60 – Episode 60
# 60
After finishing their work, Ian and his companions happily returned to the Talien territory.
In exchange for lending 33% of the magic sword’s power, Ian agreed to receive a certain amount of fairy silk every month. And he promised to study the ancient records of the fairies to help Ian properly handle the magic of the sword.
“We don’t know how Anorith-like magic swords were made.”
It is said that the magic sword could be created because there were many rare materials available to the Fairy Queen at the time. It could be called a masterpiece created by the combination of the skills of an excellent craftsman race and rare materials.
“However, the records from that time still exist, so I will organize and provide them to you.”
“Thank you for that.”
The fairy engineers shouted at Ian as he left the village multiple times.
“Ian-nim! Next time, let’s make time for a deep mathematical debate!”
Ian was momentarily touched.
Mathematics. What a splendid resonance it had.
Having been immersed in the world of liberal arts and action, Ian gladly accepted the proposal from the fairy engineers.
“Of course!”
To commemorate the meeting with Ian, the Fairy Queen presented him with two bracelets made of fairy silk.
The hastily made items didn’t have much expected quality. They were simply pieces of cloth sewn together.
However, the beautiful color of the fairy silk gave it a somewhat decent feeling.
“I look forward to meeting again, Ian-nim.”
“Please take care of yourself, Your Majesty.”
For a while, Ian fiddled with the purple bracelet and then quickly put it in his pocket.
Honestly, Ian didn’t feel that this was something he liked at all.
The mysterious purple color and the soft texture were nice, but…
It was just a bracelet.
Well, at least the bracelets sold at the dollar store have some shape to them. And this isn’t even a cloth for cleaning glasses.
Come to think of it, it did resemble a real glasses cleaner.
So, Ian decided to just give the bracelet to the girls.
“Are, are you giving this to me?!”
“… Are you just giving it? Without any compensation?”
Lucy and Belenka reacted strongly.
Seeing their excitement over the bracelet, I couldn’t help but think that they were just like any other girls.
“Oh, it’s just a gift. You’ve all been through a lot so far, right? Think of it as a souvenir from me.”
Maybe the Fairy Queen had hoped that Ian would wear one of those bracelets on each hand…
Seeing the women so delighted that their faces turned red, Ian felt the satisfaction of giving a gift.
Yes, a gift is only meaningful when the recipient is happy. What good is a rare bracelet (by the standards of this world) if it’s just tucked away in Ian’s pocket?
Even though it ended up in the hands of the wrong person, at least it will be loved. Isn’t that a form of happiness?
“Oh my gosh! Thank you so much, Ian!”
“I don’t know what words to use to express my gratitude. This is the first time I’ve received such a gift…”
Lucy casually put the bracelet on her wrist and spent the whole day staring at it.
Belenka didn’t wear the bracelet on her wrist either. Instead, she used it to tie up her hair in place of a hairband.
“What do you think, Ian?”
“What about it?”
“It suits me well, don’t you think?”
“… “
Belenka looked at Ian with an expression of pure happiness. If there was an emotion analysis app, it would surely show a 100% happiness rating for her genuine expression of happiness.
Ian found Belenka’s expression fascinating because he had never seen her make such a face before.
Ah, there was a time when they had similar expressions.
Like when he praised her worth.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No… I didn’t know you would like it. I thought Belenca would prefer something more practical.”
“Something practical?”
“Yeah. Like a dagger or oil.”
Ian’s words left Belenca dumbfounded.
“A dagger? Is there any woman in the world who would be happy to receive a dagger as a gift? Maybe if it were Persia.”
Persia was a multipurpose kitchen knife… So, a chef’s knife.
It was a popular item among housewives in this world because of its versatility.
“No…”
Ian scratched his head awkwardly.
In anime, I’ve seen that women usually dislike things that women like. They would say, ‘Giving such things to these kind of women!’
It was Ian’s strange prejudice, learned from anime.
Contrary to Ian’s weird preconceptions, Belenca liked ordinary things that women usually liked.
“You’ve received a precious gift. Thank you so much, Ian.”
Belenca proudly spoke, as if showing off her ponytail.
Look at my awesome hair tie, everyone!
Seeing Belenca’s cheerful smile, Ian shrugged his shoulders.
It was a sentiment that was difficult for a man like Ian to understand.
Anyway.
Ian was happy to have obtained the magical sword, and Lucy and Belenca were happy to receive precious gifts.
Since the higher-ups were in a good mood, the servants and slaves were also happy.
However, when they returned to the territory after such a pleasant journey…
There was an unwelcome guest waiting for them.
#
The visitor who came to see Talien was a bureaucrat named Galladi.
From Noble mtl dot com
He had traveled all the way from the Marquisate of Debois, far to the east of Talien.
Debois was not a place one would visit out of boredom, and it was an understatement to say that it had no contact with the Marquisate of Talien.
But the reason someone from that distant Marquisate came to visit was…
Because of a rumor that had originated in Talien.
“What on earth are you so cautiously holding onto?”
“Oh! Don’t touch it! It’s a forbidden talah!”
As the territorial conflict in Talien approached its final stage, the mercenaries who had received their payment from Lucy scattered to find their next battlefield.
Some were fortunate enough to find their next employer right away, but others continued their journey wherever their feet took them, eventually arriving at the Marquisate of Debois.
The mercenaries who were active in Debois welcomed the mercenaries who had crossed over from Talien.
It was customary for mercenaries to warmly welcome their fellow comrades.
It was also a way to gather information from other towns and, incidentally, to show off their achievements.
In this medieval fantasy world, if one wanted to make a living as a mercenary, camaraderie was almost essential.
In the Empire, there were hardly any professional soldiers other than mercenaries. They simply couldn’t afford it.
So when something happened, they would always hire mercenaries without fail.
But hiring mercenaries was a two-way street.
Both sides ended up hiring mercenaries, so there were too many cases where mercenaries would come face to face with each other.
It goes without saying, mercenaries don’t like losing power. Losing power usually means losing a warrior, and who in their right mind would want someone to fight and die?
That’s why when mercenaries who know each other come face to face on the battlefield…
“Oh? Captain! Isn’t that Captain?!”
“Huh? Harrington? Your Harrington, right?”
“Oh my goodness! Captain! Long time no see! I hope you’ve been well!”
“Well, well. Looking at your blackened face, I guess you’ve been doing well!”
…they naturally fall into camaraderie.
Would mercenaries who know each other really fight properly?
No way.
Mercenaries pretend to fight each other, give each other a good whack on the shield, shout a bit, and then disappear into a place where no one can see them.
The people of Town A and Town B, who hired the mercenaries, shout from afar, “Kill them! Kill all those bastards!”
But in reality, the mercenaries, as leaders, exchange words and manipulate the outcome of the fight (…).
“Last time, you won, so this time, let me win a little.”
“Wow, are you in a hurry these days?”
“There are a lot of guys claiming to retire because they got married recently. The situation in the mercenary group is precarious. Please go easy on me, Captain.”
“Alright. Let’s say you won this time.”
“Thank you, Captain!”
Well, there’s no shortage of medieval wrestlers here.
After quickly ending the fight, the mercenaries go off to have their dinner.
Those with sharp instincts might send suspicious glances saying, “Didn’t they plan this fight among themselves?”…
But what’s the point of suspecting? Are you going to personally fight with a weapon in hand?
The mercenaries would say, “We fought hard but I lost~” and you have no choice but to believe them.
In the end, the money is taken care of, and the power is preserved as it is.
That’s the beauty of it.
So, in order to suck up to the mercenaries, they try to get along with each other and make as much camaraderie as possible.
It was natural for Dubosi’s mercenaries and Talien’s mercenaries to mix with each other.
But Dubosi’s mercenaries noticed that Talien’s mercenaries were unusually protective of something.
“You’re only going to borrow it for a moment?”
“What kind of thing is this that you keep asking to borrow it?”
The precious thing that Talien’s mercenaries were holding onto tightly…
It was a leather water pouch.
They held it tightly in their arms, as if it were a baby wrapped in a blanket.
“What is it?”
Dubosi’s mercenaries were genuinely curious about what the hell those idiots were so obsessed with.
But when they heard the true identity of the water pouch, Dubosi’s mercenaries widened their eyes in surprise.
“It’s a magic potion made by the sorcerer Raven!”
“A magic potion?!”
Dubosi’s mercenaries were taken aback.
A magic potion?
How can a mere mercenary have such a rare item that even nobles struggle to obtain?
The magician’s items couldn’t be obtained just by having money.
First, the magician had to make the item, and there had to be a good relationship to sell it.
If you told the magician, “Hey, make me a potion,” would the magician listen? Even the imperial emperor was ignored by the magicians.
Since they only made things when they wanted to, the value of the items touched by the magician’s hands was truly immense.
But to think that those precious things were in the hands of those insignificant humans…
“I understand! They must have stolen them!”
“No, the magician made them right in front of us and distributed them.”
Despite the need to foster camaraderie among the mercenaries, the Talien mercenaries never shared the magician’s potions with their comrades.
It was because some people had already experienced the effects of the potions.
After fighting against the rebel army led by Chantalia’s Grimm, the exhausted Talien mercenaries drank the magician’s potions and recovered.
The effects were astonishing…
As the potion was called the Potion of Vitality, it prevented wounds from worsening and infused vitality into the body!
Of course, the Potion of Valor was just saltwater made by the swindler pharmacist Ian, without any magic symbols.
But whether magic was in the potion or not didn’t matter at all.
The mercenaries gained vitality from Ian’s saltwater, and there were clearly people who saved their lives with it.
It helped them escape from situations where they could have lost their lives!
The mercenaries who had their lives saved shouted in excitement.
Wow! This potion is so amazing that it fills up 350 stamina!
Having proven its effectiveness in real battles, especially on the life-or-death battlefield, Ian’s magic potions were incredibly valuable.
From that moment on, the mercenaries began to praise the magician Raven.
Raven, the great sorcerer, commanding the crow as his servant, brings forth a pitch-black darkness…
And so on and so forth.
Listening to the tales of the Talien mercenaries until the end…
The Dovoshi mercenaries became envious of the Talien mercenaries.
Those bastards, they fight half-heartedly and run away if they think they’ll lose. And they got their hands on precious potions from that damn sorcerer for free?!
They’re a bunch of lunatics who crawled out of a madhouse!
We should have gone to Talien too. We wasted our time in Dovoshi, where we didn’t even make any money.
There was a reason why the mercenaries wandered around the Dovoshi territory.
Currently, the Dovoshi Marquis was slowly dying from an unknown illness.
The Marquis had a first wife and a second wife.
Unlike the female characters in other otaku harem stories, the Marquis’ two wives did not get along.
To the point where they wanted to kill each other.
To prevent the division of the territory, the Dovoshi Marquis intended to pass on the territory to his first son from his first wife.
However, in the eyes of the second wife, if the first wife’s son became the Marquis, they would be immediately disposed of.
But whether it was good luck or bad luck, the Dovoshi Marquis was unable to get out of bed…
During this opportunity, if they quickly disposed of their opponent, the one who survived would become the next Marquis.
The mercenaries, who smelled of blood, were quietly roaming around the Dovoshi Marquis.
They were waiting for the fight to begin.
Little did they know, in the neighboring town of Talien, there was a free potion event going on!
“Anyway, they say Raven has a mysterious power.”
“Mysterious power?”
“I heard that Countess Katrina once hunted a Manticoore. And at that time, it is said that Sir Raven revived a dying knight with divine magic.”
“Divine magic! Then that person must have an incredibly deep faith.”
“That seems to be the case. After all, they were the one who brought about a miracle from the heavens.”
I understood why the sorcerer, Raven, was able to create a potion of vitality.
If their faith was so deep, then it must have moved the heavens to grant permission to create the potion of vitality!
The mercenaries of Dovoshi became envious as they heard the story.
Sob, sob. I know how to drink potions too!
Anyway.
The rumors about the great Shadow Mage, ‘Ian Eredis Raven,’ quickly spread among the mercenaries.
And those rumors…
Even reached the ears of Galadin, the steward of Lord Dovoshi, who was observing the movements of the mercenaries.
“Divine magic… blessings from the heavens… and a potion of vitality…”
Galadin thought as he looked at his lord, who couldn’t get out of bed.
“I have tried all kinds of medicine for his condition. But all in vain.”
The reason Lord Dovoshi became confused was because the lord himself was lying sick.
The medicine was useless. The prayers of the priests didn’t work either.
But…
Ian Eredis Raven. What if it’s their magic?
“I must meet the sorcerer Raven!”
Galladin rode his horse to the Talien territory to confirm the truth of the rumors.
But there was no Raven in the territory. They said he had momentarily left with the Count of Talien.
So Galladin waited.
Perhaps the heavens helped, for Ian quickly returned to the territory.
Galladin blocked Ian’s path and shouted in a solemn voice.
“You! The magician Raven! You filthy swindler!”
“…?”
Ian was taken aback, seeing this old man suddenly cursing at him.
Old man. This isn’t Line 1 here.
But with Galladin’s continued outburst, Ian’s heart sank.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know about you deceiving the mercenaries, passing off fake potions as magic potions?”
“!!!”
Ian recalled the memory of deceiving the mercenaries with saltwater disguised as a potion and broke out in a cold sweat.
No, how did he know it was a fake potion!