LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 62
Despite Yoshiaki and Narumi’s absence, the festival proceeded without a hitch.
As everything was already prepared, Jinseong only needed to lift his spoon, and the empty seats were filled by others.
The warrior’s absence was filled by a mercenary.
Narumi’s absence was filled by Rise.
Yoshiaki’s absence was filled by Jinseong.
However, it seemed that the replacements weren’t perfect, leading to some minor glitches, but when Jinseong provided the items he brought, all complaints disappeared.
A little grease works wonders anywhere in the world!
With the overwhelming force of capitalism, Jinseong preemptively eliminated any problematic elements.
Thus, the festival concluded successfully.
But not everything was finished.
The mercenaries had another job waiting for them.
The last task of distributing wads of cash and gold bars.
“Wow, employer! This is a huge amount, are you sure it’s okay to give us 30%?”
The mercenary captain seemed in awe at the mountain of treasure before him.
One hand gripped Yoshiaki’s hair, now almost in tatters, while the other held a tactical light, illuminating the dark warehouse.
The powerful light from the tactical lamp revealed items that hadn’t seen the light of day for decades, their presence utterly overwhelming.
“This is like a bank….”
It was a scene that would likely leave robbers stunned if they barged into a bank vault. The underground warehouse was stuffed full of all kinds of riches.
Bonds were stacked to the ceiling, while cash formed actual hills. Moreover, jewels were neatly displayed on a shelf, so numerous that it was hard to tell if this was a secret vault or a jewel museum.
But the real showstopper was the gold bars, piled in such quantities one might wonder if the Federal Reserve in America had this much gold! There was so much that the reflected light was blinding enough to require sunglasses.
Could this be the Yamashita treasure from urban legends?
“Man, treasure hunters would go crazy if they saw this.”
The mercenary captain felt the pressure of the mound of cash while also looking forward to distributing it, smiling slyly. However, he kept glancing cautiously at Jinseong, perhaps doubting whether the employer’s mind might change.
Isn’t the feeling different when you go to the bathroom and come out?
It wasn’t rare to see people who, after making good use of mercenaries, become hesitant about distributing vast sums of money. Especially since the cash discovered in this warehouse was not promised when he first hired them, it could lead to a complicated situation if Jinseong suddenly decided to retract it.
For both Jinseong and the mercenaries.
To reassure the mercenary captain, who was glancing nervously, Jinseong slowly opened his mouth.
“Promises will be kept. Cash, bonds, gold bars, and jewels. For these four categories, 30% is your share.”
The captain’s worries turned out to be unfounded.
Jinseong reiterated his commitment to keep his promise.
Not only did he assure it verbally, but he also levitated the treasures and tossed them toward the mercenaries.
“Wow!”
“Agh!”
“Wait! The gold bars are coming too fast!”
The mercenaries were caught off guard by the dreamlike scenario of treasures flying toward them but couldn’t help but smile in delight. And thus, the cost of the torture was paid, and the mercenary captain saluted Jinseong in gratitude for keeping his promise.
Then he shouted toward the mercenaries, who were gleefully inspecting the riches that had just landed in their arms.
“Hey, everyone! The accounts are settled! Let’s go!”
The mercenaries moved in perfect unison, each carrying their respective treasures as they headed outside.
“Wow, that was clean!”
“It’s been a while since I met such a generous employer.”
“After dealing with trashy humans, meeting someone like that is refreshing.”
“It would have been dreadful if he said he wasn’t giving it!”
Jinseong chuckled at their lively banter as they left.
“Yeah. It would have been a nightmare if he said no.”
For mercenaries, the money used for hiring is their life price and their value.
Not giving that is akin to dumping their lives and value into the trash.
Thus, when hiring a mercenary, it was absolutely necessary.
Absolutely necessary to pay that life price.
“The contract must be upheld.”
To a mercenary, their life price is both the cost of hiring them and the collar around their necks.
The moment they realize that price is not being paid, the collar loosens, and the employer’s neck will feel the sharp teeth of their wrath.
If the money doesn’t flow, they turn into robbers, killing the employers for breaching the contract and stealing their wealth.
“There were many fools who thought they could get away with it. Truly foolish people, indeed….”
That’s how power works, isn’t it?
In one’s hands, it’s self-defense, but in another’s, it becomes violence.
The same applies to mercenaries.
If they uphold the contract, they are loyal hunting dogs, but if they breach it, they become robbers.
However, this was only circulating in the shadows and never openly acknowledged, leading those who were unaware of mercenaries’ tendencies to make mistakes.
Just as with their employees or subordinates, mercenaries also get mistreated and exploited to preserve their wealth.
Yet due to laws and image, they typically don’t retaliate immediately.
At least, before the Third World War erupted, they were given a chance to clean up the spilled water.
Through the officially proclaimed “legal resolutions” presented by the Mercenary Association.
But what if an overconfident employer hired expensive lawyers to fight tooth and nail, even if they had no chance of winning, dragging out the payment as long as possible?
What if they waited for the mercenaries to die before paying?
Then the first and last chance would vanish, and unofficial retribution would commence, permitted in a tacit manner by the Mercenary Association, through horrific and barbaric methods.
“Power, wealth, influence, religion, honor…. there are numerous forms of strength, but the supreme force is always violence.”
No matter how much money you have, it can’t stop bullets.
Even with plenty of talent, death is unavoidable.
If dealing with an opponent that’s too much to handle alone, you seek help from other mercenaries, and if that doesn’t suffice, you involve other factions as well.
The price for mercenaries’ lives must be paid by any means.
This was the essence of the gigantic entity known as the Mercenary Association, comprising countless mercenaries.
A house can burn down.
Assets that require legal validity can be shattered.
Only tangible items become targets for plunder, and any employer who betrays mercenaries will certainly meet their demise. While families might survive or perish, their fates depend entirely on the mercenaries’ will, and they have no right to decide.
The mercenaries referred to this plunder as a “Carnival.”
“Thinking about it, I’m quite similar to the mercenaries conducting this carnival.”
He felt a strange sense of nostalgia.
The shrine, which was almost like the home of the Kishimoto Clan, had burned down.
The clan’s power, their special abilities, had been shattered, and its source, the body, was now in Jinseong’s hands.
Moreover, the tangible assets the Kishimoto Clan gathered during the Pacific War had become plunderable treasures, with Yoshiaki and Narumi’s lives now entirely at the mercy of Jinseong, leaving them with no rights to decide their own fate.
Isn’t it just like a carnival!
“So, it seems three festivals have occurred consecutively at one location.”
The night’s festival where offerings were secured and sacred fires were lit to conduct rituals.
The festival that was originally planned.
And the carnival Jinseong was unknowingly participating in.
Considering the significance of the number three, it felt even more peculiar.
Three symbolizes the past, present, and future.
Three represents the soul.
Three symbolizes the divine.
Jinseong lived in the present, tangled with the past and future, conducting rituals to empower the soul while trampling and insulting the divine.
Truly.
Truly strange, isn’t it?
It feels quite bizarre to just lump it all together.
“It’s said that coincidence and inevitability are merely differences in knowledge.”
A truly strange, inevitable coincidence.
—
As Iarin and Iserin became accustomed to life in Russia, they received a text message.
“I hope you are doing well. Now that things have settled down in Japan, I have some gifts for you and shall visit Russia soon. Please tell me the location of your lodging and a suitable time to meet.”