The three bandit leaders choked at once. “What?” They said in sync.

“You asked for a monetary price. Well, that was it. Gather ten million gold coins and I will...consider it.”

They looked at each other with stunned faces.

If Jonas collected every single gold coin he had raided form hundreds of pirates, they would not add up to half of that much less the entire thing. It was simply an amount of money that was unattainable unless they lived only to raid and hoard gold everyday.

Jonas let them stew for a moment in the incredulity he put them in. They couldn’t even respond to it. “Or…”

He looked away from them and began to play with a golden quill he had laying down in preparation for this talk. Though he knew he caught their undivided attention when he began like that. “Or you could explain the situation to me and then we could find a suitable solution. Agreed?”

It took them a moment but they finally nodded. It must have been a part of their plan to let him hear a bit of information to get him to agree faster. They must have never expected him to state such an absurd amount on the get go without even a moment to talk things over.

Fefar stepped forward and next to Ioral. He was quickly followed by Lank. Fefar began to rub the bridge of his nose with a finger in anxiety. “We discovered a force of Orcs making their way deeper into these lands almost a week ago. Just like all other raids, we went through our preplanned strategies. You know, harass them, give them no sleep, and burn their food. Makes them leave without fail. But this time was different.”

He paused for effect.

“We discovered this force of roughly a thousand Orcs—the usual—was actually a vanguard of an even larger army making its way on this path. It will reach this very village in about a months time. Usually, we would tackle anything that comes up. They can't catch us and are even easier to raid than the biannual caravans we target every year. But they are jut too numerous. Our last estimate puts them at roughly ninety-seven thousand strong and growing constantly. It’s not like anything we’ve ever seen.”

An Orc raid on this village came at the perfect timing. That was more than suspicious. It was treason of the highest order. How would the Orcs even find out about his arrival much less where he had been and to where his destination was? They’d have to be well informed before he even left the city of PennyHarbor about were he was going for them to gather such a massive force and march this fast towards him.

This colored Raneria in a terrible light.

She was the most obvious candidate as a traitor. Honestly, she would be serving her race by letting them know about his whereabouts. She could have been acting the entire time as a naive princess for all he knew. All the lovey covey spars she had with Gregor could have been scouting his fighting potential and finding any weaknesses in his style.

But, how would she get any message out with constant surveillance around him at all times. She never left either him or Gregor for even a moment of the day or night.

Or it could be completely worse. Someone from high nobility was in with the Orcs from the very beginning seeing them information about anything important that goes on. It could explain why their hasn’t been a full on clash between the two sides in a few years. They would always know where the surrounding armies were headed.

They could attack where they were not and disappear when they knew the human armies were on their way.

Jonas shook his head, showing none of his internal turmoil. “What does that have to do with thousands of bandits entering a walled village I am currently holding?”

“Together, we have the best chance of repelling their forces. We can even provide all the necessary food and resources, whether wood or man power. It’s the only way to survive.” Fefar said with passion.

Jonas huffed at his words. “So you could survive is more like it. Whether you enter the village or not, we would win. My soldiers are well beyond anything you or the orcs could field in such short notice. We have a sleeping dragon amongst our ranks.”

He hoped Clay returned soon. For what the bandits had already said, this was a tactical strike to take him and his entourage out. Without the monster of a person, he wasn’t as confident in coming out unscathed. It scratched the back of his mind as he thought about any of his soldiers getting hurt or even killed. Ever since he had entered the colonies waterway, he had yet to take a single casualty, probably had to do with him not wanting any direct confrontations until he had a stronger base in the city of Aiden.

But, now it had come to him.

Jonas blinked. He had begun to daydream again. It was the worst time possible. He focused his eyes on the bandits in front of him who seem to have been in their own world arguing. Their whispers were harsh and were filled with cursing.

Guess Jonas’s plan to make them throw out their plans and plots out the window actually worked somehow. What they had planned or wished to lead him to must have failed. He had to smile at his first time not underestimating his enemy and succeeding against them.

Fefar screamed in frustration. He kept going until he lost his breath. Once he was done, the three leaders turned to heatedly stare at Jonas. They seemed to have come to a decision they did not like but were forced into.

In response, Jonas only raised his eyebrow. “Well? Finally done wasting my time?”

“Yes,” Fefar said with gritted teeth. “We’ve decided to let you hire us as mercenaries! For the extended period of time the Orcs siege this walled-village. We will be loyal and unwavering mercenaries under your command.”

Jonas laughed as Shab choked on his spit behind him.