Chapter 158
“Excuse me.”
Iceline spoke only a few words before walking into the room. She was trying her best to control her nerves, but she couldn’t completely hide her emotions. It wasn’t really strange because she was still a young woman rather than a full-fledged lady.
“Well—”
“I want you to finish what you were saying earlier.”
As soon as she stepped into the room, Joshua’s voice entered her ears.
Stop.
Iceline briefly revealed a look of disappointment. Of course, it was just brief, and she quickly assumed a stoic look before asking, “Are you talking about what I said about the Mercenary King Barbarian?”
"Yes." Joshua nodded without hesitation.
Iceline thought about it for a moment before saying, “I’m sure you have already figured out a few things. How about you tell me that first?”
“Well, that’s easy,” Joshua casually said, “But I think we should talk about the Rebrecca Family before anything else, what do you think?”
“…” Joshua looked like he was asking for Iceline’s permission. Fortunately, Iceline nodded in agreement after a brief pause.
“It does not matter,” she said.
“All right." Joshua nodded once with bright eyes.
"Marquis Crombell is the suspected perpetrator of the Rebrecca Family's demise, and he’s also attacking the Pontier Family as we speak. The Mercenary King Barbarian is apparently standing behind him."
“...”
“Actually, I was confused when I saw you with Akshuller the first time. I couldn’t understand why he was with you. It would seem normal at first glance—mercenaries look egalitarian and free-spirited, but the truth is that no one is as hierarchical as they are,” said Joshua.
Those who had worked in a particular field would know that field well. Joshua had been a mercenary for a long time in his past life, so he knew them better than anyone. The mercenaries’ hierarchy was no less rigid than the knights.
Their system of dividing people using cards was an excellent example. If they only wanted a way for mercenaries to prove their identities, there should have been no reason to divide mercenaries into ranks.
“They both have a Diamond card, but Barbarian is the first Mercenary King. No one can deny that he’s the king of a million mercenaries,” said Joshua.
He stared at Iceline for a moment and saw that she was quiet. Upon seeing that, he continued. “There can only be one reason why Akshuller is defying the Mercenary King. it is to help the one and only remaining descendant of Count Rebrecca, whom the Mercenary King has already brought down.”
“…”
“You and Mr. Akshuler—as a third party, I have no idea what kind of relationship you have with each other or what kind of deal you two made with each other, but one thing is for sure…” Joshua trailed off.
He stared right into Iceline’s eyes and said, “There’s no way that the Mercenary King and the Mighty Akshuller have a good relationship. Otherwise, Akshuller wouldn’t have helped me.”
“…”
“They are no ordinary mercenaries. Those two are literally the face of a million mercenaries. This sounds ruthless, but someone like Akshuller would never make a move because of something as simple as an old relationship when such a move could destabilize the entire organization.”
“That’s true.” Iceline nodded.
“Anyway, the bottom line is that those two aren’t on good terms, and something had to have caused a rift between them. That’s all I can guess with my rough knowledge. If my knight were here, I would be able to narrow it down and make more guesses...”
“Your knight?” Iceline asked, perplexed.
“A little feisty, but a very capable friend."
“Yes, she’s a feisty little knight but a very capable friend.” Joshua chuckled upon recalling the image of a certain blue-eyed individual. “Anyway, is that enough?”
“Of course. And thank you for telling me. I knew it was a sensitive topic…”
“You trusted me when you had no way out, and as I said before, I understand.”
“…” Iceline chose to remain silent upon hearing that.
‘What should I say?’ Joshua was just too good at being thoughtful. Even the usually stoic Iceline could feel her emotions changing just by talking to him. ‘If he approaches other women…’
Iceline hurriedly shook her head to dismiss the fleeting thoughts that came to her mind.
“You’re correct. Akshuller hates the Mercenary King to the point of disgust, and it is to the extent that many mercenaries may have already been affected by their bad relationship.”
“Disgust…” Joshua recalled how Akshuller preached about the existence of mercenaries.
In more ways than one, the Mercenary Guild was akin to merchants. Rather than selling commodities; however, they exchange their manpower for compensation. Ergo, to remain as profitable as possible, mercenaries had to remain neutral—if they favored someone or a nation, what would people think of the Mercenary Guild?
Iceline coolly continued. “Rumors about how the Mercenary King has been taking care of Marquis Crombell have long spread throughout the continent. Actually, there are some rumors about how the Mercenary King has some kind of relationship with Emperor Marcus.”
“Those rumors weren’t baseless. The Mercenary King’s actions so far have been nothing but more or less interfering with a nation’s internal affairs. You can package it and say that the Mercenary King was simply moving to fulfill a Quest, but there is a limit to that. In addition, the current emperor of Avalon clearly has maximum tolerance when it comes to him…”
Iceline clenched her fists and started trembling upon recalling those days.
At the sight of that, Joshua muttered, “The Mercenary King is the leader of the Mercenary Guild, so his actions could be taken as the opinion of the entire guild. As such, Mr. Akshuller judged that the Mercenary King was corrupting the guild. He has been looking forward to confronting the Mercenary King for a long time now, is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“Hmm.” Joshua cupped his chin and fell into deep contemplation.
Eventually, he asked, “So what do you want me to do?”
“The plan involves Mr. Akshuller winning this year’s Masters’ Battle and officially challenging one of the Twelve Superhumans. Naturally, his target is the Mercenary King.”
“That’s the perfect plan. If all goes according to plan, he will take the Mercenary King’s seat as one of the Twelve Superhumans, and everything will be cleanly resolved.”
“Yes.” Iceline nodded.
‘However…’ Honestly, Joshua was having some reservations.
It couldn’t be helped because he already knew what would happen. He still had no idea about the relationship between Barbarian and Akshuller, but he knew the winner of this year’s Masters’ Battle.
Assuming that the future wouldn’t change, the winner of this year’s Masters’ Battle would be…
“I see…” muttered Joshua before asking, “So you want me to challenge the Mercenary King if Mr. Akshuller loses?”
“That’s not it.” Iceline shook her head. She looked like she was feeling unwell as she said, “Originally, I was going to ask you to stop Mr. Akshuller from challenging the Mercenary King when he wins, but I’ve never seen him so nervous before...”
Iceline went silent for a moment before continuing. “When I saw how nervous Mr. Akshuller is over the past few days, I think that it will be quite difficult for him to become the champion of this competition, so I think there’s no need for me to worry.”
“…” At that, Joshua didn’t know what to say.
“Anyway, I was going to say that I want you to avoid the Mercenary King. Whether you’ll win or lose—it doesn’t matter. I just want you to avoid him.”
“You…” Joshua stared deeply into Iceline’s eyes. “I’ve met him before, so—”
“Stop.” Iceline interrupted with an anguished look, which was unprecedented considering her usual stoic demeanor. “I beg you. I do not want to lose the people around me anymore.”
“…” Iceline paused. She stared at the silent Joshua for a moment before asking, “We… we’re friends, right?”
“Friends…” Joshua chuckled at that. “I’ll take your advice to heart.”
“Then…!” Iceline instantly brightened up.
“For now.”
“...?” Iceline tilted her head at Joshua’s firm voice.
.
“That’s for the day I win the Masters’ Battle. For now, I have to focus on my upcoming fights…”
“Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you—” Iceline bowed, seemingly confused.
The sight made Joshua smile brightly.
“Since the Iceline zin Rebrecca that I’m familiar with has finally returned…” Joshua trailed off.
“What?" Iceline stared at him blankly.
“Your expression.” Joshua lifted a finger and booped her nose. “It looks a lot better than before.”
“…” At the unexpected words, Iceline could only stare dumbfoundedly at Joshua.
“All right, we digressed for too long. Shall we get to the point now?”
“Get to the point?”
“Yup,” Joshua responded and directly removed his robe.
“...!” Iceline’s eyes widened in shock.
“W-w-what are you doing?!” Iceline stammered at Joshua’s shocking and sudden action. Joshua was wearing a short-sleeved shirt beneath the coat, but Iceline was still badly startled by his action of removing his robe.
Iceline’s porcelain face turned as red as a tomato, and it actually became a bit unbelievable that someone like her had a usually stoic demeanor.
“What?" muttered a bewildered Joshua. He stared at Iceline in confusion and asked the latter, “I thought body measurements are necessary for the creation of a custom-made Reipon? I should remove my robe to ensure that the measurements are accurate.”
“W-well, you only had to stand still. Leave the rest to me.”
“…?” Joshua still seemed confused, but he still nodded at her. “Then, please.”
“All right,” Iceline muttered in a voice resembling a mosquito’s droning.
Just like that, the long night of the opening day came to an end.
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