Mercenary Recruitment
The men grinned as they sized us up. "Kekeke, finally figured out the situation, have you?" It was the classic look and tone you'd expect from bandits.
I tried not to kill them if possible... Image aside, the mercenaries were currently what kept Eurexia standing. From my position of wanting to help the angels, they were indirect allies in a sense. But they had crossed the line one too many times.
Minor squabbles in the guild were common enough. I could even understand them acting that way toward someone who looked as delicate as Baengnae. Secretly tailing us and picking a fight, however, was something I couldn't ignore.
Yeah... what kind of allies act like this?
They were the sort who'd eventually commit a crime and get themselves killed anyway. Better to turn garbage like them into zombies and put them to use.
I revised the overall plan. Instead of keeping the mercenaries alive to support Eurexia, I'd turn them into zombies I could control.
"Try not to damage them," I said.
The thugs tilted their heads in confusion. That was the last conscious movement they ever made. Zombies I had summoned from behind seized their necks in crushing grips.
"Urk... glurk?"
I poured the zombie venom I'd extracted from lesser zombies into their struggling mouths. Glug, glug. Moments later they had become low-tier zombies. Their intelligence had regressed, but externally it was difficult to tell they had ever been anything else.
I pointed at the one still wearing a mercenary uniform and asked, "Affiliation and name."
"Baaarok affiliation... uhh...?" He seemed to have forgotten his own name, but this was still a success. Even if someone spoke to them, they could pass for particularly stupid mercenaries. These guys couldn't even read or write in the first place, after all.
Definitely high quality!
The soldiers I'd gained in the Golden Story after slaughtering East Bali's army in the southern plains had barely been able to hold conversations. This proved that the characters from the Black Label books operated on an entirely different level. Even using the body of a backwater mercenary, I could create zombies capable of actual speech.
The higher the difficulty, the better for me.
I issued orders to my new, slightly-less-braindead zombie mercenaries.
"From now on you belong to the Baeksu Mercenary Corps. Guide me to the group you used to belong to."
"Yeees... Master..."
"Not Master. Leader."
"Yeees... Leader..."
Baengnae, who had been listening, hurriedly unfolded a sheet of paper. It was the wild boar hunting request.
"Do this?" she asked.
When I said I was heading to their mercenary group, she was asking whether that meant we were skipping the boar hunt. I summoned Nareun-i. At this stage there was no need for the higher-tier zombies anyway.
"You two go handle it."
"Hi-hi. Madda."
After sending Baengnae off, I went to meet the Barok Mercenary Corps.
I knew of them not because they were particularly impressive. With fewer than ten mercenary groups in the entire village, their name naturally came up in conversation.
Barok was a group of roughly thirty mercenaries who had taken over an abandoned warehouse on the village outskirts.
When I appeared, one of their members thrust a dagger at me and snapped, "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm the leader of the Baeksu Mercenary Corps."
The title made him flinch for a moment. Then he exploded.
"So what? What business do you have here?!"
It was an incomprehensible reaction. In a village with so few mercenaries, cooperation between companies was essential for handling requests of the same rank. There was no reason to be this wary simply because another leader had shown up.
What is this? I haven't even done anything yet...
That was when I noticed five women being dragged into the warehouse. Their movements were clearly not voluntary. Kidnapped or blackmailed, most likely.
Hmm...?
When I stared at them, the sentry threatened me with his dagger and shouted, "Whatever your business is, get lost!"
I didn't need to hear any more. I reached out and grabbed the hand holding the dagger. The man tried to pull away, but the difference in strength was overwhelming. I squeezed until he dropped the weapon, forced his mouth open, and shoved zombie venom inside.
"Gek...? Glgek."
"This isn't a mercenary corps at all. It's just a bandit group. What a complete disaster."
I began the mercenary corps merger ceremony. From the look of things, I'd need to conduct interviews with the remaining groups one by one.
That night, I returned to the guild carrying evidence of every request my agents had collected along with the heads of three mercenary leaders.
It was utterly appalling. Out of the seven mercenary organizations in the village, three were essentially bandit groups. The situation was so bad I even wondered if these fake mercenaries were part of the Laxion Empire's schemes.
At least the ones here weren't... but you can never be too sure.
It was a situation that warranted plenty of suspicion. If I were an imperial strategist, I would have dispatched fake mercenaries alongside the bandits, pirates, and monsters.
The large group entered the guild with both hands full of items. Everyone turned to stare.
The employee I'd seen that morning approached with an awkward smile. "Haha... Did you perhaps come to the wrong building?"
It wasn't sarcasm. The question carried genuine concern. Knowing this was my first time here, he seemed to be trying to show some goodwill.
I looked over the adventure guild staff.
Yes. It's thanks to people like them that the kingdom is somehow still standing.
I smiled warmly at my true allies and said, "It's not a mistake. I completed the requests I took this morning and brought back the proof."
At my gesture, the agents neatly arranged the items on the table according to each request form. Dog heads, bandit heads, boar heads. Various other pieces of evidence poured out until they filled the space.
"Y-you finished all of this in a single day?"
The employee's eyes widened as he compared several items against their request forms. He kept exclaiming in wonder.
"Even if they are all iron-rank requests... how in the world did you complete this many in half a day? You've done over thirty requests?"
Spectators had already gathered around to watch the verification. Their faces said they had never seen anything like it.
"My god, you really did all of this in one day?"
"Hehe... Our village has received quite the blessing."
"Blessing? With mere iron ranks?"
"Aren't you iron-rank yourself? And it's taken you five years straight, hasn't it?"
One of the employees handling paperwork suddenly realized something and began calculating the request points. He turned to look at me.
"This score... You wish to take the promotion test."
As expected, he was quick. My intention had been properly conveyed.
"Correct."
"However... you completed one extra. You would have met the examination requirements even without the man-eating boar request."
"That one was a bonus."
For reference, while most requests had returned with complete heads, the boar had only its snout. It seemed Nareun-i had found the meat rather tasty. Fortunately I had sent her along, so at least the snout remained.
"From what I can see, everything appears to have been completed without issue. I'll call the branch manager. His authentication is required for the promotion test."
I nodded. While the employee headed upstairs, several mercenaries wandered over and lingered nearby. Their eyes made it obvious they wanted to join after seeing our results.
"Hey, friend. Looks like you've got talent. Mind including me next time?"
A large, round-faced uncle laughed heartily while showing off his massive shield. A professional tanker. He subtly revealed his badge marked Iron 1. Iron 1 was top class in this area.
At that moment a female mercenary pushed her way in.
"Move aside, old man! Handsome guys like this prefer pretty girls like me over smelly uncles, you know?"
The tanker snorted. "I doubt any man in the world would particularly like a crazy bitch who calls herself pretty. I guarantee it."
"What? You want to die?"
The woman instantly produced three daggers and slipped them between her fingers. An assassin type, most likely. While pretending to threaten the tanker, she subtly waved her own Iron 1 badge—hanging near her hip—at me.
Mercenaries are all the same.
They pretended to fight each other while actually showing off their abilities to me. I smiled at their little performance. After all, they were allies who, like the guild staff, would help unfold this story alongside me.
Their ranks are rather low, but... people like them are what protect Eurexia by gathering one by one.
Still, I had no intention of recruiting actual comrades. The Baeksu Mercenary Corps would fill most of its ranks with zombies and chimeras. Taking locals as members and inviting suspicion was not sound strategy. It was better for them to continue their own work in their own places.
Wait... no.
Thinking again, there was a better approach. Was there any need to operate the mercenary corps as one single lump?
I planned to clean up this village and then move on to other regions for mercenary work. But there was no guarantee nothing would go wrong after I left. I needed personnel who could steadily protect the village.
What if I trained the local mercenaries like a vigilante force and stationed them here...?
A new plan rapidly took shape in my mind. If I accepted local mercenaries and deployed them across villages, I could ensure safety and quickly gather information if any variables appeared.
With my calculations complete, I spread my arms, smiled, and called out to the mercenaries.
"Stop fighting. Our mercenary corps is always open to anyone. However, there is an entrance test, so we can't accept everyone. But we'll give out prizes to anyone who simply takes the test!"
I immediately signaled Campbell. Confirming the order, he quickly produced paper and pencil and shouted, "Those interested in joining, please register with me. As the leader just stated, the Baeksu Mercenary Corps will provide items even if you only take the test!"
"Ooh...?"
"They give prizes just for taking the test?"
Attention locked onto us instantly. Even those who had come merely to watch began to think they might as well try it. The intelligence agents swiftly approached interested parties, pitching recruitment and filling the roster.
Good. They're handling it well.
The brief commotion ended when the branch manager descended from the second floor. The village's only Bronze 2 mercenary—a bald old man—slowly came down the stairs, radiating power.
Huh...? That person.
Our eyes met as he descended. He was clearly an aura user. Not the sort of person who should be rotting away in a backwater like this. And just as I recognized him, he recognized me.
"Hey, you brat! Are your eyes broken? Escort this man upstairs immediately! Giving an iron badge without recognizing a distinguished guest?"
The branch manager scolded the employee, then told him to bring me to the second floor before climbing back up himself.
I grinned.
Interesting. An aura user is only Bronze 2?
That couldn't be right. It seemed this world was filled with countless power struggles hidden beneath the surface. To discuss the real reason this village was being maintained, I headed up to the second floor.