Chapter 41: Mercenaries
"How much does a Normal Grade Summoning Crystal usually cost?"
The silence inside the carriage was finally broken after Miguel asked these words.
Gasper and the other two kids look at him and then at the coachman. Although they were grimoire summoners, they were still also curious about the Summoning Crystals.
The coachman was a middle-aged man with a well-formed goatee. Like the other coachmen, he was also wearing a straw coat with a shirt underneath it. He was muscular and looked strong, even Gasper who was already quite muscular pale in comparison to him.
On his waist was a sheathed sword. Looking at its handle alone, Miguel was able to tell that it was not made of ordinary materials and was probably a graded sword.
The coachman was obviously a man with few words. He took a quick glance at Miguel and simply replied, "More than 20,000 Gold Coins for the smallest ones."
An exclamation of surprise was heard behind Miguel. The two boys and even Gasper gasped in shock upon hearing that ridiculous amount. He was given a lot of gold coins by his mom but even that was not a tenth of a Summoning Crystal’s price. And that price was even the cheapest ones.
Miguel thought for a moment and asked curiously, "For you to be able to have a Wind Horse bound by a Summoning Crystal. Does being a coachman really pay that much or are you a rich person to begin with?"
The coachman scoffed and said, "Of course not. I am just a mercenary. Being a coachman is just a side job for me. Me and the others just rented these Summoning Crystals from a company in Blazing City, we still need to return them undamaged. Else, we would pay the fine of the Summoning Crystal and the Wind Horses worth in gold."
"Well, being a coachman of a Level 2 Beast is indeed a lucrative and high paying side-job. It’s not dangerous as well so most of the weaker mercenaries like me would do these kinds of jobs. If we do it successfully a few more times, we would be able to afford our own Summoning Crystals. Of course, the slot for these kinds of jobs is very hard to get so one must line up and wait for their turn. This is a business after all."
Miguel nodded his head, finally understanding the cases of this coachmen. It turns out they were not the real owner of these Level 2 Beasts.
Erika was tasked to bring the new awakeners of Peach Village to the Blazing City. It was the main branch who hired and rented these carriages for her to use on the trip.
Although the cost was high, the main branch believed that this investment would more than double in value in a few years when the new awakeners matured and help the family in some matters.
As courtesy, Miguel asked the coachman’s name. His name was Randy, a lowly-mercenary in Blazing City’s mercenary guild.
Although Randy was a man of few words, he still answered Miguel’s questions one after the other. Randy has met a lot of grimoire summoners all these years and he knew how strong they would become and how fraudulent their abilities were. He did not want to offend budding grimoire summoners just because he did not answer a simple question of theirs.
Miguel took advantage of this and inquired a lot regarding the mercenaries. He was curious about what kind of job and commissions they usually do, how the pay was and so on.
Jonas and the other two guardians in Peach Village were also mercenaries hired by the Red Family. However, as they were only guarding a relatively safe village at the corner of Blazing City, their pay was not high, compared to other mercenary jobs.
"There are a lot of mercenary jobs posted in our guild. Gathering medicinal plants, gathering materials, mining metals, and so on. High level jobs require a team to do it, for example, eliminating a beast. In regards to the last one, not anyone could just contend with a beast. So mercenaries will form a team and go into an expedition of some sort. The ones who are doing these kinds of jobs are mostly mercenary groups. Most of them can kill a Level 3 Beast with enough preparation and top tier mercenary groups can even kill Level 5 Beasts." Randy stated. His voice carried a hint of reverence upon the mention of those mercenary groups.
"Can everyone register as being a mercenary?" Gasper broke his silence and asked.
Randy nodded his head and replied, "Yes. In fact, some Grimoire Summoners also registered to become one. They are mostly forming their own mercenary group though and most of them have a high status, if not the leader of a mercenary group."
Due to this topic, the carriage was no longer silent. The two other boys also asked some questions while Miguel listened attentively to the side. Randy answered their inquiries attentively, earning the goodwill of the budding grimoire summoners.
With the Wind Horses speed, the trip to Red Stone City was cut in more than a half the time normal carriages do.
Surroundings flashed at the carriage sped through the rough road. It was a good thing that the carriages were not built with simple materials, else, the ride would not be as comfy as they were now.
At the two hour mark of the journey, the carriages suddenly slowed down. Randy looked at the carriage in front, not knowing what happened. There was not supposed to be any stop during the journey to Red Stone City as it was not very far.
His hand let go of one of the horse reins as it automatically moved towards the handle of his swords.
Seeing his actions, Miguel also observed the surroundings, gripping the dagger on his waist as he prepared to summon the grimoire in an instant, preparing for a possible battle ahead.
"Is everything ok there?" Randy frowned and shouted towards the front, this time, the carriage had already come into a full stop.
"What’s going on?" One of the boys asked, tension filled his heart when the surroundings became deathly silent after Randy’s shout.
Gasper glared at him and gestured with a ’sshh’ shutting the boy down to silence.
Everyone’s guard was up due to this sudden situation.
Even Randy felt the tension rising in the air as he gripped his sword while looking ahead.
The next moment, a head suddenly popped into everyone’s vision.
It was the head of a beast!
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