Max made a bright smile, fitting of a child rather than a scary-looking man like him. Til twitched, but he couldn’t do such a cruel thing like telling Max to stop smiling because it brought him chills.
“That’s true.” Zich was a memorable figure, and he had been with them during their worst times. To Wolf’s Canine mercenary group, who lived by their skills alone, Zich’s sheer strength and skills also left a deep impression in their minds. Furthermore, Til and Max also had personal relationships with Zich. Max stayed as a close friend to Zich during their cooperation, and Til was greatly indebted to Zich.
“To think that guy was really a noble.” Max shook his head. “No matter how much I think about it, that guy is the complete opposite of those dainty, high sirs. He fits in with mercenaries like us that roll in the mud much better and not those trustworthy and famed mercenary groups.”
“Is it okay for you to speak of him in that way if he has a noble background?”
“Hmph! He’s not the type to get angry about stuff like this. I’m sure he would agree with me if he heard me instead.”
Til thought Max’s words were believable and didn’t say more.
“Will you be all right?”
“What do you mean?”
“For me, I would be glad to drink with Zich and go fighting, but is it all right for you to make a contract with Count Steelwall?”
Unlike Max who followed whatever order that was given to him, Til was the captain of the Wolf’s Canine. It was only natural that Til would have a lot more to think about.
“I’m sure you heard a lot of rumors about the Count while coming here. Honestly, they didn’t sound good.” It wasn’t just ‘not good.’ Rumors that Count Steelwall was part of the Bellids had already spread across the city and obviously reached the mercenaries’ ears. Even if they were different from other mercenary groups, many were interested in superstitions and an employer connected to the Bellids was possibly the worst kind. The fact that nobody in the group had run away so far only spoke of the great trust the group had in Til.
‘Well, I’m sure kicking out all the scoundrel-like guys in the group after that incident played a factor too,’ Til thought. It was still no reason to underestimate the influence Til had over his men.
“Mr. Zich clearly said that wasn’t the case in his letter. Isn’t he a Karuwiman Honorary Knight?”
“He said he was, although it’s hard to believe.” Max, who had imagined a holy knight to wear a shining sword, shield, and armor while praying to God, could only be doubtful when hearing that Zich was a Karuwiman knight—even when there was the term “Honorary” attached to the title. In regards to this, Til also had the same thought as Max.
“Still, it’s true that Mr. Zich is an Honorary Knight. Although his speech and behavior are rough, he doesn’t go against the name of a holy knight.”
“That’s true.” Max nodded. The way Zich had fought against the rushing army of monsters with his sword had been the perfect picture of a holy knight. However, even if Count Steelwall wasn’t a Bellid follower, it wasn’t like there was no other problem.
“By the way things are going around, the Steelwall family is also lacking in forces,” Max added. Although mercenaries traveled according to where money moved, in the end, they valued their lives the most. Following a weak force only placed their lives in greater danger, even if the reward increased accordingly.
“We can fill in the weak spots.”
“Well, that’s true.”
They might sound overconfident to an outsider, but the Wolf’s Canine had the skills to support their claims. Captain Til’s skills were on another level. Of course, even a strong group like the Wolf’s Canine wouldn’t be able to talk about filling in ‘weak spots’ if they were participating in a mass-scale war between nations, but the way things were progressing, it seemed like this war would only involve an alliance of several estates. In such a case, the Wolf’s Canine would be a significant force.
“Furthermore, they have Mr. Zich. Do you think they will lose easily then?”
“Not at all,” Max answered with no hesitation, recalling Zich’s power.
‘Especially the power he showed in the latter half of the monster invasion…’ Max thought and gulped. He heard that it was a power that Zich was able to use only momentarily through a special method, but that power had been truly overwhelming.
“Mr. Zich doesn’t only have strength like us brutes—he is also smart. I’m sure he has some kind of plan.” As someone who led a mercenary group, Til wasn’t stupid either, but he was definitely lacking compared to Zich. Til genuinely thought this, but it appeared that Max wanted to refute it.
“I’m not sure about me, but Captain, is your head okay…”
“Stop saying nonsense and look in front of you. We are almost there.” Til ignored his subordinate, whose brain seemed to also be tightly filled with muscles like his body. Max grumbled, but he seemed to have thought he went too far and he soon clasped his mouth shut again. After making his subordinate shut up, Til looked in front of him indifferently. From afar, he saw a castle wall.
“A castle wall!”
“We are at Violsa!”
“Yes! We can escape this damn rain!”
“Alcohol! Alcohol! Beer or whatever we can get, I’m going to pour them in my mouth!”
“I’m going to sleep on a bed right away!”
Although they hadn’t said anything until now, their march had been strenuous and hard, and they cried out as soon as they saw Violsa’s castle walls. The commotion they made even reached the carriage they were surrounding.
“Hmm, have we arrived yet?” Til’s son, Walter, opened the carriage window and rubbed his eyes.
Max gently replied, “Yeah, we’re almost there.” Then, he glared at the mercenaries who’d caused a scene and woke Walter up. The mercenaries tightly shut their mouths at the Vice-captain’s menacing eyes and pretended to be busy.
“What is Ellie doing?”
Walter scanned the carriage for a bit at Til’s question and replied, “She’s still sleeping.”
Til said, “Yeah. You should also get more sleep. Once we arrive, I’ll wake you up.”
“Okay.” Walter closed the window and went back inside.
Max asked, “What do you plan to do with the children? Will you be leaving them in a lodging again?”
“No. Zich said that he’ll make arrangements for them to stay in the Count’s mansion.”
Max looked at Til with surprise. “The Count’s mansion? Did I hear that right? Count Steelwall’s mansion?”
“Yeah.”
“…Now he’s really starting to sound like a real noble.” Max had no idea that Zich would make arrangements for the children to stay at a noble’s mansion.
“Well, since that’s been settled, we don’t have to worry about the children this time…” Til stopped mid-sentence and looked to his side. Max also did the same, and the other mercenaries began looking in the same direction.
There was another path next to the one they were walking on. The path next to them began at a different starting point than theirs, but merged with their paths if they went a little further. There was one person walking on the path next to them. Since rain was pouring down, the person was covered head to toe in a robe.
Even though the mercenaries also had on a similar outfit, the person still looked suspicious. They were clearly heading toward the mercenaries’ direction. The mercenaries slightly moved their hands towards their weapons. Even though they didn’t immediately let out a threatening aura since they were still not sure of the person’s identity, they planned to immediately take out their weapons if the person showed any suspicious behavior.
Til carefully scanned the person coming towards them. Despite his immense talent, Til didn’t have the ability to see through and scan past a robe, so he didn’t know the person’s identity. However, judging by the glimpses he saw of the person’s figure as the person moved towards them, Til was sure that the individual was a woman. The only weapon she had on her shoulder was a single bow, but there was also the possibility that she was hiding something underneath her robe.
Til said, “Doesn’t it seem like she’s heading towards us?”
Max replied, “Yeah, doesn’t it seem like it?”
“I wonder why?”
“I don’t know, but it’s at least not because she fell in love at first sight, considering our group’s faces.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” Til immediately agreed with Max’s statement.
She looked at the Wolf’s Canine from a short distance, and the Wolf’s Canine mercenaries had also stopped moving.
“Miss, do you have business with us?” Max stepped forward and asked the robed woman. As he talked, the scar on his face twitched, and his face was scary enough to cause the faint of heart to pass out.
However, she didn’t seem fazed in the least, and the mercenaries increased their caution one level higher. Max’s face was one of the standards that the mercenaries used to judge the strength of their opponents—even though Max seriously hated this fact.
“You guys just mentioned Zich, right?” As expected, the individual inside the robe had a female voice. However, they hadn’t expected her to mention Zich at all.
“Um, yes, that’s true.” Max judged that there was no need for him to hide this fact so he agreed, but he became even more cautious of the person in front of him. When they were conversing, he was certain that there hadn’t been anyone close enough to hear their conversation. Even if he considered that their voices might have been carried over by the wind, this was impossible considering the pouring rain. Of course, she could have eavesdropped on them by using mana, but this meant that she targeted them specifically to eavesdrop on them.
“You’ve eavesdropped on us. How extremely distasteful.” There was now a slightly higher possibility that the person in front of them had approached them with hostile intentions. Max’s face stiffened, and his scary face became even more frightening. However, his threatening face did not faze her in the slightest.
“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, but I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop on your conversation. I just heard it.”
“You just heard it? But we didn’t shout at the top of our lungs. It’s not like you were close enough for us to have heard our conversation. Yet, you’re saying that you happened to hear it while walking here? Are you seriously expecting us to believe that?”
The robed individual let out a deep sigh. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter since I’m already here.” She muttered this and removed her robe. The long hair she had hidden under her robe scattered in the air and fluttered down.
The Wolf’s Canine’s mercenaries were extremely shocked. The first reason was because the individual who had appeared inside the robe was extremely beautiful. The second reason was because of the long ears poking out of her hair on both sides of her face.
“…Elf?” A mercenary muttered to himself.
“You see this, right? I don’t know about humans, but we can easily hear voices from that far of a distance.”
“Ah, yes…” Max dumbly nodded. He was startled to see an elf for the first time.
On the other hand, it seemed as if she was used to this reaction as she nonchalantly continued, “So, you guys know Zich, right?”
“Yes? Ah, yes. We know someone who goes by the name of Zich.” Max was so startled to see an elf that he unconsciously replied to her every question.
“Is he the same Zich who’s from Steelwall?”
“Yes, you’re correct. Perhaps, does Lady Elf also happen to know that punk?”
“Of course. He’s my friend.” The Lady Elf, Leona Pearl in Droud, replied with a bright smile.