Mercenary
Joseph found himself grinding his teeth without meaning to.
The fight was over, but the blood still pounding through his skull showed no sign of cooling.
They chased me all the way out here just to kill me?
Every instinct in him wanted to blow this one away too, right then and there. But he kept repeating it to himself, over and over: stay cold. Stay calm.
I need to know why.
These weren't bandits who'd jumped whoever happened to pass by. They'd come after him specifically — to kill him. There had to be a reason. Even if it was something as simple as wanting to rob a mage, he needed to know. Let this slide, and the same thing would happen again.
"Say anything useless and I'll burn your face off. Move without reason and I'll burn you too."
The man's panicked face was crystal clear. Joseph locked onto those eyes and spoke slowly.
"Answer what I ask. Don't even think about looking away."
A strange hissing sound leaked from the orb pressed to the back of the long-haired man's skull. The man swallowed.
"Don't lie, either. I already know you came after me. The moment you lie, I'll set your head on fire. If you understand, just nod."
The man nodded, very slowly.
"Why did you come after me?"
At Joseph's question, the long-haired man stammered out a slow answer. His tone had gone much more polite.
"I... I mean, I... I was trying to... take what you have."
...My things?
After the Roph Merchant Guild had collapsed, all Joseph had on him was a bit of food and some liquor. Even the belongings he'd packed when leaving Bari Village had been stolen. He actually had less now than before he'd joined the merchant company.
"Does that even make sense? Did I look like I was carrying that much?"
"No, it's because you're a mage... I figured you'd have something expensive..."
He said this and then snuck a glance at Joseph's expression.
A lie right from the start...
Chasing him all this way just because he might have the same kind of things as other mages? That didn't add up. Joseph was certain there was something else going on.
Thwack!
Joseph slammed the orb that had been touching the back of the man's head down onto his shoulder. A nauseating crack of splintering bone rang out.
"AAAAAGH!!"
A splitting scream tore through the darkness. The man clutched his shattered shoulder and crumpled to the ground.
"Answer me properly. Unless you want to burn to death."
Joseph looked down at the fallen long-haired man. The man had his face pressed into the dirt, trembling. The orb made that strange sound again as it touched his face.
"I'll ask again. Why did you come after me?"
At Joseph's question, the long-haired man trembled as he lifted his head. There was no panic on that face, no tension — only fear of the mage.
"The holy relic! I was trying to steal the holy relic!"
"What?"
Joseph's brow furrowed. He hadn't taken the holy relic out of his robes even once since the day he'd met that combat priest. So how did this long-haired bastard know about it?
"How did you know?"
"There's someone looking for holy relics! I was going to sell it to him!"
"Looking for holy relics?"
Joseph twitched his fingers slightly, and the man's tone grew frantic.
"Yes! If you go north from here, there's a place where a mage lives. A man named Rophen!"
There's a mage?
Joseph's gaze drifted slightly northward. This whole area was mostly mountains, so it was hard to tell which peak the man meant.
"H-he said there was a mage with a holy relic! That he'd be around here somewhere! And you're the only mage around here!"
"So you were going to steal what I had and sell it to him?"
The man gave a slight nod.
This son of a bitch...
Rage boiled up in Joseph, but he let it settle with a sigh and opened his mouth again. There was still more information he needed.
"Why is that mage after a holy relic?"
"That's..."
The man's words trailed off again.
The orb pressed down on his shattered shoulder. Another scream rang out.
"Aagh! I don't know that far! I swear!"
"Bullshit. You came after me to kill me."
"Th-that's... he said he'd pay a fortune if I brought him your holy relic, so I got greedy..."
"So you turned around and came after me?"
When the man nodded again, Joseph clicked his tongue.
What a goddamn mess.
He didn't know why this Rophen was after the holy relic, but this was a serious problem. Getting to Valois Castle meant a long road ahead. This was someone who'd already sent bandits after him. He might send more. Joseph was exhausted from the constant travel. He had no confidence he'd make it to Valois Castle in one piece if he had to stay on guard against pursuit every single day.
The thought of just handing over the holy relic flickered through his mind for a moment. He immediately shook his head.
Why the hell would I?
Handing it over without a fight would mean he was afraid of this guy. This wasn't about Joseph's desire to live in peace. In this shitty world, bowing your head was the same as introducing yourself as an easy mark. They'd latch on and never let go, demanding more every time he so much as turned a corner.
If I look like an easy target, I'm finished. And he's a mage. Those lunatics.
Mage Joseph had a headache. He'd barely left the village, and already people wouldn't leave him the hell alone.
The fire clinging to the bandit's body was slowly dying down. For now, he'd keep moving and figure out what to do along the way. There was one last thing he needed to ask.
"How did you find me?"
But no answer came.
Something cut through the air with a sharp hiss. At the same time, the man's face twisted grotesquely. He sucked in a ragged breath, one arm flailing. His mouth hung wide open and wouldn't close. His eyes found Joseph — then he toppled forward.
That's when Joseph saw it: a tree root sprouting from the man's back.
Joseph immediately drew up his mana.
"Well..."
⟨ Fire ⟩
A voice had come from behind the long-haired man, out of the darkness. But Joseph wasn't listening. He fired the orb straight ahead as he chanted the spell. The orb transformed into flame in midair and shot forward.
"This..."
But the flame struck something and scattered.
Joseph reached into his robes and pulled out a gem. It sparkled, restoring his mana.
⟨ Fire ⟩ ⟨ Fire ⟩
He immediately created three orbs and fired two of them at the fallen man's corpse. The flames clinging to the clothes flared up at once, lighting the surroundings.
That's when the figure standing in the darkness was revealed. A wrinkled old man, scowling. A stranger.
Fire doesn't work on him!
He immediately set the last orb in front of himself. If it came to it, he'd defend with Return. As his mana was consumed, the gem sparkled again. Joseph drew a deep breath, trying to pull out as many orbs as he could.
"I don't want to fight, so knock it off! You crazy bastard!"
⟨ Return ⟩
Joseph deployed Return at those words, then generated more orbs behind it and lined them up. If he missed the timing, he'd deploy it again immediately.
"...?"
But nothing came flying at him. Only then did Joseph look at the old man. The old man was still standing in the same spot, frowning.
"Even crazier than I thought."
The old man looked at Joseph and clicked his tongue.
"...Who are you?"
"I'll answer what you asked earlier first. How did they find you? I heard it from the village chief of Kaldar Village."
The old man said this as he waved the staff in his hand. Roots grew in midair and then transformed into a wooden staff. The old man planted it on the ground and snorted.
A mage!
Joseph swallowed. At the same time, from the earlier answer and the magic, he realized who this was.
"You're Rophen?"
"That's right. I heard you had a holy relic, so I came to take a look at your face."
The old man sighed and shook his head. There wasn't a trace of tension in his demeanor. But Joseph was breaking out in a cold sweat looking at that casual composure.
That's... a real mage.
He'd never expected the mage the long-haired man mentioned to show up in person.
And I didn't notice him at all.
He hadn't even sensed a presence until the long-haired man went down. The old man had appeared as suddenly as if he'd popped out of thin air. If the old man had attacked him instead of the bandit, Joseph might have been the one who died.
"...How long have you been watching?"
"Since you were pretending to sleep."
Meaning he'd been nearby from the start. Joseph swallowed once and asked,
"...Why didn't you kill me?"
If Joseph hadn't noticed him, he could have just gone for the back of his head. But Rophen shook his head in irritation. The wrinkles on his forehead deepened.
"What? Why would I kill you?"
He said this and then kicked the corpse on the ground with his foot.
"What I told these primitive idiots was to find 'the mage with the holy relic.' But these bastards misunderstood and tried to kill the guy who had it."
"...You weren't trying to kill me?"
"How many times are you going to ask?! Persistent little shit!"
Rophen bellowed at Joseph's question.
"I never told them to kill you! If I had, I'd have killed you the moment I saw you lying there!"
"Then why didn't you just come yourself from the start?"
"Couldn't be bothered."
"Then why come in person now?"
"Got curious."
Joseph was reminded of his conversation with that fanatic combat priest. It was exactly the same feeling.
"If you didn't want to fight, why were you just watching?"
"Once I actually saw you, I got curious how you'd handle it."
"...And if I'd died to those guys?"
"Listen to yourself. Why would a mage die to bandits?"
Joseph was now certain this old man wasn't right in the head. What would have happened if Joseph hadn't noticed the bandits approaching...
"...So you don't intend to take the holy relic?"
"Looking at that face, you don't believe me. And if you don't? What are you going to do? Keep fighting?"
The old man looked at Joseph with a wrinkled, put-upon expression.
Joseph thought for a moment, then shook his head. Honestly, looking at what had just happened, he didn't think he could win even if he did fight. And the old man didn't seem interested in fighting him anyway. There was no reason to take the risk.
Rophen nodded, looking at Joseph.
"At least you're not stupid."
"So... what business does a mage like yourself have with me?"
Joseph subtly shifted his tone. Rophen raised one eyebrow at that.
"Didn't I say? I came to take a look at the face of the guy with the holy relic."
"Why?"
"To see what kind of person you are. And you... you're a bit of a lunatic. What mage in the world fights like that? Mercenary suits you better than mage."
A snort of laughter escaped Joseph at those words. Who was calling who a lunatic.
"I don't feel like standing around talking here, so come to my house. Beats camping next to a corpse."
He said this and then suddenly turned his back. For a brief instant, the thought of ambushing that back flickered through Joseph's mind.
"Don't bother. That little fire of yours can't kill me."
The tone still carried no tension, but it didn't sound like a bluff. Joseph glanced around. The fire on the long-haired man's corpse was still burning vigorously. Even through the flames, a massive hole in the back was visible — the tree root that had punched through the man's torso in an instant. It had killed him on the spot.
I can't... really refuse, can I.
It was obvious the old man had taken an interest in him, but looking at that, picking a fight right now wasn't the smart play.
Fuck. I have no idea what's going on.
Joseph swallowed a curse, gathered his belongings, and fell in behind Rophen.