Chapter 6
Meanwhile, a New Star Has Emerged in the Mercenary World
A short while later, the front yard of the House was bustling with mercenaries.
And with noise, too.
How much they earned last time, how much someone didn’t pay them…
The mercenaries were proving that three people gathered together could create not only a tiger, but also a marketplace atmosphere.
And Hwaruan silenced all the noise with a single sentence.
“Don’t you want to make money?”
It was the most effective method.
Silence.
“Much better.”
At that moment, a man reeking of alcohol pushed his way through the crowd and stepped forward.
A man dragging a halberd with its emblem worn off in one hand and a bottle of alcohol in the other.
Guildford Procter, the vice-captain of our mercenary group.
“Now! It’s quiet, so let’s hear what the captain has to say. Captain, what’s the job this time?”
Hwaruan frowned at his nonchalance, trying to get in on the action despite being late.
“Ugh, this damn drunkard, drinking again in the middle of the day?”
“Haha, as long as I can swing a sword, it doesn’t matter if I drink. You know my skills, Captain – hic.”
My eyes involuntarily squinted. Judging by the pungent smell of beer reaching even here, I couldn’t imagine how much he had drunk.
Considering that even Hwaruan, who was used to most foul smells, was pinching his nose, it must have been quite a lot.
“You managed to crawl out after guzzling beer in the basement cellar again. Do you know how much we spend on buying alcohol every month because of you?”
“We can just earn that much more, can’t we? It’s not like I’m racking up bar tabs at the inn. Hic!”
“Ugh, that damn drunkard. I can’t even fire him.”
Hwaruan, after muttering that, returned to the main topic.
“Anyway, I have two things to announce today.”
He pointed at me and said,
“One, Ase, no, it’s Golpion now. Anyway, this guy has officially become a mercenary of our group. Everyone, applaud.”
Guildford’s eyes widened. The gathered mercenaries reacted the same way.
What are you looking at? Never seen a slave turn into a mercenary before?
You probably haven’t. I haven’t seen it happen to anyone else either.
The once quiet front yard quickly became noisy as everyone expressed their surprise.
“Excuse me? Ase became a free man?”
“Last time, Skal dragged him back with his guts spilling out after he got stabbed in the stomach, I thought he was done for. That was 2 years ago.”
“Wasn’t the record for the guy before him 4 years?”
“4 years and 9 months.”
“I think he got an arrow to the head after saying he was going back to his hometown to propose before the battle. Tsk tsk, you shouldn’t say things like that carelessly.”
Hwaruan silenced everyone again and pushed me forward.
“Go ahead, say something.”
Feeling everyone’s attention on me, I raised my metallic mercenary tag high.
And I shouted something I had always wanted to say.
“Behold, you free men who have never tasted slavery! Witness the debut of Golpion Jihouse, the new star and vulgar joke of the northern Britannian mercenary world!”
The reaction was as expected.
“Idiot.”
“Even slaves can talk these days. The world has really changed.”
But if I stayed silent here, it would be even more embarrassing.
“Even swords can talk these days, why can’t furniture? Cut me some slack on a day like this.”
“Okay, furniture.”
“Teacher, you’re not furniture!”
“Hehehe.”
As I bantered with the mercenaries who were showering me with praise, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind.
“Whoa, Ase! You finally escaped slavery!”
It was the pot-bellied Skal, who had always taken good care of me, but never lent me the books he was reading.
“Damn it, you make it sound like I forced him to be here. If it weren’t for me, he would have been dragged off as a test subject for some black mage. Some guy in a black robe was eyeing him.”
While Hwaruan grumbled, Skal showered me with all sorts of compliments.
He said he never thought the guy he threw a piece of bread to out of pity, seeing him get beaten up and unable to eat dinner, would survive for so long.
He said it was worth it, having somehow managed to hold my guts in after I got stabbed in the stomach.
His words were long and also appreciated.
If there was a skip button for real-life conversations, I would have used it now.
Because I already knew everything he said, and I hadn’t forgotten.
“…You really went through a lot!”
Skal, who had been talking for a while, finally finished his lengthy sermon.
“Skal played a big part in it.”
“Then buy us a round of drinks later. Got it?”
Other mercenaries, catching the scent of free alcohol, also offered their congratulations, but Hwaruan’s voice boomed.
“Now! Continuing on! In 7 days, the Hwaruan mercenary group will be hired by the Million territory to fight in a territorial war against the Arnen territory. If anyone has second thoughts, leave now.”
A few mercenaries went back inside.
I didn’t know their reasons. Maybe they remembered a promise to dust their teddy bear in a week, or maybe they weren’t that desperate for money yet.
After confirming that everyone who wanted to leave had left, he continued,
“Bieri, step forward!”
“Yes, sir!”
Bieri, wielding a billhook, a type of polearm with a hooked blade on the front, stepped forward, and Hwaruan handed him a piece of paper.
“Go to the Transport Guild and show them this. The destination is the northern pasture outside Million. Tell them it’s for 32 armed mercenaries, and they’ll bring the carriages.”
“Yes, sir!”
After Bieri disappeared beyond the gate, Guildford asked,
“Wait, Captain, which mercenary group is the opponent? Surely the territorial guards aren’t going to fight directly.”
“Sarian.”
“Damn it. So much for a relaxing barbecue.”
Guildford sighed. Several other mercenaries also seemed to know who they were, and I was one of them. I only knew the captain’s name, though.
Sarian Porter, the captain of the Sarian mercenary group.
He was a swordsman soon to be promoted to A-rank, with the cliché but cool title of “Sarian of the Sword Flash.”
In the North, where spiking the drinking water with laxatives was considered basic courtesy, he was a true man who settled everything with his sword, without resorting to any tricks. I respected his straightforwardness.
There was only one reason why he was so despised.
He was a stickler for the rules.
As if a military academy graduate platoon leader had died and been reincarnated, he refused to engage in any “extracurricular activities,” ensuring that one side would always bleed on the battlefield.
He was a crazy bastard who could draw aura, and an even crazier bastard who charged into the front lines. He had gone bankrupt several times because of his straightforwardness, but he had also risen again several times because of it.
So, as someone who had to face this man I would normally respect, I couldn’t help but curse.
The mercenaries started murmuring and gathering in groups.
As usual, the enemy mercenary captain, Sarian, had long been referred to as “that bastard.”
I passed by Colson, who was saying, “That bastard got cut up like a dog by the Bluntians, but he’s back again,”
And someone muttering, “Is that bastard still alive?” before approaching Hwaruan, who was talking to Guildford.
I had something to discuss for tomorrow.
“So, I think Uphouse is hiding something. He’s a bit suspicious… Ase? Why, are you not going to participate in this territorial war?”
Hwaruan, who was discussing something with Guildford, seemed to sense my presence and asked, looking at me, but I shook my head.
I never changed my mind once it was made up. That was my creed.
“I heard they’re going after bandits tomorrow. Can I join?”
“Hmm.”
Hwaruan frowned. Then his expression softened as he said,
“Fine, go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
He said, pointing behind me,
“If you survive those guys.”
“Excuse me?”
Grab!
I turned around and saw my closest friends and some drunkards who weren’t that close but smelled free alcohol grabbing my limbs.
“Don’t even think about running, Ase.”
Someone said menacingly. They sounded like they were about to stab a sentry in the neck.
I gave up resisting. Some of the guys holding my arms and legs were channeling mana,
And most importantly, if these clothes ripped, I wouldn’t have anything else to wear.
“Just so you know, I’m broke.”
All I could do was inform them that I had no money.
“It’s okay. The vice-captain said we could raid the alcohol cellar.”
Someone I didn’t want to know revealed a secret I didn’t want to know, and at that moment, Guildford revealed his true colors.
“Let’s go! Today’s the day we finish all the old alcohol!!!”
He shouted in a venomous voice, and the front yard erupted in cheers.
And so, I was carried into the house, my limbs dangling like a sacrificial lamb.
“Please, be gentle.”
Thud.
“Ow!”
Someone shouted.
“Ase! Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!!!”
Damn, what a chilling line.
***
“Ugh…”
“Ugh…”
“Sigh. Fuck.”
The lobby, after the drinking party, was a battlefield of corpses. Of course, there weren’t actual corpses lying around, but compared to my experience of seeing a real battlefield, it was about 70% similar.
I was the only one who survived till the end.
It wasn’t because I had a high alcohol tolerance, but because everyone else had gotten so drunk on free alcohol that they had guzzled it down and passed out.
So I willingly did what I had to do.
“Blech.”
“Ugh, damn it.”
I pushed Bekal’s head to the side with my foot, as he lay flat on his back, creating an island of vomit on the wooden floor.
“!”
I watched the old Northerner lying next to me, muttering dwarven curses, and checked to see if he hadn’t consumed more than the appropriate amount of ore drug.
He seemed to be okay, as he wasn’t sobbing and trying to smash the table with an axe like last time. He probably reduced his intake after almost getting beaten up by Hwaruan the next day.
I crawled on all fours towards the spit-roasted pig.
Then, after collecting the pig fat that had pooled on a plate into a cup, I stood up on two legs and went outside.
“Whoa.”
The world tilted, so I, the only sober one, had to struggle to keep my balance so I wouldn’t roll down the stairs before I could open the door.
Creak.
It was nighttime outside.
The swaying moon shone a bright blue. The early summer night air of the highlands was still the same.
I stood in front of the bench for a long time, clearing my head and expelling the alcohol that had permeated my system.
“Taehye Jeonggwang Seongmok, Hyeon Deok Jeongmun Sunseonheon, Sukye Inui Myeongsinhui, Ganggo Wonryeol Seonsukhye, Mok Jeonggong, Woo Changyang.”
“Taejeong Taese, Mundanse, Yesong Yeonjung Inmyeongseon, Gwang Inhyo Hyeon Sukgyeongyeong, Jeongsun Heoncheol Gosun.”
I recited the knowledge I knew and then ruminated on it, letting it mingle with the cool night air.
It was just memorizing a simple timeline, the most worthless knowledge in this world.
But to me, a graduate student from Earth, it was the most valuable knowledge.
People in this world called those who possessed a lot of unknown knowledge “sages.”
Therefore, I, a mere graduate, was the highest authority and sage on Earth in this world.
To protect that position from my own forgetfulness, I endlessly repeated, memorized, pondered, and associated the knowledge that surfaced.
My intention was simple. The method was simple, so what I wished for was also simple and sure.
I just hoped that one day, I could step down from my position as a sage, that the day would come when all of this would become trivial trivia.
***
“Taehye Jeonggwang Seongmok, Hyeon Deok Jeongmun Sunseonheon, Sukye Inui Myeongsinhui, Ganggo Wonryeol Seonsukhye, Mok Jeonggong, Woo Changyang.”
“Taejeong Taese, Mundanse, Yesong Yeonjung Inmyeongseon, Gwang Inhyo Hyeon Sukgyeongyeong, Jeongsun Heoncheol Gosun.”
It’s a mnemonic for remembering all the kings’ names of the Goryeo Dynasty according to what I found on the internet.