Chapter 495.

Chapter 495 – Mercenary
“Hey shoo!”

Doug swung the shovel vigorously, loading a shovelful of coal into the bucket of the coal truck next to him.

This lanky man in his thirties, at this time, his appearance was already very different from the previous appearance as a mercenary captain.

When Doug was the captain of a mercenary team, he wore a head of shoulder-length hair, his face was bearded but had a kind of rough charisma, brown pupils in the eyes always flashing sharp light, the first time and his eyes often associated with falcons and other raptors, many years of adventures and combat career so that he used to be so self-confident and even arrogant, stubbornly believe that good luck is always accompanied by their own body.

But now Doug, the original head of unruly long hair has disappeared, replaced by a flat and strange round inch hair, face beard was shaved clean, eyes can no longer be seen as sharp as a falcon’s light, but to give a person like planting a lifetime of the kind of old farmer’s somewhat dull, numb feeling, the kind of can’t see the slightest hope, the whole life is to go on like this feeling.

In front of Doug or his surroundings placed a pile and a pile of small mountains of coal, Doug’s daily task is to these mined out of the coal mine into the freight wagon, do not need any powerful martial arts, do not need any gorgeous moves, his daily action is to swing the shovel over and over again.

These mountains of charcoal never seemed to be finished, every time a pile of coal was loaded, more coal would be brought out of the mine and piled into a new mountain of charcoal.

Mountain after mountain of blackened coal seemed to be even taller and more majestic than the Rocky Mountains in the distance, leaving Doug with no hope of ever getting over them, like a huge cage that would keep him locked in this place until he had exhausted the rest of his life.

Those glorious days of the past can only be reproduced in his dreams, in which he is still the mercenary leader who drinks and eats meat every day, until the sound of gunfire and artillery wakes him up.

Sometimes he would secretly hypothesize about the first few years of his life, that if he hadn’t accepted the employment of that Aldo nobleman named Emerson, he wouldn’t have ended up as a prisoner in the Northwest Gulf, but what was the use of such hypotheses?
Who would have thought that the Northwest Gulf would have such powerful weapons as well as such a powerful army?

……

“Mercenaries?”

Paul asked looking at his Chief of Staff in confusion.

Schroeder offers Paul a proposal that surprises him greatly.

“Yes, mercenaries!”

Schroeder nodded, “And it’s a mercenary group over in Horn Bay.”

His right hand raised slightly, “The locals, well! Their hometown is Horned Bay, they are familiar with everything there, the climate and geography are adapted to them from childhood, and they know what they can and can’t eat in the wild. The most crucial ……”

This older knight smiled and said, “We don’t have to take on too many obligations to the mercenaries, and we can save a large sum of money on allowances and pension expenses.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Schroeder suggested that Paul was enlightened.

He said, “You mean we spend a fortune and hire a mercenary group in Horn Bay, just tell them the mission, and let them take care of themselves with whatever logistics and supplies they need.”

Schroeder nodded again, “That’s basically it, Lord Gleeman.”

“Good!” Paul was happy, “I’ll send someone to Horn Bay to look for suitable mercenaries.”

“Slow down, Lord Gleeman.” Schroeder stopped him.

“Huh? Why?”

“Actually you don’t need to go to great lengths to find a mercenary group now, there’s one ……” Schroeder smiled, “I think it’s two, the Horned Bay Mercenaries, right here in our Northwest Bay.” Paul frowned and asked, “Did any of the lords hire them? Or is it doing something bad? If it’s the latter, then I’ll have to send someone to destroy them.”

“No no!” Schroeder shook his head, “They aren’t doing anything bad right now, but rather the fact that they’ve already been wiped out by you, and these mercenaries are in the labor camp you created.”

“Huh?” Paul was unsure.

Seeing that Paul didn’t think of it, Schroeder had to puzzle him out, “Lord Greiman, do you still remember the War of the Troglodytes?”

“Of course!” It had only ended a few years ago.

“In that war, we encountered two teams of mercenaries who were hired by Maltz Kent from the south to deal with us.”

Paul came to a realization and tapped the table, “I remember.”

Schroeder, “The members of one mercenary group specialize in using longbows, while the other mercenary group has a more balanced mix of personnel.”

Paul: “Yeah, yeah, that’s right. They’ve all become our prisoners, and now they’re being broken up and locked up in different places for labor reform.”

Schroeder suggested, “According to our interrogations, most of them are from Horn Bay. Perhaps you might consider using this group, gathering them up again, arming them again with our equipment – I mean cold weapons like swords and shields – and sending them to Horn Bay to fight for our interests in order to redeem themselves for the crimes they committed during the Urantia War for their crimes against us.”

Paul nodded inwardly, Schroeder had really hit the nail on the head with that suggestion.

These captured mercenaries had rich combat experience and enough familiarity with the area, where to find such a good ready-made consumable.

However in a flash he thought of a problem.

“Schroeder, what if they are not under control when they arrive at Horn Bay? Do we still have to send the army to Corner Bay to go and capture them in?”

The Chief of Staff comfortably exhaled a smoke ring, narrowed his eyes and said, “You don’t have to worry about the issue of their loyalty, there is a good way to solve it.”

Paul: “What solution?”

Schroeder: “Turn them into your slaves.”

Paul is a little confused, “But they are my de facto slaves now.”

Schroeder: “Haha, Lord Graiman, I mean in the way of the Horned Bay – by branding their bodies with your unique mark.”

Paul: “Branding?”

At this point Lardy, who has been silent, interjects into the discussion, “Lord Gladman, in Horned Cove, if a slave with a brand on his body dares to betray his master, he is apprehended by those who see him and sent back to his master to be punished however he sees fit, as is the master’s prerogative.”

Schroeder nodded his head as he listened and said to Paul, “Yes, that’s right, it’s what Counselor Thothia said. These people were captured by you during the war, and according to the custom of Horned Bay, they are your slaves by sense and reason, and as long as the rest of Horned Bay knows about their relationship with you, these mercenaries won’t be able to turn over a new leaf.”

(End of chapter)