217 – Past Connection (1)
A week has passed since I stayed at Sena’s house.
They must have had enough sightseeing and enough rest, so Chester and Monia focused on mercenary work to earn money to leave for the continent where the kingdom of Biend is located.
Of course, mercenary requests don’t happen that often.
If it was a trivial matter, it was better to ask close people to lend a helping hand rather than a mercenary who was expensive and unreliable.
The same goes for hard work.
And in the case of a job that is difficult enough to borrow a mercenary’s hand, most people hesitate to do it.
And even if they are determined to do something, they hesitate because mercenaries cost money.
In this way, most of the requests that come to the mercenaries are filtered and filtered, and what remains at the end.
Or, it’s a dangerous job given by someone who has enough money and strength to handle mercenaries.
That’s why mercenaries use several methods.
One is to stay in the village for a long time and build a sense of intimacy with the residents so that they can make requests more comfortably.
Actively promoting and promoting oneself with plenty of lies, creating rumors about skillful and trustworthy mercenaries, and using those rumors to earn requests diligently.
Or, like the Chester family, who was able to accept a request from the Golden Thrush Merchant through Urgo, to receive a request from rich and powerful people under good conditions by using good personal connections.
Finally, there is a way to go to the person who seems to need a request and use your fist to forcefully receive the request and money.
For your reference, there are many mercenaries who use the second and last methods, but it is not called a mercenary for nothing.
Fortunately, Chester and Monia had a personal connection with Sena, and the knights of Jaim Kingdom inevitably had to use their strength from time to time. At the same time, I had to use my strength because of my responsibilities as a knight, but there were times when it was difficult to use my strength recklessly.
Among them, the biggest job is ‘slum patrol’.
A slum full of filth, criminals, beggars and homeless people is a place that no one wants to go to. If you walk a little, you will have to throw away your shoes because they are polluted with filth, and if you do something wrong, you will come out with a bottle. Who would want to go there?
So, it was natural for Chester and Monia to receive a request for a slum.
Chester and Monia also expected that a slum-related request would come out and discussed what to do.
“Why don’t you put on something like a throw-away robe?”
“Chester, look at these shoes here. There is a round frame attached to the floor.”
“Huh? What is that Do you really need to put something like that on the bottom?”
“It’s called a pattern, a trade worn when avoiding the filth of the slums.”
“Ummm….”
From noble mtl dot com
And time passed, and when the slum-related request finally came in, the tools requested from the smithy came out at the same time.
One machete. Two axes. Three knives.
Chester asked Monia if she needed a separate machete before stopping by the blacksmith’s shop, but Monia said she liked the machete Chester made, so she would keep using it.
Chester took a new machete made by the blacksmith, and the machete, which had been in Chester’s hand for a while, returned to its original owner, Monia.
Next, the axe. I plan to keep the original ax as it is, so I have four axes.
The same goes for knives.
Thanks to the horse, there was no problem even if the luggage increased to some extent, so the old tools were left as spares, and Chester and Monia replaced them with new tools.
It wasn’t just the tools that changed. I left the desert warrior outfit Urgo gave me or the aristocratic suit Senna gave me, and changed to clothes that were more comfortable for me to travel and work as a mercenary.
Originally, I would only pay attention to activity and basic safety, but since I will have to deal with people, I also pay attention to defense and put new clothes on leather armor.
While the two of us were matching clothes, Rex said that the armor looked cool, and he said he wanted to do it too.
Monia was quite worried.
“Is it really good to buy everything just because a child wants it?”
“Hmm. I mean, they bought it without me knowing.”
Chester was also worried about whether this was okay, but when Rex said he wanted it, he unknowingly opened the money bag.
“But when I was young, I couldn’t have what I wanted when I wanted it. Even if you belong to the wealthy in the village, you don’t have that much money as the village itself is poor.”
Chester was a kid too. A child is a child, even if he plays in the woods, likes knives, and is learning to hunt.
Occasionally, when a peddler came to the village and showed off a shiny, expensive-looking toy, I couldn’t stand it because I wanted it.
I didn’t have it because it was too expensive.
“Mmm.”
At Chester’s words, Monia pursed her lips and said nothing. Well, she never had the experience of not getting what she wanted in her hands.
She has experience on the Wandering Islands, but back then she was so absorbed in learning new things about herself, the world and Chester that she rarely wanted anything else.
At that time, all Monia wanted was a skill to make bread properly or honey, and she didn’t even feel a great thirst for it.
She really can say that she lived the world without scarcity.
So, she couldn’t understand Chester’s desire to do everything he could for her child by living a short life. But it wasn’t to the extent that she couldn’t fathom her feelings.
Monia Also, because of her experience of living with an education that could be called abuse by the duke, she showered Rex and Ant with compliments like a storm of compliments on whether she was a genius or great.
“Rex, did you get your robe?”
“Take care!”
Rex spins around in a robe, holding a spear in one hand and a top in the other.
Monia and the mansion maids clapped their hands in sync with the dancing beat while watching Rex like that.
“Ant smells awful there, so she just stays here today.”
– Keng.
And Ant decided to take this opportunity to escape her mansion, enjoy her escape, and finally sow his own seeds in this world.
“Is Ant at home today?”
“Well, we want to trim Ant’s fur.”
“Oh, yes? Please.”
– ???
Ant was captured by three maids and taken somewhere in the mansion.
– Kiyin! Hey hey!
“Looks like Ant is crying.”
“It must be because I don’t like being touched by unfamiliar people.”
Leaving behind Ant’s cries, Chester and Monia went to meet the knight who had commissioned the slum side.
* * *
“Oh, thanks for coming.”
The knight who submitted the slum-related request was one of Senna’s fellow knights, and was her senior knight who guided and helped Sena when she just became a knight. His name is David.
Unlike Senna, who was a traveler but suddenly became a knight after gaining her power through the 13 Hero Relics, she was born in an aristocrat and underwent rigorous training to become a knight from a young age.
He is an impressive knight with a mustache that is slightly curled at the tip, an armor that is kept shiny every day, and a cloak that he wears for some reason.
‘Why are you wearing that cape?’
‘I don’t know.’
It was the same when they were introduced as friends once before, but Chester and Monia were concerned about David’s cape.
Why the hell are you wearing a cape?
“Only for this request.”
Then David opened his mouth.
“I don’t want to stain the cloak. And I don’t want to take the cloak off my body. So, I’m sorry, but I made a request because I wanted to ask you guys to patrol the slums instead.”
“Why the hell… ?”
“This cloak was prepared for me by my mother, who passed away when I was born. I went on patrol before and soiled my cape, so I don’t want to go on slum patrol anymore.”
“Ah.”
“Then what?”
The two nodded in understanding and were briefed on what they needed to know about slum patrol.
“First and foremost, if you hear cries for abandonment in the slums, take shelter at a nearby window.”
“Discard?”
“It’s customary to shout that before throwing out the filth that has accumulated in the house. Occasionally, when our knights roam around, there are those who throw filth without shouting that we don’t like it and throw it away on purpose. Be careful with that.”
“Dear God.”
Monia closed her eyes in her giddy eyes and prayed.
“Did I curse you by eating the octopus?”
“No way.”
“Next is a criminal organization living in a slum… ….”
The training lasted quite a long time.
What to watch out for. What to look for and find out. There were quite a few things to pay attention to.
“How should we respond in case of violence?”
“You can kill me.”
David said lightly.
Just as Senna was not punished except for a slight reprimand for killing one of the guards, this was the value of human life in this world.
When a person is put on trial after killing someone for revenge due to a grudge, the legitimacy of the revenge is acknowledged and it is common that they are released without guilt.
Death and murder were not a big deal unless a nobleman, royalty, or famous person died.
After the training, Chester, Monia, and Rex adjusted their robes and looked to see if the pattern was worn well, then set foot into the alleyway leading to the slum.