Chapter 121

“Manager!” exclaimed Jenny.

Joshua's brows furrowed. “Manager?”

The man had a towering stature comparable to Viper, but he had plain brown hair and a shaggy beard that made him look like a next-door neighbor. Setting his appearance aside…

‘He’s strong… He’s strong enough that it’s difficult to imagine that he’s just a branch manager of one of the Mercenary Guild’s branches. And this familiar sensation…’

“...”

The man stared at Joshua for a moment. Was he aware of the glint in Joshua’s eyes? It was unclear, but the man bowed and introduced himself.

“My name is Eiden, and I am the branch manager of the Mercenary Guild’s Haiburi Castle Town branch.”

“...”

Eiden had already introduced himself, but Joshua remained silent.

Joshua stared deeply at Eiden, and he quickly discovered everything there was to see.

Eiden was clearly hiding his real strength, but it would always be difficult to hide the depth of one’s breadth from those equally powerful to them. As such, Joshua saw through Eiden.

‘He’s an A-Class at the very least. Someone like him is a mere branch manager?’

A branch manager was not a particularly high position within the Mercenary Guild because one could become a branch manager by doing errands and odd jobs rather than being strong. It was a position the Mercenary Guild often offered to seasoned mercenaries looking to retire. As such, there was no way a branch manager could sweep through the battlefield, even if they tried.

'There are only two mercenaries who are this strong: Mercenary King Barbarian, the pinnacle of mercenaries and one of the Twelve Superhumans, and the sole mercenary participating in the Masters’ Battle and the only diamond card holder, the formidable Akshuller.'

The issue was that the branch manager standing in front of him wasn’t either of the two.

Before joining Kaiser and returning to aid him, Joshua was a seasoned mercenary.

But even then, Joshua is prone to mistake their identities because he couldn’t quite remember.

‘They have the same physique, but…’

Joshua’s train of thought came to a halt when he thought of someone.

‘No way…’

“Were you asking about becoming a mercenary?”

Eiden’s voice reached Joshua’s ears while he was deep in his thoughts.

Joshua thought about it for a moment. Then, his eyes brightened as he responded, “Yes, I am.”

***

Eiden couldn’t calm his rapidly beating heart.

The robed young man sitting across him while calmly sipping tea disturbed Eiden’s heart.

Looking at him, Eiden got the feeling that he and the other person, who looked suspiciously young, are not a match.

‘I can’t feel anything coming from him.’

Eiden stared deeply at the young man wearing a robe.

He was disturbed because he couldn’t feel any energy coming from the young man, and Eiden knew from experience that people like the young man could be one of three categories.

One, the young man could be an average citizen who had never learned how to wield a sword his entire life. Naturally, Eiden quickly dismissed the idea. After all, he had seen the blue hue of an Aura enveloping the young man’s sword earlier.

Two, the young man had mastered a technique to conceal his energy. Eiden also dismissed the idea after only a moment of consideration, because the method is different It was not a concentration of mana, and mana technique that focuses on mana concealment was practiced by a specific category of people. Only assassins could perfectly conceal their energy, and there was no way the young man was an assassin because aside from his robe, he had openly been walking in broad daylight and seemingly without any intentions of concealing his identity. Therefore, there was no way he could be an assassin.

In that case, there was only one category left…

'This young gentleman is stronger than me.'

At the thought, Eiden gulped a mouthful of saliva.

Click.

As if on cue, Joshua placed the teacup down and said, “Now that we have come face-to-face, I believe there is no need for us to keep up the pretenses.”

“What are you—” Eiden muttered blankly.

Joshua quickly said, “Shapeshifting.”

“...!” Eiden’s eyes widened.

“I anticipated it, but it’s shocking that the artifact Reipon has already been constructed and has achieved such a high degree of efficacy—” Joshua started.

Eiden’s eyes sharpened at the mention of the word ‘Reipon,’ and he interrupted Joshua before the latter could finish speaking. “Identify yourself.”

“...” Joshua stopped talking.

“There is no way someone who knows that kind of secret only came here to get a Silver card for themselves.” Eiden's eyes were cold as he said, “What I will do depends on your answer.”

Joshua chuckled and took off the robe concealing his identity.

“You’re….” Eiden was rendered speechless at Joshua’s appearance. The latter looked more beautiful than an elf, and his navy blue eyes seemed like they could suck people into them.

Not only did Joshua possess a beauty even elves had to concede against, but he was also strong enough to rely on no one else other than himself.

Eiden looked even more disturbed as the seconds went on.

At the sight, Joshua grinned and said, “There is no way I can hide from the eyes of the vice commander of a million mercenaries, the formidable Akshuller, am I right?”

“Yes… I guess you’re right.” Eiden's eyes remained on Joshua as he said with a soft sigh, “The monster of the Reinhardt Martial Arts Competition. A genius among geniuses. The Rising Star, Baron Joshua Sanders…”

Eiden swallowed a gulp. He sure did hear the rumors.

There was no way Eiden wouldn’t recognize Joshua’s face. Unfortunately, there was no way he could smile when he had just learned that the monster of the Reinhardt Martial Arts Competition was one of the participants in this year’s Masters’ Battle.

Eiden felt conflicted. Wasn’t Joshua just a fifteen-year-old kid at the end of the day?

Eiden had always thought that Joshua was nothing but a mere reckless and naive child, and he had also made a decision to curb and stomp on Joshua’s pride if they ever met in the Masters’ Battle in the future.

But now, there was no way he could smile after meeting Joshua in the flesh.

“There are two requirements to immediately become a Silver-ranked mercenary and receive a Silver card: one, the candidate has to be able to wield the minimum required aura, and lastly, one has to have finished a 4-Star Quest to prove that they’re capable enough. Am I wrong?”

“That is true, but…” Eiden seemed sad as he responded, “You’re a noble of Avalon, so there is no way I can give you a card so easily without knowing what's your intention.”

“You are talking as if I’ve already done a 4-Star Quest.”

.

“If the rumors were to be believed, yes. No. I mean looking at you now, it’s clear that a 4-Star Quest will be a piece of cake. That's why, I can't issue you a card that easily.” said Eiden.

Joshua laughed at Eiden’s words as he said, “Since when did the owning of Mercenary Guild’s cards based on one's intentions?”

“What?”

At Eiden’s dumbfounded mutter, Joshua explained, “The mercenaries offer their talents to clients, and the clients pay the mercenaries for their services.”

Joshua stared into Eiden’s eyes and continued. “Isn’t that what mercenaries are? It had always been like that since the days of Desu Dembaba, the first mercenary king.”

“You...” Eiden started.

However, Joshua interrupted him. “Mercenaries can be compelled to submit by money. They only work under contractual obligations or due to a quest. As a result, it is incredibly easier to hire mercenaries than anyone else. After all, there’s no tie other than compensation for their work. Simple and ethical.”

“...” Eiden kept his mouth shut.

“I’ll ask you again.” Joshua’s eyes shone. “All I want is to offer my talents and be paid for my services. What justification do you need more than that before you’ll give me a card?”

“Hmm—” Eiden started.

However, he didn’t finish his sentence as he sighed softly.

Joshua was right.

Mercenaries were only loyal to money.

Since when did mercenaries become so concerned about what others would say?

“I understand. I’ll issue a quest, then.”

Joshua smiled without saying anything. He understood that the quest would be a 4-Star Quest that he would need to complete before he could obtain a Silver card.

“However, there is something I need to verify before anything else.”

“...?” Joshua seemed confused.

Eiden stared deeply at Joshua before saying, “This is unrelated to the Mercenary Guild. This is a personal matter that I want to verify before issuing you a quest.”

“Ask away.”

“If possible, I want you to tell me everything you know,” said Eiden.

“...” Joshua stared at Eiden for quite a while before nodding. “If I can, sure...”

“Artifact Reipon. I’m absolutely certain that it remains a secret even now. There is no way that someone else knows about its name since it was just recently decided, so…” Eiden trailed off, and his eyes gleamed as he continued. “How on earth do you know its name and abilities?”

In response, Joshua recited what he knew about Reipon from his past life. “Reipon, a body manipulation artifact named after her family, specifically after her father’s name. She made it to avoid capture. Given my birthplace, you should be able to deduce why I know about it.”

“Angus Duchy,” Eiden muttered blankly as if he had discovered something.

“Let me meet her, and you will understand.”

“...” Eiden didn’t say anything. He seemed to be pondering about something with his head lowered. After a while, he eventually said, “I’ll let you meet her once you’re done with your quest and once the Mercenary Guild has acknowledged your entry into the guild.”

“Sure, whatever…”

“However, the star difficulty of the quest I will assign to you is…” Eiden trailed off. He took on a serious look before saying, “Five stars.”