Assassin's Chronicle - Chapter 449

Chapter 449

Everyone introduced themselves to each other after they walked into the city hall of White Mountain City . It was interesting to see how Anthony and Marino, two old friends, interacted . They took a long look at each other and suddenly laughed together . They shook hands, laughed at their previous confrontations, and just let whatever had been between them go .

After sitting for awhile in the conference room, Anthony and Marino excused themselves . Seeing Anfey and other young men, they felt their time had passed . It was undeniable that these young people already had the power to change the situation in the Country of Mercenaries . In the future, they would become more experienced, powerful and mature . They could become a force to change the world . Anthony and Marino felt they were really getting old .

Blavi and others all knew how Alice acted on the job . They knew she would immediately go directly to the topic, so they followed Anthony and Marino and left the conference room . Besides Alice, only Anfey, Christian and Suzanna remained . Anfey was the leader of the League of Mercenaries, while the other three were the executives . They had to manage everything in the league .

"Look at your face . You must have collected a lot rewards . " As everyone expected, Alice could not wait any longer to get to the topic . Alice, like everyone else, knew herself well . She knew she had to put herself 100% into work to make herself feel better .

"Yes, 120,000 gold coins in total, 20,000 gold coins more than you thought," Christian said . "So, Alice, you should be happy now, right?"

"Exactly 120,000 gold coins?" Alice asked .

"Yes," Suzanna answered .

"That is strange . " Alice thought a little bit and laid her eyes on Anfey . "You did not take them from those merchants, did you?"

Suzanna was surprised that Alice guessed it right . "How did you know?" she said .

"Of course she knows . It is exactly 120,000 gold coins, no more and no less . If they were the rewards we collected from the war, how would it be exactly 120,000?" Anfey said, smiling .

"Alice, I do not think it is appropriate to say ‘take from them’ . " Christian tried to explain in a low voice . "We did not force them to fund us . They volunteered . " Christian vividly described how eagerly those businessmen wanted to fund them . Suzanna had not been there with Christian, but she found him funny and laughed .

"Did you write them receipts for the loans?" Alice asked in surprise .

"Huh?" Anfey was shocked for a second . "It would robbery if I did not write them receipts . Alice, don’t worry . They were pretty good about it . The loans could be paid back in 20 years without interest . If we could take over Blackwater City, we would be able to have control of the Country of Mercenaries . 120,000 gold coins would be nothing; I could even get 1,200,000 gold coins . "

Alice interrupted Anfey . "Do you understand how to maximize your interests? Anfey, don’t take it personally . It is ok if Christian and Suzanna do not understand, but you should understand . "

Alice sounded a little harsh . Anfey and the other two were shocked . Suzanna was worried Anfey would get mad . She even nudged Anfey . In fact, Suzanna did not have to worry, because Anfey was very calm, reasonable and able to acknowledge his mistakes and correct them . If what Alice said was good for everyone in the league, no matter how harsh she sounded, Anfey would be ok with it . Anfey believed people made improvements by correcting themselves and learning from the mistakes .

"Alice, do you mean…" Anfey asked quietly . He was not mad at all . Instead, he reflected on what he had done to provoke Alice .

"I am sorry," Alice said bitterly . She lost her cool a bit out of jealousy, but she immediately realized what was wrong . She tried to sound nicer . "Let me explain . In fact, the palace and business arenas are just like battlefields . Anfey, take you for example: what do you want when you fight someone? You want to minimize your damage, but give your opponent a fatal strike, end the battle in the shortest time, and terrify your opponent, right?"

Anfey slowly nodded . What Alice said was all basically right .

"This is also about maximizing your interests . If those businessmen eagerly signed the magic contracts with you, it shows you could have asked more from them: that is, what you wanted was way less than what they planned to give . That is why they eagerly tried to fund you . "

"Alice, are you saying we fell into their trap?" Christian looked confused . "But we did get gold coins from them . "

Suzanna could not understand why signing magic contracts and received 120,000 gold coins would be losing . She did not think they lost anything .

"We could have gotten more from them . We lost what we should have received . That is losing!" Alice sounded somewhat serious . "Businessmen are good at calculations . No one could be better than them . "

After pausing for a second, Alice continued, "Take this time, for example . They made you guys appreciate them with only 120,000 gold coins . Our league is worth more than that . Anfey, 120,000 gold coins can be a lot of money for any of us . Do you think 120,000 gold coins are a lot of money to our league? I bet you I could spend them in two days . "

Anfey rubbed his nose and tilted his head . He and Christian exchanged glances . Anfey said, with a serious look, "Christian, you’d better learn from Alice . You will need it in the future . "

Christian did not know whether he should cry or laugh . He turned around and ignored Anfey .

Alice rolled her eyes . "Can you guys be serious . I thought you would have good vision, but you are not even as good as those merchants . "

Anfey cleared his throat and straighten his back . Christian and Suzanna put on serious faces too .

"If we could have control of the Country of Mercenaries, we would have control of the magic crystals and the lifeline of the whole Pan Continent," Alice said .

"Wait a second, Alice . " Anfey planned to hear out Alice’s analysis, but had to interrupt her now . "We can’t have the lifeline of the Pan Continent . Do you understand?"

Alice looked at Christian, "Christian, since we are talking about it, can I add some of my personal comments?"

Christian chuckled . "Alice, you can say whatever you want to say . "

Anfey stopped Alice again . "Alice, you don’t have to say it . We trust your judgements . What we need to talk about now is whether we would be able to make up what we lost . " In fact, Anfey still did not get the point, but he knew he needed to stop Alice from making comments . They were all friends, and Alice was acknowledged as one of them . If she needed Christian’s permission to speak, her comments must be about Yolanthe and be shocking for everyone . She might offend Christian and Yolanthe .

Alice was smart, so she realized she lost her cool again . She did not seem to be able to calm down after she found out Anfey killed Archmage Michael . She knew she missed a man she could depend on for her whole life, a man who could be one of the most powerful men in the world . Regrets, envy and other negative feelings had been bothering her . She had not been able to look at Suzanna because she was afraid Anfey would notice something unusual about her . She was not able to take care of other things .

Christian shrugged . Actually, he secretly felt relieved . He was more nervous than Anfey had been . As a prince, he was responsible to protect the dignity of his royal family . If Alice’s comments offended his family, he had to step forward and condemn her, but that would hurt his relationship with Alice and Anfey . Not hearing Alice out did not seem appropriate either . He was in a dilemma .

Anfey held the highest leadership position in the League of Mercenaries and was in charge of development of the league and appointments for the battles . Alice was in charge of administrative issues . Christian was in charge of coordinating mercenary units . Because of his special background, everyone would accept whatever he said . Three of them had developed very clear cut duties . This triad shaped and balanced relationships . Christian realized maybe this was the most reasonable and stable way for the leadership of the league . If their relationships were destroyed, their future would be gone as well .

"Let me think…" Alice frowned .

"I have an idea . I just don’t know if it would work . " Anfey did not know much about business, but he was very smart and flexible . He thought of someone, and that person gave him an idea . However, the idea sounded a little too passive because it needed those merchants themselves to feel bad about it .  Anfey did not know if it would work .

"Why don’t you tell us about it?" Alice looked up .

"I know a businessman . He is the boss of the Cloud Chamber of Commerce . His name is Arlango . He listens to me, but he went to buy food . Once he comes back, I can ask him to donate some gold coins to us, but," Anfey sounded a little hesitant, "would the donation look too fake? Businessmen only care about their interests . How could they donate money for no reason?"

"No, it is not fake . I can show Arlango how to do it . " Alice’s eyes brightened . "When will he be back?"

"Soon . He should be back in few days", Anfey said .

"Where did he go to buy food? No matter whether he went to Maho Empire or Ellisen Empire, it would take him at least a month or two," Alice said .

"I knew we would face a lack of food, so I asked Arlango go to Death Roaring Legion and Shield of Light Legion to see General Baery with an object that he could recognize as mine," Anfey said .

"Buying and selling military supplies is a serious crime," Alice smiled, "but…I take back what I said . You do have good vision . "

"Forget about it . " Anfey was not too happy about Alice’s comment .