Chapter 45: The Mad Mercenary

"Alright, no problem." Ande breathed a sigh of relief and agreed.

Fang Zhen could see that Ande’s attitude had also changed.

Perhaps Fang Zhen’s confidence had influenced him. Although the Town Mayor of Redstone Town still didn’t quite believe Fang Zhen could actually wipe out the Dogman Tribe—it sounded too absurd—a sliver of hope had nevertheless taken root. Ande wanted to take a gamble, betting on Fang Zhen being as powerful as he claimed.

"Heh, it’s a deal," Fang Zhen said with a nod.

"Do you have a map of the mine?" Fang Zhen asked.

"Yes, yes, I do! I dream of taking back the mine, so I carry the map with me at all times," Ande said hurriedly, pulling a piece of parchment from the cloth pouch at his side.

The parchment was a deep yellow, looking like it had been made some time ago. A map was drawn on it with some unknown ink, but it was still quite clear.

Ande unrolled the map, laid it on the tavern table, and began to explain it to Fang Zhen.

"After entering the mine, the terrain on the upper level is just as the map shows. Later on, we discovered another vein underground, so the mine is split into two levels."

"Most of the Kobolds are on the first level. After the mine was seized, I hired Mercenaries to explore it. Their reconnaissance indicated that the Kobold leader always seems to be on the second, lower level," Ande said.

Fang Zhen nodded. After studying the map for a moment and getting the general idea, he folded it up and put it in his backpack.

A moment later, a meaningful smile crept onto Fang Zhen’s face.

"Ande, since Redstone Town is named after this type of ore, we’d call it something like ’Vermilion Town’ back in my homeland, heh heh," Fang Zhen said.

The two syllables he pronounced, ’Zhu Sha,’ were a direct transliteration of the original words from his native language.

"Zhu... Sha?" Ande repeated, looking puzzled.

"Heh, it’s nothing. I just feel that calling Redstone Town by that name feels more familiar," Fang Zhen said with a faint smile. It was a sense of humor, or perhaps nostalgia, unique to the Xia Country People.

Fang Zhen flicked the Silver Coin in his right hand.

The coin flew into the hands of Max, who had been listening to their conversation at the table.

Max quickly caught it.

"Sir, you don’t have to be so generous. You did me a huge favor by wiping out the goblins; I wasn’t going to accept this Silver Coin anyway," Max said quickly.

"Take it. You gave me two pieces of useful information. The weight of my promise is worth far more than a single Silver Coin," Fang Zhen said.

"Sir, I praise your integrity and generosity." Hearing this, Max no longer refused. He accepted the Silver Coin and bowed.

Fang Zhen stood up and picked up his longspear.

"I’ve gathered enough intel. It’s time to get to work." Fang Zhen stretched, a brilliant smile spreading across his face as the light in his eyes grew sharper.

Finally, Fang Zhen’s gaze fell upon the two wooden mugs of Ruska Wine on the table.

The atmosphere was just right. Picking up a mug and downing a parting drink for courage would have been the perfect gesture.

The Ruska Wine was a pale, milky white color. The aroma that wafted from it was sweet with a slightly sharp, alcoholic kick. Just from the smell, it seemed like it would be a delicious drink. Moreover, it looked like it was made from all-natural, pollution-free ingredients with no chemical additives.

Fang Zhen swallowed, a minuscule movement that would have been difficult for anyone to notice.

’So tempting. I really want to drink it.’

’But,’ Fang Zhen suddenly thought, ’this is Redstone Town, a place in the Otherworld. Who knows if my stomach can handle the food here? Can I even digest it?’

’The food and drinks look clean enough, but this is the Otherworld. What if my gut flora can’t adapt to the local microorganisms? What if I get diarrhea?’

At this thought, Fang Zhen’s throat bobbed again. He then summoned a good deal of willpower to tear his eyes away from the Ruska Wine.

’Just hold on. I’m eighty percent sure it would be fine, but if I do get an upset stomach, I won’t be able to fight for days. Wasting mission time would be a huge pain.’

’Patience in small matters is key to succeeding in great ones. I’ll just avoid food from the Otherworld for the next few days. After I clear the Redstone Town Mine and wipe out the Kobolds, I’ll definitely come back to the Redstone Inn and treat myself to a huge feast. I’ll treat it as an experiment to test my digestion against the food in this ’instance.’ Yes, I’ll bring antibiotics and some anti-diarrhea medicine then.’

For a moment, he felt he could understand the state of mind of the very first person to eat a crab.

Fang Zhen now understood why people say the first person to eat a crab was a warrior. Judging by his current state of mind, that guy who first ate a crab must have been truly brave.

He resisted the urge, and in the end, Fang Zhen managed not to drink it.

Fang Zhen knew this wasn’t mere self-discipline. He was actually a person of strong desires. These desires weren’t just the simple, primitive ones like lust or appetite, but a much stronger, greater ambition.

Fang Zhen wasn’t someone who was truly without desire. He simply wanted more, something greater. That was why he could suppress his lesser desires with his greater ones, which made him appear self-disciplined. In reality, his inner needs were no different from a normal person’s—in fact, they were even more intense.

His self-control didn’t come from a cold, desireless heart. On the contrary, Fang Zhen’s drive came from the surging torrent within him, which was what allowed him to be so strict with himself.

"These two mugs of wine are for you, Mayor Ande and Max," Fang Zhen said.

As if in great pain, Fang Zhen turned his head away from the two mugs of Ruska Wine and spoke in a carefree and generous tone.

...

「Three or four minutes later.」

At the exit on the opposite side of Redstone Town from where Fang Zhen had entered, he walked forward at a slow pace, longspear in hand and backpack on his back.

In his line of sight, a middle-aged man was walking down Redstone Town’s main street. Clad in rags, with disheveled hair and bare feet, his behavior was erratic and absurd; he was clearly mad. He would let out strange, unprovoked laughter, which would morph into sobs and cries of terror in the blink of an eye. He constantly muttered things like, "Hahaha, kill, kill!" and "...Dead, they’re all dead!"

About three or four steps behind Fang Zhen, Leon followed closely, holding several pieces of bread wrapped in oil paper in both hands.

Fang Zhen stopped and watched the madman stumbling down the street, shaking his head slightly.

The man before him was one of the Mercenaries who had tried to explore the mine and wipe out the Kobolds.

According to Max, Mayor Ande had tried to retake the mine by hiring Mercenaries shortly after the Kobolds occupied it, before they could fully establish themselves. At that time, a five-man Mercenary squad happened to be in Redstone Town. After being promised a commission, the Mercenaries set out for the mine.

In the end, this man was the only one who came back alive.

And he had gone mad.

Fang Zhen sighed softly.

He had originally hoped to get some more useful information from this Mercenary with firsthand experience, but seeing the man’s state, it seemed hopeless.

Fang Zhen had seen madmen like this before during his childhood. In some corner of the city, there would be someone just like this—incoherent, yet not violent. They would wander the streets every day, muttering things no one could understand, as if living in another world.

Some thoughtless children would tease them, and some city thugs would bully these wandering madmen.

Fang Zhen had never bullied a madman; as a child, he just found them strange.

He found it strange how they seemed impervious to heat and cold, wearing the same set of clothes in both summer and winter for years on end. He never knew where they found food, but they always managed to survive.

After growing up, he came to understand that these people had likely suffered some major trauma that led to mental illness. Lost in society, they were all pitiful figures.

The miners of Redstone Town hadn’t worked for over a month, and the town was very poor. Despite that, this mad Mercenary hadn’t starved to death. It seemed there were still many good people in this town.

As a child, he hadn’t understood, thinking madmen were immune to the elements and could survive without eating.

He knew better now, of course.

Kind-hearted people must have been giving the man food.

Fang Zhen turned to the side and looked at Leon.

"Go give him a few pieces of bread. Not too many. Someone who’s been starving for a long time can die from eating too much at once," Fang Zhen said.