Unsuspecting Mantis

(Raging Tempest Mercenary Group's Base)

A man rushed in from the outside, holding a piece of paper in his hand. He avoided the mercenary members who were eating and drinking together in the hall and ran inside quickly.

"Why are you in such a hurry?!"

Just as he was about to push open the innermost door, a huge axe blocked his way.

"Olsen, take your stupid axe away, I have something urgent to tell Boss!"

"You can talk to me first. If it's really important, I'll talk personally to Boss." Olsen made a beckoning gesture, urging him to hand over the things in his hand.

The mercenary gripped the reward notice even tighter, struggling for a moment before sighing deeply and tossing the commotion notice to Olsen.

Even though Olsen was affected by recent incidents and even had his left arm cut off, he was still one of the leader's right hand men; someone an ordinary member like him couldn't afford to offend.

Olsen picked put the commission notice and gave it a quick glance. Instantly, his expression turned solemn. He turned around and hurried to the leader's room.

In the study, a gaunt man was sitting at the table, carefully wiping the Dragon Fang Sword with a handkerchief. Hearing the sound of the door opening, he raised his head and glanced at it, only to discover that it was Olsen who had entered. He returned his attention to the sword and resumed wiping it.

"What's the matter?" He said coldly.

Just a simple glance from him made Olsen feel goosebumps back on the neck, this was how intimidating the man who built the Raging Tempest Mercenary groups from the scratch with his own hands. Only under such a tyranical man could a mercenary group which was formed from mostly band of thugs could have solid unity and brothership.

This was also the reason the mercenaries under his banner feared and respected him so much, including Olsen, who was also growing up in slum area of Rosewood Town, where might made right and ones had to be cruel and merciless enough to survive. Olsen always believed that by following this man he could achieve greatness that no one in the slums dared to even dream.

He quickly lowered his head, held up the commission notice in his hand, and came in front of him.

"Captain, President Henrick has released a new mission!"

"Oh?" The man put down the Dragon Tooth Saber, reached for the reward notice, and glanced at it slightly, saying, "Olsen, what do you think of this matter?"

It was stated on the reward notice that the Mercenary Association called for a powerful mercenary group to go to the forest on the south side of Rosewood Town to investigate suspicious activity there. If they could succeed in arresting the culprit, they would be granted 4 mercenary points and a reward specially prepared by Henrick.

"I think we should give it a try. It just so happened that both the first rank and the second rank mercenary aren't available this time. If we take this opportunity and succeed, the four points we'll obtain is enough to surpass Moon Wolf in the next competition."

"Since you know how crucial this mission for us, the fellow from Moon Wolf must also pay attention to this mission closely. After all, they won't easily give up this opportunity to us." The man said in deep voice.

"Don't worry, Captain! I'll definitely get this mission!" Olsen knelt on the ground with his right on his chest and declared resolutely.

"Go, don't let me down again." The man picked up the Dragon Fang Sword again without looking at Olson and carefully inspecting the patterns on it.

Olsen nodded and retreated immediately. After walking out of the door of the man's office, he realized that his back was completely drenched in sweat. He clenched the paper in his hand tightly as if holding a lifeline.

He messed up a lot and nearly caused big trouble for his mercenary group. Considering the leader's personality, if he once again failed his order, he would soon lose his life.

"It's all because of that bitch!"

Olsen was always on edge in recent days. He couldn't sleep peacefully for several days after the failed ambush because he was afraid the town guards would come to arrest him. After all, an attempt to assassinate a noble could be considered a felony, and he couldn't do anything but escape for his life by that time.

Strangely, even after a couple of days passed, there was still no movement from Aurora's or the Mercenary Association's side. It meant that neither she nor Tix had reported his action that night. Whatever the reason was, he still could breath safely outside for now.

But that didn't mean he could relax his guard, Olsen reasoned. At least, he couldn't appear in public for a time before the situation cooled down a little bit.

"Hey, you!" Olsen pointed to the mercenary who had delivered the commission notice earlier. "You go to the association and claim the mission for us! If you fail..." Olsen didn't need to finish his word as the mercenary hurriedly off to complete his task.

After the mercenary left, Olsen took another glance at the comission notice in his hand. There was a nagging feeling somewhere in his heart, akin to a bad premonition that something would once again go terribly wrong this time.

"There's no way that despicable bitch play another trick, right?"

A mocking smirk of a certain despicable woman surfaced in her mind, but he quickly shook the thoughts off, crumpling the paper in his hand and tossing it away as he went back inside the mansion with a cold snort.

*

As soon as Tix arrived at the Mercenary Association, he quickened his pace toward the mission board and quickly spotted the place where the recent mission was posted. The man frowned slightly when he saw the one he searched for had already moved toward the claimed mission board. As he read further, the knit on his eyebrows tightened, and his expression turned more solemn.

"Sure enough, everything went the way she said."

The commission notice for the investigation of the forest on the south side of Rosewood Town that had just been posted by the Mercenary Association this morning had already been stamped with the "Claimed" stamp, and the one who undertook the mission was none other than their nemesis, The Raging Tempest Mercenary Group.

This mission was actually really important for his group. After all, 4 points as a reward for this mission could widen the gap between them and Raging Tempest and give them more chances to enter the top third mercenary groups in Rosewood City.

If he hadn't received particular information from Aurora, he really wanted to fight it out with those bastards!

"There'll be a good show soon..."

Tix didn't dawdle for long and quickly left the mercenary association with a sneer in his eyes.

*

The tranquil night gave a chance of rest for the hustling and bustling Rosewood Town, especially on the less crowded part of the town where Glory Mercenary Group's base stood, where darkness pervaded, only dimly illuminated by the moonlight.

The trees made a small rustling sound as a shadowy figure quietly jumped off from the top and tiptoed along the mansion wall under the cover of night toward the mansion's door. After carefully checking the surroundings, the figure rang the bell after confirming that there had been no abnormality.

Soon the door opened, and the figure hurriedly walked in and went to the second floor, led by Claudia. In the study room, Aurora was already sitting behind the desk, waiting for their arrival.

"Mr. Tix, you are finally here." Aurora smiled slightly when she saw the person coming, poured a cup of hot tea and pushed it in front of him.

Tix lifted his black cloak and sat on the chair. "Lady Aurora, are you really sure that the Raging Tempest Mercenary Group will suffer a big loss this time? Imagining, that bastard Olsen's smug smile really makes me want to give him a punch in the face."

"You don't need to worry, Mr. Tix. As long as they accept the mission, they'll be in big trouble." Aurora answered with a voice full of confidence.

After all, their opponent would be the second ring summoner Jeffrey and his gigantic Black and White Serpent. According to her plan, there was no way they could deal with them in their current state. Except…

"What about their leader? Will he make a move this time?" Aurora asked tentatively. If that guy personally got involved in this mission, the situation might not proceed to her liking.

"I think most likely he won't. That guy hasn't participated in any mission recently. He didn't even attend the Mercenary Association regular meeting, and only let Olsen or their deputy head to come in his stead. A mission of this level won't be enough to draw him out." Tix shook his head and denied without hesitation. "After all, you won't reveal the real difficulty of this mission."

"Indeed. No one will willingly take a mission where if they know that they will most likely die no matter how generous the reward is."

"I hope everything is as you said. After all, 4 points are really enviable." Tix felt unhappy when he thought of this, "Apart from this, do you have any other ideas?"

Aurora put away her smile for a while and her face became a little serious. Even Tix, who was half leaning on the chair, straightened his back almost immediately.

"I have a small proposal. Would Moon Wolf Mercenary Group be willing to do us a favor?"

"Let's hear it first. I'll report to Captain to make a decision."

Aurora nodded and started explaining, "I hope Moon Wolf can send some elites with us to follow the Raging Tempest group after they set off tomorrow. When the battle breaks out then we…" She didn't finish her words and simply smiled coldly.

Tix could feel a thick sense of bloodlust in her voice and instantly understood her meaning. He rubbed his chin and fell into a deep thought. Aurora's proposal was very tempting but extremely risky.

If it succeeds, it could greatly reduce the Raging Tempest Mercenary Group's strength, but if it fails and this ambush plan was exposed, not only would they be sanctioned by the Mercenary Association, but they would also risk a hidden retaliation from Raging Tempest.

No matter what, killing so many people would only breed unending grudge, and in the worse case it would turn into something that no one could control anymore.

In order to avoid this kind of situation from unfolding, the Mercenary Association clearly stipulated that mindless massacre were absolutely forbidden under any situation no matter how much friction between mercenary groups.

If the conflict had already reach the point irreconcilable, they would be allowed to settle the grudge one for all by submitting a request for a public mercenary battle.

"Give me some time to think of this matter. I'll report this situation back to Captain to see how he decides, and I'll give you an answer tomorrow morning." Tix drank the tea that had already gone cold and stood up to leave.

"Then I'll wait for your good news."

"Well, then I'll go first."

After Tix gone, Claudia went inside the study to clean up the table. Unlike the usual, the cheerful elf seemed to be strangely quiet, her head kept facing down as she put the empty cups onto the tray.

Sensing something was wrong, Aurora, who was reading some documents, raised her head and called her gently.

"Claudia."