In front of the Goro rchant guild building.
I was sitting there on a chair out front.
My greatsword leaned against the wall.
The rcenary corps that had arrived this morning were flooding the other end of the alley.
They were from Tern, more than 400 people. More are still arriving.
The rcenaries who arrived first froze at the sight of the alley.
So even backed away. The rcenaries who ca in later were the sa.
All of them stared at us and the corpses scattered about, their faces hardened.
They couldn't retreat or attack, just waiting in helpless silence for their command staff.
"Young lord,"
"Yeah?"
"All the bodies are out."
"Stack them here for now."
"A-alright."
Kudo answered and withdrew.
When I had co out of the building, Kudo's face was sothing to see.
He was frozen, staring at
as though seeing a ghost.
The other mbers had changed too.
The ones who used to chat and idle around before the fight had now beco silent and diligent, working hard to move the corpses.
The eyes of Kudo and the others had changed as well.
Shock.
Awe.
Respect.
Fear.
All these emotions were mixed together.
Many still seed unable to recover from the shock.
The stench of spilt organs and blood filled the alley.
The ground was squelching with thickened blood, and blood was still flowing out from the entrance of the rchant guild building.
The rcenaries who had occupied this alley and the Goro rchant guild building were completely annihilated.
About 330 in number.
If Kudo hadn't lied, not a single one was spared.
The archers stationed in each building had all been dealt with by Kudo and my n.
They had rushed each archer with three or four n each—no rcenary could have withstood that.
The berserkers wiped out the rcenaries inside the buildings and dragged away the rchant leader Goro, after which Kudo and the mbers entered the building and finished off the fallen.
Not even the most brutal and vicious criminals could have managed this easily.
They must have never seen such a horrific scene. That's why they still couldn't recover from the shock.
Right now, corpses were being piled into a corner of the alley.
They were roughly stacked and covered with cut-up tarps.
We had no intention of burying them. The rcenary corps should take care of their own.
"Young lord, did you see the steward has arrived?"
"Yeah. I saw him earlier."
On the opposite end of the alley from where the rcenaries were standing, Tris's guards and a steward had arrived.
Whether they were scared or simply following orders, they were just watching.
"Young lord."
"Why do you keep talking to ?"
"It's not that. Soone's coming."
Looking toward the narrow alley beside us, I saw a hooded intelligence officer approaching.
He handed
a letter and imdiately turned back the way he ca.
〈Steward Aldo's family rescued.〉
〈The viscount and baron's houses successfully seized.〉
〈rchant leader Goro's mansion is being taken and searched. Full capture of the viscount's and baron's families.〉
"Who's the contact from?"
"My comrades."
"Well... Would you care for so tea?"
"How could you want tea with the sll of blood everywhere?"
"You really are just a person after all, young lord."
I looked at Kudo.
"What are you talking about now?"
"I just wondered if you were really the sa kind of person as , seeing how you sit there so calmly."
"When this is over, make sure to clean up this whole area properly. Also compensate the alley shopkeepers for their trouble."
"Of course."
At that mont, a commotion erupted among the rcenaries.
"Move aside! The deputy-leader is here!"
"Don't any of you recognize my face?"
"They're all from Tern, they wouldn't know you, deputy-leader! He's just arrived! Who will report on this battle? Is there no survivor?"
A path opened amidst the rcenaries and a huge man walked forward.
Soone that looked to be a staff officer followed behind.
That giant was Geroz's deputy-leader.
The deputy-leader stood before his n and, frowning at the piled corpses in the corner, pinched his nose and turned to the staff officer beside him.
"Didn't we send about three hundred n?"
"We did... but it appears they've been wiped out."
"Wiped out? I don't even see their forces?"
The staff officer looked around the alley and the surrounding buildings with a scowl, then let out a hollow laugh.
"They must be lying in ambush inside those buildings. Judging by the lack of signs of fighting, I'm sure poison was used. The stench in this alley is the evidence."
"I see..."
The deputy-leader and the staff officer looked at
and smirked.
As if to say, do you think we'd fall for such poison? It figures for them. But why aren't the rcenaries saying anything?
The deputy-leader stepped forward two paces.
"Are you Roger Hader?"
"Yeah."
At my response, the deputy-leader gave a slight snort.
The deputy-leader had co late, so he had no idea how those bodies under the tarps had died.
"They say the Hader house was destroyed and then recovered. And now, you rush to your own doom. Do you really think you can handle our Geroz rcenary corps?"
"What's so hard about it?"
He snorted again, then continued.
"Listen well. The Goro rchant guild, the two houses, and your own house were at war and made a truce, but as of today, the war has resud. We are rcenaries hired by the Goro rchant guild, so we are now participants in this war."
"The entire Geroz rcenary corps?"
I asked, as if I had no idea.
The deputy-leader's confidence swelled.
"I hereby declare in all gravity! Our Geroz rcenary corps is a participant in this war! We will carry on this war on behalf of the Goro rchant guild!"
He shouted boldly.
He must be thinking, can you really fight such a mighty power as I have behind ?
With the entire Geroz corps on the move, few houses would survive.
And the empire's nobles, pressured by the divine order, might attack us.
Still, not a single rcenary responded to the deputy-leader's proclamation.
Those who arrived earlier had seen the bodies in the alley, all lying in two pieces.
Over forty of them.
At that mont, I stood up with my sword.
All the rcenaries instantly took a step back.
The deputy-leader shouted,
"What are you all doing? Are you all so scared because the advance party was wiped out?"
Shouldering my greatsword, I began walking toward them. It seed there were no officers among them who would defy the deputy-leader.
Maybe stepping up at all would get them expelled.
"You really declared that the entire rcenary corps has joined this war, right? Not just individual contract rcenaries hired by the Goro guild?"
"Of course! Don't you dare look down on us!"
"Deputy-leader! Don't do this!"
"That won't do! Withdraw the declaration!"
So rcenaries finally began to shout out.
But the declaration was already made.
Whether it was individual contracts or the entire corps had been ambiguous.
"Manager from Tris, please record this accurately. It is now confird that the Geroz rcenary corps has joined this second war between the five houses."
"How utterly laughable! Your house will be gone before this year is out! The divine order has nad you as the man who killed the high priest and our leader! No rcy will be shown!"
The deputy-leader stepped back.
I imdiately followed.
"Why wait until the end of the year? Why not finish it now?"
"You! How dare you!!"
Srrrnk.
"Exterminate them all!"
The deputy-leader drew his sword and took a stance. But no rcenary moved.
Only the deputy-leader glared at
with intent to kill.
"What are you waiting for? Kill this man!"
His shout echoed down the empty alley.
At last, even the deputy-leader and staff officer realized sothing was terribly wrong.
Why couldn't they figure out the situation?
Was this a man who had gotten his position without any real skill?
On top of that, he did slightly resemble the leader who had died with the high priest in the arena.
"The rcenaries who died ignored my warnings three tis. So listen and rember. Leave Tris imdiately. You should also leave the Geroz rcenary corps. Otherwise, you'll die just like them."
"What?!"
"This ti, there won't be a second warning. The mont my sword moves, every one of you will die."
The rcenaries still didn't move.
But they were deeply shaken.
I shouted sharply.
"Do I need to count to ten again?"
At last, the rcenaries at the rear started to retreat.
As the back moved out, those at the front—who had been unable to back away—also withdrew in an instant.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
No response.
Thanks to the idiotic deputy-leader, they were all about to die.
He scread at the top of his lungs.
"All traitors will be expelled! I'll hunt you all down to the ends of the continent! I'll strangle every last one of your kin!"
The rcenaries retreated to the opposite end of the alley.
Then soone called out.
"You really think you'll win?"
"The deputy-leader can't even recognize the Sword of Light!"
"We're out!"
"Damn it! We almost died for nothing!"
Now I understood why the rcenaries had held their tongues.
They were afraid that if anyone ntioned the Sword of Light, I might massacre them.
The deputy-leader looked at .
"The Sword of Light?"
The staff officer looked even more shaken than the deputy-leader.
Realizing what a deadly spot he was standing in, he began to edge away.
But sothing flew toward him.
Thud—
An arrow lodged in the fleeing staff officer's forehead.
He toppled backward.
The deputy-leader bared his teeth as he looked at the fallen man.
"There's no way you're the Sword of Light at your age!"
"You only see what you want to see. If sothing doesn't fit your view, you refuse to believe even what's right in front of you. You mistake the power behind you for your own strength."
"The divine order will not stand for this!"
"What does the divine order have to do with this war?"
"You'll see soon enough. You'll find out what happens to you."
"So the real master of the rcenary corps is the divine order, then. In that case, I can consider that the divine order has joined this war as well, correct?"
"You will taste the full horror of the divine order! Even if I die today without avenging my brother! Even as a ghost, I'll watch you!"
"Alright."
I crossed my arms and looked at the deputy-leader.
Gnashing his teeth, he stared silently at .
A strange, awkward silence fell.
"I won't die so easily!"
"As you wish."
I walked back to my chair in front of the building and sat down.
Now only the deputy-leader was standing in the alley. On the other side, the berserkers had returned.
"Kudo."
"Yes, sir."
"Call over the rcenaries and have them take care of the corpses."
"What about him?"
"Leave him be. Looks like he's trying to die."
"What?!"
"Oh, so you're here to watch him die."
"Yeah. I never said I'd kill him myself."
Kudo chuckled and walked away.
He stared at the deputy-leader as he passed, then stopped and doubled back to ask,
"What are you doing now?"
"What do you an, what?"
"I'm saying you should surrender. Or have you just lost your wits as a deputy-leader?"
Kudo walked away down the alley.
Then the berserkers ca into the alley and surrounded the deputy-leader.
They lowered their swords, looking relaxed.
The deputy-leader could do nothing, his hands quivering.
Fighting to the death was one thing, but killing himself seed so unfair.
Either way—
The withdrawn rcenaries, now disard, began to return to the alley, pulling carts one by one.
They looked terrified.
They must be afraid that we'll kill them after promising to let them live.
But none of my people paid them any attention.
"We have no intention of burying those in our land! Put them on your ship and deal with them as you will!"
Even at Kudo's shout, the rcenaries just moved the corpses in silence.
They probably didn't know the dead; the earlier arrivals were from the divine order, after all.
About an hour passed.
All the corpses had been loaded onto the rcenary corps' ship, and the rcenaries were set to leave today.
Then Kudo's mbers brought up huge buckets of water and began washing the gore-soaked alley.
With all the mbers moving, the cleanup went quickly.
anwhile, I set up a tent and went through the secret ledgers of the Goro rchant guild.
I also sent letters to all those involved in this matter. They would have no choice but to visit .
While everyone was busy—
Only the deputy-leader stood sweating in the middle of the alley—though the day was not hot.
He didn't want to die, but he didn't want to surrender, either.
And Kudo kept teasing him.
"You're the head of the divine order's security force, right?"
"Get away from !"
"What's the divine order going to do now, then? Ahh, you only ca yourself because your brother died. So now you're the leader, right? What's your na?"
"Do you want to die?!"
The mbers had almost finished mopping up the blood—except for where the leader stood.
At that mont, one mber splashed water at his feet.
"Move aside, will you? We're cleaning!"
"What do you take
for!"
"Co on, we can't mop up the blood if you don't step aside!"
The deputy-leader shuffled back two steps.
The mber splashed water where he'd been standing and scrubbed busily with a broom.
Kudo lingered nearby again.
"Is dying really that hard? Surrendering so tough? At this rate, you'll be standing here all night."
"Hmph."
The deputy-leader groaned miserably.
He must have missed his chance to make a choice.
Ti passed, and when the sun was high overhead—
At last, the ones I'd been waiting for arrived.
Priest Horo and rchant leader Barako ca walking up.
With their guard escorts.
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