Mercenary System: I can increase innate potential !-Chapter 105: No casualties

"Shut your mouth you bastard, I hope your whole family gets exterminated by the orcs soon."

Laura’s face was particularly hideous at this point, her rage almost seeming able to manifest itself.

Maxime stood beside her, slightly surprised by Laura’s ferocity, but he did nothing to stop her.

On the contrary, he was eager to hear what the Count thought of the situation. Continue reading at novelbuddy

But before the Count could react, two men at the Count’s side stepped forward.

"How dare you talk to the Count in that tone, do you want to die?"

Maxime recognized them at once; they were the two men who had taken care of the four remaining 3-meter orcs in a flash.

"No, Sauna and Lock come back, this situation happened because of me. These mercenaries have every right to be angry."

"By the way, take off all your helmets, who do you think you’re intimidating?"

The Count immediately stepped in before things got out of hand.

Everyone obeyed immediately.

When Sauna took off his helmet, everyone was able to take a good look at the flamboyant-looking redhead.

He exuded a vivid, intimidating energy, a raw power that seemed ready to explode at any moment.

Beside him, Lock, the gray-haired knight, kept an impassive, almost cold face, as if measuring every detail of the scene with calculating precision.

His appearance and temperament contrasted sharply with that of Sauna.

The Count watched them for a long moment before approaching Laura, his gaze softer and more sincere than before. He smiled resignedly, clearly aware of the impact of his decisions on these mercenaries.

"First of all, I sincerely apologize for what happened."

The Count leaned forward, lowering his posture, which calmed the mercenaries slightly.

The knights and cavaliers beside him were visibly surprised to see the Count in this position.

"To be honest, we have no idea how this army arrived..."

These words rekindled the mercenaries’ rage slightly.

"What do you mean, you don’t know how this army arrived?" asked Maxime, frowning.

"This is your territory, you should have total control over it, shouldn’t you?" he continued suspiciously.

"Well, under normal circumstances, yes, that’s the case," replied the Count with a sincere face, but without saying anything.

For a moment, the Count hesitated to tell the truth.

Then he finally let go.

"But when the gods intervene that’s another story."

The knights and horsemen at his side didn’t seem surprised, and the Count didn’t hide this level of knowledge from them.

His men occasionally had to face events of this kind, so hiding the truth from them made no sense.

However, Maxime’s mercenaries didn’t believe a word of it.

"Come on, Maxime, let’s not work for that crazy nobleman anymore!" exclaimed Andrew, clearly angry.

"I agree, what a god story, it’s clearly making excuses for one’s own incompetence." continued Rodrigo, also angry.

"Even if there were gods in this world, why would they be interested in ordinary mercenaries like us?" said Henry, shaking his head.

But Maxime took the Count’s words very seriously.

"No, I think the Count is telling the truth," he added in a calm, serene voice.

The mercenaries looked at their leader like a madman.

"How can you believe such nonsense chief?" James.

Maxime once again displayed the notifications that had appeared when he was about to die.

[The host is now one of the chosen few to have the blessing of two gods!]

[It’s the god Nox and the goddess Viviana!]

...

[The host has received a new talent!]

"It’s not nonsense, otherwise how do you think you could have become so strong and even survived such a violent fight?"

The mercenaries suddenly tensed.

No one could understand Maxime’s powers, so they simply took them for granted without questioning them.

Maxime’s mysterious healing and the exceptional passive regeneration they had achieved on the battlefield were more than exceptional.

But of course, everyone was smart enough not to mention it in front of the Count.

"The chief is right, if you’ve been paying attention, there was also a terrifying voice ringing in our ears."

"It was something like, ’how-oses Viviana?’"

"In the books I was reading in the village library, there was a goddess by that name, and she was known for her healing powers."

Terry’s voice rang out, receiving a great deal of attention.

There were over a hundred eyes on him, but he didn’t flinch in the slightest in the face of this pressure.

On the contrary, he was really confident in what he was saying.

What’s more, he was careful not to mention Maxime’s powers or what had happened before.

So the mercenaries were convinced, while the Count nodded, obviously aware of this information too.

But then he thought of something that puzzled him.

"But what the mercenaries were saying wasn’t irrelevant, why would gods want to eradicate a small group of mercenaries?"

The Count scrutinized Maxime intently, as if he’d just discovered a key piece in a complex game.

Simultaneously, his gaze wandered among the mercenaries, who remained silent, absorbing this startling truth.

"You’re beginning to understand," resumed the Count in a heavy voice.

"What’s at stake goes far beyond what anyone could imagine."

Sauna, the man with flaming red hair, then intervened, his keen eyes staring at Maxime.

"You seem to be one of the blessed few, Maxime. If you agree to stay, the Count and I might be able to help you master this blessing. Who knows what you might be capable of?"

Maxime, though troubled by this proposal, remained impassive. A shadow of hesitation passed over his eyes, but he quickly recovered.

"To master this blessing..." he murmured to himself.

"Can I refuse this offer? What will happen if I decide to stick to the mission you gave us and nothing more?"

The Count smiled, a smile tinged with slight malice but also respect.

"Then I’ll respect your choice. But know that in this world, few people survive without understanding the powers that inhabit them. You and your mercenaries are now targets."

Laura, whose anger seemed to be subsiding, glanced at Maxime, seeking a glimmer of decision in his expression.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, as if she wanted to share the burden of this new destiny.

The most uptodate nove𝙡s are published on frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓.

But for Maxime, what better way than through the system to better grasp his own power?

Besides, he didn’t want to trust anyone with this kind of question.

Maxime then took a deep breath and, turning to his men, pronounced in a firm voice:

"We will continue to simply receive your missions, Monsieur le Comte."

"Furthermore, I demand compensation for what has happened."

Sauna and Lock were clearly not happy with Maxime’s bold demand, but the Count stopped them with a wave of his arm.

The Count replied immediately.

"No worries about compensation, god or no god, I should indeed have noticed that orc army much earlier."

"After all, this army didn’t appear out of nowhere."

"How much are you offering?" questioned Maxime, with a serene look on his face.

"Um...there are currently around 900 orcs dead at your hands, plus 6 orcs comparable to knights..."

At that moment, the Count suddenly realized the problem.

In the rush he hadn’t been paying attention.

"How did you do that!?"

The Count’s knights and riders were equally surprised, they hadn’t thought of it at the time.

"Done what, sir count?" replied Maxime doubtfully.

"Killing so many orcs obviously."

The Count seemed stunned; to him it was a more than spectacular scene, but to these mercenaries it looked very ordinary.

"With our bodies and our swords, how could we have done otherwise?"

Maxime wasn’t about to confess all his secret cards so easily.

The Count looked carefully at Maxime, knowing full well that this young mercenary leader must have more than one secret.

After all, with the strength they’d shown before in the academy, it was impossible to survive this kind of event, let alone kill so many orcs.

But he decided not to explore further, for he himself had his own secrets.

"And what’s become of the villagers?" asked the Count, but without too much hope.

It was good enough that these mercenaries could survive and kill many orcs.

But he was obviously going to be surprised once again.

Maxime glanced at Andrew, since he himself knew nothing of the villagers’ situation.

Andrew, understanding Maxime’s gaze, stepped forward and explained the situation to the Count.

"They’re all in the forest resting, waiting for us to return."

"None of them are hurt."

The Count looked on admiringly.

"Incredible."

"At a quick glance, I owe you a minimum of 1400 gold pieces for the orcs killed. And since you performed your task of protecting the villagers brilliantly, as well as to forgive me I’ll round that number up to 2000 gold coins."

"I’m also prepared to pay an indemnity of 100 gold pieces for each man you’ve lost."

Maxime looked at his men with a smile, before turning once more to the Count.

"So you’re going to save money on this one, Monsieur le Comte."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...we didn’t lose any men."