Chapter 114 - Kael’s Doubts

Chapter 114: 114 - Kael’s Doubts

The young man stayed where he was after Marcus vanished through the entrance, watching the canvas settle for several seconds before he turned back to Adrien.

"I don’t know if I can keep calling him my leader after everything that’s been happening."

Adrien had expected something close to that, though hearing it said outright still caught him off guard. The young man had worn every thought on his face since Adrien entered the tent, and almost every reaction to Marcus had been simple to read.

"What’s your name?"

"Kael. My name is Kael. I’m currently the co-leader of the Bloodfang Wolves."

Adrien looked at him again. Up close he looked even younger than he had from the far side of the table, which made his rank inside a company of more than a hundred awakened mercenaries unusual.

"You’re young for a co-leader. How old are you?"

"Twenty-one. But mercenary companies don’t care much about age, and loyalty alone doesn’t decide rank either. Most of the time, strength matters more than anything else."

That explained the position. Kael already stood at Four Stars, above almost everyone Adrien had sensed in the camp.

"Good to know. Why don’t you know if you can still call Marcus your leader?"

Kael glanced toward the entrance. "Walk through the camp with me. It’ll be easier to explain if you see it yourself."

Adrien rose and followed him outside with Vikir trailing behind. The moment they left the tent, attention swung toward them again, though several mercenaries seemed more curious about Kael walking beside Adrien than about Adrien himself.

Kael caught the stares as well, and a single look from him sent most of them back to whatever they had been doing.

They wandered between the rows of tents at an unhurried pace. In daylight the state of the camp showed far more plainly than it had when Adrien arrived that morning.

"As you can see, my lord, this isn’t much of a camp anymore. We were doing well when Arquenay kept giving us contracts, but it’s been more than two months without stable work. We’re struggling now."

Adrien passed a tent where two mercenaries patched a split leather breastplate instead of replacing it. A few steps on, several more divided a pot of food between more bowls than the contents could reasonably fill.

"If I’m being honest, you don’t seem very supportive of Marcus. You’re a fairly expressive person, Kael. You didn’t hide what you thought about most of what he said in there."

"No, I didn’t."

Kael slowed and gestured at the ground ahead of them. "Look at the people around you. A lot of them are watching you, but most of those looks aren’t hostile. They’re scared."

Adrien paid closer attention, and Kael was right. The tension ran through the whole camp, yet it carried none of the weight of men waiting for permission to attack him.

"Many of them have families outside the company," Kael continued. "Some joined because mercenary work paid better than anything they could find back home. Others send most of their Crowns away every month. If they’re arrested, their families lose that money too."

That recast the fear hanging over the camp. These men knew exactly why Adrien had ridden in after weeks of attacks.

"Everyone in this camp has an awakened Mana Core. I’m sure most of them could find other work."

Kael turned toward him. "You noticed every person here is awakened?"

Adrien kept Absolute Mana Sense to himself. "I noticed."

Kael studied him a moment before going on. "Then you’re even more capable than the stories say. But ability isn’t the only problem. A lot of them are afraid of what happens if they leave. This company has been their life for years, and abandoning it isn’t as simple as walking through that gate."

"Because of Marcus?"

"Partly."

They passed another cluster of mercenaries. One looked away the instant Kael’s eyes found him, while another kept watching Adrien with an expression closer to worry than anger.

"Marcus wasn’t always like this," Kael said. "He’s led the Bloodfang Wolves for years. This company survived because of him more than once, and there are people here who owe him their lives. That’s why nobody wants to be the first person to turn against him."

"But something changed."

"Yes. Over the last year, mostly after we started working more regularly for Arquenay. At first it was small. Better contracts, more money, Marcus wanting us to take jobs we normally would’ve refused. Then he started caring more about what every contract paid than what we were actually being asked to do."

Adrien recalled how Marcus had spoken about the robbed caravans. No shame had touched the admission, only annoyance that the attacks had dragged Adrien into his camp.

"What happened with Arquenay?"

Kael answered at once. "I don’t know everything. I only became co-leader a few months ago. There was someone else in my position before that, and Marcus never told me much about what happened between them or what arrangements they had with Arquenay beyond the official contracts."

"What happened to the previous co-leader?"

Kael’s expression tightened. "He left. That’s all Marcus told everyone. After that, I took the position because I was the strongest person in the company besides him. Since then, Marcus has wanted more and more money."

A shout cut through the camp farther ahead, where two mercenaries had begun arguing beside one of the supply tents, and the quarrel turned physical before Adrien or Vikir could say a word.

Kael moved at once. "Excuse me, my lord."

He crossed the distance quickly and pulled the two apart before the fight could spread. Neither man challenged him once he stepped between them, and within minutes both had been sent off in opposite directions. Adrien watched from where he stood, noting that Kael had needed neither threats nor drawn steel to make them listen.

The rest of the afternoon passed with Adrien observing more than intervening. By the time the light between the trees began to thin, he understood the Bloodfang Wolves far better than he had that morning. Most of them wanted no fight with Clairmont, yet Marcus remained their leader, and nothing here would change while the matter stayed unresolved.

Adrien turned toward the largest tent as evening settled over the camp. He had given Marcus enough time, and now came the second conversation, the one that would end what was happening on Clairmont roads.