The Merchant Guild's Mage
"When are we heading down?"
Once they'd rested for a while, Marf came over and asked. His body was still sticky with ogre blood, and the look on his face said he wanted off this mountain immediately.
Joseph swept his gaze across the surroundings. Recalling the fight from moments ago, he finally understood why the place had been reduced to such a wreck.
"...Marf."
"Yes?"
"Do ogres normally go berserk like that?"
Marf shook his head.
"No. Ogres are stupid, I'll grant you that, but they don't usually charge in that mindlessly. They typically know their own lives are worth something..."
His voice trailed off as he looked at the ogre's corpse.
So there really was some reason for it.
Whatever that reason was, one insane ogre had turned this whole place into a slaughterhouse. Joseph looked over the scattered, torn-apart corpses.
After all this goddamn mess, I at least need to know what they were looking for.
He'd nearly died searching for some object at Seymo's request. At the very least, he wanted to know what it actually was before they headed back.
"Search the area. See if anything's left."
At Joseph's order, Marf split the mercenaries in two — one group to search, the other to butcher the ogre. Having witnessed the fight up close, even the exhausted men took one look at Joseph and got moving without complaint.
"Mage!"
One of the mercenaries called out during the search.
"Find something?"
"There's something here."
The mercenary pointed at a corpse whose lower half had been torn away, standing there awkwardly.
"...What is it?"
"I don't know, but it doesn't look like an ordinary object..."
He said this as he shuffled backward, looking embarrassed.
What's got him acting like that?
Joseph approached the corpse the mercenary had indicated. Up close, he could see the body was clutching something — a leather pouch bound tightly with a yellow cord. Looking closer, the surface of the pouch was densely covered in writing. It wasn't a script Joseph recognized.
What is this?
Something faint emanated from the writing on the pouch.
Mana?
Even at a glance, it was clearly no ordinary object. Joseph figured some kind of magic he didn't know had been placed on it.
Doesn't seem like the effect is still active, though.
He summoned a mana sphere and tapped the pouch a few times, but it didn't react. Whatever enchantment it had carried, it seemed to have failed — either during the ogre's attack, or sometime before.
Huh?
As he turned it over in his hands, the cord binding the pouch unraveled of its own accord. Then, like a flower bud opening, the pouch unfolded by itself, and a small gemstone appeared from within.
"Whoa..."
"Ooooh..."
The mercenaries watching from behind murmured in awe and edged closer. Joseph turned and warned them.
"Don't touch it. There's some kind of magical mechanism on this. If you're unlucky, it'll scramble your brains."
The mercenaries scrambled backward at once.
The green gemstone glowed even in the mountain darkness, attractive enough to make anyone's mouth water. Precisely because of that, Joseph didn't touch it lightly.
A flashy gem that radiates mana. That's way too suspicious.
To Joseph's eyes, this gem was no different from a brightly colored poisonous mushroom. He immediately tapped it with a mana sphere, then used Return to circle the area around it. Still, nothing reacted.
...At this point, it probably isn't dangerous magic.
This was very likely the object Seymo had been searching for. Given how desperately Seymo had wanted it found, it might be worth a fortune.
The moment Joseph reached that conclusion and laid his hand on the gem —
"Huh?"
A faint light suddenly flickered from the stone. Joseph was startled, but he didn't let go. The light felt somehow familiar — a slight warmth, and a faint sting at his fingertips.
It's similar to when I first discovered mana.
The light flashed briefly, then faded just as quickly. Joseph looked himself over, checking his condition. Nothing had changed on the outside. Then he noticed one difference.
...My mana's fully restored.
Magical Artifact
Fully restores the wielder's mana upon physical contact.
This was no ordinary object. He'd never heard of an item that could rapidly restore a mage's mana. Now he understood why Seymo had been so desperate to find it.
This was supposed to be sent north, wasn't it?
The northern battlefield. And the Fire Mage stationed there. It occurred to him that this gem might have been meant for that mage.
I'll take it with me for now.
Joseph decided he needed to hear why Seymo had pushed so hard to come this far. He'd listen to the situation, and if the object was too dangerous, he'd use it as leverage to demand different compensation from Seymo.
Honestly, I do want it for myself.
But too many mercenaries had seen him pick it up. Slipping it away unnoticed wasn't an option.
A shame, but I can just demand something of equal value.
They'd already fought a life-or-death battle that hadn't even been in the original plan. Asking this much wouldn't be unreasonable. If Seymo refused, Joseph could always threaten him the way he had when they first met and squeeze it out of him.
He turned around to find the mercenaries watching him from a distance, uneasy looks on their faces.
"...There was magic on it. It's fine now."
Only then did the mercenaries seem to relax.
"We're heading back. Take whatever else you can carry."
"Yes, sir!"
The mercenaries answered vigorously and scattered at once. As they descended the mountain, their grins stretched from ear to ear — and why wouldn't they? Seymo had thrown money around on this expedition, and now they had the ogre's hide and meat on top of it. They chattered among themselves about how they'd made a killing and earned a reputation for surviving a fight with an ogre.
Joseph followed quietly behind, considering what he'd demand from Seymo.
"Wait...!"
Near the bottom of the slope, just as the highway came into view, Marf — who had been leading the way — suddenly stopped.
"Now what?"
Joseph reflexively began circulating his mana. Marf lowered his voice.
"...Everyone who was down below is dead."
"What?"
At those words, everyone dropped into a crouch. Joseph asked carefully.
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. I can see them all lying down there."
Joseph moved to the front and looked for himself. Sure enough, the men who should have been guarding the wagons were sprawled everywhere. Some even had their limbs severed.
Was there another ogre?
Joseph was confused, but he forced himself to think of a conclusion first.
"It's too late to hide. If anyone's still around, they've already heard us coming down. Drop the loads and get out onto the highway. Stay alert. If we're attacked here, we'll be too slow to react."
At Joseph's order, the mercenary band slowly descended onto the highway.
"Gruesome."
Once they stepped onto the road, the corpses came into full view. These were the men who had stayed with the wagons to protect Seymo. Most had died with an arm or a leg cut off.
"Can you see Seymo's body?"
"Over there."
Joseph looked where Marf pointed. Seymo, like the others, lay sprawled with both arms severed.
But as he studied the corpses, something bothered him.
"...Ogres don't use weapons."
The severed limbs were cut too cleanly. It was less like they'd been torn off and more like they'd been sliced by something sharp. Marf nodded at Joseph's observation.
Something else was here.
Joseph turned his gaze to the wagons. The horses were gone, but the wagons themselves looked intact.
Not a demonic beast. If it had been, the wagons would've been smashed to pieces.
Whoever had attacked Seymo was likely human — or at least something with intelligence. He didn't know what it was, but it was clear the attacker had specifically targeted Seymo and the mercenaries.
Who, though? And why?
Joseph shook his head. Speculation could wait. He and the mercenaries stayed close to the wagons and waited, but no matter how long they lingered, there was no sign of anyone.
"Maybe we should search the area a bit."
"Yeah... that might be better."
Joseph followed Marf's suggestion and ordered a search of the surroundings.
"We found the horses that ran off."
But that was all they found — two horses that had disappeared earlier, discovered nearby.
Good thing we spent that time up on the mountain.
Whoever had attacked Seymo had apparently left while they were fighting the ogre and resting afterward.
"What do we do now?"
"Hm?"
As they were gathering the cargo, Marf asked Joseph a question. Wondering what that was about, Joseph looked around and saw the mercenaries' expressions had gone sour.
Ah...
He understood what they were thinking. Their client, Seymo, was dead. As mercenaries hired as escorts, they had failed their mission. And the client hadn't been just anyone — he'd been the head of the Roph Merchant Guild.
Once this story spread, they wouldn't be able to find work around here anymore. On top of that, with the client dead, whether they'd even get paid was now in question.
Of course, the attack had happened while they were off searching on Seymo's own orders. They'd fought an ogre for their lives, only to come back to this. It was enough to make anyone feel cheated.
Which meant the only person who could prove their innocence and get them their pay was Joseph.
"Pack the cargo. I'll explain the situation once we're back."
The mercenaries' faces brightened at last. Whether the guild would actually believe Joseph was another matter, but ignoring these men would be insane. If he did, they might well put a knife in his back and run. They'd seen him fight the ogre, and they knew he was someone with a degree of authority in the guild — they'd treat him accordingly.
Joseph packed only as much cargo as would fit in a single wagon and set off north immediately. For now, the plan was to return to the village.
The mercenaries moved with urgency — faster than they had on the way here. They clearly wanted to shake off this unexpected stress as quickly as possible. Joseph felt the same, so he didn't complain about the pace. Riding in the wagon by himself was another reason.
With fewer mercenaries and wagons than before, bandits appeared who hadn't shown themselves on the way out. Joseph had no intention of wasting time. He simply burned every one of them he saw.
"Fire!"
⟨ Fire ⟩
Flames roared to life. After two or so went up in fire, the rest fled on their own.
After that, the way the mercenaries looked at him began to change. Before, it had been "Mage." Now it was "Honored Mage." Joseph had no particular interest in that kind of treatment, but their goodwill was a useful thing to have.
"Call me if you need anything."
"We're fine! You just rest easy, Honored Mage. We'll take care of everything ourselves."
As time passed, they watched Joseph's mood and went out of their way to make the journey as comfortable as possible. Thanks to that, Joseph was able to spend most of the trip training inside the wagon.
Whenever his mana ran dry during practice, he pulled out the gem he'd tucked against his chest and examined it. Each time, the stone would sparkle of its own accord and restore his mana.
This is actually insane.
An item that restored mana in an instant. The efficiency was enough to make his head spin. Something that had originally been destined for the north was now in Joseph's hands, and a dozen hypotheses spun through his mind at once.
But Seymo — the one man who would have known the answers — was suddenly dead, and the chance to find out had slipped away.
Once we're back, I should watch how things play out for a bit.
But Joseph's plans fell apart the moment they arrived at the camp.
"They looted the guild warehouse? Who?"
"The mercenaries who stayed behind at the camp! They cleaned out the remaining wagons and ran!"
"What?"
The instant they returned to the village, Berit came running and poured out the whole story in a rush of complaint. According to him, while Seymo and Joseph had been away, the mercenaries left at the encampment had raided it. Seymo had taken all the capable fighters with him, so there hadn't been many people left who could have stopped them. The raiders had apparently loaded a wagon full of cargo and fled the village.
"B-but... where is the guild master?"
"...He's dead."
"...!"
Berit stared at him with stunned eyes. Joseph was just as thrown by the whole situation.
I didn't think things would get this tangled.
At the same time, his mind was already racing ahead.
...But if that's the case, is there even a reason to stay here?