Bound for Jefran

After I got back to the inn, I slept. A deep exhaustion had settled into my body, and I didn't feel like thinking about anything else.

The next day I woke and wandered the streets. Word was going around that a fire had broken out in the back alleys the night before. On top of that, rumors had spread that the place that burned was a branch of the Muddy Hand.

There was no mention of any noble. Even a degenerate like Frendal couldn't afford to have his ties to the back alleys talked about in the open, so of course he was keeping his mouth shut. That didn't mean he wasn't gathering information behind the scenes. His subordinates had been wiped out, and so had his playground. He had to be grinding his teeth over it.

I need to hit him first, before he finds me.

He'd be stressed after what happened. He'd act to blow off steam, no question. But I had no way of knowing how Frendal would move. He was a noble. He wouldn't do anything out in the open.

I don't have enough ears.

I was starting to understand just how important information really was. Things like this were only going to happen more often from here on out, which meant I needed to figure out what to do about my lack of intel.

I looked up and found myself standing in front of the monster hunter guild. I'd walked here without thinking. After years of coming to this place, my feet knew the way on their own.

I opened the door and stepped inside. More hunters than usual had gathered today. I was looking them over with a puzzled frown when Guild Manager Laorio walked out.

"Your attention, everyone."

He held a single sheet of paper as he addressed the hunters.

"Effective immediately, all monster hunters will be deploying in support of the Jefran barony. Assembly is in five hours. Prepare yourselves."

So the request had reached us after all.

"Guild Manager, you've got to be kidding. Why should we clean up the mess those bastards made?"

"Are you telling us to go die in that lawless hellhole?"

Protests erupted among the hunters, just as I'd expected. For the Laoren branch, this was a bolt from the blue.

"The expedition pay will be posted on the board."

Laorio didn't flinch. He pinned the notice to the board, and the hunters crowded around it, still grumbling.

"As you all know, those who refuse to participate will find it difficult to continue working as hunters. Special exemptions are listed in detail. Please review them."

The monster hunter guild was an enterprise run by the kingdom itself. A guild manager was someone the royal family had specifically granted authority — not a noble, but a man who carried the crown's mandate. With a word from the guild manager, striking a hunter from the rolls was no difficult thing.

The hunters knew that, which was why they followed guild orders without fail. The only reason they were even allowed to protest now was because Laorio was the mild-mannered type. At any other branch, they would have packed up and gone without a word of complaint. If you didn't like this kind of deployment, you could always quit being a hunter. Staying one was a choice you made yourself.

"Ah, hell. What a pain."

"It's a long way west, too. Marching. I hate marching."

The hunters shuffled off to gather their gear, still muttering. At least the pay was decent. From the look of it, Jefran's corrupt officials had decided that hiring hunters from another branch beat paying a fortune for mages. Hunters were cheaper than mages, after all. Even now.

I didn't need to go looking for gear. I'd already taken Oble's.

I turned to leave without a word, and my eyes met Laorio's. We were bound by debt, as of recently. He gestured me over. The guild manager was calling.

I walked up to him, and Laorio spoke in a low voice.

"Those with Mana Stone Sclerosis are exempt from participation."

Mana Stone Sclerosis was a terminal illness. I had months left to live. Joining an expedition wouldn't change that. I hadn't expected him to tell me. It was Laorio's way of being considerate — or maybe he was worried I'd drop dead on the road before I even turned into a mana stone. Either way, it was a reminder that I had the disease. If I died, the guild's debt would go unpaid. Fair enough that he'd factor that in.

"I'm fine. I'll participate."

I had no reason to sit this one out. If large-class monsters had appeared, that meant small-class and mid-class ones were crawling all over the place too. Jefran was packed with stepping stones for growth. A chance to jump a whole weight class. Why would I hesitate?

There'd be mana stone losses along the way, sure. But in a mess like that, collecting every last stone was impossible anyway. Stones shattered mid-fight more often than you'd think.

The real problem...

...was what Frendal would do while I was gone. Sitting around in the back alleys waiting for him wouldn't give me any answers. Better to see how things stood after something actually happened. Stepping away for a while might even help muddy the waters.

"I see. Understood."

Laorio didn't try to talk me out of it. A guild manager who stopped a hunter from volunteering for a support mission would have been the strange one. He walked off.

The hunters were complaining, groaning about how much of a hassle this expedition was. I'd done the same on past deployments, grousing right alongside Oble. But now there was no one left to complain with. I just stood there, silently taking in the notice on the board.

I was waiting for the rest of the Laoren branch to assemble when Dreygan appeared in the distance, Maria in tow.

"Haren."

"I hear you're going on the expedition."

"Yes."

So they'd heard the news. He looked at me for a long moment, then let out a breath and clapped me on the shoulder.

"When you get back, you'll train for every hour you were gone. Remember that."

And with that, Dreygan turned to leave. Had he come all this way just to say that?

"I don't see Wolfgar."

"That kid? He hadn't even submitted his hunter application yet. He rushed it in after he heard, but approval takes three days. He can't go. He's probably bawling his eyes out about being left behind."

Wolfgar was still Wolfgar. Same as ever.

"The back alley business."

Dreygan looked at me, then turned his head away.

"Never mind. Do well out there."

He left for good this time. I hadn't said a word, and he'd still picked up on it. Experience like his wasn't something you could dismiss.

Maria didn't leave right away. When I looked at her, she fidgeted, then spoke quietly.

"...I heard about your friend."

So she'd heard too.

"It wasn't your fault, Haren."

She bowed her head.

"Please come back safely."

Both of them had come because they were thinking of me. I thought of Oble, the only friend I'd had. Would he have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been jealous, seeing this? No. He was a good-natured guy. He'd have slapped me on the back and told me it was about time.

Oble.

I ran my hand down the shield I'd brought after hearing about the expedition, and quietly closed my eyes.

After that, every hunter in the Laoren branch assembled. The only ones sitting this out were those still recovering from injuries, or rookies who hadn't even finished their first year. That left a considerable crowd.

"Pleasure to meet you all. I'll be commanding this support expedition. Name's Krevan."

The bald one. Krevan. A mid-tier hunter and a veteran who'd joined more than a few large-class monster raids. Anyone who'd worked out of the Laoren branch knew who he was.

"I know plenty of you are better than I am. But I'm the one in charge, so do me a favor and follow orders without making a fuss."

"It's Explosive Fist!"

"Impeach him!"

The hunters jeered. Krevan only puffed up more the louder they got. For all the heckling, nobody actually minded that he was in command. Krevan was a capable man with real leadership.

"All right, all right. Let's move out."

At Krevan's order, the hunters started moving in a mass. I picked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up my pack and fell in. It was a crowd. The hunters never stopped talking, bored already by the road ahead. Monster hunters were a boisterous lot by nature, and most of them marched along belting out songs at the top of their lungs.

"Well, look at that. Barely got back and they're dragging us out again."

A massive man came striding over. The hunters took one look at him and scrambled out of the way. He stood a full head taller than me, with the weathered complexion of a barbarian. I knew that face.

Ilekdra. A homegrown delinquent, his entire body carved with vicious tattoos. And he wasn't the only one.

"Ugh. I was just thinking about going inside for a bath."

"What a pain."

A heavily muscled woman and a swordsman had come with him.

The Delinquents of the Laoren branch. That was the nickname the three of them shared. They snarled at each other around the clock and caused trouble as a matter of habit. But the guild never disciplined them. Even after you tallied up all the headaches, they were still a net gain — fighters strong enough that nobody would blink if they showed up in the capital tomorrow.

They used to be balanced out by the Golden Coral team. If the Delinquents were the heretics, Golden Coral was the orthodox school. People were always quietly arguing over which group was stronger, and the conclusion was always the same.

Against monsters: Golden Coral. Against people: the Delinquents. That was the verdict.

Then Ilekdra's head snapped around and he looked right at me.

Damn. Eye contact.

"Hey, isn't that the guy? That rookie."

Ilekdra pointed straight at me. Then he raised a hand the size of a pot lid and waved me over. The other two delinquents were looking my way as well. Getting on the bad side of these people wouldn't do me any favors.

I trudged over, and Ilekdra grinned.

"I hear you killed that idiot Trenba."

Word traveled fast. I met his eyes. Trenba had never been one of them — he hadn't been at that level. But he'd also been the most likely candidate to join their group.

Maybe...

Maybe the Delinquents had thought of Trenba as one of their own. These people were capable of anything, anytime, anywhere. Ilekdra saw me tense and grinned wider.

"Good job. The worthless bastard kept strutting around like he was somebody. Was starting to get on my nerves. I was about to beat the hell out of him myself."

So much for that. Trenba had been on the outs with the Delinquents too. Below even a monster, as far as they were concerned.

"More importantly. I hear the old man's teaching you himself?"

The old man. The moment I heard those words, only one person came to mind.

"Yes. That's right."

They were Dreygan's disciples too. He'd said they'd mark me the moment they saw me. He'd been right.

"Whoa. Master taking on a new student? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠That's rare."

"So you've got a deep connection with Lord Dreygan."

"Yeah. He took us in when we were kids and raised us himself."

So that was it. Now I understood why the Delinquents had stayed in Laoren all this time.

"Kid's got potential, then."

"What's a guy who can't even take down a mid-class monster by himself doing acting so full of himself?"

A woman's voice came from behind Ilekdra. Bright red hair, freckles — and a body so densely muscled it looked almost vicious. The only female hunter in the Laoren branch. Jeina.

"Jeina, you crazy bitch. You see me fail to kill a mid-class monster by myself?"

"Don't make me laugh. How would you even kill one? Those muscles are all air."

"Fine. Come at me. I'll kill you today."

"Anytime, tattooed pig."

Ilekdra and Jeina ground their teeth at each other. It was true what they said — these two would fight in front of anyone.

"That's enough. How long are you two planning to keep this up?"

The one who'd been watching quietly from behind finally spoke. Unlike the other two, he had long black hair and a slender build. His face didn't look like it belonged around here, either. He'd clearly come from some distant foreign land. But that appearance was not something to underestimate. Of all the Delinquents, he was the one who'd cut down the most people.

His name was Ban. His original name was supposedly longer, but he'd told everyone to just call him that, since nobody could pronounce it anyway.

"Then that would make all of you my seniors."

"Huh. Seniors?"

Ilekdra blinked. The other two did the same. Had I said something wrong?

"BWAHAHAHAHA!"

Then he burst out laughing and slammed his fist into my shoulder, over and over.

Don't do that. You're going to break me.