The Mercenary Way
The ways for a mage in this world to earn money were many and varied. The most famous method, of course, was to attach oneself to a noble house. Kelton had once told me that nothing in the world was more comfortable than belonging to a noble family and receiving research funds from them. Since I had never experienced such a situation, I couldn't say how comfortable it truly was. Honestly, taking orders from nobles didn't seem all that pleasant to me.
Employment by a noble house usually required at least Fourth Circle mastery, unless the circumstances were exceptional. In other words, it wasn't something I could do right away. Let's move on.
The second method was to join the Empire. Even then, the actual work was similar to serving a noble house. The only difference was that the one giving orders changed from a noble to the imperial family. Naturally, this also required Fourth Circle mastery. Once again, not an option available to me.
The Magic Tower was another choice, but it leaned heavily toward being a pure academic institution. If one wanted to make money, it wasn't a good option. Therefore, for a Third Circle money-obsessed mage like myself, only one path remained.
“Mercenary work, huh.”
“Mercenary work it is.”
Mercenary. The profession that a certain Fifth Circle mage had devoted his entire life to—I was now taking it up as well.
I put a pipe in my mouth and stepped into the Mercenary Guild. The sound of various people drunkenly shouting assaulted my ears. Being a mercenary was like a beacon of hope for orphans and those at the bottom of society. It was only natural that their headquarters, the Mercenary Guild, would have this kind of atmosphere.
Huu. I exhaled a long plume of smoke and walked toward the desk.
“I'd like to register as a mercenary.”
“One moment, please.”
The receptionist hurriedly prepared something. It looked like she was pulling out some documents.
Mercenaries were divided into a total of six ranks. From Fifth Grade to First Grade, and then the Special Grade above that—six stages in all. The receptionist placed the papers on the desk and asked me,
“Please describe your specialty.”
“I'm a mage. Third Circle.”
“May I see your face?”
Surprisingly, the Mercenary Guild made an effort to filter out criminals as much as possible. Even so, incidents that endlessly lowered the average quality of mercenaries kept occurring. Once their credibility was shattered beyond repair, no one would take their requests. It was an unavoidable measure.
I slightly lifted my robe to show my face. The receptionist flinched for a moment, then wrote something on the document and continued.
“Please tell me your name and place of origin.”
“It's Ruina. My hometown is West Shade Grapeton.”
I deliberately gave a different hometown. It was one of the pieces of advice Kelton had given me about being a mercenary. He had even told me to use a fake name entirely, but I didn't go that far. Using an alias felt too mentally exhausting.
Tap. The receptionist set down her pen and organized the documents.
“Miss Ruina, the verification is complete. The registration fee is ten silver coins. Is that acceptable?”
“Yes.”
“Please wait a moment.”
After a short while, the receptionist handed me a round medal. Engraved on it were the date and location of my mercenary registration, along with my name and hometown. The material was copper, indicating Fifth Grade.
It was an extremely low rank for a Third Circle mage, but everyone received a Fifth Grade assessment upon their first mercenary registration. It couldn't be helped. The ranking system itself existed to distinguish between 'those the guild can't take responsibility for if they get stabbed in the back' and 'talents the guild can vouch for.' If they handed out high ranks to just anyone and an accident occurred, the system's ability to differentiate would be destroyed. For a Mercenary Guild whose goal was to attract as many clients as possible, that was something they absolutely had to avoid.
“Miss Ruina, this way.”
Leon, who had already registered as a mercenary long ago to earn travel expenses, stood expertly in front of the request board. This request board functioned like a kind of advertisement board—a much lighter method than the guild directly connecting clients with mercenaries.
Clients could pay a fee to post advertisements here, but naturally, this increased the chance of encountering lower-quality individuals compared to the mercenaries the guild carefully selected. Though, to be fair, the average quality of mercenaries was already quite low.
Seeing that, I couldn't help but feel that Kelton, who had survived for decades among such mercenaries, was truly impressive. I salute you.
Because the literacy rate in this world was high, the request board was covered with papers mixing text and illustrations. Leon pointed to one depicting a carriage.
“How about this one? It seems perfect for us.”
At Leon's words, I was startled.
“You know how to read?”
“...I've been with the Order for a long time. I learned various kinds of knowledge.”
“I figured as much.”
I looked up and read the request form. As a mage's disciple, I could read as well.
📍 Destination: West Shade Grapeton
💰 Reward: 50 silver coins
🕒 Departure: September 3rd, Noon, East Gate
🍖 Meals Provided
It was quite cheap for a long-term escort mission, but the inclusion of meals made it acceptable. The destination was exactly West Shade Grapeton, where we were headed anyway, and the departure time was today at noon, so we could leave immediately.
“Let's go with this.”
“Understood.”
After leaving the Mercenary Guild, we quickly finished our travel preparations. Packing preserved food, clothes, blankets, water, and so on into our backpacks brought us close to noon. Leon and I headed toward the eastern gate.
The eastern gate had a lot of foot traffic, so naturally, there were many people with carriages nearby.
“Anyone interested in the escort request to Baron Clamp's territory, please gather here!”
“Escort request to the imperial capital—!”
“To the Holy Kingdom—!”
Amidst all these various people shouting, I suddenly made eye contact with someone. It was a man standing next to a rather large carriage. The moment our eyes met, he let out a sigh of relief and approached us.
“Are you perhaps applying for the escort request to West Shade Grapeton?”
“You figured it out quickly.”
It was strange. The request board only told people where the client was recruiting mercenaries; the actual contracts were made on the spot at the recruitment location. There shouldn't have been any way to know in advance who would come.
In response to my puzzled look, the client whispered as if confessing.
“Actually, I've been watching from inside the Mercenary Guild to see who showed interest in my request.”
What a chilling person. Then what was the point of using the request board?
“Wouldn't it be better to just go around asking people directly?”
“That way I can't filter out the strange ones.”
So it was for filtering. If we had looked weird, he probably would have run away without looking back.
“From the looks of it, Sir Leon seemed a bit strange, but my presence canceled that out?”
“My name is Chris. Nice to meet you.”
“I'm Ruina.”
“Leon.”
I shook hands with Chris. Then I voiced something I'd noticed a moment ago.
“A merchant with a woman's body. You must have quite the ambition.”
“......”
“What?”
“Is it that obvious?”
Chris's reaction surprised me instead. So this was a disguise?
Chris asked in a flustered voice.
“I even cut my hair short and deliberately changed my voice by eating herbs. You're saying it's still obvious?”
“Miss Ruina is the strange one. I didn't notice at all.”
It was Leon who answered Chris's question. Calling me the strange one. I felt incredibly wronged.
I calmly explained why I had made that judgment.
“You weren't covering your neck, so I thought you just had a preference for dressing like a man. The Adam's apple gives it away immediately. How can a woman disguised as a man not cover her neck?”
“Most people don't focus on someone's Adam's apple.”
“Your face is too feminine to pass for a pretty boy, too.”
I guarantee that the man who had tried to assault Leon wouldn't have batted an eye at Chris.
“...I can roughly guess what you're thinking.”
“It's a misunderstanding.”
“Anyway, most people will see the voice and clothing and assume you're a man.”
I could let most things slide. But I couldn't stand learning about 'normalcy' from an apprentice paladin who had been stabbed in the nose three times while sleeping with his eyes open.
I moved my lips.
“If Sir Leon knew the world better, he wouldn't have innocently handed over his wallet—”
“It's true that no one has noticed until now, except for you two.”
“See? I'm telling you I'm the weird one.”
With Chris's support, I temporarily retreated. Though this was a tactical withdrawal for now, I swore I would reveal the truth next time.
I spoke calmly.
“If we're making a contract, I'll take the advance payment.”
“What are both of your mercenary grades?”
“Fifth Grade.”
“I'm also Fifth Grade.”
“Understood.”
At our words, Chris nodded and handed over ten silver coins. The advance was one-fifth of the request fee—an unwritten rule in the mercenary industry.
I accepted the silver coins, put them in my coin pouch, climbed onto the carriage, and said,
“Shall we get going then?”
Except for the roads guarded by imperial knights, every path in the empire carried its own dangers. That was because they were teeming with monsters, bandits, looters, and mercenaries. The interesting part was that bandits, looters, and mercenaries were usually the same people. They constantly worked hard to lower the average quality of mercenaries.
“S-spare me.”
“If you answer my questions sincerely from now on, I would appreciate it.”
The men—who could have been bandits, looters, or mercenaries—nodded desperately at my words. I shook the lantern and asked three questions.
“Do any of you possess magic, have any intention of sharing magic, or wish to transfer magic?”
“......”
“None, I see.”
What a shame. I opened the lantern and increased the flame. At the same time—
“Wait! Magic! I have magic! Please stop!”
Someone shouted in a loud voice. I stopped the spell and looked at the man who had yelled. He was trembling violently as he continued.
“Y-yes, I once received instruction from a retired apprentice knight. So I learned some magic myself. I'll give it to you. I don't know how to give it, but I'll do it. I'll really give it to you. P-please spare me.”
I closed the lantern. And I smiled.
I had finally found one.