Chapter 12
The Day Before the Territorial War
Nothing else happened after that.
Except, it took quite a while for her to emerge from the room, her face flushed, and then resume her usual expression.
Click, clack.
As we stepped out of the inn, a carriage stopped in front of us, the sound of hooves echoing.
“Ugh, you’re here?”
A voice, raspy from years of alcohol soaking, came from beside the coachman.
It was Guildford, sitting in the front of the carriage, tilting a bottle of alcohol.
The smell of alcohol pierced my nostrils, but I tried my best not to wrinkle my face and said,
“Guildford? Why are you here at the inn?”
“I sent the main force ahead and called for another carriage. By the way, you’re late. What were you doing inside?”
Guildford asked, shrugging.
“Well, that’s-“
“I apologize for taking up time at the inn.”
Miss Prianian started to speak, as if to protest, but I scratched my head and confessed.
She turned to look at me.
“Why are you doing that?”
She turned away again without saying a word.
“What were you doing at the inn?”
Guildford asked pointedly.
‘I had a crossbow pointed at my head. That was the first time in my life I almost died in an inn.’
“It was my first time entering an inn. I was looking around, so I was late. I apologize.”
I only spoke the truth. Even back on Earth, I had never been to places like motels.
I felt a curious gaze from the third party in this conversation, but I gladly ignored it.
“Well, I understand. It’s a strange feeling, entering an inn for the first time after gaining freedom.”
Guildford, who knew my past – that I had been a slave – nodded a couple of times, swallowed two mouthfuls of alcohol, and said,
“Be careful next time. Alright?”
Guildford said nonchalantly.
It was the magic created by the alcohol he had consumed and the trust I had built up over time.
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Well, it’s all good now that you’re here. By the way, Miss Prianian, right? Nice to meet you. I’m Guildford Procter, the vice-captain.”
“Ah, yes.”
Miss Prianian greeted him with a hesitant expression.
Guildford continued to tease me, saying that I had saved her from walking, but I knew his intention.
‘If he came alone, no one could stop him from drinking.’
What if he came late and smelled of alcohol? He would just say he had already finished it.
“By the way, it’s impressive that you came yourself for a task that other mercenaries could have handled. That’s so like you, Guildford.”
So I just told him what he wanted to hear.
Truth and the right answer were different, and people had a natural instinct to hear what they wanted to hear. Social life started with fulfilling that instinct.
“Well, thanks for thinking so. It was worth bringing the carriage.”
Guildford said nonchalantly. But he couldn’t hide the slight upturn of his lips.
“Alright, passengers, please get in the back. We’ll depart once you’re settled.”
But wouldn’t we have arrived at the mercenary group much earlier if someone hadn’t tried to shoot me with a crossbow?
With that thought in mind, I glanced at someone as I got into the carriage.
That someone was looking at me with a hint of pity and then said, changing her expression,
“What are you looking at?”
I turned away again.
***
The Million territory was “just a little further” by carriage.
Of course, keep in mind that “just a little further” in this damn world, with no navigation or highways, could be stretched out due to various factors.
So “just a little further” and “almost there” were practically catchphrases for coachmen in this world, but this was a bit much.
“We’re almost there.”
The coachman uttered “almost there” for the fourth time. He had already used “just a little further” three times.
Everyone in the carriage was finding their own ways to alleviate boredom.
Guildford, in front, was guzzling from a bottle of alcohol that had appeared from who knows where.
The coachman occasionally turned his head away, pinching his nose or fanning himself with his hand, confirming that sitting at the back of the carriage was the right choice.
And our new Double Mercenary, sitting in front of me, was still looking prim and proper, bombarding me with questions.
I didn’t mind a girl young enough to say “Hawa-wa” taking an interest in me, but this felt like…
An interrogation at a police station.
“Where are you from?”
Earth.
“I’m from the Far East.”
“Where in the Far East?”
South Korea.
“A nameless village.”
“Come on, tell me. You never know, I might know it.”
It would be terrifying if the name “South Korea” was known here.
“Even you, Miss Prianian, who shook the world as a C-rank Double Mercenary, wouldn’t know it.”
She chuckled, as if I had said something absurd.
“Aha, what could a mere C-rank mercenary possibly shake up?”
“It’s a remarkable feat to be C-rank and receive double the pay.”
I didn’t know what feat she had accomplished, though.
“Mr. Jihouse, you already knew, didn’t you?”
She asked quietly, lowering her voice.
“What are you talking about?”
“Back at the inn, when I pointed the crossbow at you.”
Ah, she was talking about that.
I answered honestly.
I felt it and heard it.
And I added that I just sensed what was natural.
“Every human makes noise. It’s just a matter of how much. I was just lucky.”
Her eyes widened.
“Are you really an F-rank mercenary? You’re not hiding your strength, are you? Like a B-rank in disguise?”
I took out my mercenary tag to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings.
“Here, take a look at my fresh mercenary tag.”
She examined it for a while and then tilted her head.
It was quite something to see a doll-like person doing that.
“But most scouts who came to recruit me didn’t notice until I made a sound…”
“I have good intuition.”
Thanks to a certain crazy master who, under the pretense of preparing for ambushes and sniping, would shoot a crossbow from the skylight while I was in the toilet.
Miss Prianian’s eyes widened as she finally noticed the title and the gold star below my name on the mercenary tag.
“Five years of service as a slave mercenary in northern Britannian? I thought that was just a joke. You’re a real monster!”
It felt strange to be called a monster by someone who had done something even more unbelievable, but I played along.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Golpion Jihouse, the monster and the joke.”
“Mr. Jihouse, you’re an amazing person.”
“It’s all because I’m so talented.”
“He’s saying it himself. You’re thick-skinned enough to be a Double Mercenary.”
“Thank you. You can call me Jihouse, the one who receives double the insults and stabbings, even if I don’t get double the money and rewards.”
***
As we bantered, I started thinking that we should be arriving soon, when the coachman shouted from outside,
“We’re almost there, so get ready!”
I saw a sign outside the carriage.
It seemed the fifth “almost there” wasn’t a lie.
And as always, the carriage headed towards the forest on the outskirts of the territory, not the castle.
No one liked seeing dozens of heavily armed mercenaries roaming around inside a city.
Especially not the nobles who hired us because they didn’t want to get their own hands dirty. They wouldn’t go out of their way to accommodate us.
If I wanted to be greeted with flower garlands and banners that read “Congratulations on the Birth of the Protector of the Capital,” I should have become a knight or a mage.
Not a mercenary.
The Hwaruan mercenary camp was simply a collection of tents haphazardly set up on a grassy field, with a few mercenaries running around with branches and polearms.
They hadn’t finished clearing out the snakes yet. I should avoid that area.
Mercenaries fighting in territorial wars in the North usually arrived the day before the battle and set up camp unless it was a very distant location.
The reason was simple.
There were always those who wanted quick results through chaos and mayhem.
This region, having experienced countless wars, had particularly developed three things:
The art of killing with a sword, the art of verbally obliterating someone’s parents, and the art of incapacitating someone with sheer bullshittery.
Spiking the nearby water sources with a special laxative, made by the Alchemist Guild and designed to decompose naturally after two days, was a basic tactic. If the enemy had brought supplies in advance, they would scatter pebbles and large rocks around the campsite.
“Hey! There’s a snake!”
“If you don’t catch that, you won’t be sleeping tonight!”
And they also released snakes.
Until about four years ago, they used centipedes and scorpions too, but those were difficult to obtain and dispose of, and so many people ended up foaming at the mouth after getting bitten due to careless handling that they now only used snakes. They were relatively easy to handle.
But there was one unspoken rule: no killing before the battle commenced.
I didn’t know the reason. Maybe the nobles forbade it, or maybe it was because of the constant ambushes.
After the battle started, you could shoot arrows at their base or rain down meteors, but it didn’t usually matter because territorial wars typically ended in a day.
So instead of poison, they used laxatives. Instead of a rain of arrows upon disembarking, they used mildly venomous snakes that crawled on the ground. You only had to worry about caltrops on the roads and pebbles at the campsite.
Of course, there were many other things to be wary of.
“Ase, you’re here? And who’s this beautiful lady next to-“
“Uh, Bekal, watch your step.”
I snatched the pole Bekal was swinging around in front of me and thrust it into the grass ahead. Five steps ahead of him.
―Clang!
The end of the pole snapped with a dull thud.
Like this bear trap.
I handed the pole with the bear trap back to Bekal and said,
“Buy me a drink later.”
This was basic common sense.
Thinking about the aforementioned taboo in reverse, anything was allowed as long as it didn’t result in death.
After receiving Bekal’s thanks, we went straight to Hwaruan.
He was inside a large tent, like a yurt, as usual.
“Ah, you’re here? And this must be Miss Prianian. It’s been a while.”
Hwaruan offered her his hand, and Miss Prianian shook it politely with both hands, saying,
“You can call me Rona, Captain Gruncian. Pleased to meet you.”
“Then call me Hwaruan! Why are you being so formal?”
We’re going to be working together now, after all. Hwaruan said and offered us chairs.
As we sat down, he took out a document and showed it to us.
It was a paper with someone’s personal information, with a few bloodstains on the corner, giving it a menacing look.
“Now, this is information about the mage in the Sarian mercenary group. I got this from the branch manager before coming to the Million territory… after persuading him.”
Thank you, Uphouse. I don’t know if you’re still alive, but if you’re gone, may you rest in peace.
“Before that, let me ask you something. Ase, do you know why I called for Rona?”
“To neutralize the enemy mage, I assume. Not those half-baked mages who take forever to cast a spell, but as a means to deal with a real one from the Mage Guild.”
I stated my answer. It was something anyone could have predicted.
“That’s correct.”
Hwaruan agreed and pointed at the document.
“Pilian Locke. A mage of unknown school. Although he’s 4th-circle, he was recently promoted, so he’s not that skilled.”
“So my job is to snipe Locke?”
Miss Prianian asked, and Hwaruan, pointing at the document, asked,
“Can you do it?”
At his command, Miss Prianian nodded without hesitation.
“I will.”
“Good. As expected of a spell sniper.”
‘Spell sniper?’
An incident from a few months ago came to mind.
A mercenary who, during a territorial war in the central region that broke out for the first time in five years, had single-handedly sniped the enemy mage and vanished like the wind.
If she was truly the spell sniper I knew, I understood why she had taken on this job and why Hwaruan looked so pleased, but at the same time, a question arose.
Why wasn’t there any mention of a guard?
It didn’t make sense for a marksman of her caliber to be without a guard.
As if he had read my mind, he pointed at me and said,
“You’ll be her guard. You’re the only one available right now who has a low profile but proven skills.”
“By low profile, do you mean because I’m Golpion, not Ase?”
“That’s right. The name Ase has been removed from the roster. Of course, I’ll keep calling you that.”
I understood what he was saying.
“But shouldn’t we also consider Miss Prianian’s opinion-“
“I’m fine with it.”
Miss Prianian said with an indifferent expression.
And she added, without looking at me,
“I’ve seen your skills firsthand.”
Well, that shut me up.
“Ah, so you’ve shown her something. Anyway, since the person involved has agreed, I’ll assign you as Rona’s temporary guard, Ase.”
Hwaruan said with a grin. It seemed my solo deployment was confirmed.
Then I had to prepare some countermeasures of my own.
“In that case, I have a lot of requests.”
“I’ll hear them.”
Hwaruan looked at me, as if inviting me to say anything.
“I have to listen to anything you need.”
Thank for the chapter