With Xu Feng's clever and slick dialogue, he managed to make Carmen laugh, her laughter resounding throughout the lobby, flawlessly highlighting her natural beauty.
Jeff was somewhat mesmerized by Carmen's beauty when she laughed so naturally.
As for Xu Feng, he remained unaffected and merely kept a cheeky smile on his face.
Her beauty was truly highlighted when she got comfortable and free from the anxiety. Nevertheless, that was about it and Xu Feng had no intention of jeopardizing anything for a moment of lust.
What he valued from her was not her appearance, but her guaranteed future of being an expert, capable of toppling numerous guilds and unleashing fear in troublemakers.
"I take it as you agree to let me join you," he said calmly.
Meanwhile, Carmen took a few more seconds before calming down and wiping her tears of joy.
"Can I even refuse when you act like that?" She questioned, subtly blaming him for making her lose her composure.
"What act?" Xu Feng feigned surprise, placed his hand by his chest, widened his eyes, and continued, "That was my genuine behavior."
Carmen might be timid and sometimes slow on things, but she wasn't foolish as to believe he wasn't faking it earlier. Her intuition allowed her to easily tell who was attracted to her based on appearance and who was not.
Thus, she wasn't disgusted or alarmed when Xu Feng wanted to tag along with her even though she didn't quite understand his true motive.
Other than her beauty, she couldn't find what other reasons would make him want to get close to her.
This was especially true when she could detect Jeff and most of the mercenaries earlier were mesmerized by her joyous laughter whilst Xu Feng remained the same as usual.
'Just what is he after?' Carmen pondered silently, feeling perplexed by the situation.
A few seconds later, Carmen decided to put her thoughts behind her for now and asked, "Anyway, shall we start heading to the location of the Ironhide Behemoth?"
"Yes, just give me a few minutes." Xu Feng nodded before running to the registrar.
Dumbfounded by his action, Carmen furrowed her brows as she realized he indeed came here for some business, and encountering her was just a coincidence.
However, she didn't plan on overthinking too much and turned to Jeff.
"Shall we take a seat over there and wait for him?" She pointed at a vacant spot and asked.
"You're my boss currently." Jeff scratched his head and responded somewhat awkwardly. The feeling of guilt was starting to hit him, especially when he reflected on his behavior earlier.
Although he despised Xu Feng for short-paying him, he could only blame himself for the matter.
Not to mention, Carmen was the innocent party here but he still attempted to take his anger out on her.
After all, she only asked if she could hire him for 10 copper coins, and he responded with a not-so-friendly attitude.
"Sure," Jeff readily agreed, hoping to use this opportunity to make amends.
He might have been short-paid, but that didn't change the current status between them.
Carmen was now his employer, and as a mercenary being employed, the employer was king. Of course, that was under the condition that the order was logical and wasn't unreasonable such as telling them to kill themselves.
As they took their seats, Carmen asked, "What was the commission that I made you miss?"
"..."
Jeff didn't expect Carmen to not mince her words and went straight to the topic.
Faking a cough, he casually brushed it off by saying, "It's nothing that big actually."
"If it's nothing that big, then you wouldn't have tried to vent your frustration at me. So what was the commission?" Carmen was adamant in learning the truth.
And she continued, "Also, did you know about Feng beforehand and timed it perfectly to become an obstacle for me?"
"Eh?" Dumbfounded, Jeff raised an eyebrow, seemingly speechless by her words.
He scratched his head, and with a confused expression, "Miss Lunar Wraith, I don't know what game you're trying to play with me, but I apologize for my rude behavior earlier. I really didn't know you were a friend of the Baron."
Carmen knitted her brows, observing Jeff's movement and behaviorism.
'So he really didn't know about Lin Feng beforehand?' She thought to herself, finding it quite perplexing.
Honestly, she had a suspicion that Jeff was arranged to be the typical villain to obstruct her and Xu Feng swooping in to help her out. That way he could gain a favorable impression in her mind.
However, it seemed that she was overthinking, given Jeff didn't seem to be lying when his expression was pretty easy to read. If not, then Jeff was one great actor and should become one instead of a mercenary.
"I'm not a petty person and the fault lies in mine originally." Carmen subsequently said and continued, "So we shall forget about the incident and begin on a clean slate."
"Agreed, that's the most correct decision." Jeff nodded his head, agreeing with the suggestion.
It was better to resolve the incident now than to let it fester and ruin their cooperation later on.
Not to mention, after the harsh lesson taught by Xu Feng, he already let go of any grudge.
A mercenary against a noble?
What a joke was that?
Maybe if Xu Feng was just a noble for a town he would still continue to hold a grudge, but a noble for the empire?
Unless he had a screw loose in his brain, he would forget about it and be glad that there was no actual punishment implemented.
Sometime later, Xu Feng returned to their side once he got everything he needed from the registrar.
"Looking at the two of you, I suppose you two made amends." Xu Feng quickly said.
"It was honestly a small matter, to begin with," Carmen responded lightly, brushing her hair softly. "It's just that you made it into a big deal and attracted a lot of attention.