Chapter 201

The next day, Luke left the lodgings alone .

Disguised as a pilgrim, he spent several hours looking around the palace and the surroundings .

‘It will be impossible to infiltrate it by myself . ’

Just as he had expected, the soldiers and the guards around the palace were many, and the paladins were everywhere .

Infiltrating with dark magic could be advantageous, but the moment one would use it; they could be aware and the paladins would rush in like bees .

‘I will have to think of a different method…’

As soon as the Pope had come out of the palace, they could decide on some contact points, but they couldn’t see any .

Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy to get in contact or kidnap a palace main or servant and brainwash the person for Luke’s use .

Due to the rebellion which was happening, the eyes of the guards were flashing .

“Is there no fine way to do this?”

Luke had been thinking very hard for quite a few days on how it was supposed to be done .

Philip informed that a man had come from the mercenary guild . It was the priestess maiden he saw in the mercenary guild the other day .

“Come from the Guild?”

“Yes, Sir Aldof has asked me to . ”

The middle-aged man who they had considered to be a member of the mercenary guild had surprisingly high status . He was a senior executive of the 3rd rank .

On that day, an employee had missed coming to work, leaving a vacancy, so he took the role .

“Do you want to introduce us to the client?” Asked Luke .

“It is like that, but Sir Aldof will let you know of the details in person . ”

At the end of the words of the maiden, accompanied by Philip, he went to the Mercenary Guild .

They didn’t have to wait for long as the meeting was determined before itself .

In the room, Aldof who was finishing on the weapons welcomed Luke upon arrival .

“Welcome . ”

“What could be the reason that I have been asked to come to the guild?”

“Hu huu, since I have a lot of reasons, please take a seat . ” Responded Aldof .

Aldof, who pointed to a chair, smiled a little and opened his mouth looking at Luke .

“Do you like tea? This is a rare tea which has been brought in from the southern continent…”

“I don’t enjoy it, but please get to the topic . ”

“You seem to be impatient . ” Said Aldof .

Realizing the words that Luke meant, Aldof went straight to the point .

“Do you have any intention of joining our guild?”

The mercenary guild connected the clients to the mercenaries and collected commissions, but they had their own quests .

Which was why most of them had direct mercenaries, and offered to recruit them directly .

When the mercenary guilds recruit mercenaries, it increased the power of the guild and they would be able to earn a higher price for requests .

“We will pay the money without fail . So…”

“I don’t feel like it . ”

Seeing Luke refused without even listening to it, Aldof clicked his tongue .

“Tch, well, I can’t help it in that case . ”

Since Aldof seemed like someone who was hiding something, Luke had expected something to happen sooner or later .

Still, he let him speak of his suggestion, but he refused it even before he could finish the story .

He looked at the other side and explained why he called Luke .

“As you might already be aware, the leaders of the Holy Empire are now assembling an army to go against the rebels . But the response of the lords is much worse than imagined . ”

According to Aldof’s explanation, the failure of the initial suppression of the rebellion has led to an increase in the number of lords and nobles supporting the rebels .

Which was why Archbishop Constantine was struggling with trying to control them .

“The central troops had been on the ground for a month, but the problem is with the local lords . There are quite a few nobles who have declared themselves to be neutral or have come out uncooperatively as an excuse to keep their powers . ”

Since the one in power was in Central, one didn’t lack the Gigant power of the riders .

However, in order to stabilize and secure the area where the rebellion has occurred, many normal troops such as the knights and infantry were needed .

“Which was why he decided to hire a large number of mercenaries and wanted to bring in an end to the shortage that he has . ”

“Hmm…”

Luke who listened to the story showed some signs of being interested . The reason he had come to the Holy Empire was to meet the new Pope .

If it was confirmed that she indeed was Reina, he was going to take her back, otherwise, he would just head back to his estate and stop pursuing her .

He had entered the empire in the disguise of a mercenary as it was easy to infiltrate, however, he had no intention of intervening in their civil war .

“I…”

Luke’s mind was desperately trying to refuse the request . The way to meet the new Pope was in the palace and could be done with the task offered .

So, he asked with an interested look .

“The conditions?”

“Let’s see, 10 expert mercenaries and your daily hiring cost could be close to 1,000 pesos . And if you succeed in the mission, you’ll get another 3,000 pesos . ”

“Supply or affiliation?”

“The supply would happen there like any other mercenary . And I think that you’ll be placed under the fourth army under Count Marcus . ”

According to Aldof, the Fourth Army was a reserved kind .

They would be responsible for filling the gaps and supporting the allies’ vacancy in the rear guard, convoys or in the battles .

After hearing a little bit more about the work, Luke had made them draft the contract and signed it .

As they walked out of the mercenary guild, Philip who had been silent all through the meeting, decided to ask .

“Lord, do you plan on joining their civil war?”

“Yeah, maybe we might get to see the face of their New Pope in that way . ”

Thoughts were running through Luke’s brain .

It could be that the New Pope would come out and bless the rebels .

“And if not, if we can build a revolutionary merit in this war, we might get called to the palace . ”

“If that is what you want, then we’ll have to run wildly . ” Philip stated .

It wasn’t that Philip was reluctant to join a war .

The most necessary thing for the Rakan knights was the practical experience, so he did think that it was a good opportunity .

“It would be a good experience to see how the Holy Empire would deal with the occasions of war . ”

“On top of that, one can also see what it looks like to be involved in a civil war . ”

Luke, convinced that the civil war in the Baroque Empire wasn’t too distant, and vowed to learn everything that he could from the current situation .