112
My Villains Chapter 112
28. Longville (4)
The mercenaries were delighted by the unexpected kindness, laughing heartily.
"Oh, looks like you have some money?"
"But are you a knight? What's with that armor?"
Three had swords at their waist, two had axes leaning against the table, and one had a single dagger.
"I'm a hedge knight. I luckily picked up this armor."
"Oh, really. Were you a knight?"
"A hedge knight is just a knight in name. We're actually in the same situation, right?"
"That's right, there's basically no difference."
I smiled appropriately and carefully observed the mercenaries.
They were a young group.
The oldest might be in his late twenties? Some still had acne on their faces.
"So, knight sir. Why did you spend silver coins on us?"
The man with the dagger asked with a smiling face. Hmm, his eyes are quite sharp. He still seems wary of me.
"It's my first time in Longville, so I wanted to ask about a few things."
"Why not just ask the waitresses? With two silver coins, they'd tell you about their personal lives, their friends' love stories, and even take off their underwear?"
Though their hands seemed rough, they didn't seem like they were completely hardened by training. Only two had scars on their faces, and two didn't have killing intent in their eyes.
If I wanted to, I could kill them all in two breaths. No, that's not it.
"Ahem. Well, maybe. But I was hoping to ask about an area they might not know about."
"What area?"
"The hunting festival."
The mercenaries' eyes sparkled at my answer.
"Ah, are you here because of the hunting festival too?"
"Somewhat. Do you know anything?"
The woman who had been glinting her eyes at me earlier quickly jumped in.
"Of course. We're here to make some money from the hunting festival."
"Oh, really? How fortunate."
She had brown eyes, brown hair, and a slender body. A fairly attractive woman with impressive freckles.
"By any chance, are those who came in with you your entire group?"
"Yes, so?"
"With that number, you won't be able to do much. The magician seemed a bit weak at a glance."
"Hmm."
When I fell silent, the woman looked excitedly at her colleagues.
"Why don't we join forces? Nine is much better than six."
"Mira, stop. We haven't even introduced ourselves properly."
A sturdy man in his late twenties said this, and Mira clicked her tongue and winked at me. What's with her.
I looked at the mercenaries and shrugged.
"Come to think of it, we still don't know each other's names. I'm Nix from Ailant."
The sturdy man touched his flat nose briefly and introduced his colleagues one by one.
"From here, Boonie, Steedman, Jenesa, Mira, Cole. I'm Amias."
Following Amias's blunt introduction, Mira quickly added,
"Amias, Cole, and I are from Ridburn. Boonie, Steedman, and Jenesa are from Sudanshire."
"Sudanshire?"
"Yes, do you know it?"
Sudanshire, Sudanshire. I've heard this somewhere before. What was it?
Oh, right! Sudanshire!
"Do you know 'Lavalton'?"
At my question, the three mercenaries from Sudanshire exchanged glances.
"...It's our hometown." Wow, what an incredible coincidence.
"How do you know about such an unremarkable village?"
I recalled the story I heard from Count Ariad.
"Oh, I heard it from a friend. They said the lake there is so beautiful?"
The bald man, Steedman, smiled slightly.
"Fairview Lake? Yes, that lake is worth seeing."
"I heard there are tons of trout."
"That's right. Around October when the cold wind blows, I used to go trout fishing with these guys. Grilling them by the fire, there was no better delicacy."
The faces of the Lavalton mercenaries were lost in nostalgia.
I wonder what expression they'd make if I pulled out the Lavalton manor deed?
Thanks to a bit of money and effort, I was able to gather sufficient information about the hunting festival. And I heard a story that only circulates among mercenaries. I felt like I had more than gotten my money's worth.
Just as I was about to finish my business and get up, a woman - either Mia or Mira - grabbed me, completely drunk on high-proof honey wine.
That would have been fine, but Ellen, who had just finished bathing and was peering down from the second floor, happened to witness the scene.
The moment our eyes met and she looked up with an eerie feeling, I unknowingly stammered,
"Oh, wait. Hey!"
Ellen said nothing and simply flew up into the air.
And then, descended.
Whoosh!
Every time I see it, wearing a robe while floating in mid-air has an incredibly powerful visual effect.
It looks totally awesome.
"Oh, oh! What is this?"
"Magic, it's magic!"
As Ellen landed on the first floor, wind swirled inside, overturning wine glasses and tumbling chairs due to her magic.
Her hood had fallen off, revealing her still-damp, voluminous hair slowly undulating.
While chaos erupted all around, the area around Ellen remained eerily quiet.
She stared fixedly at Mira and muttered in a cold voice,
"...What is this?"
"Hey, why are you overreacting—"
"Shut up and stay still."
Facing Ellen's sapphire-like gaze, Mira turned pale and stammered,
"I, I was, that is..."
"Let go."
"Eh, yes?"
"Let go. Unless you want to be cut."
Mira was startled and immediately released my wrist, stepping back.
Then Ellen looked at me and said,
"Follow me."
And just like that, she turned away.
Not just Mira and her group, but every guest on the first floor had their mouths agape, watching her back.
Well, our disguise is definitely blown now.
Surprisingly, Ellen didn't say much. She just sat on the bed, stretched out her legs, and simply said, "My leg hurts."
The bundled-up figure seemed to sense the unusual atmosphere and was holding its breath among the blankets.
I took off my armor and massaged her leg. While quietly kneading her calf, I suddenly spoke,
"By the way, Ellen."
"I don't want to talk."
"...I haven't even started talking yet?"
"Then stay quiet."
Is she crazy...
After a moment of silence and finishing the massage, I quickly spoke,
"I found out about the hunting festival."
"So?"
"First, if you catch a monster near here and bring back its nose or ear, you can get a bounty."
"Is that all?"
"No. Goblins are 1 point, Anupads are 3 points, Orcs 5 points, something like that. The Baron apparently gives special rewards to those who score the most points."
Ellen immediately frowned at my explanation.
"What's that? It's like some kind of monster hunting game."
"Right? Kind of annoying?"
The hunting festival didn't exist in the game. It seems this ridiculous event occurred because the Bandits Baron died and Longville remained intact.
Ellen spread out her hair on the pillow and lay down. Covering herself with a blanket, she said,
"It's natural to reward those who've made achievements. But why use such a method?"
"Except for the Anupad army blocking the path, the rest are all small groups."
"So?"
"Since it's difficult to subjugate them with the military, they're outsourcing to mercenaries."
"Outsourcing?"
"Yes. Instead of directly hiring mercenaries, they've increased the bounty. That's why the bounty seems quite substantial. One silver coin for a goblin. One gold coin for an orc."
"So, the lord wants us to prove our abilities."
"Meaning to hunt monsters. A lot of them."
After extinguishing the candle, I also lay down on the bed. Lump immediately burrows into my side. While stroking it's back, I continued speaking.
"Because the bounty is so high, apparently many mercenaries have gathered. The competition seems quite intense."
"...To satisfy the lord, we'd need to rank quite high, right?"
"Don't burden yourself too much. If it seems impossible, we can just bail."
"Is that okay? From what the lord said, it seems like running away would tarnish Prince Ulkar's reputation."
"Is the Prince's reputation that high? I'd just laugh it off."
"You don't know. He might try to kill you to restore his honor."
I let out a small laugh. I didn't think Prince Ulkar would act like a petty person over something like this.
"Hmm, anyway, it's better to resolve it well. We have to pass through Graduel Mountain anyway."
"...Yeah."
A brief silence followed. Just as I was about to speak after a pause, Ellen preemptively spoke.
"Phoenix."
"Huh?"
"Just in case, I'm not jealous or anything like that."
I let out a small chuckle.
"What are you talking about suddenly?"
"I'm just saying in case you misunderstand."
Ellen fidgeted for a moment, then turned over.
While soothing Lump, who was rubbing it's head against my hand, I suddenly asked,
"So why did you do that? Isn't it because of jealousy?"
"...You're getting involved with something too absurd."
"Haha, absurd?"
"She looked ugly. A mercenary who looked haggard at a glance."
"You can't get involved with someone like that?"
"Of course not."
"Why?"
"...What if I catch a disease? And if I catch it, will you take responsibility?"
Suddenly, a mischievous playfulness rises.
"Take responsibility?"
A silence where not even a breath can be heard.
"Why aren't you answering? Can't I take responsibility for you?"
"...That's."
"What's that?"
"Why, why are you saying something like that suddenly."
Oh, the reaction seems quite serious.
For a moment, I felt if I continued this joke, I'd cross a point of no return.
"I, I've always taken care of you whenever you were sick. Didn't you like that?"
"...Huh?"
"When you had body aches, or when you had a fever, I always took care of you. If you get sick again, I'll take care of you."
Wow, that was quick thinking. I almost got into big trouble.
"...So what."
"Huh?"
"Are you saying you'll definitely get sick?"
"...Huh?"
"After playing around with something absurd, you'll pass it to me?"
"Hey, how did the conversation become like this?"
"Then how should the conversation go?"
"I'm saying I'll continue to take care of you well, something like that."
"Why are you suddenly saying something like that? Calling me stupid and just saying anything-"
The first night in Longville deepened, peaceful as always.