Chapter 104: Joining a Mercenary Group
Seeing how Jian Chen was still silent, the man gave it another try, “Brother Jian Chen, if it’s concerning the matter of distribution of benefits, you don’t have to worry. While our Flame Mercenaries was recently established a few years ago, the brothers within the group are made of steel who care for the bonds of friendship over the metal of money. In the case that our group has a profit, then no matter if you worked hard or not, the group will not treat you unfairly.”
With that said, the middle aged man had stopped talking, he had said all that needed to be. The only thing left was to see what choice Jian Chen would make.
Jian Chen’s eyebrows furrowed in thought as he considered the benefits within his head. Finally biting his lip, his eyes shone with a firm decision, “Alright then, I’ll join your group. However, I have some conditions: I will not have any type of restriction put onto me, neither will I have to obey anyone. Also, if I want to leave the group in the future, the group will not try to stop me in any way.
The middle aged man looked at Jian Chen with doubt, “Brother Jian Chen, could it be you’re not going to even ask about how strong the Flame Mercenaries are or if there are any strong enemies? You have to realize, if our Flame Mercenaries have a strong enemy and you join, then it will definitely bring you trouble as well and may very well be a concern to your life.”
Jian Chen laughed gently as he said, “If things like this were too frightening, then why did I bother to leave my home to explore the world. If I have decided to join your mercenary group, then a factor like this was not even in my range of thinking.”
The middle aged man began to laugh without restraint, “Good, good, good! Brother Jian Chen, I really can’t take your age seriously, you’re quite the brave person. The conditions you asked for won’t be of any problem since our group is a small one whose only goal is to earn money. The mercenaries in our group won’t try to restrict you either, if you want to leave the group, you’re free to do so at any time.”
“This couldn’t be any better!” Jian Chen nodded his head.
The middle aged man nodded as well, “Ah, we’ve talked for quite some time and I didn’t even introduce myself yet. My name is Kendall, captain of the Flame Mercenaries. Brother Jian Chen, if you don’t mind, then call me Uncle Kendall. Whatever titles people give to the captains, I care not for it.” Kendall laughed.
“Alright, then in the future I’ll call you Uncle Kendall.” In Jian Chen’s eyes, Kendall was someone he had a good impression of, and seemed to be quite honest and dependable now.
Soon after, Kendall and Jian Chen both finished their food and left the restaurant together to go to the Mercenary Union to take care of the formality procedure.
Joining a mercenary group was relatively simple. So in a flash, Jian Chen had taken care of the entire procedure and became an official member of the Flame Mercenaries.
“Jian Chen, let’s go. I’ll take you to the temporary meeting spot and introduce you to the other members.” Kendall began to walk on the road as they both left the Mercenary Union.
On the way, Kendall began to explain a few things about the Flame Mercenaries, allowing Jian Chen to gain a better understanding.
The Flame Mercenaries were established 5 years ago as a small mercenary group. Soon after they were established, the members had spent the majority of their time in the Magical Beast Forest killing magical beasts for money. Very rarely did they accomplish any missions, so for that reason, they remained to be a D ranked group without having a single chance to prove their strength.
Including Kendall, there were 9 other members within the group, so including Jian Chen, the Flame Mercenaries now had 10 members in total.
According to Kendall, in those 8 members, aside from himself being at the Primary Saint Master stage, 5 members were at the Great Saint stage while the remaining 3 were only at the Saint level.
After he said that, Kendall slapped his forehead as he turned to Jian Chen with a smile, “Ah that’s right, brother Jian Chen, I still don’t know what type of strength you possess right now.” Although Kendall’s heart could only guess that Jian Chen was only at the Saint level due to his young age, but this was only a guess. Until he got a straight answer from Jian Chen, he didn’t dare to make a rash conclusion.
With a small chuckle, Jian Chen took out the badge representing him as a mercenary from his Space Belt. This mercenary badge was given to Jian Chen when he first became one, proving that he was a D ranked mercenary.
Seeing the badge, Kendall’s face didn’t change at all. “Then our Flame Mercenaries have just added another Saint to our ranks. With this increase in strength, hunting magical beasts will be that much easier.”
……
Jian Chen walked with Kendall for about the time it took for an oil lamp to burn out before finally arriving at an ordinary looking house with broken cobblestone steps leading to it. The house was not very big, and the eaves of the house had plenty of cobwebs hanging about it. Even the walls had many scars from the passage of time and nature. It was clear to see that this house had been in existence in Wake City for many years, but no one had taken care of it.
Kendall walked up to the door of the house and lightly knocked on it. Not too long after, the wooden door opened slightly to reveal the dark skinned head of a person. Judging from his skinny face, the youth looked to be around 26 years old and looked like the type of person to be a snatcher if put within a group of people.
Upon seeing Kendall, the youth’s face revealed a smile as he said, “Ah, Uncle Kendall, I just knew it was you.”
Soon after, Jian Chen followed Kendall into the room. While the light within the house was dusky, it did not affect Jian Chen’s vision at all. As Jian Chen looked around the house, he began to take in the sight in its entirety.
The house from the inside wasn’t too big, and the layout wasn’t complicated at all. Aside from a few plank beds, there was a single long table along with a few stools. In fact, the room’s layout could even be said to be quite crude. On top of the plank beds were a few bored people lazing about with a bottle of wine in their hands. However, when Captain Kendall entered the room, everyone immediately stared at him and started to gather around him.
“Gather around everyone, let me introduce you all to brother Jian Chen. He has just recently joined our Flame mercenaries, and is the youngest out of all the people in our group. Starting today, I hope everyone can take care of him.” As soon as he entered the room, Kendall had pulled Jian Chen along to introduce him.
At this, Jian Chen knew he had to say something. Standing with his feet together and cupping his hands in a salute towards everyone, he smiled. “I am a newcomer here, I hope that everyone will help keep an eye on me!”