Going back a little in time, before the fire was big enough for the Grand Witch to send Kuira, a bloody slaughter was going on on the beach outside Kuira's hut. "Kill the witch! Heartbreaker Bay is ours!" the man, dressed in a somewhat more ornate outfit than the average sailor, waved his scimitar and pointed at Hela, who was standing on the reef. The sailors behind him let out a meaningless cry and rushed towards the lonely figure. Their charge came to a slight halt as another, larger figure came out from behind the reef.

The mountain monster, the former gatekeeper, has now been freed from his previous position. The strong man in heavy armor held an iron spear more than a man tall in his right hand and a bloody head in his left hand. As for the body that this head should have corresponded, judging from the hideous cut on his neck, it is obvious that it has lost the meaning of existence. There was obvious hesitation on the faces of the sailors as they witnessed this scene, wondering if they would be able to kill the monster with their strength, and whether they would be alive if they could kill the monster.

There was no point in thinking about it, because for whatever reason, Hella would not allow the sailors to escape the beach alive. The witch waved the rose in her hand, and the heavily armored warrior rushed towards the sailors like a chariot. He casually flung the head he was holding in his left hand at an unlucky man, the blood-stained iron spear in his hand leaving the peculiar fishy sweet smell of blood in the air. The smell didn't irritate the mountain monsters, and the eyes covered by the heavy helmets were still cold. As a loyal guardian of the witch, he does not get excited about killing, nor does he shrink back from being injured, the outcome of the battle does not matter to him, the process is the same, he only obeys the motives of his master's orders.

"You found them. "Farther down the beach, on a rolling reef, the networms hid in the shadows with the bobcats and the Sach to watch what was happening on the beach. This fight doesn't need their hands, to be exact, it doesn't even need Hela's hands. The mercenary had no doubt at all that even with the mountain monster's bare hands, the gatekeeper could use his strange powers to torture the guys to death one by one in agony with his heavy armor that could completely defend against the sailor's scimitar. What she suspected was the reason why the intelligence traffickers had brought these poor people here to die.

"Not exactly, ma'am. "The lynx didn't pay as much attention to the killing on the beach as Sach did, the same scene he hadn't seen before, and even if he hadn't seen it, the killing itself had grown tired and even disgusted to the man. So instead of fighting, he would rather turn his head to the sea, "You think they're the ghosts I found to be the dead, poor worm." But in their eyes, they are fighting for a new order, or rather an order made by them. And I never deceived them about this battle, and the evidence is that they have not yet fled. I just gave the hungry fish some bait, and they themselves couldn't wait to get into the net. ”

"Incitement is worse than deception. The mercenary said in a deep voice. She had heard stories about the devil from Lothar, and she had seen the power of speech in her early years. Many times, an eloquent speaker can bring far more than a martial arts general. Because the latter can only give confidence to a warrior, while the former can turn everyone into a warrior.

"Incitement? no, no, no," said the lynx, shaking his head like a rattle, as if he was very unhappy with the words used by the networm, "incitement is a kind of rhetoric, a technique that makes people lose their cool judgment. And I would never do that, I'm a businessman, I only sell goods and I never emphasize what they are for. Those who buy something from me, I don't teach them how to use what they buy, and once it's sold, it doesn't matter to me anymore. They have come to this point out of their own judgment and excessive greed. ”

"And what about you? You didn't do this out of greed? What did the witch promise you? wealth, power, or woman?" the mercenary didn't hate sailors, probably because she had lived on the docks for a while, so she knew that although most of these people were bastards, there were many kinds of bastards.

"Greed, oh, maybe. But I'm not here for you, these things that can be swept away by the waves at any time like a painting on the beach. I'm here for something more real, something more tangible, like the air we breathe and the food we drink in our stomachs. In this respect I am no different from the people on the beach, the sailors love freedom more than air, and I have what is precious, we are all hungry beasts, willing to give our lives to fill our stomachs. ”

Anyone who has been in a relationship with bobcats for a long time will have the feeling that the guy often says things stranger when he doesn't suck blubber than after he sucks it. Fortunately, even if it is the brother's own brother, he doesn't know his younger brother delicately, so no one may have had this feeling so far.

Networm frowned, she didn't object to Hela's plan, but she didn't know that it would involve so many sacrifices. What are the lives of these people? Should these people die in order to save Kiri from a dead soul? The mercenaries of the past don't think about this kind of question, she just takes the money to do things. However, I don't know when she changed. This change is not good or bad, because for better or for worse, it has already happened. However, the displeasure did not affect the networm's reaction, and she pulled the child back almost the moment Sach tried to step out of the shadows. And said in a reproachful tone, "What are you going to do?"

The boy tried to break free from the mercenary's grasp, but he was too thin, and after several failed attempts, Saich put his other hand on the blindfold. But nothing happened, and the shadow beast that resided in his eye socket had no intention of obeying his orders, and the cold iron amulet on the net worm made this creature from another world quite uncomfortable. "Let me go, I'm going to fight for Lady Hela too!, too, and I can kill her enemies like a mountain monster!" the boy shouted.

"If she needs your help, she'll open her mouth. The mercenary lifted Sach almost from the ground. Her tone and demeanor, combined with the momentum generated by her years of mercenary career, made the boy quiet at a speed visible to the naked eye. "You're just a child, and just witnessing someone kill is too cruel. Don't set yourself down a worse path, that's what Hella wants to tell you. ”

At the mention of Hela, Sach's head bowed. But he quickly lifted up reluctantly, "How do you know, I can do anything for Miss Hela!"

The boy's words seemed to irritate the webworm, and she was silent for a few seconds, her face obscured by the shadow of her hair. If she starts beating up Sech next, it won't surprise the Bobcat standing on the sidelines. But the webworm didn't, and she said in a calm voice, "I took the step you wanted to take when I was eight years old. It makes me regret it to this day. ”

......

Time flashed back to the present, the hot wind of the flames blowing the networm's hair, and she glanced back at the quiet sea before following the others into the city. If I wasn't the mercenary I'm now, wouldn't we be able to get together more smoothly?