Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Spirit User (1)
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Terti, who had mostly just watched from the latter half, confirmed the troll's death. Not by checking its breathing, but by cleanly severing its neck from its body.
He sliced off a large chunk, including the troll's left ear, and walked over to Galen.
"Impressive. No wonder you never feel short on water."
"You're too kind."
Galen smiled faintly. Terti spoke with a serious expression.
"I'm being honest. Especially that last part, watching the troll drown... it was a bit chilling."
"I don't know how useful it'll be in real fights."
"Didn't you already use it brilliantly?"
"It's not useless. It's just that there won't be many chances to use it. Trolls are just that tough."
"Ah, I see."
If you have the ability to wrap an opponent's head in a stream of water, it's far easier and faster to just blast their head directly. The troll held out because of its durability; if it had been human, the skull would've shattered on the first hit.
Unless you're up against troll-level monsters again, there's no need to kill like this in everyday situations. Sure, you could use it to torture someone painfully, like waterboarding.
"Anyway... since things have turned out this way, let's help these folks out a bit more. If we leave now and they get attacked again, they'll die. How about sticking around the camp until the others return?"
"Sounds good."
"Thank you! Thank you!"
The mercenaries, thrilled that the favor they hadn't dared ask for was being granted on its own, bowed their heads repeatedly in gratitude.
They retraced their steps along the path they'd descended, gathering the bodies of the mercenaries who had died while fleeing.
The troll had no reason to target the tents specifically, so the campsite was largely intact from before. Aside from the corpses scattered here and there.
With only three survivors out of ten, that meant seven dead. The female mercenary Terti had spoken with earlier was among them. She was identifiable only by her clothes, since her head was missing.
Judging by her broken spear, she'd put up some resistance, but a Bronze-rank fighter couldn't even scratch a troll. Her spear and life had probably shattered in a single blow.
Galen and Terti sat in the shade of an abandoned tent, watching the mercenaries clean up the site. Helping them didn't mean pitching in on that level, of course.
"That's why they set the stream as their boundary."
Terti murmured softly, out of the mercenaries' earshot.
"Trolls are rarely sighted around here, so you could call it exceptionally bad luck. But mercenaries can't rely on luck to do their job."
"They should stick to work that matches their skill. This place wasn't for Bronze ranks."
"You can't choose which monsters show up, but why think 'more numbers means it'll be fine'? Even if a mercenary's life is unpredictable, this is like digging your own grave."
Terti seemed to pity them somewhat, despite finding them pathetic—probably because he was a mercenary himself. Galen just found them pathetic and stayed quiet to humor Terti.
As the tension eased, fatigue began to creep in. Terti noticed Galen yawning repeatedly and suggested,
"Why don't you catch a quick nap?"
"I should politely refuse out of courtesy, but I'm beat. Mind if I do?"
"We'll be here for a few hours anyway. After your performance, no one's gonna complain. Get some rest."
"Thanks, then."
It was still roughing it outdoors, but a tent was more comfortable. Galen fell asleep in an instant.
He slept soundly and woke to find it already afternoon. Terti lay down in his place. He wasn't as exhausted as Galen but figured he should rest while he could.
"W-would you like some of this?"
"Oh, thanks."
With so many mercenaries, they'd brought a variety of rations. Galen eased his hunger chewing on jerky that looked like it had cost a pretty penny.
How much time passed? Terti woke refreshed from his nap just as Galen, full and drowsy, leaned back and started dozing off again.
One of the lookouts dashed off somewhere, while another hurried over to report.
"The party's coming back. Not many in sight, though..."
"Better off than here, at least. Got it."
A short while later, the mercenaries arrived at the camp. Twelve in total. Fifteen had gone out hunting, so it seemed three hadn't made it.
Even after the initial welcomers had briefed them, they looked shocked. Some stood gloomily by the bodies, while others whispered among themselves. Only the man who seemed to be the leader approached the tent.
"We heard. Thank you so much, Terti. And you too, Mage."
"Just good timing on our part. We stayed to rest anyway."
"Does the reason matter? The result is what counts: three lives saved thanks to you two."
The mercenary leader, who must have been with that earlier woman and thus no fan of Terti, now defaulted to politeness given the circumstances.
Terti wasn't oblivious to it. His response carried a businesslike tone.
"No need for more flattery. What's your plan now?"
"Pardon?"
"Hunting here, I mean. With ten dead out of twenty-five, it doesn't seem sustainable."
"Well... I'll have to discuss it with the others."
"Discuss?"
"I play leader, but we're not an official mercenary band. Gotta hear opinions."
"Hmm. Fair enough."
Terti nodded. His expression gave nothing away.
"Got it. Discuss and decide wisely. We're off."
"You're leaving?"
"Never planned to stay. Just waited for your return."
"Understood. Everyone! Terti's leaving! Give your thanks!"
With that, Galen and Terti departed the camp amid the mercenaries' farewells.
Once they were far enough that no one could eavesdrop, Galen glanced back and said,
"Think those guys will pull out?"
"What do you reckon?"
"Somehow, I doubt it. Even the leader didn't seem eager to retreat."
"Same here. My ears are sharp—I caught some of their whispers from back there."
Terti chuckled.
"What'd they say?"
"Something like, 'A troll showed up, so now it's fine.'"
"Pardon? Fine how?"
"Like I said before, trolls are extremely rare around here—one of the strongest monsters that appear. They figure since that rare one came and got killed by us, no second one's coming. So it's safer now."
It was absurd logic. Galen, momentarily speechless, finally managed,
"If they're serious, they should be gamblers, not mercenaries."
"Honestly, it's not even a particularly unhinged idea. Half of all mercenaries are a few screws loose."
"Gotta respect the attitude of risking it all for coin. Problem is, they do it against guild warnings."
"Not set in stone yet. They might withdraw. We'll see."
Terti didn't seem to expect them to, though.
"But if they stick it out to the end... sometimes fools need a good whack with the stick, right?"
"You planning to bury them all...?"
"...That's not a stick; that's a burial."
"Figured you didn't mean literally beating them. No witnesses around now, either..."
"If I wanted them dead, I'd have done it back then! I'm not that crude."
What his non-crude method was became clear a few days later.
It had taken three days to reach the main stream, but that was while tracking and hunting along the way. Straight travel would take two. The mercenaries had moved that way too, arriving first to claim the spot.
With no need to hunt after bagging the troll, Galen and Terti traveled all day every day, arriving at the village on the night of the sixth day.
On the seventh and final day, Galen rested the whole time. Terti stuck close to the guild staff, talking nonstop.
A few early-arriving mercenaries were there, but most had hunted right up to the deadline.
At dusk, the group from the main stream returned to the village. Whether laying a smokescreen or not, they came in groups of three or four, just like on departure.
Galen and Terti were staying at the village chief's house with the staff, so the smokescreen was questionable at best.
"You... did exceptionally well on the hunt?"
"Put in the effort."
The leader replied calmly to the staffer's subtle admiration, carefully avoiding Terti's direction.
"Verification complete. This accurate?"
"Yes."
"Good work. Here's your receipt—bring it to the guild later."
Night fell. It was deep into the night by this world's early-to-bed, early-to-rise standards, well after moonrise.
If you weren't back by then, it was over. Even with trophies, no credit—and usually, they just wrote you off as dead.
Out of the fifty-three in the subjugation party, only thirty-seven returned.
"Unusually heavy losses this time."
The staffer sighed. Terti said,
"Told you why."
"Yeah. Minus those guys, just two. Actually a bit lighter than usual."
"Four more dead since then?"
Galen asked after doing the math.
Sixteen dead total, two elsewhere—that left fourteen from the main group. Four more than the last count.
"Right. I memorized the faces of those fifteen survivors. Four missing."
Terti nodded in confirmation. Galen wondered when he'd even done that.
"If they'd withdrawn cleanly, those four wouldn't have died. Inside the boundary isn't that dangerous. Maybe one or two accidents."
"They knew getting caught by you meant the guild would find out. They bluffed anyway, so they pay the price."
The staffer picked up. Terti added,
"Once you're properly on the guild's bad side like this, mercenary life gets rough. They stop giving good requests. Death odds climb."
"They didn't know?"
"Told you—half are loose screws. Plenty blinded by short-term gains."
"Or figured they could just bolt to another city. Honestly, we can't police everywhere."
The staffer gave a wry smile that soon turned genuine.
"But on the flip side, the guild bends over backward for folks we value. Like Terti here—and now Galen too."
"Huh?"
Galen blinked at the sudden topic. The staffer's eyes gleamed.
"You took down a troll! Not confirmed yet, but back in Nijerte, you'll probably get Silver rank!"
"That easy? It was just one request..."
"I told you before: mages are too rare to fuss over trust. Even Scrap rank's fine—which means Silver's fine too, right?"
"...Does that add up?"
It sounded oddly convincing on reflection. Galen scratched his head. No reason to turn down a free badge.
"Someone with your skills deserves it. In any mercenary guild, not just Nijerte."
Terti smiled, then grew solemn.
"But prepare yourself. This incident guarantees your name spreads—and someone will come looking."
"Requests?"
"Not the usual kind. Simply put..."
Terti paused, searching for words, then said,
"Nijerte's power struggle?"
"...That's not simple at all."