The Mercenary Group Esras
Beneath a clear, bright sky, a spring breeze sweeping past them, a pair walked along a neatly kept highway.
"...Damn, the sun's ridiculously nice."
He wore an unusual outfit of pure black—what those in the know called martial robes. The cuffs at his wrists and ankles were bound with cords so the sleeves wouldn't get in the way, giving him a surprisingly active look despite the first impression.
"You said we'd get there soon."
A single sword hung from two loops on his waist sash, secured by cords. Though he was fairly tall, his slender frame and the lifeless dark circles under his eyes made him look less like a swordsman and more like someone carrying a blade for self-defense.
The man—black hair carelessly swept back on one side, black eyes heavy with languor—pulled a rough map from his coat and stared at it with a dissatisfied face.
"We've already been walking for two hours. Why is that?"
"That's because Master never listens to people all the way through before taking off."
A girl's voice answered him, laced with clear annoyance as she called him Master.
She stood under 150 centimeters tall, her long platinum-blonde hair cascading beautifully all the way to her hips. Emotionless blue eyes. Like the man—no, even more so—she wore a black nun's habit that gave off a deeply gloomy air. And she carried a black coffin larger than her own body, bound in iron chains and slung across her back as if it weighed nothing at all.
"The receptionist was kindly trying to tell you when the carriage would leave, but Master just walked out."
"Ahem."
Feeling awkward under the girl's glare, the man cleared his throat and looked up at the sky.
"No, it's just... they said it was close, so I figured we didn't really need a carriage..."
"Sometimes I can't tell if Master is smart or an idiot."
"...Sorry."
"How do you hear 'it'll be quick by carriage' and somehow decide that means it'll also be quick on foot...? Sigh."
"Ugh."
Unable to withstand the girl's continuous roasting, the man finally raised both hands in surrender.
"Fine. I was a hundred percent wrong. That topic is closed!"
"Tch."
She clicked her tongue but obediently dropped it. In the silence that followed, the man began to recall what had happened two hours earlier.
It had been while they were gathering information at the Adventurers' Guild in a new village they'd stopped at during their travels.
"Hmm... If that's the kind of information you need, I know just the people."
After presenting his adventurer registration, he asked the receptionist a few questions as usual without much expectation—and got an unexpected answer.
"There's a mercenary group we've partnered with. If you'd like, Mr. Huey, I could introduce you?"
"Oh, if you would, I'd be grateful."
The man—Huey—brightened at the unexpected windfall and listened carefully.
"They're a bit... unique, but their skills are solid enough that even guild headquarters sometimes asks them to handle long-standing unresolved requests."
They weren't formally registered as adventurers, but the Adventurers' Guild provided conveniences for their mercenary work in exchange for a cooperative contract. And their base happened to be close to this village.
"If you head out the eastern gate of the village and follow the river, you'll reach an old mansion pretty quickly... Just a moment."
Saying it would be faster to draw a map than explain, the receptionist pulled out a sheet of parchment with practiced hands and sketched a rough map.
"Here. A simple map marking the location. I also wrote a letter of introduction, so they should take you in for just about anything."
"Thank you. But is it really all right for you to go this far?"
Huey asked whether a receptionist could just freely write introduction letters for someone she'd only met today. The receptionist smiled.
"Actually, I'm also the one who handles request intake for that mercenary group."
"Ah."
"And there's no way any Adventurers' Guild staff in this region wouldn't know who Mr. Huey is."
She pointed to the gold emblem engraved on Huey's adventurer registration and beamed.
"Haha. Thank you. I'll come back if I need anything else."
Huey gave a light bow and turned.
"Let's go, Lucy."
He called to the girl waiting behind him—Lucy.
"Ah, there's a regular carriage that runs for exchange with the neighboring village. It should stop by in about an hour, so if you take that and get off midway..."
The receptionist called out urgently as Huey started to leave.
"It's fine. We have the map."
"W-wait! Mr. Huey!?"
Huey simply bowed again in thanks, saying there was no need to wait, and walked straight out of the village.
Finished with his recollection, Huey noticed a rattling sound behind them and turned his head.
"Oh, is that the carriage by any chance?"
"Seems like it."
Even if they'd walked this far, they could still ride the rest of the way, right? Huey and Lucy stopped the cheerfully approaching carriage—only to send it on its way again with thoroughly crumpled faces.
"...It's right up ahead?"
"Coming all this way just to ride a few minutes for comfort would be a bit much, wouldn't it?"
Following the coachman's words, they took in the sight of the isolated mansion beginning to appear ahead and continued walking. After about ten minutes of silent walking, an old but tidy mansion came into view—as if a ruined house had been repaired and put back into use.
A surrounding wall stood guard, ivy climbing its surface in places. A three-story mansion with a pale purple roof and gray walls cracked here and there.
"Is it okay to just walk in?"
"That's why they left it open, right?"
Huey hesitated in front of the wide-open main gate while Lucy looked at him as if he were pathetic. Just as the two of them were about to step toward the mansion—
"What, guests?"
A girl's voice came from a spot hidden by the wall, accompanied by the sound of a broom sweeping the ground. Huey and Lucy turned toward the voice and their eyes went wide in surprise.
And for good reason.
Aside from a pair of short black pants that clung to her body like a second skin, she wore what could barely be called clothing—a single black cloth draped over her. A girl who looked as if she'd only just shed the last of her childish features leaned on a broom.
It was as if a long strip of cloth just wide enough to cover both shoulders had a hole cut in the center for her head, then been tied at the waist with a cord to barely function as clothing. Her sides, underarms, and even part of her alluringly sized breasts were completely exposed—so unprotected it was almost refreshing. That was the bizarre outfit the girl wore.
But it wasn't her clothing that had shocked the two of them.
"Pervert? Hup."
Lucy clamped a hand over her mouth after the word slipped out on its own.
...Make that one of them.
"You picking a fight right now?"
The beautiful face of the red-haired girl with short hair—ruby-like red eyes and a distinctive antenna-like lock of hair—crumpled with irritation at Lucy's voice.
"Can't you tell just by looking? You think I can wear proper clothes looking like this?"
She tossed the broom aside and spread both arms wide for them to see. Indeed, as she said, putting on normal clothes would be difficult. From the upper arms down, what should have been human limbs were instead large wings of brilliant red feathers.
"Even wearing this is torture every single day."
This time she looked down and continued her complaints. Similar to her arms, her knees and below were covered in red feathers, taking a form resembling the reverse-jointed legs of a bird of prey—smooth yet hard, metallic-looking legs ending in sharp, hooked talons.
"Anyway, you are guests, right?"
Despite the grumbling, she seemed used to it; she sighed and asked again.
"Ah, yes..."
Huey, who had been staring blankly, finally snapped out of it when Lucy poked him in the side and managed an answer.
"I'm Ren."
The girl who introduced herself as Ren told them she'd show them the way and to follow, then started walking ahead.
"So, what brings you here? A request? Information?"
She added that unfortunately all the members were out right now, so a request would take a little time.
"Well, I went to the Adventurers' Guild to gather information and they introduced me to this place..."
"Marie again, huh. Okay. Got it."
When Huey mentioned the guild receptionist, Ren nodded as if it were a familiar occurrence and stopped at the mansion entrance. For a moment she glared at the round doorknob, then sighed and simply stuck out her leg.
"Sigh. I keep telling them to change the doorknob."
—Bang!
"Miss Ren!?"
"Master."
Huey panicked at Ren suddenly kicking the door open, while Lucy tugged on his sleeve and pointed somewhere with a finger.
"Ah."
Only then did Huey remember that Ren had no hands with which to grab a doorknob.
"...Sorry. As you can see, I'm like this."
Using her wing to shove open the door that was slowly swinging from the impact, Ren smiled bitterly.
Following Ren inside, the two of them marveled at an interior so clean it couldn't even be compared to the exterior.
"Wow."
"It's cleaner than the guild building we saw earlier."
"I'll give you the tour later. Come on up for now."
While Huey and Lucy were still admiring, Ren moved to the central staircase and called them.
"This way."
After reaching the second floor and walking down the corridor to the room at the very end, Ren stopped.
"Ah, I almost forgot to say this."
Before opening the door, Ren smiled brightly.
"Welcome to the mercenary group Esras."