Ranier walked into the guild, carrying a bag containing his proof for the reward.
As he placed the bag on the table, it opened revealing the head of a large orc.
"The chief of the orc village huh?" Sagnus said gruffily.
"Yes. And I trust this means that the mission is complete" Ranier said, opening the second bag, showing the right ears of over 80 orcs
"Well.... I didn't believe you would be able to do it.. but with this proof, there is no reason to deny you your group's The White Pheonix's promotion. Congratulations" he said, handing Ranier a new token
"Thank you" Ranier said, looking at the new token. It signified that his mercenary group has now been promoted to C Rank.
After the first mission, he took his group to accomplish another 7 missions in a row, growing a starling reputation for completed tasks.
This was the minimum rank that Ranier wanted to get before crossing the Mordi Desert to Farland.
As he walked out of the guild hall, he went to the marketplace to search for the rest of his team.
He felt an invisible hand holding his, her fingers intertwining with his fingers.
Nightingale has been doing this whenever they were alone. As he had now so many lovers, she took particular pleasure in being alone with him, and rubbing her naked body all over him while invisible.
Since the first desert mission, she has been invisible naked nearly all the time, but she knew to appear dressed whenever she revealed herself.
As such, she enjoyed guiding Ranier's hand to her crotch to finger her whenever they were in public.
They found Mary Sue and Violet sitting in a nearby open cafe, enjoying snacks and tea. Both were dressed in pretty sundresses, but Mary Sue had a rifle with her while Violet had a huge axe.
"Where are the rest?" Ranier asked
"Esdeath disappeared... probably to feed her hatchlings. As for the rest... I think Charlotte is still window shopping with Satellizer and Maya while Teresa is probably training with Ais. Rachel is at the pub with Anastasia while Sasha has gone to visit the nearby monastery of her order" Violet said.
"Oh... then we'll meet back at the inn for dinner" Ranier said
"You're going back now?" Mary Sue asked
"Yeah...I'm feeling a bit tired, so I might take a nap first" Ranier said waving them off as he left
"As if we can't see his lubricated finger in her pussy" Mary Sue grumbled under her breath
"Let her be... she's always been shy in our joint orgies" Violet said, sipping her tea.
--
Ranier walked down the stairs after a long session of lovemaking when he saw the rest of his harem sitting around their regular large table at the inn.
They have been staying here for a month while doing their missions and they would probably be leaving soon for Farland now that the White Phoenix group is a ranked C mercenary group.
In between missions, he has been regularly visiting the slave shops to find more visitors from other worlds. Unfortunately, there weren't any more of them in the slave market.
Instead, she bought a red headed mage named Maya who increased his level as well as leveled up his mana manipulation. She was a young mage in Acturia who was captured in the Argabad invasion.
After equipping her with clothes and a staff, she now looked the respectable mage with a green cloak, a mage tunic, a wooden staff and a pair of glasses that she needed to see.
"Had a good nap?" Mary Sue asked sarcastically
"Yeah.. I slept pretty well" Ranier said, pretending to stretch and yawn.
As Ranier and the now visible and fully dressed Nightingale sat down for dinner, a messenger suddenly burst into the inn.
"Attention all mercenaries. The guildmaster Rayala has requested all mercenaries gather in the guild hall immediately. This is an urgent summons" the messenger said and rushed off.
"I wonder what that was about" Esdeath said, scooping her stew into her mouth.
"I think we should go and find out" Violet said
"But we haven't eaten yet" Nightingale said
"It sounds like an emergency. Lets go" Ranier replied
--
As Ranier and the rest of the White Phoenix group entered the guild hall, they found that it was crowded and noisy. It seems nobody knew what was going on.
To Ranier's surprise, he saw several naked girls, with thin chains attached to their nipples, their clitoris and to their collars on their necks. All of them wore black shrouds covering their faces and they stood quietly and still, like statues.
"The Dragon Slayers, Count Archilles the Midas's group." Ranier said through gritted teeth.
They were all visitors from other worlds, just like the girls in Ranier's group. They were especially targetted and turned into the count's battle slaves, which meant that they had special powers as well.
The rest of his group had mixed feelings looking at the naked girls, knowing that they might have been one of them, if not for Ranier getting to them first.
"Attention everyone! I am Rayala, guild master of the Manora Mercenary Guild" a man with a scar across his face said. He dressed flamboyantly, like a pirate, wearing a loose fitting flowery shirt, a bright red scarf, a red sash around his waist, and a large feathered hat.
Ranier had met him briefly before when they got promoted to Rank D a few weeks ago.
"The battle with the mage kingdom of Amyrthra by our government of Argabad has not gone according to plans. Our government won and Amyrthra is no more, but the losses were enormous. As such, the government is blaming all citizens who have not given their full support to the government in their war efforts.
As Manora has always been... more free spirited and independent compared to the other cities, they are targeting our city to make an example of us to the other cities" Rayala said.
"What do you mean make an example?" one of the mercenaries asked
"What I mean is they are coming with their army to subjugate the city, and forcibly conscript all fighting men and women to the Argabad army. Those that resist.. the punishment is death by hanging" Rayala said
"We must flee!" one of the mercenaries said
"Yes.. some of you might think of fleeing.. maybe across the Mordi Desert to Farland. But I have news that the Argabad flying battleships have already blocked that direction, moving their flying battleships to the border from the south." he said
"Bbba..ba..battleships? Each one has the firepower to destroy a city" a mercenary said
"I propose we stand and fight here. We draw the line and fight to the death" Rayala said
"Can we win?" another mercenary said
"Yes.. we can. We have the forces of the S Ranked Dragon Slayers here, and with Count Archilles de Milo leading our forces, we cannot lose" he said
"It's him! The Count of Victory!" a mercenary said
"So that's his nickname? I didn't know that" Ranier mumbled
"Count Victory!" another mercenary shouted
A large muscular man with a moustache, wearing grand looking clothes stepped forwards.
The naked women, 8 of them in total, walked behind him, their thin chains making noise as they moved, stood behind him in a row
"As most of you know, I am Archilles de Milo, leader of the Dragon Slayers. I know you are scared. I know you have heard that a single battleship can destroy a city.
But so can a dragon! And I've hunted and killed many dragons.
I have never lost a battle. I have never failed a mission. I will lead you to victory, but you must put your faith in my leadership" he said forcefully.
"Victory...Victory..Victory" the crowd chanted
The atmosphere grew uncomfortable, but it looks like crossing the Mordi Desert is out of the question at the moment, and they would have to participate in this war.
