Mercenary Beatdown and the Scent of Hidden Treasure
Piiiing—
I snatched the dagger flying straight at my eyes.
The blade trembled violently in my grip.
At the same time, the man who'd thrown it drew his sword from his waist and charged at me.
“Eugene!”
“Yeah? What?”
Jenella's shout made me shrug in confusion.
“Right in front of you! Hey!”
“In front of me? What?”
Thwack!
I shrugged again and swung my fist at the charging bastard.
He tried to react with quick reflexes, but my punch was way faster than he could've imagined.
“Guh!”
Crack!
“Oops.”
I must've hit too hard—something snapped in his chest where my fist landed.
His body flew backward. Should I heal him?
“Watch out!”
I jerked my head aside at Jenella's cry and the thick killing intent. A longsword whistled past where my head had been.
—Gah!
But Eodukshini on my shoulder couldn't dodge the blade. The sword slammed into its body.
Not that it mattered much. Eodukshini was acidic—no, a divine beast. Its slime nature made the sword ineffective.
—You fucking bastard! How dare you stab this precious body of mine!
Eodukshini swelled up in rage.
In Basic Divine Beast Studies, I'd learned how to empathize with divine beasts, but other major texts taught me something else too.
Ability utilization. Slimes were rare as divine beasts, so info was scarce, but I'd gleaned a new trait from what little there was.
“...What the?!”
Eodukshini ballooned like a blimp and swallowed the guy whole.
“Glurp...”
Its body turned viscous, like sticky mucus. Normally a jiggly solid, it was now a liquid monster.
—Die, you piece of shit! How dare you stab my precious body!
“Don't kill him. Just knock him out.”
—But I wanna...
“Or I'll fuck you up.”
—Of course I'll spare him, Master! Don't worry!
I left one guy to Eodukshini, cracked my neck side to side, and approached the last one.
The man still looked smug, even with his crew all taken down.
“Hey.”
“Brat's got no manners. Didn't they teach you to speak politely to adults?”
“Huh? You were an adult?”
I grinned.
“The adults I know aren't retarded posers like you.”
“They said you were a Sky Academy student... Cocky enough to pierce the heavens. You don't know shit about the real world.”
Still smirking, he drew his sword from his waist.
Shing—
A katana-like blade, just like back on Earth. His stance looked vaguely similar too.
“I'm an upper mercenary, Igret. I was ordered to surveil you, but...”
The tip pointed at my throat.
“Now that you've spotted me, I guess I'll have to kill you all.”
Upper mercenary... Right below Ash's level.
That put him around low-to-mid knight rank.
“You fucking idiot?”
“...What?”
“Why tell me your name? Asking me to rat you out?”
This level of skill, and he's that confident?
I genuinely couldn't comprehend it.
No need for my real sword.
I pulled out the wooden practice sword I'd grabbed on the way.
I could win in a flash with my actual weapon, but I wanted to test my current level first.
“We'll help!”
Jenella and Adria jumped up from their seats.
But I shook my head.
“Nah. Stay put. I wanna test something.”
“But...!”
Ash stopped them, grabbing their shoulders and sitting them back down.
“No. Leave him be.”
“...Huh? Why? He's dangerous! Upper mercenary means...”
“He's mid-knight at best. Eugene's got this. Let's just sip coffee. Oh, can I have Eugene's?”
“No.”
“Tch.”
“But...”
Jenella still looked worried, but Adria nodded like she'd bought it.
“Yeah, mid-knight level.”
“That's even more dangerous!”
“You didn't see properly.”
“...Huh?”
“He could take a high knight no problem.”
“??”
Good. They're settled.
I turned back.
Igret's face was flushing red with anger.
“...You mocking me?”
“Yup.”
“Facing a real sword with a wooden one? Ha! Fine. Love that confidence.”
His face beet-red, he sneered.
“Strutting around with three hot girls? Explains the ego. But it ends here! I'll neuter you!”
“Bring it, if you can.”
He reeked of crossing every moral line—clear as day.
A true swordsman!
But...
Just that level.
Upper mercenary. Impressive, sure. Climbing that high from commoner stock.
But that made it more important to know your limits—and your enemy's.
“You better have the skills to back up that big mouth. You're uglier than me and probably can't get a girlfriend anyway.”
“...!”
Mana swirled around Igret as he ground his teeth.
Crunch!
The floor cratered under his feet as he shot forward.
I widened my eyes, tracking his movements.
Nothing to learn here.
Mercenary guilds taught swordplay and magic, I'd heard.
But I'd trained under Ash—a professor-level swordmaster from a top academy.
Just a week, but handling this moron was a breeze.
Mana flow's clumsy, full of openings.
Wooden sword's plenty.
He closed in and swung. I swung back to meet it.
Just before blades clashed, I angled my wooden sword slightly.
“!”
Parry. He lost balance and pitched forward.
No hesitation—I kneed upward. Bam! Clean hit to the solar plexus.
“Guh!”
“Whoa, whoa. Can't tap out already, right? Weren't you gonna kill me? Or neuter me?”
Igret bounced back, eyes bloodshot. He met my gaze, gritted his teeth, and reached into his pouch.
Whoosh!
Poison?
The powder hit my skin, but the moment it did, my blessing kicked in.
War God's Blessing. My body accelerated in an instant, closing the gap.
“!”
Igret panicked and raised his sword, but too late.
Basic Mana Control.
Divine Power gathered in my wooden sword. Crimson mana wrapped it tight—my control still sucked, so I brute-forced with volume.
Denser than a decent steel blade, I swung with raw packed power.
Not aiming for the sword—it looked sturdy, unbreakable. But his hand holding it?
“!!!!”
The impact jarred the sword loose from his grip.
I didn't let up, swinging relentlessly.
Clang! Clang!
“Grrgh...! How... how's a wooden sword hitting this hard...!”
No answer. Final downward strike.
Good. He's rattled.
Seizing the opening, I shifted Divine Power. Not sword—manifestation.
As taught: Compress into a ball, then launch!
Thwack!
“Kuh!”
Sword dropped from his hand. My eyes lit up.
“Nice! Headshot!”
Crack!
The blade cracked his skull with a clear thunk.
Blood sprayed from his nose and mouth. I kept hammering.
“Head!”
Crack!
“Pot head!”
—Kyaa~! Feels so good! Gimme another bowl of pot head, barkeep!
“Coming right up, sir!”
“Guh!”
Crack! Crack! Crack-crack!
He tried shielding with mana, but that'd hurt worse.
My Divine Power was combat-tuned. Unless his level matched or beat mine, he couldn't block it.
“Gah!”
Final solar plexus kick. He spewed blood and dropped to his knees.
I stopped swinging and lowered my wooden sword.
Glanced over. Counter still empty. Hell, the whole cafe was.
Door was shut too.
I shrugged down at Igret.
“Huh. Staff must be in on it? They bailed.”
“...”
“Not talking? Good. Don't. Never talk. Got it?”
“?”
“I wasn't gonna listen anyway. Ash, help me out?”
“Sure. Just pin him so he can't move? Got a fun idea. Eodukshini?”
—Y-Yes?
Eodukshini approached hesitantly at her gesture, voice shaky.
“You help, and I'll give you upper-grade divine beast jerky. Like this...”
Whisper whisper.
Hearing the girl and slime conspire, I lost my poker face.
...So.
—Eww, I hate that so much...
They're gonna do that?
No, just... no...
Fucking disgusting as hell...
—Won't we get censored?
“Already did.”
—...
Me, Eodukshini, and Ash all stared at Igret.
He'd overheard, head bowed desperately, pleading in a pitiful voice.
“P-Please. Anything but that. Mercy, please...”
We exchanged looks and nodded.
“Wanna grant it?”
“Should we?”
—Should we?
Igret sighed in relief.
Phew. Saved...
“Just leave the head. Gotta talk, right? Eat everything else, Eodukshini?”
“Hiiik!! P-Please! Not that...!”
—...I hate it so much. But upper-grade jerky's waiting!
“Th-That's sensitive—”
—Shut up!! You disgusting fuck!!
Why are we the ones suffering?
With only his head spared, limbs bound in Eodukshini, the man spilled everything.
“So, the Arishion family hired you?”
“Y-Yes!”
“Damn. Pathetic. Entrusting it to trash like you. Why no higher-ups?”
“They know my rep too well. Wouldn't come even if killed.”
What the hell did you do?
Jenella, having heard it all, asked cautiously.
“...So, we're skipping this mission, right?”
Igret's job was just surveillance, but I could infer the rest.
Dark elf hunt was originally Arishion's gig. Got canceled, we snagged it.
Then boom—surveillance right on cue.
Suspicious as fuck!
Smelled like bait a mile away.
I answered Jenella confidently.
“Hell yeah, we're going!”
“...Huh? It's dangerous!”
“Nah, nah. Don't see it that way.”
My eyes sparkled.
“Why surveil a mission?”
“Dunno...?”
“Means something's hidden in it!”
My reflection shone in Jenella's eyes.
“Treasure they stashed, secrets, whatever! Even if not, we get paid! More's just bonus!”
“...”
Her eyes turned to gold coins!