The Azure Longsword

Chapter 52: Sniper Showdown

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"Matthews?!" Andrea's expression remained unchanged, but his voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth. "What are your people doing here?"

"Haha, of course you are here to find the Knight Templar wanted by the Holy See." A man with a small mustache walked in, with a broadsword and a dagger on his waist.

Behind him, lightly-armored warriors holding swords and shields came in one after another and confronted the Gothic swordsmen.

"Want to fight a few moves here?" Andrea sneered, "Best of three, the loser automatically withdraws?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Captain Matthews responded sarcastically, "Even if we win, will you, the Iron Cross, really withdraw?"

"Of course." Andrea said righteously, "We at Iron Cross always keep our word. But you guys at Freedom Wind have done many things like negotiating first and then flipping the table."

"Are these people also mercenaries?" Nora asked in a low voice while standing behind the crowd.

"Ventlibre, a well-known mercenary group in the West Frankish Kingdom," Ask replied, "and they are the old enemy of the Iron Cross Mercenary Group."

"Of course, any large enough mercenary group will inevitably have conflicts and hatreds with each other. After all, there are only a few large orders in the world every year, and every time they have to fight to the death."

"Oh." Nora took out a pen and paper and wrote it down. She couldn't help but develop a strong interest in these anecdotes of the mercenary world.

"If you are not going to participate in the duel, then why are you blocking us at the castle gate?" Andrea asked him, "Are you planning to surround and kill us here in order to take all the bounty from Fengxim?"

As soon as these words came out, the surrounding mercenaries immediately started to make noises. Matthews's face changed, and he immediately sneered and said:

"Don't stir up trouble. We, the Free Wind, are not so despicable as to take action against these idle mercenaries."

"You, the Iron Cross, have made a very careful calculation. The Vatican has offered a reward of 500 pounds to Fengxim, but you are only offering 5 pounds for any clues you provide? You are really treating us like laborers!"

"Everyone!" Matthews turned to the crowd and said loudly, "Whoever can find clues about Feng Keshim can come to our Free Wind Mercenary Group. Let's go together to surround and kill Feng Keshim, and we will share 100 pounds of the bounty as a reward!"

The crowd was suddenly in an uproar again. These idle mercenaries were mostly in groups of three or five. Even if it was a team of five, each person could get 20 pounds out of the 100-pound bounty, which was far more than the price offered by the Iron Cross.

As for joining the battle to kill Feng Keshim, as long as the price is high, who would be afraid of death? If they were afraid of death, they would not become mercenaries.

"Hahaha." Andrea sneered, "You're using the trick of selling out your teammates again. Aren't you guys from Free Wind tired of it? Last time in Burgueil, West Francia, you also offered a 100-pound bounty, but the mercenaries who provided clues all died in the battle... Did you send the 100-pound bounty to their families later?"

"How dare you bring up the Bulger incident?" Matthews immediately turned hostile and shouted angrily, "If you, the Iron Cross, hadn't ambushed us outside, would those mercenaries have died innocently? They were just idle mercenaries and had no grudges against you, yet you dared to kill them!"