Mercenary Quarrel Cliché

I was forcing down a tasteless, foul-smelling meat pie when someone interrupted as if to say I didn't have to keep eating. I gladly set my fork down. Thanks to that, I could even smile at the face of the crude, rough-looking mercenary.

'So this is that quest. The classic tavern mercenary dispute cliché!'

"Compared to you in those fancy clothes, this kid doesn't look like she belongs with your group. You didn't kidnap her, did you?"

"That's an absurd—"

"It's not a kidnapping! The wizard saved me!"

Before I could step in, Yanne snapped back angrily. Perhaps because of her reaction, the mercenary looked troubled. But then his companions rushed over and dragged the big man away.

"M-My apologies, sir wizard. Please be generous. I was terribly rude."

The mercenaries immediately bowed their heads at the word "wizard" and tried to return to their seats.

"Hey, hold on. You can't just tuck your tail and run. We don't even know if he's a real wizard! And even if she says he took her in, he could have tricked her with words."

"Shut your mouth, you idiot!"

"Mmph—mmph!"

The mercenaries forcibly covered his mouth, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dragged him back, and shoved him down into a chair at their table.

"Come on— He said he's a wizard, but shouldn't we at least verify that? Why would a wizard be in a backwater village like this?"

"..."

At Joy's words, the others at the table started thinking, Well, he has a point. A wizard in a place like this?

"Joy. Wizards are practically nobility. Normally, just suggesting we verify one would be considered an insult to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nobility and get your tongue cut out."

The man at the far end of the table spoke quietly, and only then did the rampaging Joy lower his voice.

"But Captain Chico, he could still be impersonating a wizard. If we catch an impostor, we might even get a reward. Besides, you need a wizard right now, Captain."

At Joy's words, the mercenaries' eyes shifted to the right arm of the man they called their captain. The arm of the one called Captain Chico was wrapped in bandages, with several splints attached as if it had been fractured.

"Yeah, I need it the most. Fine. I'll put up my entire fortune—two gold."

Chico pulled two gold coins from his pocket with his left hand and placed them on the table. His right arm had been so badly injured that the bone had shattered and pierced through the flesh. On the battlefield, there were simply too many patients, so he couldn't receive treatment from a wizard. He had no choice but to let a healer manually set the bone and apply crude splints, but the results were poor. Even with a skilled healer, Chico's arm was turning a sickly blue. The flesh inside was rotting away. And everyone knew it.

"I'll add ten silver."

"Me too, five silver."

As the mercenaries contributed, the total reached three gold. Since a single healing spell from a wizard cost three gold, they all pitched in.

Joy picked up the three gold and approached me again.

"Sir Wizard, my name is Joy. I apologize for my earlier rudeness. Here is three gold. Our captain injured his arm—please cast a healing spell on him."

Joy figured that if I was a fake wizard, they could beat me up, and if I was real, they could get the captain's arm healed. Either way, it was a win. So now he bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle and spoke with utmost politeness.

"I heard the whole thing. You, come over here."

Since I didn't want to eat the meat pie, I'd been listening to their conversation. And upon hearing that a wizard's healing spell cost three gold, I'd done the math. One silver was roughly twenty thousand won, and with the twenty-to-one ratio between silver and gold, one gold was four hundred thousand won. Three gold meant 1.2 million won. The healing buff could be used more than ten times a day, so by simple calculation, I could earn over twelve million won per day. Of course, it was gold from a game still in development, so it could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only be used inside the game.

"First, we need to remove the bandages."

The moment I spoke, Yanne sprang forward as if she'd been waiting, a pocket knife in hand. The tightly bound bandages and splints were cut away by her blade, quickly revealing the wound. Blood was seeping through the stitched area. Even to someone like me who'd only seen medicine through documentaries and dramas, it looked like it hadn't been treated properly.

"During a war commission, I blocked an enemy attack and my forearm bone shattered, piercing through the skin."

"So they pushed the protruding bone back in and stitched it up."

By the standards of this era, it seemed an outstanding healer had ignored things like bacterial infection, simply shoved the bone back into place, aligned it, and sewn it shut.

I touched the wound area once.

"Hmm."

It was serious. Human arms have blood flowing through them, so the muscles under the skin have elasticity. Unless it had been pressed for several hours while sleeping, there shouldn't be any lasting marks on the skin. But Chico's arm had lost all that elasticity. It seemed blood wasn't circulating properly. The skin on his forearm had turned entirely bluish, suggesting that blood wasn't flowing and the flesh inside was rotting. I worried whether the healing buff would even work on such a severe injury, but it was worth trying. I'd apply the vitality buff first, then the healing buff, and observe the results.

Just casting buffs without an incantation seemed too plain, so I deliberately made up a chant.

"Illun PayPal Tesla Twitter~."

A cluster of light descended from above Chico's head and was absorbed into his body. Then I cast the healing buff as well. A different colored light seeped into his body and lingered on his injured arm, creating a sparkling glow.

"Ohh! I failed to recognize you. Please forgive me!"

As soon as Joy realized I was a real wizard, he dropped to his knees and bowed his head.

"It happens. Make sure this friend drinks plenty of boiled and cooled water, and don't bind his arm right now—just leave it alone. I'll check on him again in an hour."

Dismissing it as no big deal, I shrugged and waved my hand, sending the mercenaries back to their seats.

Chico, leader of a very ordinary small mercenary group, had been in despair ever since injuring his arm. The sensation in it was gradually fading as the flesh rotted, and now even moving his fingers was becoming difficult. He knew that once the smell of rot started coming from his arm, he'd have to cut it off. He was pondering how far he could go as a one-armed man.

So when Joy suggested testing the wizard, he had agreed out of faint hope and contributed the money. And he had received the healing magic. At first, he kept feeling an itchy sensation in his arm, but now it felt refreshingly cool. Black, rotten blood was oozing out in clumps from the stitched wound. After wiping away the blackened blood several times, the color of his skin seemed to be returning somewhat. Feeling these positive changes, hope that his arm might heal began to bloom.

"Um, Captain Chico... he said he'd check again in an hour and cast the spell again. Does that mean we'll have to pay more?"

"Yes. That's how wizards operate."

If it meant his arm could be saved, he was willing to spend more money. The only problem was that he didn't have any on him right now. He'd have to go to the guild vault to get money for the wizard, but for now, he planned to stick close to the wizard and beg.

"I can feel sensation in my fingertips. Thanks to you, Sir Wizard, it looks like I won't have to lose my arm."

When I examined the arm again after some time had passed, the dying limb seemed to have come back to life with just one application of the buff. Saving someone who had nearly lost their arm with the vitality and healing buffs made me feel good too. I cast the vitality buff and healing buff on Chico once more.

"Illun PayPal Tesla Twitter~."

As the light once again seeped into Chico's body, he knelt on both knees like a knight receiving a formal dubbing.

"Sir Wizard... the truth is, I don't have the treatment fee right now. Would it be possible to go to a city with a mercenary guild and pay you there?"

I had already received three gold, yet he was offering to pay more. It seemed that in this world, the setting was that you paid for each healing spell. While wondering what to do, a game setting came to mind, so I decided to try it out.

"What's your name?"

"It's Chico."

"Then, Chico. Swear to me that when you have the means later, you'll give to the poor an amount equal to the treatment fee you owe me."

"Huh? Is a vow like that really okay? I might not keep it, you know?"

Even as he spoke, Chico thought to himself that this wizard looked young and didn't understand how the world worked. He could make a verbal vow like this dozens, even hundreds of times. Of course, they might meet again by chance someday and he could be asked if he'd kept it, but the life of a mercenary meant you never knew when—or if—you'd cross paths again.

"Well, if you don't keep the vow, I suppose I just misjudged your character. What can I do?"

At the wizard's casual tone, Chico immediately made the vow.

"I swear to you, Sir Wizard, that for the rest of my life, I will help the poor by at least twice the amount of the treatment fee."

"Good. That'll do. I'm leaving this place tomorrow morning. If you come see me before I depart, I'll cast the healing spell one more time. See you tomorrow morning."

Chico bowed politely and stepped back. As he descended the stairs from the second floor of the inn, everyone was inwardly thinking that this healing wizard was a bit of a fool. That he didn't understand how the world worked.

But contrary to what the mercenaries thought, there was a reason Jinwoo was doing this.

'Seeing that classic JRPG clichés are applied in this game, there must be hidden settings or options that don't show up in the status window.'

For example, something like alignment. Good and evil. Good deeds and evil deeds. It was one of the old RPG clichés. The so-called karma cliché. If you accumulated good deeds, you might obtain a holy sword later, or get a holy mount like a pegasus. Conversely, if you went the evil route, you could obtain a demonic sword or make a contract with demons—those kinds of benefits.

If that karma cliché was in effect, then to obtain hero-grade unique items, you'd need to accumulate good or evil deeds. So he was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠performing good deeds to build up virtue. He also wondered if the charm stat among his abilities might be influenced by this karma. He needed to check whether accumulating good deeds would increase his charm.

"What is it?"

While pondering the karma cliché, I noticed Yanne beside me with sparkling eyes.

"You're amazing, Master. Thinking of the poor like that. And from now on, I'll wear clean clothes and call you Master. That way there won't be any misunderstandings like today."

Seeing Yanne gazing at me with eyes full of respect and admiration, I thought, So this is why people do good deeds.

[Knock knock knock!]

The moment the distant crow of a rooster rang out, there was a knock at the door. Yanne, who had been sleeping wrapped in a blanket and hood on the floor in front of the door, rubbed her eyes and opened it. Standing there with awkward smiles were Chico and Joy.

"Little miss, this is fresh-baked bread."

Since we'd said we were leaving today, the mercenaries had come early in the morning. At the news that the mercenaries had arrived, I got up, washed my face with the water Yanne brought, and saw the bread they'd bought. There was hard baguette, wide flat wheat bread, and scones studded with raisins. The savory aroma of freshly baked bread lifted my spirits at the thought of eating proper bread.

I split a scone in half. It had been baked with only egg yolks to give it a proper color, and the raisins were evenly distributed, showing it had been made with care. I gave half to Yanne and took a bite. The scone's characteristic dry texture mixed with the sweet-and-sour raisins instantly filled my mouth. It was the first food I'd eaten in the game that actually tasted good. Yanne's eyes widened at the harmony of raisins and the nutty flavor of the scone as she looked at me. We nodded at each other with the telepathic understanding that we'd buy some of these before leaving.

"So, has sensation returned to your arm?"

"Yes. Thanks to you, Sir Wizard, it seems almost completely healed."

Chico slowly bent his arm and moved his fingers. There was still some discomfort, but the external injury seemed fully healed. The flesh that had been turning purple and dying now matched the color of the rest of his arm. The internal tissues that had been the problem seemed to have revived. One more vitality buff should be enough for his body's own vitality to finish the job. This time I cast the vitality and healing buffs without an incantation.

"In two or three days, if there's no pain, you can start with light hand exercises and use your arm."

"Thank you, Sir Wizard. If I may ask, in case I wish to repay this favor later—which mage tower do you belong to?"

"I didn't heal you to gain a name. So just keep the vow you made to me."

"Th-Thank you, Sir Wizard."

As Chico and Joy bowed deeply and left the room, four or five patients were standing behind the mercenaries.

"Sir Wizard, I can't straighten my leg properly."

"Sir Wizar... *cough cough* Sir Wizard. Please, a healing spell... *cough cough*..."

"Now now, the wizard has just woken up. You need to give him some time. So form a line until the wizard wakes up and gets dressed. Form a line! No cutting! Get in line!"

The innkeeper stepped forward to organize the patients into a queue. A strong sense of déjà vu hit me.

'Wait, is this the "Get in line like Heo Jun" cliché!?'

Even though the 'Get in line like Heo Jun!' cliché had appeared, I couldn't treat everyone in the line. Those whose illnesses couldn't be cured with the healing buff had to be coldly turned away. I picked out those who had been sick for a long time and had Yanne give each of them two silver coins.

"It's not an illness that can be easily cured, so buy yourself something delicious and rest comfortably. The wizard says that's the best he can do."

"B-But... *sob sob*... *cough, cough*."

The patients who received the silver left in tears. Having been told by the wizard that their illness was incurable, they were grieving that their lives didn't have much time left.

For the others who seemed like they might benefit from the healing buff, I accepted whatever treatment fees they could afford and cast the spells. Then we left the inn.

"Sir Wizard. Please take this."

The innkeeper handed me a small bag made of linen cloth. It was full of those unidentifiable meat pies.

"I'd be grateful if you ate them when you get hungry. Hehehe."

It seemed he'd made a nice profit from all the people who came for treatment. Yanne accepted the meat pies, but since I didn't want to eat them, I wandered the village buying eggs and various ingredients. I also found the bakery and bought all the remaining scones.

Now that we were finally about to leave the village, people blocked our path. It was the mercenaries.