Mercenary Wars

Chapter 70 Dariss

"Is this what you originally looked like?" Looking at the blue-haired girl in front of him, Gao Jiano couldn't help but ask.

“Of course,” Daryls said, pulling her cloak down to cover as much of her body as possible.

Gaucano stroked his chin: "But I don't recommend you show yourself like this now. You have to become like me, like a craftsman, in order to get out of the dungeon."

"Do we need to wear the craftsman's clothes?"

“That’s right, I’ve already prepared it for you.” Gaucano tossed out a small stonemason’s coat. “If anyone asks, just say you’re my stonemason’s apprentice.”

Daryls took the clothes, instinctively showing a hint of embarrassment: "Could you...could you turn around?"

Gaucano: "Why don't you just turn back into a skeleton?"

"...Oh, that's true."

Daryls turned back into a skeleton.

Then Gaucano saw the skeleton put on clothes while instinctively covering its body with its hands. Although there was nothing to see and the hand bones were hardly effective at covering the body, it still took several minutes to finish putting on the clothes, and it even stumbled awkwardly while putting on its pants.

Donning the stonemason's clothes, Daryls once again used her disguise magic, transforming herself into a dirty young apprentice.

“Here you go.” Gaugano handed her the ladder again. “Remember, you are now my stonemason apprentice, and your name is ‘Van Cleef’.”

“Okay.” Daryls lifted the ladder with some difficulty.

The two then left the dungeon and reached the surface.

"Phew—" Darliss breathed a long sigh of relief as she looked up at the not-so-clear sky, a hint of excitement and joy on her face.

Gaucano: "Do the dead breathe too?"

This question surprised Daryls, who was clearly unsure of the answer as well.

She held her hand up to her face and said, "It seems like I don't need it."

"Then why are you making an exhaling sound?"

Darius: "This is not the sound of the body breathing, but the 'voice mimicry' of the soul, an innate instinct of all the dead. It is because of this that I can speak."

Gao Jianuo nodded in understanding.

After walking for a while, Daryls asked, "Where are you taking me?"

Gaugano: "Let's stay in Prestoburg for now. I'll take you to Southsea Town in a while."

“South China Sea Town?” Darlis looked puzzled. “You mean South China Sea Village?”

After a moment's thought, Gao Jiano said, "Yes, it was indeed called 'South Sea Village' decades ago. However, since Pope Fonfredo VII became pope, it has gradually attracted many immigrants and was renamed 'South Sea Town' before I was born. It might even become 'South Sea City' in the future."

“Dallis, when were you born?” he asked.

Daryls: "It's the year 1382 of the Fonfredo calendar. What year is it now?"

"One thousand four hundred and fifty-six years." Gao Jiano did the math in his mind. "So you're seventy-four years old now?"

Daryls's expression froze: "No... that can't be counted like that. I was seventeen when I died, and I still am now!"

Gaucano shrugged.

After a brief silence, Daryls remarked, "More than 1,400 years ago, Pope Fonfrede I created a near-perfect calendar. Even pagans—whether the Western Christians or the Eastern Muroes—were willing to praise his great calendar."

She paused for a moment, then continued, “Such an accomplished, benevolent and respectable pope, more than 1,400 years later, only six popes are willing to share his name… If only I could have been born in the time of Fonfrede, at least I wouldn’t have been burned at the stake.”

She changed the subject: "How many years has King Fonfredo VII been in power?" "Fifty-six years."

Daryls frowned: "That's bad news."

"how?"

Daryls: "Of the six popes before him, the shortest reigned for only two years, while the longest, Fonfredo I, only reigned for eighty-one years. Moreover, four of them were succeeded by harsh Datuk popes."

Gao Gano hadn't noticed this before, but he knew a bit about history and was pretty sure that what Dariss said was true, so he frowned.

The world is constantly changing, and for Mosas, the biggest change is probably the change of popes.

If the pope were to change from the benevolent Fonfredo to the notoriously harsh Datuk, it would be bad news for most people living in Mosaic countries.

No, even for pagans, this could be bad news. After all, almost every Datuk Pope has been keen on waging religious wars.

Daryls said, "We'd better prepare in advance."

Gaucano nodded in agreement.

About an hour later, he rented a room somewhere far from the church and the guild of mages.

He originally lived at the Grey Eagle Mercenary Group's base, but now that he has an undead servant, it is naturally not appropriate to live in such a noisy place anymore, so renting a house has become the best option.

The house he rented was spacious, but the rent was not high.

After all, the great war had caused a significant loss of population in Prestoburg, and Rosier's black blood had added an ominous atmosphere to the entire town, causing property prices to plummet. Whether renting or buying, it wouldn't cost much.

Gaucano even considered buying one outright.

But after careful consideration, he decided against it.

Even if the house price is cheap, it still costs several gold coins, and he doesn't plan to come to Presto often.

As for investment...

Gaugano also doesn't have a positive outlook on Prestoburg's future.

Others might not know, but he knew for sure the insidious effects of the "Rossil's Touch" curse—it made the cursed person prone to corruption and more likely to acquire the demon's true name when leveling up.

Gaucano estimated that the black blood, comparable to a small flood, had infected at least three thousand residents with a curse, and that the curse was so subtle that those infected were almost unaware of it.

In a few years, many of these three thousand residents will likely fall into depravity and acquire the demonic name "Rossil." One can imagine that the security situation in Prestoburg at that time will not be good, and it may even make the Raven Street in Southshore appear simple, peaceful and tranquil.

Therefore, he believes that house prices in Prestoburg will not only not rebound, but may even continue to decline, making them completely unworthy of investment.

While others lacked understanding of "Rossil's involvement," many shared similar expectations with Gaugano, leading to a continuous flow of people moving away from Prestoburg.

Two weeks later, the Gray Eagle Mercenary Group also decided to leave.

Lucius didn't get the money, at least not all of it.

In return, Prestoburg gave the Grey Eagle Mercenary Group a long-term road escort contract, plus a piece of land in the County of Prestoburg.

For the Gray Eagle Mercenary Group, this land was quite large, no less than a small town, and full of life, with everything thriving.

The only problem is that there are no humans on this land.

……

P.S.: I've been a bit busy these past few days, so this is only one update today.

(End of this chapter)