Cooperation
Cooperation
My surprise at Laika's unexpectedly swift movement was brief; just as I was about to rush out as well, the talker issued an unexpected command.
"Drop your weapons, now!"
The thought that flickered through my mind in that instant was 'This fucker's lost his mind and he's giving orders?' but the talker corrected my misunderstanding by hurling his own weapon to the ground.
If someone showed this much willingness to talk, the proper civilized response was to oblige.
"Laika. Hold."
The timing of him dropping his weapon was damn near miraculous. Because Laika had just been about to tear into a mercenary's shin, and that hair-trigger situation was averted thanks to his bold decision.
As Laika had consistently proven, they obeyed well. The talker shouted once more at the panicking mercenaries, while Laika remained frozen mid-lunge, their mouth still stretched wide open to bite the mercenary's shin.
"The client lied to us! Drop your weapons!"
The men who had flinched but were reluctant to let go of their weapons changed their tune the moment they heard the client had betrayed them; their eyes shifted, and they set their weapons down without hesitation. The talker let out a sigh at the sight and looked at me with a tense face.
"Can we call a truce with that, for now?"
"Pass. Laika, come."
Even if it was some bullshit trick, I had the means to deal with it now. And besides, I was curious what he'd have to say after raising the white flag so thoroughly.
I recalled the needles I'd launched at the archers with a whistle, and Laika came clanging back over to me. Only then did the talker finally let out a sigh of relief.
The full story that followed was something I never could have predicted.
"You asked if it was me?"
"Yeah. I asked if the target's name was Eldmia, and that son of a bitch..."
Amazingly, one of the talker's mercenary band's current policies was to pull out if I was involved. He explained it was a rule put in place after the Envelde Mansion incident, something they always double-checked. It made me feel like I'd gotten one step closer to a long-cherished ambition, and my heart swelled for no good reason.
"Fuck, a guild leader who's worse than a goddamn dog..."
"Seems that fucker was that kind of fucker."
I answered while sheathing my sword, and the talker clamped his mouth shut and started thinking hard. His eyes darted around nonstop, so he seemed to be wrestling with a whole lot of thoughts, but the mercenaries behind him just stood there blankly after dropping their weapons, as if they didn't have a care in the world. It created a strange sense of dissonance.
Were the thinkers and the doers clearly split into separate roles here? This mercenary band might be a lot bigger than I'd figured.
"Haa, damn. I should start with an apology, but I was so pissed off I couldn't get my head straight. I'm truly sorry, Eldmia. We'd heard plenty about your fame in the capital, but I never expected to run into you here."
"Seems like a highly organized mercenary band. But I'm not well-versed enough in that world to give you a real compliment in return."
"Ain't that just how it goes for adventurers and mercenaries? We probably wouldn't have known either, if you hadn't lopped off Envelde's head."
"Fair point. So, have you sorted out your thoughts?"
I didn't see the need to remind him that this was only a pause, not the end. The talker nodded and gestured behind him.
"Six of our guys just died from your attack. Friends who earned six silver coins a day, you know? So as an apology, I'll give you one gold coin and twenty silver coins. Think you could let this slide?"
I'd thought he was going to demand payment, but he was offering it instead. I liked it—very cool, whatever mercenary math this was. If he'd been an asshole who escalated things, I would've torn into him for much longer, or just killed them all and looted the bodies.
"An amount more than sufficient to clear up a misunderstanding. Pleased to meet you, friend."
I extended my hand to shake on the deal, and the talker grasped it with a hollow laugh.
"Whoo, I'm damn glad you're reasonable. Really damn glad. The rumors about you are so all over the place, I was pretty scared."
It was a remark that really made me wonder what the hell the rumors actually were, but considering it was a mercenary who'd just lost men, yet claimed to belong to a famous band, and still made him raise his hands first... it didn't sound like good gossip. So I just nodded.
"So, can my party come outside now?"
"Of course. Here, the money... and, uh, since we've got this connection, mind if I ask just one thing?"
He casually slipped in one more silver coin as he said it, showing he really knew how to ask a question. I didn't bother counting them one by one; I just stuffed the pouch into my money bag and answered coolly.
"What?"
"Count Envelde had a pretty infamous thug bastard called Gish. You ever fight him?"
"Gish? Think that was the name of the guy who called himself the Demonfolk Butcher."
"Uh, yeah, that's the one! Looks like you did fight him? How was it? Was he strong?"
"Not really? Envelde was way stronger."
The expression 'way stronger' was exactly right. As I answered, already recalling the slightly faded memory, the talker clapped his hands and carried on.
"Just as I thought! That's what caused a huge fucking argument in our outfit! The guys who said, 'He's the one who took Envelde's head, so Gish would've been nothing,' and the clueless ones who said, 'Envelde was just an old guy with worn-down teeth, Gish was stronger,' they went at it like you wouldn't believe!"
"'Old guy with worn-down teeth' my ass, if you actually cross blades with him you'd get your throat cut in two moves. Is your mercenary band still okay?"
"Wahahaha! It's fine, it's fine! That's how the guys who live by the sword learn! If they don't learn, they just die!"
Indeed. True to a mercenary who makes a living killing people, he reacted with easy familiarity, like a friend of ten years, even though six of his comrades had just been cut down. Well, it's a hundred times better than someone covertly giving me the stink eye, so I was all for it.
"More importantly, when did the guild leader give you this job? Is that fucker still at the guild?"
"Hmm? About three hours ago, maybe? We were just drinking when we got the request, really urgent."
My party, who had slowly come outside at my gesture, maintained their silence while giving me and the talker strange looks as we chatted away like close friends. Fortunately, to avoid any further misunderstanding, the mercenaries didn't even pick their weapons back up; they just shoved them aside with their feet and started collecting the corpses of their fallen comrades. I watched the scene for a moment, then asked the talker one last question.
"What did that son of a bitch say when he hired you?"
"Said some fucker had damaged his authority, and he wanted him killed if he came out of the waterways alive. Also asked us to check if he'd died down there if he didn't come out after a certain time. The deal was half the pay in advance, and all the loot you'd have on you when we stripped you would be ours."
"That bastard is fucking dead."
At my genuinely heartfelt response, the talker snickered and stepped aside.
"You must be busy, so I won't keep you. My name's Balakia, of the Blue Owl Mercenary Band. If I ever see you again, I'll buy you a drink."
"I'll buy you one then, too."
I didn't say I was sorry about the ones I'd killed. I wasn't sorry, and if there hadn't been a misunderstanding, we would have been fighting tooth and nail to kill each other anyway.
I left the talker Balakia and his comrades behind, smiling as they saw us off. As I stepped out of the waterway entrance onto the city's main road, Rellie asked me a question with a strange look on her face.
"Ega? What in the world have you been up to, that the Blue Owl Mercenary Band would back down first?"
"You're asking that now? You all know what my nickname is in the capital."
"Well, yes, but I thought there was some exaggeration mixed in and accepted it as such. It's not exactly common for a mercenary band to withdraw first, is it?"
She wasn't wrong, considering it was a profession that ran on pride and reputation. But since I didn't know the rumors about myself well either, it was really tricky to tell which parts were real and which were bullshit.
"Seems I've definitely done some things to earn the name 'Guillotine,' it's true. The rest, I wouldn't know, since there are so many false rumors."
"...Huh."
Don't look at me like that. I didn't know that in my life after reincarnation, I'd end up cutting down more people than monsters either.
◈
Having unexpectedly settled things amicably with a mercenary band that could have blown up into a major conflict, I parted ways with my party and headed to the guild alone. Technically, Laika was trotting right behind me, but all the people were back at the inn resting.
Cutting the guild leader's head off was already a done deal anyway; having them there would just be a headache. I couldn't let my personal affairs cause trouble for my uninvolved comrades.
"Laika. Whatever I do, you stay still until I give the order. Got it?"
[Got it! Laika listens well!]
Right, Laika did listen well. In front of the guild, I patted Laika's head, then got up from my spot and kicked the guild's front door with all my might.
-CRASH!
With all my might, even channeling Magic Power into it. In case the hinges were as sturdy as those at Envelde's mansion, and the door came swinging back at me like a swing door.
The result of forgetting that it was an iron door back then and a wooden door now was rather gruesome. The wooden door shattered as if it'd been hit by a cannonball, the pieces flying everywhere.
"Whoa!"
"Wh-what's going on?!"
"What's going on is you fuckers need to dig a grave for your guild leader."
The result was beyond what I'd expected, but it felt satisfyingly cathartic to see it smashed, so it wasn't bad. I took in the gazes of the adventurers and guild staff, all focused on me, and briefly scanned the room before drawing my sword and asking,
"Where's the guild leader?"
"Th-this is going way too far! Do you even know where you..."
"It went 'way too far' the instant that fucker hired mercenaries to kill me. Go get the guild leader if you don't want to die."
I flicked the blade up to check the receptionist who was about to step forward, and the guy started backing off much faster than he'd come at me.
The uninvolved adventurers were starting to watch with curious, eager eyes, wondering what was going on, but it irritated me that the guild members, who should've been moving fast, weren't budging. I looked around to see if Kunz was there, but I couldn't see him—maybe he was off doing something else.
"Not gonna get him? Are you all in on this together?"
"L-look here. What are you talking about? The guild master hired mercenaries to kill you..."
"The only thing you'll get from parroting my own words back at me is blood gushing out the neck of the bastard who ignores what I say and asks questions. Stop fuckin' around and bring the guild leader here. Before I go up there myself and smash everything in this place."
Fortunately, the second guy who stepped up did something I liked. I waited about two minutes, standing there with my weight on one leg, for him to whirl around and dash up to the second floor.
When he came back, his face was ashen and he opened his mouth.
"H-he's not at his desk."
"You wanna die?"
"H-he's really not here! Even his office is a total mess, like someone did a moonlight flit..."
Before he could even finish, I shoved him aside and went up to the second floor, but no one tried to stop me. However, I didn't have a moment to even appreciate their response; I felt a rage boiling up from deep inside me.
I strode over and walked into what I assumed was the guild leader's office. What I saw was a safe or something left hanging open, and a chaotic mess of drawers that had been rifled through. What it meant was blindingly obvious.
"This dog-fucking..."
Geuronzel, that motherfucker of the century, had bolted.