The Boisterous Mercenary
At the unexpected appearance of a third party, both the bandits and Raven froze. In that frozen moment, one man casually scanned his surroundings before opening his mouth in an extremely light tone. A voice laced with mischief followed.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt at a good part?”
“……From the way you speak, you don’t seem to be one of the bandits.”
Raven, who had barely halted his strike an instant before it would have killed, rolled his eyes to examine the intruder’s attire.
“A mercenary?”
“That’s right!”
“Then instead of just standing there, how about giving me a hand?”
“Ha, what? Who do you think you—”
Thud!
“Yeah. After all, I had to deal with them anyway for the request.”
The mercenary who had mercilessly kicked the wildly thrashing bandit boss away laughed with refreshing ease.
“B-Boss!!”
“Ah, so he was the boss? I was told to take the boss alive. He’s still breathing, right?”
“How dare this crazy bastard kick me?! Kill him right now!!”
“Oh, he’s alive. What a relief.”
Quite the unusual lunatic.
He seemed skilled enough that there was no need to pay him any special mind. Raven rose from his seat, gave Didi’s head a reassuring pat as the boy approached, then shifted his gaze to meet Dan’s.
The fellow standing nearby with a face as thick as an iron plate slyly glanced toward a distant mountain. At the ridiculous sight, Raven let out a soft chuckle and looked away as well.
……Yeah. It really is safe by my side.
Even if one more sandbag were added, it wouldn’t change much. Even if the boy deliberately tried to become a burden, there would be no problem. What surprised him more was the strange conviction the boy seemed to hold—that he would be saved.
More than that……
His rolling eyes caught sight of one crazy dog energetically rampaging about and diligently cleaning up the bandits.
I thought he would try some cheap negotiation.
The mercenary who had gladly helped was unexpected.
If he had been one of the typical mercenaries Raven knew, the man would have asked how much he would pay for the rescue, or even tried to seize the chance to wring a fortune out of the situation.
As expected of an unusual lunatic, his train of thought was unusual too.
Harboring such rude thoughts without a shred of guilt, Raven drew his dagger and approached the mercenary, who was tightly binding the bandit boss.
“Hmm……?”
Sensing the presence, the man lifted his head. The face that turned toward Raven was innocently pure, completely at odds with someone who had just finished massacring people.
With an expressionless face, Raven grabbed the man’s collar and swung his dagger.
Clang!
A thrown dagger flew in from somewhere, letting out a chilling clash as it was deflected.
“Three of them.”
“Huh, I thought I’d cleaned them all up……”
Blinking while held by the collar, the man looked utterly stupid.
Well, since he had received help, perhaps this much repayment was due. Raven slipped his hand into his coat, positioned daggers between his fingers, and threw them.
Because they flew almost the instant they were drawn, it looked like he had simply swung an empty hand. But the mercenary watching from up close saw something entirely different.
“Urk!”
“Kuhk!”
“Wow……”
The blades that sliced through the air and vanished each struck their mark. People tumbled from the trees with heavy thuds. The dying screams that announced their deaths were merely a bonus.
It was clearly no ordinary skill. The mercenary’s eyes began to sparkle.
Raven ignored the man as if he hadn’t noticed him, released his collar like he was tossing him aside, and approached those whose lives had already been snuffed out.
He rolled the corpses roughly with his foot to inspect them, then spoke.
“These ones aren’t bandits…… Do you have some old grudge with someone?”
“Y-Yes??”
“……”
What was this? Why the sudden polite speech?
“Shall I ask again?”
“Ah, no! A grudge, you say! There are so many I couldn’t possibly know!!”
“……”
I see……
He had only asked on a whim in the first place, with no intention of solving the problem. After giving the man a somewhat pitying look, he turned to head toward the little one he needed to look after.
The man grabbed his wrist with eyes overflowing with goodwill, like a dog that had just met its master.
“More importantly! What is your name?!”
“……?”
“Ah, I’m Eckhart Lofty!”
……He wasn’t the slightest bit curious about the man’s name.
It was a connection that wouldn’t last long even if they became entangled. He was about to roughly give the name “Raven” and leave when the Guardian Spirit reacted.
“……Lofty?”
It was a name that made him react even though he usually remained silent unless the matter concerned Raven himself. It might be connected to the Guardian Spirit’s past.
Raven’s eyes changed at once.
The Lofty he knew was the name of the Mercenary King recorded at the tail end of the mythic era and the dawn of true history. It was also the name of the mercenary group he had led.
Sure enough, the bright-faced man answered.
“Yes! I am a direct descendant of that very Mercenary King Lofty! I lead the historic Lofty Mercenary Group!”
Even if there’s only one member right now……
Raven, who had caught even the muttered addition without missing a word, tilted his head with an expressionless face.
‘Is there a reason the Guardian Spirit would react to this name?’
The historical background was strangely mismatched for him to have had any connection to the Mercenary King in life.
At the end of the mythic era, countless heroes had been born only to fade away without sound or trace. There had been neither time nor reason to designate official heroes. Even if one were chosen, they would die soon anyway.
Yet the Guardian Spirit had been an officially recognized hero. He must have come from an even earlier generation.
“So what is the name of our prospective member… no, you?!”
Prospective… what?
Staring at that endlessly cheerful face, Raven answered.
“……I have no name. Call me Raven.”
“Huh? Then isn’t Raven your name?”
“……”
“It isn’t!”
“……Well, you could see it that way.”
Giving a vague reply, he lifted Didi into his arms. Dan had already moved far away some time ago.
The annoying matter was settled and there seemed to be no more useful information to gain, so he saw no reason to remain caught by the mercenary before him. Raven turned away without a shred of reluctance.
“Thanks for the help. I have somewhere to be, so I’ll be going now.”
“W-Waaaaait!”
He had been about to.
If a human-sized sandbag hadn’t been attached to his leg, that is. He should have moved a little faster.
Stopping his forcibly weighted steps, he looked down at the man clinging to him.
“……What.”
“You said thank you for the help, right?! Then please grant me one request!”
He had a strong feeling this was going to become extremely annoying.
“Can’t I just repay you with money…?”
“It’s not that I don’t need it, but still!”
“……First, tell me what it is. I’ll think about it after I hear.”
“To join the Lofty Mercenary Group… Aaaaah no, where are you going?!”
There was no need to hear any more.
So the earlier comment about a prospective member had been sincere. Raven tensed the muscles in his legs and began walking forward with the mercenary still attached.
“I’ll repay the favor with money through the mercenary guild later, so let go and finish your own business.”
“Rather than money, it’s Mr. Raven that……”
“My body is expensive. It’s not something that can be settled with just that.”
“Just lending your name would be enough!”
“The name is more expensive than the body.”
He could roughly guess the man’s circumstances.
He was well aware of the unique traditions the Lofty Mercenary Group had carried down since the time of the Mercenary King Lofty.
They took in one adopted child and raised him together with the members. When that adopted child grew up and inherited the surname “Lofty,” the previous generation would all step back from the front lines together.
The adopted child who inherited the surname would gather his own comrades and work until the situation stabilized and ripened. Then, like those who had raised him, he would take in another adopted child and raise him with his comrades, repeating the cycle.
However, the retired old generation would not hastily withdraw until the adopted child who inherited “Lofty” had gathered enough comrades and settled into his position. They would lend their names to keep the mercenary group running.
The fact that he said there was only one member in the current group, combined with how desperately he was trying to recruit, made it easy to guess that some problem had arisen in that area.
But.
‘Is there any reason I need to care about that?’
No matter how he thought about it, there wasn’t.
So get off, you disgusting man. He pushed the man’s face away with his palm.
“If that doesn’t work, at least just show your face…!”
“……You’re disgustingly persistent.”
Showing just his face without any identification wouldn’t allow mercenary registration anyway. No, before that.
He shoved his face right in front of the man’s.
“How much do you think this face is worth?”
“……”
“Even if it’s not as much as the name, this is worth more than the body.”
He tapped his left cheek with his right index and middle fingers and smirked.
Thanks to the man’s intervention, things had gone smoothly, but he could have resolved the situation without much trouble even without help. In other words, the value of the man’s assistance wasn’t that high.
Who said he wasn’t a mercenary? Trying to get a free meal.
“And I know that ‘Lofty’ recruits its members very carefully.”
He voiced the question that had risen in his mind without filtering it.
He had heard that Lofty chose comrades carefully for the sake of the next child they would adopt. After all, the current comrades would become the uncles who would help raise that child later.
“But… seeing you with a child, you don’t seem like a bad person… and you helped me……”
Ah.
Had he unknowingly passed the first interview?
“And your skills seem good too……”
It seemed he had even passed the second interview.
What kind of interview was this easy? Just about anyone could get in.
The momentary pause from the absurdity was brief. Frowning, he firmly pushed the man away. The force, stronger than expected, seemed to draw even greater favor instead; the eyes of the repelled man shone even brighter, but……
“Anyway, I’m not joining, so stop clinging.”
“……Yes, it can’t be helped. I can’t force you if you don’t want to.”
Surprisingly, his surrender was clean. Raven had expected him to be more persistent.
Feeling uneasy, he narrowed his eyes at the man. The moment he did, the man he thought had given up lifted his head sharply and declared.
“Then how about the captain position!”
“Get lost.”
The Lofty Mercenary Group.
It was the mercenary company where the legendary Mercenary King Lofty had served as captain, and at the same time the oldest surviving mercenary group in existence.
There had been a time when everyone longed for it, but sadly that time was not now. Lofty was currently on the verge of collapse.
All that remained in Lofty now was a hollow glory worn down to crumbling scraps.
There was no such thing as a mercenary group with only one member.
They had somehow endured until now by invoking their status as descendants of the Mercenary King and the group’s long history, but even the mercenary guild could not wait indefinitely.
A grace period had been granted to Lofty.
‘I must recruit comrades within one month.’
The minimum number of members required to maintain a mercenary group was five.
He needed to bring in at least four. Otherwise the Lofty Mercenary Group, which had endured for a thousand years, would be disbanded. The name Lofty would be erased from the guild registry.
He could not allow such a tragic thing to happen during his generation. Eckhart Lofty gritted his teeth.
‘I can’t stay on the guild’s leash forever either.’
Even after carrying out unpaid missions on the condition that the group would be maintained, things had come to this.
Since he had even received an official notice, there was only one path left.
‘I need to find comrades as quickly as possible.’
In that sense……
There was a truly excellent candidate.
‘Is there really no way?’
He licked his lips while gazing at the man with the unique green eyes.
Raven had tried to shake off the mercenary and continue on his way.
But the attempt ended in failure because the mercenary, who had even abandoned the bandit boss he was carrying, quickly caught up to him.
After kicking away the bandit boss—who was shouting that it hurt and demanding to know what he was doing—the man looked at Raven with eyes that still shone brightly. Whether Raven’s expression grew sour or not, he shamelessly spoke up.
“I’m now heading to the mercenary guild in the capital to confirm the request’s completion. Where are you headed, Captain?”
“……Who are you calling Captain?”
“Ah, then Boss?”
“……”
Let’s just stop talking.
“The capital.”
“Oh, same destination! May I accompany you?”
“Even if I refuse it seems pointless, so is the question even meaningful?”
“That’s true!”
“……”
There were no further words, but this was clearly permission!
Cheering inwardly at having bought time to persuade him, Eckhart Lofty broke into a wide grin and once again grabbed the hem of Raven’s coat as he began to walk.
“Um, but I think I need to clean up the mess first… Could you wait just a moment?”
“……”
“If you refuse, I’ll cling to your leg!”
“Sigh……”