Chapter 31
Thanks to the recent rcenary recruitnt, there had apparently been many outsiders around lately, so no one paid much attention when I, stepping into the tavern for the first ti, walked in.
Most of the people seated inside wore light armor like leather gear and carried multiple weapons—it seed the place was crawling with rcenaries.
“Heaven will be furious! Heaven’s wrath will bring hellfire! Demons will sweep through this place! Heaven will be furious! You’ll all be dragged into hell!”
Just as I downed a mug of alcohol I had ordered, the tavern door swung open and an old woman, screaming like a madwoman, walked in.
“There she is again, that crazy old hag.” “Ugh, Jackie! Get her out of here, I’ll give you a free drink for it.”
The tavern owner seed familiar with the situation and tried to toss her out. That’s when a flash of blue fire flickered in the old woman’s eyes and disappeared. No one else seed to notice, but I recognized imdiately that it wasn’t madness.
“Don’t lay a hand on . Hellfire will consu you.”
The rcenary called Jackie, tasked with removing her, felt his body freeze for a mont in front of the old woman. But the rest of the tavern’s patrons were too busy drinking and laughing to notice.
“I’ll escort her.”
Before anyone realized, I had approached the old woman and offered her a warm loaf of bread.
“Would you spare
a mont? I’d like to hear more of your story.”
“….”
The mont our eyes t, her gaze flared blue again. I t that clear blue light with indifferent eyes, calm as a lake.
I guided her to an empty seat. The rcenaries assud I was just so clueless outsider paying attention to a mad old hag and returned to their conversations.
Amid the clamor, the old woman—who had been screaming just monts ago—now sat silently, as if she’d never raised her voice. I handed her a bowl of hot stew I’d ordered and sat across from her without a word.
“Why have you co here?”
Her question, sharp and cold, ca from eyes that were snake-like in their narrowness.
“Who knows? Why don’t you guess?”
“You stink of sothing foul. Whom do you serve?”
“Serve? No one.”
Her expression was filled with displeasure. It was clear I didn’t sit well with her.
“This place will soon be consud by the blaze of hell. If you don’t want to get caught in it, leave now.”
She slurped the stew greedily, licking her lips as she ate.
“Hellfire, you say? Could you tell
more about that?”
“Figure it out yourself.”
I chuckled at her response.
‘I don’t know what it is yet, but I’ve co to the right place.’
With the suspicious old woman before , I took another swig from my mug.
“Rember—what you see isn’t all there is. Consider that your paynt for the al. Kekekeke.”
She laughed like a madwoman again. I rembered the last words she left
with. Monts later, she vanished as if evaporating before my eyes.
The strange part? No one noticed she was gone.
But I was certain—I would see her again. I had never been wrong about this kind of feeling. I drained the last of my drink and stood up.
“Looks like I’m going to be a rcenary.”
I got up and started walking slowly toward the lord’s castle. The light buzz from the alcohol moved my body forward.
“Karl-nim!”
Just as I reached the inner city gate, soone ran toward
in haste.
“What brings you here!? Are you signing up as a rcenary, perhaps?”
As I had noticed before, Hob was overly nosy and quick to speak. Spotting , he rushed over.
“I’m thinking about it.”
“Excellent! With your skill, Karl-nim, even the lord would welco you with open arms!”
Hob, clearly well-connected inside the castle, bypassed the formal registration and led
straight to a man who looked like a manager. While I waited outside briefly, Hob conversed passionately with the man inside. Then the door opened.
“…I heard you’re a Free Knight?”
The manager looked a bit uneasy dealing with a knight and opened awkwardly.
“That’s right. Karl, Free Knight.”
At my brief introduction, the manager nodded and led
inside.
“We’ve had a flood of rcenaries lately. Even people calling themselves Free Knights. So of them had real skill, but a lot of them were complete fakes.”
As the manager rambled on, I simply leaned back in my chair, staring ahead with indifference.
“Ahem… so, we’ll need to verify your skill.”
“As you wish.”
Despite my short reply, the manager frowned for a mont before rising to lead
sowhere.
“Wait here.”
We arrived at what seed like a training ground. He left and soon returned with a man at least a head taller than .
The man carried a tal club so thick it looked like two human forearms put together. Even its length easily exceeded that of a child’s height.
“This is Kirk, the strongest among us. If you can last five minutes against him, I’ll acknowledge your skill.”
It seed Kirk wasn’t just strong, but skilled too—otherwise, they wouldn’t bother with this kind of test.
“I’ll try to go easy, but if I hit wrong, you’ll be dealing with broken bones. Careful, alright?”
With a thick Western accent, Kirk swung his club around and laughed heartily. His harmless appearance was oddly endearing. Just then, the manager gave the signal to start.
I didn’t even draw Léct??o—I stood with my arms relaxed as Kirk approached.
Raising his club with both hands, he stomped forward twice, then leapt. For his size, he was surprisingly nimble.
Kaang!
The mont his massive body swung the club down, both Hob and the manager flinched and shut their eyes—then ca an unbelievable sight as the club t Léct??o.
“Wha…?”
A shocked Kirk opened his mouth in disbelief.
His massive club had been stopped by my seemingly ordinary longsword. Even more shocking, I had blocked the full-force swing with just one hand.
Then my free hand struck Kirk’s stomach. Anyone with sharp eyes might’ve seen his abdon cave in for a split second before returning.
Boom!
Kirk collapsed forward with a single punch.
“That enough?”
“….”
The manager nodded wildly, eyes wide with shock, while I walked away with my usual indifference. Hob, of course, was practically glued to my side.
“See! I knew it! I knew Karl-nim was the real deal!”
Hob shouted excitedly as if he’d defeated the giant himself. I ignored him and headed back toward the tavern.
“So, what do rcenaries actually do?”
“Well, nothing in particular right now. That’s why people call this a goldmine—you get paid just for being here!”
Hob rambled on with glee, but I found myself wondering what exactly Viscount Julio was trying to accomplish by hiring rcenaries.
Hiring them with gold only to give them no tasks—it made no sense.
“Do they gather for anything?”
“Yes. Three tis a week, we have group training. Though it’s not much—just so stamina training, personal drills, and then we eat a al prepared by the castle together.”
Calling in rcenaries just to do half-hearted training and share als? A certain thought crossed my mind.
‘That guy Muller… he turned demonic after taking that potion from Tarantula, didn’t he?’
Organizing a few thoughts, I eventually returned to the room I had reserved at the tavern.
On the way, I sensed a few watchful eyes—likely Julio’s spies—but I ignored them and lay down to sleep.
***
“Did you say his na was Karl?”
“Yes, my lord. That’s what I heard.”
Karl’s na was on a list of monitored individuals recently sent from the main office. Though his threat level was only ranked C, his presence during such a crucial ti wasn’t exactly welco.
“What about surveillance?”
“I’ve assigned three n.”
“Good. Report any unusual behavior imdiately. This is a critical ti—we can’t afford disruptions.”
“Yes, I’ll be careful.”
After watching his subordinate leave, Viscount Julio entered a hidden chamber inside the lord’s office.
“…Andrew, just wait a little longer. It’s almost ti.”
Clutching a glass chamber, Julio knelt, eyes flickering with sorrowful madness.
“My son… my beloved Andrew….”
The glass container was filled with liquid—and inside was the body of a young man.
The youth looked exactly as he had in life, save for the absence of breath.
“No one will stop . Not gods, not demons. No one will stop this.”
Julio’s glimring eyes turned bloodshot, as if they were about to bleed.
***
Along a well-maintained mountain road, a group of twenty cavalry rode in formation. At the lead was a familiar man with a magnificent beard.
“Captain, do you really think Count Calido is involved with sothing so vile? He’s greedy, sure, but this seems extre…”
“It’s our job to uncover the truth.”
Since the investigation into my previous activities, the higher-ups of the Holy Knights had begun to suspect Count Calido. After several inquiries, they found ties between Viscount Julio and the Count.
As a result, Godfrey had been ordered to investigate the Burkden Domain.
“You think we might run into Sir Karl there?”
“Possibly. But that’s not our concern. We focus solely on our mission.”
“Y-yes, you’re right, Captain…”
Wooster grumbled behind Godfrey, keeping up on his horse.
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