"You think the pay is actually tripled, or is the Duke just trying to get us into the meat grinder before we realize there's no gold left?"
"Shut your hole, Boros.
Tripled pay or not, it beats starving in the outer slums.
Besides, the Dusk-Eaters only come out at night.
We just need to hold the gate until dawn and we're golden."
"I heard the last squad didn't even make it to midnight.
They found their armor, but their names?
Poof. Gone. Like they never existed."
"Move it, you lot!
To the left for the physical testing, to the right if you're a magic-user who's actually worth the mana you're breathing!"
The courtyard of the Ducal Palace was a discordant symphony of clanking plate armor, nervous laughter, and the smell of cheap ale and unwashed bodies.
Thousands had gathered, a sea of desperate mercenaries, failed knights, and adventurers looking to cash in on the capital's slow-motion collapse.
Kang Min walked through the thick of it.
