Loyalty Beyond Gold
As dawn broke, the mercenaries who had been groaning under the undead's death aura rose from their beds.
They had thought they would die and become undead themselves, but upon learning that their captain had paid for their treatment, the atmosphere that had nearly plummeted from the unexpected losses instead rose.
Especially those who had transferred from other mercenary groups remembered how their comrades, after being attacked by undead, had only received treatment for external wounds and then wasted away, so their loyalty toward Wolf grew even stronger.
But there was one hidden truth here.
"I'm glad. Your treatment worked."
"Yes. I'm truly relieved."
The priests had only purged the death aura; they had not restored the life force eroded by it. Originally, it would have taken at least three or four days for the men to awaken.
Worried about the mercenaries, Kaisent checked their condition and once again felt rage at the priests' refusal to restore the eroded life force.
If Kaisent had been unable to sense energy, he would have spent anxious days waiting for them to wake.
Naturally, if it became known that he was using holy power, it would cause all sorts of trouble, so this fact was kept solely between Kaisent and Lillian.
In any case, Kaisent had gained new power, and the mercenary group had overcome a situation that nearly produced fatalities, earning the mercenaries' loyalty.
Everything had been resolved smoothly, yet Kaisent was lost in thought.
Strange. Why isn't Lillian getting pregnant?
Until now he had simply assumed bad luck or that it wasn't her ovulation day.
So he had even used holy power to force ovulation, then filled her until her belly bulged and her womb was pickled with semen—yet she still would not conceive.
Lillian said she could feel a robust life force in my semen. Especially after sex with me, she said she felt refreshed even without sleep and her skin improved. For her not to get pregnant even after all this means something else is going on.
Kaisent had been having sex with Lillian with the sincere intention of impregnating her all this time—resolved that even if problems arose later, he would support her.
The internal cultivation method Father taught me.
Come to think of it, before becoming independent there had been one older brother who kept many women.
Kaisent himself had coincidentally witnessed it several times—how the brother slept with countless women yet still produced no children.
Then after that brother became independent, as if they had been waiting for it, the wives he had been with started producing children in droves, and he had requested financial help from the older sisters. Kaisent remembered that clearly.
In other words, until independence, enjoying women is permitted—but impregnating them is only allowed after independence.
For the first time, Kaisent seriously considered abandoning the internal cultivation method and switching entirely to Prana.
This internal cultivation method had made him who he was now, but if it meant he could not impregnate his women, that changed everything.
That aside, Father's support still hasn't arrived. Since he found out where I am, I thought all sorts of aid would come.
While creating multiple mage hands and cleaning up the campsite alongside the other mercenaries, he looked up at the sky.
Do this world and my home world have different flows of time?
"Alright. I've decided."
"Yes?"
Kunlo looked at Jincheon, who had declared a decision without any prior explanation, as if staring at something ominous.
"We're going to thrash those bastards first. They're pissing me the fuck off, those sons of bitches."
"Master! Wait! Calm down! Masteeer!!"
"It's fine. I won't fight. Just once. I'll just punch them once in the solar plexus and come back."
"That's an open declaration of war!"
"Those bastards who rejected me fifty times in a row are the ones who declared war first!"
Jincheon, who had been repeatedly crafting protective gear for Kaisent, finally exploded in irritation after the fiftieth consecutive rejection.
For the hedonist Jincheon, repetitive labor like a prisoner digging and filling holes was nothing short of torture.
"What will you do if the Great Madam finds out?"
"It's fine. Hayeon doesn't get mad at me. This might sound like trash, but Hayeon has a tendency to use the children as tools for our happiness."
"Well, that person is a Master-worshipper, so of course. But the Second Madam and Fourth Madam are different, aren't they? They'll make a huge fuss crying and wailing."
"...Huu..."
The two with strong family love would indeed raise hell exactly as Kunlo said.
Barely calming at his disciple's persuasion, Jincheon took a deep breath and soothed his anger.
"It seems difficult to get a passing grade with this method. How about thinking differently?"
"Think differently?"
"Until now we focused on creating weapons that could protect the young master no matter what danger he faces."
"We did."
"Instead of weapons that can physically skyrocket the young master's combat power, how about supporting methods that prioritize convenience and allow him to grow stronger indirectly?"
"Hmm?"
Jincheon stroked his chin thoughtfully, interest flickering in his eyes at Kunlo's words.
"Let's go with that."
After splitting his mind into thousands for about two seconds, accelerating his brain time, and finishing one hundred seventy-four hours of debate, Jincheon chose Kunlo's proposal.
"Then what..."
"I've already decided."
The one hundred seventy-four hours had not been spent merely on whether to accept Kunlo's proposal; they had also included careful deliberation over exactly what to send Kaisent.
"There is no weapon that will destroy the world's balance. If they reject this too, then it's really the end between me and them."
Spitting out a voice that crushed down his rage as if for the gods of other dimensions to hear, Jincheon began crafting items that would let Kaisent live comfortably.
Kaisent was lost in various worries, but regardless, the Wolf Mercenary Group returned to the city that had commissioned them to report the completion of the request.
In the past one could feel a moderately bustling vitality full of life force, but—
Hubbub-hubbub-hubbub-hubbub—
"My lord! A four-year-old child is crying!"
"Please! Even money for a loaf of bread!"
This time a gloomy bustle overflowed through every corner of the city.
As undead overran villages, a large number of refugees had poured in.
If this was the state upon returning after completing the mission, it meant the crisis had not begun yesterday or today, but one or two weeks earlier.
It seemed that while the Wolf Mercenary Group was fighting undead, refugees had flooded in and the city had learned of the Deadly Wave's existence.
"Looks like we're not the only ones who went through it."
The undead's movements, the existence of the Deadly Wave, and the vampires behind it—there was no longer any real need to announce it specifically.
"The civil war finally seemed to be ending, and now it's a Deadly Wave."
"..."
"Lillian. To maintain the mercenary group, it's impossible in this state."
"...I know. I know, but..."
If it had been a normal Deadly Wave, she would have simply ignored it and moved on.
But she had learned that vampires stood behind this disaster.
As someone who had sworn revenge against the Saryeong Kingdom, she could not simply overlook them expanding their influence.
"There were vampires in this incident. I know that too. That's exactly why we have to go to another region even more. Let's buy enough food elsewhere and return."
"...Alright."
Lillian and Fredrick chose to purchase sufficient food from another region and then perform missions stably.
Of course, taking risks and adventuring could lead to rapid growth, but if that risk was food, the story changed completely.
"We still have some food leeway, and since some personnel left, I'm thinking of supplementing with about twenty new recruits."
"Hmm. Certainly people can be gathered easily, but that also makes it easy for riffraff to gather."
"We'll have to handle that part well ourselves."
Lillian wanted to recruit new blood easily because their body price and weekly pay were far cheaper than skilled mercenaries, and refugees were gathering from every direction.
During the civil war most able-bodied men had been conscripted or fled into the mountains to avoid the draft.
Now the civil war was over, and the fact that responding to Deadly Waves with regular soldiers only increased the undead numbers had become basic common knowledge after several kingdoms fell.
Since they had disbanded the unnecessary conscripts, expanding the mercenary group's scale posed no problem.
As the two headed toward the mercenary guild discussing new recruits, Kaisent was walking to the blacksmith with several mercenaries.
As explained before, the purpose was to give Kaisent various experiences.
"There are several blacksmiths, huh? And all the buildings are big."
"As twenty-first-century Earthlings spread various knowledge, the blacksmiths changed too."
"In the old days blacksmiths never revealed their techniques to others, but the Earthlings insisted that sharing techniques with each other could yield even more outstanding results."
The blacksmiths who accepted that claim gathered as one and shared techniques; the synergistic effect allowed them to produce superior goods compared to others, and they eventually formed 'companies'.
"...I've thought this before, but if the twenty-first-century Earthlings hadn't brought things like democracy, they might have lived large and proud."
"Hehehe. That's right. Honestly there would have been guys who didn't care about that, but some got lumped in for sure."
The presence of Earthlings from the twenty-first century could be felt everywhere, yet those who actually gave the knowledge had all been executed for disrupting the noble order.
If the order of knowledge transmission had been different, if they had not overestimated the power of guns, this world might have half-accepted democratic ideas by now.
Kaisent chatted about this and that with the mercenaries as they sold the looted equipment at a nearby armory shop.
Knowing nothing of the trade, he carefully memorized how and by what standards the looted gear was valued.
"Wolf Mercenary Group?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
After selling the equipment and stepping outside, they found themselves surrounded by rough-looking mercenaries.
"That kid."
"What. He's even younger than I heard. Is that guy really an outstanding mage?"
"Huh!? You!"
Someone from the Wolf Mercenary Group pointed a finger at a figure among the surrounding mercenaries.
It was a man who had once been a member of the Wolf Mercenary Group but left after being scouted by another company.
"Calm down. This is the city—and the shopping district at that. They won't be idiots enough to start a violent incident in a place like this."
The adjutant trusted by Fredrick calmed his comrades.
"Glad there's someone who can talk. As you said, we just came to talk. Let's move somewhere for a bit."
"I'll say this in advance: if it looks like we're heading somewhere secluded, we'll just run."
"I said we just came to talk."
If they occupied the middle of the shopping district, the guards would come.
So the mercenaries moved to a place that was not secluded yet rarely saw foot traffic.
"I'll get straight to the point. Your name is Kaisent?"
"...Yes?"
Kaisent answered while preparing to cast magic the instant the mercenaries who had come for him made a wrong move.
"We are the Rhinol Mercenary Group."
"Rhinol Mercenary Group..."
"Looking at that emblem, I thought maybe..."
On the shoulder of every set of armor the surrounding mercenaries wore was the same emblem: a hammer striking down a helmet.
Rhinol Mercenary Group. One of the massive mercenary groups on the Western Continent, and I heard they even hold a permit to use military weapons.
As explained before, military weapons could not be used by civilians, but permits were issued to those who could complete 'legitimate' procedures and make 'financial sacrifices'.
Until the nation that issued the permit officially revoked it or fell, they could use military weapons.
Obtaining the weapons themselves was another matter, of course.
Anyway, the Rhinol Mercenary Group—armed with three thousand personnel and various military weapons—had made an even greater name for itself by playing a major role in the Halrot Kingdom's civil war.
A famous mercenary group whose name was known even on the Eastern Continent within the mercenary industry had approached Kaisent.
A man with an overall solid build and a scar on the bridge of his nose that looked newly made seemed to be the representative; only he opened his mouth.
"Little mage. How do you think a mercenary's value is recognized?"
"A mercenary's value? Isn't it how well they resolve requests?"
"Being a mage, you do have a brain. As you said, a mercenary's value lies in somehow completing the employer's request. Strength is secondary."
"Why are you telling me that?"
"After you stood out in the Wolf Mercenary Group, the Wolf Mercenary Group successfully completed various missions while suffering zero fatalities. In other words, you possess a means to raise a mercenary's value."
The scarred man flicked a paper from his pocket toward Kaisent.
"We have no intention of dazzling with flowery words and scamming anyone. Simply and clearly, we'll show it in numbers that anyone can understand."
"Uh... uhh...!? Employment fee eighty gold coins! Weekly pay four gold coins each!?"
"What!?"
When a mercenary near Kaisent read the paper's contents in shock, the others gasped as well.
Generally an ordinary mercenary's weekly pay was one silver coin.
If skilled it increased, but to reach gold coins one needed at least Standard 5th class.
"Th-that's impossible! Even if the Rhinol Mercenary Group is big...!"
"Our mercenary group usually divides into units of one hundred and performs multiple requests simultaneously. Moreover, we made a big splash in this civil war so our finances are ample. A weekly pay of about four gold coins is no burden to us at all."
"Ugh..."
"Kh..."
Although the Wolf Mercenary Group was solid, the sheer scale of the numbers left the mercenaries with Kaisent unable to open their mouths casually.
"Moreover, we know you're a demi-human, and that you were saved by Wolf and are trying to repay the favor. If you join our mercenary group, we'll pay one hundred gold coins to the Wolf Mercenary Group. With this amount, thousands of humans would have to risk their lives fighting to obtain it, so as the price for saving one person's life, it's more than enough."
"..."
"..."
"If you say there's no need to pay the Wolf Mercenary Group, we'll add this one hundred gold coins to your employment fee as well."
Whether the mercenary who left the Wolf Mercenary Group had spilled every scrap of information, they had perfectly blocked even the escape route.
The other mercenaries, faced with amounts that far exceeded the units they normally dealt with, looked sickened and could not even emphasize loyalty.
As the proposing mercenary said, one hundred gold coins was more than enough as a life price.
"Is this the end of the proposal?"
"Yes. Now just your answer..."
"I refuse."
"... ...May I hear the reason?"
At Kaisent's appearance of refusing in one breath without even pretending to ponder, the proposing mercenary was rather bewildered.
"Because there are many things more important than money in the world."
"Loyalty and such..."
"It's not such a naive story. I also think that by helping the Wolf Mercenary Group so far, I've more than sufficiently paid the life debt."
"Then why on earth?"
"First, two reasons."
Kaisent raised his first finger.
"That my goal and Wolf's are the same."
Then he raised his second finger.
"Anyway, money can be earned as much as I want, so is there any need to cling to it?"
"..."
"..."
He was expressing absolute confidence that with his abilities he could earn money whenever he pleased.
Ordinary mercenaries would go crazy and even betray parents and siblings for such huge sums being tossed around, yet he spoke as if he could produce those same sums freely.
Both the Rhinol mercenaries and the Wolf mercenaries opened their mouths in shock and fixed their gazes on Kaisent.
"...Huh... heheh..."
The proposing mercenary looked into Kaisent's eyes and let out a hollow laugh.
Because the boy truly was not clinging to money at all.
Hey, you said he was a timid guy?
H-he really is a timid guy!
When the scarred man was about to interrogate with his eyes whether the man from the Wolf Mercenary Group had given wrong information—
"W-wait a minute. Everyone, please don't stare at me like that. It's embarrassing."
As everyone's gazes gathered, Kaisent bashfully averted his eyes exactly as if the information about his timid personality were correct.
What kind of guy is this?
Clearly he possessed a timid and soft personality.
Yet he rejected their proposal without a second of hesitation.
In other words, this boy with such a timid nature had expressed refusal to leave the Wolf Mercenary Group without even one second of thought.
Abandon my woman? There's no way I'd listen to something like that.
Normally he would respond timidly, but if the matter involved his woman, he was prepared to throw his life away while overcoming fear.
As proof, even in the past when he had been more of a coward, had he not taken risks to save Dang Seol-yeong?
To Kaisent, who considered Lillian his woman, telling him to abandon her love for mere gold coins was nonsense not even worth considering.
"You... will either become an unimaginable idiot or a big shot."
"Still, I'm grateful that you valued me highly and made the proposal."
"Then, regrettably, the proposal is..."
Bang! Tut-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
"!!"
"!!"
Just as the recruitment proposal was about to end in rejection, gunshots rang out from somewhere.
And consecutive fire at that.