Chapter 47: The Queen of Mercenaries

  "This young lady... wants to join your mercenary group."

  As Old Han Ke spoke, Luo De shifted his gaze to the woman beside him, and under his scrutiny, she finally removed her hood, revealing her true face.

  She was a girl who looked like she was only sixteen or seventeen years old.

  Her delicate face, exquisite features and a head of beautiful, snow-white long hair made her stand out even more. A pair of crimson eyes sparkled with curiosity. Her face bore the confidence and pride unique to nobility, and from the intricately crafted collar on the girl's clothes and the complex patterns on it, it was clear that she must be the daughter of some noble family.

  "This young lady is..."

  Rod furrowed his brow; he didn't want any accidents to happen.

  "Hello, Mr. Rhod Ailant."

  The girl stretched out her own hand with a big smile and said.

  "I am Marlene Sennia, as you've heard, and I hope to be able to join your mercenary band, please give me this one chance."

  "Marlene Sennia?"

  But when he heard the girl introduce herself, Luo De was stunned for a moment, and then a look of surprise appeared on his face.

  Marlene Sanya. This name is not unfamiliar to Rode at all. In the game, this character is quite famous among players and even has a nickname called "Queen of Mercenaries". It is rumored that this lady is a genius in magic, breaking through the limitations of an inner ring mage at the age of 19 and establishing a mercenary group called "Ring of Freedom", which can be said to be one of the most talented girls in Muun. However, among players, this lady is not very popular because it is rumored that she has a strange habit - she dislikes men very much.

  This is very obvious in the game, all mercenaries of the Ring of Freedom are women, and there is not a single man. Those male players who want to join are also rejected, and this mercenary group only accepts tasks from female players, even those male players who want to hire several mercenaries with their wealth are rejected. This makes many players hate this woman so much that they can't sleep at night. So most people don't have a good impression of this mysterious woman, known as the "Queen of Mercenaries", and some even despise her.

  Although she was hated by many players, Marlene's ending is a standard heroic finale - when facing the Night Country's attack, she and her subordinates resisted the Night Country's attack for three days and three nights outside the Golden City, and finally launched a suicidal forbidden spell under heavy siege. From this point of view, it is indeed awe-inspiring.

  Although Rode had also heard of the young lady's name, due to his "male" identity, he hadn't met her in person. Now that he heard she was in Deep Stone City and wanted to join his mercenary group, it left Rode quite astonished. Didn't they say that young lady hated men? How could she possibly take the initiative to come find him? Or did she think of herself as a woman? It shouldn't be such an absurd thing happening, right?

  Looking at Marlene's outstretched right hand, Rod was also somewhat puzzled. Could it be that this was just a case of same name, different person? It didn't make sense, the other party was indeed surnamed Xian'nia, and from her attire, she seemed to be a noble family member, but... The Xian'nia family was far away in Golden City, so why would this young lady abandon the good King's Magic Academy and come to this poor and remote place of Deepstone City? Was she responding to some sort of call to go to the countryside?

  "I've heard of your name, Miss Xianya."

  Roth replied calmly and quietly, while holding the other person's hand. He didn't know much about this legendary figure's story, no different from other players, but he still understood the ordinary situation.

  "If there's anything offending, please forgive me, but... shouldn't you be in school at this time..."

  At Rod's question, Marlene and Old Hunk both flashed a hint of unusual color in their eyes.

  Marlin found it interesting because the other party actually knew her identity, and even understood some things about herself. This shows that what she heard from Old Hank about the strange mercenary captain being a noble was not entirely wrong. Old Hank, on the other hand, was somewhat surprised, he didn't think Rode would really get involved with nobles. Although many people have had such speculations all along, it's hard to stand firm without actual evidence. Now, Rode has finally shown his noble side, and this kind of news usually only spreads among noble children. If Rode was just an ordinary mercenary, it would be impossible for him to know about these things.

  That's right.

  Perhaps because she had confirmed that Rode was "one of us", the reserve and pride that Marlene initially showed also dissipated a lot.

  "My mentor thinks that I've already reached a certain level of proficiency, and to further improve, I need some actual combat experience. That's why I asked Uncle Serek for this opportunity, so I can come here and train."

  It turned out to be related to Serak.

  Roth suddenly realized that it was obvious, the Xanthea family had sent their daughter to this place just because of the face of this sword master, but before that, Roth still had something to confirm.

  "Miss Marlene."

  At this thought, Roder withdrew his hand, his face slightly sinking.

  "Since Uncle Hank brought you here, I suppose you've already learned about our situation from him. To be frank, we're currently short-handed, but that's exactly why following us on a mission can be very dangerous, especially with the four-star level mission we just received. If something unexpected happens, there's a high possibility of catastrophic consequences. In this situation, are you willing to stake your life and join my mercenary group?"

  Facing Rode's inquiry, Marlin slightly raised her chin, revealing a confident and somewhat cunning smile.

  "I can certainly understand what you mean, Mr. Lord. However, this is actually a good thing for me, and as a Zhonghuan Fa master, I am still very confident in my own abilities."

  Is it good for her instead?

  Upon hearing Marlene's response, Rod looked at Old Hank with a puzzled expression. He hadn't had any contact with this "Queen of Mercenaries" in the game, and from their first impression now, she seemed like a very independent and proud person, but her words left Rod somewhat perplexed - how could a mercenary group that couldn't even gather a full formal team be considered a good thing for her?

  But Hank, who noticed Lord's gaze, was hard to speak. He was very clear about Marlin's identity and influence, a noble child, single-handedly coming to such a place as Deep Stone City. Although her strength was indeed not weak, mercenaries sometimes looked at more than just strength, but also means. Even if you are a powerful wizard who can kill countless enemies on the battlefield, in the end, aren't you still a woman? If those guys with ulterior motives get you drunk and drag you to bed, even if you're a great wizard, it's useless, right? So Old Hank was always very careful, afraid that something would happen to this young lady, and he wouldn't be able to handle it.

  Moreover, the aristocratic haughtiness that Marlene exuded also made many mercenaries quite displeased. Although Old Hank had previously introduced her to several mercenary groups with a stiff upper lip, they ultimately rejected her on the grounds that their personnel were already complete and could not accommodate more people. After all, both parties were not on the same path, and for mercenaries, they did not trust those aristocrats either.

  Marlene wasn't stupid, she was well aware of why these people were unwilling to accept her, but the pride unique to nobles wouldn't allow her to lower herself to cater to these guys.

  But Rode's appearance ignited a glimmer of hope in Marlin.

  I heard that the other party is also a noble, if so, then he should be much better than those uneducated mercenaries, and this mercenary group only has two people, which is definitely not enough, if they want to make an excuse for being fully staffed———then isn't that just talking nonsense with their eyes open?

  Rod didn't understand Marlene's meaning, but Old Hank did. This also made the old man secretly shocked in his heart. Before coming here, he had advised this proud young lady many times that the Starlight Mercenary Corps was absolutely not her best choice. They were too few in number, their tasks were too dangerous, and they were currently living in a notorious haunted house in Deepstone City. However, no matter how much he tried to persuade her, this young lady didn't listen at all. This also made Old Hank complain privately in his heart that nobles were a group of proud and stubborn people. Rod was like this, and so was this young lady - they were really troublesome!

  If possible, Old Hank really wanted to report this matter to Lord Seric and let him handle it. Presumably, Lord Seric would not allow Marlene to take such a risk, but unfortunately, the lord was not in the Mercenary Association for the past two days and could not be found. However, Marlene was clever enough to see this point, so she took advantage of Lord Seric's absence to order Old Hank to do as she pleased.

  Heavens! Earth! I really don't want to do something that will offend people like this...

  Lao Han Ke could certainly predict what kind of expression Serak would have once he came back and found out about Marlin's decision, but what could he do himself?

  This is the sorrow of being a small person.

  Rode wasn't quite clear what was going on in Hank's mind, but even if he understood it, he probably wouldn't care. Having a mage come to him voluntarily was simply the best thing that could happen. Even if old Hank opposed it, Rode had already made up his mind to pull this future "Queen of Mercenaries" onto his own pirate ship.

  But before that, Luo De felt he still had to make things clear.

  "I can accept your joining, Miss Marlene."

  At this point, Luo De's expression turned serious.

  "But I have a few requests."

  "Please go on."

  When Roddick spoke, Marlin's eyes also flashed with surprise. She had come here to gain some combat experience, but she hadn't expected that after arriving in Deep Stone City, she would become like a canary in a cage, unable to move freely. This made Marlin very dissatisfied, so when she heard about Roddick and his mercenary group, Marlin quickly realized that this was a great opportunity.

  And now it seems like I'm about to succeed too.

  "First of all, since you've joined the Mercenary Corps, you are under my command."

  Rod held up one finger.

  "As a subordinate, you must unconditionally obey my orders. In the task, without my permission, you can't do anything. Even if it's just a small matter of convenience, you must report to me in advance."

  "You!"

  At this point, Marlene's expression changed slightly, but before she could say anything else, Rode raised another finger.

  "Secondly, although you have joined our mercenary group, we are not familiar with each other, and I don't think you can keep up with our battles. So I require that in battle, you must completely follow my instructions. Whatever I tell you to do, you must do it. If I don't need you to defend, even if the enemy is right in front of us, you absolutely cannot move a single step!"

  It wasn't until then that Luo De put down his hand.

  "This is my condition, if you can accept it, then I welcome you to join my mercenary group."

  "What if I break it?"

  The girl at this moment was as calm as water, she clenched her teeth and asked in a low voice.

  "I will give you up immediately."

  Rod answered without hesitation.

  "I've said it before, this mission is extremely dangerous. If you can't follow my instructions to the letter, we'll all likely end up dead. So I have to minimize any unexpected possibilities, and if your reckless actions put us in danger, then abandoning you will be our only choice."

  As Roder's words fell, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became tense.