Chapter 99: I'll Be in Charge
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Generous reward could definitely rouse one to heroism. The Dole family had increased the recruitment reward up to 10,000 gold coins per person so there were still a few brave souls who dared to come forward to enlist as part of the rescue team. Those people were kept in one of the manors in the city, with sumptuous food and drinks fully provided for them.
Baiyi voiced out his intention to have at a look at the recruits and although the Dole Master found him to be a little too demanding, he kept his thoughts to himself and still brought him over to the mansion for him to do the inspection. And when Baiyi finally laid his eyes on the people who were not afraid of death, he could not help but shook his head in disappointment.
What's with these people? A heavily armored fighter? A scrawny sorcerer? A cheesy, dandy looking archer? Seriously? What use would these people be? There's not even a single Legendary Level being. There are only two Master Levels and the rests are just in Elite or Advanced Level! Looking at those people, Bayi fumed inwardly. He really did not understand why the Dole family would recruit those people in the first place. You can't just simply recruit any person even if you're in a dire situation!
From a glance, the amount of people who were somewhat acceptable were probably only four people--- a Master Level chaplain and three black-haired men who dressed like hunters. Those three people who looked almost alike had the facial features of the Northerners, they were probably siblings and God-knows-why they would come all the way to the Southland from the North.
In spite of everything, the Dole family was still a rich and powerful aristocratic family, and in the middle of a crisis, all that they could find was only those few people who were basically good-for-nothings. How depressing! Even if most of the strong ones had already been recruited by Undine, there should still be quite a handful of capable people left in a big city like Arfin. Frustrated, Baiyi turned to the Merchant in the Void, For a businessman, your descendant is really muddle headed! Out of all of them, Undine is the only one who is passable!
"Err... Perhaps money-making is the only thing that they are good at?" The Merchant could only heaved a helpless sigh watching the ne'er-do-well descendant of his.
In truth, when Baiyi first came in contact with the Dole family--- when he disguised himself as the wandering sorcerer, Andrew--- he had already expected this when he received the seemingly sagacious 50 gold coins.
Not intending to waste anymore time beating around the bushes, Baiyi gripped Eugene's shoulders strongly and asked him in a serious tone, "Are you serious in wanting to save Undine?"
"I... Of course, I am! She's the gem of our family! I shouldn't have let her go on the trip in the first place..." Eugene did not quite get Baiyi's meaning but he still replied in an earnest tone, with no pretense in his words.
"Okay, if you really intend to save her, do as I say! I'll go save her but you'll have to give me the necessary manpower and assistance," Baiyi announced in a tone that left him no chance to argue.
"T-This..." For a moment, the Dole family head was at loss for words. He did not understand why Baiyi was acting so domineering yet tactful as well, he said, "I- I do believe in your strength, Master Hope... B-But this is my own family matter so i-it's better for me to take charge...""
" You take charge?" Baiyi scoffed out loud, "By the time you depart with your group of motley crew, Undine would have long been rap... I mean, ravished by those barbarians! This is not the time for you to fool around! There's another thing that I have to remind you , I, myself, actually have no intention to go so far to rescue some person who has no value to me at all, but my disciple--- Tisdale--- insisted on rescuing her. It's because of their sisterhood that I'm forced to tag along, do you understand?"
Hearing that, Eugene threw a quick grateful glance at Tisdale who was sitting in the carriage and just as he was about to open his mouth to say something, a loud rude voice interrupted him from the side, "F*ck you, man! Who is this motley crew that ya speak of, eh? Ya better watch your f*cking mouth or I'll beat ya into pulp!"
It was the guy who was dressed like a fighter.
Baiyi did not even bother to respond. He simply turned his head towards him and lifted up a finger--- one freaking finger only! Immediately, a rune with five different colours appeared in the air, and just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared in a flash before they could even figure out what was going on. A small bog abruptly appeared at the fighter's feet and as his feet sank, it bound them tightly, rooting him to the spot. As everyone's attention was still focused on the sudden appearance of the bog, icemissiles, firebolts and wind blades appeared suddenly and targeted his head from three different angles. The attack was completed with a big stone that fell from the sky directly towards his head
Just like that, the fighter who was still boasting a moment ago was sprawled on the floor motionlessly. The whole process took less than 10 seconds.
"See? Exactly what I said. A motley crew!" Baiyi snorted as he shot a dirty look at the fighter.
"How dare you hurt my brother!" Another man dressed like a thief roared angrily. He pulled out two daggers and instantly cast an Invisible spell on himself and rushed towards Baiyi. Before he could even get close enough to attack, Baiyi already took out a shining golden staff from his storage pouch and smashed it down on the top of his head, resulting in him following the footsteps of the fighter, his dear lovely brother.
"What a bunch of trash..." Baiyi shook his head. With a loud voice, he shouted towards the rest of the people who slowly gathered around him, "Just come at me all at once! I'm in a hurry!"
Within seconds, three people who had too much faith in themselves rushed towards him. Lifting up the Saint Quartz staff and waving it around as if he was performing gymnastic, the three guys were thrown out immediately in just a blink of an eye. Then, casting the same spell again, he taught the sorcerer, who planned a sneak attack by the corner, a lesson and after that, nobody else dared to challenge him anymore.
Baiyi did not pay any attention to the rest of the cowards who were swearing and making threatening gestures to him yet slowly backing up at the same time but instead, he glanced at the four people whom he had taken notice of earlier. The Northerner siblings who appeared to be calm and composed did not join in the fight but were engaged in a discussion at the back of the group; the chaplain, on the other hand, was busy treating the few people who were beaten up by Baiyi with his skilled healing technique without so much as a glance up to look at him.
Not bad. Baiyi judged quietly before turning towards the Dole family head who was taken aback by the whole ordeal, "Do you think I'd be able to save Undine from the Northern Wasteland if I went with these bunch of people?"
It was only after a few minutes that Eugene finally regained his senses. The Soul Armature in front of him had just beaten up those trash, that he had recruited with a very large amount of money, into pulp in just a few minutes. The gap of strength between the two parties were too large indeed. It was totally different from when they boasted about their abilities before.
"I-I understand," the Dole family head quickly nodded his head, "I'll let you call the shots. Sigh, I really did not expect these cock-a-doodle-do people to be so weak! They even told me that they have engaged in a battle with the Divine Warrior of the Barbarian Tribe before!"
Baiyi almost rolled his eyes hearing Eugene's remark. The Divine Warriors were native to the Alpine Barbarian Tribe and they were totally not related to the mission--- that was to rescue Undine from the Steppe Barbarian--- at all! Even if those people really came across the Divine Warriors before, it was highly likely that only one Divine Warrior was needed to slaughter all of those phonies. As a matter of fact, there was a civil war going on between the Steppe and the Alpine Barbarians. Thousands or even ten thousands of Steppe Barbarians would form a troop of cavalry to battle it out with a troop of Divine Warriors that consisted of not more than a hundred people. Still, the Steppe Cavalry would still get their asses beaten everytime before they had to flee.
After all, the Steppe Barbarians only dealt with the wild beasts of the grassland while the Alpine Barbarian was a tribe who came across dragons every-freaking-day! That was also why Undine would rather choose to go through the Steppe Barbarian's territory and not the Alpine Barbarians.
That was why it was a mistake to group them together just because the two tribes were labeled as barbarians. The two clans could be considered as two totally different species.
"Then, may I know what kind of people you would need?" The Dole family head asked respectfully. After he had caught a glimpse of Baiyi's power, there was a huge shift in his attitude. That Master Hope turned out to be more powerful than the group of trashes that he had spent a fortune on, so, instead of putting his hopes onto those good-for-nothing garbages, it was better for him to put his hopes on the mysterious Soul Armature. Before this, even though Undine had only met him a couple of times, she had nothing but only high praises for him, saying that he was a trustworthy person. Anyway, there was no other better candidate at the moment, was there?
That was the predicament of the merchant family. There were no strong members in their own family and those people whom they had spent a lot of money to make friends with chose to be silent in their moment of crisis. One could also say that all those people were smart and sneaky actually. They knew that if the Dole family failed in the reclaiming project, the family would fall in no time and it would be time for them to associate themselves with other powerful and rich people. Such friendship that was forged from self-interest was no doubt frail and fragile.
Money was not everything after all.
On the contrary, someone like Tisdale, who would lend a hand in difficult times was the best friend that one could ever ask for. Eugene felt greatly touched by the warm heart of that little girl. Before, he was a little unhappy that Undine kept helping the girl who came from a deteriorating aristocratic family. But who would have ever thought that the help that Undine had given from her heart without expecting anything in return would end up helping them in their moment of need instead.
In the face of Eugene's question, Baiyi pondered a while before he replied, "That three Northerners and the chaplain right there. It would be best if you could get me one defense fighter and one sorcerer as well. Still, it does not matter if you cant."
"Ah? T-That's all?" The Dole family head could not hide the astonished look from his face. Isn't this Master Hope a little too confident in himself? How can you go to the Northern Wasteland with only so few people?
"It's enough," Baiyi replied, "We're on a rescue mission. We are not exploring, hunting nor exterminating the barbarians. We need to rely on speed so why would I bring so many people with me?"
In truth, if it weren't for the excess baggages that were Tisdale and Mia, he would rather go on his own. In all honesty, the few people that he listed out actually had nothing to do with the rescue mission, he only wanted them to babysit and look after the two girls during the trip. The real help that he needed was not in Arfin city but in the middle of the Eol Mountains instead.
After listening to Baiyi's explanation, Eugene nodded his head in agreement, "I happen to have the defense warrior and the sorcerer that you asked for. All of the people that you need are complete."
"Great! Then, please prepare these inventories as soon as possible. Once you're done, we'll be ready to start on our journey immediately," Using the tone that a superior would usually use on his subordinate, Baiyi ordered and took out a parchment from his pouch before handing it over to Eugene. The parchment was filled with lines and lines of small words that were closely written together. It was the list of the necessities that Baiyi had made yesterday.