Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?-Chapter 299 - 97: The Provocation Trick

Alfred suddenly remembered that the Crusaders he had led to a major defeat before seemed to also be a mercenary group with more women than men.

That can’t be right, can it? Could it be?

He strained to recall further and realized that in regards to that mercenary group, besides ambushing one of their female Flame Mages earlier, and directly confronting a female Gun-shield Warrior, he had never directly encountered any other members.

What followed was being dizzily bombarded by their sniper. Anyone who saw the face of the opponent died, leaving the rest to retreat in disarray.

When the main forces arrived later, Alfred was appointed as the Northern Defense Commander, only to find his defenses crumbled like paper in front of the enemy’s small mercenary squad. He couldn’t even make out the true face of the mastermind before being dismissed due to heavy casualties among his subordinates.

So is this the same mercenary group?

Alfred stared at the opposing side, and the only male in the group—seeming to be the Squad Leader of The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps—silently looked back.

"Innsbruck City Guard?" asked the other.

"Baron Alfred, following the Count’s orders to meet the support forces, and provide intelligence and necessary support," Alfred said.

This guy’s voice sounds familiar... Medea suddenly felt something was off, and sent another mind reading over.

However, at this moment, Alfred had already retracted his thoughts, beginning to ponder the frontline battles.

After all, he now served as Baron under Count Innsbruck, with his fief inside the Duchy. Naturally, there was no need to dwell on past grievances from the Crusader campaign.

Thus, Medea read nothing from his mind, but she learned that the battlefront situation was quite urgent... frёewebnoѵēl.com

"The situation at the front is very urgent now," Alfred spoke up, "two Extraordinary Assaulter squads from the Wolf Family have invaded from the direction of Verona into the southern borders, all our outposts there have been destroyed."

"How did you determine the invaders were two Extraordinary Assault teams?" Thira inquired.

"Because large scale military movement can’t be hidden from everyone," Alfred said, looking at the masked, seemingly young girl, his tone mildly mocking, "the ones capable of silently taking out our outposts are either a well-trained Extraordinary Assaulter squad or a Demigod at work, which is common sense."

Of course, a Demigod couldn’t possibly stoop to such activities, so it must have been assaulter squads. Thira ignored his sarcasm and continued,

"How did you determine there were two teams?"

"We marked the times and locations where the outposts went silent on the map," explained Alfred. "Then, by connecting the lines and calculating the enemy’s speed and route, it was most likely two units."

"I see you do have some brains," Medea mocked.

"We’re not just some ragtag mercenaries," Alfred spread his hands and scoffed, suddenly reminded of his past defeat, his expression turning slightly odd.

Noticing the fleeting strangeness on his face, Medea launched another mind reading and immediately understood the situation—this man was the one who had planned the ambush against her in the Crusader campaign!

Her beautiful eyes darted around, her lips curling slightly as several plans sprang to mind:

This man was still unaware of their identities, a perfect chance to exploit this information gap and settle the score for the ambush she endured.

"Is the number unclear?" Thira continued probing for details.

"Unclear," Alfred said. "But probably not many, around seven or eight."

"Expecting ordinary military forces to handle Extraordinary individuals is unrealistic, so we’ve also deployed an Extraordinary squad, led by me. Our side will handle one part, and your side the other, what do you think? I’ve heard that your mercenary group also mainly consists of the Extraordinary, is that correct?"

While they were still talking, Medea communicated with Aske through Mind Communication, secretly sharing the current situation and her subsequent plans.

"A bet on who completes the mission first?" Aske was somewhat speechless, this girl always thinking of schemes, "Are you sure?"

"Don’t forget I can read minds." Medea said, "This Alfred guy’s words are half-truths, but indeed, their team’s average level is weaker than ours and they struggle against those invaders."

"If we split up as he suggested, our team is stronger, so we’ll likely defeat the enemy first. While he’s still unaware of this, let’s set a trap for him to fall into."

"There’s an element of uncertainty in this plan," Aske said. "What if the enemy we encounter is stronger?"

"As long as they are not Demigods, who could be stronger than you, my Squad Leader?" Medea smiled slightly. "Don’t you have the GM nine sword technique?"

"That’s true," Aske had to admit she was right. According to the mind-reading intelligence from Medea, Alfred confirmed that the level of the invaders was generally around Lv.6-Lv.7.

And with him mastering the Star Nine Forms, he was already an overwhelming force among his peers.

"Alright," he finally agreed.

So Medea crossed her arms and began to smirk as she laid the trap, "We should be fine, but if you fail to deal with that Transcendent, then what?"

"I don’t understand what you mean," Alfred said.

"It’s simple," Medea elaborated. "The Weisbach family hired us for a mission to help defend Innsbruck, not to assist your city guard in defense."

"In other words, if we split our forces, and we succeed and you fail, leading to the fall of Innsbruck, the Weisbach family won’t blame us for the failure just because the actual mistake was on your part."

"Hah!" Alfred now understood her point and scoffed, "So you don’t trust us, afraid that we will hold you back?"

"That’s your interpretation," Medea coldly stated.

The Transcendents behind Alfred immediately became angrily agitated.

These people were merely mercenaries, and mostly female mercenaries at that; we hadn’t even complained about your lack of strength, and yet you worry about us holding you back?

Medea remained expressionless amidst the wrath of these Transcendents, her hands calmly tucked in her sleeves, skillfully manipulating the anger and desire in front of her.

"Boasting shamelessly." Alfred laughed furiously. "So what if you fail to resolve the issue and cause us to be blamed by the Count?"

"That’s why," Medea spread her hands lazily, "neither of us has confidence in the other, do we? Is it still okay for us to forcefully split our forces?"

"What does the lady suggest?" Innsbruck’s Count stepped forward and asked calmly, "Both groups of invaders to be dealt with by your mercenaries?"

"Of course, that would be the safest approach," Medea stated seriously, immediately provoking glares and hissing from the Transcendents. "But it seems your troops have some objections to this."

"How about this?" Medea narrowed her eyes with a condescending scorn, looking towards the Transcendents, "Let’s make a bet. The Count of Innsbruck will be the witness. Whichever side first defeats their assigned group of Transcendents and brings back the Extraordinary Traits will win the wager."

"How much do you want to bet?" Alfred suddenly felt an inexplicable wariness.

"1000 silver marks," Medea smiled. "Both sides will put up 1000 silver marks, handed to the Duke, and the winner will take all the money."

silver marks, a substantial amount that would take an ordinary middle-class lifetime to save, though not a huge sum in the Extraordinary Realm. The Transcendents under Alfred’s command had monthly wages ranging from 5-10 silver marks, so pooling a year-end bonus to wager was feasible.

However, the way this bet was proposed, the hint of a trap was also somewhat clear. The Transcendents looked at each other, this... this meant doubling your annual bonus if you win, and working an entire year for nothing if you lose!

"What, scared?" Medea sneered, "No problem if you’re unwilling. However, if you don’t even have the slightest confidence to win this bet, then I might have to question the true strength of all of you. Count, perhaps both groups of invading Transcendents should be dealt with by our Mercenary Group."

No good! Alfred immediately felt a chill in his heart.

This woman was employing reverse psychology, he knew that all too well, but what he understood even better was that the Count was someone sensitive about his pride. Having these women publicly mock him while his men didn’t dare to respond would definitely irk the Count.

Medea met the Count’s gaze, covertly activating her Mind Power—Thought Implant!

"Hahaha." Completely oblivious that his thoughts were being manipulated, the Count laughed warmly, "Alfred, since they’ve put it this way, do you have confidence that you can lead your team to win this bet?"

His smile was friendly, his tone seemed inquisitive, but the implication in his eyes was very clear. For the Count, stimulating his subordinates to fight desperately without spending an extra penny was obviously favorable.

Alfred was inwardly crying, this...I can’t say half a no, can I?

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