Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: The Grand Duke's Heir Has Run Away
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< If someone who can't even help themselves tries to help others, that's disqualification. >
A short while later, Hasan returned and led us to the commander. He was a middle-aged man with a sharply trimmed mustache that gave him a striking impression. He introduced himself as Adan Faiza, the second-in-command and garrison commander of Kara. A garrison commander was the position right below the top brass in Kara's military.
I mounted up alongside Adan and got straight to business.
Adan spoke first.
"Master. Are the monsters appearing at the Uts River Mine really that strong?"
"You could say that. To exaggerate just a bit, they're the kind that could blow away an average unit with a single snort."
"That strong?"
"Yeah. They're weaker than Masters, sure, but they're experts at massacring civilians. Unless you've got an Aura Blade or high-tier piercing magic, there's no real way to take them down. That's why we classify Freykers as a hazard level around entry-level Master swordsmen."
"Hmm... That's different from what the mercenaries who scouted the mine before said."
Adan stroked his goatee, his face deep in thought.
"What'd they say?"
"They just said they got wiped out because they lacked siege weapons. They didn't mention anything about hazard level 70 monsters."
"Mercenaries, what do they know? They're just guys chasing after tiny pests. Anyway, leave the Freykers to us, and pull back your troops. No need to take unnecessary losses, right?"
"So you're saying you'll handle it for us, Master?"
"Of course, I'm not saying I'll do it for free. I've got a business to run, after all."
"How much are you asking?"
Adan bit immediately. This guy's got a good head for negotiation. I pulled the invoice from my pocket and handed it over.
"Here."
Adan examined it and let out a groan.
It was 160 leaf gold for deploying two Masters as the base fee. Another 420 leaf gold in hazard and difficulty bonuses. Plus 4 leaf gold per day per person for travel expenses and 2 leaf gold for meals, totaling 586 leaf gold. And after the hunt, all byproducts from the monsters went to the hunters.
"Isn't this a bit excessive?"
"It's a bargain. Do you know how much we paid in rent just to open an office here in Kara for a year? A whopping 45 leaf gold. Using two Masters for the price of a little over ten buildings' rent? That's dirt cheap."
That was because land and building rents in Kara were outrageously high. For comparison, renting land and buildings in the imperial capital of the Yosrahim Empire cost less than half of half of Kara's rates.
"Even so..."
"In return, issue us an invoice from Kara. You know how it works, right? Slap 2,000 leaf gold on it, and we can exchange some nice kickbacks. That's how public contracts always go. Heh heh heh."
"Absolutely not!"
Adan flushed red and barked. His subordinates were watching, probably.
"If you don't like it, fine. No need to get heated. So, what's it gonna be?"
At that moment, a burly man with a thick beard rode up on horseback. According to Adan, he was Alon, captain of the Alon Mercenary Company, who had volunteered for this operation. He was also the leader of the large mercenary group that had taken a commission a few days ago and gotten crushed by the Freykers.
"Commander Adan. What in the world is going on?"
"Ah, these folks have come offering to take out the monsters at the Uts River Mine."
Alon turned his horse toward me.
"New faces. Who are they exactly? Mercenaries?"
Adan answered as I shook my head.
"No."
"If they're not mercenaries, you can't just hand them the commission. The guild would be pretty upset if they found out."
"But didn't your group fail the commission? That's why Kara's army is stepping in directly."
"That's only because there's no mercenary group in Kara equipped with siege weapons. If there was, we'd have handled it properly."
Adan pointed at me.
"But these people say even your siege weapons we brought won't work on them."
"How would they know that?"
"They've hunted them before."
Alon snorted.
"The monsters at the Uts River Mine are something no one's ever seen before. Not us, and even the worldwide mercenary guilds said they had no idea when we asked. And these guys claim they've hunted them?"
"That's right."
"What kind of monsters?"
"Freykers. Hazard level in the 70s."
Alon shook his head slowly.
"The mercenary guilds are the ones who name monsters and assign hazard levels. Who else would name and rate a monster the guilds don't even know about?"
He had a point. The organizations that named monsters and set their hazard levels were the mercenary guilds, experts in hunting them.
"Well..."
"They're obvious con artists. Don't worry about it. We mercenaries know monsters better than anyone."
As Adan looked unsure, I shrugged.
"Your call. What'll it be?"
"Well..."
"Do whatever. Just don't stop us from watching from the back. Let the old orc build some experience. It's been a while since we had a vacation anyway. Bye-bye~."
I pulled back. The decision was Adan's, as the client, and once the fight started, he'd realize how serious things were. No need for me to push a hesitating guy right now.
Zenbe hurried after me.
"What're you doing?"
"Don't worry. I'm playing it perfectly."
"How?"
"The client decides whether to hire, but I set the price. Nice, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"When the client gets desperate, the payout jumps accordingly. That's business. Heh heh heh."
Zenbe narrowed his eyes.
"What if casualties happen?"
"Come on. I'm not here out of humanitarianism. I'm here to make money."
"So you're letting people die just to squeeze out a few more coins?"
"What can I do if they couldn't afford it anyway? It's their fate."
"I'm not blaming their ignorance. I'm blaming you for knowing full well and not even trying to convince them."
Zenbe snorted in disapproval. I curled one side of my lip and looked at him.
"At least I didn't let everyone die out of some half-baked paradox. Unlike someone."
"That's..."
Zenbe trailed off, mouth flapping silently.
Zenbe called me evil, but the one who'd tried to create an even more tragic outcome was none other than him. In fact, Zenbe hadn't even wanted to come here at all.
I spoke in a pathetic tone.
"Honestly, I'm more worried about you than Kara's soldiers. A guy who's seen it all, wearing every grim face in the book—why's your nose so damn nosy? Worry about yourself before others."
"Then save them yourself. You're qualified."
"Puhahaha. Me, save them? Don't make me laugh. If I can't even save myself, what business do I have saving others? My one wish, then and now, is for someone to save me."
Zenbe furrowed his brows.
"Are you insane?"
"I'm already going crazy. So shut up with the nonsense. Neither you nor I are fated to save people with busybody antics. We just make money and go. If someone survives, lucky them. If they die, they're the unlucky ones. Got it?"
I sighed, shook my head, and walked off. This orc old man was pretty dumb.
The world's most clueless types are the ones whose own pantries are empty and dusty, yet they're desperate to hand out food to others. You have to feed yourself and your family first before you can feed anyone else. What's the plan if you give away everything in some amateur do-gooder act?
Want to help others? Help yourself first. If someone who can't even help themselves tries to help others, that's disqualification.
The next day, the green forests and farmlands vanished, replaced by endless wasteland stretching ahead. We'd finally escaped Kara's great oasis zone after a full day of travel.
We'd nearly screwed up big time. Unfamiliar with the local geography, I'd miscalculated. Since it'd gone past a day, travel expenses should have been 16 leaf gold and meals 8 leaf gold. But thinking it over, it probably didn't matter. Now I could set the commission fee however I wanted.
'Right. Freykers.'
In the distance, at the Uts River Mine, massive monsters lumbered about with thunderous steps. They looked like giant crocodiles with short snouts, but oddly, they had six thick legs.
"A gruesome sight."
Zenbe clicked his tongue at the corpses strewn across the nearby ground. They seemed to be from the mercenaries who'd been hit a few days ago—smashed so badly they barely looked human anymore.
"Eh, they're not especially crueler than other monsters. But one hit turns you into that. So be careful, old man. Even a Master goes straight to the afterlife from a solid blow."
Zenbe nodded at my words. Masters were still human. They had bodies faster and stronger than anyone's, but enough damage meant death all the same.
"Got it. I'll keep that in mind."
Zenbe glanced at his hand gripping the Titanian. It was trembling faintly. Whether from tension at facing strong monsters or the thrill of his first battlefield in ten years, Zenbe was getting more and more excited.
Zenbe was an orc through and through. Orcs were a perverse race that relished the battlefield's ecstasy, even casting aside their own lives.
Kara's soldiers had finished all combat preparations. Camel-mounted troops stood in double file lines, bows at the ready, while over twenty ballistae and catapults—fully assembled—were being slowly cranked.
"Prepare for battle!"
At Adan's shout and signal, Alon and five camel-riding warriors advanced. They were the vanguard to lure the Freykers.
They moved slowly toward the Uts River Mine at Adan's go-ahead.
"Provoke them one at a time as much as possible. If a bunch come at once, we're in trouble."
Alon eyed the Freykers roaming the vast Uts River Mine. He'd downplayed it to Adan yesterday, but they were strong and fast. A few days ago, he'd led over 400 men against them, and fewer than half had returned alive.
If they weren't careful, Kara's soldiers could take heavy losses today too.
Moments later, two Freykers patrolling the mine's outskirts turned sharply toward Alon and glared. They'd gotten a reaction. Alon wheeled his reins and yelled.
"They're coming! Retreat!"
No sooner had the vanguard turned to flee than the two Freykers accelerated in pursuit. Incredibly fast for their 5-meter bulk. Despite the vanguard's desperate gallop, the gap closed rapidly.
But there was margin. Alon passed the siege weapon line in a wide semicircle, plenty of distance away.
"Commander Adan! Incoming! Commence firing!"
< If someone who can't even help themselves tries to help others, that's disqualification. >