Chapter 334: Dependent
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Ozzic did not respond to the question. Instead, he turned and glanced at Anfey. This was a decision he must make since he arrived at Moramatch. However, it wasn’t a hard one considering Anfey’s connections. Anfey once fought alongside Slanbrea and Bruzuryano and helped them defeat the necromancer Annunciata. He was a student of Archmage Saul and was close with people like Baery, Miorich, and Steger. He even had a master swordsman with him.
Ozzic and his men trusted Anfey more as well. They had offended him once before, but Anfey did not hold it against them and saved their lives. This showed that Anfey was a trustworthy person. Ozzic knew that he would not risk his life to save someone who once threatened him. Manlyn, on the other hand, was clearly a selfish person. Nothing good would come from allying with him.
Ozzic had decided who he would ally himself with. He knew that Manlyn could not keep on acting like he was the ruler of the town. This was why he endured the unfair treatment instead of rebelling against Manlyn.
Anfey nodded at Ozzic. Ozzic turned to the mercenaries and bellowed, "Who do you think you are? You aren’t important enough to be giving me orders."
The mercenaries all stopped in their tracks and stared at Ozzic, surprised. They had never heard Ozzic yell at anyone. The leader of the group of mercenaries glared at Ozzie and turned to Anfey. When a quiet man like Ozzic suddenly become fearless, it meant that he felt protected. "Who are you?" the man asked. "Which mercenary group do you belong to?"
"I’ve seen a lot of fools, but never one as foolish as you," Ozzic spat. "This is Count Anfey, the real owner of this town. He doesn’t need your permission to come here."
The mercenaries all murmured to each other. Anfey didn’t want to be too famous, but it wasn’t up to him. He had made a name for himself after he destroyed a griffin aerial squadron and foiled the necromancers’ plan. He was almost as famous as Scarlet from Shansa Empire. Because most people are commoners and Anfey himself was a commoner, most people still preferred to talk about one of their own instead of Scarlet, who was from a royal family.
The mercenary that just asked Anfey who he was took a few steps back. Anfey might be a dangerous person, but he should be smart enough to know that now was not the time to cause a fight between mercenaries. The mercenaries trusted Manlyn, who rarely made mistakes. He did not understand why Anfey was there, but he wasn’t as worried as he would be otherwise.
"Move out of the way," Ozzic growled.
The mercenaries glanced at Anfey and turned to leave.
"Wait," Anfey said.
The mercenaries ignored him and kept leaving.
"Christian," Anfey turned and said, "can you stop them?"
Christian looked around and nodded. "No problem," he said.
"Suzanna, Blavi, take care of the mages over on the towers."
"They’re my men, my lord," Ozzic said hurriedly.
"Good," Anfey said with a smile. "Easier for us."
The mercenaries were gathering around, leaving a large, empty spot in the street. Most of the mercenaries around them were Ozzic’s men or mercenaries who were unsatisfied with Manlyn’s way of doing things. Seeing that someone was finally standing up to Manlyn’s people, they were all very excited and wanted to help. Mercenaries lived in danger and did not lack the will to fight. All they needed was someone to stand up for them. Christian whispered a spell and raised his wand into the air. A large magic barrier appeared, covering all the mercenaries.
Last time they left Sacred City, they only brought the most important things with them. Learning magic did not require wands, so none of Saul’s students had one. This time, the mages were armed from head to toe. Christian had the advantage of being a prince and had access to weapons that normally were off limits. Now, this barrier he created could contain not only sound, but also magic and combat power surges.
Anfey jumped up the moment the barrier formed. His right hand was concealed by a turquoise glove, a wedding gift from Bruzuryano. The glove could increase his ability to gather wind element and increase the power of wind blades. Anfey already could gather elements very quickly. With the help of the glove, he was almost as good as Christian. He found his bow in his dimensional ring and made an arrow from wind elements. He then drew the bowstring back and sent the arrow flying towards the mercenaries. He made two more arrows and sent those into the group of mercenaries as well.
The arrows flew at the mercenaries at an incredible speed. The three arrows found three separate targets and disappeared as those mercenaries fell into the ground. He nocked the fourth arrow but did not let it loose. Instead, it was Suzanna who launched into the group of mercenaries. Her sword swept through them, leaving a dozen dead with just one stroke. The difference in power was too great and the mercenaries did not even see her coming. They did not stand a chance.
Ozzic watched in shock. He thought that Anfey would spent some more time preparing instead of straight up slaughtering these men.
Suzanna jumped away from the mercenaries and returned her sword to its sheath. With her sword out of sight, she resumed her guise of gentleness once more. It was hard to imagine that she was the same woman who had just slaughtered a dozen men in cold blood.
Suzanna stood on the other side of the magic barrier and watched the mercenaries inside, with no expression on her face. A few mercenaries were walking around the corner and were shocked by the presence of the barrier.
"Anfey," Christian called softly.
"Ozzic, can you take care of this?" Anfey asked.
"Yes, my lord," Ozzic said. He was glad that he made the right choice. If he had chosen to ally himself with Manlyn, surely Anfey and his people would go after him next.
"Are there are other Jagged Rose mercenaries here?"
"No, my lord. They are all in the houses near the center of town."
"There’s two here!" someone in the crowd called.
The mercenaries around them automatically cleared away, revealing two men on the ground, writhing in pain.
"Ye?" Anfey said quietly.
"Welcome back, my lords," Ye said, bowing. In a world of chaos, the best thing a man can do was to find a powerful man he could befriend. Anfey was the only option available.
Ozzic frowned. He remembered the two Jagged Rose mercenaries. He thought they had already left. He was angry that Ye stole the spotlight, but he knew that without Ye’s assistance, the two mercenaries could tip off the others, and he was grateful for that.
Most of the mercenaries present were Ozzic’s men, and they all remembered Anfey. The others, however, did not know who Anfey was. They were glad someone was standing up to Manlyn’s men, but did not understand the implications. They did know who Ye was and that Anfey must be an important man.