Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 207 - 5 Preparation

Chapter 207: Chapter 5 Preparation

"So, now we’re just waiting for your family to come, right?" Nora pondered.

"Yes," Eleanor confidently said, "As you know, the Church Court can’t restrict believers from absorbing extraordinary power, but they explicitly forbid believers from taking the Magic Potion to become Transcendents."

"All I have to do is tell them I’m already a Transcendent, and my family will definitely help cover up my heretic identity. That way, they won’t force me to marry into another noble family at the risk of exposing myself, and they couldn’t possibly send me to a monastery either."

"The best course of action, naturally, would be to inherit a piece of the family’s land. That way, I could have an income to support myself and wouldn’t have to worry about exposing my identity as a Transcendent."

"Is that so?" Nora slowly said, "Then if your father allows you to inherit the land..."

"Then you would leave us, wouldn’t you?"

Eleanor was stunned there, seemingly having never considered this layer, and only then did she force a smile:

"Yes, after all, I am the Duke’s daughter. I can’t possibly... be a mercenary all my life."

"Ellie," Nora gently hugged her, her voice choked, "I really hope you can achieve your dreams, but I can’t bear the thought of you leaving..."

"Nora," Eleanor comfortingly patted her back, "Even if I leave, I will still be a part of The Azure Longsword. On my land, everyone is always welcome to come and rest."

The two girls hugged each other and shed tears, overwhelmed with emotion. Medea, watching from the side, felt disgust and silently scoffed in her mind:

It’s as if you’ve already convinced your family and smoothly secured the land.

As she was mulling over something, she saw Aske televising next to her.

"We’ve made the arrangements," Aske said. "Let’s gather everyone; we’re preparing to enter the town."

"Hold on," Medea reported Eleanor’s situation through Mind Communication.

"Oh," Aske said.

"Not surprised?" Medea asked.

"Quite surprised," Aske admitted.

"Not worried?" Medea pressed.

"Not worried," Aske responded, "You know the course of history for the next few years, don’t you?"

Medea was briefly startled before she realized.

The Civil War in Divine Luo.

By that time, all the dukes would be fully preparing for war, recruiting soldiers everywhere within the lands of their vassals—who would have time to allocate extra lands to their children?

"Allocating to you—who would recruit the soldiers then? You’ve just become a lord; do you even understand your own domain?"

"Sly old fox," Medea said smilingly, "It seems I was overthinking it."

"It has nothing to do with being sly," Aske said, "Each era has its current, and one mustn’t swim against it."

"In the next few years, being mercenaries will bring the greatest benefits since they wander everywhere, engaging in Mutants across the continent, and rapidly gaining extraordinary power, improving their level and strength."

"On the other hand, so-called lords and vassals are naturally bound to their own territories, perfectly missing all the opportunities brought by the rising Magic Tide."

"As the overall strength comparison between feudal lords and mercenaries turns over, a new storm will soon arise. Right now, Eleanor still needs to be mindful of her family’s attitude, but in a few years, perhaps the entire family will rely on her to survive."

"Really?" Medea listened, somewhat excited, "Then could I possibly..."

"As long as you reach the Demigod Level, obtaining the status of a Great Noble in any country you choose isn’t a problem at all after a few years," Aske said. "Of course, by that time, titles will no longer be important, what matters is how to ensure that your own level continues to grow and not to fall behind in the competition among the world’s leading Transcendents."

"After all, power is everything."

"I understand," Medea replied cheerfully. "Shall I gather everyone now?"

"Yes," Aske said. "We should set out as soon as possible."

——————

At the previous meeting, the Cabinet Ministers representing the Duke of Carinthia had reached an agreement with the mercenaries.

They were responsible for resolving the Mutant event.

The reason was simple. For a transcendental Mutant, ordinary people were powerless.

The fastest solution was to send the Holy Temple Knights from the Church Court, followed by recruiting experienced Transcendents.

However, Emperor Otto of the Holy Solomon Empire had extremely poor relations with the Church Court. The Duke of Carinthia chose not to report to the Church Court or bring in the Holy Temple Knights to address the Mutant on his lands, quite clearly indicating his support for Emperor Otto.

Of course, this was a subtle political gesture that was still not enough for the Church Court to expel him from the Church.

If the Duke of Carinthia were to let his privately trained Transcendents make an appearance, the Church Court would inevitably see this as a form of heretical provocation, resulting in a complete break with the Carinthia Duchy.

Therefore, since the Duke of Carinthia couldn’t turn to the Church Court and wasn’t able to deploy the Transcendents he’d been secretly nurturing, seeking help from mercenaries was the fastest solution.

Mercenaries lacked principles. They had neither identification cards nor household registrations, drifting between major countries. Even if they accidentally revealed someone’s Transcendent identity within their ranks, at worst it would lead to a chase involving the local Temple Knights and Demon Hunters.

As long as I run fast enough, you can’t deal with me.

Then escape to other countries, live in obscurity peacefully for a few years, and the Church Court wouldn’t deploy the entire continent’s forces just to arrest a minor Transcendent.

So, the Duke of Carinthia offered money, and the mercenaries, while solving the Mutant, took on the risk of exposing their heretical nature, creating a win-win solution for both parties.

Included in the Mercenary Groups participating in quelling this Mutant event, aside from The Azure Longsword and Steel Cross.

There were groups they had dealt with before like the West Francia "Free Wind" Mercenary Group.

The Venice "Golden Bullet" Mercenary Group.

The Iberia "Bull" Mercenary Group.

The Karma "Viking" Mercenary Group.

The Brittania "Golden Sparrow" Mercenary Group.

Aside from these Large Mercenary Groups, nearly a hundred smaller mercenary teams had signed up to participate in suppressing the Mutant, of course, their prices couldn’t compare to the large groups—The large groups were negotiating a buyout price with the Carinthia Duchy, while the small groups were offered a base price by the Carinthia Duchy alone, take it or leave.

As an obscure group, The Azure Longsword would have only been able to get the base price, but Andrea fiercely negotiated. By leveraging Steel Cross’s reputation and guarantee, she also managed to secure a buyout price for Aske.

The compensation was much higher than typical mercenary tasks, just goes to show that noble lords really are rich.

Consequently, the Mercenary Groups began entering the site of the current Mutant event, Lunfield Town, from different directions.

They chose to enter separately for confidentiality purposes. After all, this was on Solomon Catholic territory; if any of the Transcendents’ identities were exposed during the battle, it would be troublesome if a rival made an anonymous report to the Church Court.

Larger Mercenary Groups, being more visible, disdained such underhanded tactics, but for the smaller Mercenary Groups, it was hard to say—they played by wilder rules, attracting all kinds of odd characters.

"Listen up," standing on the outskirts of Lunfield, Aske announced to the girls, "this time we will split into two teams to fight."

"Ah?!" The girls exclaimed in astonishment.