Episode 23
“Dead? A troll? How?”
Wilmot seemed to have difficulty entering information, perhaps because he had heard a story that was hard to believe.
I calmly explained the process of the troll’s death.
“…So, while you were running away, the troll you were chasing fell down, and there was a broken wooden pole where you fell, and your head was pierced through and died?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sure you’re not joking about this. Huh.”
Wilmot let out a laugh as if he was dumbfounded even after he said it.
“It’s not unusual for this guy to catch big guys every time he goes hunting. He was a very lucky friend.”
Roy shook his head in admiration and clapped softly.
“You’ve been through a lot. Both me and Peter were surprised by the sudden appearance of two trolls. And Roy, where’s the luck in the world? It’s all about skill. Isn’t it, mate?”
Meanwhile, Nick came up to me and put his hand on my shoulder.
Nick was smiling strangely.
“Yeah… what.”
“That’s right. Luck is also skill. You’re amazing, Mr. Ian.”
As I hesitated to answer, Talia interrupted and lifted me up.
Following Talia, the others approached me one by one and started giving me compliments.
The party had no doubts about the circumstances of the troll’s death.
‘It would feel more credible that I fell and died rather than hunting a troll.’
It is next to impossible for an introductory warrior to hunt an adult troll alone.
I’m a rookie who just completed the mercenary examination.
Even if you are a master, you cannot hide your realization in the mercenary screening process.
I would have completely ruled out the possibility that I had hunted trolls.
After a relay of compliments for a while, the group started to collect the troll’s by-products.
I stood next to Thalia to learn how to harvest troll byproducts.
“A troll’s regenerative factor is created in its spine. That’s why we have to take out the vertebrae. We’ll be working slowly, so feel free to ask any questions you have.”
Talia stuck the dagger she held in reverse into the troll’s cervical vertebrae and lowered it.
As the dagger moved along the spine, the skin on his back opened, exposing his inner flesh.
Underneath the green skin was a red dermis, no different from that of a human.
As the dagger reached her tailbone, Thalia lowered it again, starting with her cervical vertebrae.
Then, this time, the red dermis cracked and yellow fat and white ligaments appeared.
Talia pulled at the back with her left hand and used a dagger to separate the flesh from the spine.
There was no hesitation in his movements as if he were doing familiar work.
After working for more than 10 minutes, Thalia completely separated the troll’s spine from its body.
The spine, which was about 1.5 meters long, was covered with uncut flesh.
Talia meticulously removed the remaining flesh, then took a white powder from her bag and spread it evenly over her spine.
“What is that?”
“This is salt. Originally, troll meat doesn’t go bad, but I’m just sprinkling it just in case. The bones are all done, would you like to take a look?”
Talia thrust the troll’s spine in front of me.
Her hands on her spine were stained dark red with thick troll blood.
Talia’s proud smile overlapped behind the ugly troll’s spine.
‘It’s not easy to make money.’
It was my impression of seeing the troll’s spine.
Thalia gave the troll’s spine to Alana.
Alana wrapped her spine in a large cloth and put it in her bag.
Next, Talia pulled a bucktooth from the troll’s lower jaw.
Only the right bucktooth was accepted as hunting evidence.
After collecting the byproducts, the party followed me to the place where the mother troll died.
“Huh. That’s true.”
said Wilmot, looking at the dead troll.
“It’s no joke.”
“This is really possible.”
“and…”
There is a big difference between hearing it in words and actually seeing it.
Other members of the party also couldn’t keep their mouths shut and expressed their feelings.
But then Talia raised her voice and drew the party’s attention.
“Everyone, I have something to say. In fact, it’s the same as if Ian caught the mother troll alone. So, why don’t we distribute all the mother trolls to Ian? If it wasn’t for Ian in the first place, we wouldn’t have been able to catch the young troll either.”
From noble mtl dot com
At Talia’s sudden words, the party’s gaze turned to Wilmot.
“Hmm. Talia-san isn’t wrong, but isn’t the original expedition group a group that shares both profits and losses?”
“That’s true, but this is a really unusual case. And when Mr. Ian lured a mother troll for an expedition, who shared the risk?”
“hmm…”
At Thalia’s question, Wilmot made a face of deep agony.
“Hey, brother. How about this? Give the mother troll to this friend. Instead, the other by-products are to be distributed among ourselves.”
“I’m in favor, Mr. Roy.”
Kate agreed with Roy’s suggestion.
The two looked at each other with a smile on their lips.
For some reason, as soon as we went back to Erita, the image of the two of us grabbing a room came to mind.
“Okay. Then I’ll listen to other people’s opinions and decide.”
In conclusion, ownership of the mother troll passed to me.
When ownership was decided, Talia performed another dazzling dagger and successfully separated the mother troll’s spine from the torso.
When the bone was finished, Wilmot opened his mouth.
“Then let’s go back to Erita. I don’t have anything to say because the trip isn’t over yet, but you all did a great job. Especially Ian, you worked hard.”
“No. Mr. Wilmot worked hard leading the expedition.”
We exchanged good wishes and created a friendly atmosphere.
It’s been 15 days since we finished hunting trolls.
We stood in front of Erita’s north gate and caught our breath for a moment.
“Ahhh. It’s finally here. I need a hot bath and a cold beer. Ian, why don’t you come with me?”
“No. I’m supposed to meet someone, so let’s have a drink together next time.”
I declined Nick’s offer.
“Yes. Then we can’t help it. Do you know where the inn we are staying at? Come visit us later. I’ll introduce you to you, even though I like it.”
“Yes. I’ll visit you in a few days.”
We finished our small talk and entered Erita.
After passing through the outer wall, Wilmot reported the return of the expedition to the Mercenary Agency staff.
After reporting to return, we passed through the courtyard and entered the inner wall.
Countless beggars flocked to us.
“Ministers. Thank you. God Teres will bless you.”
“Thank you, sirs. Good luck will always be with you.”
In Erita, there is a superstition that good luck will come if you return from your original journey and make a claim to a beggar.
Because of this, the beggars of Erita could earn a sufficient income with a few words without any begging skills.
The group grabbed a handful of fairy tales and threw them at the beggars.
Is there anything more important than luck to mercenaries who always live with the risk of death?
There seemed to be no one in the party who was reluctant to take the enemy ship.
Of course, I also took out a fairy tale and handed it to a young-looking beggar.
‘It’s a beggar’s paradise.’
There were so many beggars in Erita.
Of course, beggars don’t just go around begging.
Usually, he took on dirty work such as cleaning up horse manure piled up in the streets or carrying the dead out of the castle and cremating them.
In addition to this, in the event of a massive invasion by monsters or beasts, beggars had to be forcibly conscripted into battle.
It was the principle of the world that if there is something to be gained, there is also to be lost.
After passing the beggars, we all moved to the Mercenary Office.
Entering the mercenary office, Talia gave me a beast’s tooth wrapped in cloth and a mother troll’s spine.
“Then let’s meet in the northern courtyard in 15 days.”
“Please drop by our dorm in the middle. Let’s have a meal together.”
“Yes it is.”
I greeted Wilmot and Talia alternately.
Everyone in the party was satisfied with the results of the original trip, so they promised to organize an expedition together next time.
“Then I’ll go by myself after work. See you next time.”
Except for me, the party decided to move together to settle the troll by-products.
I had an appointment with Uncle Kit, so I planned to move separately.
After saying hello, I went to the window where Serena was.
“Hello, Mr. Serena.”
“Oh, Mr. Ian. It’s been a while. Are you coming after hunting?”
Serena greeted me with a bright smile.
“Yes. Please settle here.”
Along with the mercenary plaque, I put the wrapping cloth wrapped around the demon beast’s teeth on the window.
Inside the cloth were 56 goblin teeth and 1 troll tooth.
After a while, Serena, who finished the settlement, put the demon beast’s tooth into the barrel behind her.
Then he took the money out of the drawer and put it on the window.
“Fifty-six points for goblin teeth and thirty-two points for troll teeth. You got 88 points for the mission. The mission reward is thirty-five silver coins and twenty copper coins, so check it out.”
“Um… That’s right. Thank you.”
I quickly checked the money on the counter and put it in my purse.
“But, seeing that you’ve already collected points like this, do you think you’re planning to quickly raise your rank?”
“Yes. I think it will be possible with the help of the party.”
The Mercenary Agency doesn’t care how mercenaries accumulate points and get promoted.
Mercenaries are sometimes given compulsory missions, and a high mercenary rank means that they will be given a difficult mission.
Raising the grade without skill was the same as finding a way to die on one’s own.
On the other hand, there were also mercenaries who hid their status to avoid taking on dangerous missions.
For that reason, all mercenaries who were not masters had to undergo a mercenary review once a year.
“Serena. By the way, did you get any letters addressed to me?”
“Uh. Wait a minute.”
Serena checked the number written on my mercenary plaque and stood up.
Serena returned to her seat after a while.
“There is no letter addressed to Ian.”
“Oh, yes. I see.”
‘It’s strange.’
Laura said that she would write letters as soon as the place of residence was decided.
It was a short meeting, but I expected a letter because I could feel that he cared for Alec so much.
‘Well, there must be circumstances.’
Seeing Laura’s good nature and Alec’s great talent, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to introduce Alec to Richard.
‘Still, I don’t know when I’ll get in touch, so let’s send a letter.’
“Serena. I’d like to send you a letter. Could you give me some letter paper and four envelopes?”
“Yes. That’s twelve fairy tales in all. I’ll do the ghostwriting for you for free. Have you thought about the content?”
The Mercenary Agency also had the task of ghostwriting letters for mercenaries who could not read.
Since the placenta would ask for a ghostwriter, Serena would have naturally asked me a question.
“I’m going to write the letter myself. Could I borrow a quill, please?”
“How can it be. Mr. Ian, did you learn to write?”
“Yes. Just like that.”
After hearing my answer, Serena asked a question with a cautious face.
“Ian. Excuse me, but are you really not a noble?”
“hahahaha. You’ve seen my pass, too. You’re a commoner.”
“Hoho. That’s right. I knew it wasn’t me, but your appearance and way of speaking are so classy. You said that you even learned how to write, so I’m asking you even knowing it. Get the stationery and quill here.”
I grabbed a sheepskin stationery and a feather pen that looked like goose feathers.
‘First of all, write to the hyungs. Next, let’s write in the order of Father Phillip, Uncle Herbert, and Brother Richard.’
I quickly transferred the words I had in mind to parchment.
“Oh my, oh my.”
As I wrote the letter, Serena kept exclaiming.