Chapter 7 - {Mercenary} 5
{Mercenary} 5
Translator : Elizabeth
Chapter 7
As if representing someone's dark heart, the night sky was thickly covered with dark clouds, and not a single starlight was visible.
The back alley of the Barony of Kales where a damp wind blew.
A boy was walking there with steady footsteps.
Thud, thud.
The boy, Kang Jin-ho's clothes were entirely stained with dirt and bloodstains.
But his expression was chillingly calm.
It was a face so peaceful that it was hard to believe he was someone who had just killed seven people.
'This is it.'
Kang Jin-ho stopped walking.
An old sign was hanging crookedly in front of him.
[Grey Wolf Mercenary Group]
A place he had entered with a fluttering heart just a few days ago.
A place where he chewed meat and tilted alcohol cups (juice) while dreaming of the illusion called camaraderie.
But in Kang Jin-ho's eyes right now, that place was merely a garbage dump that needed to be cleaned up.
Noisy sounds could be heard from inside.
Before opening the door, Kang Jin-ho listened for a moment.
He intended to check what they were saying.
"Kuhahaha! The alcohol tastes especially good today!"
"Captain! When are the Team 3 guys coming? Tell them to show us the treasure!"
Amidst the boisterous noise, Captain Borgo's gruff voice was heard.
"Wait, you rascals. Must be that Hans and his lot are late packing up the treasure."
Borgo giggled and continued.
At those words, Kang Jin-ho listened even more intently.
It seemed they were just about to talk about him.
"Even so, that kid, his strength was monstrous, you know. They must have had a hard time dealing with him. I don't know if they disposed of the corpse cleanly. I did tell them to make sure to throw him down the cliff to avoid any trouble later."
"Ay, Brother Hans is reliable with his work. Even that monster kid, if stabbed in the back, what could he do?"
"You're right. Thanks to that, some crumbs will fall to us too!"
"Of course, absolutely! If we divide even that guy's share, our bellies will be on the verge of bursting! Kuhahaha!"
Disgusting laughter rang through the night street.
Kang Jin-ho raised the corners of his mouth expressionlessly.
It was a cold sneer.
'As expected.'
Hans was right.
Captain Borgo, no, this entire mercenary group was in cahoots.
From the beginning, they saw him as a 'card to be used and thrown away' or 'prey to be eaten.'
"Treasure, huh…."
Kang Jin-ho put his hand in his pocket.
The cold touch of metal was felt.
It was the dog tag of the Team 3 Leader, taken from Hans's corpse.
'Now I should clearly teach them what happens when you get greedy beyond your station.'
A knock was unnecessary.
Kwaaang—!
Kang Jin-ho lightly kicked the door.
The thick wooden door was ripped off its hinges and flew into the room.
The door, flying like a cannonball, crashed directly into two mercenaries who were drinking.
"Kuaagh!"
"Wh-What is it!"
The pub became chaos in an instant.
A dust cloud rose thickly.
Startled mercenaries jumped up and looked for weapons.
"Which crazy bastard is it!"
Borgo, who was sitting in the Captain's seat, jumped up and shouted.
His single eye glistened with murderous intent.
However, the moment the dust cloud cleared and he confirmed the figure standing at the entrance.
His expression was dyed with astonishment.
"You… You are…."
A boy standing covered in dirt, wearing blood-stained clothes.
It was Kang Jin-ho, looking like a demon crawled up from hell.
"Kang… Jin-ho?"
"Wh-Why is that guy here…?"
"What about Team 3? Where did Hans go, and why did he come alone?"
The mercenaries murmured.
It seemed they hadn't grasped the situation yet.
Kang Jin-ho walked inside wordlessly.
Every time he took a step, the mercenaries stepped back, feeling instinctive fear.
"Captain."
Kang Jin-ho called out in a low voice.
Borgo flinched and swallowed dry saliva.
"Team 3 Leader, Brother Hans asked me to deliver this."
Kang Jin-ho took out the bloodied dog tag from his pocket and tossed it onto Borgo's table.
Clatter—.
The sound of metal rolling rang out exceptionally loud.
Borgo's gaze fixed on the dog tag.
A dog tag with dried blood stuck to it.
What that signified was clear.
"He says he saved a seat for the Captain in hell."
"……!"
Borgo's face turned pale.
It meant Team 3 was annihilated.
But Borgo was a veteran who had been through all sorts of hardships.
He quickly racked his brain.
'He's alone. The bastard is alone. Besides, he must be exhausted from fighting in the abandoned mine.'
There are over 30 mercenaries here.
No matter how strong he is, he cannot deal with the many with an exhausted body.
Judging so, Borgo distorted his expression and shouted.
"Kill that bastard! The guy killed Hans and came to monopolize the treasure! I'll give 100 gold coins to whoever takes that guy's head!"
"1-100 gold coins?!"
Money.
It was an amount sufficient to make the mercenaries' eyes roll back.
Greed preceded fear.
Besides, isn't the opponent just a single 15-year-old kid?
"Die!"
"Wooooow!"
Dozens of mercenaries drew their weapons all at once and rushed in.
Swords and axes flew from all directions.
The narrow pub was filled with murderous intent in an instant.
But Kang Jin-ho was on the verge of yawning.
'Slow.'
Slower than the Golem he met in the abandoned mine, even slower than the Troll.
The limits possessed by the human body.
Their attacks looked like a still image to Kang Jin-ho's eyes.
"Annoying."
Kang Jin-ho, with his hands stuck in his pockets, lightly twisted his upper body.
Woosh—. Swish—.
A sharp sword blade grazed the bridge of his nose, and an axe missed his shoulder.
Kang Jin-ho dug into that gap.
"Move."
Tap.
A light hand movement as if hitting a friend's shoulder.
But the result was horrific.
Thwack!
"Kueok!"
The mercenary hit by the back of Kang Jin-ho's hand flew like a cannonball.
He knocked down three colleagues behind him like bowling pins and crashed into the wall.
The brick wall crumbled down with a crash.
"…?"
The mercenaries who were rushing in paused.
"What did I just see?"
"R-Right…."
He didn't even swing a fist.
"He just… tapped him?"
Unlike Team 3, many here, except for the Captain Borgo, did not know Kang Jin-ho's true martial power yet.
Even those who saw Kang Jin-ho's finger flick couldn't imagine it would be to this extent.
Because it hadn't been long since he joined this mercenary group.
"Wh-What are you doing! Keep attacking!"
At Borgo's shout, the mercenaries came to their senses again and attacked.
But that wasn't courage, but a struggle to forget fear.
"Aaaagh!"
One mercenary swung a longsword.
Kang Jin-ho didn't dodge and grabbed the sword blade with his bare hand.
Clang!
"Huh?"
The mercenary's eyes widened.
He grabbed the blade with his bare hand, but not a drop of blood came out.
Kang Jin-ho twisted his wrist as if annoyed.
Clink!
The steel sword broke like taffy.
And the kick that followed.
Crunch.
The mercenary's knee bent the other way.
"Kuaaaaaagh!"
A scream burst out, but Kang Jin-ho didn't stop.
As if dancing, as if taking a stroll, he moved among the mercenaries.
'Here dodge. Strike.'
Dodge with weaving, turn the jaw with a hook.
Dodge with ducking, pierce the ceiling with an uppercut.
Thwack! Crunch! Crack!
The sounds of impact were ceaseless.
Every time, sturdy men flew like falling leaves in the autumn wind.
Pub furnishings were smashed, and tables were split.
That wasn't a battle.
It was unilateral violence, and a cleaning.
"Th-This monster bastard…."
Borgo gripped his sword with a trembling hand.
Just 3 minutes.
Over 30 subordinates were rolling on the floor.
Among them, there were guys whose breath had already stopped, and guys groaning with broken limbs.
The only one standing was Kang Jin-ho.
"Phew~ Cleaning this up will be annoying."
Kang Jin-ho rubbed his bloodied shoes on the floor and looked at Borgo.
"Now it's the Captain's turn."
"Don't make me laugh!"
Borgo roared and drew his sword.
A bluish light shimmered over his sword blade.
Aura.
Although it was low-rank, it was the power of knights that cut through ordinary weapons like paper.
The only asset that allowed Borgo to act as Captain in this field.
"No matter how hard your body is, you can't block this!"
Borgo struck down with a shout.
It was certainly different from the mercenaries' attacks earlier.
Both speed and power were a notch above.
The sound tearing the air was sharp.
Shooooom!
But to Kang Jin-ho's eyes, that flow was visible.
Seeing it once, he felt like he knew the knack of how to do it.
It seemed that, like his body, a change had occurred in this aspect as well while moving dimensions.
"Aura, huh. So that's how you do it."
Kang Jin-ho didn't dodge.
Rather, he took a step forward and extended his left hand.
"Die!"
Borgo's sword fell toward Kang Jin-ho's palm.
Just as Borgo was about to smile in satisfaction imagining the wrist being cut off.
Tak!
With a cheerful sound, the sword stopped.
Kang Jin-ho had caught the aura-wrapped blade with his bare hand.
"…Uh, huh?"
Borgo's eyes grew large as if they would pop out.
It was Aura.
Although low-rank, it was still power that cut through rock.
But it was blocked by the bare hand, without a single callus, of a mere 15-year-old boy.
He wasn't even cut.
"It doesn't even sting."
Kang Jin-ho said nonchalantly.
"Isn't this a defective product? I think Aura is used like this?"
Shooooom—
A blue light of Aura vividly dwelled in his hand.
At a glance, it was a color much deeper and more vivid than Borgo's own Aura.
"Au, Aura?"
Then Kang Jin-ho applied force with the hand wrapped in Aura.
Sizzle. Clang!
The Aura shattered into pieces, and the steel blade scattered as fragments.
Borgo looked blankly at the sword with only the handle remaining.
There was no sense of reality.
The martial power he had built up by dedicating his entire life was denied.
However, that vivid Aura granted him a sense of reality.
"N-No…."
Borgo stepped back.
Fear.
Primal fear in front of overwhelming power dominated him.
He stumbled backward and tripped over a chair.
"S-Save me! Please!"
Borgo crawled on the floor and begged.
The authority from earlier was nowhere to be found.
"M-Money! I'll give you money! Take everything in my safe! There are hundreds of gold coins! With that, you can play and eat for the rest of your life!"
"Money, huh."
Kang Jin-ho approached slowly.
"Of course I should take it. That's my compensation for mental damage. But, you know that's not enough to spare you, right?"
"R-Right! Take it all! And an Identification Plaque! I'll make you a forged Identification Plaque too! I'll tell you all the underworld routes, so please, just my life…!"
Borgo took out every card he had to live.
Kang Jin-ho stopped for a moment.
Identification Plaque. And underworld routes.
They were certainly things needed right now.
"That's a bit tempting."
As Kang Jin-ho nodded, color returned to Borgo's face.
"R-Right? It's beneficial for you too if I live and help! I'm well-versed in the physiology of this field. You can use me as a subordinate!"
Borgo smiled servilely.
Inside, he ground his teeth.
'Let's survive first. As long as I'm alive, there is a chance. Whether using poison or hiring an assassin, the way to kill that monster bastard is….'
Thwack!
"Kueok?!"
Borgo's thoughts could not continue.
Kang Jin-ho's foot trampled Borgo's solar plexus.
The sound of ribs crushing was heard.
"Don't be mistaken."
Kang Jin-ho looked down coldly.
"Information can just be blown out before I crush your head. And for money, I can just take it when you die."
"Uuugh… you said you'd save me…."
Kang Jin-ho smirked.
That smile was so chilly that Borgo shuddered.
"I never made such a promise."
Kang Jin-ho applied force to his foot.
Borgo gasped at the pressure gradually tightening his chest.
"And I don't trust anyone anymore. Especially trash like you, even more so."
"P-Please…."
"Value of use? Don't need it. I can just do it myself. Even if it takes some time, even if it's annoying, it's better to do it alone."
Kang Jin-ho's gaze became firm.
He would no longer lean on others.
He declined the consumptive emotional game of using someone, being betrayed, and taking revenge again.
In this world, the only thing to trust is myself.
My power, my fist, my judgment are the only truth.
"Goodbye. Live kindly in hell."
Crunch!
"Kuaaaaagh!"
Kang Jin-ho's foot crushed Borgo's heart.
With a death cry, Borgo's body went limp.
It was the futile end of the One-Eyed Borgo, Captain of the Grey Wolf Mercenary Group.
"Tsk."
Kang Jin-ho took his foot off and looked around.
The pub turned into shambles.
Corpses lined up on the floor.
Himself standing alone in the middle of it.
"Phew."
A deep sigh came out.
Fatigue rushed in, but at the same time, a sense of liberation was felt.
It ended with this.
The clumsy playing comrades, and the novice mercenary life.
'And useless lingering attachments too.'
Kang Jin-ho searched Borgo's bosom and found a bunch of keys.
And headed to the safe hidden inside.
When he opened the safe, glittering gold coins and gems poured out.
It was an amount much larger than what the peddler had said.
And in that corner were forged Identification Plaques and ledgers.
"This is enough."
Kang Jin-ho swept money and necessary items into a bag.
Since Borgo happened to have a subspace pocket, an artifact, despite being a captain of a small to medium-sized mercenary group—how he got it was a mystery—he could pack more items than expected.
'He probably killed someone and took it.'
Seeing that he kept the subspace pocket inside the safe, it definitely wasn't bought for his own use.
However, whoever the original owner was, now this was his.
"Now, then everyone goodbye."
And coming out of the building, Kang Jin-ho picked up a lamp that had fallen on the floor.
Oil sloshed inside.
He threw the lamp onto the floor without hesitation.
Crash! Whoosh!
Flames spread instantly along the oil.
The old wooden building was quickly engulfed in fire.
The blazing flames dyed Kang Jin-ho's back red.
Kang Jin-ho walked away without looking back.
'From now on, I'm alone. First, let's handle the identity laundering perfectly. And….'
Shooooom—
Looking at the Aura dwelling in his hand, Kang Jin-ho thought.
'Let's research how to handle this power.'
He had to become even stronger.
Because in this dirty barbaric world, he had to survive.