92 – Middleland-7
delicious.
Regardless of my feelings, my tongue was delighted. I didn’t like the scent of wood that I could smell from the World Tree, but at least the fruit was sweet.
“Is the fruit in good condition, master?”
“Ok, fine.”
The flavor was weaker than what I had tasted at the World Tree, but the fruit that scored 110 points became 105 points.
Nerwen was sitting in front of me, looking at me with trembling eyes.
“Did I tell you? I said you would like it!”
The strong girl who pushed Nerwen smiled triumphantly.
“Are you a mercenary?”
However, he didn’t look like someone who worked at the inn, and Wolf said that the entire inn was apparently rented by a group of mercenaries.
“This is a child I picked up a while ago and is raising. Even though he is small, his sword is quite bitter and he has poison, so it’s okay to trust him.”
“I see. Something, it seems a bit out of place…”
Undoubtedly if it was Wolf or his executives, there was little chance that the mercenaries could handle mana freely.
Then, naturally, the muscles and physique will inevitably increase in proportion to strength. Compared to the rambunctious mercenaries nearby, she was a bit foreign.
“There were many broken villages here and there because of the demon king’s invasion. We fought hard too… We picked it up from one of those abandoned villages.”
When the demon king appears, personal fights decrease. Even mercenaries, whose job is to kill people for money, become divine warriors who fight against the demon king.
Even when traveling with a party of warriors, it was not always possible to hold hands with good people.
After watching a bloated monster oozing green ooze for a few months, even bad criminals will be grateful that their eyes, nose and mouth are intact.
No matter how bad the quality is, you have no choice but to hold hands.
“I’ll just go up.”
I ate all the fruit, and I had no desire to continue drinking. There were some people who were looking at me curiously, but there were also quite a few mercenaries who looked strange in their eyes.
The gaze directed at the women, not at me, was more dangerous. Nothing much has happened so far, but it wouldn’t be strange if a collision happened anytime.
“I knew that and prepared a room in advance. Rest in peace!”
Until the end, Wolf bowed politely. With a shy smile, I climbed the stairs.
But when I entered the room Wolf had prepared for me, I realized something I hadn’t realized before.
“There is… one room.”
Normally, I would have found a separate room for myself and for the other women.
However, there was no such space available now. Being able to forcibly enter the inn, which was already full, was something that could not have happened without Wolf’s permission.
“It’s okay, master! I don’t mind sleeping outside!
“Me too. If you don’t like it, it’s okay to sleep in the carriage.”
Nerwen and Eleanor shouted urgently, but I shook my head.
“Okay. Don’t do anything stupid. Come inside and sleep.”
Even if I hate them, I can’t openly show them in front of others. The mercenaries scattered throughout the inn were not people to look at.
If they even look down on these women, things could be more complicated than necessary.
“I brought plenty of blankets for now!”
Ceres wiped the floor from time to time, at least creating an environment for people to sleep.
“…okay.”
The sun was already dark. When I turned off the light, a comfortable darkness filled the room.
“Tell me if there’s anything uncomfortable about it!”
The silver-haired maid took a seat right under the bed and lay down. The other women also laid down one by one.
Looking at the inn’s wooden ceiling, my mind is strangely calm.
There was a time when I constantly thought of ‘just this much’.
I wish I could spend the day safely without encountering monsters today, and I hope I don’t have to struggle through the wet and muddy ground in the rain.
I wish I could take a day off from sparring today, I hope the archer won’t bother me more after washing my body in the dangerous and cold water, I hope the wizard will shut up for just one day today.
I wish I could sleep in a place with a ceiling, I wish I could eat something else instead of that disgusting, tasteless preserved food or tough meat that has no seasoning.
All done. If you handed today’s day to me then, it’s clear that I would have been able to take a look at it.
Still, I was not satisfied.
“Can I lie down next to you for a moment?”
I was nervous for a moment. There was a thud as a person climbed onto the hard bed.
The thin maid uniform swayed in the sky. It was Ceres.
“The bottom is too narrow. Is that okay?”
Ceres’ small voice tickled my ears.
“I do not care.”
I didn’t try to cling to it too much, but Ceres’ arm reached it nonetheless.
“Hehe…”
I really didn’t believe her words that she came up because there weren’t enough seats. Still, Ceres, who climbed onto my bed, didn’t want to do anything more.
At some point, I fell asleep.
/////
As soon as I woke up in the morning, I had a light meal and made plans with Wolf again.
The possibility of being taken advantage of was high, but it was hard to imagine that he could exploit us beyond a certain level.
At most, it would be about getting a slightly higher ransom or getting an advantage in contracts with other mercenaries.
“I think you’d better meet the swan friends last, and there are poisonous scorpions camped nearby, so you’d better go there.”
The fact that the Red Wolf mercenaries were staying throughout the village was not a bluff. At least a hundred mercenaries were seen here and there.
No matter how much I thought about it, there was no place for a larger number of people to stay.
“They’re tough guys. Normally, they wouldn’t care if they were a nuisance to the village, but now they’ve got something big ahead of them, so they’ll manage their reputation.”
“So what?”
“It’s not in the village, it’s said to be encamped in an abandoned fortress. I heard it a few days ago, so it’s probably still there.”
I slowly pondered over his words. However, no matter how much I thought about it, the picture was a bit strange.
An unauthorized armed group of more than a hundred people camped in the citadel, unable to enter the village for fear of harm to the people.
“Isn’t that just a bandit?”
“There isn’t much of a difference.”
Soldiers are expensive.
Even with simple calculations, the amount of money and food required to feed more than a hundred people is not small.
Wasn’t the line between a bandit and a mercenary too thick, just as the line between an adventurer and a mercenary was thin?
“You don’t know much about the geography here… Jessie! Follow me and give me directions!”
“All right!”
The female mercenary who had been attached to Nerwen yesterday walked over.
In fact, with Nerwen, he didn’t need a companion. But there was no particular reason to refuse.
They don’t fight, they just walk around and talk.
That mercenary could have been his watchman, or our hostage. Either way, they were able to solidify their trust in each other.
“I’ll leave immediately.”
“Thank you! I will do my best!”
The female mercenary named Jessie seemed to be the same as Ceres, and her bright smile did not go away.
“No, boss! There are more than one or two people who are anxious to go out, so why is Jessie going?”
“You’re from a native here. You seem to have gotten quite close with the person with the bow.”
While I took my eyes off for a while, Jessie was showing off her affinity while clinging to Nerwen.
“Sister, did you do it? What you said yesterday!”
“Your voice is so loud! I didn’t even have a chance in the first place, ha, I wouldn’t have done it even if I told you to…”
Nerwen restrained her, blushing. After the commotion was over, I gathered everyone else and left the inn.
“Are you tired?”
While the preparations were in full swing, Ceres, neatly dressed in a maid uniform, joined me.
“No. This is fine.”
I’ve done even worse things.
It wasn’t just for the success of the warrior party. Even if it had nothing to do with defeating the demon lord, I worked tirelessly to save even one more person.
The hardest thing was to pray to Eleanor and the other party members. Even the easiest job required me to use my body sparingly.
Compared to that, this is boring, but compared to the achievement, it was far too easy. Because I have all the money, I don’t have to weigh my life, and I don’t have to do anything that puts too much strain on my body.
It’s just a matter of doing the boring, boring work.
“Still, if it’s too hard or boring, it’s okay to just explode. Bang.”
“If I had thought of that, I would have done it a long time ago. I’m fine now.”
“really?”
Ceres looked at me with fierce eyes, as if they were looking right through me, but at the same time with kind, warm eyes that contradicted his.
“Isn’t it really hard?”
Nerwen and Farseer were checking the route with Jessie, and Eleanor and Celia were servicing the wagon.
The woman who was looking at me felt like a stranger for a moment. From hair to eyes, face, body and clothes. For a moment, it felt like she was the first person I saw.
“Then I can’t help it! It looks like everything is ready, so we can go!”
It was a moment. Returning to the Ceres I knew, she took me by the hand and put me on top of the carriage.