When old Pablo escorted Aske away, his face was unmistakably smug, particularly when he saw Turasso maintaining his elegant, indifferent smile, though the coldness in his eyes could not be concealed.

Bringing Aske to the Great Captain's office, old Pablo introduced him and discreetly mentioned Turasso's situation before he closed the door and left.

"So, His Highness is also impressed by your capabilities, Lord Aske?" Deslar put down the documents in his hand and looked up.

"Heh." Aske simply chuckled without responding, pulling out an identity document issued by the Church Court from his chest and placing it on Deslar's desk.

Deslar silently read through the document, then said somewhat unexpectedly,

"So you are the Squad Leader of The Azure Longsword… Yes, I've heard of your name. The Steel Cross Mercenaries have always held you in high regard."

His choice of words was cautious; he used "high regard" instead of "praise," indicating that the Steel Cross did not treat The Azure Longsword as mere juniors to admire but as formidable equals to consider.

This might seem somewhat baffling; however, considering the prominent identities of some team members, it wasn't too hard to understand.

There was the daughter of the Lixini Family; the Church Court favored her significantly, promoting her vigorously in Italy; as for Miss Eleanor, the Steel Cross Mercenaries and other peers had recently come to an understanding:

The supreme monarch of the Holy Solomon Empire wished to meet Miss Eleanor.

The specifics were unclear, but one could guess it involved some melodramatic illegitimate daughter scenario. Anyway, people at the Steel Cross headquarters had mentioned that if the large mercenary groups on the continent encountered The Azure Longsword, they should inform the local Steel Cross subdivision, who would send someone over promptly.

This was a favor owed. Opportunities for the Steel Cross Mercenaries to owe a favor were rare, not just within the industry but even some small duchies could not ignore such a chance.

The Church Court, located in Italy, was probably the only exception, so when they extensively promoted the deeds of The Azure Longsword some days ago, the members of the Steel Cross didn't dare approach Solomon City directly—relations between Divine Luo and the Church Court hadn't normalized since the great war.

Had it been the previous Deslar, he would have preferred to inform the Steel Cross: The Azure Longsword you are looking for has come to the Iberian Peninsula! However, after meeting the leader known as Aske, the Bull Mercenary Group's Great Captain suddenly changed his mind.

A kind of intuition based on past experiences told him that forging a good relationship with The Azure Longsword might be more valuable than earning the favor of the Steel Cross.

"I hope you don't mind my asking," Deslar invited him to sit, then smiled and asked, "This document should have been issued to the Royal Family of Aragon-Castilla to verify your identity to them."

"Why have you not gone directly to the Royal City of Lerida, nor to Valencia to find the City Lord, but instead came directly to us, the Bull Mercenary Group?"

"It depends on our purpose," Aske responded, "What is the purpose of the Bull Mercenary Group participating in this Undead War?"

"To protect our base." Deslar replied. "Whether it was the former Catalonia Mercenaries or now the Bull Mercenary Group, our base has always been the Iberian Peninsula, under the Aragon-Castilla Kingdom."

"That's exactly why," Aske gestured, "You are positioned in Valencia City on the front lines, not somewhere else, right? If Valencia falls, the undead could advance north along the coast of the orange orchards, making defense much more difficult."

"That's right." Deslar understood his point and asked, "So, your purpose here is also to help defend the kingdom? But if so, you certainly could have taken the proof of identity to meet with the lord of Valencia City."

"So our purpose is not just to defend the kingdom," Aske implied, "Besides, we are only a small elite team."

"I understand," Deslar mused.

A small elite team, of course, cannot be mixed with regular troops; that would be a waste. The best tactic for them is like a scalpel, to be used as a special forces unit to complete highly difficult, special tasks.

Such as infiltration behind enemy lines, capturing strongholds, assassinating key figures, and so on.

Conversely, if they went to Valencia, they would likely be integrated into the City Guard Knights, becoming part of the troop defending the city.

After all, for the lord of Valencia, fighting the undead in the southern highlands was a high-risk, low-return endeavor; better to secure his own territory to ensure no loss of benefits, reflecting typical feudal noble thinking.

Does this mean, soon after arriving on the Iberian Peninsula, this leader had completely understood the situation and immediately made the most rational choice?

Thinking this, Deslar unconsciously elevated The Azure Longsword Team higher in his estimation by a level.

"Here's what we'll do," Deslar pulled several documents from a pile beside him, "Here we have some high-difficulty tasks initially planned for the Aragon Raiding Corps, but they are currently understaffed."

"If The Azure Longsword is interested in this area, you may pick one to take over. We offer a payment split of seventy-thirty, seventy for you, thirty for us."

Aske took the documents, glanced through them, and saw keywords like "Lucitania Great Forest," "Badajoz Jungle," and "Half-Elf Tribe" in one of them.

If his memory served correctly, Miel's acquaintance, the Demigod Maya, should have her influence around the hill areas of Badajoz. Dense forests covered the area, with rugged paths and numerous half-elf tribes scattered around—both humans and undead found it difficult to penetrate.

"Let's go with this one," he kept that document and returned the others to Deslar.

"Half-elves are not exactly easy to negotiate with," Deslar warned, "And the jungle terrain is complex, with food, temperature, and diseases as risks, though I believe you can handle these challenges."

"Do you have a map of Lusitania here?" Aske asked.

"No, the half-elf tribes do not allow us to map their lands; they are very sensitive about this," Deslar shook his head, "However, our logistics department colleagues maintain regular trade with them, so they roughly remember the routes into the jungle. I'll arrange for him to guide you."

"Alright," Aske said, "If possible, we'd like to set out as soon as we can."

"How about tomorrow morning?" Deslar suggested, "Nine o'clock."

"Fine."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.