Bulat was seated behind his desk, inside the study of his house. The room was bare, with only a single desk and chair, as well as some rather mediocre portraits and artwork hung on the walls.
Before him was a plate of unfinished food and a pile of chicken bones.
His gaze was trained on the door, his eyes displaying clearly that he was in deep thought.
The issue that plagued his thoughts was Arthur, and the ways of how to effectively get the Explorer to work with him.
The idea of getting rid of him completely was appealing however if he did that, he would be spending money and not really get that money back.
"If possible I'd like to make a profit from this"
He whispered to himself, getting rid of someone like an Explorer would cost a lot, and even if he's prepared for that loss it still didn't make him feel better about it
His brows knitted together in frustration and he clasped his hands together.
"Ugh!"
That exclamation left his mouth with a bitterness, he didn't want to swallow the pill of losing money to get rid of one man, only to return to the status quo.
Scratching the bottom of his chin Bulat struggled with what to do. He already sent out the requests to the Mercenaries days ago, however without a plan he would be paying them for nothing.
Without much of a plan coming to him, he decided to think back to his meeting with Arthur, believing that could help him make at least some rough draft of a plan.
The respect Bulat had freely given the man before meeting him had been quick to vanish once he saw what kind of man he was.
Arthur was a man who let a woman control his actions, he was mentally weak, clearly incapable of taking things into his own hands, however that in no way meant Bulat had to be careless.
What he needed was a quick and easy way to control him and Bulat had figured that could be achievable by targeting the wife instead of the man himself.
The issue was more about coming up with a viable plan that would help him accomplish that, it had to be something that would ensure Arthur's long-term cooperation without risk of him killing Bulat down the line.
A sure-fire way to control the Explorer, but unfortunately Bulat couldn't even begin to think of a plan. All he knew was that the wife would be key to the plan.
'Wait if his wife is the key… then that means I need to get that kind of item….'
He couldn't help but wince as that thought came to him, he knew the kind of item he needed would cost something fierce and he was unwilling to part with the kind of money it would cost.
*Knock*knock*
A sudden knock brought him out of his deep thoughts and he allowed the person to enter. The door was not locked.
"You've been stuck in here all day."
Charlotte walked in, her lithe and slender frame, gracefully strutting into the room with the confidence of someone who owned the place.
"I just need a place to think quietly, if you're here to lecture me about my not paying attention to you, please don't."
He leaned back on his chair and let his arms rest on the desk. His face barely changed from his expression of deep thought, something Charlotte found to be annoying.
"So I'm not important enough to keep your attention then?"
"That is not what I said"
"You might as well have."
She was quick to respond, eliciting a groan from him. He was unwilling to argue with a woman over this.
"I will not argue with you, Charlotte. What do you want?"
The frown deepened on her face, the tone of his voice as he asked the question almost felt dismissive, and her brows began knitting together into clear signs of frustration.
"Is it a crime to want my husband to look at me, now?"
She folded her arms, standing over him with a look of displeasure on her face, clear as day.
"Woman don't test me, I have no patience for your silly attention seeking today"
Giving her a warning look that told of consequences should she continue with this conversation. She bit the inner parts of her bottom lip in a bit of frustration before she huffed and let her shoulders deflate.
"I'm sorry but you have been ignoring me, you didn't even join me for practice. I'm worried, did something happen?"
The plate of unfinished food caused her to ask that question, it was odd of him to barely touch a plate of food.
Seeing her soften her tone, he could only soften his own in response, letting the tension he had been feeling before she entered leave his body.
"It's quite all right, something did happen but it's not an issue you should concern yourself with. I'll try and make practice tomorrow, I promise"
"Thank you, Is there anything I can do?"
"Not at the moment, but could you put this in the fridge? I'm not in the mood to finish it"
He pushed the plate of food towards her as he instructed.
"OK, want something else like a drink or some tea?"
"That would be nice, thank you"
Charlotte took the plate and quickly made her way out of the study. Her mood hadn't changed and she felt no better than when she entered.
With Charlotte having left Bulat was once again by himself, although he felt a bit better, he planned to indulge himself on her body tonight, so the day was not a total bust.
Barely five minutes after Charlotte exited the study another knock struck the door and Bulat allowed it.
"Boss, the Mercenaries are here"
Charlie entered and stepped aside and let a tall man of greater height than himself enter the room. The man was bulky with arms almost as large as tree trunks, and he had a scarred bald head.
Behind him came a short-statured, almost dwarf like in terms of height. A full head of hair and a single scar that ran horizontally across his face.
Both men had deep brown eyes and gave off a dangerous air. They were exactly what Bulat was looking for.
Bulat stood up as soon as they entered. However, there was a flash of recognition on his face as he laid eyes on the taller man's face. A scarred bald head, matched the description of a formidable mercenary
"Gentlemen welcome, I hope my request didn't cause any trouble"
"We're mercenaries, money is our motivation"
The shorter of the two responded, his voice a smooth baritone. He folded his arms and adjusted his posture. Any job that paid well was worth it in his book.
"Oh? I thought it was to become Explorers"
Bulat questioned, a bit surprised by the response. It was not technically common knowledge but it was known by many that Mercenaries sought to become Explorers.
"Don't be stupid, two things can be true at the same time, it's not like we have a steady stream of income like Explorers do"
This time it was the taller of the two that answered, his voice was gruff, with a bit of rudeness to it.
"I see, in any case, my name is Bulat, your employer for the time being"
"Zaion Kalem"
Zaion, who was the taller one answered first, his gaze shifting from Bulat and examining the room.
"I'm Henderson but people call me Henry, and if you're curious, yes I have dwarf blood in me it's why I'm so short"
Henry answered and decided to add a bit more information that everyone in the room had already guessed.
It wasn't uncommon to find people who had the blood of other races, like dwarves, Elves, and beastmen, despite those races having been extinct centuries ago.
"Yes, I guessed. Excuse me Mr Zaion, I'm a bit curious, are you Zaion of the Ironhead? Your head matches the descriptions I've heard from the rumours"
Bulat quickly moved on from Henry and the shorter man couldn't help but adopt a droopy expression, he had expected some follow-up questions.
"That's me, but please don't call me Iron Head, just use my name."
"Why not? Stories of your head being as hard as iron are quite popular, I once heard you fought the Monster Hunter Jack Cole, to a standstill, It's said you used your head to charge at him like a bull"
Bulat spoke with praise, and even shook his head to reenact a sort of headbutt as he imagined Zaion fighting against the Monster hunter.
Hearing some honest praise coming from Bulat, Zaion cracked a smile.
"Heh! It's not my proudest moment but that was something I did, you should have seen it, the poor fool was baffled, didn't know what to do"
Of course, it was his proudest moment facing off against such a renowned and powerful mercenary like the Monster hunter and coming out of that exchange alive was no easy feat.
"I bet, I didn't think a mercenary of your caliber would be so close by. I would have assumed you'd be in the Empire. I heard the Emperor was recruiting Mercenaries in mass, the pay must not be that good"
"No it's good, I just had business here, plus no way I'd be caught dead working for an Explorer"
Shrugged Zaion. Mercenaries and Explorers did not get along very well, some mercenaries harbored an intense hatred for Explorers. Although it's widely believed that this conflict is mostly one-sided.
"I see, I heard an Explorer had taken over the Empire some years ago, I thought it was just a rumor"
He let out a hum, his mind thinking of what this could mean. If that was the case then the nations north of the Lionheart kingdom might not be enough to go against the Empire and the war could spill over into the kingdom.
"Rumours are based on a truth sometimes"