Calradia 1257, July 1.

The weather was overcast, and the sky was full of thick, low, grayish-yellow cloudy clouds.

The cloudy clouds of the sky rushed towards the ground like fluffy gray peaks, like an abyss formed by the blowing of waves and winds, and like the pale green foaming waves of the newborn that had not yet been filled with madness.

It was all as if it was a foil to this battlefield that had just ended. The blood-red earth was filled with howls and "shenyin" sounds, and there were broken, blood-drenched corpses lying around, and flocks of crows hovering in the turbid clouds overhead.

Alleyne had a moldy loaf of bread in his mouth, his strong, tired body stained with blood, his thick hands holding a spear about his height, his empty eyes staring into the distance, and slowly stood up.

He walked straight over, where a middle-aged man whose legs had been cut off from the knees by his opponent lay there. The middle-aged man was "shenyin" in pain, a large amount of blood foam gushed out, and Bai Sensen's bones turned out of the flesh.

"Help... Save... I... Child ......" The middle-aged man's pale lips trembled, and with his trembling right hand he took out a small leather bag from his bosom.

A slender figure suddenly reached out to take it, then picked up a dinar from the bag and shoved it into his mouth. Then the middle-aged man responded with a muffled sound of metal embedded in his teeth, crisp and low.

I saw that a girl with a slender waist, smart feet and legs, and a sturdy body appeared beside him. Ellen didn't show any dissatisfaction with the girl next to him who snatched his booty, or rather, he was used to the other party's behavior.

However, the next moment, as Alleyne slowly raised the spear in his hand. Suddenly, a sharp dagger swept through the neck of the middle-aged man with lightning speed, and blood gushed out in an instant, directly ending the little life left by the middle-aged man.

The girl held a sharp and red-stained dagger in her right hand, and her movements and temperament had a rough and graceful charm.

"I don't need you to do it," Alleyne told her, "I can do it..."

"But you're still hesitating. Kress didn't wait for the other to finish. "Don't forget you're a mercenary. There was a cold stare in her pale blue eyes.

"People will think that we are ruthless and cold-blooded. He wanted to answer, but what he said was, "I don't need you to remind me, because we are mercenaries, and mercenaries fight for profit and money." ”

"To survive, to live." She replied with a resolute tone. 'Kress', when most people hear this name, they think that the owner of this name is a man, but it is named on a woman's body.

Kress is adept at using daggers, both throwing them and stabbing them, she is more adept at attacking the hearts and throats of her enemies, and she likes to collect money bags and beautiful trinkets on corpses. The girls all love some beautiful jewelry, even the cold-blooded mercenaries.

For the enemy, she will gladly slit the throat of the enemy. It will even slice open the bowels of enemies in search of hidden gold coins. She was so cruel at a young age, and that was because Kress understood that eternity and end are often separated by only one thing, and that is herself.

Expressionlessly, Alleyn snatched the money bag from the other's hand, clenched the spear in his other hand, and walked to the other side alone. "Kill the boy in your heart," he told himself, "and never hesitate next time. Never!"

Kress ignored him, wiping the blood from the dagger and putting it back in its scabbard, and her small, dexterous calloused hands quickly rummaged through the corpse in front of her—anything of value.

In the same way, the companions around the girl put an end to the wounded who seemed to be unable to live, but were dying, wailing in pain, and wrapped up their companions. After that, they began to collect loot and everything that could be exchanged for money on the battlefield.

Kress was born in a wealthy village near Kudan, and his mother used to own land, which was later occupied by relatives. When she was seven years old, she followed her mother to the Maleg Fort, where she grew up uneducated, illiterate, and dexterous at catching mice.

When she was fifteen years old, after her mother died of a serious illness, she lived alone in a humble begging life with a wealthy merchant's family, and later chose to flee for fear of punishment because she stole a very beautiful piece of jewelry from her employer's wife.

Seven years ago, he joined the current mercenary team because of an accident. A year later, she became an important member of this mercenary team, and the mercenary leader Victor valued her dexterity and ruthlessness, and in some special cases, she also doubled as an assassin.

On the other side of the battlefield, Mathilde was instructing his mercenaries to use shovels to dig a hole in an open dirt floor to bury the corpses of his companions and enemies.

The only difference is that the bodies of their companions are buried in separate pits and piled with stones. The corpses of the enemies would be buried en masse, which was a mercy compared to allowing the vultures and beasts to eat.

"It's impossible for a woman to be a leader!" a voice behind her that was both familiar and disgusting.

Mathilde turned to look at his companion approaching behind him. He asked her in a teasing tone, "But you're not doing anything like collecting firewood and cooking right now!"

Jamila shrugged, but then smiled confidently, "That's because I found myself good at managing servants, like you!"

Mathilde's lips pursed into anger, "You really are the most unreasonable and arrogant girl I have ever seen!"

"Speaking of unreasonableness and arrogance, after the last battle victory, I searched for the body of an enemy and found a purse from an enemy, who rushed from behind and snatched it from me? Who claimed that the enemy was killed by her, and the purse should belong to her?"

"You know very well that only I can do this!" Mathilde's tone suddenly changed to indifference.

"I don't have time to figure out who knocked down whom in such a fierce fight!If you had simply told me that you deserve that wallet, I would have been happy to give it to you instead of being robbed!" her tone of retort was distinctly arrogant, but still as crisp as a silver bell, with a pleasant jump.

Jamila is a native of Calradia and is well-educated. Her father was a well-known merchant in the Paradise City of Viruga, but her father thought she should marry his business partner, a man who was almost thirty, so Jamila fled.

After escaping, she made ends meet by working as a cook for passing caravans, but she didn't like those rude and guys, they were girls after all. She aspires to join a team that provides protection, but she is not too picky in order to make ends meet.

In terms of personality, she is not very harmonious with Resarit, who is strict with mercenary discipline, and Mathilde, who likes to bully the weak, but when she meets such a noble gentleman as Ellene, she is brave and funny.

Jamila added, "Oh, don't forget, Kress can do it too. ”

After hearing his name, Kress, who was not far away, cursed loudly, "Stupid woman, don't get involved with me. ”

"Ladies, ladies, please stop!" Victor finally couldn't stand the argument anymore. "For the sake of the damn weather, save your stamina. ”

"I tried to be polite and friendly with her and it was clear that she rejected my kindness. Mathilde said indignantly. "I thought she was lovely, so I chose one of the Warriors who was a good match for her to marry, which seemed to me to be a generous offer for a girl who had been abandoned by her family. ”

Mathilde's hometown is in Nord proper. She was the daughter of a squire, a warrior, and her husband was also a squire and her comrade-in-arms, but before she could give birth to an heir, her husband died of the plague.

Her husband declared her heir, but her conspiratorial brother-in-law bribed the people involved and refused to let a woman inherit the inheritance, and she fled and came to Calradia to find a living, hoping that one day she would earn enough money to hire some soldiers to go back and reclaim what belonged to her.

She relishes the Nord landing in Calradia, and perhaps the Nord attack was widely recited as a heroic deed in the Nord mainland.

Gonding Harebrix was the culprit who led the Nord invasion, and he heard a bard say that the old king of Calradia had left all of Calradia to the Nords as an inheritance (the invaders could always find an excuse that was not an excuse).

Although the 'God of War' Okadin was killed by the Virgians in the Battle of [Riva Cheze], all the Nords believed that Calradia would be Nord sooner or later, and it seems that the Nords had no small ambitions.

Mathilde, looking very disgruntled, chattered, "but instead of thanking me for my generosity, she turned her back without saying a word. If it weren't for the respect for you, I'm afraid I would have taught her what politeness is on the spot!"

"Some people enjoy cruelty because they are cruel, and she calls it politeness!" Jamila sarcastically said unflinchingly.

Victor reprimanded her loudly, "Enough, Jamila, you can give me enough time!"

Jamila said in a very soft, but audible voice, "You should shut her up." Then she left alone without looking back down the hillside outside the battlefield.

"It's a good thing Resarit stays in [Zenda], otherwise..."Ellen comforted the leader who was caught in the middle.

"I'd rather take Ressarit with me," Victor whispered, shaking his head in agony, "perhaps these ladies should be left in the Mercenary Hall to be in charge of the employers." ”

Alleyne nodded sympathetically. "But in that case, we don't want to get a job, and the employers don't think that women can have much role on the battlefield. ”

"That's because they haven't seen how good these women are. ”

"I'll admit that Aunt Mathilde and Kress on our team are much better than most of the mercenaries on the battlefield. "But the old men might prefer to sleep with them." ”

"Alright, go and clean up the battlefield," Victor commanded, "it's getting dark, and we'll get out of here before it's dark." ”

Carrying his spear, Alleyne stepped over the corpse of an enemy, removed the money bag that was not bulging in his scales, and put away the weapons that could be used and sold for a high price. All the rest did the same, including the bodies of their companions.

After clearing the battlefield, Alleyne slowly stood up, his back a little sore, but it was nothing compared to the people lying on the ground. He turned away from the corpses on the ground. He thought to himself, "To cherish everything that is alive is the best pity for the dead who have lost everything. 」

The enemies who fell beneath them were none other than their comrades who had fought alongside them last time. This time, however, they faced each other again in hostile camps. Just because this time their employers are different, but they happen to be two hostile forces.

When the battle began, the warriors on both sides did not hesitate or relent. Because they never fought for any faith or honor, but they fought for only one thing, money.

It was gold, silver, and bronze of three different colors and equal values, and they risked their lives to fight, and then used the money they earned to sustain their lives, and these people were called mercenaries by the lords and merchants who hired them.

The mercenaries living in a world full of war are a life-sustaining team, and walk calmly on this land with a neutral attitude. A few of them, call themselves free swordsmen.

There are many kinds of mercenary teams, including free swordsmen, wandering knights, full-time crossbowmen, sentinels, etc., among which the wandering knights are the most powerful, but also the most expensive mercenaries, because the cavalry itself has to bear heavy and expensive consumption.

Most of these mercenaries, who have indicated their professional skills and are waiting to be recruited, are deserters from the army, bandits and robbers who have decided to give up their careers in raiding, and of course, some young nobles with down-and-out families and wandering knights who have been banished by their lords.

Although their combat effectiveness is very strong, they are weak, and even if they are very calm in the actual battle, they are often beaten on the ground by those mercenary brothers who have united, and they can't find their own shoes.

The last time the lord recruited troops, their ranks were completely poor to the point of tinkling, and they could almost hear a few copper coins in their pockets, and they nibbled on bread for a meal that they never wanted to see in their lives.

But another team of fifteen hired swordsmen came to intervene, and it seemed that it was about to be their turn, but these fifteen people intervened and came in front of them.

This is nothing, the most hateful thing is that they are chewing fragrant sausages in their mouths, and the brothers who have been hungry for a month are naturally angry.

That time, Ellen really experienced envy, jealousy, hatred, and what kind of combat power this terrible mentality has. Fifteen mercenary swordsmen were beaten unconscious and put into large sacks, which were then neatly placed on the wagons carrying the wheat, and it was not known where they were transported.

Who am I? Mercenaries often ask themselves this question, a simple and complex question, am I a person whose name represents? I am a deep spiritual consciousness? I am a living being, I am a mercenary, I am the son of someone?

A simple question can have an infinite number of answers, the world is a book with a blank page forever, and because of this, everything that has no end constitutes eternity.

Whenever he survived a battle covered in blood and received a commission from his employer, before each departure, when he took the first step, Alleyne would ask himself the same question, and the answer would be different each time.

Gradually, he likes to answer this question with the most normal answer. "I'm a mercenary, my name is Ellenn, and I don't have a surname. 」

Aren's father was a nobleman of the Kingdom of Vegia and a lord with a fief. Alleyne is the eldest son in the family and has the right to inherit. But after his mother's death, his father remarried, and his stepmother bewitched his father into stripping Alleyne of his inheritance and expelling him.

"Why me? Is it because of what did I do? What did I do wrong?" Alleyne had thought about these questions more than once, but he was relieved whenever a feeling of intense hunger stung him.

After that, he has lived like this. He understands that the only way to survive is to rely on himself.

Aren's mercenary team also has its own banner. In a world full of war, having a banner, fighting power, and being well-equipped are the three important criteria for lords to recruit mercenaries.

Their banner was a black insignia with a straight-edged military knife and a staggered broadsword, and when they were hungry, they often imagined them like a cod and a long loaf of bread, but when they got tired of it, they would turn into a large sausage.

The superiority of life is the courage of the mercenaries to fight, each mercenary clearly understands the name of each teammate, but none of the mercenaries have the courage to make friends with their companions, not that the friendship is not enough, the sustenance and trust of life in the battle have brewed a friendship that is firmer than any ceremony.

The most fearful thing for mercenaries is that in every second of their lives, they can lose someone who they just became friends with a few days ago, or even a few minutes ago. The enemy's weapons are merciless, and the war is merciless, which creates the greatest suffering for the mercenaries who have gone through all this.

This feeling is only vented when drunk, and Kress doesn't like to drink, but still gets drunk at every party tavern party.

In fact, every drunk person is sober, they know what they are doing and they know how to do it, but it is the wonderful effect of alcohol that allows them to indulge their deep feelings and act accordingly.

Every mercenary cherishes every tavern party, not knowing that at some point in the future, their lives will end at any time. Cherish what is alive, enjoy what you have done in life, be proud to live what you have lived, and if you want not to leave regrets in your life, just enjoy every moment of life because they are fleeting.

In the chaotic continent of Calradia, the princes have maintained their deterrence and power with war, death, and stratagem, and the battle has lasted for no known how long it has lasted or will end.

Mercenaries walk the land of Calradia. They just need to keep their lives alive and kill the owner of the sword before their bodies are pierced by someone else's sword, this is the only way for them to show their value and earn a pass to live, money is the only and last way.

Mercenaries have no holidays or fixed salaries, they only have themselves, only weapons, only hearts beating under their armor. Some are boiling with blood, and some have long since become numb from the baptism of blood and war. They want to overcome their spirit that can collapse at any time before they are killed by the enemy.

For mercenaries who have no faith, the best way is to fantasize about something and make it happen with their own efforts.

Aren's fantasy is to protect everything around him, the villagers who huddle to hide from the fighting, the warriors who are bleeding after being wounded but still unyielding. He fantasized about the day when he could protect all the weak and the right.

This is a fantasy that would be ridiculed for a mercenary and an ordinary person, and it is precisely because it is a fantasy that Ellen has deeply rooted it in his mind and maintained his spirit.

The mercenary's team set off again, and not a single tear was left behind, even if the tears in their hearts had long since flowed. People call mercenaries mercenary, but they don't know that under this ruthless name, there is a group of amorous people who suppress their feelings.

They headed towards the north of Zenda, for it was the only place that the mercenaries called home, and only in that rich and free town that they could get the letter of employment from their next employer.