Harbert Forest
The training proceeded without a hitch. The private soldiers took turns commanding the mercenaries, running through the same scenarios again and again until it almost looked like a proper military drill.
"Take the byproducts for yourselves."
Joseph had decided to hand every last scrap of demonic-beast material over to the mercenaries. Thanks to his deals with the two merchant guilds, money no longer held much of a grip on him. Better to give this away and hope the mercenaries would take the hint and stay cooperative. Besides, he had zero interest in the demonic-beast meat that made everyone else's mouths water.
"Yes, sir!"
And just as Joseph had expected, the mercenaries followed the private soldiers' orders to the letter. To an outsider, they might have looked like some rural knight and his men.
There was one thing, however, that Joseph had gotten wrong. The reason they obeyed so thoroughly had nothing to do with the byproducts.
Get on his bad side and we're fucked...!
They had seen Joseph's combat power with their own eyes, and it had terrified them. When they'd first heard about the Malacca Mercenary Troop, they'd figured Joseph was strong. What they actually witnessed, though, was far beyond anything they had imagined. Watching him smash incoming demonic beasts to pieces with a single blow had left their jaws hanging open.
The private soldiers were overflowing with motivation, and the mercenaries were cooperative — but even so, there were still plenty of rough edges. Every so often, when several beasts appeared at once, one or two would inevitably peel off toward Joseph.
"Flame Bite."
⟨ Flame Bite ⟩
A goblin that had been charging straight at Joseph detonated in midair with a thunderous boom. Forget harvesting byproducts — scraps of the corpse went flying off into the trees.
And so, little by little, fear began to take root in minds that had started out so casual. They say mages are always arrogant and eccentric. Looking at this one, he didn't quite seem the type...
But you never know, do you?
One wrong moment, one twist of his temper, and he might dump a spell on their heads. They were already at the front. If they got hit from behind, they wouldn't even have a chance to run — they'd just evaporate on the spot.
"You don't need to be that scared..."
Auk said, watching the mercenaries steal nervous glances, but words like that weren't going to convince anyone. Still, thanks to all that, the training itself was going along without much difficulty.
By the time the fifth day rolled around, one of them spoke up.
"What if we pushed a little farther north?"
The suggestion came from Lento, the most eager of the mercenaries. Naturally, he hadn't said it to Joseph directly. He'd gone to Derik with a few of the others, and from there it had reached Joseph's ears.
Right now the mercenaries were circling the outskirts of Harbert Forest. That had been Joseph's call — he didn't think they were ready to go deeper yet.
"North?"
"Yes. Giant moths show up a lot in that direction. It'd be good for the training."
Lento wasn't entirely wrong. Flying insects like that were psychologically threatening, and you never knew what they were thinking. It would certainly help the training. But heading north for that reason alone still felt like a hasty call.
"Beasts are already slipping past us as it is. What happens if we get surrounded?"
Lento's mouth snapped shut for a moment. But he didn't look ready to give up.
"It's not just moths. Leech flies and burrow spiders come out too..."
Joseph's brow furrowed even deeper. It wasn't simply because of the insect beasts. Something about the way Lento kept steering them north felt off. Persistent, even.
"...Lento."
Joseph had a knack for this sort of thing by now. The moment he said the name, Lento flinched. His eyes slowly traced Joseph's face. Joseph stared back, expression hard.
"What are you playing at? You'd better start talking straight."
He could see Lento swallow. And it wasn't just him — Joseph's single remark had the others tensing up too. The mage was getting displeased. Some of them started breaking out in cold sweat.
The atmosphere dropped like a stone, and the private soldiers naturally led the mercenaries a short distance away — for Joseph's safety, and in case anything went wrong.
Honestly, just interrogating him would be easier...
Contrary to their worries, though, Joseph had no intention of seriously interrogating the man. These were people Braham had screened through the mercenary guild, and Dofnik had cross-checked them afterward. At the very least, they weren't suspicious types. If they'd meant to ambush Joseph, they'd had any number of chances over the past five days.
Poke this the wrong way and I could end up in trouble with the guild.
The merchants seemed somewhat intimidated by Joseph, but that didn't mean he could treat them however he liked, the way a noble would. If he wanted to put down roots here, he still had to read the room to a point.
That said, something was off, and the mercenaries were afraid of him — so he might as well use that to dig out whatever Lento was hiding.
Lento was watching Joseph very carefully. His eyes darted around before he answered.
"Well... the truth is, there are a lot of abandoned camps up north."
"Abandoned camps?"
"Yes. It's where traveling merchants who don't know the area set up."
Traveling merchants were usually well-versed in local news and the stories making the rounds. Investigating what to sell naturally meant picking up all kinds of information — some of them even specialized in selling information itself. But there were always exceptions. Merchants who didn't know about the relationship between Caladon and the Fabidea Territory, or about the existence of Harbert Forest, would try to cut through the woods and meet with disaster.
"So those camps are scattered all over the north?"
"Yes... so I thought if we headed up that way while we were at it, we might be able to grab a decent haul..."
This was a forest people normally didn't go near. With a powerful mage at their backs, they might get lucky and sweep up a small fortune. And Joseph had said he wouldn't take the beast byproducts. If they played it right, the mercenaries could split everything among themselves.
"That's not much of a reason. Why didn't you just say so?"
"...I'm sorry. Looking at the remaining supplies, I figured we'd be heading back in a few days."
Lento hesitated, watching Joseph's face, then continued.
"There's... a rumor that in the northern part of Harbert Forest, there's a demonic beast that eats other demonic beasts."
"A beast that eats other beasts?"
Joseph's brow furrowed. He'd faced a fair number of demonic beasts by now, but he'd never seen one that ate its own kind. They all charged at every living thing except themselves — eating each other? It almost sounded like they had their own food chain.
At a glance they just look like animals gone mad...
But the smoke that rose from their bodies every time his magic hit them dead-on — thinking about that, he couldn't believe they were ordinary animals.
What is demonic energy, in the end?
The beasts that carried demonic energy were grotesque without exception. The shaman at Malešov had absorbed it into his body and been twisted into something hideous.
Joseph shook his head after a moment. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that.
I'll ask someone who might know when I get the chance.
"You're saying that thing is dangerous?"
Lento nodded. Looking around, some of the other mercenaries seemed to know about it too.
"A-among mercenaries, they call it a Peeper."
"A Peeper?"
"Yes. It's a huge crow. You usually see them on battlefields."
The Cry Peeper. Several times larger than an ordinary crow, they traveled in flocks and tore at corpses.
Sounds more like an eagle than a crow.
This so-called "Peeper" was apparently a demonic beast mercenaries never wanted to run into. Encountering one meant corpses were scattered nearby — and that you were standing right in the middle of them. This was a world sensitive to superstition as it was. Nobody wanted to come face-to-face with something that reeked of death.
"There's even a saying among mercenaries that if you meet one, you'll be dead within a year."
Joseph glanced at the mercenaries standing behind Lento. They were nodding vigorously. The rumor itself seemed genuine.
Lento, watching Joseph's face, lowered his head. Joseph let out a small sigh.
Lento had apparently assumed that once Joseph learned about the Cry Peeper, he'd never head north. That was why he'd tried to nudge them that way without mentioning it.
Truth be told, Joseph had been thinking of looking for different beasts anyway. He remembered something he'd read in a manga in his previous life.
They said if you keep fighting the same opponent over and over, you can pick up bad habits.
Joseph didn't actually know if that was true. He was a mage, not a knight. But from the standpoint of broadening their experience, it wasn't something to dismiss.
If Lento had just been honest, Joseph probably would have gone along with it. Instead, Lento hadn't been able to resist a moment of greed, and had tried to hide it. Whether they'd actually been deceived and suffered for it wasn't the point. This was the kind of thing that could amount to stabbing your employer in the back.
"A veteran like you... you'd have been better off just telling the truth."
Lento's face went pale, and he hung his head. He understood exactly what kind of situation this was.
Frankly, Joseph would have been within his rights to execute him on the spot. Fortunately, Joseph had no intention of killing anyone here. He didn't let people who targeted him walk away — but this wasn't quite that.
"This will be reported to the guild."
"I understand..."
Lento had tried to use Joseph, who was emerging as Caladon's new man of influence. Even if Joseph did nothing, the guild would handle it themselves.
It's a matter of trust. Can't be helped.
Joseph sighed quietly and sent Lento back to the mercenary group. Then he called his private soldiers over again.
"How was the mood among the mercenaries just now?"
"They were a bit frightened, but nothing major."
"That's good."
Auk answered promptly. Fortunately, the mercenaries had no desire to cross Joseph if they could help it, so nobody seemed inclined to push back against the pressure he'd just applied. More than that, Lento's stunt could have damaged their own credibility. The rest of them, being from different troops, had no interest in covering for him.
"So. What do you think of what we just heard?"
Joseph asked something different this time. Lento's motives hadn't been good, but Joseph agreed that facing a variety of beasts would be better for the training. What mattered more, though, was the soldiers' own judgment.
This wasn't about whether they were scared or wanted to fight. Current combat strength, remaining supplies, unknown beasts they'd never seen — he wanted them to weigh all of that and decide.
The private soldiers all grew serious at that. They exchanged glances, but none of them jumped to a conclusion. Eventually, Derik spoke first.
"Would it be all right if we gave you an answer tomorrow morning?"
"Hard to decide right now?"
"Yes. I think it would be better to hear more from the mercenaries about the beasts in the north."
Derik answered earnestly, and the corner of Joseph's mouth lifted.
The one who used to charge in first wants to investigate and discuss before deciding...
The training was clearly paying off.