them out of thin air. Some of these recruits will become adventurers, others will become bandits and thieves, and the majority of the rest will inevitably fall into the hands of the lord's recruiting officers and warband leaders.

In such circumstances, obtaining the full reward is extremely difficult; in fact, if one registers at the recruiting officer's office, bribery is often necessary. Things only begin to improve after surviving several battles, forging brotherhoods with three or five fellow soldiers, building strong interpersonal relationships, gaining a reputation, and receiving better treatment.

Raslaufer truly embarked on this path after rescuing the Lion Dahl. Once he became Dubler and even began to be nicknamed "Dead" within the East Inasas mercenary group, he almost never went through these procedures again, and the cut-offs in between naturally disappeared.

Even in the vicinity of East Inassus, such as parts of the central or eastern sea, recruiters who knew his name but were not very familiar with him would have to give him money in return. Firstly, if they could recruit a warrior like Raslaufer, they themselves would receive rewards and prestige. Secondly, if they were to meet Raslaufer on the battlefield in the future, they would hope that Raslaufer would spare their lives.

If it weren't for these or even more complex relationships, only two or three out of a hundred mercenaries would probably be lucky enough to live to retirement age.