"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"
Henry inserted himself into the conversation, as he was starting to feel like he was being ignored.
With a shake of his head, Bulat decided to return on the topic. It wasn't his job to worry about those kinds of things right now.
"That's true, I take it you feel the same way as he does about working for an Explorer?"
"No, I just don't care to participate in any war, no way I'm doing any of that"
Henry shrugged as he answered, he saw no benefit in participating in a war just because the pay was good.
"I see, thank you for coming regardless, not to waste your time…"
He paused to clear his throat, his expression changed into something more serious and menacing, forcing the two to immediately be on guard.
"The request has to do with dealing with an Explorer, are you both willing to participate in something like that?"
Bulat had known that just two Mercenaries wouldn't be enough for an Explorer as such he came up with a concrete plan.
At first, getting rid of Arthur had been the best option however the more he thought about it the more it became clear it would be better to have him as an asset.
It was far smarter to control an Explorer than to make attempts at getting rid of him, if the man wouldn't willingly join hands with him, having him do so unwillingly was the next best option hence the need for a specific type of item.
With an Explorer at his side, his influence would grow to unprecedented levels and that meant more and more money coming his way.
So far the information about the Explorer should only be known by a few people, of course that's him hoping that Arthur hadn't told anyone in Central that he was an Explorer.
If that is the case then, quickly getting him under his thumb would net Bulat a trump card that would make him untouchable
He hoped by tomorrow, Luke Witherspoon would deliver the good news he was waiting for. He also hoped that Baron Wolfram wouldn't disappoint and establish the right connection with Marquis Bearheart.
"There's an Explorer in this Kingdom?"
Zaion's face showed a bit of confusion, and when Bulat nodded to his question, he hummed curiously, he was certain he would have known that an Explorer was in the Lionheart kingdom, any time an Explorer is anywhere people will not shut up about it.
"What's he doing here and how long has he been in the kingdom?"
Bulat gave the man a look of confusion, he didn't think an Explorer being in the Kingdom for a specific amount of time was worth mentioning, all that mattered was that he was here.
"I don't know but, from what I can gather he's married, so he's been here for a few years"
"He's MARRIED!!"
Both Mercenaries present in the room spoke in unison, their faces having stretched and morphed into expressions of clear surprise.
"Is that a problem?"
Raising a curious brow at the men Bulat asked, he was aware the Explorer tended to be more like wanderers and didn't settle in just one place, but it wasn't completely unheard of for an Explorer to settle within the borders of a Kingdom.
"No, it's just that Explorers don't typically get married, they aren't the types to build those kinds of relationships. We were just surprised that's all"
Henry reasoned, it wasn't that Explorers couldn't get married or were forbidden but their line of work didn't really give them opportunities to meet people and since most of them travel alone they don't usually meet up with other Explorers.
The exception to this is when they return to the Explorers guild, it's there where they meet and converse with other Explorers but most Explorers are simply acquainted with each other but not on friendly terms.
"This is certainly interesting, why would an Explorer get married?"
Zaion's question was more rhetorical than anything else. From what he's heard, Explorers live and die alone, almost all of them die at the hands of either a monster or a monster's poison.
"In any case, if he's been here for a few years then, that means he's probably on his vacation and will soon have to return to work. That means right now he's rusty and out of practice"
That was good news, to Zaion that was an opportunity of a lifetime as it meant he could possibly defeat an Explorer in combat, creating the second precedent of a mercenary besting an Explorer.
Excitement began to build in his chest however he quelled it, keeping it just below the surface, if the Explorer was out of practice then that means even with the items he has on hand, it's possible to win.
"Does that mean you're willing?"
"Of course. Mercenaries aren't inferior to Explorers and I'll prove it to you."
Zaion proudly affirmed, his fist clenching as he spoke.
Henry on the other hand though willing, could not fully back Zaion's words.
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Darren sat timidly on the couch, eyes trained on the floor and doing his best to appear as non-threatening as possible. However Arthur stared at him with an intense glare, that told any wrong move would come with swift and painful consequences.
"So you're saying you came here to warn us about Bulat who's currently planning something?"
It was Esme who asked, and Darren had found it odd that she was being involved in such dangerous matters however he had no room to question how Arthur ran his home, and besides all that, worrying about what's odd was irrelevant at this point.
"Yes, Ma'am. I don't know the specifics but old man Dan has some connections to some dangerous people"
The young man spoke to Arthur, looking at him while answering Esme's question.
"That's strange…"
Pausing to let out a thoughtful hum, she placed a hand on her chin.
If Bulat had a noble in cahoots with him, it made no sense to her why he'd want information from another person rather than just using the connection he already has with the noble.
She didn't believe that a minor lord would be able to give Bulat the information he sought, in fact she was certain a noble would be able to give Bulat better and more reliable information via their own connections with other nobles.
"Do you think he's trying to find people who could take me out?"
Arthur spoke out the most obvious possibility that came to him, he figured that if he were in Bulat's shoes and the obstacle in his path couldn't be bought off with money, the next best thing would be to hire an assassin.
Esme had said in the past that Bulat could use his men to attack Arthur unilaterally and Arthur wouldn't be able to retaliate properly without hard evidence against the man.
"That makes sense but I doubt it's that simple…"
"Why?"
"The obvious route would have been to have Darren and his friends who attacked you last week, report to the guards, make up a story of how you assaulted them. That would have been the easiest route, and it would cost practically nothing"
To Esme that was the most clear and cut way to get rid of Arthur, simply report him for assault and land him in jail, and then use the noble connections to keep him there however Bulat did not opt for that and for over three days hasn't made a single move against Arthur,
"I think it's probably because he doesn't believe a prison could hold you permanently or he doesn't believe his connections would be enough to keep you in there"
"So he's trying to find an alternative?"
She nodded, confirming his question; however, despite having figured that out, they still did not know what Bulat was planning or was going to do. The only thing they could do was wait for him to move before they could move.
"Uhm, sorry to interrupt but what about the deal we made?"
Darren quickly interjected, the deal was that he would tell them what he knew in exchange for protection from Bulat.
"The information you gave is hardly anything worth considering. It's a conjecture. We could have figured that out without you and besides, how can we even trust you?"
Arthur gave the young man a questioning brow filled with nothing but skepticism.
"You don't have to trust me, sir, I just need someone to get Bulat off my back. I messed up years ago and he won't let me forget it"
It's been approximately three years now and Bulat is still making him pay for that botched job, even though it wasn't even his fault. Darren had initially assumed that he'd work for Bulat for about a year and then be free to continue with his plans of leaving the slums.
Unfortunately, he's been stuck there for three more years than it was necessary. He hated it, he passionately despised everything about the situation.
Bile filled his stomach and its bitter taste graced his mouth as he remembered the "friends" that betrayed him and let him take the fall for the Job.
Unfortunately could only blame himself for thinking a man like Bulat would honor his word, he hated he very slums themselves for keeping him trapped in its clutches for so long. It was frustrating, disgustingly frustrating.
Right now he could be living it up, in Central, with a nice job working for some jewelry shop and living in a decent inn where he won't have to worry about a thing aside from simply getting up and going to work in the morning.
"I don't see how that's our problem, and besides it's not like Bulat is everywhere in the kingdom, why not flee to another city"
"People have tried that plenty of times. I'd rather not dig myself an early grave."
The desperation in his voice and eyes quickly became apparent. People who betrayed Bulat never lived long, his "friends" who mistakenly thought they could run away, and plenty of other fools who believed Bulat's hand could not reach beyond the capital.
Arthur unfortunately was not moved a single inch, his life has been a struggle of facing monsters for a living, when he was much younger and inexperienced, each job made him want to quit, fearing death.
It had been exciting at first, coming from a world that had no magic or any monsters. It was a fantasy come true however that excitement quickly turned to dread the moment he was sent to kill a monster by himself without his mentor.
Reality had come crashing down on him, like being splashed awake from a dream and being forced to acknowledge the real world, the fantasy he thought this was going to be was nothing but a dream.
"Heh, if you don't want to die, just be useful, and get used to working for Bulat"
Arthur shrugged. Having to face the threat of dying on a weekly basis was something he had to get used to, and like him, Darren had to get used to his situation.
"I have more information, Bulat has been sending people to watch you for–"
"I'm aware of that"
Arthur cut the young man off, both surprising Darren and Esme who turned to look at him with a bit of surprise.
Her first thought was that this was the first time she'd heard of this, however she quickly realized that he didn't really need to tell her anything regarding that, so she remained quiet.
She wasn't even supposed to participate in this kind of discussion to begin with, however even so, she felt some knots in her stomach, Esme felt bad for the young man.
She knew what it was like to be in a place that you didn't want to be in and be forced to accept it as your reality. In fact, she felt like she could relate to Darren.
Darren on the other hand could only let out an almost silent "oh" as his form deflated and he realized there was nothing else he could say.
"Uhm husband, can I say something?"
A nod came from him, of course he could already tell what she was going to say and this was going to be the first time they disagreed on something.
He didn't count the other times as he saw them as moments of miscommunication rather than disagreements. Although, to be honest, he was a little hesitant to disagree with her.
"Don't we need guards to begin with? I think he could work as the first one we hire"
"I'm not against the idea, but we can't trust him, this might be a ploy by his boss to get close to us"
"I understand your concern but, I don't think this is a ploy. If it was he would have come with more information than the one he gave us to earn our trust but he didn't…"
Reasoned Esme before pausing, feeling a bit hesitant to add more to her words but she continued anyway.
"Also, I can understand living in a place you don't like with people you don't like, I don't think many people live with criminals by choice"
Arthur let out a sigh. This was like the situation with the thief in the market. Esme was perhaps a bit too kind but then again it wasn't something he hated in people, if anything it was a quality that he thought was valuable in someone he wished to have a happy life with.
'Although, do I have that quality?'
He couldn't honestly answer that question, so he decided to let it be.
"Alright but on a condition"
"Thank you, sir, I'll do anything!"
Darren was quick to offer his thanks, the desperation on his face vanishing and being replaced by an expression of gratitude and relief.
"Well since you're a thief, my wife's necklace was stolen days ago. If you can find it then I'll gladly protect you from Bulat, you don't have to bring it back just find who has it and I'll handle the rest"
That was the condition, in truth had been wanting to go looking for her necklace however the current situation made things difficult, not only that but he had no idea where to start looking so he was stuck.
Esme turned to look at him once again, her face filled with a bit of surprise once again. Arthur silenced her before she could protest by lifting a hand.
"I promised, didn't I?"
She couldn't argue against him and could only let out a sigh, although she felt a little happy that he hadn't forgotten about it due to this whole fiasco, even if he did she wouldn't have blamed him.
Darren on the other hand could only scream internally, his luck was just beyond terrible at this point, he regretted the decision to sell the necklace. The pawn shop had long since sold it to some random person, who also probably sold it to someone else.
'Just my fucking luck!'
The young man screamed internally, cursing his luck. However despite all that, he could only nod and agree to Arthur's demands.
If he just has to find it and point in the right direction then it should be feasible.
"What does it look like, anything unique about it I can look for?"
To him it was just an emerald necklace, something to be sold, however to its owner it should be something much more than that.
"Ask her that"
Arthur pointed to Esme and Darren's eyes shifted to her, his gaze waiting on her.
Esme divulged what she knew about the necklace, however at that moment it occurred to her that she had never bothered to give her necklace something unique to tell it apart from other necklaces of the same make.
It had never occurred to her that it would ever get stolen.
After Esme gave Darren a description of the necklace, the young man left their home promising to try his best, leaving the couple a bit hopeful and expecting some success.
However, internally Darren had been cursing Sol and all of the God's disciples for the shifty luck he's been dealt.
The young man left the couple's home with a bitter and sour taste in his mouth.
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