Mercenary Wars

Chapter 114 The Invisible Hand
The kobold miners cheered with joy.

Human miners felt like the sky had fallen.

They never expected that the kobold miners they rescued would turn out to be their most formidable competitors!
Unsurprisingly, Griff first separated the kobolds and human miners, then announced to the human miners: "Dedication is the path to light. The mine needs more dedicated miners. If you want to continue working, you must accept the new working conditions: five silver coins per month and eighteen hours per day!"

“If you don’t accept this, you’ll lose the ‘completion bonus’!” he added.

An uproar broke out among the human miners.

"Only five silver coins a month!"

"I have to work eighteen hours a day!"

"By Mosa, Griff is a demon deserving of hell!" the human miner cursed angrily. "I never want to work for the Gavin Company again, not even for a second!"

Hearing the miners' incessant curses, Griff seemed to break down a bit, and immediately snorted coldly: "You think I did something wrong? If you were me, would you abandon hiring a kobold for a monthly salary of one silver coin and hire a human for a monthly salary of ten silver coins instead? Your efficiency is not even comparable to ten kobolds!"

Another miner shouted, "Griff, you're blaspheming! Offering is the path to enlightenment. We've offered, why haven't you and Leskova?"

Blasphemy is obviously a very serious charge.

Griff immediately retorted, "I did not blaspheme. I gave the kobolds the freedom to choose and gave them better jobs than before. Isn't that an act of dedication?"

“Griff, you shameless man! Those filthy, vile kobolds aren’t even human, nor are they Mosaic, and you’re offering your services to them?” the miner cursed.

Griff sneered: "Weren't you the first to sacrifice yourselves for the kobolds? You even lost one of your men to free the kobolds from Silverfang's enslavement! Ha, how ridiculous it is to give your life for the kobolds!"

He added, "If you had chosen to kill all the kobolds instead of saving them, you wouldn't be in this situation now. Blame yourselves for your foolish compassion!"

At that moment, a miner jumped out, pointed at Griff's nose, and cursed, "Griff, you son of a bitch!"

The insults were very vulgar.

Griff raised his hand and slapped her.

"Slap!" The two were several meters apart, but the miner still took a solid slap and was immediately knocked to the ground, with several teeth knocked out.

"What is this?!" He spat out teeth and blood, filled with a mixture of anger and fear.

“The invisible hand,” Greif said calmly. “The blessing of Saint Hayek. If you wish to resist, I would not mind letting you know my other five holy names.”

Level six!

Although many of the miners were illiterate, they knew what this meant.

If they dared to resist, it would be easier for Griff to kill them than for them to kill the kobold overseers.

Even that slap just now was the result of holding back; otherwise, a normal strike from a Level 6 Named Person would definitely have blown the head off an ordinary person.

“You should learn to be grateful. The scriptures teach us that gratitude is the ladder to nobility,” Greif said. “Make your choice, workers.”

He added, “Of course, for Mosa’s sake, the monthly security allowance of one silver coin will continue to be paid as usual, whether you continue to work here or not—directly to your family.”

"Until someone leaked the information," he added at the end, his gaze sweeping coldly over the miners.

The miners were dejected, ultimately unable to overcome the invisible hand.

They stopped cursing and were powerless to resist, leaving them with no choice but to make their choices according to the conditions given by Griff.

Most miners chose to leave.

However, a small number of people choose to continue working—in order to receive a "completion bonus".

The following day, hundreds of miners, accompanied by some overseers and mercenaries, left the mine blindfolded.

After traveling for some time, the overseer removed the miners' veils and let them return to Nanhai Town on their own.

The miners gathered in small groups, venting their pent-up frustrations and cursing Leskov, Griff, the overseers, and of course, the "filthy, vile dog-headed men." Amidst their venting, some also offered solutions.

“Griff is a complete bastard. I know a Dibto smuggler, and I’m thinking about whether I should sell him the location of the silver mine!” said one of the miners.

This statement immediately sparked widespread opposition.

"Are you insane to cooperate with heretics?!"

"If you sell the information, what will happen to my confidentiality allowance? Will you give it to me?"

"And you don't even know the exact location; we were blindfolded both when we entered and when we left."

"What about your family? Do you intend to take your mother to seek refuge in Dibto? Or do you plan to abandon her in Southsea Town?"

“Okay, I was just saying it offhand… Actually, I don’t know any heretics. I’m a follower of Mosa, a devout follower.”

The atmosphere was quiet for a while.

Then a voice said, "We can go find the 'Fabian Ascetic'."

"The Fabian Ascetic Society, what is that?"

"Edwin, you're showing off your knowledge again. I know you've read a few books, alright?"

It was Edwin who spoke, and he continued to explain: "The Fabian Order is a religious order that inherits the will of Saint Fabian. I have heard that they often uphold justice for the poor, and perhaps they would like to help us."

"Is Cardinal Fabien the president of the penitent order?"

Edwin: "That's right, every Grand Master of the Penitentiary is named after Fabien."

"What reason do we have to seek out the penitent order?"

Edwin pondered, “Let’s say the Gavin Merchant Guild enslaved the Mosas—that’s a serious crime.”

"Is the Pentecostal Order really willing to help us? I heard that the honorary president of the Gavin Chamber of Commerce is also a bishop of some religious order."

Edwin: "The Gavin Chamber of Commerce's order is not a penitent order, and not all bishops are the same. Some bishops like to play with little boys, while others uphold justice for the poor. I think it's worth a try."

"Listen to you!"

"Edwin, if you succeed, you'll be our leader!"

"Let's get back to Nanhai Town as soon as possible."

"go!"

The workers quickened their pace.

……

the other side.

Gaugano is wandering around the Kobold mines, trying to find the secret passage to Silverfang.

Judging from the direction Silver Fang fled, the area to be searched is not large.

In fact, there was almost only one house.

The house was located near the westernmost edge of the mining area, in a quiet and clean neighborhood that didn't look like a mine at all. Upon arriving, Gaucano carefully pushed open the door and entered, immediately frowning.

"This is...the library?"

(End of this chapter)