Chapter 5: The Worst Reunion (5)

[5] 1. The Worst Reunion (5)

Now that we had gotten our hands on the money, we decided to stay in the city for a while to regroup.

The high-ranking official had asked for a quick delivery, but our men’s lives were more important than his request.

Plus, for some reason, he even hid the fact that there were people after the cargo, so we had plenty of justification as well.

“So, where are we going?”

Feya, who was walking next to me, asked amidst the bustling streets, heated by the afternoon sun. I shrugged and answered,

“Places, here and there.”

Phoenix, though not a very large city, had everything we needed.

Above all, there was a church that would kill to have cultists, including necromancers, be eradicated.

If we told them that we’d crack down on some necromancers and gave them a little incentive, we’d be able to get our hands on some pretty good stuff.

Of course, neither Feya nor I could enter the church, so we’d have to ask the Captain, but still…

“What do you mean by ‘places’?”

“What else could it be? We’re going to scout out some potential recruits and buy some stuff that we can use to bash in the skulls of those necromancers.”

Glancing at Feya, I asked irritably,

“You never complained when we did this before. What’s with you all of a sudden? I’m even buying you lunch.”

“Well, it’s just that…”

I followed her gaze and… I understood her whining a little bit.

There, walking next to me, deep in thought, was Amy, the hero, wearing casual clothes and a sword at her waist.

‘The client is always right’, and accompanying the client is usually uncomfortable. Especially when the client is someone who seems horribly stern.

She used to be quite talkative and cheerful when we were younger…

Shaking off my thoughts, I asked her,

“Have you found what you’re looking for yet? We’re about to leave the shopping district and enter the residential area…”

That’s right, Amy had suddenly asked Feya and me to accompany her. Saying she had something to buy.

“…Ah, yes, you’re right. It’s fine, you don’t need to worry about it. I’ll let you know when I find it.”

“Ah, okay…”

Looking at her, it’s obvious that’s a lie.

Feya leaned closer and whispered to me,

“Is she really here to buy something? What’s she up to?”

“How should I know?”

I retorted softly, but I had a good idea of what was going on.

My lie that I lost my childhood memories…

It was clear that it had some effect on Amy.

I could feel it in the way she looked at me.

It wasn’t a dramatic change like Clara’s, but at least there was no longer disgust in her eyes.

It’s now just, a mixture of complex emotions and bitterness that was hard to decipher.

As such, I found myself getting more and more confused.

Just what the hell is so important about my childhood memories?

I shook my head, pushing away the nagging thoughts.

Work comes first.

As I was looking around the streets, thinking that, I suddenly stopped.

“Hey, wait a minute.”

In front of a shop that wasn’t open yet, a scruffy-looking man was smoking a cigarette in front of a stall.

As if possessed, I led Feya to the stall. And I couldn’t help but let out a gasp of admiration.

Strange, oddly shaped objects were displayed on the old stall.

At first glance, they looked like cheap talismans. But I, who could read magic circles, immediately recognized them as treasures.

Admiring the horn-like object that looked like a haphazardly grown horn.

“Damn, that’s a well-crafted magic circle…”

“You’ve got a good eye.”

The man who had been smoking spat on the ground and smirked. I pulled out my personal funds and asked,

“How much is it?”

“…Buying more useless junk, are we?”

“Shut up, can’t a man enjoy their hobbies?”

With this, I’ll be able to shoot lasers out of my eyes.

I retorted to Feya and looked at the dirty man. He thought about it for a moment and then held up five fingers.

“Bullshit.”

Without realizing it, a curse escaped my lips.

“The magic circle is well-made, but they’re all built using cheap materials.”

“If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. I’m not selling for less.”

Damn it, this is the problem with people who sell magic tools.

Even though they were kicked out of the mage tower and are now selling things on the streets, their attitudes are still incredibly arrogant.

The fact that they were kicked out of the mage tower in the first place means that there was something wrong with either their personality or their skills.

But I couldn’t just not buy it.

I glared at the man and opened my pouch to check my funds.

…Maybe I should have just taken that bonus.

No choice, looks like I’ll have to tighten my belt this month. (TL Note: idiom for ‘to spend less money than you did before because you have less money’)

I swallowed back my tears and took out some silver coins from my pouch.

*Thump-*

“I’ll take it.”

A pouch full of coins landed on the stall with a heavy thud.

Startled, I looked up to see Amy, who had approached without me noticing. She spoke with a straight face, uttering even more shocking words.

“All of it.”

At that moment, the confident look on the man’s face turned into that of a shrewd merchant. He shifted his eyes back and forth before carefully saying,

“That’s not enough…”

*Thump-*

Another pouch of coins landed on the stall. From the sound of it, it was much heavier than the previous one.

“Is this enough?”

“O-Of course…! ”

The man quickly pocketed the coin pouches, as if afraid someone would snatch them away, and nodded. He hurriedly gathered all the items on the stall and handed them to Amy.

“H-Have a nice day!”

And with that, he picked up the stall and ran away.

I stared blankly at him as he left before turning to Amy with a suspicious look in my eye.

“Are those the items you were looking for?”

“Of course not.”

Amy asked blankly, looked at the pouch full of magic tools for a moment before handing it to me.

“Take it. It’s a gift.”

…?

Confused, I looked back and forth between the pouch and Amy. Unable to hold back my curiosity, I asked,

“Why…?”

The hero’s face went blank for a moment. She stroked her chin thoughtfully before snapping her fingers as if she had remembered something.

“Didn’t you take care of the necromancers for us the other day?”

It was obviously an excuse she had just come up with.

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t speak for a moment.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Amy practically shoved the pouch into my hand.

“This is a token of our gratitude, so please take it.”

And then, as if to say “don’t even think about returning it”, she crossed her arms.

“…Thank you.”

In the end, I couldn’t help but sigh and nod.

Honestly, it was a rare opportunity to get my hands on these kinds of magic tools. Pushing down the uneasy feeling in my chest, I decided to accept Amy’s gift, just this once.

But her generosity didn’t end there.

“That chicken skewer, they say it’s the specialty of this city… Would you like to try it?”

“What? If you’re asking if I’d like to try it, I’d love to, but…”

“I see, wait here a moment.”

There was this,

“Your sword looks old. Isn’t it about time you replaced it?”

“It’s fine. It can still…”

“How can someone who makes a living fighting be so negligent of their weapon? Wait here for a moment.”

…And this.

“It’s a healing potion. Is that what you’ve been searching for?”

“No.”

“…?”

“I thought of you and bought one. Take it.”

“???”

There was even this.

In the end, by the time Amy said it was time for her to go back, I had a whole bag of stuff in my hands.

…Is this what it feels like to be a high-class prostitute showered with gifts by a client?

“Big bro, I don’t know why, but something doesn’t feel right. That woman, she must be up to something.”

Feya whispered to me as she watched Amy walk away. I glared at her and retorted,

“Why don’t you put down what’s in your hands first before you talk?”

Feya looked back and forth between me and the street food she was holding before pouting.

“…A ghost that eats well looks good even in death.” (TL Note: Korean proverb meaning It’s important to eat well, no matter the situation.)

“Yeah, yeah, you’re so smart.”

I sighed and looked up at the sky.

The sun had already set, and stars were appearing in the eastern sky. This was the result of wandering around the shopping district all day.

“It’s already gotten this late, shouldn’t we head back? I think we’ve bought everything we need.”

Feya held up the bag full of anti-necromancer items that she had carefully selected. We bought them with our own money, after I barely managed to stop Amy from buying them for us.

That should be enough to easily handle an attack like the last one.

But I shook my head.

“We haven’t bought the most important thing yet.”

“…What do you mean?”

Giving Feya a pathetic look, I said,

“People.”

***

The true liveliness of a city only begins after the sun goes down.

Laughter laced with alcohol and curses, the frustrated shout of cooks and waitresses trying to break through the thick wall of noise, shadows swaying with people, vulgar language pushing aside the common tongue and taking its place.

The time of drunkenness and barbarity.

And at the same time, it’s also the time for rough men and women who make their living by the sword.

In front of the biggest tavern in town, which we had heard about through gossips and rumors.

Amidst the shouts and cheers spilling out from within the tavern, we huddled together.

“But do we really have to recruit more people? I think we have enough…”

Feya grumbled. I tried to persuade her in a gentle tone,

“We’re dealing with necromancers, we don’t know what could happen.”

“Maybe the last attack was just a one-time thing.”

“Then this is a good opportunity to expand the size of our mercenary group.”

“…Won’t that just create more work for you, big bro?”

Feya mumbled, her voice laced with concern.

I grinned and ruffled her hair.

“Kid, if you’re so worried, learn to read and write faster so you can help me with the paperwork. And slack off a bit.”

“…Then I’ll end up like you. No thanks.”

This little…

She’s being strangely thoughtful for once.

“Ouch!”

I headbutted her lightly. Feya teared up and said,

“And come to think of it, there’s also the issue of a spy too…!”

Spy. I could feel my face harden as soon as I heard that word.

As I mentioned before, the necromancers knew where we were, even though we moved in secret.

I don’t know how they managed to do that.

Maybe they used some kind of black magic or had someone tailing us…

Or maybe someone leaked the information.

I had hoped that the necromancer captain captured would give me the answer, but he knew nothing.

I tried to prod the porter a bit during our negotiation the other day, but it seems like the hero party doesn’t know anything either…

We have no answers, only more questions.

In this situation, Feya was asking if it was a good idea to hire a new recruit with an unknown background.

And of course, I was worried about that too. But…

“Right now, replenishing our forces is our top priority.”

Necromancers, I repeat, are not easy opponents. And we have no idea how strong they are. We need to beef up our numbers.

Plus, there’s someone in our mercenary group who’s an expert at catching traitors.

“Anyway, I’ll handle that. Let’s just focus on this for now, okay? Hm?”

“Yes, sir…”

I cupped Feya’s cheeks and went over the instructions one by one.

“First, when we get inside, buy a drink for anyone who looks like they can fight.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t bring up work right away. Just sound them out, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Promise them a lot of money and say that we’ll even lend them weapons. And never, ever mention the cultists.”

“Absolutely no mention of cultists… Got it.”

“Good, let’s go.”

We lowered our heads in unison and headed for the tavern.

“Ah.”

Then, right before opening the door, I looked back at Feya.

“And if anyone tries to disrespect you or touch you because you’re a ‘barbarian’, bash their heads in. I’ll take responsibility.”

Feya’s face was illuminated by the red light spilling out from the tavern.

She looked up at me with slightly widened eyes before looking away.

“…Okay.”

“Alright, let’s go in.”

I patted her on the shoulder and pushed open the tavern door.

And…

“Are all the warriors in Phoenix just a bunch of weaklings?!”

There, swinging a man around like a flail, was a red-haired woman.

…It was a sight that made me want to deny knowing that she was the captain of our mercenary group.

“Bring it on!! I’m Rose, captain of the Rose Rem mercenary group!! I’ll hand over the group to anyone who can beat me, so come at me!!”

Shit.

With a flushed face, she finally let go of the man she had been swinging around. The unfortunate man crashed into a table before collapsing onto the floor.

There were one… two… three… oh for fucks sake… other people who seemed to have ended up on the floor in a similar fashion.

I looked towards the kitchen and saw the tavern owner cowering behind a barrel.

The remaining customers were staring at the Captain with a mixture of fear and amusement.

No wonder the tavern was so unusually noisy…

Rubbing my temples to ease the pounding headache, I said to Feya,

“Get Baldy and Pointy Ears over here right now. And… Haa… bring some money from the safe.”

“Yes, sir…!”

Feya, who had been looking at me anxiously, quickly ran off down the street. I watched her go before turning my gaze back to our captain.

“I said bring it on!!”

…Should I really quit being a mercenary?

***

Unlike the shopping district, which was lined with taverns, the residential area where our inn was located was quiet at night.

The only sounds that could be heard were the occasional bark of a dog and the shouts of drunkards.

The moonlight and the lights from the few buildings that were still lit dimly illuminated the streets.

…And I was walking down one of those streets, carrying our drunk captain on my back.

Life…

“…Mmm.”

A drowsy voice and a wiggle coming from behind me. Unable to hide my annoyance, I asked,

“Coming to your senses now?”

“…My head hurts…”

I let out a hollow laugh.

“Is that the first thing you say after waking up? Do you even know how much money you cost us with your little stunt?”

“…Just… be quiet for a bit… My head is pounding… I’m sorry…”

“And you did that during work… Haah…”

I wanted to scold her some more, but I just sighed.

She’ll have forgotten all about it by tomorrow anyway. I’ll just have to sit her down tomorrow and lecture her until her ears bleed.

“…Are you really that mad…?”

The Captain’s voice, closer than before, whispered timidly into my ear. I thought about retorting, but then decided to ask instead,

“What about you, Captain?”

“Huh…?”

I adjusted her on my back and continued,

“You wouldn’t cause a scene like that for no reason, especially not during work.”

I said, lightly bumping her forehead with the back of my head.

“What was bothering you so much that you had to drink like that?”

“….”

The Captain was silent for a long time.

During that time, I just looked up at the night sky. It wasn’t a boring sight, as the half-moon was giving way to the stars.

“…Why did you run off on your own again…?”

the words felt as if it hadn’t been spoken, but had just seeped into the night air. That was why my answer came out a beat late.

“…What do you mean?”

“When you were fighting those necromancers…”

“…Now you’re going to scold me for doing a good job?”

“…That’s not what I…!”

Her arm, which had been around my shoulder, tightened around my neck slightly.

“Feya was there… and Shareek was right next to you… but why…”

I wasn’t insensitive enough to not hear the worry in her voice.

“I told you not to do that again…”

…This wasn’t the first time I had heard these words from her.

Pushing down my awkwardness, I replied,

“Well, you know me. And besides, in the end, everything worked out, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”

“It’s not fine…!”

She retorted, her voice sulky. Then she lightly bumped her head against the back of mine and tightened her grip around my neck, saying,

“…Sometimes you act like you don’t care about your body at all…”

“I’m not dead.”

“And from what I’ve heard of your past, it seems like you’ve been like this since you were young…”

“What can I say? Old habits die hard.”

“You’re so good with words…”

Then, as if she was really sulking, she repeatedly bumped her head against mine. It wasn’t painful, but the constant bumping was annoying.

“You’re going to fall. Just stay still.”

“So… I… … … …”

She mumbled, her face buried in my back. I tilted my head, asking,

“What?”

“…It’s nothing.”

I pretended to be angry and said,

“There are two things in this world that piss me off the most. One is when people don’t finish their…”

“…You’re boring. Let me down.”

And here I was, trying to cheer her up.

I shrugged and let her down. She swayed for a moment before managing to stand up straight and walk.

Keeping a distance where I could easily grab her if I needed to, I walked next to her.

“…You know, Vice-Captain.”

The Captain spoke, her eyes staring straight ahead. I just gave her a questioning look.

“…You know I’m always on your side, right?”

Her gaze was fixed on something far away, not on me. I looked at her and chuckled.

“Then please stop causing trouble. You have no idea how much trouble I have cleaning up after you.”

Only then did the Captain turn to me and playfully stick out her tongue.

“I’ll think about it.”

…I’m really going to quit being a mercenary.

And so, we walked on in silence. Then, suddenly, I remembered something and opened my mouth.

“Ah, Captain, remember when you told me to pretend to have amnesia? Well, I tried it, and something strange…”

“Wow! It’s our inn!”

Cutting me off, she suddenly started running towards the inn which had come into view.

I stared at her dumbfounded before following her with a sigh.

And then, as we reached the front of the inn…

I realized that someone was waiting for me.

A girl, crouching down, wearing a blue mage’s hat. She stood up as she spotted me.

And then, with her trembling green eyes fixed on me, she asked,

Parsley, my friend…

“…Can we talk for a bit?”

I had a feeling that this would be a long night, and nodded.