62
Chapter 62
One day, after spending several days idly passing the time on the Castle Wall.
Even this peaceful and boring moment did not last long.
"We're in big trouble!"
"Pardon?"
The Mercenary Mister who had been guarding the Castle Wall with me ran up, panting heavily.
Was his name... 'Rimson'? His booze-scented voice was particularly loud today.
"What's going on?"
"The Pursuit Squad guys! They came back cut in half!"
"......What!?"
I couldn't believe my ears.
I heard the Pursuit Squad wasn't just made of simple Mercenaries, but was an elite formation that included Soldiers.
At least a hundred of them must have been deployed.
And you're telling me not even half of them returned?
"That makes no sense..."
"I'm telling the truth! I heard they're all covered in blood, and none of them can even speak properly."
Mister Rimson said, his eyes wide open.
His hands were trembling slightly.
For an experienced Mercenary's body to shake like that, it meant this wasn't the work of a simple Thief.
"Damn it, I think we're really screwed."
Baldic, who was standing next to me, spat out a curse in a low, rough voice.
"Aren't we going to get attacked again at this rate?"
When I asked, he replied in an annoyed tone.
"Absolutely! Ah, seriously...!"
Baldic pulled out his Dagger, aggressively rubbing it against a Piece of cloth with forceful strokes.
Silon must have been stimulated by that sight, as he pulled out the bow from his back and repeatedly practiced drawing the bowstring.
Though their hands were busy, their eyes remained fixed outside the castle.
"Ah, right! The entire Standby Squad has been ordered to gather at the Castle Gate! I'm heading off first!"
Mister Rimson strode away before he even finished speaking.
"To the Castle Gate? What's going on?"
Baldic tilted his head, looking uneasy.
"Maybe they want to tell us what we just heard?"
Silon muttered cautiously.
"They wouldn't gather everyone just to share such bad news. Most likely... something else has happened."
I nodded at Baldic's words.
"You think so...."
I didn't know exactly what was going on, but one thing was certain.
Nothing good was happening.
***
When we arrived in front of the Castle Gate, a crowd of other Mercenaries had already gathered.
In front of them, Soldiers were grunting as they unloaded something from a Carriage.
Inside the large wooden Box, there was a jumbled mess of various metal Pieces that looked like they had been thrown away by the Blacksmith.
Rusted swords, broken Shields, dented Helmets, and even heavily worn Pieces of Armor.
Anyone could tell they were just junk.
'What is this, are they trying to make us do odd jobs now?'
The moment that question crossed my mind, someone stepped forward from among the Soldiers.
It was a Soldier wearing a short Cloak over his shoulders.
"Listen closely. This is the Equipment you will be using."
He said briefly and firmly.
"From now on, only those who think they lack Equipment should step forward."
"Equipment?"
Someone muttered in disbelief.
"Now? You're giving this to us after the battle is already over?"
"I knew it. They're going to push us to the front again when a fight breaks out."
Murmuring voices erupted from all around.
But before some could even finish speaking, they strode forward and began rummaging through the box.
"What is this? It's all just trash!"
"Oh, this one looks okay— ah!"
"Hand it over, you bastard!"
Shouting matches broke out among those who grabbed the somewhat usable equipment first, soon escalating into fistfights.
A soldier tried to intervene but was shoved backward, and the atmosphere quickly turned hostile.
A large-scale mercenary group heading to a battlefield might be equipped with good gear, but most of the people gathered here weren't such elites.
They were bottom-feeders who wandered from one small city to another, barely earning enough to survive, unable to afford a single proper piece of equipment.
To them, even rusted and worn-out military equipment was a valuable asset.
"We need at least something like this to live... Telling us to go out barehanded is too cruel."
Someone muttered as they pulled out a bent sword.
I quietly watched the scene unfold.
"You punk, that's mine!"
"Why is this yours, mister! Geez!"
Turning my head at the commotion, I spotted a familiar face in the middle of the noisy crowd.
'...Silon?'
The guy was fighting, red-faced, with another mercenary over a helmet.
His hair was completely disheveled, as if he'd been rolling around somewhere, and he looked even more pathetic than usual.
"......Huh? Why is that guy acting like that over there."
In the center of the brawl, Silon was grabbing onto a helmet, engaged in a tug-of-war with a mercenary mister.
With messy hair and a sweat-drenched forehead, something akin to desperate madness shone in his eyes.
"Sigh...."
A quiet sigh leaked out from Eileen beside me.
Then, Silon's cry followed.
"Hyungnim! Hyungnim! Please help me!"
That familiar, pathetic voice.
I unconsciously closed my eyes, then quietly turned my head away.
"Should we pretend we don't know him?"
"Yeah, let's do that."
Ignoring the shouts, we turned our steps as if nothing had happened.
Whatever that guy ended up doing, there was no need for us to get involved.
More importantly... the time to rest back up on the castle wall was too precious to waste.
"Holding up alright?"
I turned at the familiar voice to see Karn standing there.
"Oh, Branch Manager."
Perhaps due to the heavy workload continuing for days, his tired expression seemed even deeper.
"Just... pushing through, I suppose. By the way, I heard there was an issue with the pursuit squad?"
"You've already heard. Then again, it's hard not to know when you're by the castle gate."
He nodded briefly before continuing in a low voice.
"Yeah. Most of the pursuit squad was picked off one by one. A few of the trained soldiers managed to return alive, but the mercenary side suffered heavy losses."
"......."
A short silence. His words calmly reflected the harsh reality.
"The captain of the guard will probably spread the word about the situation soon."
"But... didn't you say you'd be leading them directly, Branch Manager?"
"I have the command authority... but I'll barely have any time to head out to the field myself."
He took a brief breath and continued.
"Normally, I would have entrusted this to someone among the gold token mercenaries, but as you know, they're all outside the city right now."
"Then...."
"For now, you'll have to move together with the soldiers."
The same situation had been continuing for days anyway.
There was nothing new that would change at this point.
"It seems the situation isn't good."
"There's no issue with the Thieves, but the..."
"Demonic Humans?"
"Yeah, those Demonic Humans. The ones the Order talks about are the problem. Listening to those who made it back alive, they're no different from Monsters."
I had only faced a Demonic Human directly once myself, but his words weren't wrong.
They didn't have any human-like traits; if anything, they seemed even more instinctual and dangerous than Monsters.
The stone embedded in their chest was the only weakness I knew of, but the battle had been too chaotic to aim for it.
In a melee, the reality was that just surviving the immediate bloodlust in front of you was overwhelming enough.
"Does the Order have a countermeasure?"
"Normally, the Priests would have stepped up... but this time they were ambushed, and with the number of injured rising, most of them retreated to the rear. That's why the situation is even more tangled."
"Can the Priests handle the Demonic Humans?"
"I don't know the exact details, but I heard a Priest with a certain level of skill could do it. If that failed, the Purifiers would have stepped in."
So the clichés often used in games apply here too.
"Purifiers? Who are they?"
"I heard the Order has separate organizations that deal with Demons. I don't know the specifics either. There are only rumors of their existence, and they say almost no one has actually seen them."
Did the Order even have an organization like that?
Purifiers... It was the first time I'd heard the name, but strangely, it didn't feel completely unfamiliar.
I felt like I had heard it in passing somewhere recently.
"They say the Order also requested backup from higher up... but there hasn't been any news yet."
"Don't tell me, other regions are also...."
"It's highly likely...."
Were other places under attack too?
I couldn't be certain, but otherwise, there would be no reason for the lack of news.
"Eileen, I have news for you too."
"Pardon? For me?"
"Yeah, a Letter came from that guy Chad."
He took out a small Envelope from inside his coat and handed it to Eileen.
Eileen's eyes widened.
"F-For me?"
"Yeah."
Karn took out a small Envelope from his coat and handed it to her.
Even at a glance, it was a dusty Envelope.
The corners were slightly crumpled, and a bizarre Pattern was stamped onto the Wax Seal.
Not knowing what the Pattern was, I glanced at it briefly before turning my head away.
It was obvious that this had nothing to do with me.
Eileen paused for a moment.
Her hand seemed to tremble slightly as she took the Envelope.
"......So it's sent by Sir Chad."
She muttered quietly, carefully breaking the Seal.
As she unfolded the Stationery, Eileen's eyes moved rapidly from side to side.
Following the letters without a word, her lips twisted ever so slightly.
"Are you okay?"
I asked cautiously.
Eileen nodded.
"Yes... it's just, it's been a while."
She folded the Letter neatly.
Seeing her grip the Letter tightly, her mind didn't seem at peace.
I didn't press the matter any further.
"What kind of relationship do the two of you have?"
It was a casually tossed remark, but it was a question I had been curious about for a while in the corner of my mind.
Just what kind of person was this Chad? Why would he take such good care of Eileen, a complete stranger to him?
Karn avoided my gaze for a moment at my question, then let out a small chuckle and asked back.
"Why are you curious about that?"
"Just because. I wondered how close you two were for you to care that much. An ordinary person wouldn't go to such lengths."
He stroked his chin with one hand and let out a deep breath.
His eyes were cold as usual, but a subtle softness lingered in his voice.
"Actually, I owe Chad a great deal."
"Sir Chad?"
"Yeah, that guy."
Karn looked down at the Plains below the Castle Wall for a moment and slowly continued speaking.
"A few years ago, when I was in a pretty difficult situation, Chad showed up and helped me. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have made it this far."
"Ah...."
He chuckled lightly, but that laugh held a heavy sense of gratitude.
"So right now, I'm just helping Eileen, someone Chad cared for. That's all."
It was calmly spoken, but his words carried sincerity.
I took a short breath.
Helping someone because you were once helped by someone else was, unexpectedly, a rather heavy and meaningful act.
"...I see. I understand."
"There's no need to try and understand. I have no intention of forcing it on you."
He wrapped up his words plainly once again.
As if that was everything, as if he had no thoughts of saying anything more.
"...Besides, it seems you're already doing exactly that."
"No, I just accepted a request...."
"Usually, not just anyone would accept such a request."
He wasn't wrong.
Anyone in their right mind wouldn't get involved in this.
I really wasn't thinking straight back then.
"Hyungnim! Why didn't you help me!"
From far away, Silon came running over, wearing a Helmet.
Whether he had been hit or not, he had a dark bruise around his eye, but his joy at obtaining the Helmet seemed much greater.
Sigh, if I knew he'd be like that, should I have just bought him a Helmet?
He said he wasn't going to buy one in the first place, so it's his own karma, though.
"...Is he a Colleague?"
"No, I don't know him."
"......I see."
Lightly ignoring Silon's words, I asked my final question.
"Then... when do you think the attack will come?"
"...The exact timing of the attack isn't certain, but probably-"
Thump!
A heavy vibration rose from somewhere below the Castle Wall.
An impact strong enough to make the Castle Wall tremble slightly.
"......Wh-What was that just now-"
Thump!
It was closer this time.
A chilling silence flowed among the people atop the Castle Wall.
Rumble—
A Soldier who noticed it first shouted.
"Anomaly ahead! There's something in front of—!"
At that moment, the sound of a ringing bell echoed inside the castle.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The bells signaling an emergency rang out consecutively.
"——It's an attack!!"
A Messenger running like the wind, followed by the shouts of the Captain of the Guard, filled the Castle Wall.
"Mercenaries! Everyone to your positions!! Check your Weapons and prepare for battle!!"
Something is really coming.