Red-Eyed Mercenary Band (2)
The Red-Eyed Mercenary Band.
Though their main base was in Cambria, their operational reach extended far beyond the City of Opportunity. Their members’ exceptional skill played a part, but the true reason lay in the sheer size of their leader. She was one of the five White-Horn adventurers in Cambria.
A Sword Seeker who had crossed the threshold into the Sword Seeker realm.
Red eyes, Roselyn Ascalo.
A legend in the mercenary world, a powerhouse among powerhouses known to own a Masterpiece. A mercenary band led by a Sword Seeker level powerhouse was so rare across the entire inland continent that the Red-Eyed Mercenary Band’s fame reached far beyond Cambria itself.
She had forged a contract with Garchea Trading House, one of the three top guilds in Cambria, and the band now enjoyed renown both inside and outside the city.
Because of all this—
The Red-Eyed Mercenary Band was the dream job that every adventurer who entered Cambria, the City of Opportunity, had secretly hoped to land at least once in their lives.
[Red-Eyed Mercenary Band Contract]
[Denchberg Forest Extermination Quest]
[Minimum Quest Grade: Blue]
[Identification Number - 38527751424598851]
That was one of the Red-Eyed Mercenary Band’s recurring contracts. It required clearing the monsters that gathered in the Denchberg Forest—the very route Garchea Trading House used for its commercial roads.
The task came up every few months, so it was issued on a set schedule. At first glance it looked ordinary… yet.
Among adventurers, the “Denchberg Forest Extermination Quest” had a name of its own.
The Red-Eyed Mercenary Band’s entrance exam.
Anyone who proved their worth in that very contract had been accepted into the band in Roselyn’s eyes. The current deputy leader, Vargor, was one such case.
‘Prove your strength and rise to the top.’
A contract that drew every eye.
For some it was a chance to prove themselves.
For others, a stepping stone to success.
“And walk on.”
For still others… it was something else entirely.
“Merlin.”
This was the real opportunity to stand out.
2.
Denchberg Forest Extermination Quest.
A large crowd of adventurers had gathered at the forest’s edge.
Most of them were Blue-grade adventurers, and a few even wore Green badges.
Black, White, Blue, Green, Red, White.
Among the six ranks, those who had reached Blue or Green meant they were veterans who had clawed their way up the ranks in this city. They had completed countless quests, built impressive records, and proven themselves.
They were also people who had reached a plateau.
While reaching Green was difficult, once you hit Red you had to possess something truly special to survive. Most adventurers who had lived in the city for long periods remained stuck in Blue or Green.
This quest was therefore their chance.
If Roselyn noticed them, they could break free from their stagnation and climb higher. Because it was rare, the adventurers gathered at the forest’s edge radiated killing intent. Normally they would be sizing each other up, but today… was different.
“….”
Today was different.
The gazes that should have been aimed at one another were instead fixed in a single direction. There, standing alone, was a youth wearing a completely black badge.
Black grade.
The rank locals called “dimwit”—the most common grade in the City of Opportunity. Nothing special about it, and it was where fresh-faced rookies who had no records or experience yet ended up.
“…tsk.”
Someone clicked their tongue.
The adventurers whispered behind the youth’s back, mocking him. It was mockery. It was condemnation. Of course no kind words would come out of it.
All of them had suffered for this quest.
They had performed countless jobs, built records, and fought tooth and nail to promote their ranks. Only after grinding through it all did they earn the right to wear a badge that had been painted Blue or Green.
But this youth?
He had no records, no effort, and yet here he stood wearing the black badge as if daring anyone to say something. All because of Dieta Trading House’s endorsement. That black badge around his neck was little more than an insult to every adventurer gathered here.
“Annoying.”
“What the hell are we supposed to do now?”
The situation was more than enough to spark resentment.
The senior adventurers’ sharp gazes. The tongue-clicking. The mockery and grumbling. The person being mocked would have felt every single one of them.
—Not a joke.
‘Exactly.’
Najin felt it all.
The stares burning into him and the killing intent radiating from the seniors. He understood why they were angry.
‘From their perspective, it’s only natural.’
Their fury was justified.
They had surely worked hard to reach this rank. They had clawed their way up from the bottom. They had sacrificed everything for years just to change their badge to a brighter color.
From their point of view, there was no way he would look good.
—Then why not just lower his head?
‘That’s not it.’
Najin gave a small, sarcastic laugh.
‘That’s one thing. This is another.’
He understood their feelings, but that didn’t mean he had to play along.
He had no intention of watching their reactions.
No intention of apologizing.
And certainly no intention of shrinking back.
The moment he left the underground city, the day he swore in a world without stars, Najin had made a vow.
‘Standing at the pinnacle…’
Meant trampling countless others.
Trampling their hard work, wiping away a lifetime of effort in a single moment, and reaching even higher than them.
That was the resolve of anyone who wished to stand at the peak.
He had not started this journey with only that resolve. Instead of lowering his head to the seniors’ gazes or shrinking away, he had thrown his shoulders back and held his head high.
If they wanted to glare, then glare.
—Yeah, that’s right. You’ve got some nerve.
In response to Najin’s attitude, Merlin’s lips curved into a satisfied smile. It rang in his ear right at that moment.
Thud.
The air grew heavy in an instant. A pressure that felt as if something enormous was pressing down from above pressed against everyone present. The adventurers at the forest’s edge felt it too. It swallowed them all.
Several of them collapsed right where they stood.
The ones still on their feet could only stare at the ground, unable to lift their heads.
Najin knew what it was. The aura of powerful beings. The same aura he had often sensed from Ivan in the past. But this was far, far denser. It meant the owner of this pressure was stronger than him.
‘But.’
Najin exhaled.
He slowly raised the head that had been trying to bow downward.
‘I’ve already felt it.’
Though the owner was stronger than Ivan, compared to the aura of any star Najin had experienced recently, this pressure was light as a feather.
His first meeting with Merlin.
He had received the constellation’s aura head-on in his own body, and he had learned to disperse it. Later Merlin had explained that it had not been her true intention… but regardless.
He had already scattered even a constellation’s pressure. How could he not handle this level?
Crunch.
Najin clenched his fist and raised his head. It was the moment he would confirm who was behind this pressure.
“Whoa, that’s some reaction.”
The voice came from right in front.
When Najin lifted his head, he found himself facing a woman with long black hair braided into a single tail. Her red eyes curved like crescent moons.
“So you’re the guy who got guaranteed by that snake?”
The youth wearing a black badge thanks to that woman’s endorsement.
She smiled and raised her arm. The pressure that had been crushing the adventurers at the forest’s edge vanished in an instant. The pressure now targeted only Najin.
“Whoa, you’re still standing tall. What are you, exactly?”
The woman looked at him with open curiosity.
Najin knew her name. He had met her once before at the guild’s hall. Black hair, red eyes… a White-Horn rank adventurer.
The leader of the Red-Eyed Mercenary Band, Roselyn Ascalo.
“You don’t seem to have accumulated much mana, and judging by the amount, you don’t even look like a Sword Expert… What is it? What are you hiding?”
Interest flickered in Roselyn’s red eyes.
What Roselyn instinctively sensed was that the youth before her was hiding something. The moment she reached out to confirm it, the air crackled.
Crack!
A spark flew. Mana from Roselyn, who had been pressing Najin down, sparked and surged. At that instant Roselyn saw it: the mana swirling in every direction around her being instantly sucked into the youth’s body.
An inexplicable flow.
The moment she looked away from that flow…
Crunch.
Najin’s hand moved. The hand that had shot out seized Roselyn’s wrist. Roselyn, who only realized a split second later, widened her eyes in shock.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
Najin shot back.
He had instinctively decided that her hand should not be allowed to touch his body. Whether his intuition was correct or not, he had no way of knowing… yet.
“Whoa.”
From the way Roselyn kept exclaiming in admiration, Najin understood his action had not been entirely wrong.
“Whoa!”
Roselyn kept exclaiming in wonder.
She whipped her head around and raised the hand Najin was holding toward the deputy leader Vargor standing behind her.
“Vargor, see that? This brat grabbed my wrist!”
“I see it clearly. I told you not to make sudden moves, why….”
“Whoa, that’s amazing. What was that you just did?”
Roselyn cut Vargor off, turned her head back, and looked at Najin again. Najin said nothing. Roselyn smiled, shook her hand gently to free herself, and then stroked her own chin.
“I guess that snake wouldn’t have given you a guarantee for nothing. Interesting guy. This… I kinda like it.”
Roselyn licked her lips.
She flicked a platinum coin from her pouch. Najin instinctively caught it and looked down at the coin resting in his palm.
It was a platinum piece.
Even Blue-grade adventurers had to work overtime for months just to earn one. Roselyn tossed it to Najin as if it were nothing and smiled at him.
“Sorry. Consider it settled.”
With her mana withdrawn, Roselyn patted Najin’s shoulder twice and turned. Najin watched her walk toward the raised platform set up at the forest’s edge without a word.
It felt as if a storm had just passed.
At the same time, Najin felt the stares aimed at him change. Everyone had seen it: in the face of Roselyn’s crushing pressure, the youth who had resisted.
A White-Horn rank adventurer.
The aura of a Sword Seeker.
Najin had received that aura head-on and even managed to snatch Roselyn’s wrist. In the eyes of the adventurers who had witnessed it, the contempt and fury they had felt moments ago were now replaced by shock and bewilderment.
The bottom of the bottom, a Black-grade adventurer.
Resisting the pinnacle of the city, a White-Horn adventurer.
The Blue and Green adventurers looked at Najin’s back in awe as he walked away, while Roselyn—turning her back on him and climbing the platform—licked her lips. Her red eyes sparkled.
As if she had just found her prey.
3.
A small commotion had occurred, but no adventurer with the will to challenge a White-Horn rank in open combat had stepped forward. By the time Roselyn promised to increase the quest reward, the noise had died down.
“Well, that’s that.”
Roselyn gave a brief explanation of the situation and stepped back. She pushed the deputy leader Vargor, who had been standing behind her, forward.
“He’ll explain the details of the quest.”
“…Vargor, deputy leader of the Red-Eyed Mercenary Band.”
Vargor stepped forward as he was shoved and sighed before speaking.
“The quest itself is simple. The center of the forest, where the highest-ranked monsters gather, is our Red-Eyed Mercenary Band’s responsibility. You adventurers will handle the outer areas and exterminate any monsters that emerge.”
He gestured toward a map of the forest pinned to the wall.
“Each person must exterminate at least ten monsters. The actual number may vary depending on the type, so please refer to the payout method listed in the quest document. For any additional monsters exterminated beyond the minimum, we will pay extra.”
He had finished outlining the precautions and special notes, along with several clauses. Vargor stepped back one pace, and Roselyn stepped forward.
“If we do it like this, it won’t be fun.”
She spread her three fingers wide.
“Extra compensation for the top three, and a special reward for the one who exterminated the most monsters. I, Roselyn Ascalo, swear on my name that the pay will be generous.”
Roselyn Ascalo smiled.
“Oh, and one more precaution.”
She crossed her arms.
“While I understand you may need some restraint to compete, do not cross any lines. If you do, I’ll know.”
Her red eyes gleamed with a dangerous light.
The adventurers nodded repeatedly. Roselyn gave Najin one final glance before descending from the platform, then headed toward the forest’s center with Vargor at her side.
The quest had begun, and the adventurers scattered in every direction.
Najin watched the dispersing crowd and began to loosen his body. He took a deep breath and tightened the strap of the sword sheath at his waist.
—What’s the target?
Merlin’s voice echoed in his ear.
At the sound, Najin shrugged and answered.
“What do you mean, that’s obvious.”
Najin started walking toward the forest.
“Of course number one.”