Chapter 80: New Face
Chapter 80: New Face
“Hyung. There’s something I want to ask.”
“Hm?”
“Are you… waiting for those Users right now?”
The moment Ahn Hyun finished speaking, everyone froze. Yoojung, who had been about to kick Ahn Hyun in the shin. Vivian, who was sitting beside her, trying to stop her. And even Sol, who had been watching quietly. It was as if they’d been hit with a freeze spell. The only sound was their breathing as all eyes fixed on Ahn Hyun and me.
I looked at Ahn Hyun with an expression that said, Well, look at you.
The kids had once rashly suggested we go exploring and gotten a real scolding from me for it. Since then, they seemed to have an unspoken agreement to keep quiet about it, but now Ahn Hyun was bringing it up indirectly. In other words, the gist of his question was, “Are we not going on the next expedition because you’re waiting for those Users?”
After looking over Ahn Hyun and the others with a deep gaze, I spoke in a calm voice.
“Yes. I’m waiting for those two.”
“Ah…”
As a short sigh escaped Ahn Hyun, I observed the others’ reactions. Ahn Hyun was nodding his head, while Yoojung just tilted her head blankly. Sol’s expression was complex and subtle, and Vivian looked a little downcast.
“So you’re planning to add more people to our party?”
At Yoojung’s question, I put down my spoon and laced my fingers together. Resting my chin on them, I continued.
“I was going to tell you eventually, but it might be better to talk about it now.”
“Are you talking about accepting more people into our group?”
“That, and also about the clan we’re going to create.”
I reached into my coat and pulled out a cigarette. The inn was noisy. Users chattering loudly, others getting into fights, some getting kicked out for trying to touch Ko Yeonju’s ass, and groups having serious discussions among themselves. I put the cigarette to my lips and lit it.
“But will she really come? We’re still Year 0 Users, and she seemed to have a bit more experience…”
Ahn Sol trailed off, but most of the others seemed to agree with her. She wasn’t wrong, but she was overlooking one thing: Vivian.
“Even so, strictly speaking, our caravan doesn’t really need a mage right now.”
“Huh? Aren’t we shortest on mages?”
“Not anymore. We have Vivian.”
Their gazes shifted to Vivian. Just then, Vivian, who had been secretly slurping her noodles, froze mid-slurp as if she’d been caught red-handed. A moment of silence passed, a few strands of noodles dangling from her lips. As her face began to crumple, I soothed her and spoke.
“It’s okay, Vivian, you can eat. You guys can eat while you listen, too.”
But not a single one of them picked up their spoons. With an even more embarrassed expression, Vivian quickly finished her noodles and quietly set her spoon down. I reached out and wiped some food from the corner of her mouth. Vivian flinched back slightly. Hearing Yoojung’s breathing grow heavier, I immediately pulled my hand back.
“You’ve all seen her in action before. Vivian is an incredibly skilled mage. Remember that female mage we saw in the plaza after we finished the Rite of Passage? Yubin, I think her name was.”
“That bitch who was always trailing after Park Hyunwoo?”
“Right. She’s a renowned mage in Barbara, but even two mages like her couldn’t beat Vivian.”
Ahn Hyun and Ahn Sol looked at Vivian with newfound respect. Vivian cleared her throat and sat up straight. Yoojung looked displeased but didn’t say anything.
“Three melee fighters, one Mage, and one Priestess. Our caravan’s current balance might be ideal. Even so, the reason I’m waiting for those two Mages is… because they meet the recruitment criteria for the clan I have in mind.”
I paused, took a long drag from my cigarette, and exhaled. A satisfied smile touched my lips as I watched the hazy smoke disperse into the air. The others waited quietly for my next words.
“The clan I want to create has two main characteristics. One, it will be a small, elite group. Two, it will have the nature of a Mercenary Clan.”
“Elite… and mercenary?” Ahn Hyun asked again, not seeming to understand. The others also tilted their heads. To be honest, explaining a mercenary-style clan involved some complicated topics, and I wasn’t confident I could make them understand fully. But it seemed better to give them a simple explanation now.
“A small, elite group is exactly what it sounds like. Once we form a clan, we’ll eventually need to recruit new members. When that time comes, instead of creating a clan that accepts any old riffraff, we’ll carefully select and accept only top-tier Users, or those with the potential to become one.”
This was something only I could do. Top-tier Users could be recruited by reputation, but Users with potential were difficult to identify properly without an ability like Third Eye. Some showed promise from the start, but there were also many late bloomers. Their Stats were one measure of that promise. I remembered several promising people among the new Users who would arrive in the future as well. In other words, I held an enormous advantage in the coming recruitment competition. However—
“To do that, our clan needs a reputation of its own. If our clan is seen as just another small-time group, they’ll likely reject our offers. That’s why I want to create a clan with mercenary characteristics.”
Vivian and Sol were listening intently. Ahn Hyun and Yoojung, however, were starting to frown. It wasn’t that they were stupid—they were actually quite quick on the uptake—but it seemed their brains shut down when it came to topics like this. I took another drag from my cigarette to give them a moment to think.
The first to speak was the impatient Yoojung.
“Oppa, I don’t get it. What does a mercenary-style clan have to do with building a reputation?”
“Mercenaries are people who carry out requests for money. Currently, there isn’t a single clan like that. They all just perform the missions assigned by Barbara, missions that correspond to their city’s role and location. If a mercenary-style clan were to appear in the midst of that, it would naturally draw attention.”
“Still… I don’t think it’ll go as planned… Won’t the established clans just laugh at us?”
I smiled faintly. Before leaving Mule, I planned to reveal that I was a Sword Specialist and Vivian a Chimera Alchemist. We could create one more Chimera Alchemist, and if luck favored us, Ahn Hyun could become an Aura Spearman. A clan with one Secret Class and three Rare Classes—would anyone dare look down on it?
The answer was an absolute no. Of course, we would get few requests at first, but on the other hand, clans would be lining up, trying desperately to merge with us. And our plan was to maintain neutrality while slowly building our power.
Sol, who had been pondering my words, quietly raised her hand.
“Orabeoni. Does that mean you’re thinking of becoming a Free Mercenary?”
“Exactly.”
As expected, the top student Ahn Sol had guessed my intentions in one go. She gave a slightly awkward smile and continued.
“I wondered why you had not registered as a citizen of the Northern Continent, Orabeoni, but now I understand. However, I heard that if you register as a Free Mercenary, both the User and their clan are disadvantaged compared with those registered as ordinary citizens.”
“It’s hard to call it a disadvantage. It’s just that we don’t receive special benefits. You can think of it as our lives continuing just as they are now. And if you look at those ‘special benefits’ one by one, they’re all useless. There’s no need to be attached to them.”
Registering as a Free Mercenary. A Free Mercenary Clan. That meant we wouldn’t be tied to the Northern Continent or any city within it. As long as they lived within the Northern Continent, all regular Users were obligated to be summoned in case of an emergency.
But Free Mercenaries were different. It was safe to say they were liberated from all such responsibilities and duties. In exchange, they didn’t receive the special benefits Sol mentioned, but if you looked closely at those benefits, many of them were quite laughable.
Examples included discounts when purchasing a private residence or Clan House after accumulating enough money; protection from Vagabonds; priority for registered Users on large-scale expeditions; and a measure of city support if an expedition dealt them a devastating loss.
At first glance, many of the clauses seemed tempting, but if you examined them in detail, they were all show and no substance. As time went on, they became completely useless in the Hall Plain. Of course, there were more clauses than the ones I mentioned, but they were all pretty much the same. Looking toward the future, the value of freedom that came with being a Free Mercenary was far greater than such insubstantial benefits.
And that future wasn’t far off. A month had passed since we arrived in Mule, which meant the Steel Mountains expedition, led by the Golden Lion Clan, would depart in two months. Considering the civil wars that would break out afterward, all those clauses were as good as scraps of paper. And that would be the time when the status of ‘freedom’ would shine, and the power of ‘justification’ would emerge.
A power and justification that allowed us to act boldly while remaining neutral, unbound by any continent or city.
But I couldn’t tell them all of this right now. Before that, the kids still lacked the ability to judge what was right and wrong. They were slowly opening their eyes when it came to simple combat, but that was it. It was a bit much to expect kids who had just arrived in the Hall Plain to react to the world’s sensitive currents. But if we couldn’t ride those currents, we would eventually be left behind.
Silence fell over the table for a moment. The surrounding noise had quieted down considerably. Noticing the formless barrier that now enveloped us, I glanced at Vivian. I saw her give a little wink. She had judged our conversation to be important and put up a shield to prevent my words from leaking out. I responded with a bright smile.
“Well, to be honest, it was the same when we first left Barbara. But you succeeded spectacularly, Hyung. There’s still a lot I don’t know, but I’ll just trust and follow you.”
Ahn Hyun let out a deep breath and spoke as if making a declaration. I nodded.
“Right. We still have time, so think it over slowly. I’m certain the day will come when the value of being a Free Mercenary will shine. I truly believe that.”
Yoojung, clueless as ever, just nodded her head. It was unimaginable that Sol would ever defy me, and Vivian, having signed the contract, would simply follow my lead. Ahn Hyun, on the other hand, looked slightly flushed; it seemed the phrase ‘small, elite group’ had excited him a little.
“Um… so, Orabeoni, you think that unni from before has the potential to become a top-tier User?”
“That’s right. Her. And all of you, too.”
“Heh… But what about that guy? Shin Sangyong, was it? I’m not so sure about him.”
Hearing Yoojung’s words, I immediately recalled the information I had seen on Shin Sangyong.
〈 Player Status 〉
1. Name: Shin Sangyong (Year 2 User)
2. Class: Mage (Normal, Mage, Expert)
3. Nation: Barbara
4. Clan: -
5. True Name · Nationality: One Who Pursues the Truth of Magic Squares · Republic of Korea
6. Sex: Male (28)
7. Height · Weight: 183.7cm · 69.2kg
8. Alignment: Lawful · True
〈 Stats 〉
[Strength 40] [Durability 42] [Agility 45] [Stamina 40] [Magic Power 85] [Luck 60]
As I had said before, for a Mage, the Magic Power Stat mattered most as long as Strength, Durability, and Agility were not disastrously low. Once those minimum conditions were met, Magic Power took priority. That was why I currently rated Jung Hayeon above Shin Sangyong.
Of course, high Magic Power together with high values in every other Stat would be ideal, but that would be outright cheating. Just like me.
Shin Sangyong’s stats were decent for a Year 2 User, and he showed the potential to grow into a high-ranking User. However, I was still reserving my judgment on him. I was basing my final evaluation of his worth on his True Name.
One Who Pursues the Truth of Magic Squares. I had never seen a True Name like it, so I could not judge it rashly. I regretted not using a little more power back then to view all of his Special and Latent Abilities.
It was at that moment.
“Kim Soohyun-ssi.”
I heard Ko Yeonju call my name in a low voice, and the inn door opened behind me. A moment later, familiar footsteps entered my Sensing range. Speak of the devil. It seemed they had decided to return today.