In the dark corner of the Vatican, the imperial capital, there is a round table that has just been dusted off.

In the conference room, all the managers of the Mercenary Association gathered in this cramped room.

Colorful light rain was still falling outside, hitting the dirty yellow window sill from time to time, leaving neon-like marks.

The first internal meeting of the Mercenary Association was carried out in such a hurry.

The atmosphere is suffocating.

"The Brotherhood and the Cult of Merlin are at war." A brown-haired woman said.

"really."

"What do you have...um...I don't know what to say." The brown-haired woman pulled her long hair, her expression was gloomy, and she seemed a little anxious.

"I can't live like this anymore!" The rough man opposite the woman slammed the round table, making a shallow crater visible to the naked eye.

"Calm down." William's lips were trembling slightly, and he still held the card he had received from the government in his hand.

"Indeed, we shouldn't be impulsive now. The Brotherhood... we are still invincible."

Even with the consumption of the Merlin Cult, the Brotherhood can still continuously replenish its manpower.

After all, they are facing the entire country.

Now, the mercenary market has been completely linked to the government. Under Charles' reforms, all rights are moving closer to the center.

What's even more outrageous is that every registered mercenary must complete a certain amount of military service within one year, which is a rigid indicator for becoming a mercenary.

The weaker the mercenary, the longer the military service. It is said that this is because each mercenary must create an actual value of merit points for the country, which is the same for every mercenary.

However, the power of mercenaries is also divided into strong and weak, and the efficiency of creating value is different, so they end up like this.

What's even worse is that military service is not paid... Complaints piled up like a snowflake on the desk of every market mayor, making them complain endlessly...

.

This is the opportunity for this meeting to begin.

Now they are neither advancing nor retreating, and are in an extremely embarrassing situation.

Some people even wanted to quit directly, but of course, others persuaded them to come back.

"We have to see what we can do first and what we have now," the woman said softly.

"Those present, William and I are the warriors of the Five Demonic Patterns, and the rest are all of the Four Demonic Patterns."

"In terms of individual combat power, we are not inferior to the Brotherhood, but in terms of numbers, we are far behind them."

William spoke with some hesitation: "Where are our mercenaries? I remember that there should be more than just the Brotherhood who have registered as mercenaries here..."

"Indeed, but..." the woman nodded, "They are not our people, are they?"

"Don't they have to rely on this to make a living? They can't find jobs elsewhere, so we gave them the opportunity to work. It's that simple!" the man said angrily.

"It's money or life, they know it in their hearts." The woman said coldly.

"Because the magic power of most braves is very low, and they basically have no fighting ability..." William sighed and continued, "They are just cannon fodder, and they will also demoralize..."

"It's better not to go."

"They don't dare to go up either."

"Come on...what else can we do to these idiots? Drag them here? Besides, you yourself know what we are fighting against."

"That guy Charlie actually dares to kill his own brother."

William quickly stopped saying this, as some words could not be said on any occasion.

"Don't talk nonsense, it's Fregra..."

"Obviously it was Charlie who instigated Fregra to kill, to avoid suspicion? Are we gathered here to avoid suspicion? Don't you look at what Merlin taught them and they have done! Wow! A perfect world tree!

If this continues, the entire imperial capital will have to be rebuilt..."

"Bang!" the man snorted dissatisfiedly and crossed his arms, "It's really neither advancing nor retreating now."

"This Charlie is really not reassuring...what does he want? What can those orcs do to him?"

"I think he doesn't just want to drive away the orcs... It's like, if my family is too ugly, can I drive them away?"

"Besides, the orcs aren't ugly either..." the woman muttered softly.

"What's the point of this topic! What do we need to do now..."

"What else can we do?" William spread his hands and looked deeply.

In fact, this discussion is over.

All of you here are very smart people.

Either compromise or...

No either.

But... they still have to live after all, right?

It's still raining outside.

Everyone walked out of the conference room silently and took out the umbrellas they had brought with them.

All magic will be washed away before the rain that falls when the World Tree appears.

If an injured person is exposed to the rain for a while, the open wounds on his body will heal to some extent.

A few hours later, in the Palace of Portalona, ​​this group of mayors arrived as Charlie expected.

The door was still closed, but it was quickly pushed open and it was Phillip who opened the door.

"So, it's an honor to meet you all. What do you want to talk to me about?" Charlie said the word "you" very hard, which made everyone present feel unhappy.

"We are here because we want to talk to His Majesty about the recent reforms of the Mercenary Association." William said calmly.

"I clearly remember that when our respected Majesty Aiyuni was in power, the Mercenary Association did not have a very close cooperative relationship with the government." The woman said neither humble nor overbearing, without fear at all. She also used the word "respected"

Bite very hard.

Of course, Charlie's expression did not change at all, and the smile at the corner of his mouth was like the devil's smile in the oil painting.

"But my dear brother Avni has been assassinated by Fregra who teaches Merlin...isn't it? You have to take precautions before they happen, right? Just in case...haha."

Charlie's voice seemed a little aggrieved, but the words he threw were not blunt at all like a sharp sword.

Why would the guy in front of me talk about his brother's death so lightly...

There was already a little bit of cold sweat on William's hair, and the atmosphere became more solid, as if it was gradually filled with earth elements.

"So, do you have any opinions?" Charlie changed his sitting position and motioned to Philip to bring some sofas for them to sit down. At the same time, he snapped his fingers and the table in the corner flew to the center of the political hall with a bang.

"Your Majesty Charlie, look..." One of the market mayors smiled bitterly and took out his mercenary license, which showed the date of service.

But it has been reduced to zero.

"Huh? Do you have any objections?" Charlie supported his body and head with his hands and spoke in a lazy tone.

"We don't care much about military service, but... why is there no corresponding reward for military service? Although we don't have to worry about food and drink,... other mercenaries are also human beings...

."

"Oh! Oh... So that's what it is like!" Charlie opened his eyes wide and slapped his forehead, "I will add military service salary to them! As long as the target is completed, is one gold coin enough?

"

For some reason, I always felt that Charlie's tone sounded like he was dismissing a beggar... It was really nauseating to hear.

But they must accept it with a bright smile, otherwise their gang will rebel.

"I would like to ask, why are several of us exempted from military service?" William raised his hand. This was the question he wanted to ask the most.

"Well..." Charlie smiled, "I think...that's the reason! Hahaha!"

I think?

Hahaha?

William suddenly had a headache and held his forehead: "Your Majesty, please don't joke."

"You have done enough for the country, but if you still want to serve in the military, I can-"

"No, no, no, we won't need it." Several other people quickly stopped him and glared at William fiercely.

"So," Charlie tapped the armrest with his finger, "I also have a gracious favor."

"Please say."

"Are you willing to dedicate your manpower to work with our brotherhood to eliminate the Merlin Cult?"

Everyone was so scared that they didn't dare to say anything.

This lunatic actually dares to openly challenge the Merlin Cult! They have the World Tree!

"Of course, it's okay if you don't want to do it. I'm just asking for advice. I'll talk to the Xingchen Society later."

"I, let's not get involved in this matter..."
To be continued...