Chapter 118: Power of Money
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Christian closed his eyes slowly. He thought he had already seen some of the ugliest things in the caravan camp, but now he knew he was wrong.
Anfey, on the other hand, was not affected. He already knew what to expect when he saw a mercenary walking out of the tent pulling his pants up and wearing a satisfied expression on his face.
A repulsive scene was revealed. A woman was on the ground, her arms fell next to her body. Her wrists were slashed. Her legs were wide apart, and there were large wounds on the inside of her knees. Anfey narrowed his eyes. He was very familiar with human anatomy and knew that whoever did this to the woman was very cruel. The woman must have been powerful enough to be a threat, but the mercenaries didn’t want to use any antimagic bracelets and instead resorted to the most primal and painful way to weaken her.
The woman must have been beautiful once, but an ugly scar on the right side of her face had destroyed her beauty. Perhaps that was why Ahab abandoned her to this fate. A mercenary was thrusting into the woman and looked like he was about to reach the peak of happiness. He was completely unaware of the new parties in the tent.
The princess suddenly let out a heart-wrenching wail. She jumped forward and leaped onto the mercenary, beating him with her fists, trying to get him away from her friend. The mercenary shoved her aside and the princess fell to the ground. She was only a junior mage, and not in the best physical shape. She was no match for a mercenary.
"Christian, get him away from her," Anfey instructed.
Christian hesitated. If he could unleash his full power, he would not hesitate in doing so. He was fully capable of killing the mercenary in the blink of an eye. However, his mind was telling him to hold back. His was a newly found mercenary group, the other was an established merchant’s caravan. Both sides exist legally. If he killed someone, his group would attract attention and could become wanted criminals.
Christian released a wind blade that hit the mercenary on the leg. The mercenary screamed. He jumped up and grabbed his longsword.
Mercenaries were very aware of their surroundings. A few moments after the mercenary screamed, a group of mercenaries already surrounded the tent. "Don’t worry, don’t worry," Ahab explained hurriedly. "We’re all friends. No enemies here!"
The leader of the mercenaries was a man with a thick beard. He looked at his wounded companion, then turned his gaze to Anfey and Christian. He narrowed his eyes in malice, but did not act. The two parties had been traveling alongside each other for a few days and had some understanding of each other’s power.
The mercenaries didn’t know about Suzanna, or else they wouldn’t have done anything, even if Christian had killed the man. They would keep their anger to themselves until they reached White Mountain City. The mercenaries knew there were mages in Alibaba mercenary group, with two of them being junior magisters. They were worried about the consequences.
"Make him shut up. I’ll give you forty coins for him," Anfey said. He turned to Isis, and said, "I’ll give you fifty for her. That’s three hundred in total. Satisfied?"
"Of course, of course," Ahab said. He never expected the two women he had found to be so valuable. Normally, even if he had sold all his slaves, he still wouldn’t make three hundred gold coins.
The bearded mercenary nodded and looked happy. He kicked the wailing mercenary and said, "Shut it." Money was undeniably powerful. It could buy obedience, friendship, and power. It could also turn foes into friends in seconds.
"My lord," Ahab said, smiling. "You know that the journey is tiring and they can’t touch the other ones I have. The older ones aren’t as much fun, so…"
"Yes, my lord," the bearded mercenary said. "That woman injured a few of our men. All they wanted to do was to have a little fun."
"I understand," Anfey said, smiling. "We’re all men, aren’t we?"
Christian was angry, but when he saw Anfey’s smile, he felt relief. He knew that whenever Anfey smiled, it was a prelude to murder.
Ahab and the mercenaries laughed. They thought that Anfey was a good man. He didn’t hesitate when making a move, and was very understanding.
The princess looked as if she couldn’t understand what they were saying. She moved over to her friend and cradled the woman in her arms. Tears rolled down her face and fell onto the woman. Isis kept staring at the ceiling of the tent.
"Send someone to take her to my carriage. You come with me to get the money."
"Of course," Ahab replied.
The princess held Isis tightly in her arms and would not let go. The mercenaries didn’t want to shove her aside, so they found a stretcher and carried both women with them. Ahab and the bearded mercenary followed Anfey closely.
Riska was organizing their camps. Seeing that Anfey and Christian had returned with men he did not know, he walked over and looked at him curiously.
"Riska, go find our money chest with Feller."
"What?"
Christian looked at Riska and nodded. The latter hurried off to go find Feller. Suzanna was talking with Niya inside the carriage. She heard his voice and asked, "Anfey, what’s wrong?" She reach out to pull the curtain back.
"Stay inside," Anfey said loudly.
Suzanna’s hand, which was already out of the carriage, froze and quickly disappeared again. It was just a glance, but Ahab and the mercenary could tell the hand looked very small and soft, very similar to the princess’s. A woman with hands like that shouldn’t be too ugly.
"You…" Niya called out, angered by Anfey’s attitude. She didn’t say anything else after that, clearly stopped by Suzanna.
"Be quiet. Can't you tell? My lord is angry," Suzanna said softly.
"What lord…" Niya said, but she fell silent again.
Ahab and the mercenary glanced at each other. They now knew that there was another woman in the carriage, and that Anfey must have been a noble who thought it would be fun to be a mercenary.
Anfey had always admired Suzanna. Seeing that she cooperated with him so seamlessly, he thought even more highly of her.
Anfey glanced at Ahab and knew that they did not notice whether anything was off.
Riska and Feller returned. Riska stopped the levitation spell, and the chest fell to the group. It was apparent that the chest was very heavy.
Anfey opened the chest. Light bounced off of the gold coins inside and shone brilliantly, coating everything around it in a soft gold. Anfey didn’t care for it, but people Ahab brought with him all stood there, stunned.
The chest was full of coins. For people like Ahab, there was nothing more beautiful than that.
"Feller, get me three hundred coins," Anfey said.
Feller walked over and counted three hundred exactly. He put them all in a pouch and handed the heavy bag to Anfey.
When Feller was counting the coins, the people accompanying Ahab all stood there, staring. Their bodies were shaking, and if the gold coins were edible, they would have devoured them.
"Three hundred coins," Anfey said, raising his voice. "You want to count it?"
Ahab turned around and looked as if he had just woken from a pleasant dream. He took the heavy pouch, a muscle on his face twitching slightly.
"Count it," Anfey said, smiling.
"No, no need for that," Ahab said, smiling awkwardly.
"If there are any other good ones, save them for me, eh?"
"Of course, of course."
"Alright," Anfey said, waving his hands. "We’re done, then."
"We’ll be on our way," Ahab said. He elbowed the mercenary, who mumbled something and nodded.