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Eula\'s two-week stay in her home began the same day. None of the mercenaries had any opportunity to relax due to their reduced numbers. But also since they had to remove the stain of betrayal that become the source of their anguish.

It wasn\'t strange that people\'s trust in the mercenaries had gone much below than anyone had thought. Qamnol\'s and Avvo\'s betrayal completely overshadowed Ashton\'s achievements. So much so, that the local security and residents did not hesitate for a moment before getting hostile towards them.

The hate Eula\'s consorts had towards Ashton only added fuel to the fire. The locals had known the consorts for some time, thus their words were widely believed and soon became facts in the eyes of those who loved Eula.

The scaredy consorts even managed to make everyone believe that had they been alongside Eula, she would not have to suffer through the mental scarring of being completely overwhelmed by the terrorists.

When in reality, they were glad they weren\'t on the ship with Eula or they might have ended up like her headless bodyguards.

Vimur, Laihud and the rest of them were completely ostracized and were only contacted when they were needed. The rest of the time, they were left unattended.

None of the mercenaries were even offered breakfast and instead when they went to ask for some, they were told there was nothing left and they should have asked for it earlier. At the same time, some untouched food was given to the stray animals right in front of them.

This behaviour made them angry, however, Laihud calmed everyone down and went to buy something from the outside. Vimur could have fought as well, but he did not. The moment he got to know what Qamnol and Avvo had done, he was ready to take some shit.  One could say, the mercenaries were repenting for the sin of the others.

Ashton, on the other hand, could not bother about the way everyone behaved around him. For a being like him, food and sleep weren\'t as important as the rest of them. After all, he could go months without either and be hardly affected by it.

"Hm... Would you believe me if I said it\'s the first time I have seen the sea?" He mumbled.

[Are you for real?]

Ashton smiled.

Although he had been around large water bodies before, he had never gotten the opportunity to witness the sea in all its glory. He had been a bit too busy living his life like a captive and then fighting with every Tom, Dick and Harry who came in his way.

As an added security measure, Eula\'s mansion was constructed on a far-off island. Although ships could be seen at some distance, none of them was allowed to get within a 10-kilometre radius of the island. If they did, they would be immediately shot down without any questions.

The island was connected to the mainland with the help of a drawbridge which was controlled by the mansion itself. Hundreds of guards were stationed all over the island, making it impossible for anyone to even lift a finger and go unnoticed.

With all that in mind, it should have been impossible for anyone to sneak behind them. But in the last hour, Ashton had managed to sneak in and out of the island a handful of times with different entry and exit points.

If someone like him could do it and go unnoticed, it was obvious the guards were incompetent. Every time he sneaked in and out, Ashton made sure to make a mental note of the place. In some cases, he even made sure to obstruct the path permanently.  Right now, he was taking a break after getting rid of one such path.

[Rather than doing all this work yourself, don\'t you think you should alert the security?]

\'What\'s the point? Even you have noticed how they are acting around us, haven\'t you?\' Ashton scoffed, \'If I even report these things to them, they\'ll not listen to me.\'

[Be honest with me... you wanna rub it in their faces, don\'t you?]

\'...maybe.\'

[Why am I not surprised?]

Ashton smiled and went back inside the mansion, only to be stopped at the front gate.

"Are you planning to stop me every time I want to enter the mansion?" Ashton sighed and brought up his mercenary card.

"If you have so much trouble, then why don\'t you walk away and leave the protection to us?" The guard scoffed, "It\'s not like you lot can do shit either way."

Ashton kept his calm. He had met a few too many people like the minotaur in front of him. Acting arrogant and prideful when things are calm and then running away as soon as things turn to shit.

Ashton was cool till those fuckers were bashing the team in its entirety. But this guard took it a bit too personal, so Ashton did what was the most suitable thing and lashed back at the cow... in a polite way.

"I was wondering about the same thing." Ashton mumbled with a sincere expression on his face, "Lady Eula has so many competent people to protect her, then why did she ask for mercenaries to escort her instead of asking a mighty doorman like you to do so."

The minotaur\'s face flared up as soon as Ashton talked back. After bashing the rest of the team, it seemed the locals had gotten a bit too loose with their tongues. The rest of them might take the heat but Ashton was no one\'s verbal punchbag, except Astaroth\'s.

"I\'ll tell you what, the next time I see her, I\'ll ask her to promote you, so you could at least stand inside the gate and bark at people like a good pet," Ashton said and walked inside, leaving a very angry minotaur behind.

However, he did not make it far enough before he was greeted by one of Eula\'s consorts. It seemed he had overheard the conversation between the guard and Ashton and wasn\'t pleased with him. Not that Ashton gave a shit about someone as useless as him.

\'Talking to him gives me brain damage,\' Ashton thought, \'let\'s just ignore him and leave.\'

Sadly, it seemed the consort had other things in his mind as three guards promptly stepped in to block Ashton from leaving.

"What is it?" Ashton annoyingly asked the consort.

"I overheard what you said to him and I would like you to apologise to him for your harsh words." The consort blatantly ordered Ashton.

To say it did not go well with Ashton would be an understatement. Especially when a moment later, the consort found himself on the floor grabbing his bleeding cheek.

"Let me make one thing clear for you worms. I am not your servant, nor do I work for you. I\'m not like the rest of the guys who will take shit from morons like you." Ashton brought his face awkwardly close to the consort\'s.

"I\'m a mercenary who is contracted to protect Lady Eula. That\'s the only thing I care about. So if you care about yourself, then throw away any notion you might have in your mind about me working for you. This is the last time I\'ll warn you to be careful with your words around me."