The giant man looked around his surroundings again. He had been distracted by the sight of his underlings on the ground with one of their arms missing and he failed to grasp the whole scene. He saw wooden pieces that appeared to be parts of a carriage and items that looked like goods to sell. The blood flowing out of his underlings’ bodies looked fresh and contrasted with the dried-up blood spots on the ground. Lastly, there was a large hole that looked like it had been made to cover up the corpses.
“B—boss! It’s not true! That guy is lying!” the one-eyed man shouted anxiously.
However, the giant glanced at the one-eyed man once and didn’t seem to really believe his words. Simultaneously, it didn’t seem like he fully accepted Zich’s claim either.
“Check it.” The giant man pointed towards the hole and commanded the underlings behind him. One of the underlings got off his horse and ran towards the hole. Zich and his companions didn’t stop them from doing so. The underling peered into the bottom of the hole before he jumped in. Then, he picked up one arm and lifted it high for the giant man to see.
“They are all body parts! There are no full corpses here!”
“How do you think they died?”
“They look like the corpses we’ve seen plenty of times before—like the ones that had been eaten by monsters.” It was just like what Zich claimed.
The one-eyed man quickly opened his mouth as the situation seemed to be going against him. “That’s not it, boss! We were just passing by when those guys attacked us first! That guy is lying about everything!”
Unfortunately for him, his boss thought Zich’s claim was more credible. On one side, there was one of his disruptive underlings known to have a terrible personality and never listened to him. In comparison, the other side was a group of people who tried to bury the corpses that the monsters had attacked. Yet, the giant man couldn’t be sure, and it wasn’t because he wanted to take his underling’s side. He simply thought it was dangerous to make quick judgments without clear evidence.
The giant man said while looking at Zich again, “…Okay, let’s leave the reason for the battle aside for now. I want to ask what you were trying to do to this guy when we arrived here.”
“Torture.”
“…Why?” Even if they were talking about an underling he disliked, the giant man seemed displeased to hear that the one-eyed man had undergone torture. He displayed a rage different from before. Yet, Zich remained calm.
“Do you think today is the first time this guy did something like this? Or do you think he has done this kind of thing a number of times and just didn’t get caught yet?”
“Were you trying to dig up his past crimes?”
“Yeah. I also got some good information. He told me that he did this same thing four times already.”
The giant man glared at the one-eyed man.
“He’s lying!”
“Lying, lying, lying. Is that all you can say?” Zich looked at the one-eyed man pathetically. Yet, the one-eyed man was desperate.
“Then, what else should I call a lie!”
Zich shook his head like an adult sighing to a kid throwing a tantrum. The one-eyed man was irked by Zich’s reaction. Yet, Zich didn’t care about his feelings and asked the giant man, “Is there a mountain near the city? Like a place with a cave where they could drag people into and kill them secretly?”
“There is one place that I can think of.”
“You should try searching that place. He told me that he dragged their victims into a mountain cave beside the city.”
“Boss, don’t tell me you are really believing this guy’s story! I’m sure this guy is the one who used that place for murder! He’s trying to frame me for his actions!”
“…For now, I will have to take you all to the city, and we will officially start investigating from there,” the giant man said firmly. Surprisingly, Zich didn’t seem to resist the idea.
“Fine, since we were on our way to Pialu anyways. But will that be alright with you guys? Didn’t you all get a mission to get rid of the monsters? I don’t think the city’s administrators would like it if you abandoned your mission for this matter.”
The giant man didn’t reply, but seeing how the edge of his nose twitched, Zich’s words had hit the mark.
“It can’t be helped. Even if that’s the case, we can’t continue to survey the area in this situation,” the giant man finally answered and gestured to his underlings. The mercenaries moved; some of them ran towards the city as if they were going to ask for more reinforcements. The rest of the mercenaries were divided into groups, one supported their fallen companions, and the other gathered the horses clustered in one area. The rest surrounded Zich and his group in case they ran away. Zich didn’t concern himself with their behavior and didn’t say anything; as a result, the rest of his companions also stayed quiet.
When the situation settled down to some degree, the giant man shouted, “We are returning back!”
Like that, Zich and his companions headed on their awkward joint journey with the group of mercenaries to Pialu.
* * *
People’s first impression of Pialu usually went along the lines of ‘simple and rough’. Although it was called a trading post, it lacked both goods and people. Some people even exaggerated that the city had nothing. The city was bustling with vitality and energy when Zich and his companions arrived. However, it gave off a completely different atmosphere compared to other trading posts: nervousness. Every place held potential danger whether it be beasts, bandits, monsters, or so on; even the weather could obstruct people’s livelihood. Yet, the danger that existed in Pialu was one level higher because one could only reach the city after passing through the Denest Mountain Range. Its terrain was rough while its weather was capricious, and it had monsters far more dangerous than other areas.
Thus, it was reasonable for the level of tension to be higher than other cities. However, the nervousness flowing across Pialu seemed too excessive even while considering these factors. Rather than a trading post set up by merchants, the city seemed more like a fort set up for the army as a key location. Zich thought of the possibility that Pialu could be fulfilling another role besides acting as a trading post; it could be acting as the first line of defense against monster invasions from the Denest Mountain Range.
Zich and his companions went inside Pialu. It seemed as if the mercenaries they sent before had already explained the situation to the higher-ups since someone who looked to be of high status stood in front to greet them. In order to investigate the current situation, the higher-ups in the city had sent an investigator. Judging by the investigator’s sour expression, it seemed as if everyone related to the incident would be investigated for a while. However, the atmosphere completely changed when Zich took out an item—the Karuwiman Honorary Knight emblem.
As soon as he saw this, the investigator changed his attitude although he had treated Zich and his companions like a nuisance. His attitude completely flipped, and he became very polite towards them.
The giant man was also extremely surprised, but at the same time, he let out a sigh. If their opponent was a Karuwiman Honorary Knight, it was game over for them. He looked at his one-eyed underling. He saw that his underling’s one eye was trembling in terror.
‘He won’t live.’
As a Karuwiman Honorary Knight, his opponent was completely trustworthy. Moreover, he probably didn’t lie in his explanation, and his underling probably used the small authority he received from the city to kidnap merchants and take their possessions after killing them. There was no way the city would let a person like this get away. The one-eyed man wouldn’t be able to escape execution.
‘That’s why I told him many times to live a proper life!’
The life of a mercenary was very rough. It couldn’t help but be rough. All kinds of troubles and provocations followed the life of a mercenary. However, his underling’s actions went far beyond what was normal. Typically, the one-eyed man had ignored his orders as often as eating a meal, and in the end, he caused an incident like this.
The one-eyed man looked at the giant man as if to ask for help; he had also realized the gravity of his situation. However, the giant man did not even meet his eyes.
‘He’s only getting what he deserves.’
Even without this happening, the giant man had been pondering about kicking out this punk and all the people who followed him. He just had to change his mindset and think positively that one of his problems was solved through the help of outsiders.
‘The problem is that we also need to take responsibility…’
Since the one-eyed man and his followers were under his mercenary group, he wouldn’t be able to avoid complete responsibility for the one-eyed man’s actions. The giant man chastised himself for not kicking out the one-eyed man earlier.
‘Guess it can’t be helped. There’s no other way than to do my best to fix the situation.’
Even then, he probably wouldn’t receive harsh treatment since Pialu needed as many people as possible right now. If he utilized this part, he could lessen the responsibility he needed to take over his underling’s actions.
‘But this dude still won’t be safe.’
The reason why this city needed mercenaries was to protect the people inside the city. Thus, even if they were lacking human resources, the city wouldn’t let a person harming the city slide. The giant man continued to roll his head around to figure out a way to control and manage the situation, and among his thoughts, not a single thought was about saving the one-eyed man.
* * *
After flipping the situation completely using Zich’s status as a Karuwiman Honorary Knight, Zich and his companions grabbed a room that was quite luxurious in Pialu. Then, they immediately began investigating the current state of the city. Anyone could see that something unusual was happening.
Night arrived. Zich and his companions were gathered together in Zich’s room; it was to exchange the information they gathered during the day while also eating dinner. Various conversations passed between them, and all the companions shared even the smallest detail they found out while investigating the city.
“It’s as we expected,” Zich said as he scooped a spoonful of soup.
As they expected from the corpses sprawled on the paths and the monster ambushes they experienced while walking to Pialu, monsters from the Denest Mountain Range were attacking the city
“Did anyone find out the reason?”
No one replied.
“No one did.”
“You also don’t know?” Lyla asked and continued, “You asked the Karuwiman priests here. High-level priests are connected to the higher-ups in the city, so they should know much more than the average person.”
“It seems like they don’t know either. They told me that the monsters suddenly began ambushing them randomly. I also tried to extract information from the higher-ups in the city, but it seems like they don’t know either.”
“What a disappointment.”
“But it’s not like I don’t have anything in mind.”
Everyone’s gaze fell on Zich.
“I looked into when the monsters began attacking the city, and coincidentally, it’s around the time when we freed the Tree of Earth.”
“…Perhaps, do you think this situation is related to the tree?”
Zich nodded. “In the first place, the reason why we came all the way here is that we thought that this guy would lead us to another tree.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Of course, I can’t be certain. This incident might have coincidentally occurred around the same time, and it might be because of a completely different reason. However, it’s enough of a reason to check it out.”
“Then, are we going to immediately go inside the mountain range?”
“Yeah, we should.” Zich took out Windur. Even before Zich gave his command, Windur curved its blade and pointed in one direction. “This guy is still pointing towards the Denest Mountain Range as well.”
“Then we should prepare well before we go in. Since the bottom of the mountain is in this state, the situation might be much more serious at the top.”
“Or it might be more peaceful.”
“I really hope that’s true.”
After this, they talked for a little longer and finished their meal. Then the companions headed to their own individual rooms. However, Lyla stayed behind in Zich’s room. It was to talk about a topic that they couldn’t discuss when the other three were present.
“You remember the leader of the mercenary group we saw, right?” As soon as the two of them were alone, Zich immediately brought up a topic on his mind.
“Of course, I remember. Why would I forget when it hasn’t even been that long?” Unlike most mercenaries, the leader was quiet and someone they could talk to. Moreover, his size was extremely big. However, that was the extent of her thoughts; there was no reason for Lyla to be more interested in him.
However, the next words that Zich said immediately sparked Lyla’s interest in him.
“That guy… I think he’s one of Zich Brave’s companions that I saw in my dreams.”