Serves You Right
The Study Gallery was the largest board among all the forums. As a result, new posts were popping up at an incredible pace. And among them, quite a few users were deliberately poking at the Hero’s nerves.
In particular, the user “StrongestGenius” was the one most thoroughly getting under his skin. The guy was even spreading outright rumors, and he didn’t stop at dragging the Saintess into it either. There was no way Franz could stay calm.
If only StrongestGenius had been the only one posting that kind of stuff, Franz might have been able to brush it off. But that wasn’t the case.
Countless absurd rumors spread through the community. Naturally, they were devastating for the Hero. The worst part was that some of them contained a grain of truth.
‘Don’t tell me that IronFist guy is actually Jace Allen?’
The tone was a little different from how Jace usually spoke, but writing online was obviously different from talking in person. Still, Franz couldn’t be sure. That was why he hadn’t made a move yet.
‘Grhh… Jace Allen, that bastard!’
A fight between him and Jace Allen would cause chaos on an entirely different scale. Two 3rd Awakening warriors clashing would bring down buildings and kill or injure countless people. Even Franz couldn’t afford to start that kind of commotion. He’d be expelled from the Academy on the spot.
‘If only I could fight him properly…!’
Of course, he was confident he would win. He was the strongest man in the world—or so he believed. The Mercenary King was no match for him. The real problem was that the chance to fight never came. It was frustrating.
Then another post appeared. The moment Franz read it, he shot to his feet.
“That son of a bitch…!!”
He could tolerate everything else, but being called weaker than Jace Allen was something he couldn’t stomach. Franz immediately tore the paper to shreds.
Riiip—!!
His rage refused to subside. There was no way he’d be able to sleep like this. After shredding every last sheet, he let out a furious roar.
“Aaaaargh—!!”
It was a sight that would have shocked anyone who knew the Hero’s usual demeanor. The sound of Franz’s rage echoed loudly through his residence. Fortunately, the room was well soundproofed and far from other buildings, so no one heard it.
Well, almost no one. One person happened to be listening.
Jace Allen, who had just opened his window, caught every word. A smirk tugged at his lips.
“Pfft.”
It was the very definition of serves you right.
Trier Mercenary Guild.
In the past, this place had been completely dead. But at some point, everything changed. The branch was now packed wall-to-wall with people. Bustling. It was the complete opposite of how it used to be.
“I-It’s really the Mercenary King…!”
“Whoa… I never thought I’d see the Mercenary King in the flesh…!”
“The branch manager’s got some serious connections, huh?”
I looked around the crowded guild hall with a strange expression. It was so different from before. The branch that had been on the verge of collapse had suddenly come back to life. My title as Mercenary King had played a huge role in that. Most of the people here were mercenaries, and they were all staring at me with respect.
I was quite well-regarded in the mercenary world. It was rare for a mercenary to join the Hero’s party, and even rarer to enter the Royal Academy at the top of the class. It would have been stranger if they didn’t respect me.
‘Oh? There are quite a few clients here too.’
Where mercenaries gathered, clients looking to hire them naturally followed.
“Whoa… It really is the Mercenary King?! I can trust this branch with any request!”
“There are so many skilled mercenaries here!”
Thanks to that, the Trier branch was thriving. My mere presence had revived a dying guild.
‘Well, I did introduce them to some good talent.’
I’d lowered the commission fees a bit, so out of guilt I’d started meeting Robin here a few times. ‘Can’t keep meeting at the Academy.’ Once word spread that the Mercenary King frequented this branch, business exploded. Lena and her father had thanked me repeatedly, even tearing up. They must have endured a lot of hardship.
‘Using the request I gave them as a revival signal… and it worked perfectly.’
I smiled faintly. It wasn’t a bad feeling.
Just then, I sensed a familiar presence approaching stealthily. Someone was sneaking toward the guild. No one else would have noticed, but I could.
‘He’s here.’
I stood up and headed for the secret room Lena and her father had prepared on the second floor. When I stepped inside, I found a man wrapped in a robe—Robin—had just arrived.
“I’m sorry for being late.”
He bowed his head repeatedly. Anyone watching would have thought he was a slave.
‘Well… not entirely wrong, I guess?’
Still, I was a kind(?) master. I gave him a smile.
“It’s fine. You’re a little late, but it’s okay. You were late because of the job I gave you, right?”
“Hup…! I-I’m sorry!!”
I’d clearly said it was fine, but he turned pale and started begging for forgiveness. It was ridiculous.
‘My reputation isn’t that bad…’
It was probably because of the rumors spreading about my alias, Marco. The story of how he single-handedly raided the Thieves’ Guild had made him quite famous. It would have been stranger if the rumors hadn’t spread. Thanks to that, he’d even earned the childish title of Dark Mage. Childish or not, the infamy had spread. Some of the rumors were downright absurd.
‘Why the hell did the rumor that I kill people for fun start circulating?’
I hadn’t killed a single person in the Thieves’ Guild. Yet somehow the story that I was a merciless, bloodthirsty mage had taken root. It was absurd. Because of it, Robin seemed even more terrified of me. Even though he knew my real identity, he was still scared. He really was a coward at heart.
“Sigh. Let’s just talk about the job.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
I let it go with a resigned expression and got down to business.
“You finished everything I asked, right?”
“Yes! All of it!”
“Good work.”
I’d entrusted him with distributing the magic paper. Doing it all myself would have taken too much time, so I’d given the task to him since he could freely enter and leave the Academy. He was also an excellent thief. The fact that he’d distributed the magic paper without getting caught proved it.
“How many magic papers are left?”
“About that… there are none left.”
“I figured.”
The community had been an unprecedented success. Practically everyone at the Academy knew about it now. Some people were even paying high prices to get their hands on magic paper. Thanks to the community’s success, I’d also managed to lower the Hero’s reputation quite a bit. It had gone even better than I’d expected.
But nothing was without drawbacks. Maintaining the community was expensive, and its explosive growth had burned through the magic paper far faster than anticipated. In short, we were running out of money. The tribute from the Thieves’ Guild wasn’t nearly enough.
“Does that mean…?”
“Yeah. Time to raid—ahem, recruit another organization.”
Robin’s face went white. The Thieves’ Guild was one of the weakest factions in Trier’s underworld. It had only survived this long because no one knew where it was hiding. Other groups were different. They were massive, filled with powerful fighters. That was why he looked so pale.
But then his expression quickly returned to normal.
“R-Right. You’re a grand mage, after all.”
He seemed to have completely bought into some very wrong information. In reality, my pure combat magic ability was only around the level of a 2nd Awakening. I rarely fought with magic alone, so I wasn’t entirely sure, but it was probably around that level. And with only 2nd Awakening magic, taking over Trier’s entire underworld would be difficult.
‘There are plenty of 2nd Awakening fighters hiding in the underworld, after all.’
It wasn’t called the kingdom’s largest underworld for nothing. Still, I was confident.
‘I’m not an ordinary 2nd Awakening.’
At least I didn’t have to waste time convincing him. I just let him keep believing I was a grand mage.
“So, which group do you think would be the best next target?”
I asked for his opinion. He was a skilled thief and knew Trier’s underworld inside out.
“M-Me?”
“Yeah. You’re coming with me, so speak up.”
“Well…”
He looked troubled for a moment, then named an organization.
“I-I think the brothel would be a good choice.”