Vol.0 Ch.171 I Believe We Should Hire the Mercs_I Got Isekai’d, Well Shyt!

Vol.0 Ch.171 I Believe We Should Hire the Mercs

 ric was shell-shocked and his son didn''t know what to do after seeing his father in such a state. They knew they had to do something, but what could they do?

 ''My idiot of a son was careless again!... I told him time, after time to be patient, and let your enemy develop a false sense of security. But he couldn''t control himself and put our family in danger. We need toe up with a n... No... I''m the one who needs toe up with the strategy.''

 William and Alistar came walking up to ric who was standing there not responding to anyone around him. They have seen this look before. It was the same look he had ten years ago when his assassin betrayed him. When she sided with the crown.

 "ric, are you alright?" William asked with a bit of unease in his voice.

 He didn''t respond. Marcus took that as his queue to get out of there. He didn''t want to be near his father when he was like this. And when he was about to leave he heard his father''s voice.

 "Where do you think you''re going?" cir said in a deep voiceced with a hint of venom.

 Marcus''s face turned white. "Umm... I-I was going to take a walk..."

 "Come with me," ric ordered as he turned on his heels and started walking towards the direction of his study.

 Marcus gulped, "Yes, father."

 William chimed in, "Do you wish for us to join you?"

 "No... You and Alistair can keep enjoying yourselves. I''ll speak with youter once I have an idea of what to do."

 "As you wish," William said as he stopped walking beside the duke.

 ric walked away with his son towards his study. He was furious with his son, but he didn''t want everyone at the party to see him belittling his son out in the open. It didn''t take long before they arrived at the door to ric''s study.

 

 ***

 

 Belial was in the study cleaning things up since his master was at the party. He also got a few reports from his spies that he sent to watch what was going on, in the Northeast. There was a report that the Kingdom of Marn had been at war with the Wood Elves. That no one knew about. He was hoping to find out how that battle ended.

 Just as he finished straightening up the desk, he saw a raven flying through the window.

 "Well, what are the odds of you showing up now?"

 The ravennded on the chair that was in front of the desk and cawed.

 "Hmmm. Let''s see what message you have for me."

 He walked over to the raven and grabbed the small scroll that was tied to its leg. He unfurled it and read the letter.

 Dear B,

 I have found that the Wood Elves have been conquered by the Kingdom of Marn. Their people have been enved.

 For what reason, I have no answer yet.

 But they hired an infamous mercenary group called the ck Roses.

 It seems they are on the run from King Arnaud Dupont. Due to a fear of the ck Roses iming the throne.

 The Mercenaries have been moving closer to the Kingdom''s borders.

 I''ll give you more details when I find them.

 -C.

 ''I see... They might be usef—''

 *Click!*

 Belial saw the door to ric''s Study open. ric was walking in while dragging his son behind him. Belial immediately hid himself.

 "F-Father."

 "What am I going to do with you?"

 "I-It was foolproof, father. I promise."

 "Shut it! Just shut up... How could you be so reckless?! You exposed us to the King... The KING!!"

 "I know, father... But—"

 "But what?!"

 Marcus couldn''t answer that question. He couldn''t think of an answer.

 "I-I..."

 "Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

 "I-I''m sorry, father..."

 "Shut up! I need to think..."

 ric paced back and forth for a few minutes while his son stood there scared and confused.

 "What am I going to do now, father? What about our families? Will we have to run?"

 "Cyndre doesn''t want a revolt at the moment but that could change... We need a n that won''t make the kingdom go to war, but the n should help us get rid of that cursed prince."

 "I''ve got an idea, father."

 "Another idea? No! I''m the one with the ideas... You''re the one that has undercooked ns that blow up in your face," ric hissed.

 Marcus gritted his teeth. He was furious with his father and more importantly, his cousin.

 Belial was watching this and decided to make his presence known.

 "Pardon me, my lord."

 ric turned quickly to the voice. While Marcus''s face was filled with shock.

 "Belial? How dare you eavesdrop on me and my son. What are you doing here?!"

 "Forgive me, my lord. I didn''t mean to. I was simply finishing up some work and was cleaning this chamber."

 "Then why didn''t you leave?"

 "Well... One of my men set a messenger raven and it just came into the study right before my lord came into the room. I was nning oning by the party to give it to you." Belial held out his hand that had the small piece of parchment.

 "Is that so?" ric said as he was eyeing his butler.

 "Yes, my lord."

 "And?"

 "I think it can help with our situation."

 "Tell me," ric demanded with impatience in his voice.

 Belial walked closer before speaking.

 "There is a group of mercenaries that are in need of a job. If I''m correct, we can use them."

 "How do you know about these mercenaries? And what do they have to do with this?" ric asked impatiently.

 "This group is the ck Roses, my Lord..."

 ric became interested immediately as the annoyance on his face turned into intrigue.

 "The ck Roses?... I thought they were fighting a war north of the Kingdom of Marn. What in the three hells are they doing down here?" ric asked out loud as he was pondering.

 "They were hired by King Arnaud Dupont to fight in a war with the Wood Elves... But it seems they have outlived their usefulness and he fears they will overthrow him."

 "Tsk! That sounds like Arnaud."

 "My lord?"

 "Continue..."

 "Well, the other reports I''ve been receiving have stated that a higher amount of goblins areing out of the Labyrinth called The Tomb of the Horde... It''s by the city of Ironside... And at some point, the Dungeon Core will need to be dealt with..."

 ric started realizing what they could do.

 "Yes... Yes! That''s it!... You''ve done well, Belial. This is perfect. But we will have to make sure we can negotiate with Rudolf Rose... If we can''t get them, then this will all be for nothing."

 Marcus was feeling left out of the discussion and wanted to know what his father''s scheme was.

 "Father, what''s the n?"

 ric looked at his son, who looked ufortable.

 "It''s going to beplex, but the main goal is to discredit the Royal Family and make them look ipetent in the eyes of all the nobles. We will aplish this by finding the Dungeon Core and we will send you to destroy it."

 "Me? But I don''t know how—"

 "Quiet!... We will hire the ck Roses to be your custodians and you will use them to clear the way. And if there''s a chance to kill Quinus then do so... But it''s more important that you beat him to the final floor. So you can destroy the Dungeon Core and bring shame onto the Royal Family."

 "So... You''re going to let me use the Eldrathil Dungeonseeker to find the Dungeon Core?"

 "Yes... But there''s a catch. If you fail me, I''ll personally execute you. Do you understand me?"

 "Y-Yes, father," Marcus quickly nodded his head.

 "Hm!" ric snorted at his son.

 Then the Duke walked over to his desk and grabbed a piece of paper. "Belial, do you have any idea on the time frame of the monster stampede?"

 "My sources say that it will happen within a decade. Give or take a few years."

 "Hmm. That''s enough time."

 "Enough time for what, father?"

 "We will start spreading rumors to the nobles about the royal family''s failure to protect the kingdom from foreign migrants and demi-humans. We also need to turn the citizens against them. But none of these rumors can be spread by anyone close to our faction."

 "Oh! I know one of Quinus''s weaknesses! He cares for the people. He thinks he can help them. That idiot could have used them to his advantage. But no! He''s weak! And-"

 "Marcus..."

 "Huh? Oh! Sorry, father."

 "Anyway... We can''t have the rumors spread by anyone from the inner circle... I''ll need some time to think on this... Belial, tell me when the ck Roses are close enough to the kingdom. We will make contact with them to negotiate the terms of service. Also, I want you to have your people keep an eye out on the city that is closest to thebyrinth."

 "I believe it''s the vige of Kishin. I''ll send a message as soon as possible, my Lord."

 "Good. Marcus, I''ll speak with youter. And remember what I told you."

 "Yes, father."

 "Oh, and Marcus?"

 "Yes, father?"

 "You are not allowed to see or talk to Quinus alone until this n is set into motion. And do not speak of this to anyone."

 "Y-Yes, father..."

 Marcus then stormed out the door and mmed it shut. ric was left thinking about his next moves and Belial was thinking about how the ck Roses will have no other choice but to ept this job.

 

 ***

 

 And so the years went by as Quinus was busy working on a few infrastructure projects to help themoners. He started building an aqueduct system that was made by using a type of cement that he made from mixing ash, limestone, and volcanic rock. He started digging deep underground and had the mages create a mana well to produce water and the workers built a pipeline that led to the castle and the city''s center. The city was now getting more clean water for everyone to use. He also had some people gather up all the horse manure,post it, and sell it to the farmers.

 There were a few minor nobles who were getting furious that the prince was spending money on the citizens, instead of them.

 Prime Minister Duval was able to secure an arranged marriage for Crown Prince Quinus in hopes of getting a peace agreement with the Alliance of the Divine Three. Duke ric was able to negotiate with the ck Roses, but they wanted something more than money for their services. Rudolf wanted to be a Baron of a territory. So, ric agreed they could have Ironside if the monster stampede was dealt with and Marcus became the next heir of Fiafyr. Rudolf wasn''t trusting of ric but he let Marcus have 30 of his better men to be his bodyguards.

 Quinus didn''t like the idea of an arranged marriage but he knew it was his duty to help his kingdom and he didn''t have a choice. Percy took Sir George''s courtship advice as heid eyes on Bell. Percy thought she was the one from the Keeper''s prophecy and he needed help to get her attention.

 Quinus warned him but he thought Sir George''s advice was in his best interest and he thought the prince had it easy since he already had a fiance. So, he used all the methods Sir George taught him. And it only made things go from bad to worse. Bell ended up telling him that she wasn''t into boys and then she warned all the other youngdies to stay away from him because he was acting like a creep. It broke him that he failed to get the love of his life and never thought he would find true love ever again.

 It took almost a decade before the monster stampede was supposed to ur. It was just a matter of time as the minor nobles demanded that the Royal Family do something about it. King Cyndre wanted to go but the nobles wanted the crown prince to lead the army into the Labyrinth to see if he was worthy of being the next in line.

 The smear campaign against Quinus was working and the king was losing the favor of most of the minor nobles. But the smear campaign wasn''t working on the citizens. Through all his years of working and building things, Quinus was winning over the people with every new innovation he''s been building for them. Which resulted in improving their lives to such a degree, that themon folk started looking up to him and saw him as the next king.

 So, after a decade had passed, reports about a monster stampede urring at the tomb were bing a concern that not even the Adventurer''s Guild was able to handle the influx of monsters. The nobles wanted the prince to fix the problem. So, the crown prince, his cousin Marcus, 20 Royal Knights, and 30 of the ck Roses'' soldiers were sent to Ironside before heading to Kishin.

 The day hase for the Crown Prince to go on his first dungeon dive. Quinus knew it was going to be difficult and he reluctantly epted his cousin''s help because of their family artifact that can find the Dungeon Core. He knew his Uncle and Cousin were plotting something, but he needed to save the people and that''s what was important.

 Quinus, Sir George, Percy, and his 20 Royal Knights rode through the vige of Kishin before arriving at the outskirts. They were all in full te armor and were prepared to fight off anything that wasing out of the forest. He was confident in his men and himself. He trained them all hard to make sure they were prepared for anything.

 So their journey to save Ironside and the surrounding viges and towns has just begun.

MillionNovel

Vol.0 Ch.171 I Believe We Should Hire the Mercs