Departure Preparation
Joseph paused briefly before continuing.
“This time, if you stay behind to guard the estate, I’ll reward you.”
“……Additional reward, you mean?”
“Yes.”
Joseph took a moment, then spoke.
“You all know this, but once Caladon’s business is settled, I’ll be leaving for another place.”
Joseph had no intention of fully settling in this city.
This place wasn’t the ideal he had envisioned.
It was simply a stable source of financial income.
“If that’s the case, there must be someone here to manage my business while I’m away. I’ll promise that position.”
“……!”
At those words, all the private soldiers fell silent.
Auk’s expression grew quite serious, while Derik and Jiren were rolling their eyes around.
It seemed only Auk had properly understood Joseph’s meaning.
What Joseph offered was a kind of position of authority.
Of course, it wasn’t a noble position, nor that of a merchant.
Strictly speaking, it would mean managing Joseph’s business together with Givra, who had already been designated for that role.
But from the viewpoint of an ordinary commoner, this was a proposal that was hard to overlook lightly.
In this barbaric world, the positions available to commoners had clear limits.
Among them, the representative of a mage was one closest to the top.
It was basically promising to let them act like a king under the mage’s halo.
And this also meant that Joseph trusted that person greatly.
“……That wasn’t something Givra was supposed to handle alone, was it?”
Auk asked cautiously.
Joseph shook his head.
Of course, Joseph had considered giving the estate management and business operation rights to Givra later.
But it would be realistically difficult to entrust all of it to him.
“You’ve all felt it, but Givra has a weak side. He’d struggle alone.”
He might grow in the future, but he didn’t seem likely to become a charismatic steward.
So, someone was needed to manage the servants and mercenaries and firmly establish the estate’s hierarchy.
And right now, the private soldiers were the perfect fit for that role.
They had received combat training from the soldiers of Valois Castle.
And command training from the mercenaries of Caladon.
Whether they realized it or not, they were steadily advancing through elite processes just by looking at the process.
It also meant that it was hard to find talent like them.
Honestly, it’s a waste even for me.
Joseph had placed the most hope in the growth of the private soldiers.
That was why he had invested in them without hesitation.
As the soldiers had sensed to some extent, Joseph had planned to recruit additional private soldiers later and appoint these three as commanders.
But if one of them stayed here, it would be sending away the talent he had nurtured.
That was a painful loss.
And there’s no replacement for that……
Since the incident where the vagrants hid in the estate, Joseph had felt the need for proper management of the security mercenaries.
Even when Joseph was present in the estate, gaps had formed.
If he left his position here.
Whether problems arise or not, it just makes me uneasy……
Joseph newly felt the necessity to recruit more talent.
Ironically, the more talent like Givra entered and the soldiers grew, the more he felt that way.
“Anyway, one of you must stay here no matter what. Discuss it among yourselves.”
In fact, Joseph had only to point to one, and that would be it.
However, he hadn’t done so because he was worried that the one chosen might feel uneasy.
People feel a big difference between the same result whether they chose it themselves or were ordered by someone else.
If it’s the upper person’s command, even if there’s dissatisfaction, they can bear it if they decided it themselves.
The mindset itself changes.
That’s why he gave the private soldiers time to decide for themselves.
Of course, it was also a bit uncomfortable to leave the soldiers he had grown attached to with his own hands.
“Decide by two days before departure. Ah, and Auk. ……Explain it to the others.”
Joseph said this and sent the private soldiers back.
The three private soldiers stood alone in the corridor, silent for a moment.
Derik and Jiren’s gazes turned to Auk.
Auk let out a small sigh and began to explain the content he had understood a moment ago to them.
***
After that, Joseph headed to the Sea Cliffs with a few mercenaries for the first time in a long while.
It was to assess his current level before starting the dungeon.
The reason he brought the mercenaries was because the private soldiers seemed to be seriously considering Joseph’s proposal.
They’re facing a problem that affects their own lives.
Joseph didn’t want to influence their choices too much.
“Why are they like that over there……?”
Upon arriving at the cliff, one of the mercenaries pointed to a certain spot.
It was the place where Joseph had blown away with Slicer during the previous magic training.
Since no one was coming or going, the pile of broken stones remained in place.
It looked artificially dug out.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not something that happens often.”
“……?”
Joseph had said that to make the mercenaries feel less scared, but the mercenaries glanced at each other.
The suspicion that a mage had done something was confirmed by that remark.
Joseph immediately went to the same spot as before.
“Has everyone brought their armor?”
“Yes.”
Joseph asked, and the one carrying the backpack among the mercenaries answered and set the backpack down.
The backpack contained a set of old full-body metal armor and several long wooden sticks.
The mercenaries quickly tied the sticks with strings and soon a cross-shaped wooden scarecrow was completed.
“Attaching the legs with just strings might be better.”
“Yes. We prepared with sturdy wood, so it should be fine.”
Thud!
The mercenaries deeply embedded the scarecrow in the sand and placed the metal armor on top one by one.
Then, though a bit clumsy, a metal armor mannequin was completed.
Joseph immediately swung his staff at that.
My offensive magic’s power is not bad at the moment.
Ordinary low-level demonic beasts would fall with just one Flame Bite.
For those above that, combining with wind magic could push them with even stronger firepower.
For those with hard shells, Iceberg.
For those with tough leather, Slicer.
At least in terms of offense, it somewhat matched Joseph’s goal of ‘versatility’.
So, from now on, the goal should be utility and defense.
But unfortunately, Joseph only had Return as his defensive magic for now.
If there was time, he wanted to find a magic book with defensive magic, but…… it didn’t seem easy to get in the remaining days.
In a place where it was hard to find even one proper magic book, finding exactly one with defensive magic would take months.
And I can’t just wait for Davie to get defensive magic for me.
Anyway, when entering the dungeon, Joseph would be at the rear with Davie.
It meant that defensive magic wouldn’t be urgently needed in the dungeon right away.
So, what he could do now was to re-confirm the level of his only utility magic, ‘Wind Runner’.
Until now, Wind Runner had been avoided for experimentation because of the insane flaw that ‘if it fails, it attacks the target’.
But this time, he had prepared the old armor to properly confirm it.
Whoosh.
Joseph sent a mana orb near the armor.
And after taking a breath, he chanted.
“Wind Runner.”
Then, blue light began to mix into the white light of the orb.
And a small vortex was felt swirling inside the mana orb.
Joseph’s brows furrowed.
He controlled the mana of the roughly rotating wind as delicately as possible without it exploding.
Whoosh—!
Soon, the sound of wind gushing out from the mana orb.
“Make it succeed……”
Joseph muttered, and the mana orb exploded with a bang!
At the same time, the wind swirling inside rushed out through the metal armor.
Tatatatatatang!!
For a moment, the sound of something striking metal rang out, and strong wind swept around.
“Uwaak!”
“Get away!”
The mercenaries, feeling something ominous, immediately jumped back.
It wasn’t something flying like Slicer, but their instinct seeing the collapsed cliff must have strongly called out.
Of course, it was a useless instinct.
“……”
Joseph stood quietly, staring at the armor.
Tatatatatatang!
Tatatatang!
Tatatang!
Tatang!
Tang!
The noise of dozens of strikes on the armor slowly faded.
The wind was gradually stabilizing.
And soon, when the sound completely faded.
“Ooh……”
One of the mercenaries lying on the ground exclaimed at the armor.
Of course, the area around the armor was quickly enveloped by visible blue lines.
Whoosh—!
Light wind scattered around, and the mana of the wind emitting blue light was rotating at the armor’s arms, legs, waist, and chest.
Joseph watched quietly, then summoned another mana orb.
And slowly approached the armor.
Tuk tuk.
It might explode, but fortunately it seemed to manifest stably.
Joseph then reached out directly to the armor.
“O?”
When he put his hand into the area wrapped by the blue lines, he felt a sudden cool wind brushing his hand and making it lighter.
And when he grabbed the gauntlet part and lifted it, it felt like it had almost no weight.
Success……?
No, that wasn’t it.
Exactly, it was half success, or less.
Still not completely failed……
It didn’t explode like Storm Wall or Slicer.
It was just that the magic activated and beat at the target like it was going to turn it into pulp.
Is practical use still lacking?
Suddenly, he wondered if metal armor held by the soldiers or Davie would be fine, but they probably wouldn’t nod.
Regardless of whether it was possible or not, it was a psychological issue.
How many humans would be willing to press their chest against a gun barrel while wearing a bulletproof vest.
Even that, if wrong, the bulletproof vest might be pierced.
Until it’s perfectly successful, it’ll probably be difficult.
Above all, Joseph himself doesn’t wear metal armor.
He had thought about it before, but…… now he thought it wasn’t necessary.
Unlike the past, when Joseph fought now, someone was always protecting his front, so if urgent, he could use Return.
If the opponent made Return meaningless, metal armor would be even more meaningless.
Unless he becomes a mage (whether it exists in this world or not), he didn’t want to do that.
In conclusion, it meant that more training was still needed to use Wind Runner directly.
Whoosh!
And after a few minutes, the blue lines wrapping the armor dispersed, and strong wind swept once around.
The armor, which had become lighter, staggered and fell to the ground.
Joseph’s brows furrowed slightly.
Wait, why is the duration so short?
He hadn’t put in much mana, but even so, only 2-3 minutes?
Damn, it’s really demanding.
Joseph clicked his tongue lightly and summoned the mana orb again.
He planned to repeat until the sound of striking the armor decreased to some extent.
The mercenaries’ faces darkened at that Joseph.