‘A friend.’
Everyone including Max and the other mercenaries was surprised and craned their ears at the sudden appearance of an elf. It was unbelievable that Zich was friends with an elf whom most would never see in their lifetimes.
‘A friend with another species? Doesn’t that only exist in novels?’ Yet, the elf smiling in front of him was not his imagination.
“Lady Leona!” someone then yelled. All the mercenaries turned to the voice and saw a group of robed figures rushing toward them.
“We told you not to go by yourself…ah, how can you take down your robe!” The person who was probably the group leader yelled from the front. Anyone could see how much he was struggling and garnered some pity from around him. Yet, the apparent cause of his troubles, Leona responded with a bright, cheery voice.
“It’s okay! These people said they are Zich’s friends.”
“With Sir Zich?” The leader stopped midway from scolding Leona and turned to the mercenaries upon hearing Zich’s name. Soon, he resumed his yelling. “Still, you can’t just take off your robe! It will be bothersome for us if humans learn of our identity!”
“Our destination is right in front of us anyway. Are we going to have our robes over us even when we are declaring that we came to help Count Steelwall?”
“We won’t, but you should keep it on until then!”
The two bickered and Til quietly observed them. Then, he noticed another group of similarly dressed figures waiting quietly on the side. They all wore robes and wielded bows and arrows.
‘Are those guys also all elves?’ To think such a rarely seen species would be gathered in a large group like this.
‘Did they come here to help Count Steelwall too?’ The Wolf’s Canine was planning to work under Count Steelwall after receiving a letter from Zich, and thus, Til thought the elves must have also come after receiving a letter.
Til slowly moved his horse and moved to Max’s side and asked, “Did you all also come here to participate in this war with Count Steelwall?”
Leona stopped her bickering with the leader and answered, “That’s right. Zich asked us for help if we could. Since we have some debts to repay, we came to help. We, the Lake Tribe, aren’t the type to forget a favor. Did you guys also come to help Count Steelwall?”
“To be more exact, we were employed under him since we are mercenaries. However, we also came back to repay the debt we owe to Mr. Zich.”
“As I thought!” Leona clutched the leader’s sleeves tightly and shouted, “See! See! They came here for the same reason!”
“I get it, so don’t get so excited,” the leader said in an exasperated tone and looked toward Til. “Um, Mr. Mercenary? Let’s get moving for now. We can’t stand in the middle of the road with the rain pouring like this.”
“I agree.”
Like that, the mercenaries and the elves began moving again with some distance between them. Amazed by the rare sight of elves, the mercenaries kept glancing at them, but the elves didn’t appear much interested in the humans and walked while only facing forward.
However, Leona was different. From time to time, she approached the mercenary group and asked them questions. Max did most of the answering. Although it wasn’t for two people who came from such different worlds to continue an ongoing conversation, the two managed to do so. The best thing for two strangers to talk about during their first meeting was to find a common ground, and they talked about the topic they both knew well: Zich.
Even though the two had clearly expressed their intention in coming here to help Zich, they had wondered if they were talking about the same person. As they talked more, they became more certain that the Zich they were talking about was the same person. They were sure that there couldn’t be another Zich with such memorable and unique traits.
Since they met each other when they were close enough to the city to see its walls, they arrived in no time. Unbelievably, only a few people were waiting at the city walls’ entrance. Although there was a heavy downpour going on, rumors surrounding the Steelwall family and the incoming war deterred people away.
However, there was still a waiting line and the two groups waited behind it. As soon as the two groups stood in line, they attracted attention from all around them. The completely armored group of mercenaries and heavily robed figures were all eye-catching, but as expected, people’s attention was drawn toward Leona.
“Isn’t that person an elf?”
“An elf? What?”
Many looked at her in curiosity, but Leona didn’t pay any attention to it. She was already well aware of how humans would see her from her last travel. Not long after the two got in line, guards quickly ran toward them. They were surprised to see an elf, but they immediately calmed themselves down and approached the Wolf’s Canine first.
“Are you all mercenaries?” The guards looked nervous about seeing a group of fighters when they had a war to prepare for. Although they brought a couple of other guards with them, their numbers couldn’t compare to the Wolf’s Canine. However, at the same time, they were also filled with hope and expectations. They knew the Count was trying to employ mercenaries even though things weren’t going well.
Til hopped off his horse and stood in front of the guards.
“Yes, we are. We are a mercenary group called the Wolf’s Canine.”
“What is your purpose for visiting Violsa?”
“I heard that Count Steelwall is looking for mercenaries for the upcoming war.”
“Are you all going to participate in the war?”
“Yes.”
The guards’ expressions brightened up. These mercenaries looked skilled at first glance and were a valuable surprise while the Count was struggling to recruit mercenaries.
“We welcome all of you. I will report to the officers right away!” The guard informed his companion in charge of reporting, and his companion was about to run back into the city when Til took out a tightly rolled-up dried leather scroll.
“Ah, wait.” Inside, there was the letter Zich had sent him. Til had carefully covered it to shield it from the heavy downpour.
“Could you send this to Count Steelwall?”
“What is that?” The guard asked while taking the leather scroll.
“There’s a letter inside. The person who called us here said we just needed to give this letter to the Count.”
“The one who called you here? Who’s that?”
“Mr. Zich. I heard he is the Count’s son.”
The guard who had been eyeing the leather scroll suspiciously looked surprised.
“It’s a letter from Young Master Zich?”
‘So, it’s real!’ Max exclaimed inside his mind after hearing this confirmation that Zich was truly a Count’s son. He hadn’t really been doubting the fact, but when the guard called Zich, ‘young master,’ the truth really dawned on him.
‘Yes, it is from him.’
‘I see. I will report that too.’ The guard carefully handed the leather scroll to his companion.
“Wait!” Leona pulled out a letter tightly bound with tree leaves.
“I also have that too! Give this to that… Count person!” Leona handed the letter to the guard. The guard was taken aback by the abrupt situation.
“Could I… ask what this is?” the guard asked. Even though he had been a guard for a long time, he had never seen another species before and didn’t know how to react.
“It’s a letter. You can give that to the Count fellow.”
“I apologize, but I can’t give the Count any letter…” The way that Leona was addressing the Count was extremely rude. If she hadn’t been an elf, the guards might have dragged her away because of her rudeness, but the guard thought he couldn’t respond to another species with human standards. He thought the elf must have handed him her letter seeing Til hand his letter over to him. Thus, he planned to quietly refuse her when Til’s additional explanation stopped him.
“That letter is probably also from Mr. Zich.”
“…This letter is also from the young master? What do you mean by that?”
“I talked to them on our way here, and it seems like they came here because of Mr. Zich’s request.”
“Sorry?” The guard looked at Leona in shock. The leader of the elves stood next to Leona. His head was lowered as if he was having a headache from Leona’s unpredictable actions. Sighs could even be heard between the raindrops. However, to fulfill his mission, he soon said in a serious voice to the guard, “It is as he says. That letter is from Sir Zich, and although the exact details will be inside it, I will explain it simply.” The leader took off his robe, and the rest of the group took off their robes too. The guards were shocked. They hadn’t imagined the robed figures standing behind Leona to be all elves.
Indifferent to the guards’ reactions, the leader continued, “Please relay to the Count that elves from the Great Adrowon Forest have come in hopes of participating in this war to repay the debt they owe to Sir Zich.”
“…What?” Even the guard thought his response was stupid, but he couldn’t help it. Elves were participating in this war? For the young master on top of that? As if boulders had tumbled down to block them from thinking, the guards’ mouths fell wide open and they didn’t realize raindrops were falling into them.
“Huh? Why are they acting like that? Was there something wrong with the communication?” Leona flicked her hand in front of the frozen guards.
The guards finally came to their senses, but it was only their minds that came back to normal and they still failed to grasp full control over their bodies.
“Ugh…so…um, elves are participating in this war?”
“Yeah! We owe a lot to Zich. Granting a request like this is nothing.”
An army of elves? The elves’ expertise in archery and magic was well known among the humans. Even the guards who knew very little about elves could easily tell how formidable the force in front of them was.
“C-Contact the Count right away…!” The guard hurriedly told his companion to relay the message, but he was stopped again.
“Hey, the guard over there. Could you also give my letter to the Count?” Before anyone noticed, another group had approached them. The guard turned around instinctively in this state of confusion and daze. His head felt like it was about to explode.
An old man came into view. He was a normal old man holding a cane, but the guard noticed that his cane looked unusual and special. However, what really caught the guard’s eye wasn’t the cane or the group of people behind the old man. It was the leather scroll the old man was stretching out to him. He didn’t even hear what it was inside yet, but after receiving two similar objects, the guard naturally thought the contents inside it would be the same as before.