Chapter One Hundred and Two: Deal

After finishing the sumptuous meal, all four of them were stuffed and still wanted more.

By then, the kobold troops had already returned, bringing back seven people in addition to the goods.

These seven were the survivors: four were members of the Four-Star Grass Mercenary Corps, and the other three were from the caravan.

When the Four-Star Grass members saw their captain, they were ashamed. They stood meekly to the side, not daring to make a sound.

After all, this mercenary band had only just been founded, and these people had joined very recently. Distrusting their captain and crushed by the pressure of the Otra Earth Dragon, they had made the wrong choice. Now that they had been rescued and brought here, they were filled with regret.

As for the three caravan members, they burst into tears as soon as they saw their leader, and told him that one of the packhorses had panicked and run off, while the cargo it carried was certainly lost for good.

Matru was heartbroken, but he still forced himself to act unconcerned and comforted them with words about how it was enough that the people had come back.

"So, what are your plans next?" Keane asked after they had finished reuniting with the survivors and Matru had finished inventorying the goods.

"Lord Keane, thank you for your hospitality!" said the captain, Felice. "Though the Four-Star Grass Mercenary Corps has suffered heavy losses and now has only seven people left, we will still carry out our mission to the end and escort the caravan back to the Byte Empire! This is our mercenary corps's first assignment, and we must complete it with everything we have!"

"Good spirit. Very good!" Keane nodded in approval.

"Lord Keane, from our position, we cannot make any statement regarding the coming battle between you and Light City." After all, Felice was a mercenary hired by Light City. "We can only wish you good luck!"

"Haha! No need to worry. I haven't taken it to heart at all." Keane waved a hand and looked at Matru. "Old Horse!"

"Lord Keane, my name is Matru, not Old Horse!" Matru protested.

"Right, Old Horse!" Keane nodded. "When do you plan to set out?"

"Naturally, the sooner the better!" Matru sighed. "But the packhorses I bought at a premium before departure have basically all been killed by the Otra Earth Dragon, and I don't have enough hands under me anymore. So before we leave, I must spend some money hiring people and replenishing the number of packhorses. I wonder whether you could spare me some villagers to help carry the goods, Lord Keane?"

"The villagers won't do." Keane shook his head. "How about I rent you some kobolds instead? Don't let their size fool you; they're strong as bulls! And they're not weak in combat either. Once equipped, they can serve as guards on the road!"

"Kobolds?" Matru thought of that fully armored kobold legion in iron mail, and his eyes immediately lit up. "Wonderful, wonderful! Lord Keane, how do you rent them?"

"Five gold coins per kobold per day. You'll need to pay a month's deposit in advance. If a kobold dies in battle, you don't need to compensate me, but you must return all the equipment and weapons!" Keane thought for a moment and said.

"My heavens!! Lord Keane, you're far too ruthless~~" Matru threw up his hands and looked to the sky. "The Goddess of Fairness will surely condemn you!"

"I don't believe in her. Why should I care?" Keane laughed.

"..." Matru was speechless. After thinking it over, he said, "Lord Keane, how about five gold coins per kobold per month instead? Everything else is fine!"

"Damn, you're even darker-hearted than I am, aren't you?" Keane said hurriedly, shaking his head. "Impossible! This way: three gold coins per day, special discount!"

"The Goddess of Fairness would be weeping!" Matru argued forcefully. "How about three gold coins for five days? That already hurts me enough!"

"A few more hurts and it won't hurt anymore," Keane said. "Two gold coins per kobold per day. No lower than that! If you hire more than twenty, I'll give you ten percent off!"

"No, no, no! Even the Goddess of Fairness would shake her head." Matru said anxiously, "Final concession: one gold coin per kobold per day! I'll hire twenty kobolds, and Lord Keane gives me half price!"

"You're dreaming," Keane said quickly. "One gold coin per kobold per day is fine, but if you hire twenty kobolds, I can only give you twenty percent off!"

"The Goddess of Fairness..."

"Say the Goddess of Fairness to me one more time, and I'll curse her for meddling in other people's business!"

"Uh~~ Lord Keane, blasphemy is not allowed!" Matru's face darkened. "All right then, you give me thirty percent off. If not, I'll just not rent them!"

"Deal!"

In the end, the two of them settled on a price. Matru rented twenty kobold soldiers, all of them carrying full sets of iron armor and iron spears.

"Only warriors seems a little unstable. Do you want to rent another twenty kobold crossbowmen?" Keane suggested.

"Forget it! This is enough for now!" Matru was already hurting so badly he could die; of course he would not ask for more.

Keane laughed heartily. He truly did not care about any of this. Haggling with Matru had merely been for amusement. In truth, even if he let the kobolds escort him back for free, that would have been fine. After all, the kobolds he hired cost practically nothing anyway. And these cannon fodder without intelligence, even if they died, would not make him feel bad.

What he was thinking about now was whether these kobolds would have any problems being away from their nest. After leaving, would they still count toward the nest's capacity limit?

Now that he had rented the kobolds, the next step was to find a way to buy some new packhorses to carry the cargo. So Matru turned his attention back to Keane.

"Lord Keane, do you have anyone here who knows how to train ordinary horses, or packhorses, or even make any kind of transport vehicle? A carriage would do!"

"There is one such person right in front of you," Keane said, pointing at himself. "And mine is even more advanced!"

"Oh? In what way is it more advanced?" Matru immediately became interested.

"I can take these existing packhorses of yours and train them into magical transports with spatial abilities! That way, a single packhorse can carry the same amount of cargo as five to ten of your previous packhorses! However, this method is relatively expensive. For each spatial-type packhorse I train for you, you need to pay me five hundred gold coins!"

"Five hundred gold coins!! The Goddess of Fairness would howl in grief!" Matru shook his head hard. "Is there any other way?"

"Yes! I can train ordinary packhorses for you, but each one costs ten gold coins!" Keane said, holding up five fingers on his right hand.

"My God, Lord Keane, you should change careers and become a merchant!" Matru stared wide-eyed. "At the horse market in Light City, even the most expensive packhorse only costs five gold coins!"

"Then you can go buy packhorses in Light City and come back," Keane said with a grin.

"You're too good at business!" Matru struggled for a while, then finally said through gritted teeth, "Fine! I'll buy fifteen ordinary packhorses. Can you deliver them now?"

"Fifteen, huh? They can be delivered tomorrow morning," Keane said. "Why don't you all stay here tonight and get some proper rest?"

"Very well!" Matru thought for a moment and nodded his agreement.

After arranging everyone in the few simple empty rooms the craftsmen had just built, Keane called Wolf and Buddy over. "Take the troops. We're going out to capture some packhorses!"