Mercenary Harem in Murim Novel-Chapter 214 - – Ruse

After explaining the situation to Ming Yuchan and the host, Liu, Leo returned to the Mercenary Union office.

When he entered, a bunch of workers were running around with panicked expressions, trying to keep things in order.

Meanwhile, Jack was standing behind Astrid, his hand patting her head to comfort her.

"Look, Leader has arrived."

Astrid was startled and she quickly stood up.

"L-Leader!"

"Alright, tell me what you know so far."

"Ah, y-yes."

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Astrid then began to explain. "I was contacted by someone who claimed that they knew the truth behind the death of the city Lord. They knocked on the window from outside and left a letter."

"And the letter?" Leo asked as he took a seat.

"It is right here." Jack took the envelope and handed it to Leo.

He took the letter out and began reading.

The content was mostly just random gibberish, but the most important thing was the fact it mentioned the Qin City's Lord had been assassinated by a certain group of assassins called Black Dragon Triad. They wanted to create chaos in the city to profit themselves.

'I see.' Leo nodded, 'So it was just the usual plot of bad people doing something evil after the greater evil is defeated.'

"In short, remaining thugs from Supreme Evil Followers showed up, becoming Black Dragon Triad, and killed the city Lord. They want to take control of Qin City, creating a lawless land and recruit more people for their organization. Is that it?"

He summarized the contents of the letter, which Astrid and Jack agreed with.

"Yes, that's what the letter said."

"Good." Leo said, crumpling the paper in his hand, "Jack, take care of the Union for a while. I think Astrid needs hands-on experience of being a good leader, so I will take her with me."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I mean what I mean. Follow me."

Saying that, he grabbed Astrid's collar and pulled her up from her seat.

"W-Wait, Leader! Don't pull me!"

Astrid's protest fell on deaf ears as she was dragged by Leo out of the building.

And so, the two of them headed towards the direction where the manor was located, leaving behind the confused workers who were left to their own devices.

When he arrived at the main street, he released Astrid from his grip. He looked at her with a serious expression and said.

"Astrid, you are the Branch Manager. What do you think is the most important thing for the manager of an organization?"

"Being able to control everything." Astrid answered immediately, thinking that it was obvious, but Leo shook his head.

"That's indeed important, but firstly you need to stay calm to take control." He said, "And what was your reaction when you received this letter? Panicking and waiting for me? No. That's wrong."

He stared directly at Astrid's eyes, and she couldn't look away.

"You have to stay calm. Assess the situation with a cool mind, not panic like an idiot, and think of a way to solve the problem yourself." He explained.

"Being calm will help you think rationally and logically. If you're panicked, you won't be able to think properly. Now, tell me what you should do first when you gained a shocking information from an unidentified source."

"V-Verifying the source?"

"Yes. If it is true, you will gain valuable information to make your next step. But what if the letter is just some random prank and lies to disturb you? And you just made yourself busy and worried for nothing?"

"I will be an idiot." Astrid admitted that fact.

She looked down and her shoulders dropped.

"That's why you have to stay calm and think. I will help you, so let's go to verify the source. Let's visit the manor to see the truth." He said, patting her shoulder, "Making a mistake is human nature. But you must learn from it. Accidentally, this is an important case that you must learn how to solve. I will help you learn from this."

"Hm." She nodded.

***

Leo and Astrid arrived at the manor where the city lord lived. It was a large, luxurious mansion, surrounded by a high wall.

Both of them used optical illusion to hide themselves and sneaked through the security, bypassing all the guards. They were invisible, so nobody saw them as they walked past the gate.

Strangely, the guards weren't in shambles and the situation seemed normal. They guarded the general area of the mansion without much care in the world. It was like a normal day.

It didn't look like their master was killed at all.

"It's strange." Astrid whispered, "There is no panic among the guards."

"Hm." Leo hummed. "It's indeed peculiar but it might be just a ruse. Let's see more before we can conclude anything."

"Right." Astrid nodded in agreement. She followed behind Leo as they continued walking around the place, trying to gather information.

However, after walking around the area for a few minutes, Leo suddenly stopped and turned around to face Astrid. His eyes widened when he saw someone coming out of the building, and he quickly hid himself and Astrid behind a wall.

Leo recognized his face. How could he not? He had seen him up close before.

"It is City Lord, right?" Astrid said. She peeked from behind the wall and observed the man carefully. His hair was long, black and smooth as silk.

As she had already met him once in the tournament in the past, she also remembered his face.

"He's alive?"

"Indeed he is."

The man was dressed in fine clothing and wore a hat. His appearance was exactly like the city lord that Leo met before, and he didn't seem to have any injury or anything.

And there was no strange Qi or appearance at all. He was alive, kicking, walking, and breathing just fine.

"It's confirmed. The letter and information people received was a lie. The City Lord is alive and kicking." Astrid sighed and her shoulders slumped, "What do you think about this, Leader? Why would anyone make up such a lie?"

"Why don't we find out now?" He said and grabbed Astrid. "We'll follow him. I have some questions for him."

"Alright."

Leo and Astrid quickly moved forward, following the City Lord's movement. He left the building with two of his men, one on each side. Both were wearing similar clothing, but they looked more like bodyguards than actual servants.

"Let's go." He said.

"Right."

Leo and Astrid moved closer and closer to their target, following them and wait for the perfect moment to ask. They moved pretty secretly, deliberately using the street without many people in it. And there was a certain place with no one in sight at all.

At that moment, he decided to show himself to Qin City Lord.

"May I ask you some questions, City Lord?" Leo and Astrid showed up, revealing themselves.

"Who are you?!"

"Identify yourself."

When they appeared in front of him, the two men turned his heads towards them and raised his eyebrow. They grabbed the hilt of their swords and showed hostility, but Qin Weiqi, the City Lord, raised his hand to stop his escort.

"Stop! Do you have a death wish?" He said. "It is the leader of the Hallowed Insect. You can't win against him!"

"Huh?" Both men blinked and stared at Leo. They then nodded their heads in understanding, "Oh."

The escorts knew their ability well. They had heard a rumor about a man with the ability to defeat an entire clan of martial artists alone.

They were aware of Leo's existence and the rumors surrounding his strength.

"It's fine. He's not hostile toward me." Qin Weiqi once again said, smiling softly at Leo. "It's been a long time since we met, Hallowed Insect's Leader. The last time we met was on that roof, right?"

"Indeed." Leo smiled, but then he turned serious, "So, what about the information that I got from the letter? Is it true or is it not?"

"Ah..." Qin Weiqi's expression became complicated, and then he sighed. "It's a bit complicated, so... May I ask for a place to talk in private? My house is too unsafe right now."

"Then follow me. I know a good place." Leo said. He then pointed at the two guards, "If these two wanted to follow, feel free to. But don't make a lot of noise."

"Don't worry. They are trained and disciplined enough to keep quiet." He turned to his men.

"Good. This way."

With that, Leo guided them through the back entrance of the Mercenary Union. Astrid wanted to ask something but kept quiet. She remembered the lesson earlier to not make any decision without thinking.

After they entered, they were greeted by Jack. He understood the situation just by glancing at three guests behind Leo and opened the secret underground room.

"I suggest the guard stay here." The gun maniac suggested. "The underground room can't fit this many people and the security is good, so no worry."

Qin Weiqi pondered for a bit but decided to leave the two escorts.

"Stay and guard this place." He ordered.

"Understood."

Then, the city Lord nodded and looked at Leo. More specifically, at Astrid who stood beside him. From his look, he seemed to recognize her identity.

Sensing his distrust, Leo patted Astrid's head and smiled.

"Don't worry, this girl is my subordinate and you can trust her. Also, she's this branch's Leader, so essentially she will be the one taking care of your problem if you want to hire us."

"Hm." He didn't speak and just hummed in understanding, so they went into the underground room.

Once inside, he sighed again and began to explain.

"The letter was indeed fake." He said, "But, I will die soon enough."