Chapter 421: Death Sentence
Chapter 421: Death Sentence
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Anfey learned from Ozzic what had happened as they travelled on the road. It was indeed a big issue. As the saying goes, those who were well-fed and well-clad tended to be lustful, and some mercenaries got horny when they saw young girls waiving bouquets to welcome them to the city. More than a dozen drunk mercenaries had forced their way into a house after having some alcohol. Only an older woman and five young girls lived there. Ozzic did not know the relationship between the older woman and the young girls. Perhaps because the girls fought hard and did not act like girls in a brothel, the mercenaries got scared. Or perhaps because they thought Anfey would give them their fair share of magic crystals soon, they felt like they could spend money. For whatever reason, the mercenaries were willing to give money to them. If they had gone to a brothel, it would not have cost as much as the money they left in that house.
For the police, what had happened was not rare, especially in the Country of Mercenaries. For example, when Tiger of Tawau mercenary group attacked Glory mercenary group and took complete control of Blackwater City, the surviving captives were all women. Everyone knew the reasons Tiger Tawau mercenary group did not kill the families of Glory mercenary group. This was common in the aftermath of a conflict. For the side that lost the battle, soldiers would definitely die, while women would lose their freedom. No one would allow the people related to their enemies to leave freely and seek opportunities to come back for revenge. Hotchbini with her clout could only save some people or one group of people, but she could not stop this phenomenon. She could have offended many people if she had tried to stop it. Soldiers risked their lives in battle and contributed to the victory. Why could not they receive some female slaves for rewards?
The troublemakers from Anfey’s league would definitely be punished, but the punishments could vary depending on the judges, since no one had died in this case. However, they did make a mistake by causing a disturbance in Centerburg. Most people who lived in Centerburg were key members in Band of Brothers mercenary group or their families. Therefore, over a dozen mercenaries from Band of Brothers mercenary group forced their way into Anfey’s headquarters to try to catch the mercenaries who raped the young girls in Centerburg. The mercenaries of Anfey’s league could not stand for that. They were proud of themselves because of the strong fighting abilities of Anfey and Suzanna. They would not allow anyone to take their people from their headquarters whenever they wanted. In the resulting fight, both sides had injuries and casualties. More than ten mercenaries in Band of Brothers mercenary group were either hurt or died. The injured Band of Brothers mercenaries were kept in the headquarters, which totally changed the situation. It became more than just a case of rape. Ozzic said Marino had not come yet when he left. Many mercenaries from both parties were on the verge of pulling their swords out and causing a large-scale bloody scene at any moment.
Anfey was so worried that he left Ozzic behind and ran immediately to Stormenburg with Suzanna. Anfey was somewhat relieved when he only heard loud noises in the distance, no screaming and yelling of a fight. What he heard signaled that there was still room to calm the situation.
When Anfey and Suzanna ran into the headquarters, Marino, Entos, and a few others were already there. The Band of Brothers mercenaries looked angry, but they had put their weapons away. The mercenaries in the League of Mercenaries still firmly held their weapons. They obviously felt tense, since their headquarters was surrounded.
Marino had a bitter smile on his face when he saw Anfey coming. He had the absolute authority and power in Stormenburg, but the current situation still was a huge headache. Everyone was angry and anxious. It seemed that there would be a riot soon. He could have forced his mercenaries to leave, but it would have left him a big problem. No matter what relationship he had with Anfey, he would not ruin his relationship with his mercenaries. He did not even know how to greet Anfey. If he sounded harsh, he was worried Anfey would misunderstand him. If he sounded too nice to Anfey, he would lose his reputation and authority among his people. In the end, he chose to smile bitterly.
Orsie and others felt a little better when they saw Anfey coming. Orsie immediately went over to Anfey.
"Master, Band of Brothers mercenaries forced their way into our headquarters and killed some of our mercenaries. Master, you have to…" Joseph cried out as he ran over to Anfey.
Surprisingly, Anfey slapped Joseph. He did it out of anger, so he put some force into it. Joseph was shocked that Anfey would slap him. His body turned as he was knocked over and fell hard to the floor with a loud thud.
"Where is Blavi?" Anfey asked coldly.
"Anfey!" Blavi squeezed himself through the crowd.
"What were you doing when this happened?" Anfey asked.
"I went to look for Entos when I saw people had died," Blavi said bitterly.
"Why did you do that? Don’t forget you are the commander of the mage group!" Anfey yelled in anger. "Do you have to look for Entos when your enemy has put his sword to your neck?" Anfey had never expected the commanders to be able to solve any big issues. He did not give them that much power anyway. He felt more disappointed when Blavi did not do anything instead of making mistakes. A commander of a mage group, like Saul and Newyoheim, should have authority in any situation. Only Blavi could control the situation when Suzanna and Anfey were not there.
Blavi was shocked for a second, but he did not realize what he had done wrong. He thought Anfey just used him as an excuse to vent his anger and carry out his plan. He wanted to cover for Anfey, so he thought it would be smart to lower his head to look ashamed. He thought he was doing it for Anfey.
"You, come out!" Anfey pointed at a mercenary.
The mercenary was shocked and confused when Anfey picked him. He walked out with a bitter face. He was just a regular mercenary. He had no idea why Anfey picked him, since he had done nothing from the very beginning.
Anfey reached his hand out and grabbed Orsie’s sword shaft. He pulled the sword out and tossed it on the ground, yelling, "Go and pick it up. Bring it to Master Entos!"
That mercenary picked up the sword and slowly walked towards Entos. It was not a good feeling to be put on the spot, at least not to him. Every step took a lot of courage. He started to sweat. He felt like he had walked a long way before he got to Entos. He held the sword out.
Entos took a long look at Anfey before he took the sword without saying anything. Marino, standing next to Entos, felt a little nervous. He wondered why Anfey passed the sword over and why Anfey had mentioned the enemy putting the sword to the throat. What worried him the most was Anfey was still young and did not have sufficient patience and vision. He worried that he would not be able to pacify the situation if Anfey refused to work with him because Anfey was too proud.
"Did you see?" Anfey yelled so everyone could hear him. "You could have sent a mercenary to be the messenger. Why did you, a commander of a mage group, need to run around as a messenger? Don’t you know what your position and responsibilities are?" Anfey indeed did not control his anger, but for a good reason. He was disappointed. Anfey had been hoping Blavi, Riska and a few others could grow as individuals and leaders and take on responsibilities as leaders someday. However, wishes were never realities.
Blavi was not stupid. Anfey’s questions woke him up. His lips and fists were both slightly shaking. When Anfey and Suzanna were not there, he had the highest authority. When things happened, he had left the whole league to be a messenger, which was totally wrong. He did not do the most important thing, instead doing the most trivial thing. Strictly speaking, it seemed that he could not control the situation anyway, even if he had been there. If a fight broke out on a large scale, he would have had the chance to get out of the encirclement when he organized his mage group to attack the other party. Anfey and Suzanna were not there. He left to send messages and lost the opportunity to give commands. The whole league could have been in a mess if they had a fight.
"Where is Ye?" Anfey yelled again.
Ye was shocked that he was called out. He immediately walked out of the crowd and bowed. "Master!"
"Who were the mercenaries who raped the women in the Centerburg?" Anfey asked.
"Master, there are 13 of them. I investigated after that horrible incident," Ye said.
Anfey slowly closed his eyes. Compared with Blavi’s mistakes, Ye’s responsive actions made him feel better. Unfortunately, he could not completely trust Ye.
"Bring all of them here!" Anfey said coldly.
"Yes, master!" Ye answered. In fact, he had prepared for this. He did not think Anfey would blindly protect anyone, including the mercenaries who raped women. He thought it did not make sense for Anfey to blindly protect them.
Eleven mercenaries were pushed out of the crowd. As Anfey laid his eyes on Ye, Ye immediately said, "Two of them were killed in the fight."
"Who started the fight?" Anfey asked.
"The mercenaries in Eighth Unit," Ye said.
"Take them out!" Anfey demanded.
Ye was shocked for a second. It had been so chaotic that he had not had time to do an investigation into how the fight started. He only found out which mercenaries had fought. After thinking for a moment, he decided that the mercenaries with blood on their clothes all must have fought. He only needed to check their clothes one by one. The mercenaries were lucky if they fought but had no blood on their clothes.
After checking all the mercenaries in the Eighth Unit, over 40 mercenaries were taken out. They formed a small square formation with the other 11 mercenaries. They all stood there looking worried.
Anfey looked at them one after another. After a while, he said coldly, "Kill all of them." All the mercenaries at the scene were shocked.
Even Ye looked up at Anfey in shock. Mercenaries were neither slaves nor soldiers. Usually, the leaders of mercenaries did not have any right to kill mercenaries. Confiscating their mercenary licenses and kicking them out of mercenary groups would be considered serious punishment. It was rare to sentence mercenaries to death even when mercenaries committed serious crimes. It would be cruel to kill a group of mercenaries. Besides, the crime they committed were not serious enough for death sentences. Theoretically, if all the men who forced women to have sex were all sentenced to death, there would be a significant population decrease. The military surely would significantly lose its fighting ability and the Country of Mercenaries would be just a shell.
"Master, what they did was wrong as well. How could they force themselves into our headquarters?" Orsie hurriedly argued. "You cannot just punish our mercenaries, otherwise they would think we are easily pushed and bullied. Master, it would hurt your reputation among our mercenaries." Orsie did not want to blindly protect mercenaries. Fights were common among mercenaries. The winners made the rules, while the losers were always in the wrong. The powerful parties always made the rules. In addition, Band of Brothers mercenaries forced their way into Anfey’s headquarters, which signaled that they did not care about the League of Mercenaries. The disdain they showed in their actions triggered the fight. Orsie did not think Marino dared to do anything, since Anfey and Suzanna, two big powers, were here. If Anfey had to kill his mercenaries, Marino’s side should do something as well. He thought that Anfey would look too soft and the whole league would feel ashamed if he only punished his own mercenaries. Besides their interests, men only cared about how they looked in front of others.
"Compared with right and wrong, does my reputation matter that much?" Anfey responded coldly.
Orsie looked weird. Mercenaries believed in the law of jungle. They did not have much sense of right and wrong. They felt it was okay to rob others if they believed they had the ability to do so. They thought they had the right to defend themselves by fighting back when others tried to rob them. This was the reason mercenaries had to have internships and learn to fight in real battles. Every mercenary tried hard to practice fighting, hoping someday they could be stronger and more powerful to protect themselves. The Band of Brother mercenaries who came for revenge probably were not that innocent themselves.
In fact, Orsie did not think Anfey had a sense of right and wrong. If Anfey had, Orsie did not think he would kill the people who did not want to join the League of Mercenaries? But Orsie simply did not understand why Anfey did what he did. He was just a commander.
"Master, please forgive me," a mercenary said.
"I did not fight. I did not fight against them," another mercenary said.
"Master, they started the fight first," another mercenary argued.
The mercenaries in the square started to yell, argue and complain. They knew they would be punished when they saw Anfey’s look, but did not think it would be this serious.
"Kill them!" Anfey’s yell was as loud as roaring thunder. For a second, his yelling surpassed all the other noise. The League of Mercenaries developed so fast that its management had serious loopholes, otherwise how could they have issues like this. At least they should have noticed the conflict and stopped it from getting worse when Band of Brothers mercenaries forced their way into their headquarters to get revenge. Very soon, over 120,000 mercenaries Marino gave to Anfey would merge into the League of Mercenaries. When the number of mercenaries got larger, it would be impossible to command and control so many mercenaries without strict rules. The reason Anfey decided to kill all those mercenaries who raped women and were involved in the fight was to get rid of the bad guys in the league as well as set the rules for the current and future mercenaries.
As time went by, Anfey had some ability to change things around. The old mercenary rules did not fit Anfey’s needs. He had the right to show his attitude now. From now on, he could change the mercenaries into tigers and wolves if he wanted them to be. He also could change them into submissive sheep if he wanted them to be. Every mercenary needed to know what Anfey wanted and treat his demand as the highest order. If these mercenaries could not do that, what was the point of Anfey going so far on this political stage? He would have rather had a peaceful life with Suzanna in some quiet and remote place.
With all the mercenaries’ jaws dropping and eyes wide, a cloud of bright golden light appeared. Suzanna jumped into the square formation of mercenaries with her sword. The bright golden light immediately turned into a hurricane of blood. Blood spattered as pieces of body parts flew about.
They all knew the reality. If elegant elves could become sex slaves, so could regular people. Reality was reality, but everyone could have different feelings seeing the same thing. Suzanna was a woman, so she hated to see rape. She killed those mercenaries in a cruel way.
"Master, why are you killing your own people? Why?" Joseph cried out. He relied on those mercenaries. When his mercenaries were killed by Anfey, his reputation was affected. It would be a problem for him because other mercenaries would see him differently. He could not even protect his own mercenaries as a commander.
Unfortunately, Joseph immediately found out he did not need to worry about this issue any longer.
"You are a commander but could not control your mercenaries and allowed them to commit crimes. You should receive even more serious punishment than them," Anfey said coldly. "Kill him!"
Anfey had said "kill" three times. The last "kill" stunned everyone, especially the mercenaries in the league. If Anfey could kill Joseph without any hesitation, it meant he could kill other commanders if they committed any serious crimes.
Joseph was shocked for a second before he realized what happened. "Anfey, you mother f*cker!" He stomped and cursed. "I am f*cking going to kill you."
Suzanna’s sword radiance had already hit Joseph. The pathetic combat power Joseph released was crushed instantly. His body was cut in half and his organs fell on the ground. Some steam even came out of the organs.
It was absolutely quiet. The Band of Brothers mercenaries were not only scared by Anfey’s assertiveness, but also by the strong fighting power and coldness from Suzanna. No wonder Suzanna was a master swordswoman. When Anfey and Suzanna had just come to the city, they had been talking about Suzanna behind her back. They could not believe such a feminine girl could be a master swordswoman. Seeing what Suzanna just did, they finally believed she was a master swordswoman. When Suzanna put her sword back into the sheath, she became so quiet and sweet again. She submissively walked back to Anfey, quietly standing next to him like nothing had happened, which made others feel scared.
Anfey slowly scanned the group. Whenever he laid his eyes on a mercenary, that mercenary would lower his head. No matter whether the mercenaries were in the League of Mercenaries or Band of Brothers, they believed they would be killed if they did something to make Anfey so angry. They had heard his yelling, and seen his assertive actions and his suffocating power. No one could counter Anfey’s desires, at least there was no such a person around them.
Marino looked perplexed. After a while, he let out a long sigh. What Anfey had done was far beyond his expectations. As a leader of a super mercenary group, he had a much longer vision than regular mercenaries. Besides Anfey’s assertiveness and aggressive manner, Marino also saw the ambition of a great leader on display, which he and other mercenary group commanders were lacking. If it were him, he would have tried to protect his own mercenaries. It would not be fun to test his mercenaries’ submission. Instead, it could be very dangerous. What Anfey wanted to show in action was that he could kill anyone if that person was against him. If a group of people were against him, he would kill all of them. Marino did not know if Anfey would kill all the commanders if all of them were firmly against Anfey’s decision. He could tell from the looks on the commanders in Anfey’s league that they only wanted to obey Anfey’s order. It was obvious that Anfey had won the battle about the rules. From now on, the League of Mercenaries would probably enter a new chapter.
Band of Brothers mercenary group was Marino’s group. However, it could not be his mercenary group at the same time. Mercenaries in Marino’s group followed his orders because he represented the interests of the group. The League of Mercenaries was not like Band of Brothers mercenary group. Anfey had the absolute authority in the League of Mercenaries. If there was any uncertainty or disturbance in the League of Mercenaries, Anfey could kill any of them or even a group of them. It would be hard to change the situation when a group of people agreed on the authority Anfey had. His situation could become influential. The mercenaries who joined the league later on would follow the customs and traditions of the mercenaries in the league and learn to strictly follow Anfey’s orders and acknowledge that Anfey had the authority to sentence them to death.
An empire general could kill a soldier, while a senior official had to be kept in jail before the military department had a judgement, otherwise it could cause a problem in the future. Even when a king wanted to punish a noble, he had to get permission from the royal committee first. On Pan Continent, everyone’s power was constrained at some level. However, Anfey had the absolute authority in the League of Mercenaries. His authority would not be challenged as long as things would get settled in the League of Mercenaries.
"Ye!" Anfey raised his voice.
"Yes, Master!" Ye walked out again.
"Where are the injured friends from Band of Brothers mercenary group?" Anfey asked.
"Master, I am bringing them here," Ye said.
Ye quickly brought five injured mercenaries over. Or maybe it should be described as Ye and his mercenaries carried those five injured mercenaries out and carefully put them in the center of the field.
"Master Marino, please accept my sincere apology for what happened today," Anfey said slowly. "The mercenaries who committed crimes have gotten their punishment. I hope things could be settled between us."
"No, I have to say there are still people who have not gotten their punishment," Marino said with a deep sigh. He remembered that someone said Anfey was really lucky because he robbed two wagons of magic crystals. It seemed that lucky was not enough to describe Anfey. Over 120,000 mercenaries he gave to Anfey would help Anfey become more powerful. Since he believed Anfey would make great achievements in the future, he felt he should do something more to make him look better. If in the past he had wanted to keep a good relationship with Anfey, now it was imperative that he do so.
Anfey was shocked and slowly turned to look at Marino.
Marino looked at the injured mercenaries. "No matter what happens, all you needed to do was to report to me and let me make a decision instead of forcing your way into our friends’ headquarters and hurting our relationship." Marino paused before he yelled, "The mistakes you made were unforgivable. Kill them!’
Entos stepped forward. He swung his wrist and shot a row of wind blades out. The injured mercenaries had no ability to fight back. They could not even beg for forgiveness. They could do nothing but lie there. The fast moving wind blades cut apart their bodies. There was no way they could survive the wind blades.
Anfey nodded at Marino. He had to admit that Marino helped him a lot. He could even hear Orsie and a few others sighing. Obviously, Marino’s order made them feel better. And the mercenaries in the League of Mercenaries felt better too.
Marino turned to Anfey with a smile. He waved his arm, "You guys can go back now. Continue with what you were doing. Don’t let what happened today affect our friendship. If I find out anyone is disturbing our friends, I would not forgive that person."
"Yes, master!" Band of Brothers mercenaries responded together. The no longer continued to be angry. After seeing Anfey kill more than 50 mercenaries, there was nothing more for them to begrudge. All they wanted was fairness. Now they had seen justice carried out, and were also scared by Anfey. They felt it was reasonable when Marino ordered those injured mercenaries killed. If Anfey had killed all the mercenaries who committed crimes, the mercenaries on their side who had forced their way into their friends’ headquarters deserved to pay the same price. If Anfey could be so cruel to his own mercenaries, he could be even more cruel to his enemies. Unless it was necessary, they felt they should stay away from Anfey.
Marino felt he should not stay too long. He took a look at Anfey and slowly walked out of the building. Entos was in an even more awkward position. He hesitated for a second before he followed Marino.
"Entos, what are you thinking?" Marino asked quietly. He could tell there were something on Entos’s mind.
"I am thinking about the future of Granden," Entos said bitterly. What shocked him was not Anfey’s assertiveness and cruel killing, but his aggressive anger. With some luck and more support, such an aggressive young man could go really far. Anfey had both luck and support. He knew Yolanthe liked Anfey a lot. It was very lucky that Christian and Anfey had become such good friends. Obviously, it was unlucky for Granden.
"You told me you and I should not worry about things like this," Marino said with a smile.
Entos shook his head. "Never mind. I shouldn’t think about it."
Anfey was quiet for a while after Marino and Entos left. He said slowly, "Do you guys have anything to tell me?"
"These guys deserved it. They made such a mess!" Ozzic said, walking back. He was the first one to step out to support Anfey. He looked bitter. "Master, if you had not come back in time, I cannot imagine what would happen."
Everyone knew Ozzic was kissing Anfey’s ass, but Orsie and others felt what Ozzic said made sense after giving it some thought. They came to Stormenburg for help, not to fight. No one wanted to see a large-scale fight. Anfey solved the conflict very quickly and saved most people, including the mercenaries in the League of Mercenaries and Band of Brothers mercenary group. No matter what, it was a good thing.
"Blavi," Anfey said.
"Huh?" Blavi looked up.
"Remember, you need to do what Suzanna and I cannot do when we are not here. Do you understand?" In fact, Anfey would rather have said this to Alice. He could completely trust Alice, of course, so Anfey would not have needed to remind Alice, since she was smart and capable.
"I understand, Anfey!" Blavi nodded vigorously.
"In my hometown, there was a saying that men think with their penises. Do you understand what it means?" Anfey said calmly. "But I hope you could think with your brain. I will not interfere with how you treat your enemies. If things like this incident happen again, and someone made the same mistake, I would kill that person. If a full unit makes the same mistake, that whole unit needs to be gone. Do you understand?"
"Yes, master!" Orsie and others answered immediately. Anfey had spoken casually, but they did not think these were empty words after seeing what he had done to those mercenaries.
Ozzic laughed in an exaggerated manner. "Master, the people in your hometown are so funny." In fact, he was most shocked when Anfey mercilessly killed Joseph. He was not sure if Anfey would forgive him whenever he made any mistakes. The only option for him would be to listen to Anfey better and having a better relationship with Anfey. Anfey might show him some mercy if Anfey saw that he was totally dedicated to the league.
"Master, if we catch Scarlet, would you stop us from doing anything to her?" Thompson giggled. He was a smart guy so he was trying to lighten up the tensed atmosphere.
"If you can catch her, I will leave her to you guys," Anfey said, "but, today…"
"Master, you do not have to remind us more. We are not stupid." Thompson smiled. "If we want women, there are plenty of them in the Outerburg. Why would we risk our lives to get women somewhere else. Even if we want different types of women…I heard there are thousands of people who came to Marino. Marino has been given them some food each day. Many of them are still hungry. If we could bring some food there and walked around, we might get something there." Thompson sounded so horny, but his eyes were clear. Obviously, what he had said was only meant to lighten the atmosphere.
Anfey was shocked. "I did not know about it." He had been worrying about how to have over 100,000 mercenaries willingly listen to him. This was a good opportunity.
"Master, do you want women too?" Thompson giggled. "Unfortunately, you are married. Master Suzanna is so sweet and considerate. You cannot fool around like us."
"F*ck off!" Anfey cursed in a joking way. The remaining commanders finally felt relieved after they heard Anfey curse. The tense and strange atmosphere disappeared. It was not that Thompson and the others were expecting Anfey to curse. But sometimes cursing meant things had returned to normal and they could get along as before.