novelraw Chapter 59 : Chapter 59
Chapter 59 : Chapter 59
Chapter 59. The Tables Were Turned.
Requests from all over the empire gathered at the Imperial Capital's Mercenary Guild.
Naturally, a map was essential to know where to carry out the requests.
On one wall of the guild, a huge map filled with the empire's pride was displayed, and they were also selling portable maps.
I bought a map and tried marking the destination every time I saw a suspicious request.
‘As I thought.’
Soon, a commonality caught my eye.
‘Distance.’
The destinations of the requests were distributed within a range that was not significantly different from the Imperial Capital.
Of course, it wasn't a perfect match, forming a circle or anything, but that point was even more bizarre.
Considering the transportation between cities—it was clear that the time to reach the destination would be even more similar.
‘There's no way this is a coincidence.’
It was definitely intentional.
In that case, what was being intended became important.
It probably wasn't for the welfare of the mercenaries.
‘...Is the content of the request not important?’
The content of the requests was varied.
The commonality was the distance.
Perhaps, the purpose was simply to move the mercenaries.
To reduce the number of mercenaries in the Imperial Capital?
That also seemed a bit subtle.
Because mercenaries were ‘firewood.’
To stir up trouble, it was better to have many mercenaries.
Wait.
If it was better to have many mercenaries, what would be a way to increase the number of mercenaries in the Imperial Capital?
It was impossible to increase the number of mercenaries themselves unless a war broke out.
But to make the mercenaries gather at a specific time, in a specific location—
‘They're all about a two-day distance. A round trip would be four days. If they leave today, they would return just before the emperor's coronation.’
Even if there was a slight error, it wouldn't matter much.
In this world, where entertainment was severely lacking, the meaning of a festival was quite significant.
And it was a festival that was hard to see in a lifetime, the emperor's coronation.
There would be many people who would deliberately take the time to visit the Imperial Capital.
Even if they didn't neglect their livelihood and wait for a week, it wasn't strange to invest a day or two of their schedule to watch.
It meant that if they arrived in the Imperial Capital around the same time, there was no need to worry about a means to tie them down.
‘Since when has this been going on...?’
I didn't think this operation had started yesterday or today.
The empire was vast.
It would take a full month to travel to the farthest region from the Imperial Capital, even if one focused solely on traveling.
It might have started as long as two months ago.
In that time, how many mercenaries had received this ‘sweet request’?
If all of them were to gather in the Imperial Capital at the time of the emperor's coronation—
“Brother.”
Pol approached me as I was lost in thought.
“I found some guys with a bad feeling.”
“Where?”
“It’s those guys.”
The ones who had been caught by Pol's intuition were a lavishly dressed person and the people fawning over him.
“He's not a mercenary.”
A person on the side of placing a request, not receiving one.
He was definitely suspicious.
The requests distributed in the Imperial Capital were not for work in the Imperial Capital.
They were voices from all over the empire wanting mercenaries.
Naturally, it was common to send a letter or a representative.
But for a man who looked noble at a glance to come with a request himself.
“What should we do?”
Pol asked for my opinion.
If I had my way, I would want to take him somewhere, lock him up, and interrogate him—but that was too risky.
“First, we need to check what kind of request he placed.”
If that guy was the one entrusting a request with a suspiciously good reward in a place that was about a two-day journey from the Imperial Capital—then we'll look into it further.
* * *
To get straight to the point, it was a different person.
The content of the request was for a bodyguard.
It seemed he was trying to hire a mercenary to protect his safety during the emperor's coronation.
‘It seems he knows that something is going to happen at the emperor's coronation.’
But that alone was not enough to be evidence that he was connected to the ones who were trying to cause trouble in the Imperial Capital.
He might have his own means of securing information, and even if not, he might be a person who was sensitive about safety and could have thought that a problem might occur if people gathered at the coronation.
The point that bothered me was that they had triggered Pol's senses.
If I ignored it, I might get a huge slap in the face later.
‘It would be better to watch from the side.’
Wasn't there a saying, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?
If I didn't know what they were going to do, it was better to stick by their side.
Since those guys had entrusted a request to the guild, I had a clear justification for approaching them.
It could be troublesome if I was caught trying to tail them, so I chose to accept the request fair and square.
“Brotheeeer- are you going alone without meeeee- heueuk-”
“The client limited the mercenary rank, so it can't be helped.”
This request, like most of the requests that came into the Imperial Capital's guild, also required a 3rd-class or higher.
In fact, I was also lacking as a quasi-3rd-class—but I could at least try to argue this much.
Pol, who was a 4th-class, was definitely out.
“You continue the search.”
I left the whining Pol behind and entered the client's mansion.
The client was said to be a merchant.
It was a natural thing, since nobles had one or two knights under them.
There was no reason to entrust their protection to mercenaries when they had reliable knights.
A person who was not a noble and would seek protection to protect their body was about the level of a rich merchant.
In the courtyard of the mansion, besides me, there were several other mercenaries who had come after seeing the request form.
The merchant had come out himself and was examining the mercenaries one by one as if he were checking a product.
“Name.”
“Rain. 'Bear Paw' Rain.”
“3rd-class mercenary. And that hammer seems to be your main weapon. Hmm.”
“If I were to speak of the achievements I've accumulated so far-”
“Ah, that part is fine. If I were to listen only to the words of mercenaries, they would be catching dragons. I don't reflect such unreliable information in my evaluation.”
He held a notebook in his hand and was writing something down.
It seemed he had his own standards for evaluating mercenaries.
“Do we have to go this far?”
“Should I just take another request?”
“What is he looking at, if not achievements?”
“I came because it seemed like a simple job.”
The mercenaries who were being evaluated looked quite dissatisfied.
A bodyguard's enemy was not in front of them.
Unlike other requests where you only got paid if you fought, if you were lucky, you might not have to fight at all.
Being able to get paid just by standing around.
For that reason, the pay itself was on the low side.
They had no reason to like a client who was being so picky and meticulous while giving only a pittance.
A few of the mercenaries who were waiting for their turn just turned around and left the mansion.
The merchant who was watching them from behind clicked his tongue.
“Tsk. To be so irresponsible when they're here to accept a request.”
Hmm.
I've heard that somewhere before.
How could all the bosses say the same thing like this?
Were their minds all connected or something?
The grumbling merchant soon approached me.
“Name.”
“Ben. 'Green Snake' Ben.”
I handed the merchant my mercenary tag.
The merchant's brow furrowed as he examined the mercenary tag.
“Quasi-3rd-class? Was there such a rank?”
“My skills correspond to 3rd-class or higher, but I received this rank because my achievements are lacking.”
At my words, the mercenaries who were waiting for their turn behind me snickered.
“Isn't that just your one-sided claim?”
“There are plenty of guys who say they've been underestimated.”
“The request form clearly said 3rd-class or higher, what confidence does a quasi-3rd-class have to come here?”
As competitors for the same request, they were eager to bring me down.
The merchant didn't look too happy either.
“This is a bit subtle-”
“My skills will be proven by the Guild Master who issued the mercenary tag.”
“No, how am I supposed to confirm with a guild in Dejong, not the one in the Imperial Capital.”
The merchant said annoyingly.
Dejong wasn't that far, so it wouldn't be impossible to confirm if one tried, but time was the problem.
There were only a few days left until the emperor's coronation.
By the time he sent someone to Dejong and got confirmation, the coronation could be over.
“If you're so confident in your skills, then let's have a go.”
The mercenary who had been stopped from boasting about his achievements just now suddenly approached me.
Bear, what was it?
I hadn't been listening carefully, so I didn't remember his name well.
“Let me check if your skills are worth being confident about.”
It seemed he wanted to prove his own skills by crushing me.
Normally, I would have thought of him as a tiresome opponent, but now I was glad.
If it hadn't been for this guy, I would have had to pick a fight with some other guys.
“That's not a bad idea. There's no better way to compare skills for certain than to have a sparring match with each other.”
Our client seemed to agree as well.
“Very well. Then shall we start right away?”
I beckoned to 'Bear Something' with my hand.
“Don't take it personally. This is all an experience.”
The man snorted, lifting his large hammer.
I examined the stance of 'Something' who was talking as if he were a senior.
It was crude.
I could feel that it was a force he had created himself through experience gained in real combat, not something he had learned properly.
The reason he had tried to boast about his achievements was probably because he was that confident in his real combat experience.
But that was all.
To my eyes, he was not threatening at all.
To the point where I could leisurely organize my thoughts.
‘It would be better to use swordsmanship.’
To make a strong impression on the client, swordsmanship was perfect.
It was clear that the other guys would also tuck their tails if they saw swordsmanship.
I was about to unfold the Celestial Sword, but then I changed my mind.
They said the Celestial Sword was a great swordsmanship, but perhaps because my level was low right now, there wasn't much to show on the outside.
The sword just shone slightly as the mana exerted its power?
It could be seen as being that efficient, but it was difficult to expect the client, who was a layman, to understand its greatness.
So—
‘Was it called the Hot Wind Sword?’
Peter's swordsmanship.
I chose the side that was flashy and grand for anyone to see.
Hwaruk-!
Flames that wrapped around the sword according to my will.
It was the second time, and I had already gotten used to it to some extent.
Was this also thanks to the talent of Luke's body?
It was indeed the supreme talent that even the Empire's Sword Saint acknowledged.
For the strongest fang to bite Luke to be Luke's own.
Was there such an irony?
Ways to refine this swordsmanship kept coming to my mind.
If I cut out the inefficient parts and focused more on the thing called flames—
‘That's for later.’
Right now, I wasn't training my swordsmanship.
“Swordsmanship? No, that can't be... Is it just a trick of the eye...?!”
The 'Something Bear' in front of me had stopped in an awkward posture and was flinching, unable to do either this or that.
I pushed the thoughts to a corner of my mind and gripped my sword.
There was no need to kill or injure him.
But to teach him a lesson, it would be better to burn his hair.
“Stay still if you don't want to get hurt.”
I swung the sword delicately.
The flames that shot out from the tip of the sword as if they had been flicked grazed the top of the man's head.
“Uwaaat!! Ah-hot-hot-hot!!”
As soon as his hair caught fire, the man immediately threw away his hammer and made a fuss trying to pat out the fire.
For a mercenary, he was making a big fuss.
“I think this is enough to prove my skills, don't you?”
I swung my sword in the air once to scatter the flames.
I could feel that the gazes on me had definitely changed.
The mercenaries were whispering to each other in astonishment, and the merchant looked as if he had found a lump of gold on the street.
“Oh my! I failed to recognize a great person!! To think I would have the luxury of being protected by such a great person! As expected, if you live a good life, you receive blessings!! For now, please come inside! I will treat you to a meal!”
With one demonstration of swordsmanship, the tables were turned between the master and the servant.