A few moments later…
"My Lord, w-what's the meaning of this?!" the mercenary group asked, shocked by the sheer number of men who still remained on the ship. They were suddenly dragged inside of the cabin, held down by the men Lord Arclight called 'simple sailors and fishermen'.
"Your debt. I'm cashing in your debt," Lord Arclight answered casually. He was sitting comfortably on a simple chair in front of them, going over some paperwork. "I want you to be my bait. Your job is to be a good fish and draw in the bigger fish."
His crew clothed the mercenary leader in rich silk and jewelry, making sure that he looked the part of a rich lord. Then, they stripped the ship of everything that could reveal its true identity and changed the flag.
"My Lord, please, I'm begging you. I won't betray you again. Have mercy!" the mercenary leader pleaded, the rest falling to their knees.
"Act your part, or die, gentlemen. It's that simple," Lord Arclight's voice sounded gentle, hauntingly so, "You just need to pretend to be the lords of the ship. And when the big fish comes, you'll need to scream and shout, and then surrender exactly like you rehearsed with the Rochefort army."
The terror and confusion in the mercenaries' faces grew with each passing second, "M-My Lord, what are you saying? You just said that you won't kill us!"
"I'm not killing you," Lucian clarified, "Whether you live or die is up to your acting skills. Best of luck trying to switch sides again, my friends. You'll need it."
"My Lord!!" They tried to plead with him some more, but he continued to drill the script into their minds and nothing more.
So that's why Lord Arclight summoned all these debtors to begin with. It was not to protect him, but to serve him as his scapegoats. The chance to clear their debt was just a sweet lie to lure them in, a bait to keep them from running away!
One could not accumulate this amount of wealth through honest means. Eventually, they would be corrupted by the power that came with it, and then use that power to get more of what they desired. Lord Arclight, it seemed, was also not an exception.
──────────────────────────
"What if it doesn't work? What if they will be set on killing us?" The mercenary leader asked when the crew handed him a sword and an empty gun. He had no problem with killing other people, but he had no intention of dying himself!
"Then I'll mourn your loss and collect a nice profit from your death," Lord Arclight smiled, the crew laughing at his joke.
"Please, don't do this to us! We swear we will never betray you again!" the rest of the mercenary group begged as he left them to their fate.
'Of course you will not,' Lucian thought to himself, 'You will never have that chance again.'