Week 1 (2)
Week 1 (2)
"Fuck, this blood smell just won't go away."
"We might get attacked by mountain beasts."
"I've been dizzy for a while now, and with the stench of blood reeking like this... Shit. Makes me feel fucking gross."
"Just in case, but you never know what might happen, so conserve water."
"Got it, you bitch. And we took the dead guys' canteens anyway, so we won't run short."
The two women's voices echoed softly through the dim forest.
Both of them were splattered in blood, no matter how you looked at it.
They'd just come from ripping apart their comrade who'd been alive and kicking until moments ago, and even after a few hours, the metallic stench of those guys' blood showed no signs of fading.
Ray spoke to her comrade, who was irritably brushing back her hair.
"At this rate, camping out's gonna be tough."
"Yeah, neither you nor I came here to end up as mountain beast chow. Alright, let's change the plan."
Valerie shrugged off her jacket with crisp movements, her eyes flashing as she growled.
"We push through this goddamn forest by tonight, and then crash wherever—even on the road. Sound good?"
"Why not just say we'll sleep when we're dead? But yeah, fine. No other choice."
Ray shrugged her shoulders in response.
Just as she said, if they couldn't escape this place even by pulling an all-nighter, there'd be no rest anyway.
With those two guys dead, they didn't even have enough for night watch, and mountain beasts, bandits, all sorts of dangerous shit had a nose like bloodhounds for the stench of blood.
No guarantees they'd be safe once out of the mountains, but for now, they had no choice but to trust the guild's official dispatch.
It said the client would be at the mansion right in the heart of this territory, so at least around there, it'd probably look somewhat livable.
Getting to that area was their best bet. Valerie stuffed her jacket roughly into her backpack with fierce motions, opening her mouth to crack a joke.
"Knight lady, how about we do this? First, the canteens we took—"
"Shh."
But a short, sharp rebuke cut her off immediately, and Valerie held her breath.
An intruder?
Ray, who'd been leading, crouched low like a tiger poised to strike, her honed aura razor-sharp.
Battle stance. Valerie angled her flintlock pistol forward slantwise and gripped her dagger with her other hand.
But even after a few seconds, no sign of attack.
"What is it?"
She asked shortly and quietly, but Ray gave no reply.
Though that sharp edge seemed to soften just a bit.
Only then did Valerie ease up slightly and ask.
"Jumpy much? I get it, though."
"No."
Ray straightened up decisively, stabbing the tip of her claymore into the ground.
That's when Valerie, standing behind, started to see it too.
"It's not an enemy. You can relax."
A voice came. A young man's.
Before the silhouette in the hood came into view, what caught the eye first was the torch blazing proudly.
Staring at that light, which somehow put her mind at ease, Valerie found herself gazing at it without realizing.
Was that why her leading comrade had suddenly acted a bit dopey?
As she thought that, the man continued.
"You're from the guild."
"Aurantius Guild mercenary, Ray Gladstone."
"Same here, Valerie McBain. And you are?"
Ray replied calmly, then Valerie nodded slightly and asked.
Under the hood, the man's lips curved into a faint smile, dimly visible.
The moment she took it in, Valerie felt her heartbeat quicken for some reason.
Not the romantic flutter of first love or anything sappy like that, of course.
The complete opposite of how the torchlight had felt—something that clawed at her heart, a strange, unfamiliar sensation.
"I'm the client. Shall we head to the mansion first?"
The man spoke softly like that and took a step closer.
Lit by the light in his hand, the man's form, half-buried in the oily darkness, became more distinct.
Pretty tall, neat-looking.
A man with soft dark green hair hanging long.
Pretty attractive, at least way better than those two lunatics from the same squad who'd charged in crazy.
Valerie let out an unladylike "hmph," licking her lower lip lightly.
Then, suddenly, a pounding headache hit.
"Ugh."
As she faltered for a moment, Ray, confirming the man leading the way, glanced back.
"What?"
"Nah, nothing."
She brushed it off vaguely and sheathed her dagger.
Had her condition been off since earlier?
Muttering to herself, Valerie touched her forehead.
For some reason, it felt a little feverish.
She'd never had so much as a minor illness since she was a kid.
Plus, Valerie McBain was a decently skilled mercenary.
Dips in condition like this weren't common.
Is she fine?
She subtly checked her comrade walking ahead, but no obvious signs.
Must be fatigue, then.
Concluding that, Valerie started walking with renewed vigor.
Gotta rest soon, she figured.
Aurantius Guild 4th-class mercenary, Ray Gladstone has joined. *
Aurantius Guild 4th-class mercenary, Valerie McBain has joined. *
*
A woman with jet-black obsidian-smooth hair braided like a crown—'Ray Gladstone.'
With an icy, expressionless face, her crimson eyes gleamed even in the darkness, occasionally glancing my way.
She clearly didn't fully trust me yet; the vibe was strong.
Meanwhile, the woman a couple steps ahead had faded white hair, her skin a shade darker than Ray's pale complexion, contrasting in every way.
This was 'Valerie McBain,' pistol holstered at her waist, casually twirling a dagger in one hand as she followed.
She seemed less guarded, which made sense.
At 4th-class, they'd have rock-solid confidence in their own strength.
Bluntly put, these were people who could take down a bear solo.
Even if this world was crawling with monsters beyond human limits, they weren't the type to drop dead on some roadside.
'4th-class mercenary.'
To Koreans who'd scoff at '4th-class' since the national average was 5th, it might sound laughable, but in this world, a 4th-class mercenary made most monsters tuck tail and headbutt the ground without even meeting eyes.
In other words, under normal circumstances, this would be an auspicious start.
Too bad the other two who came with them died in an accident.
Guiding the two toward the mansion, I racked my brains hard.
In Tombstone, mercenaries arriving at the territory were basically pure random, of course with probabilities shifting based on certain conditions met—but guild, position, skills, all of it.
But for the very first mercenaries, specs were somewhat fixed.
They'd always be actual combat operatives from each guild's subjugation teams, and 4th-class or equivalent in skill.
Otherwise, if it was total random down to that, worst case you'd end up pulling some Risema-level bullshit for the territory.
Tombstone's last shred of conscience, I guess.
Among them, Aurantius Guild was close to a jackpot.
Highest average combat power among peers, and the skills they brought were generally user-friendly, low-condition-dependent—perfect for scraping through the impoverished early game.
...If only I could've saved the other two and brought them to the territory.
Feeling a twinge of regret, I spoke to the woman following behind.
"By the way, I heard four were dispatched. What about the other two..."
"Dead. They went berserk out of nowhere and attacked. Couldn't be helped."
"I see."
Ray Gladstone—the woman who'd introduced herself—replied curtly.
I knew the gist, but honestly hadn't expected the party involved to say it so casually.
With my soft modern sensibilities, keeping the convo going would be tough, so I opted to shut up.
So that's what the butler meant by 'the males lose their minds' or whatever.
Right then, another woman strode up and suddenly threw an arm around my shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah. So, client-nim, what's this job you wanna hand off to us? Heard some nasty rumors about that territory."
"...Mind giving me some space?"
"Why? The light's on you. Can't see shit ahead; it's dark."
Valerie McBain, grinning slyly without a hint of hesitation as she pressed in.
I turned my head slightly, and bam—black rose tattoo covering her shoulder to upper chest, right in my face whether I liked it or not.
Plus the reek of blood wafting off her.
Probably from the guys these women had just torn apart.
Sca, scary.
Sure, maybe the mod made it pretty enough to stare blankly, but this woman especially gave off a dangerous vibe.
As my vision shook involuntarily, Ray called us to a halt.
"We're here."
"Ah... yeah, that's the mansion."
We'd arrived before I knew it.
Took a while, but we made it safe.
The butler said dangerous types were scarce around the mansion, so now I could relax a bit.
"Man, I wanna wash up quick. Don't want this blood smell sticking."
Valerie roughly brushed back her silver bob.
Now I noticed—she was just in a tank top.
I'd been a bit scared of her moments ago, but she was someone I had to get along with eventually.
I tossed out a question as casually as I could.
"Hey, aren't you cold?"
"Huh, me? Uh... not really."
Even I, bundled in a robe, found the night forest chilly, but not her, apparently.
She tilted her head in confusion at my question, then answered.
The fact I'd even wondered seemed foreign to her.
Well, as guild-hardened mercenaries, they were superhumans enough.
No need for my worry.
Guess I got nosy 'cause they looked like women.
Feeling awkward, I flashed an embarrassed grin and walked on silently, but now she got curious and piped up.
"So, you gonna tell us or what? Why the regular requests? Not one guy's come back, they say."
Such terrifying rumors.
Yeah, even with mercenary jobs being dicey as hell, 'not one's returned' wasn't something to brush off.
Volunteering for that meant they weren't exactly normal either.
"Simply put, the goal is exploring the labyrinth under the territory."
"Labyrinth? Oh, like those dungeons that pop up sometimes? Heard of 'em but never seen one."
Valerie clapped her hands lightly, like something clicked.
Didn't know what a dungeon was exactly, but seemed it wasn't unheard of in this world.
I'd only been isekai'd here a short while, so details were fuzzy.
"Dungeons are probably different. Those spawn in mid-air outta nowhere, and if you don't seal 'em quick, they burst—wouldn't linger as a headache like this. I've seen one before."
"Oh, a dungeon?"
Ray, who'd been walking silently, chimed in.
Valerie asked back with interest.
"Yeah. Went once on a group commission. Huge fucking thing. Not as big as Frontline's Great Labyrinth, though."
"Thought you were just some sheltered noble, but you've had some fun experiences."
"You two... not old friends or anything?"
They clicked so well, I figured they were tight buddies, but listening closely, maybe not quite.
"Well, we've known each other a while... but not that close, right?"
"Gross."
Valerie giggled, looking at Ray, who made a disgusted face and turned away sharply.
"Ah, we're here. I'll show you straight to the mansion."
"Yeah, thanks. Was dying to rest."
Ray perked up at my words.
Truth was, no other spots in the territory worth stopping at besides the mansion, but if she took it as hospitality, all the better for me.
For starters, this territory was on the brink of collapse right now.
No residents left ages ago—just madmen barely better than corpses on cursed land, with formless evil lurking underground.
No way they knew the truth—but that's the space this was.
Anyway, night was late, so that day I gave the two the barracks to rest off their fatigue.
Back in the office, the butler was out cold, snoring away, so introductions tomorrow it was. I decided to rest up first.
With the first mercenaries here, tomorrow onward it'd get really busy.
So, better rest plenty while I could.