Chapter 90 The Subjugation Reward (1) The Withdrawal

"But is it fine, Lyan?" Xena asked Lyan that was in the middle of getting a massage from Belle as she ate the sweets Lyan brought with him together with Alina.

"What is?" Lyan replied with a voice filled with pleasure as Belle is hitting the best points on his shoulders.

"The Valkyries. Are you sure it's fine to let them go just like that? Wouldn't it make them feel like you don't trust them enough, and make them feel like you're just taking advantage of their Mana Oath?" (Xena)

"It's fine, it's fine. They made the promise just to fulfill their words to their former master, in the first place. The reason why Surena insists on pledging her allegiance to me must be because of this as well. She never intended to follow me everywhere I go, she still need to find her former master, after all, (Lyan)

"Hm~" Xena brought another sweet to her mouth as she continue to ponder about the story Lyan told them.

"To think that those Valkyries were knights from the fallen Kasmira Kingdom... Well, the most surprising part is where they suddenly pledged their allegiance to you, though," (Belle)

"Aren't your man great? You all must be amazed, right?" (Lyan)

"Yes, yes. That's why I'm massaging you as a reward, aren't I?" (Belle)

"You're right. You're unexpectedly skillful in massage, Belle. I think I'm going to get addicted to this..." Lyan's face slowly starts to melt into the couch because of Belle's skillful massage.

"Fufufu! You must not. It will be the appointed schedule for the reward withdrawal on the guild soon, right? It might be bad if you're late, you know?" (Belle)

"Hm. You're right," Lyan suddenly lifts his body up and sits on the couch.

"Lyan?" (Belle)

"It'll be better to arrive there sooner than the schedule, I guess? Such a great amount of money might bring unnecessary trouble, after all," Lyan stands and stretches his body that felt lighter because of Belle's massage.

"Will you be fine? Do you want us to come with you? Or maybe bring Monila and the others with you? Appointing a mercenary group to protect you is also a possible choice. With such an amount of money, there will be lots of people that might pull extreme actions to steal them, you know?" Alina that stopped eating said it because of worry.

"It'll be fine. I wouldn't be bringing the money with the chests stored in wagons, and I always bring my personal bodyguards with me. I even got more than 800 more bodyguards with me, so it'll be fine," (Lyan)

Yes, it might be dangerous if he were to take the golds by wagons since he'll definitely get targeted especially if he went outside the city. But Lyan doesn't need them, he doesn't have a magic bag or a spatial ring, but he has his grimoire's space. With a single touch, he could let all of the golds enter his grimoire's space and have the skeleton army inside sort them inside the house.

The goblin champion shadow servants under Hobu are constantly watching over the perimeter around the House of Roses in case of unwanted rats are following him, while Hobu is always following him inside his shadow, ready to protect him in every situation. The hobgoblin shadow servants are acting as Lyan's surveillance squad and spread around the city to gather the information he needed.

"I've prepared a perfect trap for the ones aiming for me, so it should be fine. With the grand performance I did on the announcement day, there should be only a few of them that would dare to try anyway. Of course, if I got into trouble, I'll be asking the help of the three mysterious but deadly flowers of the west gate of Arkansas," (Lyan)

What Lyan mentioned is about the rumor going around the city about three girls that guarded the city gate together with the Madam and the White Shadow. The rumors about them being the second coming of the Valkyries and about how they ruthlessly killed the goblins are quite famous to the point that Lyan heard them as well.

When Lyan heard how they have monster familiars with them, Lyan immediately knew that the mysterious deadly flowers mentioned in the rumors must be his girls.

"Oh. Shut up! They were just exaggerating things!!" (Xena)

"Hahaha. Right, right. I'm off then," Lyan jumped out of the window after putting his hood on and disappeared from the sight of the girls.

(The mana had fully recovered, but the mana from the spirits that are currently available for me to use are Hestia's, Eira's, Azelia's, and Lilith's) (Lyan)

After the battle with the goblin king, Lyan had realized where the limit of his current body is at. Even though he possesses a great amount of mana that seems to be slightly more than his former self, he's still not familiar with applicating mana in a human's body.

The system and sensitivity of mana channeling in a human's body are different from an incubus's. There is no point in having a large amount of mana if his body couldn't handle them. If he used his 'Limit Break' on this body, it would take more than two months for his body and his mana channels to recover completely.

(At this point, at most, I could only muster my strength as strong as Arturia's full blow in one minute. In a long-duration battle, I will have my power reduced to 50%, it'll be such a great difference since my body isn't trained enough yet in terms of handling a large amount of mana) (Lyan)

(I couldn't summon Lilith and the others until another five days. I need to use my cards wisely, I guess) (Lyan)

After jumping from roof to roof while concealing himself with his illusion magic for a while, Lyan finally arrived at the mercenary guild. Of course, he didn't release his magic and continued to proceed until he arrived in front of the guildmaster's room.

*Knock!* *Knock!*

After knocking on the door, a firm voice sounded from the inside.

"Come in,"

*Creak!!*

Lyan proceed to enter the guildmaster's room, and saw several chests that must be filled with gold are lying in front of the guildmaster's desk.

The guildmaster is sitting at his seat behind the desk with a grin, while Lichia is holding a book and a pen in her hands as she stared nervously at the chest of golds.

"As expected, you came faster than the appointed time, Evocatore," said the Guildmaster as he folds his arms.

"There are eyes on me, after all," Lyan replied with a shrug.

"Of course. This is the city of mercenaries and merchants. Both parties love money more than anything, so there might be some gold-loving rats swarming you from various directions after this. But-" The guildmaster opened his eyes and the grin on his face got slightly wider.

"Considering it's you we're talking about, I'm sure that you will be able to take care of them all with ease. As expected of Jose and Abraham, their eyes are as excellent as always," The guildmaster uttered as he put something on top of his desk.

"That is..." (Lyan)

"Yes. It's the Mythril-rank mercenary tag. I don't know whether you'll come again as a mercenary or not, but this will come in handy for you in the future. You might be registered in the guild for less than two weeks, but not just me, but the whole city believes that your ability is on par or even stronger than the other Mythril-ranked mercenaries. So don't hesitate and take it," (Guildmaster)

"Then I'll do as you say," Lyan casually took the new Mythril-rank mercenary tag and put his current mercenary tag on the desk.

"I've told your respond to the council as well. They react positively to your response," (Guildmaster)

After the reward announcement day, the city council which consisted of the most wealthy merchants in the city contacted Lyan, asking whether if he want to be commissioned and given a position at the city and the guild. Considering how bright his achievement is in less than two weeks, they are thinking of binding him to the city since he might make even more brilliant achievements in the near future.

But of course, investment coming from great merchants wouldn't come that easily. They didn't know his identity, didn't know his real strength, and didn't know his background. For them to commission such a person suddenly must be too good to be true, so it must be a test.

They are trying to see what motive and what kind of role he wants in the city. If it turns out that he has the ambition that might not align with their interests, he will be targeted to be eliminated instead.

'I don't have any intention of staying too long at the mercenary city, but if you ever need my service, I'll be glad to give a positive response as long as the reward is appropriate'

That was the reply Lyan gave to them.

"No ambition of position, no excessive thirst for money, and no sign of hostility. They might send their envoys in case of a trouble in the future, so you can look forward to it," said the guildmaster in a good mood.

"Thank you for the information, guildmaster," (Lyan)

"So? Lichia? Isn't it about time for you to tell him about the real amount he's given?" (Guildmaster)

"Hm? Ah! Y-You're right! Ahem!" Lichia cleared her throat.

"For the amount given from the slain goblins, red goblin variants, hobgoblins, red hobgoblins, goblin champions, red goblin champions, black goblin champions, and the goblin king. The total of elimination reward is 2800 gold. The bonus from the city council is 200 gold, the additional bonus from the guild is 200 gold, and the bonus from the Astellia kingdom is 300 gold. A total of 3500 gold..." (Lichia)

___________________________________________________________________________

<+3500 Gold/+3,500,000,000 Elnes>

Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore

Occupation: Gold-ranked Mercenary

Money: 3,549,722,400 Elnes / 3549 gold 72 big silver 2 silver 4 big copper

Weapon: None

Equipment: Black leather cloak, Leather Armor, 1 (Decent) One-handed Sword, 2 (Good-Quality) One-handed swords, 2 Health Potions, 2 Poison Vials

Grimoire's Companions: 8 High Spirits, 3 Valkyrie, Shadow Goblin Lord (Lv. 5), Papilio Slime, Galewing Butterfly, Rock Golem (Lv. 50), Deadlight (Lv. 63), Moonlight Butterfly, Ice Golem (Lv. 50)

Grimoire's Army: 6 Shadow Servants, 800 Skeleton Army