New wave of recruits

"Now to us."

Maxime, who had now deactivated the talent, no longer had the aura that escaped, but to these very ordinary bandits, he still looked terrifying.

Only Organ and Laura seemed calmer, although they had a complicated look.

In the kneeling crowd, some kept their heads down in prayer.

Maxime stepped into the kneeling crowd and touched a few shoulders.

When these people felt a touch on their shoulders, a violent shiver ran through their bodies.

Then Maxime calmly returned to his position under the dubious eyes of the bandits and mercenaries.

"All those whose shoulders I touched, stand up," he ordered.

Seeing a few familiar faces, some of the mercenaries seemed surprised at first, before a violent anger seized them.

"Come up behind me now", Maxime demanded in a cold tone.

But some of the mercenaries couldn't contain their patience.

"Boss, how are we going to kill them?" asked Izo, his right hand holding his sword with blood still dripping from it.

"Let me at least kill one of them, Captain," interjected Andrew.

Other Quessoi mercenaries didn't speak up, but their expressions revealed that they wanted an abnormally high level of hatred.

After all, these were the bandits who had extorted Quessoi for years, until the village had recently rebelled and been exterminated.

But Maxime didn't answer them; instead, he began to question most of the bandits to find out about each other's past.

In particular, he questioned Organ and Laura.

Both were particularly receptive, so Maxime was able to sort through the bandits in just a few hours.

Surprisingly, most of them had only recently been recruited and were simple villagers before that.

Each had his own catastrophe and was converted by the man in the black mask into a bandit.

It was said that once they had become bandits, their physique would naturally increase in a few days, from 0.2 points to 0.4 points, depending on their potential.

"Probably the talent of the player in question, it's a pretty good talent," Maxime thought.

Getting started is always the most complicated part of Eternity. Once a certain level of strength had been reached, players gained a great deal of freedom and security.

Of the 45 bandits still alive and well, only a few had committed atrocities in neighboring villages, while the rest were simply trying to survive but still maintaining their morale.

Perhaps over time their values would have changed, but that's all hypothetical, and since that didn't happen, Maxime could always use them.

Once his interrogation was over, Maxime returned to where the bandits had gathered.

"Andrew and the Quessoi mercenaries, you can take the standing bandits and do with them what you like," Maxime announced, without expressing any emotion.

The standing bandits began to take fright.

"No, please, I'll do anything for you! I'll even become your dog if you want me to!"

"Me too, I can easily take care of cooking, cleaning or anything else you want!"

"I can become your cannon fodder if you want! As soon as a dangerous mission emerges, I'll be on the front line!"

...

Andrew didn't bat an eyelash, he simply looked at the other Quessoi mercenaries and then they all nodded as if they'd agreed beforehand.

Andrew, Terry, James, Piedro, Izo and Peter, the six mercenaries from Quessoi, stepped forward at the same time, then decapitated on the spot each of the bandits designated by Maxime.

Heads flew and blood spurted before the horrified eyes of the remaining bandits. Although they hadn't known each other long, this scene would mark them forever.

"Just that?" asked Maxime, curious.

"Torturing them won't bring our loved ones back," replied Andrew.

Maxime nodded, understanding.

With that, Andrew and the 5 Quessoi mercenaries emerged from the cave.

"I guess they need to take a breather now that their vengeance is complete," Maxime thought.

"I wonder how I'd react if...No let's not think about it, it'll never happen."

Andrew, now outside the cave, was contemplative as he gazed up at the sky.

"Mom, dad, my sister. The people who hurt you are finally being punished," he thought as a drop of water fell down his face.

The 5 other mercenaries behind Andrew sat on the ground, all staring up at the sky.

No one knew what they were thinking.

Back in the cave, Maxime took a serious look at the remaining bandits.

"Today I have two options to offer you", he announced to the bandits kneeling before him, still surrounded by a score of saber-toothed tigers including Romuald, Tena and his brothers, Rodrigo, Ernest...

The former bandits listened attentively.

"Firstly, you can become the logistical staff of our mercenary group, you'll enjoy all the benefits brought by my talent and you'll never have to go to a battlefield."

"You won't, however, get a salary without at least 3 years' service, but you'll be provided with proper room and board."

"After 3 years of service, you will get a minimum monthly salary of 10 silver coins. The exact salary will depend on your performance and position."

"If you choose this option, you'll have to stay with our de mercenary for at least 5 years."

The bandits were deeply impressed by such benefits. They had already learned the power of the talent of the man in front of them, not to mention that they would also be housed and fed.

For them, this was already the pinnacle they could hope for in this life.

After all, who would risk becoming a bandit if they had enough food and a roof over their heads?

A wage of ten silver coins was also more than adequate, bearing in mind that the average income per adult civilian was 15 silver coins. But these civilians had to pay for their own food, as well as various housing expenses.

If these civilians could keep 4 or 5 silver coins a month, that was already great.

Of course, if they had children, the monthly savings could only be counted in bronze coins.

"Second option: join our mercenary group," Maxime declared.

"You'll directly get a salary of 50 silver coins each month, then your salary will increase to one gold coin per month after one year of service in our mercenary group."

"You'll be exempt from all household chores and can spend your free time doing whatever you want unlike the first option."

"You will also have access to various benefits that are specific to our mercenary group if you are injured during a mission or the like."

"By choosing this option, you can also hope one day to become one of the greatest men in this world by accumulating merits in our mercenary group." concludes Maxime.

Of course, there's the third option, which is to regain your freedom and leave the cave on your own.

But no one knew if Maxime would let them leave alive if they really chose this option, not to mention the fact that they were already well aware of the saber-toothed tiger leader's talent as Maxime had already mentioned the effects to them during the interrogation.

"Now determine your fate."

"Stand up and stand to my right if you wish to choose the first option. If you wish to choose the second option, stand to my left."

The bandits looked at each other, hesitating slightly.

In the first option, they would indeed get Maxime's talent, but in the end they would never really benefit from it, as they would always have to work for the comfort of the active mercenaries.

They'll also never enjoy the glory and adrenalin of mercenary life.

And above all, if they have children, they will indeed be able to feed and house them with difficulty, but that's all it came down to, their future could be imagined.

With the second option, they could become a powerful man as well as ensure a bright future for their children as they'd always dreamed of, but they'd be putting their lives on the line.

Laura was the first to stand up and move to Maxime's left.

"Maybe, thanks to this man, I'll be able to find my sister," Laura thought, looking at Maxime's back.

When Organ saw Laura stand up, he sighed as he made a big decision.

"Ahhhh, as an old man at this rate I won't last much longer, so I might as well try everything to increase my lifespan by a few more decades." he thought with a smile, happy at the opportunity.

Then he stood up and moved to Maxime's left.

But his smile was frightening, as his face still hadn't healed from the damage left by Rodrigo.

Watching his opponent pull up behind Maxime, Rodrigo wasn't sure what to think.

"That old man is far too tenacious, I'd so much like to lie down on the floor and sleep there."

"I just hope he doesn't hold a grudge for the blows I inflicted on him," Rodrigo murmured, slightly worried about this new teammate.

Rodrigo himself, though fully healed, felt terribly tired.

The energy used to improve the physique and heal wounds didn't come from nowhere.

So for Rodrigo, who had had a very fierce fight, he was feeling at the end of his rope.

Finally, of the 45 bandits remaining after the death of the man in the black mask, 7 had been killed by Andrew and the 5 other Quessoi mercenaries. 32 went to Maxime's left, while only 6 decided to go to Maxime's right.

Maxime smiled with satisfaction at the result: these bandits were all people with little or no family, and they had enough courage to go into battle. This met Maxime's standards.

"We'll go from 30 to 62 mercenaries plus 6 people in logistics, after some training we should be able to get back at Baron Barthon and intervene in the war. We should also be able to negotiate a good contract directly with Baron Irut."

Gold coins seemed to rain down around Maxime, so happy was he.

"And in that cave, I'm sure there must be lots of gold coins and equipment," he thought with a smile.

"Come on Organ, Laura, show me the way to your chests!" he ordered happily.

Maxime quickly turned and walked towards the back of the cave.

This slightly shocked the bandits who were used to his cold face and emotionless tone.

But the new mercenaries didn't seem surprised, as they were already used to their leader's rapidly changing emotions.

Maxime soon arrived at the bandits' camp and all he saw was a lot of trouble.

"Damn, why did I forget that detail..."