The Nameless War Demon (2)
The dull, brutal sound of impact echoed through the air, and the blue-haired young man crumpled to the ground. Well, how should I put this… that guy’s dead, isn’t he?
“He’s still alive, so relax.”
Ligret answered as if she had read my mind. I stared at the heavy wooden club gripped in her hand. She had brought it along, claiming it would be easier to take them alive this way, but getting hit in the head with something like that usually kills people, right? Then again, judging by how he moved earlier, he wasn’t exactly normal, so maybe he’d be fine. Not like I was the one who got hit.
“Still, it’s surprising that old man over there is still breathing.”
I glanced at Dorph, who had been left unconscious after the criminals charged straight past him. I had assumed he would already be dead, but the attackers hadn’t killed him. Were they trying to extract information? Either way, it wasn’t bad news for us.
“Oh, this guy’s weapon is pretty decent.”
Ligret, who had been searching the fallen young man, snatched his sword and scabbard, then swapped them out for her own shortsword and sheath. I asked, slightly dumbfounded.
“What are you going to do with the one you were using?”
Ligret replied bluntly.
“Sell it. No need to carry multiple weapons that do the same thing.”
“……”
Now that I think about it, she was like this in the game too.
Among the players of Planetarium, there was a popular meme about the Nameless War Demon being a total weapon hoarder. It was because the quest reward choices almost always included weapon options. There were even cases where she rejected the king’s offer of a castle just to demand the kingdom’s treasured sword instead.
Seeing a detail that matched what I knew gave me a strange sense of nostalgia. As I was lost in thought, Ligret pulled a piece of paper from the young man’s pocket and handed it to me. It was the parchment with the vision that Dorph had shown us in the carriage.
“But will we really get proper compensation with this? If that old man complains that we didn’t protect him properly, it’ll be a headache.”
“If that happens, I’ll step in, so don’t worry. That’s why I took this guy alive.”
Not only had their plan failed, but the mastermind—one of the territory’s heirs—had been captured. There were plenty of ways to use that. Whether this incident had been orchestrated by the Baldwin lord or if his son had simply gone rogue didn’t matter much from our position. Either way, both the lord and his son were about to face a miserable fate.
I felt a twinge of sympathy, but I had no intention of letting it slide easily. Mercy was a privilege reserved for the strong and the good. I was neither strong enough nor good enough to spare someone who had tried to take my life.
After that, we regrouped with the rest of the party. Once we finished emergency treatment for the injured, we resumed our journey. In the rear battle, three members of the merchant group and five from the mercenary band had died, but the rest only suffered injuries. Most of the attackers were killed, with two taken captive.
The captured enemies, including the lord’s son, initially tried to escape or resist several times. But after being thoroughly beaten by the enraged members of the Brown Wolf Mercenary Group—who had just lost comrades in the ambush—they quickly became docile. Dorph, another source of worry, had fortunately survived with no threat to his life. However, even speaking seemed difficult for him, so he spent most of the time lying down and sleeping. I overheard some mercenaries muttering that it was nicer when he was quiet, but I chose to ignore it. After being abandoned in a life-or-death crisis, it was only natural for him to hold a grudge.
Additionally, at Ligret’s own request, the details of her performance were greatly downplayed. The part where she had helped me while I was being chased by one of them was concealed. Instead, we agreed on a story that she had engaged in a fierce battle with Dorph’s guards alongside the captured lord’s son and his companion. One guard died in the fight, and Ligret had ambushed the exhausted lord’s son to capture him.
The mercenaries laughed, saying their youngest member had gotten lucky while running away in fear, but they seemed to consider it quite the feat anyway. They kept offering congratulations mixed with teasing remarks. That only lasted until Ligret responded with nothing but silence and gestures, as if she had become mute. It quickly died down after that.
“……I see. Understood.”
Leader Clark seemed to have roughly guessed the truth, but he didn’t press for details. The wagons carrying the injured and prisoners returned to the main family estate where we had first set out. Once again, I found myself facing the family head.
Bern Midas. Head of the Midas family, chairman of the Midas Merchant Group, and Chrome Midas’s father. He showed neither rage at the fact that his son had nearly been murdered nor any concern for his wounded child.
“How utterly incompetent.”
He simply clicked his tongue at his subordinate’s carelessness.
“There is nothing easier to provoke into a rampage than a cornered man. To push someone that far and not even consider the possibility that they might bite back… it’s absurd. Don’t you agree?”
Well, even if you say that, it’s hard to know how to respond. I wasn’t close enough to defend the guy, but kicking someone who was already critically injured felt a bit much. Bern Midas didn’t seem to expect an answer anyway. He continued without pause.
“The negotiations with Lord Baldwin went smoothly. In exchange for handing over his son, whom we secured, and covering up this incident, he agreed to surrender all the visions and mining rights we had previously promised—without any food supplies included.”
It was practically a declaration of the Baldwin estate’s ruin.
“Was there no resistance?”
“What resistance could they possibly offer? If this matter leaks out, Lord Baldwin is finished. If the choice is between collapsing immediately or slowly falling apart while at least saving his son’s life, anyone would choose the latter.”
Bern Midas asked.
“Is there anything you want? Since you cleaned up the mess that idiot caused, I’ll grant a reasonable request.”
I answered with the first things that came to mind.
“The Brown Wolf Mercenary Group played a major role in resolving this incident. It would be good to reward them separately from the standard commission fee.”
“Even if that fool Dorph brought it on himself, the fact remains that they failed to protect him. Is there any need to show them consideration?”
“Although their family has declined compared to the past, they still possess the skill to fight evenly against properly trained soldiers from a single territory. On top of that, they seemed interested in joining our merchant group. Leaving a good impression wouldn’t hurt.”
“An investment for the future, I see. Not a bad idea. Anything else?”
“I want to attend the Academy.”
Bern Midas’s expression changed for the first time. He paused.
“You mean the Empire’s?”
“Yes.”
If one were to name the most famous person on the continent right now, the first to be mentioned would be Barhart’s Great Emperor. Five years ago, he had passed the imperial throne to his son and was now focusing on establishing a special educational institution.
The Barhart Empire Academy.
The fact that it was founded by a former emperor and the declaration that it would only accept students with the aptitude for magic had caused all sorts of rumors to swirl around the school. Some said the old emperor had created it as a hobby to spend his final years in leisure. Others claimed it was a military academy meant to cultivate the next generation of the empire’s talents. Still others whispered that it was a human experimentation facility for improving the various secret arts the empire had collected.
And I knew the exact reason.
An elite training institution for magic users to combat the Ivestan Empire and the demon race backing them.
Planetarium was a game with extremely high freedom. Depending on the player’s choices, entirely new main storylines could be created. Even so, there was one route that most players recommended to beginners at least once.
The Academy route!
The school, which was still in the preparation stage, had so many events prepared that it was impossible to count them all. Among them were several incidents that could grow into events capable of shaking the entire continent. Not to mention the wide variety of talented individuals who would gather there.
For someone in my position who needs to build both connections and strength, it’s the perfect place.
“Hmm……”
Bern Midas seemed to ponder for a moment, but eventually nodded.
“Very well. However, this is on the condition that you make sufficient contributions to the family over the next two years.”
“Understood.”
I wasn’t too worried. After all, I had no intention of wasting those two years doing nothing. I had to prepare funds, prepare countermeasures for the events that would occur at the Academy, sort out my position within the family, and above all else—
The Nameless War Demon. I must bring Ligret firmly onto my side.
And I already had a plan prepared for that.