The Novel's Extra-Chapter ss3: Side Story 3 – Dream in a Dream (3)

Lancaster’s warning letter to England’s royal family had been instantly leaked. Rachel had already informed everyone that whoever leaked the news would be severely punished. However, the guild members paid no heed to her words as they shared the news with outsiders.

Why did Lancaster obsess over the royal family? He used to place his country even higher than his family. Why did he do this now of all times? The general assembly would soon take place in Central Asia.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Rachel swung her sword with all her might at the guild’s training ground. Galatine vertically slashed through the air before suddenly twisting diagonally. Her movements looked refined and elegant. Her sweat sparkled under the light whenever she moved and nothing about her precise movements could be criticized.

Rachel trained while feeling distressed about Lancaster's warning. He openly threatened the royal family for the first time.

The guild executives suggested requesting help from the association, but Rachel refused. The royal family had to take care of their own business. They would end up as an international laughing stock if she sent a request asking, Please subdue the criminal targeting thePrincess!

Rachel felt someone staring at her. She turned towards the training ground's entrance and spotted the old butler quietly watching her. She wiped the sweat off her forehead.

“It's only 3 weeks away, Princess."

The old butler warmly smiled.

He would turn 80 this year and only he could casually address her as Princess. He had served princesses even before Rachel and continued to serve the royal family.

“I am aware…” Rachel curtly replied.

Her emotions got the better of her because of her inferiority complex and the anxiety from everything going on.

The general assembly of guilds would occur at Central Asia's great hall. It would test their qualifications to enter the giant field there. They usually held these high-profile meetings in South Korea for safety measures. However, the entire agenda this time would discuss rights over the ownerless giant field. They chose to host it at the hall located at the giant field's entrance.

“Will you be fine with your security?” the old butler asked out of concern.

No portals connected England to Central Asia. Rachel would have to take a car or ride a horse from the closest countries, either India or China, to reach Central Asia. Traveling on land would be risky because of Lancaster.

“Yes, I have chosen trustworthy companions,” Rachel replied.

Most executives at the general assembly brought their own subordinates or hired mercenaries for protection. After all, heroes rarely worked as bodyguards. A hero's title couldn't be wasted on protecting a single figure. Most of them refused such work.

Mercenaries usually possessed the potential to become a hero, but slightly lacked the qualifications to become one. They could easily work as government agents and be deployed on battlefields. However, most of them preferred working as mercenaries to earn more than civil servants. They became the perfect candidates for guild executives to hire.

“Still, I can't help but worry since they’re not experts at escorting. Protecting someone requires more than just force. Preventing an ambush is a hundred times better than winning a battle, but the inexperienced would struggle to do that.”

Of course, Rachel asked around for mercenaries. However, the royal family didn't have sufficient funds to hire them. The price of skilled mercenary groups increased by several times because of the conflict between the 199 guilds.

“It's alright. I believe in our guild members, so don't worry.”

Rachel tried to ease the old butler’s worries.

A part of her said those words to quell her own anxiety.

***

The guild’s HR manager, Dake, thought about hiring mercenaries to accompany Rachel. She declined to hire outsiders, but he believed she needed at least one mercenary as a pathfinder. Central Asia’s terrain underwent drastic changes because of a mana explosion. It would be extremely difficult to navigate without a pathfinder, who could reduce the risk of ambushes by half.

[What do you think of this person?]

A message arrived while Dake thought about who to hire. It came from Fermin, one of the guild members tasked with accompanying the princess.

[The link is over here. Please have a look.]

Dake tapped on the link to a mercenary group’s website.

[Xtra]

— Specializes in security, assassination, sniping, and pathfinding.

— We are not geographically limited when tasked with security or pathfinding.

— Our response may be delayed depending on the season.

He had never heard of this mercenary group before.

The fact that they only operated through Violet Banquet would be more than enough to incur Rachel’s wrath. Not because of her beliefs or honor as a hero since she already compromised those a long time ago, but because a high probability existed that djinns lurked in expensive mercenary groups on Violet Banquet.

What if he hired a mercenary group with a djinn? To make matters worse, what if Rachel found out? The Vice Leader would severely punish him according to the knight’s oath he swore to uphold when he joined the English Royal Court.

Dake immediately called Fermin.

— Yes, Team Leader.

“Hey, why the hell did you use Violet Banquet? Don’t you know how the Vice Leader would react?”

— Huh? Ah, that’s because there’s no one left. Every skilled pathfinder has already been swept while we were hesitating.

“Still… Violet Banquet is not what we need. What if they turn out to be djinns?”

— Ah, hahaha! No, you don’t have to worry about that. If you look closely, there’s a clause under assassination and sniping that’s limited to djinns and monsters. They don’t kill people, only djinns and monsters.

“Hmm…”

Dake understood now after taking a closer look.

— So, why don’t we give them a chance? This Xtra is quite cheap and they have a good rating even though they seem a bit lazy.

“Lazy?”

— Yes, they established their group in 2026, but have only carried out 20 requests so far.

“Wouldn’t they have already shut down if that’s the case?”

A medium-sized mercenary group usually carried out 300 requests a year, but this one only completed 20 in 5 years. These numbers suggested their business would soon die or already died.

— No way. They replied when I sent them a message.

“Hey, forget about their reply or whatnot. Why are you insisting on this mercenary group in the first place?”

— I told you already. Their ratings are quite good.

“Then tell me how good their ratings are…”

Dake grumbled in disbelief.

How could a mercenary group that only carried out an average of 4 requests per year have a good rating?

— Team Leader, this mercenary group completed 16 of their 20 requests in their first year. However… take a look at this. I’ll send you the link to their reviews. I think they’re quite amazing!

Fermin’s link redirected to the most common information dealer on Violet Banquet, [Al-Kharakah]. The message read,[Information Dr. Fmin purchased and forwarded to Rocallist. This message may be forwarded two more times for free.]

A total of 9 reviews came attached.

[ID – Reca****]

[Rating – ★★★★★]

The best when it comes to escort protection in dangerous areas. I was able to safely pass through Pandemonium thanks to them. They identified all dangers beforehand and instantly neutralized any threats that appeared. Hmm… I can’t really describe it in words, but… I felt like being in the safest place ever while traveling through the most dangerous area in the world.

Also, this mercenary constantly watched over us from a distance without appearing even once.

I will never forget this experience. You are truly a guardian angel.

[ID – Witch****]

[Rating – ★★★★★]

This mercenary is quite peculiar. They never appeared and aren’t interested in the employer’s appearance either. One might think they’re rude or arrogant since you’re paying them, but I dare say anyone who hires them will be very satisfied. There’s only one mercenary running this business, but they have gained the right to be called a mercenary group after doing the work of an army. Truly a one-person army!

[ID – Watermelon****]

[Rating – ★★★★★]

There aren’t any other reviews or comments, but I’m certain they’ll become famous soon.

Additional Review: Is this place no longer accepting requests? I wanted to hire them again since they did an awesome job last time, but they haven’t replied. It’s been 3 months…

The reviews seemed as amazing as Fermin said. Dake knew reviews from [Al-Kharakah] couldn’t be faked since every written word cost money. [Al-Kharakah] employed a simple system that required people to pay points to read reviews and seriously vetted all reviews before putting them up. Not to mention, they immediately banned anyone from accessing their network if someone lied or stated false information.

“What the hell…”

Dake grumbled at his new dilemma since Al-Kharakah gave credibility to the reviews. This ended up confusing him even more.

“Don’t you think someone tampered with these?”

He still found it too good to be true.

— No way. What kind of madman would tamper with Al-Kharakah? They would’ve been banned immediately after getting caught.

“Rather than that, it says there’s only one mercenary?”

— Yes, I heard this mercenary carries out all the requests alone! Isn’t that amazing?

The mercenary in question sounded even more absurd. No, why did this mercenary even bother to register as a group if they worked alone? They could’ve just registered as a standalone mercenary.

“What about the costs?”

— It’ll cost us 300 million won to hire this mercenary as a pathfinder. It’s quite worrying with Lancaster, so I asked how much for 3 months of escorting and security!

“And?”

— They gave us a discount since we’re from the English Royal Court guild. It’ll be 100 million won per month until the general assembly ends! Also, they asked for a 100 million won bonus if the request is successfully completed! The grand total will be 700 million won!

Fermin’s baseless confidence and enthusiasm struck a nerve in Dake.

“Forget about that. You better be prepared to write an apology and reflect on your actions, punk.”

— Huh? No, no, no, Team Leader! Wait a seco—

Dake hung up the call and furrowed his brows. However, his expression slowly changed as he deeply pondered in his chair.

Impossible… This mercenary could be one of Lancaster’s ploys… Hmm… no… if Lancaster did prepare this over the last 5 years then there’s no way he’s going to offer a discount since that’ll be a dead giveaway… Actually… he would’ve used that time and effort to plant a spy in our guild rather than go through this. Not to mention, that Fermin is quite dependable when it comes to things like this.

This mercenary became more trustworthy as he thought about it. Dake used Violet Banquet for over a decade, but had never seen all positive reviews for a mercenary group. Of course, they only had 9 reviews, which still made him skeptical.

“They don’t show their face…”

Dake muttered that sentence repeatedly in his head. Rachel wouldn’t find out if the mercenary never appeared. The English Royal Court could also use the discount since they couldn’t afford 700 million won for their Vice Leader’s protection.

Dake sighed and called Fermin.

— Yes, Team Leader? I was waiting for you to call back. Google search 𝑓𝒓e𝑒w𝑒𝒃𝑛𝒐𝘃ℯ𝙡. c𝚘m

“Shut up… Make sure no one else hears about this. Keep the request the same.”

— The same? Do you mean the escort and security?

“Yeah, ask him to be a pathfinder as well as a bodyguard. Lancaster already sent us a warning, so there’s no reason to sit around and wait. I’ll pay the advance out of my own pocket. Make sure the Vice Leader doesn’t hear anything about this.”

— No, it’s fine! I can pay half of it too!

“No, you need to save up if you want to get married. Who’s going to marry you if you’re broke on top of your personality? I’ll just claim it from the guild after the request is finished, so don’t worry.”