[ In other words, Kim thinks, he's a military contract worker. It's not a profession he has much respect for. It's also not one he's known anyone to take up willingly without having gone through great trials beforehand but, at the end of the day, there's no hardship that can make Kim feel sympathetic to the sort of things he's heard about. Unbidden, he thinks of the Krenel Mercenaries and that awful man who had stood shouting by the gates of the Harbour, the glee with which he had spoken of the awful things he did. Even for someone as experienced as Kim, that had been... troubling to hear.

Looking at Kimmuriel, his flat affect firmly in place, he has a hard time placing him among their ranks. ]

A mercenary contractor. I see. [ It's impossible to tell what he's thinking from his expression and tone alone. When he wants to be - which is often - Kim is a stone wall. ] What sort of work did that usually entail? I'm familiar with the term and how it works where I am from, but I imagine it may be different in your world.

[ It's benefit of the doubt, at least. He doesn't have Kimmuriel pegged as a good man. But nor does he have him pegged as a bad one. ]