Mercenary System: I can increase innate potential !-Chapter 54: The apprentice knight Killian

Women and children greeted them from afar, but without shouting. They didn’t want to disturb the special atmosphere.

Maxime did not ask his men to run.

This time, his men didn’t all have the strength of the first mercenaries, so he would tire most of them significantly if they had to run.

Walking fast enough, Maxime had calculated that it would take around 8 hours to reach Plouta.

It might take a little longer, since they were taking water and food with them, enough to last at least 3 days.

They would see later if they could buy food and water from the villagers of Plouta.

Time passed quickly and Maxime’s little troupe soon arrived at the village of Plouta.

The village was disrupted by the sudden arrival of a large number of armed people.

A small militia of around a hundred people was quickly formed, blocking the path of the saber-toothed tigers.

Seeing this crowd equipped with a few swords and pitchforks, Maxime laughed slightly but was at the same time impressed by their courage.

"Stop here immediately, you’re not welcome in our village!"

An old woman with a bent back came forward with the help of her wooden cane and shouted in the direction of Maxime and his men.

Maxime stepped forward and explained the situation.

"We come under the orders of Baron Irut to protect your village.

But the old woman wasn’t convinced.

"Protect our village from what? Get out of here!"

Seeing the situation could take some time to resolve, Maxime chose to use the hard way to both gain time and establish his prestige.

In this way, all things will become simpler in the future.

"Andrew, Rodrigo, Romuald, Ernest, Izo, Tena, Piedro, James."

The mercenaries whose names had been called came out of the mercenary group and went to Maxime’s side.

"Capture some of them, but definitely don’t attack the grandmother."

"Aye, aye, sir."

The silhouettes of the mercenaries quickly charged into the militia and easily subdued some fifteen villagers.

The newly-formed militia opened their eyes wide in fear of the mercenaries.

A few of them still seemed courageous and wanted to help their comrades.

"Don’t come any closer or I’ll crush this guy’s throat."

"If you don’t want to find your neighbor choked to death, I’d advise against moving forward."

"A missing arm or leg can happen very quickly."

The mercenaries proliferated various threats, which intimidated the villagers. They no longer dared to advance.

The old woman became calmer.

"We don’t have the strength to resist, let the bandits have what they want.

But before the villagers could obey, Maxime approached the old woman.

"We’re not bandits, we’re mercenaries here to protect the village for a while."

"Protect us? Protect from what? Even a rat wouldn’t be interested in our village, we’re so poor."

Seeing that the villagers were unaware of the danger to which they were exposed, Maxime decided to tell them part of the truth.

This would considerably increase their vigilance and thus their safety.

"Don’t ask too many questions, but this village is very likely to be attacked in the next few days by a force that can be considered invincible to you."

"Hmph? For a few thieves our militia is more than enough!"

"And if these bandits include apprentice knights?"

When Maxime mentioned bandits, all the villagers panicked.

"Village chief! If that’s true, we’re all going to die!" shouted a panic-stricken militiaman.

The old woman frowned, doubting the words of the blond-haired young man in front of her.

But seeing the small army accompanying him, the old woman began to believe in Maxime.

"If you still don’t believe me, there will be 3 apprentice knights from Hydrocamp arriving here soon."

Hearing these last words from Maxime, the village head finally became convinced.

"So, you can enter the village. There’s an inn which is intended for people who get lost in the surrounding area, or simply for people who are traveling."

The old woman turned and started walking slowly to show where the inn was.

The militia listened to their leader and let the mercenaries pass.

Seeing the imposing aura of most of them, many militiamen swallowed their saliva.

Even from the outside, everyone could tell that the difference between the mercenaries and the militia could be compared to the difference between a lion and a rabbit.

The villagers, mostly women and children who had stayed at home, watched with curiosity as the armed men passed through their village.

Seeing their village chief leading them, everyone was reassured and went back to their occupations.

The old woman and the saber-toothed tigers soon arrived in front of the inn.

Despite its rudimentary appearance and all-wood construction, it still seemed warm and welcoming.

"Most of the time, the inn is completely empty, like today, but it’s quite small so you’ll have to squeeze in."

"As long as we have a roof over our heads it’s already very good," Maxime replied with a slight smile.

The old woman observed the young man with blond hair and blue eyes with a new look.

"Come on, guys, put your stuff in the rooms and let’s get something to eat.

Everyone listened to Maxime’s orders with a certain rigor. Everyone settled quietly into rooms designed for two people in groups of around 8 mercenaries.

"Your mercenaries are rather disciplined," commented the old woman.

"Maybe that’s because they haven’t had enough experience of death.

The old woman laughed in a deep voice at Maxime’s reply.

But Maxime was serious about his answer, because it was the truth.

Most of his men were stressed by the knowledge that they would be facing apprentice knights and elite soldiers.

Even those who weren’t particularly worried weren’t in a good mood at the time.

No one could know whether their lives would still be in their hands the next day.

"Despite your profession, I still hope for these young men’s sake that they don’t rub shoulders with death on a regular basis."

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Maxime didn’t answer, instead asking something that concerned him.

"Will you be able to sell us some of your dried meat supplies, your vegetables and tell us where to collect water?"

"Of course."

Maxime and the old woman began to talk about various aspects of mercenary life in the village.

Despite her relatively advanced age, the old woman still had all her wits about her and spoke relatively well and quickly.

However, she tired very quickly when it came to walking.

So Maxime avoided putting too much strain on her and tried instead to communicate with the villagers.

3 days later.

Maxime had earned the villagers’ gratitude not only by going out to talk to them every day, but also by going out himself to help the villagers with certain tasks requiring physical strength.

Most of the mercenaries also had skills they had previously developed, and helped the villagers whenever they could with tasks requiring greater expertise.

Everyone got used to living with mercenaries

It was also on this day, in the middle of the afternoon, that noise was heard outside the village.

Maxime went to take a look, accompanied by about thirty of his men. The rest were scattered right and left in various tasks or training sessions.

The old woman and most of the militia were also present.

In front of them was a scene very similar to that of 3 days ago.

"Hello dear villager, I’m the apprentice knight at the stage of great success, Killian."