Chapter Fifty-One: Mercenary

  "Ah! It feels so good not having to walk on my legs!" Francis lay in the carriage, pulling open the curtains to gaze at the scenery outside.

  "Meow! Wooo... wooo! Meow----!" On the other side, Dolores was hugging Gaili who had shrunk down to the size of a domestic cat and teasing him.

  "Dorothy, stop it! Garry's whiskers are going to be pulled out!" Francis stretched out his hand to swat away Dorothy's mischievous hands and hugged Garry into his own arms. He scratched the underside of Garry's chin, and the little cat in his arms purred contentedly. Looking at Saber who was meditating with her eyes closed on the side, Francis felt very satisfied. This kind of life is indeed good! His relationship with Saber was quite subtle now. Since he had used his "See-Through" ability to see into Saber's thoughts, he more or less understood what she was thinking. Usually, he would take advantage of his young master status to get a bit of an advantage, but whenever Francis made a slightly bigger move, he would be directly thrown out by Saber! This left Francis feeling quite helpless - this girl could be too shy sometimes. It seemed that time was still not enough yet! Emotions indeed needed to be slowly cultivated! So Francis wasn't in a hurry either, and this subtle relationship was actually pretty good. Up until now, the initiative was still in his hands.

  "Master! There's an inn up ahead, let's rest here for today!" The carriage slowed down gradually, and Dis's voice came from outside the carriage. This carriage was bought in the previous town, mainly for Deloris at that time, but now Francis has been staying inside all day without going out.

  "Alright! There's still plenty of time before the enrollment at the Imperial Capital's Magic Academy begins, so we don't need to rush like we used to!" Francis put on his long robe and stepped out of the carriage, also putting on his hat. Sometimes, this face can be quite a bother!

  "Boss, open three rooms! The best ones!" Dais walked in the door and said directly to the boss standing at the counter. The inn was not big, with only a few courtyards front and back.

  "Alright! Sir! Please wait a moment, ladies! Alei, take them away quickly!" The boss shouted to a young servant.

  "Alright! Sirs, please follow me!" A young servant led Francis and the others to a separate small courtyard.

  "Hey, what's with this courtyard!" The young servant looked at Dis, Francis and Saber with their faces covered by masks. He looked at Dis' evil face and felt a bit scared.

  "Take it! Get some good food. Yeah! Get a lot, the rest is yours! Remember to get a lot, for ten people!" Dais tossed out two gold coins casually.

  The little servant hastily took over the gold coins and put on a smile: "Sir, isn't this too much! You guys..."

  "What's with all the nonsense? Hurry up!" Dais said impatiently.

  "Alright, alright! You wait a moment!" The young servant immediately ran out!

  "Mom! I want to sleep in this one!" Dorothea said, pointing to the middle room.

  "Alright! Then I'll stay in this one with Dolores! Saber, you and Dis take care of yourselves!" Francis walked towards the middle house carrying Garry, while Saber followed to the right-hand house.

  "Which one will you choose?" Aeolus asked Dis.

  "I don't care, isn't sleeping there all the same for Saints?!" Dais said with a nonchalant attitude.

  "Ah! I want to exercise my little universe tonight, and there are some places that just happen to ask for advice from Brother Di!"

  "Really? You're really diligent!"

  "Hmm! This is how I'll improve my Little Universe, I can't be like Dis Big Brother, so I can only practice hard by myself!"

  "Several dishes! The meal has been served, there's a lot, and there's more outside! Where would you like to put them?" the young servant asked, holding a large tray.

  "Oh! Hand it over to me! I'll take the rest back myself, don't come in without a reason! Aiolos, deliver it to Young Master's room!" Dis said as he followed the servant out.

  "Alright!"

  After dinner, everyone was sitting in the courtyard chatting when suddenly there was a commotion outside.

  "What's going on, Mommy? It's so noisy outside! Wasn't it quiet during the day?" Dorothea asked, sitting in Francis' arms and eating candy.

  Francis closed his eyes slightly and concentrated for a moment, then said: "Nothing, just a merchant caravan arrived, huh, and some mercenaries! Looks like they've just arrived, nothing to do with us?"

  Inn lobby, a group of dusty mercenaries sat together.

  "If I had known being a mercenary was so tiring, I wouldn't have come out with my brother." A young girl complained aloud, she was about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a Taoist robe, looking delicate and lovely, with a head of brown long hair shining in the sunlight.

  "I've already told you, this is my trial mission, it won't be easy, yet you still insist on following me!" said a brown-haired man with sword-like eyes and star-shaped eyebrows beside him.

  "But school is already on holiday! I'm so bored at home alone!" The girl pounded her leg "And I didn't think the task would be so dull! We walked in the forest for so long, and we didn't even see a single Holy Beast!"

  The man shook his head helplessly. His own sister was just a knight who had seen too much, thinking about all sorts of messy things every day!

  "Haha! Aisha, if we were to encounter a Sacred Beast, we'd all be no match for it!" said one of the swordsmen in the group. The mercenaries didn't seem very old, and they looked like they had come out together to test their skills.

  "Haha! At this time, Aisha's prince appeared! Then defeated the demon beast and saved our little Aisha. A passionate love story began with this heroic rescue!" said a female magician in the team, her words triggered another burst of laughter from everyone!

  "You guys! Brother, can't you control them?" Aisha's face turned red as she looked at her brother.

  "I'm telling you, Ed! You guys are really spirited. I've had a long day and I'm exhausted already! This mercenary's scoring mission is really tough to do! If it weren't for the high score, I wouldn't be doing this mission!" A purple-robed mage slumped over the table, saying weakly as he watched the lively crowd.

  "Land! Even if you're a mage, your physical strength can't be that bad!" Aisha's brother, the blue-haired young man named Ed.

  "Ah ha! It was you who deceived me into thinking mercenaries are fun, and now look what's happened to me! You got what you deserved!" Aisha glared at the young man lying on the table, rubbing her own shoulders in frustration, feeling like she was about to fall apart.

  "Alright! Finish your meal and get some rest early! We still have a long way to go tomorrow, it's estimated that we'll arrive at the next city in two days from here!" The blue-haired man said as he looked at the dishes brought up by the young servant.

  "I'm so hungry!" Aisha rubbed her stomach, looking at the food on the table with a pained expression: "Why do I have to suffer like this, these things look so unappetizing!"

  "That's because you're not hungry enough!" The purple-robed mage, who was devouring his food like a wolf, stared at Aisha with a stunned expression, this guy has a really good appetite!

  "Aisha! Even His Highness the Prince can eat it! Can't you? Why don't you go outside and take a look, maybe your prince is already riding a white horse to bring you delicious food!" The female mage teased Aisha with a smile.

  "Hmph!" Aisha stuffed the food from her bowl into her mouth, ignoring the female mage. These people were all classmates of her brother's and always liked to tease her, but she couldn't do anything about it.

  "Are there any more good rooms? Give these two female lawyers one!" Aisha's brother seemed to be the leader of the group.

  "Oh! The room is still available, it's just that the yard has already been occupied by several guests! If the two masters don't mind, I'll go arrange it!" The young servant said hastily.

  "Guest? What kind of guest?" Ed tossed a silver coin over.

  "Must be a noble lady! Already has a daughter! Wearing a mask so her face can't be seen, with a maid by her side, oh, and holding a white cat in her arms! Two guards are following her, one of them looks fierce." The young servant took the silver coin without hesitation and directly spoke out what he saw, but his guess was far from the truth!

  "Is that so? Then there's no problem! Aisha, I'll take you to see, I reckon the other rooms won't suit your taste! Linda, trouble you to take care of her for a night!" Ed said to the female lawyer.

  "It's nothing! I really like Xiaosi! Leave it to me and you can rest assured! Hehe!" The female mage said nonchalantly.

  "No way, Linda will bully me! Brother, I can handle it myself!" Aisha didn't think highly of Linda's character.

  "What if ghosts appear at night? They like pretty girls like Aisha!" Linda's face suddenly turned gloomy, staring at Aisha with a chilling tone that startled her. "I...it's okay, I'm also...a 4th-level mage...not afraid!"

  "Really?" Linda asked, drawing out her voice.

  "Didn't you say you weren't afraid? Why did you pull me over here again?" Linda asked with a smile. Ed and a young man walked ahead, while Aisha followed behind them.

  "I'm afraid... of that noblewoman! So mysterious! Isn't Linda sister protecting me?" Aisha said, grasping the hem of Linda's clothes.

  "Hehe————！" Linda didn't say a word, she just kept laughing.

  "Excuse me! Excuse me!" The young servant pushed open the gate on Francis's side and pointed at Aisha and the other woman, saying "These two ladies also want to spend the night here!"

  In the courtyard, only Dais and Aeolus were left, Francis had taken Dolores into the house, and Xiao Maozi was not only eating a lot but also sleeping for a long time every day.

  "Oh! Don't go into those two rooms, the rest are up to you!" Eriolos said, pointing at Francis and Saber's room.

  "Excuse me!" Ed greeted the two of them politely, then took Aisha and Linda to the room on the far side.

  "This room isn't bad!" Linda pushed open the door, turned on the light and took a look.

  "Really? I think it's just so-so!" Aisha also took a look around and found that the room was still quite clean.

  "Miss! It's already good enough, you think everywhere is like your home? Just make do with it! I'll go get some water first!" Linda said as she walked out.

  "Brother! There's another guest room next door, aren't you sleeping there?"

  "No! I'll just sleep in the hall!" Ed shook his head, refusing his sister's suggestion.

  "Why? Isn't it much better here than outside? Outside, there isn't even a bed!"

  "Silly girl, I'm out here to train! Didn't you see that even Lant is sleeping in the hall? A life that's too comfortable can't have a tempering effect on one's heart! I'll be off first, remember to get some rest early, tomorrow morning we're setting off with the merchant caravan." Ed said as he walked out of the house, and when he exited the courtyard gate, he turned his head back to glance at Dis and the other two chatting on the side. These two people... what a strange feeling...

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