章 114: A scouting party

*Outskirts of Florentia*

A group of mercenaries dressed in cured leather armor was walking down a narrow cobbled road covered in dry leaves. The shady path cut through the woods, snaking around sturdy oak trees and sloped downward.

Due to ideological as well as personal disagreements, mercenaries in Merantis seldom banded together to fight for a common cause, but the promise of coin had united this roguish band of misfits, convincing them to work as a team.

The oldest among them was a well-built middle-aged man with a face full of beard and long matted locks, dyed a dirty carob brown. His only weapon was a sturdy long axe with a broad iron head ending in pointy horns at both tips.

Judging by the man's spotless clothes and polished brown boots, it was easy to tell that he had purchased them specially for this mission by spending a large chunk of the hefty advance payment his employer had already given him.