34 The Mercenary Captain

"Is Clovis Schwert available?" Mia asked the receptionist.

"Yes. He's in his office right now." Said the receptionist.

Mia then led Ethan up the staircase that was near the receptionist desk, and to the second floor.

On the second floor, there was a hallway with many doors. The first door on the right side was an oak door with the words, 'Schwert & Co.' painted on it. Mia knocked on the door and the voice of Clovis Schwert, the leader of a small band of mercenaries answered "Enter."

Mia and Ethan then went inside. The room was officially the office of Clovis Schwert and his band of mercenaries that the he and his band of mercenaries rented from the Mercenaries' Guild, although the inside didn't look much like an office. It was a large room. There were chairs and even beds laying around the room with weapons racks in the corner, and in the center of the room was a table with food and beer on it. Sitting on the chairs and beds were mercenaries. Some were sharpening swords and spears, others were playing cards to pass the time, some wore armor while others wore more casual clothes. On the weapons racks were bows, arrows, kite shields, swords and spears. The only part that resembled an office was the desk of Clovis Schwert which was in the corner. It was a small inexpensive desk with parchments laid out across it. Sitting behind it was Clovis Schwert, a old mercenary who had seen many battles, and was in fact a veteran of the Constellation Knights, who had served honorably for years but who had reached the age limit for Royal Knights and was made to retire a few years ago at the age of 55. Upon retiring from that, he started a small mercenary band of experienced fighters, and even in just a few years, they made a name for themselves as capable and trustworthy mercenaries. They had even been hired by a feudal lord on the east bank of the Grenze River to help him defend his land in the previous war against the Western Empire. He did good work as a mercenary, and made a decent amount of money but there were rumors that he missed working as a knight. He was a good friend of Mia when he was a Constellation Knight because they were both Royal Knights, and they kept in touch even after he retired. For these reasons, Mia believed that he and his band of mercenaries would be the best choice for Ethan

"Well, what brings you here Mia?" Asked the old mercenary.

"My friend Ethan here was recently put in charge of the Barony of Kastell by my father, and he was looking to hire some new knights for his barony. He was looking for twelve knights. For that reason, I thought that I would introduce you to him. Ethan, this is Clovis Schwert, a former member of the Constellation Knights, and a friend of mine. This is his company of mercenaries. They are all experienced in battle, and all of them are honorable." Said Mia.

Many of the mercenaries were looking intently at Mia and Ethan at the possibility of becoming well paid knights working in a relatively safe barony like Kastell.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Said Ethan while extending his hand for a handshake.

"Likewise." Said Clovis as he firmly shook Ethan's hand.

"So what kind of a deal are you offering?" asked Clovis while he motioned for Ethan and Mia to sit down.

"I'd like to hire you and your company to work for me as knights. I would pay each person working for you eleven gold coins per year, and I would like to pay you sixteen gold coins and five large silver coins per year to be the leader of my knights. In addition, I will provide each of you with a Vorbei Pferd. I will also pay any reasonable expenses related to the horses. I will provide all of you as well as your families with room and board. I will pay to maintain your weapons and armor. I will give you mana potions for any magic that any of you cast in my service and health potions for any injuries that you sustain in my service. If any of you are killed in my service, I will provide their family with a pension worth three decades of salary. I will cover all of the transportation costs of moving from the capital to Kastell. I will also pay for any of you to bring on squires who desire one. In exchange, I would like for all of you to keep well trained and in shape for battle at any time. I would further like all of you to maintain law and order in the Kastell barrony. You would be expected to defend the Kastell Barony, and, if there is a war or conflict, I would of course be expecting all of you to fight at my command. I would also like you to train peasants into soldiers to fight under me." Said Ethan.

[It's a good offer for being a knight of a low ranked noble. It may not be as much as Clovis made as a Constellation Knight, but it is almost certainly more than he makes now, and the other perks offered are decent as well. Additionally, he really wants to be a knight again. The only thing that I think that he may be concerned about is that Ethan is a relatively unknown factor, and he doesn't know whether he would be good or bad noble to serve under. It does help that I introduced Ethan, but one can't entirely rely on someone else's judgment.] thought Mia.

"That is certainly an interesting proposal. The pay that is offered is fair, and I don't believe that Mia would have introduced you to me if you weren't trustworthy. Could my men and I have some time to talk about it?" Asked the old mercenary captain.

"Certainly. I will be in the capital for the next few days. You have until the day after tomorrow at the end of the day to consider it." Said Ethan.

"Well, I don't think that we need that long. Could you come back here later today to hear our answer."

"Certainly." Said Ethan.

Ethan and Mia then got up and left.