Brand was well-versed in the background knowledge of the game. If Antitina's understanding of this world was limited to books, then he was a seasoned old hand. He stared into the other man's eyes. Although this captain-level character had shown leniency earlier, Brand could still gauge his true strength from the details of his moves.
Approximately mid-upper silver tier.
He thought, this was almost at the level of a White Mane Legion column captain, perhaps just a hair's breadth away from a squad leader's level. This indicated that the mercenary group's strength was indeed not to be underestimated. However, Reto and his companions, though retired old mercenaries, each possessed lower-middle Black Iron strength. Brand speculated that in their prime, they were probably not much weaker than these individuals.
He had privately inquired a couple of times about Reto and his friends' backgrounds, but the latter seemed unwilling to discuss much.
On the other side, Caber was glanced at by Brand, and a peculiar feeling arose in his heart. This premonition was almost instinctual. He looked at those deep, dark eyes that seemed bottomless— In fact, as a veteran mercenary, Caber had traveled to many places and seen many big shots. Some were nobles of Erune, while others were big merchants or estate owners, northern people, southern people, mountain people, Tower Clan, and even desert nations. He had also encountered one or two enigmatic wizards—but none had eyes as calm and unfathomable as this young man, who wore a faint smile as if everything was under his control.
That was a look full of confidence and composure. Newest update provided by novel~fire~net
For a moment, this seasoned mercenary had an illusion that all his secrets were laid bare before the other man. He frowned and shook his head to dismiss such a ridiculous idea from his mind; little did he know that this was the truth. He surely wouldn't have guessed that with just a single meeting, Brand had already deduced his background through a few details.
In this era, few knew about Imaria swordsmanship, and even Caber himself didn't know his swordsmanship came from this lineage; he had only been taught in his youth. And to be seen through with just two strikes was too absurd to be true, unless this young man was a grandmaster-level hidden swordsmanship master, which was more plausible.
The moment his gaze fell on the attire of Brand and his party, he noticed they came from Brags. The fashion in Golan-Elsen, while generally similar to the southern Erune, was quite different from that of the mountain people. Noticing this, Caber was just about to speak when Brand cut him off.
"You are outsiders, mercenaries?" Brand's gaze pretended to pass over Caber and fell on the mercenaries behind him.
As Brand spoke, Antitina and Roman stood quietly one on each side behind him. The girl, born of a noble family and well-read, naturally understood this was not the time for her to interject. However, the future merchant lady seemed to innately understand this, blinking adorably and watching Brand and Caber without saying a word.
Caber was slightly taken aback.
"That's right, and you?"
"We pass through Chablis several times a year. Although we are not locals, we are familiar with this place. In fact, from the moment I entered the town, I was wondering when Chablis had so many travelers." Brand said with a straight face, fabricating facts seamlessly. "It wasn't until I saw you that I realized, oh, it's mercenaries—"
Antitina's eyes flashed behind him, her face calm. Our Little Roman listened with a smile, as if everything Brand said was entirely true. One had to admit that the merchant lady had some native talent for this profession, particularly in the ability to deceive.
"We've been hired to eliminate the Lizardman thieves in the forest." Brand's response was logical and composed, displaying not the slightest flaw, making it hard for a seasoned mercenary to suspect otherwise, thus he answered truthfully.
After all, their presence here wasn't exactly a secret.
Nevertheless, Caber remained instinctively cautious and did not pursue this topic further. Instead, he asked, "Passing through Chablis several times a year? Sir, you must be a merchant. If you ever need the services of our mercenary group, please feel free to call on us. We will certainly provide the best service."