Britus Village

"My name is Drener."

Just as Sirid had said, the man from Britus Village was brimming with drive. His claim that he cared for his village seemed to be the genuine article.

Looking somewhat weary, he continued addressing me.

"I hear you're the mercenaries who arrived in the village recently. Your rank may be low, but your skill is another matter entirely."

He looked over our party and went on.

"I understand you have a priest, a spirit master, and even a mage among you."

We did have a mage. But when we'd fought to help Monus Village, Na Seoyun hadn't used any magic — which meant they were probably taking Na-yeon for one. I'd clearly told them she was a spirit master. It hadn't registered at all.

"She's a spirit master."

"...Ah. A spirit master, not a mage, then."

His expression said it hardly mattered. From their perspective, magic and spirit magic probably weren't all that different. He pressed on as if the distinction were irrelevant.

"Gnolls have been raiding our village. I don't know why they've gone so wild these past few years, but every time they come, they take people with them. It's a nightmare for us. Please help. I've heard you're exceptionally skilled."

"I heard the mercenaries and militia who went to support you are fairly capable. And that's still not enough?"

"...They've been too cautious with their own lives, and the enemy numbers aren't trivial."

"...Cautious with their lives?"

"Those gnolls aren't raiding us for food or supplies. They're not trying to destroy the village and seize the land, either. From the pattern so far, it looks like people are the objective."

"...People? What would they want them for..."

"We don't know either. No one has ever come back alive. But even when they wound someone, they go out of their way to keep them alive and drag them off. Once or twice, maybe you could shrug it off — but after years of watching that, the militia and the mercenaries who joined later and learned the truth have all started holding back."

"Are you sure you should be telling us that?"

"You'll find out once you get there anyway. What's the point of lying?"

Honest. I liked that. I glanced at my party — no one looked frightened. They all seemed composed. Seeing that, Drener spoke with a note of anticipation.

"I didn't want to deceive people of your caliber with something you'd see through anyway. We'll pay you well. Please, help our village."

The moment he finished speaking, Drener bowed his head sharply.

"...I'll hear the terms. If they're acceptable, we'll take the job."

Drener hurriedly straightened up and began rattling off the compensation they'd offer us.

Spoils of war would naturally belong to us. That was the baseline in nearly every mercenary contract — escort jobs or commissions targeting a specific item were a different story, but this was a village defense, a full-scale battle. It was simply the compensation we were entitled to take.

The commission fee treated us as C-Rank mercenaries. C-Rank meant veteran level. Considering the F-Rank plates we currently held, it was fairly generous treatment.

"For a party that includes a spirit master and a priest, that's all you're offering?"

I wasn't satisfied. They'd treat us as C-Rank despite our F-Rank plates? They were clearly rating us highly — but that was as far as it went. Our party could perform well beyond that. I myself could take down a B-Rank mercenary without much trouble, I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠certain of it. C-Rank treatment? Not enough. And as I'd said, my party included a priest and a spirit master — both exceedingly rare. Especially in a large-scale defensive battle, those two weren't the kind of assets you valued at C-Rank. If they were mediocre, I wouldn't have complained about a C-Rank assessment. But these were elites I'd raised myself.

"Even so... with F-Rank mercenary plates, it's difficult to offer more than this. Start on these terms, and if you distinguish yourselves in the defense, we'll raise the conditions."

Meaning they intended to work us as C-Rank at least once. Fair enough — when had they ever seen us fight? How were they supposed to assess our skill? Our F-Rank plates were the substitute for that assessment, so he wasn't wrong. In fact, even the C-Rank evaluation would have been hard to justify on rumor alone; it was only possible because we had a priest and a spirit master.

In that case, I just needed to prove a little more.

I drew my sword and poured mana into it. Recent growth in my mana, combined with the tempering of my body, had produced a modest result. I exhaled, and Sword Qi immediately spiked from the blade.

Drener tilted his head for a moment, then immediately recognized what it was, and his face filled with astonishment.

"Sword Qi... Expert?"

A mercenary who could produce Sword Qi was a B-Rank fighter. Of course, my body still wasn't fully tempered and my mana wasn't abundant, so I couldn't fight while throwing Sword Qi around freely. I could draw it out, yes — but using it lavishly in actual combat was still impossible. Producing it at all, however, was proof I'd reached a certain level. They were desperate enough that they couldn't afford to slight me. Add a spirit master and a priest on top of that, and I could already see what Drener would do next.

"Understood. We'll pay an amount befitting a B-Rank mercenary's worth. Lodging and meals as you requested should also be possible."

As expected of people who went around recruiting mercenaries from other villages — he seemed to have considerable authority. We drew up the contract immediately.

"This Independent Tactical Authority..."

It was essential. We weren't a large army, and Independent Tactical Authority was a grandiose name for something that simply meant they wouldn't stop us from acting on our own. I made it clear this was non-negotiable. Of course, I had to include a clause stating we wouldn't neglect the village's defense just because we had that authority, but I was able to push the point through. Thanks to the skill I'd demonstrated, it was accepted more easily than I'd expected. And at last, the contract was sealed.

At the same time, a new message window appeared before my eyes.

A Main Quest. I stared at the message window.

The Britus Village we arrived at was hanging by a thread. I don't mean the village's appearance or its physical situation — the palisades themselves were solid. What I mean is the atmosphere. The mood was truly grim. There must have been a raid not long ago; the gatekeeper received us looking extremely on edge.

Drener first assigned us lodgings, and after telling my party to rest, I followed him straight to the village chief. He was the village's representative, so I needed to meet him first.

The village chief. The village's representative. He was a middle-aged man whose presence was considerably more solid than his rustic appearance suggested. He'd held out for years leading the village militia, the supporting troops they'd received, and a handful of mercenaries. Not an incompetent man, I judged.

"An Expert, a spirit master, and a priest on top of that... More fighting power than I expected. Well done, Drener."

"Not at all — it's for the village. With this much strength, we should be able to hold the next raid more easily."

"No other support?"

"I'm sorry. Their situation is what it is..."

He promptly reported that Monus Village had recently been attacked.

"Is that so... No. It's fine. It couldn't be helped. You've done well. Go rest."

The man called the village chief immediately gestured Drener out.

"A pleasure. I'm sorry to receive you in such a state. I'm Rusell, village chief of Britus Village."

"A pleasure. Yoo Shin-hoo."

"Thank you for taking the commission even though our village is in such poor shape."

"Not at all. You've treated us accordingly."

"If your skill is genuine, we can compensate you more than adequately. Our village isn't short on funds... And I'm the one who gave Drener full authority. You needn't worry on that account."

Fortunately, he wasn't a fool. What's more, he seemed to trust Drener considerably — welcoming mercenaries of supposedly this caliber, ones who held F-Rank plates, out of the blue. It could have been a ploy to use us for publicity given how dire things were, but if our skill turned out to be garbage, he'd take the hit himself. Drener was the only one who'd verified our ability, which meant he was putting that much faith in him by employing us.

I decided to gather information first.

"From the looks of things, you've been raided again."

"...That's right. Two of the mercenaries and one militiaman were taken. After the last raid, and now this one as well..."

"Do they take people every time like that?"

"Yes. They typically abduct at least five people per attack. We held them ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off a few times, but this time three were taken. They'll probably pull back once they grab another two or so."

Rusell spoke with a note of sorrow.

"This has been going on for years. If we concentrated our forces to strike back, the other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠villages would be left exposed, and we can't relocate either. Our village — this whole area — supplies medicinal herbs to the castle."

They couldn't move the village. The surrounding land was probably optimal for growing medicinal herbs.

"So we can't abandon the village, and every time, the casualties come from the militia and the mercenaries. At first it was villagers, but now..."

He rubbed his face as he spoke.

"I have no idea why those damned things suddenly started acting like this. We haven't just sat there taking it, though. If we hold them off as best we can and cut down their numbers, they eventually pull back even without a successful abduction. The interval between raids gets shorter, though. They come back much faster than when the kidnapping succeeds."

He looked at me as he spoke.

"But that doesn't matter. If they come again, we just kill them again. So please — I hope this next raid produces no more casualties. If this keeps up, herbs or no herbs, our village will..."

Rusell's face twisted. I spoke in a calm voice.

"We'll do our best."

At the same time, I pulled up the Main Quest information.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Main Quest. It aligned perfectly with my own objective.

I didn't know exactly what they intended to do with the humans they abducted. But it was certain that this strange behavior was connected to the resurrection of the Gnoll Hero. The Main Quest information provided certainty, but my experience from the first cycle played a part as well.

The Golden Gnolls would succeed in resurrecting the Gnoll Hero and seize hegemony over this entire region. That much was certain. I didn't know the method, but I had a rough idea of the timing. It wasn't now, at least — it was a few years from now. Which meant these actions were still only part of the process of resurrecting the Gnoll Hero.

Even so, they'd been at this for years, so they must have made some progress. It wouldn't do to drag our feet. And so I decided to take action immediately — though all that really amounted to was waiting.

The first objective: kill every last gnoll that came attacking.