Mercenary Wars

Chapter 120 A loving father and a filial son
Wharf Street.

Matou Street is a street located in the southwest of Nanhai Town, named after the many dockworkers who lived there.

At that moment, a heated argument was coming from a house on Wharf Street, but it went unnoticed by the neighbors, as this was a common occurrence in the slums.

"I am your father, Edwin!" a toothless old man with a bulbous nose roared, pointing at his son's nose. "I'll say it again, you are not allowed to go to the Penitentiary to complain! Not at all!"

Edwin's eyes widened in anger: "The Gavin Merchant Guild treats us like dogs, so why can't we go to the Penitent Order?"

Father: "Do you think you can make the Gavin Merchant Guild submit? Even if they're willing to give you the money, what will you do after that? Do you still want to work in Southshore? Besides, the Pentecostal Order is an impious order. That's what the bishop of the Redemption Order said. Do you know more about doctrine than the bishop?"

“Piety, piety again!” Edwin blurted out. “You drink alcohol and are addicted to licorice, do you think you’re pious?”

The father's face flushed red and then turned pale: "I am your father, and you show me no respect or gratitude whatsoever! This is consistent with your lack of piety. I should have sent you to church!"

Edwin: "Why should I be grateful? Just because I was born, do I owe you a debt I can never repay? Reverend Mosa, Overseer Gavin, you... you all expect me to be grateful for your so-called blessings, the interest of which is higher than the unsecured loan from the Gavin Chamber of Commerce!"

Before his father could say anything, Edwin continued, "Why didn't you send me to church in Driftwood? But now that we're in Southshore, you want to send me there. Don't you know who the pastor who taught the pageboys in Southshore was? If my mother hadn't stopped me, I would be another Nils now!"

“Nils is much better than you. Forget about what happened to him when he was young. At least he earns more in a day than you do in a month!” the father said. “If I don’t send you to the church, do you expect me to keep you studying at the Craftsmen’s Guild School? You should know that the tuition there is thirty silver coins a year!”

Edwin: "If you hadn't been a drunkard, hadn't touched the poisonous lichen, or hadn't used bloodletting to cure your mother, I could have continued studying there! Lidman is building a new city, and if I had finished the guild school, I would definitely be a stonemason in Lidman now, instead of carrying things at the docks, and certainly not being whipped in the underground mines!"

The father sneered, "Naive, childish! You think you can get a job like this, working as a stonemason building the new city of Lidman?"

Edwin retorted, "Didn't you move from Driftwood to Southsea with naive fantasies? And what happened? You got scammed as soon as you arrived in Southsea, and you kept getting scammed! You thought you could become a captain, but you didn't even become a sailor. You can only spend your days drinking in this godforsaken place and even had a tooth knocked out by some thugs! If an idiot like you can dream of becoming a captain, what's wrong with me dreaming of becoming a stonemason?"

"Edwin, I am your father! You must respect me and be grateful to me!" the father roared in fury.

He wanted to fight back, but his son's taller and stronger physique ultimately made him hold back.

Edwin said coldly, "I have no father, I only have a mother."

The father trembled all over: "Your mother is a slut who sells her body!"

"So what if you've sold your body? It's still better than selling your son!" Edwin's face showed a sneer.

"Slap!" The father finally couldn't hold back and slapped his son hard.

But his strength was clearly weak; Edwin barely moved, and with a push, he knocked him to the ground: "No matter what you say, I will definitely go to the Penitentiary Order. I believe Fabien will uphold justice for us! As for what happens afterward, I don't care!"

After saying that, he shouldered his bag and went out.

The father sat on the ground in a daze for a while, then got up, gritted his teeth, and hurriedly went out as well.

However, he did not go to Edwin, but went straight to the docks, found a man who looked like an overseer, and said, "Overseer, my son... he wants to see the Fabian Pentecostal Order!"

"The Pentecostal Order!" The overseer seemed a little surprised. "Old Edwin, what does your son want with the Pentecostal Order?"

Old Edwin: "He was going to take the so-called 'evidence' he had collected to the Penitentiary to accuse the Gavin Merchant Guild of enslaving Mosas at the silver mine. Fortunately, I discovered the truth in time. I knew it was absolutely slander. President Lescova is the most devout Mosas!"

"Where is your son?" the foreman asked hurriedly.

Old Edwin pointed, his face showing a hint of sorrow: "Master overseer, my son has always been reckless and impious. I cannot stop him. Please, you must not let him go down the wrong path!"

The overseer said nothing, but called over another overseer, and they followed in the direction Old Edwin had pointed.

Before long, the two overseers caught up with Edwin and easily subdued him.

One overseer held Edwin down, while another overseer picked up the baggage, opened it, and immediately saw numerous contracts and charges.

"You brat." The foreman sneered, putting away the evidence. "Fine, I'll spare you for your father's sake. Just don't do anything stupid like this again, understand?"

He turned and was about to leave.

"You're all dead!" Edwin, who was pinned to the ground, suddenly cursed viciously.

The overseer who held him down immediately grabbed his head and slammed it against the ground, causing him to bleed profusely.

“Old Edwin, you’d better discipline your son!” he said, turning his head.

“Yes, yes, sir,” old Edwin said obsequiously, then cautiously added, “Um, could you… could you give me a reward?”

The foreman shook the evidence in his hand: "This is a decision for the chairman. I'm just responsible for delivering these things to the chairman's desk."

Old Edwin said with a smile, "Please tell President Lescova... Old Edwin has always firmly believed that he has saintly kindness and generosity, and that President Lescova is the most devout Mosaic in Southshore!"

"Hmm." The foreman gave a perfunctory reply and then left with the evidence.

Old Edwin watched the overseer walk away, then turned to his son and said, "I saved you, you know that?"

Edwin silently got up from the ground, wiped the blood off his face, dusted himself off, and walked toward the docks.

"Where are you going?"

“I’m not going to the Pentecostal Order.” Edwin said indifferently, his back to him. “I’m going home tonight.”

Old Edwin frowned, but ultimately said nothing and went home alone, father and son going their separate ways.

A few hours later.

The dock street is sparsely lit at night.

"Bang bang... bang!"

Old Edwin was fast asleep when he was suddenly awakened by the sound of footsteps and a chair being moved.

"You...when did you get back!" He was startled when he saw his son walking towards him in the darkness, and immediately shrank back against the wall to ask.

Edwin did not answer, but instead placed a chair in front of his father's bed and sat down.

After settling down, he exhaled and began to mutter to himself, "I have two friends, one named Barons and the other named Gaugano. I envy them."

“Gaucano grew up in the church in Driftwood Town, taught by a wise and tolerant pastor. He's well-read, the same age as me, yet already a Level Two Pharmacist with immense power. I feel he even has five or six saints' worth of names. Compared to him, I'm like a mud dog in the dirt.” He paused slightly, then continued, “There's something else about Gaucano that I admire: he has parents, but his actions and thoughts are completely unaffected by them. To him, his parents are like two complete strangers.” The father frowned: “What are you trying to say?”

Edwin continued to mutter to himself, "And then there's Barons. He's stupid. Of all the people I know, only Raymond is stupider. But he's lucky. No matter what stupid things he says or does, he gets his parents' support because they know he's stupid too."

The father said angrily, "Are you saying I'm stupid and unaware of my own ignorance?"

Edwin nodded calmly.

"You!" The father reached out and tried to pick up the wine bottle next to him.

Edwin snatched the bottle first and slammed it to the ground.

"Crack!" The bottle shattered on the ground, the sound of breaking instantly extinguishing the father's anger, causing him to shrink back and nervously watch his son in the darkness.

Edwin, however, seemed unmoved.

After a brief pause, he began to mutter to himself again, seemingly out of nowhere: "To prevent the location of the silver mine from being leaked, the Gavin Merchant Guild has taken many precautions. For example, miners are blindfolded when they arrive at and leave the silver mine, so most miners do not know the exact location of the silver mine."

"What?" The father was completely confused.

Edwin seemed not to hear: "But a few trusted miners, who were involved in the water extraction work, knew the exact location and entrance of the silver mine, and I happened to be one of them."

“Of course, the biggest obstacle for miners who want to leak secrets is probably that, as Mosa followers, they dare not make deals with the infidels of Dibto. Only those who do not believe in Mosa have no such concerns, and I happen to be one of them.” He spoke these dangerous words calmly.

"You!" The father's expression changed instantly. "Do you know what you're saying?!"

Edwin said expressionlessly, “Even without any concerns, contacting the Dibto people or reaching Dibto territory is not an easy task. At least for miners, only a few can do it, but coincidentally, I am one of them.”

He took a deep breath: "For me, there's only one real obstacle to leaking information to Dibto, and you know what it is?"

"Is...what is it?"

Edwin turned his head and sighed almost imperceptibly: "It's you, my old and weak father. Family is always the greatest obstacle on the path of betrayal and apostasy."

The father was stunned.

A moment of silence fell.

Suddenly, the son reached out and covered his father's mouth, his voice cold and resolute: "But now, that obstacle will no longer exist!"

"Ugh—" The struggling sound was filled with fear but was very weak, and soon turned into a suffocating sob.

An old man weakened by alcohol poisoning is clearly no match for a strong young miner.

Soon after, the father stopped breathing.

Edwin sat silently beside the body for a long time, until several more hours had passed.

The latter half of the night was particularly quiet, with almost the entire town of Nanhai asleep.

Edwin then went out of the house and locked the door.

Then he took a deep breath, stretched his limbs, and his body began to emit a faint glow.

As the light shifted, his body rapidly shrank, and black feathers grew. A few seconds later, he transformed into a sharp and swift black peregrine falcon between his folded wings, raising his sharp hooked beak and eyes.

The black peregrine falcon blended into the night sky, and as it looked up at the heavens, it flapped its wings and flew westward.

……

The next day.

The Duchy of Dibto, Labuzat Fortress.

Edwin was bound and sitting in a chair, looking somewhat disheveled. Beside him were soldiers guarding him, and in front of him sat two middle-aged men: a bald priest in a yellow robe and a strong warrior in plate armor.

"You say you know the exact location of the silver mine?" the soldier asked.

“Yes, General Avasa,” Edwin said, then glanced at the yellow-robed priest, “Bishop Baldo.”

Bishop Bardo said calmly, "How can we believe the words of a Mossist?"

Edwin blurted out, "I'm willing to convert to Yahmon. I'm no longer a Mosaic. I've had enough of that hypocritical God and church!"

Bishop Bardo smiled slightly: "This is the right choice. Well, although the conversion ceremony has not yet taken place, I will consider you a disciple of Jesus for the time being. Now, tell us what you know."

Edwin replied, "We need to agree on the terms first. You certainly know the value of a high-grade silver mine."

General Awassa: "What do you want? Money?"

"My first condition is that I wish to become a nobleman of Dibto, a knight would suffice. My second condition is that I need you to help me rob a batch of silver from the Gavin Merchant Guild and then hand it over to me for disposal. Of course, I will act as your guide during this process. My third condition is that after the war begins, you may encounter some of my friends on the battlefield, and I hope you will not kill them," Edwin said, addressing each condition one by one. "In addition, I need to get a 'storage ring rune' tattooed on me so that I can use the storage ring."

Bishop Bardo was somewhat surprised: "You don't even know how to use a storage ring?"

“I’m just a miner,” Edwin said.

Bishop Bardo: "So how did you get here?"

Edwin selectively recounted the whole story, then said, "I think it was fate; wealth and victory should belong to the nation that believes in the true God."

Bishop Bardo remained noncommittal.

General Avasa thought for a moment and then said, "I can agree to your other conditions directly. The first one needs to be approved by the Marquis, but that shouldn't be a big problem. Now, tell us the location of the silver mine."

Edwin: "General Awassa, I hope you will make a promise—in the name of Yemen."

General Awassa smiled and said, "Yes, I swear to Yemen that as long as you haven't lied to us, I promise to keep my promise honestly."

……

(End of this chapter)