Escorting the Saint (2)
Even though the Saint herself had declared that I was a figure spoken of in divine revelation, the holy knights apparently decided that letting her stay alone with some strange man was simply not an option.
The Saint boarded a carriage brimming with consecrated blessings, while I climbed aboard one of my transport units and followed alongside. Since we were constantly on the move, I only summoned a handful of snipers and stationed them on the ceilings of the trailing transport units. Anchoring them did crack the ceiling panels a bit, but that's what maintenance crews are for — I'd have them patch it up later.
"Contact again! Kobolds spotted! Roughly thirty of them!"
"Uwoooooh! There goes the power of the holy knigh—"
KWAK!
Tatatang!
Thud…
The kobolds watching us from a distance were wiped out just like that. The reason thirty kobolds had been spotted in the first place was that a few of them had slipped past the areas the Raptors had already cleared.
"Alright, kids, hurry up and collect the mana stones."
Our pace wasn't especially fast, but we were sweeping up every monster in the vicinity and raking in mana stones as we went. In the modern world, the price of mana stones had inflated to astronomical figures — they traded for truly mind-boggling sums these days. Just selling the artifacts I was carrying would net me at least several trillion won. With economic freedom already secured, there was no particular reason to obsess over money anymore.
But what I wanted wasn't to restore Earth to exactly what it used to be — just something close to it. And why, you ask?
"I mean, if you suddenly got the powers of a superhero… would you really just hide them and live quietly?"
Obviously, flaunting it outright would be idiotic. The smart play was to reveal my strength selectively — to the government and people like them — then leverage that power into cooperation, clean up the country, and then clean up the world. That was the daydream I'd been running on a loop for ages. Before bed. In the bathroom. I'd read a hundred novels and never once wondered why the regressors in them always tried to stop the world from ending. I'd admired heroes since I was a kid. I'd craved that kind of power. Now that I actually had it, was I supposed to spend my days fantasizing about it? Any man worth his salt ought to achieve world peace at least once, shouldn't he?
"Hmm. And on top of that, I've got two beautiful women following me around."
"You mean me?"
"Obviously you."
"Hehe…"
Conversations inside the transport unit never leaked outside, so we could chat as casually as we liked. I could have blocked out all external sound if I'd wanted, but for now I left everything audible. Our objective this time was simple: deliver the Saint safely to a secure zone.
"Still, something about this 'Sword Master was injured' report from the front line doesn't sit right with me."
"I think so too."
"Rune?"
Rune, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke. If I had to guess, she'd probably fought in the great war against the orcs.
"First of all, a Sword Master being wounded makes no sense. There's no circumstance in which a Sword Master gets injured."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. If a Sword Master takes a wound, then everyone on that battlefield besides the Sword Master ought to be dead."
She had a point. If a Sword Master — hailed as the very pinnacle of the sword — could be seriously wounded, what chance did ordinary soldiers have? Their total annihilation wouldn't have been surprising at all. And after a hundred years of war, the enemy knew this fact all too well. Which meant their real objective was…
"Merchant caravan spotted ahead! Shall we approach?"
"We'll approach."
Knock knock.
"A merchant caravan has been spotted ahead. It's a well-known company, so we've decided to make contact."
"Understood."
As their escort, I had no particular objection. Though whether this caravan would turn out to be a problem…
"Oooooh! Ooooh!"
Just as you'd expect from a medieval merchant guild — the image practically writes itself. A portly middle-aged man with a belly jiggling over his belt and gold rings on every finger was literally drooling as he stared at the Raptors.
"This is truly magnificent! Machines that identify and eliminate enemies on their own… what extraordinary golems!"
The guild master launched into endless flattery, seemingly terrified that his mouth might go dry. The Saint opened her mouth to say something to him, but a holy knight stopped her. From what I'd gathered earlier, these people seemed to have a stranglehold on the region's food supply.
But that was none of my business. My concern was Earth and South Korea. I had zero intention of worrying myself over some other planet.
"Hey."
"…Did you just use informal speech with me?"
"Get lost."
<Sniff… sniff…>
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM!
The massive Heavy Weapons Units that had been standing silently at my side spread out and encircled the area. No matter how strong the mercenaries they'd hired as bodyguards were, no matter how numerous…
<Sniff… sniff…>
…could they possibly defeat thousands of Raptors?
"G-Guild Master, sir…!"
"Y-you there! Do you have any idea who I am?! I am the head of none other than the Svan Merchant Guild!"
"Don't care. My job is escorting the Saint. The moment she's safe in a secure zone, I vanish from this place. So what does it matter to me? Even if I kill you, I'll just get transported to another planet."
"I… I…!"
If I had wealth beyond what I needed, I was willing to share it. But I wasn't about to throw it on the ground for anyone who asked. And I did things because I wanted to — I had no obligation to grant strangers' requests. In short: I was a man who did exactly as he pleased.
"Interrupting a first meeting to ask about prices instead of greeting us… your breath reeks, and your first impression is absolute garbage. And what's with the informal speech? Your parents never taught you manners?"
He was just disgusting, from head to toe. One look at that face told me he was never going to amount to a decent human being. A creature worse than an animal.
"Tsk…"
My gaze shifted to the side. Slaves — unwashed, wretched ones.
"So they keep slaves, do they…"
"Th-that's…"
At my words, the Saint, who had been about to add something, closed her mouth. She knew it too, surely. At the very least, she knew slavery was wrong. But one look at her told me everything. She had been designated as the Saint — the sacrificial lamb of this mission.
"That will be quite enough. I will offer you an apology on behalf of our guild master's conduct."
The speaker gently pushed aside his speechless, stunned guild master and addressed me directly. He was an elderly gentleman with a magnificently groomed mustache — a man wearing a full formal suit in the middle of an active war zone. He bowed his head to me in greeting.
"Jae… Jaemujang…!"
"…Silence. You nearly had your neck severed by a Sword Master last time, and still you've learned nothing."
"Why, you—! Even you!"
Whoosh.
Jaemujang — the steward — carried himself in a manner utterly unlike the guild master, who had squandered every ounce of courtesy he'd ever possessed. I studied him for a moment, then accepted his apology.
"No harm done."
"Hmm. As a token of apology, allow me to offer you one piece of information."
"Which is?"
"Abandon the escort. You're going to die."
"…Well, well. And here I thought you at least understood courtesy."
"I mean it sincerely. Two Sword Masters have already died, you see."
"…Two Sword Masters?"
Rune, who had been standing quietly beside us, murmured the words. If two had fallen, this would be no easy fight.
"How would a Sword Master compare to you, right now?"
"…Slightly below me. However, facing two of them simultaneously would guarantee my defeat."
"I see. Then I'll continue as planned."
"Reckless fool!"
Jaemujang cried out, visibly startled by my words.
"Listen, Jaemujang. I'm well aware that you people are trying to interfere with the Saint right now. Stop this and withdraw."
"…"
How had I known? Wasn't it obvious? According to Pitasha, who was sharing the Raptors' field of vision, there were riders in the far distance deliberately dragging monsters toward us. These people's underlings, no doubt. Which meant they were staging this whole spectacle on purpose to pin us down here. All of it — probably orchestrated by this very Jaemujang. As for the guild master behind him, he'd been counting on my death anyway, planning to transfer ownership of the Raptors to himself before I departed. Money was no object to him; once I was dead, he could simply take them back.
"But it won't go the way you want. Hey. Drag him off. Interrogate him."
Clank.
Clank.
"Wh-what is the meaning of this! Saint! They dare raise hands against the Svan Merchant Guild!"
"Wh-what on earth is—"
SHIIIING!
As Jaemujang was dragged away at my command, the mercenaries drew their swords. In response, the holy knights drew theirs as well. The Saint stamped her feet in helpless panic at the conflict that had erupted out of nowhere — but it was I who spoke first.
"You have ten seconds. Put down your swords, or every last one of you dies. Ten."
Gulp.
<Sniff… sniff…>
"Nine."
BOOM.
BOOM.
"Eight."
BOOM.
…
Clang…
"Th-this is insane… how are we supposed to fight that?"
"Those are the things that tore the orcs apart… and there are thousands of them…"
One by one, the mercenaries lost their will to fight and dropped their blades. Once they were all restrained, I gave the order.
"Clear out every monster. All of them."
"Confirmed."
A horde of orcs was advancing from the east. Rune shot toward them in an instant. Leaving her to it, I sent the Raptors north, west, and south. The surrounding area had already been mostly cleared, so our numbers were thin — but this was as good as a delivery of fresh mana stones right to our doorstep.
In just five minutes, tens of thousands of monsters had been wiped out. Then I went to see Jaemujang and the guild master.
"Th-these monsters… tens of thousands! Tens of thousands of them!"
"Master. It appears they were preparing to escape with this."
"What is it?"
"A barrier stone. It's a two-person model, so they were likely planning to kill the mercenaries as well — grab the spoils, then teleport away with a scroll. That seems to have been their scheme."
"Th-that's… hand it over! Do you have any idea how much that's worth!"
WHACK!
"Kghk!"
Thud thud thud…
"Tell me everything you know. It'll be better for your health that way."