Mercenary System: I can increase innate potential !

"Do you want to find out more?" asked Romuald, intrigued.

"This kind of story is very common in small villages..."

Everyone had heard that their chief was looking for a powerful animal to contract, although they didn't understand exactly how their chief was going to make it obey him if they really met one.

But of course everyone in the group was more sensitive to rumors.

Aveline whispered to Maxime,

"My father receives letters like this every day from the villages in the area. Often it turned out that villagers who had been a little too drunk had sent a letter. Sometimes they were upset about the loss of livestock, and deliberately exaggerated the facts so that the count would send an army to reduce the number of predators such as wolves and foxes in the area."

"Even if it wasn't true, since the army had been sent, they usually ended up helping the villagers."

Kaite also nodded as he heard Aveline's murmurs.

"A dragon is impossible. It is a species that has not appeared on our continent for hundreds of years, and above all their power would be even greater than that of legendary knights, which is a stage above epic knights."

"For these dragons, our Kingdom is a poor land. They have absolutely no interest in going there or living there."

Maxime thought for a moment.

"Even if the probability is low, there is always a possibility that an animal with a good lineage may be present not far from us. And above all it is on our way, so why not make a little detour." Maxime finally said with eyes showing his curiosity.

If this rumor turned out to be true, it could solve one of his imminent needs. In the worst case, he would be content to find a wolf or a similar animal, then he would improve his bloodline gradually, even if it cost a lot.

Because the awakening of the vital seed was really important.

This would improve his fighting power as well as enabling him to fulfill his class quest, and thus develop his swordsman class.

Maxime got up from his table and calmly made his way towards the group of noisy villagers. They, already well under the influence of alcohol, did not immediately notice his presence.

Maxime sat down with them, immediately attracting their attention.

"Gentlemen, I heard your conversation. You were talking about a flying monster?"

There was a moment's silence before one of the men, his face flushed with alcohol, burst out laughing.

"There you go! Another curious one who wants to hear old Gerard's stories!"

Another nodded, his gaze blurred.

"Be careful, my lad. If you listen to Gérard too much, you'll end up seeing monsters everywhere too," he said, laughing out loud.

Maxime let himself be carried away a little by the atmosphere and ended up smiling.

He found the villagers very friendly.

"I'd just like to know more. You say that livestock has disappeared recently?"

The men looked at each other, shrugging or chuckling to themselves.

"Well, that's normal, it happens all the time. Wolves, foxes... Nothing very surprising."

'What about this flying monster?' Maxime insisted.

Old Gérard banged his fist on the table with a wry smile.

"Yes, I saw one, but these guys don't believe me!"

Maxime narrowed his eyes.

"Are you sure about what you saw?"

"Of course!" exclaimed Gérard.

"And I'm not the only one! Go and see Gilbert, he'll say the same thing as me!"

Maxime raised an eyebrow.

"Gilbert?"

"Yes, yes, a grumpy old man like me. He's had chickens stolen in the last few months, and says he saw a big flying beast!"

Maxime noted the name in the corner of his mind.

After a few more minutes trying to obtain more precise details, but without much success given the state of the villagers, Maxime returned to his table.

"Well?" asked Andrew, placing his hand on his chin with boredom.

"Nothing concrete, apart from a first name. A certain Gilbert seems to have seen something similar. I plan to go and talk to him tomorrow morning."

Kaite and Langus exchanged a look.

"Alone?" asked Kaite.

"Yes. It doesn't take more than one of us to talk to a villager."

The mercenaries nodded without insisting further.

After a few more minutes of light conversation, everyone went to sleep.

The next morning, Maxime left the inn before the sun was fully risen.

Asking a farmer who was working the land early in the morning for directions, he easily found Gilbert's house: a modest building on the edge of the village, near a small poultry pen.

He knocked on the door.

A long silence followed, before a hoarse voice was heard.

"Who is it!?"

"My name is Maxime. I wanted to talk to you about the flying monster."

The door opened slightly, revealing an old man with a face weathered by time and farm work. He narrowed his eyes as he analyzed Maxime.

"Another curious one..." he growled.

"I just want to understand."

Gilbert sighed and opened the door wide.

"Come in, then. But I haven't got all day."

The interior of the house was simple, but well maintained. Maxime sat down on a wooden chair opposite Gilbert. The latter leaned on the table with his arms crossed.

"Gerard told me that you saw a monster take your chickens away."

The old man nodded.

"Yeah. It's been going on for months."

"Can you explain the situation to me?" Maxime asked politely.

Gilbert sighed before beginning his story.

"At first, I thought it was the wolves. Every week, one or two hens would disappear. So I reinforced the enclosure, but it kept happening. One night, I decided to stand guard."

His gaze became darker.

"And that's when I saw it."

Maxime could even see the fear in Gilbert's eyes, mixed with rage and frustration.

"Can you describe to me what you saw?"

"A dark silhouette with large wings. Not a bird, it was far too big. Not a dragon either, like old Gérard says."

"And my chickens will never be enough to fill a dragon's belly..."

"But whatever it was, this thing swooped down on my pen and in an instant, two of my chickens were gone."

Maxime slowly nodded.

"You haven't seen it since?"

"No... But every few weeks, chickens still disappear."

Maxime thought for a moment.

A flying monster sporadically attacking a pen... It could be a simple animal, but his instinct told him it was something else.@@novelbin@@

He rested his elbows on the table, his hands crossed at chin level, then looked Gilbert straight in the eye.

"And do you know which direction the monster went?"

The old man nodded.

"Yes, to the southeast, towards the Kadis mountain."

Maxime thanked the old man, got up, left a gold coin on the table and left.

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Seeing the gold coin fall in front of him, Gilbert's eyes widened.

A little girl of 7 or 8 years old came out of the room behind Gilbert.

"Grandpa, who was that person?"

Gilbert's eyes began to blur. No one knew the financial pressure this beast was putting on him and his little girl.

He had already started to deprive himself of food in order to continue to feed his little girl, who had lost her parents a long time ago in a tragic accident.

But this gold coin would enable him to make up for all the losses he had suffered up to now and even more.

"Thank you very much, young man. You are welcome at any time." Gilbert finally said, his voice trembling.

Maxime simply waved without turning around. Thanks to his perception, he had noticed the tension in Gilbert as soon as he entered the house, as well as the little girl hiding behind him.

For him it was no big deal, so he could afford to make this gesture in exchange for valuable information.

As he left, his eyes were resolute.

"Whatever this beast is, I have to find out."

On returning to the inn, he came across his mercenaries, who were already starting to train outside.

"Good morning, boss!"

"Good morning, boss, are you training with us today?"

Maxime shook his head as he saw his mercenaries from the village of VentBois, including Garen, Lira and Jean, asking him.

"Not now, guys, I need to think for a moment."

The VentBois mercenaries were a little disappointed, but quickly moved on.

The most important thing for everyone was to take the training very seriously.

He returned to the inn and had breakfast, salty of course, to give him strength, and began to think.

"I hope that if we make a detour to Kadis Mountain, we won't lose too much time. Because even if we see this famous beast, it could run away as soon as it sees us approaching."

"Then again, if there isn't this famous monster, maybe I could find a rather talented animal..."

After this little passage, Maxime did not dwell on the subject any further, and resumed training as well, on a vacant lot outside.

His swordplay was not going to improve if he didn't put in the effort. He had so many bonuses from sword training that he was a sword prodigy.

It would be a shame to waste this talent.

And even if he didn't have that talent, he had always been dedicated to his sword. He wouldn't let up easily.

Andrew approached Maxime at that moment.

"A little sparring, boss?"

Maxime turned to Andrew with a smile.

"Of course, let's see what level of swordplay you've reached."

Andrew looked confident.

"Don't be surprised, boss, otherwise, if you let your guard down, you could lose."