Chapter 26: 4. The End of Obsession (1)

[26] 4. The End of Obsession (1)

[Mission Report No. 275]

Author: Rem

Client: Hero Amy and 3 others (Hero party)

Objective: Transport designated cargo from Essier to Axolotl

Participants: 35 members of the Rose Rem Mercenary Group (excluding 8 who were on personal missions) and 7 new recruits from the area, a total of 42 members

Success: Success, reward received on 10/28, didn’t get ripped off.

Details:

A strange mission in many ways.

We were attacked by necromancers as soon as we set out. They even seemed to know our transportation plans and had set up a perimeter to surround us.

From this, it was determined that there was a spy within our ranks.

To create confusion, the group was divided into smaller squads, each taking a different route to Axolotl (the Captain left to take care of matters unrelated to the mission).

However, as soon as we split up, the necromancers stopped pursuing us. They seemed to have given up completely, we couldn’t even find traces of them.

All mercenary members arrived in Axolotl without any casualties. We learned that the recipient of the cargo had died, but a new recipient arrived three days later.

The request was concluded when client Parsley handed over the cargo.

…

…But it couldn’t end like this.

Before the mission was even over, Clara suddenly announced that she was leaving the hero party and returned to the Vatican.

The other members, as soon as the cargo was handed over, hastily left for the east. Their destination is unknown. I tried to find out, but I couldn’t contact any of them.

Every attempt I made to visit them was blocked by Irene.

Their excuse was that they were busy with a new mission.

In the end, I couldn’t even see their faces before leaving Axolotl.

And the spy’s identity, as well as the reason why the necromancers had suddenly stopped pursuing us, are still unknown.

This can’t just be swept under the rug.

As soon as the Captain returns, we need to thoroughly investigate this mission.

I need to meet with them again, to talk properly…

***

I stopped writing, a white shape appearing in the corner of my vision.

I looked up and out the window.

Gray sky, white dots fluttering down, settling on the roofs and streets.

I opened the window and extended my hand towards the falling dots. A snowflake landed on my palm.

My hand, made of bronze, couldn’t feel the cold, but it still diligently melted the snowflake with its borrowed warmth.

It was the first snow of the year.

I unconsciously grimaced. It wasn’t because the price of firewood had tripled and alcohol had doubled.

It was simply because I realized how much time had passed.

I sighed and looked up at the sky.

The sky that had been so high and blue when I had left with the hero party was now a sullen grey, pressing down on the rooftops.

It had already been three months since the mission ended.

But I haven’t been able to meet any of the hero party members.

“…Fuck.”

***

I frowned, turning to Clevens, who was sitting in front of the fireplace.

“You’re saying that there was no spy in the first place?”

Clevens nodded, taking a sip from his bottle of alcohol.

“I’ve been racking my brain for the past three months, but no matter how I think about it, there’s no way the spy could have passed information to the necromancers.”

“…No way?”

Clevens spoke, his eyes fixed on the flickering flames.

“If they used magic to pass information, there’s no way *you* would have missed it. If they used black magic, there’s no way *I* would have missed it. And if they used some other miscellaneous method, that long-eared bastard would have noticed.”

Clevens’ chubby thumb pointed to a ball of fur curled up in the corner. A long ear peeked out from the fur, the ball of fur trembled and said,

“…My name is Shafiq de Fasitao Rodiner si Olaminea kun Dinar…”

“Yeah, yeah, Sha-whatever-the-fuck, you didn’t see anything, right?”

The ball of fur split open, revealing a pale face. He grimaced and nodded.

“That’s right, my ears and eyes didn’t detect anything suspicious. I swear on our Mother World Tree.”

And then he buried himself back into the fur.

I gave the elf, who was ridiculously sensitive to cold, a pathetic look before turning back to Clevens.

“So you’re saying there’s no spy because there’s no way they could’ve passed on information? Then how did those bastards know where we were and set up a perimeter?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they invented some new clairvoyance black magic or something.”

I frowned.

“Anyone could say tha…”

“Dude, it’s been 13 years since I resigned as Inquisitor.”

Clevens finally turned to look at me, his eyes red. From alcohol, or from the fire, I couldn’t tell.

“I’m not the expert on cultist I used to be, who was able to know everything at a glance. And I’m not as strong as I used to be either.”

Clevens patted his round belly, I grimaced and said,

“Still, you must know more than me.”

“Right, and that’s why I gave you my opinion. Unless they had some special means of communication, it’s more likely that there was no spy in the first place.”

Then, he took a long gulp from his bottle and gave me a sidelong glance.

“And besides, why are you so obsessed with it? The mission is over, you got paid.”

I couldn’t say anything.

Because Clevens was right.

I’m a mercenary.

It didn’t matter how the mission ended. All that mattered was that I got paid.

But I’ve been racking my brains over this for the past three months, despite having received three times the original reward.

No, I’ve been doing more than just racking my brains. I’ve been trying to turn this into a problem that’s not just my own suspicion, but everyone’s.

Why?

…

No, I already knew the reason.

Because this was the only way I could see the hero party again.

They had disappeared after the mission, going somewhere out of my reach.

Clara had gone back to the Vatican, a place where I could never set foot, and I didn’t even know where the other two were.

To meet them again, I needed to turn this uneasiness into a concrete problem.

To persuade the client, the high-ranking official, to summon the hero party.

So I could meet them again, so I could clear up this misunderstanding.

Especially with Clara.

[Please use this body… to your heart’s content.]

I grimaced, remembering that morning when I had woken up alone in bed.

“Besides, don’t you have more pressing matters right now?”

Clevens suddenly pointed to a spot with his thumb. Following his thumb, my eyes landed on that spot, and I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“Haah…”

The area that used to be the inn’s counter, which I had converted for office work…

…Was now piled high with documents.

This was thanks to the fact that the Captain had left for a war zone in the west as soon as the mission in Axolotl was over.

…I’m sure I took care of all this yesterday before going to bed. Just how did it pile up so quickly?

“…Okay.”

Feeling a surge of retirement plans welling up within me, I walked towards the desk.

Picking up a document, I thought.

But digging up an issue that’s already been resolved wasn’t exactly something that people would be interested in.

I tried writing up reports and submitting them to the relevant department, I tried rallying the men to launch an independent investigation.

But perhaps because we got paid so much…

The men were unmotivated, and to make matters worse, the Captain, the only one who would listen to me, was gone.

I still hadn’t received an answer regarding the reports I submitted.

…I felt like they were drifting further away from me.

Right, drifting away… That much I’m fine with.

They were people I hadn’t expected to meet again anyway.

But the guilt they were showing me felt almost morbid. And from what I remember, even the basis was flimsy.

I needed to ask them about that. And if it was just a misunderstanding, then I needed to clear it up.

Because I couldn’t leave the few precious people I’d met in my life like that.

But just how the hell was I…

*BAM-*

The inn door swung open roughly, and a familiar face came into view.

“Feya? I told you not to open the door so hard…”

No, it was more like ‘faces’.

A woman with blue hair and a strangely familiar air.

“Ms. Irene…?”

I stared at the hero party’s porter, who was being carried on Feya’s back. And then I looked at Feya.

Whether from the cold or embarrassment, her face was flushed as she said, scratching her cheek,

“Well… she was sleeping on the streets in the middle of winter… I thought she was going to freeze to death…”

I looked back at Irene. Her unconscious face was pale, and her lips were tinged with purple.

But instead of seeing a dying woman, I saw a path.

A path that I thought had been cut off, a path that had me feeling lost.

Feeling something sparkle inside me, I shouted,

“Pointy Ears! Bring some warm water and soup! Clevens, prepare emergency treatment right away! Feya, you follow me with Ms. Irene on your back!”

Time, which had been frozen for three months, started moving again.

***

Waking Irene up wasn’t difficult.

Her complexion returned after Clevens cast a healing spell and we prepared a warm bed for her.

The next morning, I heard from Big-nosed guy that she had woken up.

And now, having rushed to the room where Irene was staying as soon as I heard the news.

I was taking a deep breath, carefully picking my words.

First of all, asking her directly where the hero’s party was, or asking to meet them, was a bad idea.

I needed to soothe her and gain her favor first.

A woman who treated a precious return stone like it was nothing, nearly froze to death on the streets.

It was too big of a gap. Something big must have happened.

And unbearable hardship can break a person’s spirit.

So let’s ask her about the hero party or anything else after she regains her composure.

Suppressing my impatience, I threw open the door.

“…!”

And I realized that my worries were completely pointless.

My eyes met Irene’s, who was tilting back a bottle of alcohol. We both had the same look of shock in our eyes, though they were different colors.

But while one stiffened, the other began to well up with tears and sadness

After downing a whole bottle of alcohol in one gulp, Irene looked at me, who was still frozen in place, with her tear-filled eyes.

“M-Mr. Reem…! I, I got kicked out of the Hero Partyyy…!”

…Her words were laced with alcohol. No, more like they were drenched in it.