The Stupid Cannon Fodder is Stunning Today

Chapter 15: Mercy but Murders

This chapter is brought to you by Centuries by Fall Out Boy.

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Lark and Wren met him at the checkpoint near the town's border.

The forest behind the Lake acted as a natural barrier wall, so there were no gate guards lurking about. 

Nine was soaked in blood, his habits from the Arena were carried over to his mission. In his defense, he had made the kill cleaner than usual. He hadn't even gotten blood on his face. 

Lark and Wren had the sense of bringing his stuff, so Nine changed out his blood-soaked clothes and back into his red coat. 

They left Ohmlet as quiet as they came. 

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When his Lord Uncle read the first mission report, he had come to Nine in the middle of the night to lecture him about something regarding ethics secrecy, and morality. 

It was difficult to discern what he was getting at, and why he was there in the middle of the night lecturing him about killing people, but Nine was sure his Lord Uncle eventually gave up once he realized he lost him at the forty-minute mark. 

Death, in Nine's opinion, was inevitable. 

Everyone would die eventually. 

It was just a matter of how they would die. 

Nine's job was to speed it up, but the finish line was all the same.

When he told his Lord Uncle that, the man had stared at him in silence.

The next day, he saw another cat among Hungry, Dog, and Cow. 

"A reward," his Lord Uncle said. 

Nine blinked at the new cat. It looked at him, mewled, and then crawled into his lap. 

He stroked its head absentmindedly. 

"Fish," he named it.

"No," said his Lord Uncle. 

"Bird."

"Absolutely not." 

"Sweetie." 

"No--" his Lord Uncle paused. "That's actually not bad. Alright, your name is Sweetie, now," he said to the cat. 

Sweetie hissed at him. 

His Lord Uncle sighed in resignation, used to the rudeness of all his cats by now. 

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Missions for his nephew went from solo kills (with other mercenaries' supervision) to full-lone missions.

Valerius eyed the stack of mission reports. Ever since Tobus joined the Calypto mercenaries, he had racked up a reputation for having the longest streak of successes. 

For every success, there was a new cat brought into the estate. 

The Calypto Estate was soon being turned into a cat's den. 

When Valerius had first suggested lone missions for Tobus, Raven and Lark objected. 

Tobus was only fourteen and wasn't ready to handle a full mission on his own. 

It was already unusual for him to start off his career with solo skills. 

Most recruits would first begin with group missions before working their way up to qualifying for individual assignments, but Tobus was already experienced in the realm of killing, and his skills in combat rivaled a majority of his best men.