Gambler
How long had it been since they left Mistra?
As the caravan put more and more distance between itself and the city, it began running into monsters with increasing frequency.
At first, it had only been goblins—brazen little things that came in packs without a shred of fear—but before long, the goblins had turned into gnolls.
The fortunate part was that there weren’t many of them.
There was no need for Lawrence to step forward and use magic.
The mercenaries handling the vanguard and rear guard were enough to settle things in short order.
More than anything, their eagerness helped.
The byproducts taken from slain monsters were purchased by the trade company.
When they knew that every kill turned into money, there was no reason for the mercenaries not to rush ahead.
By the time the group had grown accustomed to life on the road, a cluster of mercenaries came up beside Lawrence as he was eating lunch.
“Got a question for you.”
At first, he thought the words had been meant for someone else.
It was a green-haired female mercenary who had spoken to him so rudely, without so much as a preface.
“What is it?”
“You’re a mage, right?”
Lawrence frowned.
No one liked being spoken to in that tone.
Especially not him, who—however young he might be—was, in name at least, the person responsible for the mercenaries.
Like the other Silver Plate mercenaries, he was entitled to a certain minimum of respect.
Besides, they didn’t even look all that different in age.
She was probably in her mid-twenties at most.
Green makeup, the same color as her hair, was visible beneath her left eye.
“We made a bet. Whether you’re a mediocre mage or an amazing one. So why don’t you show us some magic you’re confident in?”
“……”
It seemed a waste of time to even answer.
Lawrence shifted his spoon back into the stew.
“You lost, Rose. Didn’t I tell you? There’s no such thing as a mage who actually uses proper magic.”
“Lost, my ass. We haven’t even seen any magic yet.”
The green-haired mercenary, Rose, shot back.
“At best it’s probably just some light-brightening trick. You don’t know mages very well. I’ve seen plenty of loudmouth mages around the Magic Tower.”
“Stop whining and pay up. We’ll use that money to buy drinks.”
“You’ve got to see it to know, don’t you? Hey, mage. Are you really going to sit there and take that kind of treatment?”
“……”
After emptying the rest of his bowl, Lawrence let out a sigh.
He was already irritated enough that Fire wouldn’t work properly no matter what he did.
He didn’t want to waste time.
His mind was elsewhere.
He didn’t want to deal with this sort of squabbling if he could help it.
“Magic is not a sideshow.”
“Come on, just show us. I’ve got a full one silver riding on you being impressive.”
Rose lowered her voice as she poked him lightly with an elbow.
“If I win, I’ll split it with you. You’ll probably get around three silver. How about it?”
“……”
He couldn’t even muster a hollow laugh.
What was so good about gambling with another person like they were property?
Lawrence looked over the mercenaries who had come with her.
Three men. Three women. Including Rose, that made seven in all.
Their grinning expressions betrayed feelings they hadn’t quite managed to hide.
“Empty carts rattle the loudest. The mercenary guild wants to spread the word that it’s got a mage with us.”
“A shadow mage, of all things. What a joke….”
Puffed-up. Dismissive. Insolent.
Their contempt for mages snapped something awake inside him.
“Two silver.”
“Huh? Two silver? That’s greedy.”
“Then go away.”
The words had come out in the casual tone he used with peers.
He owed no courtesy to people who couldn’t even be bothered to offer him the bare minimum.
Rose, compared to the Valentina sisters, was nothing more than a weed sprouting from the roadside.
“Fine. I’m being generous. One silver.”
“One silver and fifty copper.”
“You’re really going to squeeze every last coin out of me? You planning to take everything I’ve got?”
“Just say whether you’re doing it or not.”
Lawrence had nothing to lose here.
“…Tch. Fine. One silver and fifty copper it is. Just show me some pathetic little trick. I’ll make sure to get that much back out of you.”
Grumbling all the while, Rose was shoved aside.
Only then did Lawrence feel as if he could breathe again.
He didn’t know what it was, but there was a rotten smell rising up around him, thick and nauseating.
Mixed in with blood.
Mixed in with alcohol.
He knew mercenaries couldn’t exactly escape that sort of thing, but he hated being around people who stank.
“All right. Any volunteers, step forward.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to see magic? If you take a direct hit, I guarantee you’ll never go around spouting nonsense about mages again.”
“……”
Maybe they sensed that the mood had taken a sharp turn?
Now that Lawrence had grown stern, the mercenaries exchanged glances.
“Hey. He said step up.”
“Why are you shoving me? The guy who brought it up should go first.”
“Don’t fall for it. He’s bluffing. A mage’s probably only got tricks for lighting up a water bucket or something.”
“Then you take the hit, Hughes.”
“You think I can’t handle it? Fine. I’ll take double my share.”
“What? Why does that make sense?”
“Then you do it, you damn coward.”
“……”
Their protesting didn’t last long.
Before long, one mercenary stepped out from among them.
A black-haired man with a rough, uneven crop.
A sword that looked more like a machete hung at his hip.
“Hughes, Bronze Plate mercenary.”
Hughes took the shield offered by one of his companions.
“I don’t know what kind of magic you’re using, but fire away here.”
A leather shield reinforced with iron plates.
Compared to the giant shield Balik had used, it was pitiful.
Lawrence snorted.
“I don’t have a hobby of killing people.”
“What did you just say?”
“I said I had no intention of killing a companion.”
“……”
Hughes looked back and forth between the shield and Lawrence.
“Mage. This thing may not look like much, but it’s absurdly tough. Don’t worry and just use your magic. If you can actually do real magic, that is.”
A mocking grin curled at his mouth.
“I warned you.”
He had no intention of using Shadow Spear or Fire Tail.
However rude these mercenaries had been, Lawrence wasn’t low enough to kill someone over this.
That said, he did need to flatten that arrogant nose of his a little, now that he’d had the nerve to look down on a mage.
Water Ball.
A sphere of water formed at Lawrence’s fingertips.
“That’s water?”
“Looks like a ball made of water.”
Not red, but blue.
There was no need to go all the way to the Water Ball Bodanoy had taught him.
The water sphere began spinning in place, slowly turning on itself.
“Clamp your jaw shut if you don’t want to bite through your tongue.”
“…!”
One warning was enough.
At Lawrence’s will, the Water Ball shot forward.
“Agh!”
With a scream, the shield flew into the air.
Hughes, flung backward in a thoroughly ungraceful heap, rolled across the ground.
“Agh! My arm…!”
The arm holding the shield had bent in a direction arms were not meant to bend.
The shield itself was crushed as though smashed by a hammer.
The whole place fell silent at the sight of the carnage that had unfolded in the blink of an eye.
All that could be heard was Hughes’s groaning, tangled with curses.
Fear rose in the mercenaries’ eyes as they looked at Lawrence.
If it came to it, killing someone would be no trouble at all.
Faced with the power of magic firsthand, they lost the ability to speak.
That went for Rose as well, the one who had asked for the demonstration in the first place.
Her expression made it clear she had never imagined it would turn out like this.
“You’re lucky to still be breathing after picking a fight with a mage.”
It was Sidra who thawed the frozen atmosphere.
He had been perched on the wagon the whole time, watching everything unfold, and now he looked at Lawrence and asked,
“Why didn’t you use that?”
It was obvious what he meant.
Shadow Spear, Lawrence’s signature spell.
“No matter what, I can’t use that on a companion.”
“Really? After all, they insulted a mage. Hughes would have had no excuse even if he’d died on the spot. If you’re going to badmouth someone, you’d better be prepared to gamble your life. Still, since you’re affiliated with the church, I suppose you can’t kill people willy-nilly.”
As if understanding, Sidra nodded.
“A-all right! I won. Hey! You lot! Hand over your money.”
Like someone waking from a dream, Rose went circling through the mercenaries.
She collected the bets from her still-stunned companions.
“Here. One silver and fifty copper. Thanks for today, mage.”
“Wait.”
Just as Rose was about to hand over the money and leave, Lawrence stopped her.
“What now? That’s what it was. One silver and fifty copper.”
“That isn’t what you said. Didn’t you say the wager was three silver?”
That wasn’t the amount she’d taken from the other mercenaries.
Just from a glance, it looked like it was well over three silver.
“I never said exactly how much. The mage just assumed. Why? I paid you exactly as promised. I don’t see any reason for you to complain about this.”
“……”
Rose quickly tucked the money away against her chest.
“Makes sense to me. At least I didn’t lie.”
“See? Red Fist says so too. Can’t you just let go of me now?”
Lawrence reluctantly let her wrist go.
She rubbed the hand he’d been holding, then finally smiled.
“Good deal. If I ever need another favor, I’ll come find you.”
She didn’t even bother collecting her dazed companions.
Rose skipped off without looking back.
“S-sorry….”
One of the mercenaries hesitated before speaking.
“We’re sorry. We didn’t recognize you, Mage-sama….”
“It’s fine. Take him away. The bones will set if you spray them with a potion.”
After bowing their heads again and again, the mercenaries carried Hughes off.
Watching them flee in a panic, Sidra clicked his tongue.
“You’d never know they were mercenaries, the way they’re so dumb. They don’t learn until they get hit themselves.”
“Mages from the Magic Tower almost never show their magic.”
He could more or less guess what Hughes had been thinking.
It was entirely the Magic Tower’s fault.
In general, the mages who traveled in and out of the tower were craftsmen.
To be blunt, craftsmen mages weren’t very good at magic.
Even someone like Weena would complain of a headache after using Unlock four or five times.
Merchants who traveled to and from the Magic Tower knew that much.
They mostly dealt in simple magic like telekinesis.
It wasn’t strange that a mercenary with a narrow view of the world might misunderstand a mage’s abilities.
“So that’s why I said what I said, didn’t I? That maybe you should show them your magic once.”
“...So that was the reason?”
What, was this some sort of moonlit exercise?
Was that why Sing and Sidra had suddenly sparred earlier?
“We’re mercenaries. You can talk until your mouth falls off, and only a handful of people will nod along. It’s faster to show them your skill right in front of their faces. Otherwise you’ll end up with exactly this kind of nonsense.”
He had been thinking about it the wrong way.
Mercenaries had their own way of doing things.
Until now, even if he was the one in charge, he had still kept himself one step removed, and it was only natural that this mercenary logic would feel unfamiliar.
“Thanks to you, Sidra, I learned something.”
“Then here’s another piece of advice while I’m at it. Try speaking a little more casually. I get that you’re a church cleric and all, so you’re trying to be polite. But there’s no need to keep being so courteous to mercenaries. Sure, the big shots will like it, but we’re not the type to take humility at face value.”
Sidra folded his arms behind his head and went on.
“A guy who keeps lowering himself has a reason. Usually it just means he doesn’t trust his own strength and ends up acting servile. There are plenty of crooked mercenaries who see humility as nothing more than an excuse for the weak, so keep that in mind.”
“……”
“In short, if you’re strong, don’t go around acting humble. Stand tall. There’s no reason for me to deny the power I’ve built myself. Remember that. We’re mercenaries, not knights.”
Lawrence nodded silently.
Only now did he realize that, in the world of mercenaries, politeness could become a poison.
“Thank you, Sidra. I’ll have to think about that.”
“Good. But don’t start talking back to me casually.”
At that utterly shameless reply, Lawrence couldn’t help but laugh.
* * *
The chance for Lawrence to show his skill arrived before long.
“Gnolls?”
It was a messenger sent by Sing, who was with the vanguard.
He had clearly rushed all the way over; instead of drinking the water, he nearly poured it straight down his throat.
“Thank you. We’ve asked for help from the rear guard as well, not just Lord Lawrence.”
“Does Mr. Oswin know?”
“Yes. The vice-commander said to leave it to the mercenaries.”
Lawrence rested a hand on his chin.
A report having been sent to the client meant this was no trivial matter.
But these were gnolls, not some other monster.
Every gnoll pack they’d encountered so far had been wiped out before Lawrence had even gone up.
Which meant this time, something completely unexpected had appeared.
“How many are there?”
“Sir Sing said at least several dozen. He also mentioned seeing about three or four Gnoll Warriors.”
“Gnoll Warriors too….”
He thought of the Gnoll Warrior they had exterminated near Mistra.
Honestly, it had not been a difficult opponent for Lawrence.
But that did not mean Gnoll Warriors were weak. The one they had found then had carried the heads of two mercenaries with it.
A normal Bronze Plate mercenary would have a hard time taking one on alone.
They would need to fight as a group.
Still, the real problem was the several dozen gnolls nearby.
“Understood. Let’s head up immediately.”
“Then I’ll go gather the rear guard.”
Lawrence took the reins.
He tapped the horse’s belly with his heel, and the animal broke into a run.
The formation did not move.
The mercenaries gathered at the front were checking their gear one by one.
Among them, Sing could be seen scanning the surroundings with a hardened expression.
“You’re here.”
“What’s the situation?”
No need for pleasantries.
At Lawrence’s question, he lifted a hand and pointed ahead.
“There’s a gnoll pack. Anywhere from several dozen to a hundred. I’ve confirmed five Gnoll Warriors so far.”
“So there’s one more Gnoll Warrior than before.”
“There may be more farther back. The pack is bigger than expected, so I can’t get an exact count.”
“Is there another way around?”
There was no need to collide head-on if they could avoid it.
This request was an escort mission, not an extermination mission.
“I already asked the client. But he says he has no intention of turning back. If we take a detour here, he says it’ll cost us another week. Apparently the loss would be too great for that.”
There was no way to avoid it.
All that remained was to push straight through.
Lawrence read the tension flowing through the mercenaries.
Steel and blood hung in the air.
It was the smell of warriors standing on the brink of battle.