Chapter 32

Chapter 32. Mercenaries (2)

After hearing that absurd declaration, the female mercenary growled at the newly arrived mercenary.

"And who the hell are you now?! I was just starting to have fun, so don’t get in my way!"

"I saw the weak being made to suffer. I could not simply walk past."

"No, what do you mean, the weak? Do you have any idea how much trouble this little rat has caused us? And you, stop right there!"

I had been trying to slip away while the cloaked mercenary and the psychotic female mercenary argued, but unfortunately, she noticed.

The moment the psycho woman leveled her sword at me as I edged away, the newly appeared cloaked mercenary stepped in front of me.

He really was a good mercenary, absurdly fond of meddling in other people’s business.

"No, do I look like I’m joking just because I’m talking? Die!"

The moment he blocked her, the psychotic female mercenary charged with her sword raised.

At the same time, the sword came free from the scabbard in the cloaked mercenary’s hand.

Flash!

At that instant, lightning flashed before my eyes.

"Urk!"

The psycho woman, who had rushed in, staggered back in confusion.

He really was skilled. An ordinary mercenary would have found it difficult to dodge a strike like that.

"You should be ashamed of yourself! To have the skill to evade my sword, and yet all you do is bully a mere child!"

"Damn it, I almost died! And what do you mean, a child?!"

The two mercenaries said completely different things while talking about me.

One of them had already seen my skill, so she did not think of me as a child. The other had not seen what I could do, so he seemed to be judging by my size and assuming I was one.

No, for that matter, the way he said it carried an oddly firm certainty for someone merely judging by appearances. Was there some other reason?

That thought brushed through my mind for only a moment, because my eyes had been fixed on one thing for some time now.

From the instant the cloaked mercenary drew his sword from its scabbard, I could not take my eyes off it.

Unlike the ordinary scabbard, the sword itself had a distinctly antique appearance.

It was maintained so well that, when he swung it, it looked as though lightning itself were flashing, and the blade resembled the swords I had seen in history books from the days of the Old Empire.

But the reason I stared at it in a daze was not because it resembled an ancient imperial sword from a history book.

It was because of the emblem engraved on the blade.

The emblem of a bird soaring toward the sun.

I had definitely seen that emblem in my previous life.

At the entrance to the underground cave beneath the ruins. And at the abandoned graveyard.

Adria’s words from that day in the graveyard rose vividly in my mind again.

"It feels like if we stabbed a sword into this hole, it would fit perfectly.... Maybe if we push a sword into the hole, a mechanism would move and a hidden treasure chest would appear?"

She had said that while looking at the hole bored into the bottom of the coffin.

At the time, it had only been idle chatter, the kind she had rattled off to calm her nerves because of the dire situation we were in, so I had let it pass without thinking much of it.

But now that I was looking at a sword engraved with that same emblem, Adria’s words came back so vividly that it felt as though I had heard them only yesterday.

I did not know whether she had been right, but one way or another, I had finally found the emblem I had been searching for.

Then, as I stood there in a daze staring at the sword, the female mercenary’s voice reached my ears.

"Damn it, why are they all taking so long? And now some irritating meddler has shown up too."

That snapped me back to myself. This was no time to stand around like this.

This was my only chance. I started running toward Mercenary Street.

"I told you to stop!"

Naturally, the female mercenary came charging after me to block my path. But just as naturally, the meddlesome intruder stepped in her way again.

"Let the child go!"

"You bastard!"

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Lightning flashed again, and the crashing sound of blades colliding rang out.

It was frustrating. If I had had a better sword, I would not have needed to run like this.

Once again, I was unable to repay what had been done to me in my previous life.

We may have met several months earlier than before, and I had been confident that I had grown stronger than I was in my last life by working so hard all this time.

And yet, because of my own arrogance, my haste, and the miserable quality of my sword, I was fleeing like this, leaving my back to a stranger.

Perhaps because of the wound, my running steps gradually grew heavier.

"Damn it! He got away! You, just wait a little longer! When the others get here, I’ll cut off your arms and legs and stuff you for display."

"You truly are a vile creature. To coat your sword with poison inside the city.... If the territorial soldiers catch you, it won’t end with a mere fine."

"No, what are you even talking about? Are you really a mercenary?"

The two of them fought with their mouths just as fiercely as they did with their blades.

The battle had already tilted completely to one side.

Swordsmanship, force, everything about it—the cloaked mercenary was overwhelming her.

But the fight did not end quickly. Because of the poison smeared on her sword, the cloaked mercenary was unable to deliver a decisive blow.

While the two of them fought, the whistle that had sounded from afar began drawing closer and closer.

"Oh ho, I guess the others are coming. Since that dwarf who made me angry is gone, I’ll just have to amuse myself with you instead."

At the female mercenary’s words, the cloaked mercenary faltered for an instant. He seemed to be hesitating over something.

It felt like I ought to solve that hesitation for him.

Whoosh!

Putting every bit of strength I had into it, I hurled the half that remained of my sword and shouted to the cloaked mercenary,

"Attack her!"

Both of them were startled by my voice.

It was only natural. The one they thought had escaped had suddenly come back.

Still, both seemed to be experienced fighters.

"How dare you!"

Clang!

The female mercenary managed to block the suddenly flying blade.

"Urk! A blade carrying mana?!"

But she had not anticipated the force packed into that broken half-sword.

Driven back by the flying blade, her stance collapsed, and in that instant she fell into the hands of the cloaked mercenary, who struck through her opening.

"Ugh, you...."

Leaving behind some cliched last words, the female mercenary collapsed.

Limping slightly, I approached the two of them.

"So you hadn’t run away?"

"I intended to, but I couldn’t bring myself to."

At the mercenary’s faintly irritating tone, I shook my head.

I had run toward Mercenary Street, then halted when my leg grew too heavy and said that to him.

After that, I turned back and limped through the darkness of the alley.

No special reason had come to mind. I simply had not wanted to run.

So I had crept back, hidden in the darkness of the alley, watched the fight, and then helped by throwing my blade like this.

Viewed coldly, it had been a truly foolish thing to do.

He had nothing to do with me, and I had only met him once.

Had I naively wanted to help him just because he had helped me? Or was it because I had found the emblem, the clue connected to the grave?

It was fortunate the result had been good, but whatever my reason, it had not been a wise thing to do.

"So you didn’t kill her."

At my words, the gaze hidden beneath the cloak seemed to turn slightly stern.

"A child is already talking about killing people...."

He truly was someone who said things no mercenary ought to say.

No, even nobles did not talk like that. Had he spent his whole life frolicking in some flower garden?

I picked up the broken half of my sword lying nearby.

Even the fragment of blade still attached to it was cracked in every direction.

It had become a completely useless object now.

Unfortunately, the female mercenary’s poisoned sword was nowhere to be seen. Where had it gone?

Gripping the ruined sword, I walked toward the collapsed female mercenary.

The whistles were drawing closer, and now I could hear shouting.

There was no time.

I stood over the fallen female mercenary and brought the sword down.

Straight toward her neck.

Thud!

But the sword never pierced her.

The broken half-blade was intercepted by another sword and shattered to pieces.

"Why did you stop me? She’s a woman who tried to kill us."

"Honestly.... What in the world is happening to this country...."

After muttering something strange, the cloaked mercenary pointed behind him.

"People are coming. I don’t know what happened, but shouldn’t we avoid getting caught by them?"

The cloaked mercenary grabbed my arm and began running toward Mercenary Street.

I obediently ran with him.

It was already too late.

My sword was destroyed, and this meddlesome fool was stopping me, so there was no way I could kill her before the others arrived.

Still, making an injured person run....

"That woman was a mercenary named Noah, right? Vice-captain of the Red Bear Mercenary Company."

So he had known who she was. The cloaked mercenary had known and yet pretended not to.

"I’ve heard she’s famous for having a nasty temperament, but seeing her in person, I’d say it goes well beyond that."

Naturally it goes beyond that. She’s dangerously insane. So why did you stop me?

"But even so, if the vice-captain of the Red Bear Mercenary Company dies in a place like this, it’ll become an enormous nuisance."

"If that happens, neither you nor I will be able to stay in this territory any longer. If things go badly, the Bear Mercenary Company might chase us for the rest of our lives."

Wow. For something said by such a busybody, that was surprisingly logical.

"They don’t know my face, and they’ve completely mistaken the little brat for someone else, so as long as we don’t kill her, things will quiet down soon enough."

From the perspective of an ordinary mercenary who had not seen my real appearance, that was only natural.

A quieter outcome suited me too.

I was only just beginning to form a plan, and there was no way a disturbance like this would help.

Killing her would have had its own advantages, but not killing her was not particularly bad for my plans either.

"More importantly, why were they chasing you? It didn’t look like they were after you just because they were ordinary pedophiles."

That sounded like quite a horrifying reason to be chased, too.

"It seems I heard something I wasn’t supposed to hear. They came after me because I was eavesdropping on their conversation."

"Hm. So you were eavesdropping on a conversation.... Then you aren’t just some ordinary little brat either, are you?"

Huh? That had seemed like a simple enough explanation. Had he misunderstood?

"I just happened to overhear it while walking down the street."

"A little brat who can evade pursuit from several mercenaries, approach me without my noticing despite an injured leg, throw a sword, and put mana into that sword.... And that little brat just happened to overhear something by chance?"

Damn it. Because he had seen my abilities, my excuse was no longer convincing.

"Well, I don’t regret helping you, but since things have turned out this way, surely I’m entitled to hear what happened as payment for helping you?"

As the cloaked mercenary said that, we entered Mercenary Street.

It was still outrageously noisy here. No, if anything, it seemed even louder now that the night had grown deeper.

"But do you know who I am?"

"We met earlier, didn’t we? Don’t tell me you already forgot I was the one who caught that pickpocket for you."

So he had recognized me after all.

I removed my cloak.

"As I thought, you’re a pretty boy. Much better once the cloak’s off."

The more she spoke, the more her tone changed.

'It seems she isn’t used to forcing her voice yet.'

Looking at the face still hidden beneath the cloak, I spoke.

"You knew my face, so.... what should I call you? Milady? Older sister?"

At my words, she abruptly stopped walking.

She seemed troubled.

"So you noticed?"

Her awkwardly forced voice disappeared, and her real one emerged.

It was a somewhat androgynous, husky voice. But unmistakably a woman’s.

"With a speech pattern that awkward, the moment you talk a little too much, you’re bound to be found out."

"I thought so.... I was trying to be careful, but I guess I got too excited."

At which part did she get excited? The meddling? The fight?

Either way, just as she wanted answers from me, I had things I wanted to hear from her too.

"Where are you staying? It’s far too late tonight, so I’ll come see you separately. I owe you something in return, and I’ll also tell you what happened."

There were many things I was curious about, but something else was more urgent right now. For the moment, I needed to hear where she was staying and meet her later.

Fortunately, after thinking for a moment, she told me the place where she was staying.

It was another inn, a little way from here.

"Come around dinnertime. If I’m going out, I’ll tell the owner when I’ll be back, so ask there."

Once we had arranged that, she pressed a medicine vial into my hand and left.

Inside the vial was rather high-grade medicine.

The kind meant specifically for treating wounds.

I thanked her, then sat in the corner of a building and applied the medicine to my injury.

The bleeding stopped, and foam immediately rose from the wound.

It was good medicine. Far too expensive to hand to a child one had only just met.

It puzzled me, but thanks to it, the pain in my leg eased greatly.

After checking my leg, I headed back to the inn where Adria was waiting.

Martin was nowhere to be seen at the inn, and Adria was waiting for me alone.

Fortunately, she seemed to be in a good mood.

"My brother had something important to do, so he left first."

Hm. I have a feeling that important business had something to do with me....

On the way back after leaving the inn, Adria prattled on and on about the conversation she had with Martin.

Strange mercenaries passed by us, clearly searching for something, but none of them paid any attention to the two of us, who merely looked like siblings.

Once we left Mercenary Street behind, the number of people dwindled, and by the time we neared the temple, the streets were empty.

"Oh, right. I told my brother about the secret passage. He said he’ll come see me later if he gets the chance."

In the end, she had told Martin about the secret passage.

Things had been moved forward by several months, but in the end, nothing had changed from my previous life.

I smiled inwardly.

The gears were beginning to mesh and turn.