Chapter 17

Chapter 17 :The Ego Sword Picked Me Up 

Lower-Grade Mercenary

Veronica Mercenary Company Rohan (lower-grade)

―Lowest-Grade Promotion Vamp Hunt (Solo)

―Lower-Grade Promotion Vulf Hunt of 50 (Solo)

Advancing from lowest-grade to lower-grade was simple.

Generally, if one could hunt 1 Vulf alone, they were recognized as a lower-grade mercenary. If one did not have that much combat ability, there was also a method of proving one’s skill by resolving several requests.

The Vulf corpses I had brought to the “Veronica Mercenary Office” alone exceeded 50.

Recently, Vulfs had been wiped out around this area to the point of near extinction.

“May I take the mid-grade mercenary promotion test?”

“By the rules, you would only be given the qualification after completing several more requests, but by my authority as the Azif Branch Manager, I will allow you the chance to take the test. Are you not the hero who saved Azif?”

The one who saved Azif was Knight Babel. However, I was the one who had bought time until he arrived, and there was not a citizen of Azif who did not acknowledge that fact.

Wherever I went, people treated me favorably, and I no longer had to worry about room and board or matters that cost money.

“Choose one from among these.”

Branch Manager Carlton held out several pieces of leather. He was showing me the request sheets and taking care to let me choose directly.

Mid-grade promotion requests were fairly difficult. They took a long time, and even the nearest request site required walking for 2 days.

“Personally, I recommend this request. You will have to go far, but as long as you return safely, your promotion is practically guaranteed.”

It was a request to deliver an item to the County of Brisk. The reason a simple delivery request was classified as a promotion request was because the person who had entrusted it was a mage.

It was an item with a risk of explosion, so if one dealt poorly with bandits or monsters along the way, everyone seemed likely to explode together.

‘If I put Baluka and Karkash in front and have them block the monsters, I think I could succeed without much difficulty…….’

The problem was time.

It seemed it would take half a month on foot to reach the County of Brisk. It was because I had to carefully transport unstable goods.

“What is the most difficult request?”

Carlton, who had been looking at me with doubtful eyes, pointed at the request sheet placed at the very back.

“……This one.”

Recently, a group of Poison Goblins had been confirmed to have settled northwest of the Azif territory.

Their scale was around 100, but considering their reproductive ability and ability to conceal themselves, they were estimated to number as many as 300.

The success reward was 5 gold, and besides that, they would pay 10 silver for each Poison Goblin nose.

If I caught only 100, I would receive as much as 15 gold.

The distance was also among the closest. It bothered me that it bordered barbarian territory, but they had also lost hundreds of warriors not long ago, so they seemed likely to lie low for a while.

“This was not a subjugation request, but a scouting request?”

“Is that not obvious? Subjugating these creatures is the army’s role. Unfortunately, the current Rubalt royal family has no interest in a small frontier city like Azif. We must actively request rescue from this side, and to do that, we need solid proof.”

The mission was to scout the enemy camp and secure 10 Poison Goblin noses.

Strictly speaking, it was a 6-gold request.

“I’ll take this one.”

“Choose another. I am saying this because you feel like my own child. I was once a mid-grade mercenary too.”

“I will gratefully accept your advice. I truly will be fine.”

Carlton stared at me, wrinkling his already creased forehead.

“……You are no ordinary stubborn fellow either. Then hire other mercenaries. Hiring a mid-grade mercenary would be best. If your circumstances do not allow that, gather 3 lower-grade mercenaries.”

I did not dislike Carlton’s worry. Thanks to his attentive meddling, I could estimate the level of this request and of other mercenaries.

“I think that will somehow work out too. I have companions.”

When I looked out the window, Carlton also turned his head after me.

Karkash was outside, and around him, curious children had gathered with tree branches in their hands.

Karkash rolled only his eyes as he looked at the children, and drool dripped from his mouth.

“A L-Lizardman! You must evacuate those children at once!”

Carlton pulled out the longsword hanging on the office wall. I had thought it was decorative, but judging from the scratches on the hilt, it seemed to be a weapon he had used in his prime.

“You don’t need to worry. That Lizardman is mine. I picked up an artifact helmet.”

“An artifact?”

Carlton, who had been limping along on his prosthetic leg, stopped in place. He looked back and forth between me and Karkash with eyes full of suspicion.

“……This is the first time I have heard there is such a thing.”

“This is my first time seeing an artifact too.”

The people of this world regarded sacred objects as the highest. They spoke as if they rejected demonic objects imbued with the power of demons, but if a demonic object appeared before their eyes, there would be no one who would not pick it up.

The same was true of artifacts. Even if it gnawed away at one’s lifespan or led to harming others, any human with desire could not help being drawn to it.

Because it was the only lifeline that could breathe vitality into a ruined life.

“S-Still, do not be too arrogant. A mercenary is bound to run into trouble when he grows arrogant.”

Carlton looked down at his own leg with a bitter expression, and I patted his back.

“I will keep that in mind. Thank you for the advice, Branch Manager Carlton.”

***

I tried putting Flambeju into Karkash’s hand, but unlike with Baluka, there was no particular change.

So I bought Karkash a large axe. It was an item stuck in the mercenary office warehouse.

At first, we planned to go on horseback.

A packhorse used for farming cost 5 gold, and one with good endurance that could pull a carriage went up to 10 gold.

A quality warhorse started at 20 gold, and among the horses ridden by Knights, some exceeded 100 gold.

I had enough funds, but the problem was that I could not ride a horse to the destination.

In mountainous regions like the northern Rubalt Kingdom, moving on horseback was difficult. There were many cases where one had to dismount and walk in the middle, and often enough, the horse became a burden instead.

“I should ride you.”

―Carry, Master.

Karkash lifted me and put me on his shoulders.

He was strong, did not tire, and ran fairly well even through mountainous terrain.

‘Everything is good, except the ride is not great.’

We did not set off immediately and instead prepared for a long-distance journey first.

I asked a skilled carpenter to make a large A-frame carrier.

I attached a plank to the bottom of the carrier to create a seat, and when I placed a cushion on top, the ride became fairly comfortable.

Once I even installed a strap to act as a seatbelt, it became quite a decent means of transportation.

“Let’s go, Karkash.”

―Run!

When Karkash ran across the grassland, the surrounding scenery swept past.

‘Better than a horse.’

Karkash had surprisingly little shaking when he ran. It was thanks to his long trailing tail supporting him against the ground.

I looked up at the sky while flipping through the Necronomicon. There was not that much written in it, but I tried to understand Yog-Sothoth’s world using those things as clues.

And I recorded what I had organized on a blank page of the Necronomicon in Korean.

―One. Hell is under Yog-Sothoth’s jurisdiction.

Unfortunately, Heaven did not seem to be under Yog-Sothoth’s jurisdiction.

Just in case, I tried performing spirit invocation using the hospital gown I had worn here as a medium, but I could not summon anything.

―Two. The Necronomicon accepts things harmful to humans as sacrifices.

Thinking about it calmly, this was a strange point.

The Necronomicon primarily wanted blood, but it also absorbed “things harmful to humans.” It felt as if the Necronomicon existed for the sake of humans.

If the Necronomicon were used well, it seemed possible to avoid poisoning or infectious diseases.

―Three. The Necronomicon has humanity’s first necromancer, “Abdul Alhazard,” sealed within it.

After recording the third definition, one question came to me.

‘Can I summon Abdul Alhazard using the Necronomicon as a medium?’

I put it into practice immediately, without hesitation.

“O dead spirit who has crossed the threshold of death, O vengeful soul who yearns for life.”

I felt the familiar chill in one corner of my chest. It was a sensation I sometimes felt when swinging a sword.

Perhaps it was the operation of “magic power” mentioned in the Necronomicon.

However, for now, I could not get a sense of how to handle this sensation.

“……O Viceroy lurking at the boundary. Here, I command you: become the shadow of a world filled with light. Necromantic secret art, Spirit Invocation!”

The spirit invocation failed.

I glimpsed black and white lines connecting me and the Necronomicon, but they appeared for a moment, then vanished weakly.

“Is there not enough blood?”

Perhaps because I had not fed it sacrifices for a while, the Necronomicon’s sheen was not what it used to be.

A short while later, Baluka, who had run ahead, seemed to be returning. It was because I heard Flambeju’s shout.

―A bear! Baluka caught a bear!

Flambeju was even more excited than Baluka and kept shouting.

The bear Baluka was dragging along was a giant that looked twice Karkash’s size.

It was characterized by red fur, and its black claws had grown as long as daggers.

THUUUD!

Looking at the massive bear, I worried about how to process it.

We were in a forest quite far from Azif, so going back felt awkward, and the nearest village seemed to require a full day of walking as well. If we stopped there, our arrival at the destination, the Poison Goblin habitat, would be delayed.

“Well done, Baluka. Now you are finally fulfilling your role properly.”

I patted Baluka’s head.

His ears turned a little red, and Flambeju shouted sharply.

―Do not smile! What is that expression now?

Flambeju snapped his head around and looked at a distant mountain.

Baluka was embarrassed. Perhaps he had not received much praise like this in his life.

When I placed the Necronomicon on the bear’s corpse, it extended its tentacles as if it had been waiting and sucked the blood.

Perhaps because the bear’s body was so large, it seemed the Necronomicon’s blood drinking would take quite some time.

I lit a fire on one side and prepared a meal as I said,“Karkash, go hunt a little. Do not go far.”

―Hunt!

I warmed myself by the fire and ate a simple meal.

Baluka stared blankly at me, and when our eyes met, he tried to quietly rise. He was trying to go hunting.

―You lunatic, let me rest too! Every time you hunt, you giggle so much that I feel like I will fall into corruption!

“If a sacred object falls into corruption, does it become a demonic object?”

―W-What nonsense is that? Such a thing is absolutely impossible!

“I was just curious. I also think there is no such thing as ‘absolute’ in this world.”

―S-Stop thinking strange thoughts! I am the sacred object of the beginning, a noble existence who will sit at the Creator’s right hand!

“What is the reason such a great existence has not managed to establish proper Achievements until now?”

―T-That is, of course, because I met the wrong masters!

“If it had only been one or two masters, perhaps. But you said you are the sacred object of the beginning. In that case, you must have met quite a lot of masters.”