"And I foolishly thought this job would be a piece of cake now." Vimur spat out in frustration.
Since no other mercenary was aware of Phantom's declaration of 'war', Ashton had to inform them about it. It would be an understatement to say that none of them was pleased with the revelation.
Ashton did not reveal every detail about the letter and just informed them what they needed to know. While having his faction hunt for Phantom was a stealthier way of handling things, it would take them ages to reach the level of the mercenaries.
For that reason, Ashton decided to include the mercenaries in his plan. But what he forgot to take into account was his teammate's reactions.
The Phantom was a well-known name in the galaxy. There were a couple of reasons why even after having a multi-million Yenos worth of bounty over his head, no one wanted to mess with him.
Firstly, it was next to impossible to find him. However, even if someone managed to get a hold of him, the Phantom's ruthless lust for blood made it impossible for anyone to come back alive after he had set his eyes on them.
Even millions of Yenos were not enough for anyone to needlessly endanger themselves. But Ashton had no idea about it.
"Why is everyone so afraid of him?" He asked everyone, "He might be sneaky and somewhat strong, but it could be possible to get him if we all worked together!"
"You probably haven't been in space for long." Miska, the elven sharpshooter, remarked, "The Phantom isn't someone our team can handle."
"I concur," Laihud chimed in, "Think about it yourself, had it been so easy to capture him, then why no one bothered to do it till now?"
'No, it's not the right time to reveal my cards just yet.' Ashton thought, 'For all I know, that piece of shit could already be among us. I have to be careful not to alert him just yet.'
[I already scanned them using Detection. Phantom isn't amongst them.]
'Still, he could always kill one of us and get to know about the plan. The risk isn't worth it right now.'
Ashton had the perfect trap to take care of the Phantom once and for all. But not telling anyone else about it was an essential component of his plan. After all, Laihud wouldn't be much of bait if he knew he was the bait to lure that bastard.
However, judging by the look on their faces, it seemed most of them had already given up. If this was the situation by simply mentioning Phantom's name, who knows what these idiots would do once they come face to face with him?
[In my opinion, you shouldn't trust them to come forth at the time of need.]
Ashton silently agreed with Astaroth. Even though he would like to think his comrades wouldn't betray him, it was better to plan ahead while keeping the worst-case scenario in mind.
At the moment, Ashton probably knew the most about Phantom. More than any intelligence organisation did. That being said, telling them what he knew about Phantom would only make them cast wary eyes on him. That's why it was best to keep what he knew to himself.
After all, he wanted the Phantom to fall into the trap, which would suit his own benefit. Not the other way around.
"Be as it may, it doesn't mean we can neglect our responsibility as Miss Eula's escorts." Vimur slammed his fists on the table, "We have defended this place for a week. It would be a shame to give in to our fear when the end is in our sights."
"I-I agree with Vimur." Laihud immediately jumped to tag along with Vimur.
'Of course, you do.' Ashton couldn't help but smile.
Vimur was a prideful warrior. Obviously, he wouldn't run in his time of need, especially when the enemy's words hurt his ego. That's why Ashton exaggerated the things Phantom said in the letter about none of them being worthy enough of his attention.
Vimur's pride would get easily hurt by words, which would prompt him not to back down. Ashton used it to manipulate him into joining the fight against the Phantom.
'As long as Vimur comes along, Laihud will follow. Sometimes, my genius scares me.'
[Too bad it's only sometimes.]
'You're lucky in busy handling things right now.'
[Why do you think I offered my two cents in the first place?]
'...'
Even though Vimur and Laihud agreed to join Ashton to try and capture Phantom, the rest were still sitting on the fence about it. However, since Ashton wanted help from only some of them, he came up with an idea.
"Three of us and our factions should be enough to handle Phantom." Ashton mumbled, "As for the rest, you should focus on defending the mansion from the Metal Sharks."
As soon as Ashton finished speaking, the entire room began whispering. Ashton was giving them an easy way out.
While he and the two idiots were busy committing suicide, they would only need to do what they had been doing till now. The people from Metal Sharks would inevitably attack them again, and since they were familiar with handling them, it was the safest place to be.
The rest of the mercenaries immediately agreed to take care of the 'main problem'. Just like Ashton wanted.
[To think the safest place would be the battlefield... Things have certainly changed a lot.]
'They think it's the safest place, but who knows, maybe Phantom would decide to make an explosive entrance rather than a stealthy one.'
[So you mean-]
'That cocky bastard would do whatever he can rub salt on my wounds for when he 'defeats' me.' Ashton had a familiar sadistic smile, 'I can't wait to see the expression on his face once I take care of that bastard.'
[Now, now, don't get overconfident yourself.]
'I know, I know. It's just that thinking about him makes my blood boil.'