Chapter 303
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 303
Chapter Title: Faith
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“Maya.”
Jun's voice suddenly cut through the crackling of the firewood.
“......Yes, sir.”
Maya realized her response was laced with tension.
She was startled.
Back when she first joined the White Whale Mercenary Corps, she had prepared herself to leave at any moment.
But not anymore.
This place had become a substitute for the familial warmth she once felt from her chieftain, and to Maya, the mercenary corps was family.
And now, she had just announced her departure from that family.
She dreaded imagining what Jun would say next.
Would he condemn her?
Or try to hold her back by appealing to her emotions, just as she had?
Maybe he'd say he understood?
Either way terrified her.
But Jun's next words veered in a direction Maya hadn't anticipated.
“I trust our mercenary corps.”
“......?”
“And as one of that family, I trust you too.”
“......”
Was that his way of saying, because I trust you, don't go?
But the look in Jun's eyes told her otherwise.
That gaze truly believed in her.
“As your captain, I'm ordering you.”
“......”
“Go find them.”
“......Pardon?”
“Find your family and bring them back here. No matter what.”
“......”
“That's my command.”
He said it because he trusted her—because he believed she would return.
“Here.”
“This is......”
“A map of the 8th layer.”
“......!”
“Your father is most likely here.”
Jun's finger pointed to a specific spot on the map.
“Th-this map......”
“I made it myself.”
The map of the 8th layer that Jun held out.
It was unlike any map Maya had ever seen.
A map of the 8th layer that should have been far patchier and incomplete.
Yet Jun's map marked areas that had never been discovered—or conquered—before.
“The 8th layer, Akeran. It's the layer where Ranerius resided, a space formed from part of his world. Even though he's gone now, that space should still remain. At least until the end of this season.”
“......”
How does he know all this?
And how did he make this map?
She didn't ask those questions.
She simply accepted it and nodded.
“You trust me, Captain.”
“Yeah. So go save your family and come back to us. Definitely.”
“......Understood.”
Families come in all shapes and forms.
Sometimes they misunderstand and curse each other.
Sometimes they understand without words.
And sometimes, they simply trust and wait.
Maya felt that from Jun.
Because he trusted her.
She would live up to that trust.
“I will return. No matter what.”
“Good. Contact the Gilenoi Merchant Guild if you need anything. Take Chiles with you.”
Chiles' grueling journey was decided without him present, far from his plans.
“I will, sir.”
With those final words, Maya looked at Jun once more.
She bowed deeply, then vanished into the darkness.
Soon after, someone poked their head out from a tent.
“She gone?”
“Yeah.”
“Whew, hiding and eavesdropping was tough.”
“She's really gone......”
“Hahaha! A true warrior strides forth without hesitation, guided by conviction!”
The group emerged one by one from their tents, gazing into the darkness where Maya had disappeared.
They all hoped she found what she sought.
Not a single one among them didn't cheer her on.
Maya would be away for a while, but the White Whale Mercenary Corps still had their duties.
“I wondered what kind of spectacular sight the 8th layer would be......”
Entering the 8th layer.
The landscape of End Field filled their vision as they ascended alongside the other mercenaries.
“It really is something else.”
Vast plains stretched out.
A partly cloudy sky illuminated the ground, and the earth, still damp as if rain had just fallen, gleamed with a bluish tint.
And far in the distance.
Something enormous loomed.
“End Field. Scholars say it's a place born from the gods' war.”
Scholars hushed it up, but Jun suspected this world had perished in a war among gods.
And that massive thing in the distance was the corpse of some being sacrificed in that divine conflict.
“Th-that... such a colossal creature actually existed in this world?”
What had it praised in life? Or had it reached for the sky in its final moments?
It had died with arms outstretched toward the heavens, leaving only bones behind.
The colossal arm bones pierced through the clouds, stirring the imagination of all who beheld them.
“Ah...... That's huge, sure, but... Captain. What is that......?”
“......!”
Eleanor and Bern spotted movements beneath the giant corpse.
And astonishingly, it was something Aiden had seen once before.
“Those are......?”
“Giant divine soldiers.”
Long ago, before Eleanor joined the corps.
They resembled the giant divine soldiers guarding the castle in the Witch's Forest.
“Ooh, those things from the myths!”
Veteran Bern's eyes sparkled, as if he'd heard tales of them before.
Compared to the massive corpse—like an adult beside a newborn—they still towered hundreds of meters tall, dozens of them roaming the plains.
“This is the 8th layer. A realm unknown where even those who surpass human limits must join forces with those who don't to push forward.”
No matter how mighty a level 7 was, facing one alone was unreasonable.
They might win, but the odds favored defeat.
And after battling one, they'd be exhausted, barely able to move.
That's why they needed to unite.
Beings who had walked solitary paths of supremacy now banding together once more—conserving strength, fighting the unknown, advancing bit by bit.
“When we should be uniting hearts to fight, we have to march alongside those who see us as enemies.”
“......”
Even without Maya.
Yet no trace of anxiety showed on their faces.
They had sent her off because they trusted her, and she trusted them in return.
Even without her, they believed they could overcome adversity and protect the home she would return to.
“Captain, why are we pitching tents already?”
“We've got time before the Mage Tower arrives. We'll sync up with the mages once they join and move out together.”
The upper layers had always been the mages' domain.
Dozens of swordsmen risking life and limb against a foe could be felled by a few prepared spells.
Jun often dismissed other mages as “trapped in their molds,” but that didn't make their skills any less real.
Their prowess was precisely why they held such sway now.
The mages were ascending from the 7th layer and would arrive soon.
Until then...
“We'll wait here.”
Amid mercenaries brimming with hostility.
Mercenaries sold their skills for coin.
Thus, they cherished their bodies above all and valued strong comrades.
The stronger the ally, the higher the survival odds—a simple truth.
So, what best revealed that potential?
“Kyaaahoo!”
“Fight! Kill!”
“Smash 'em to pieces!”
Cheers evoking an underground arena—perhaps even cruder than one.
But that rawness made it transparent.
A stage where only combat proved one's worth.
Souls ignited, burning with the will to dominate foes.
“What in the world......”
A sparring arena had formed while waiting for the mages.
Inevitable, with so many mercenaries gathered—rivalries ignited.
Those boiling with competitive fury.
Those nursing grudges from past missions.
Those simply itching to crush someone.
All vying to show off, birthing this scene.
“Man, it's been ages since I've seen this.”
“Hahaha...... Brings back fond memories of the past. Aye, back in the day, I warmed up in places like that. In Merdaine, even.”
“Uh......”
Aiden might have shrunk back amid that savage energy.
He fought without hesitation in battle, but shied from needless aggression without stakes.
But......
Why was his heart pounding like this?
Aiden sensed the reason.
The demon reveling in golden flames of slaughter......!
Memories of earning the moniker “Gold Coin Devil” in the Black Market's arena ignited his fighting spirit......!
Grip.
His hand naturally drifted to his sword hilt.
Ready to jump in if a spot opened......!
“Hmm. Wonder if anyone's gonna call us out.”
“Pardon......?”
Aiden turned, face falling in utter disappointment, to look at Jun.
Jun scratched his head at the sight.
“Those guys aren't challenging just anyone—they're picking fights only with opponents they think they can handle.”
A mercenary's body was their asset.
They fought fiercely now, but picked easy marks to skirmish lightly.
A bit of blood? Potions would heal it quick for those present.
In other words, they avoided tough foes.
And at the center stood the White Whale Mercenary Corps.
They resented them for noble ties, but didn't dismiss their skill.
Quite the opposite—their vast experience meant they respected the corps' achievements.
Some scoffed it was mere luck.
Mercenaries would douse their heads with ale and retort:
—If it's luck, dodge this!
The White Whale had earned that recognition.
Aiden's expression lifted with excitement.
“I-impressive. So we've reached that level......”
The upper-layer stars here feared them.
He'd felt only regret at their hostility moments ago, but Jun's words lightened the heavy mood.
“Still, it's just enough to keep us sidelined.”
Showing strength here could turn enmity into trust.
Missing that chance stung...
But it reaffirms our position.
The gaze of the strong looking down.
They permitted it, knowing their weakness—deliberately avoiding it.
But if the world held only ordinary folk, how dull it would be.
Outliers birthed upsets.
“Hey, you skinny twig.”
A slur for low-tier mages from lower layers—and someone called out Jun.
“Come on out for a round.”