Chapter 23: Unspoken Rules
When Lucen and the other mercenaries were asleep, one of the mercenaries, around his mid-twenties, stood up and quietly walked out of the cave. When he stepped out of the cave, he was greeted by someone.
"Hey, Mark, where are you going?" Harlik asked.
"Oh, boss, I was just going out to relieve myself. You know I can’t do it in front of the guys or they’ll get jealous," Mark responded with a sheepish grin.
"Hey Mark, how long have you been with us?"
"Are you seriously asking that right now, boss? I’m really about to explode over here." Mark asked while looking like his pee was about to leak. Harlik, who was blocking the exit to the cave, simply looked at Mark, awaiting his answer.
"It’s been two years now."
"Yeah, that’s about right. I’ve known you for two years now, and we’ve been to some dangerous stuff together. Like a good leader, I know quite a lot about my men, like how you send half your pay to your family back in your hometown. I also know that you had a thing for Hilda, and of course, I know when you’re lying."
"Come on now, boss, what are you saying?"
"Let’s stop fooling around, Mark. You were going to send a report back to the unknown client, right?"
When Mark heard what Harlik said, the smile on his face disappeared as he scratched his head and sighed.
"So you figured it out. As expected of you, boss, can’t get anything past you," Mark replied while shrugging his shoulders. "Look, boss, I wasn’t going to harm the kid. I was going to give a minor update, something along the lines of we found the kid and are waiting to capture him. Of course, I’m not doing this for free, like you said a lot of times, mercenaries listen to the voice of the almighty coin."