Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 176 - 80: Compensation

Chapter 176: Chapter 80: Compensation

When Rudashus arrived, he saw Eleanor and Aske, one holding Sigrdrifa’s head and the other lifting her feet, forcibly pulling her up from the ground.

The latter was struggling non-stop, her face full of despair.

Beside them, the Spartan youths were shouting "Come on" in unison, creating a scene as lively as a tug-of-war competition.

Is this some new form of training? Rudashus wondered.

However, he quickly remembered that he had a mission to attend to and hurried over to Aske to briefly explain the situation.

"Steel Cross Mercenary Group? Andrea?" Aske said with a smile, "Of course I remember. We are old friends with him."

Seeing how Andrea was gnashing his teeth, he probably wouldn’t agree with your words... thought Rudashus to himself.

And so Aske planned to return to the dormitory, to call the other girls and set off together. Upon seeing this, Hood quickly shouted and rushed over.

"You don’t want to train?" After hearing Hood’s complaint, Aske asked in surprise, "Spartan military training is of high quality, you know. It’s rare to have the chance to train on their turf. It would be very helpful for improving your strength!"

"Big brother, I give up, okay? Stop messing with me, will you?" Tears were almost falling from Hood’s eyes, "I’m just a Mechanic, a Support class! What use does enhanced combat ability have for me?"

"Well, you can’t say that. When real danger comes, who cares if you’re a combat class?" said Aske.

"I don’t care, if you make me run with them again, I will publicly quit the group and resign right now!" Hood declared categorically.

Seeing his resolve, Aske had no choice but to let him stay in the dormitory, while he himself left with the girls of The Azure Longsword.

Following Rudashus to the Spartan Royal Court, they saw it was already surrounded by Spartan Warriors, three layers inside and three layers outside.

Passing through the crowd, they saw two Spartan Kings sitting on stone chairs, while two high-ranking members of the Steel Cross Mercenary Group stood below.

One of them was Andrea, the guy who had distributed silver coins in Stanimaka the last time.

"Squad Leader Aske, long time no see." Andrea greeted him with a smile, showing no sign of any previous friction.

This was the high professionalism of a Large Mercenary Group.

Being a mercenary meant competition was inevitable. Today you make an enemy of one, tomorrow another. If every grudge is taken to heart, there would be no business left to conduct—might as well use the full 24 hours for revenge!

Small Mercenary Groups might simply scowl at sight of each other and not interact. Large Mercenary Groups, even when they make you an enemy, can still greet you with smiles the next time they see you, ready for trade or cooperation.

Of course, if you show a weak spot, the knife that Large Mercenary Groups stick in your back is naturally more ruthless—after all, they are professionals.

"Leader Andrea, I didn’t expect to see you here," Aske said politely. "I left in such a hurry last time, I didn’t get to say goodbye, I am truly sorry."

"No problem at all." Andrea maintained a smile, but inside he sneered.

"Well then, shall we settle the account now?" Aske suggested.

Andrea: ????

"Settle what account?" His smile was strained now, "Settle what?"

"The commission for finding Fengkexim." Aske looked at him oddly, his expression as if to say "You wouldn’t be thinking of fleeing the debt, right?", "Paying 5 denar silver coins per day, plus an extra 5 pounds when we find Fengkexim. Have you forgotten?"

I! @#￥%&... Andrea’s mind was suddenly awash with a string of curses, but he kept his composure outwardly, feigning confusion:

"This, Squad Leader Aske, your claim doesn’t seem quite reasonable. It was Fengkexim who showed up on his own, attempting to assassinate everyone in the fortress at that time. How does that count as you finding him?"

"Who defeated Fengkexim in the sniper battle?" asked Aske.

"I admit it was you, and I am very grateful for your assistance," Andrea said cunningly. "However, the promise of ’participation in the encirclement earns a share of the reward’ was made by Squad Leader Matthews of the Free Wind Mercenary Group. You should seek your payment from him. We, the Steel Cross Mercenary Group, only promised to provide a reward if Fengkexim was found."

"So, did you ultimately find him?"

"We did."

"And how did you find him?"

"Of course, by following you..." Andrea suddenly clapped a hand over his mouth as if he had just realized he misspoke, covering it tightly.

Herman sighed beside him. The surrounding Spartans watched them in silence.

"That’s right," nodded Aske. "After the sniper battle, our men led the way, guiding you to find Fengkexim, did they not? In the end, you also got his head and exchanged it for a reward at the Church Court."

God damn guide! Andrea fumed inwardly. You guys ran off so damn fast, if our group hadn’t had an experienced Scout, we would have been completely lost!

"Squad Leader Aske, that’s not very fair of you to say," Andrea forced himself to calm down, smiling as he spoke.

"Indeed, it’s true you ’led’ us to Fengkexim," he stressed the word "led" with a hint of subtle irony. "However, you also took his sniper rifle, didn’t you? That rifle is worth a good 500 pounds."

"You said it yourself, the sniper rifle was Fengkexim’s," Aske looked at him, puzzled. "How can you offset debts with someone else’s property?"

"How can it be someone else’s property!" Andrea couldn’t help but retort impatiently, "You led us to Fengkexim, so naturally we had the right to kill him, and the sniper rifle became our spoils of war, did it not?"

"So, who ultimately killed Fengkexim?" Aske inquired.

Andrea: ...........

What kind of twisted logic is this!

He leaned on his forehead, trying to calm himself for a few seconds, then he clarified the relationship in his mind:

For the Steel Cross Mercenary Group, they hired freelance mercenaries to search for the target, promising 5 pounds as a reward.

Once the target was found, the Steel Cross Mercenary Group would kill Fengkexim, taking his head and weapons, earning 1000 pounds, from which they would payout 5 pounds to the freelance mercenaries.

But the real issue was that finding Fengkexim didn’t mean his head and weapons automatically belonged to you—you still had to be the one to kill him.

In other words, the Steel Cross’s original statement had a loophole: they promised 5 pounds for finding the target, but never specified who would claim the target’s loot.

Of course, ordinary mercenary groups wouldn’t have the capability to kill Fengkexim on their own, so Andrea hadn’t considered this initially.

But then the plot thickened: The Azure Longsword led them to Fengkexim, theoretically fulfilling the mandate of the Steel Cross Mercenary Group.

Then they killed Fengkexim and took his weapons, which had nothing to do with the mandate anymore.

Theoretically, even if they took Fengkexim’s head with them, as long as they could get away with it, there would be no legal issue.

Seeing the changing expressions on Andrea’s face, Aske spoke slowly:

"Look, I led you to Fengkexim and even took the liberty of killing him. You didn’t have to do anything but got Fengkexim’s head and exchanged it for 500 pounds at the Church Court. And now you’re begrudging us the previously agreed 5 pounds? That doesn’t seem quite justifiable, does it, Squad Leader Andrea?"