Chapter 11

Chapter 11 : Seeing Through the Mercenary’s Ruse

Wherever people gathered, clashes of opinion were bound to arise.

All the more so if they were young, hot-blooded warriors.

That was precisely why a leader was necessary in such moments.

When everyone’s voices crossed over one another, there had to be someone who could gather them together and command them.

The same was true for a band of mercenaries, so on missions like this, it was only natural for someone to emerge as the one leading the group.

And among mercenaries, that role was usually taken by the person with the highest level or the one who commanded the largest faction.

In that sense, a man named Rihman, the captain of a small mercenary band, was perfectly suited to serve as the leader for this trading company escort mission.

‘...That is the template, anyway.’

Out of the corner of my eye, I studied the appearance of the mercenary captain approaching me.

One of the essential skills of veteran Velheim players was the ability to estimate an opponent’s strength just by looking at their equipment.

And the mercenary captain’s clothing gave off a strange sense of wrongness.

Pointed poulaine-style foot guards, chainmail torn and frayed in several places, a flamboyant noble-style gambeson—his equipment had no sense of unity whatsoever.

‘Judging by the way he uses a long greatsword, he seems like a typical warrior focused on Strength or Agility... but why is he wearing an arm guard when he is not even carrying a bow? And that ring would not have any use unless he were a Mage....’

From the perspective of a veteran player, it was the height of incomprehensible inefficiency!

Still, it was not entirely impossible to understand.

In the medieval-Renaissance era, preparing a full suit of plate armor cost as much as a house, so it was common for a wandering mercenary to save up bit by bit and acquire equipment one piece at a time.

Though I still could not understand the inefficiency of acquiring something as low-priority as foot guards before a helmet or breastplate, which were the core of one’s protection.

As I analyzed him step by step, the mercenary captain soon walked straight up to me.

“I am Rihman, captain of the Bluebird Mercenary Company. And you are?”

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Doran. I only recently came to the capital, so I have no affiliation. I apologize for rushing out on my own....”

“Forget that. ...You said you were the client who entrusted us with the escort, did you not? I did not expect much since they said you were a noncombatant, but you fought surprisingly well. What level are you?”

The mercenary captain cut me off and abruptly asked in an authoritative tone.

What country’s etiquette was it to ask someone’s level the moment you met them?

But I sensed an unexpected current in the mercenary captain’s face.

｢The mercenary captain is watching you warily with sharp eyes!｣

‘Why?’

Why would a man who was important enough to be a mercenary captain be watching me so closely?

I did not know, but my mouth was already moving.

“Thir....”

“What did you say?”

“My level is about 3. I have fought Kobolds a few times back in my hometown, so I stepped forward. I am glad I seem to have been of some help to you mercenaries.”

“Ah, is that so...? You did fairly well for a low-level brat, and an unlucky black-haired one at that. ...Next time, do not suddenly rush out. Collecting corpses is a bother.”

The mercenary captain heard my level, then waved his hand as if he had wasted his time and returned to where his group was waiting.

If someone had grown up only inside a closed-off village, it was not unreasonable for their level to still be in the early single digits.

‘There is no harm in being careful.’

Malton’s eyebrow twitched when he heard my lie, but he remained silent.

***

It had already been three days since we left the harbor village with the mercenaries.

Once we emerged from the long forest and reached the grassland, the exhausted mercenaries collapsed one by one onto the grass.

Normally, it would not have been strange for the city walls to be visible in the distance by now, but we had yet to reach the city.

The reason was....

｢You have safely endured today’s fourth great monster assault!｣

｢It is extremely rare for Monsters to attack this persistently! What could be happening here?｣

Because ever since we had left the harbor village, we had been under constant attack by Monsters.

“Have these damned Monsters lost their minds...? How many times does this happen already...?”

“Four times just today. They were rushing at us with their eyes blazing, as if we had killed their parents.”

“No, does it make sense for this many of them to swarm us? The knight order regularly subjugates this area. I doubt you could even get this number unless you scraped together every Monster in the vicinity....”

“Maybe they saw your face, mistook you for one of their fellow Monsters, and came to rescue you?”

Dry chuckles broke out among the mercenaries.

Everyone was laughing, but they could not hide the deep fatigue shadowing their faces.

Even I could not help being astonished by the Monsters’ persistence.

“These damned Monsters have gone mad....”

This could not be better!

Was there any better opportunity to level up?

I did not even need to go out of my way to search for Monsters; they came to me on their own!

Even if I were in danger of being surrounded by Monsters, Malton was reliably guarding my back, and if things grew dangerous, I could subtly push them onto the mercenary group.

On top of that, because new monsters kept attacking, I did not need to worry about reduced experience gains from repeatedly hunting the same kind of Monster.

The mercenaries looked as if they were suffering a little, but that was none of my concern.

Thanks to that, my level, which had been 8, had skyrocketed to 13 before I knew it.

It was an insane growth rate, to the point that I felt dizzy from the sudden leveling up.

Moreover, the fact that I had built up some friendship with Malton was also good news.

After I roughly wiped away the sweat and grime with a wet towel, I set up a simple tent with Malton’s waterproof cloth. Then he straightened his back and said,

“Hmm... I am a little hungry. I was thinking of having dinner before it grows any later. What will you do?”

“I will prepare it again today. Let us eat together.”

“Oh...! Would that be all right?”

“I am even borrowing your tent, so this much is only natural. Do you happen to have any spices or herbs left?”

“I thought this might happen, so I picked some on the way here. Will this be enough?”

“Yes. Please wait just a moment.”

I lit a campfire, then received the aromatic herbs and meat Malton had procured from the forest.

Today’s dish was skewers made with Lesser Rat meat.

An ordinary person would have felt resistance at the thought of rat meat first, but in Velheim, such thoughts were a luxury.

‘Let us see... I can use these branches for the skewers....’

I skewered the Lesser Rat meat, which I had prepared in advance on the way here by removing the organs and draining the blood, then placed it over the campfire.

Rat meat was low in fat and light in flavor, so the key was to cook it quickly in order to preserve as much juice as possible.

First, I seared the surface over a strong flame, then cooked it through to the inside.

For the finishing touch, I finely chopped and sprinkled the herbs Malton had prepared, then added a pinch of salt....

“Oh...! Wh-What is this fantastical food?! You merely roasted a Lesser Rat over the fire, yet it tastes like this... Perhaps because the charcoal aroma seeped into it, but this is truly delicious...!”

“How is it? At this level, is it not comparable to something sold at a street stall?”

“Of course it is! To produce such a flavor with only simple ingredients... Was your mother perhaps a cook?!”

“...Must that be the case in order for someone to cook delicious food?”

“Then your father must have been a cook!”

“No, well... Forget it. Let us leave it at that.”

For something eaten outdoors, this was exceptionally good.

It was far better than what the mercenaries made, tossing meat that had not even been properly drained of blood into a pot and turning it all into some unidentified stew.

‘Do those fellows know nothing except grilling and boiling...?’

As I endured the gazes of the mercenaries staring as if bewitched by the delicious sizzling scent of the skewers, I suddenly sensed someone approaching this way.

When I slowly raised my head, the mercenary captain was walking over from the center of the campsite.

He approached with a forced smile on his lips that did not suit him.

I reflexively hid the skewer behind my back, but he did not even look at me and instead went up to Malton to speak.

“Sorry to disturb you during your meal. Do you have a moment?”

“Of course. ...Would it be better to move elsewhere?”

“No, I do not think that will be necessary. ...I heard you were a famous Elf Adventurer in this area, and you certainly are rather impressive. Your skill at fighting Monsters is excellent. I heard all Elves were arrogant and selfish, so this was unexpected.”

“Haha. It is true that Elves tend to be strongly individualistic. And I was merely doing what I naturally had to do as someone who accepted a request, so there is no need to thank me.”

Malton replied with an amiable laugh.

The fact that his eyebrow did not so much as twitch, even though this mercenary rabble, no better than a fledgling compared to him, was speaking so rudely, gave me a sense of his magnanimity.

Though I, who had watched Malton by my side for ten years, could tell that he considered the mercenary captain utterly ridiculous.

The mercenary captain, having no idea at all, continued speaking.

“You seem like an Elf who knows a little courtesy. I like that. Ah, and this is a modest gift from me. Please accept it.”

The mercenary captain took a bottle of alcohol from his coat, then forcibly emptied Malton’s canteen and filled it with liquor.

Judging by the fancy label on the bottle, it looked like extremely expensive liquor....

And he was just giving it away?

I looked at the mercenary captain with suspicion, but Malton laughed heartily and shook the canteen as if in thanks.

Once the satisfied mercenary captain left, I asked in a low voice that was almost scolding.

“Sir Malton, what on earth were you thinking, accepting that liquor? Anyone can see it looks suspicious....”

“Haha... How could one call oneself an Adventurer if one refused free liquor? I will share a little with you too, so have a drink!”

Malton roared with laughter loudly enough for every mercenary in the campsite to hear.

But unlike his cheerful voice, his cold eyes were watching as he secretly poured the liquor onto the grass.

“Shh....”

Malton quietly raised his index finger to his lips and smiled at me.

***

In the middle of the night.

I had been lying quietly in bed when I suddenly sprang up.

For a moment, I thought I had heard a commotion outside....

“...Are they gone?”

As I quietly crawled out of the temporary tent, a dreamlike night sky greeted me.

The dazzlingly brilliant moonlight, the dark blue Milky Way, the crickets chirping sorrowfully....

It was a sight that seemed as though it belonged in the trailer for a fantasy game.

But the palms of my hands, scraped raw from swinging a sword too much, the muscle pain, and the headache caused by my rapid leveling up quickly dragged me back to reality.

“...This is not the time to be leisurely lost in admiration.”

I drank cold water to drive away my drowsiness, then looked around.

From the moment I saw the mercenary captain’s strange attitude and equipment, the instincts I had trained over the years had been sounding an alarm.

Sure enough, I immediately noticed something strange.

‘...Why is it so dark?’

The surroundings were far too dark.

Even when I looked around the campsite, I saw no campfire, torches, or lanterns belonging to the sentries on watch.

Moreover, it was obvious that several people had disappeared from the campsite.

The tents where people should have been were completely empty.

‘We have deserters...!’

A chilling premonition ran through me.

I quickly returned to the tent, woke Malton, and explained everything. He immediately grasped the situation.

“I see. The mercenaries disappeared without a word... That certainly is strange.”

“You do not seem very surprised... Did you expect this, by any chance?”

“I sensed he would try something from the moment the mercenary captain offered me liquor. Did you not feel the same?”

“........”

“...Then let us move at once. Do you happen to know where the missing people went?”

“No, not that far....”

“Then let us look together.”

Malton came out of the tent, lit a lantern, and surveyed the campsite.

However, it was not difficult to find out where the missing people had gone.

Not long after we examined the area around the empty tents, we found tracks leading toward the nearby forest.

“...Judging by the number of footprints, three people, is it? If we include the missing sentries, that makes five. Quite a lot.”

“Considering the mud on the grass leaves has not dried yet, it has not been long. Is there any chance they briefly left because something urgent happened? Or that they fled in a hurry from something?”

“If that were the case, they would have made a loud noise, so we certainly would have noticed. Besides, judging by their short stride, they were deliberately moving stealthily so as not to wake the others.”

“As expected....”

“...In addition, one of the footprints stamped into this dirt belongs to the mercenary captain. Do you remember the foot guards he wore? If the metal cover is larger than the shoe size, the decorative pointed tip leaves a mark like this on the ground.”

Malton pointed to the front part of the footprint, where a sharply gouged wedge-shaped mark had been left.

I also remembered the mercenary captain’s instep guards clearly.

They were equipment that was rarely used unless one was a cavalryman whose legs were easy targets.

‘So he really did get them by looting a knight...?’

If so, that would explain his utterly mismatched equipment.

“Then what should we do now? It feels unpleasant to simply ignore this and move on....”

“I think it would be best to follow them. Seeing as they even put out the campfire and disappeared quietly, they may have some impure intention.”

“I will go with you.”

“Very well. It would be better for you to move with me than remain here. However, I think we should wake the others and prepare for the possibility of an emergency.”

Together with Malton, I headed toward the center of the campsite where the mercenaries slept.