Volume 3 Chapter 6 Quest： Dream Castle III
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
As Rufna murmured, they were Wolfmen.
When he shook his head, every bit of his peculiar ponytail quivered.
A man who looked good even with water dripping off him──.
In contrast to Rean, who reminded one of a well-off young gentleman, he had a rough and violent aura.
”What are you?”
”Ah, there’s no need to be on guard. We have no intention of fighting you. However, if you decide to attack us, that’s a different story.”
”Are you a companion of Natasha?”
Kian briefly glanced at the Head Magician, who was crying out in pain, before asking.
”He’s our employer. We hired her recently. We needed a skilled magician, and she needed money and a place to hide from pursuers. Our interests aligned perfectly.”
”You’re not answering the question properly. I’ll ask again. Who are you? You all appear to be Wolfmen.”
”‘Storm Herd’”
The man lightly tapped his should with the greatsword still sheathed.
With one hand.
He showed no sign of instability at all.
”You’ve heard of us, right? We mainly work as mercenaries.”
As he said this, the man gestured towards his companions with his chin.
Prompted, one of the men stepped forward, pulling a resin card from his pouch and approaching Kian.
”In addition to being war merchants, our group also engages in killing and stealing. If you need someone taken out, it will cost you 50 Franz Kingdom gold coins. Right now, we’re running a special campaign, so for theft requests, it’s a 30 percent discount, so don’t hesitate.”
”……”
The plate he handed over was similar to an adventurer’s license.
However, in the designated name field, it read ‘Private Military Guild Storm Herd (Yelmar Branch)’.
On the back was a magic circle, enabling communication by either dripping blood or channeling magic power.
”What I want you to pay attention to is not to mistake us for our Boss──the main branch. They do not accept personal requests, and both killing and stealing are a no-go. If you take that business card there, you might not only be turned away but potentially killed, so be careful.”
”You’re saying you’re the Storm Herd?”
”One branch of it. For now, we’re using the boss’ organization’s name to make a living, but eventually, we plan to go independent.”
”Afraid this ‘Boss’ of yours will get pissed if you keep taking assassination jobs?”
”It’s about following mercenary customary law. Name misappropriation is a crime—even in the civilian world, right?”
”Depends on what you do with the name. But yeah, you’d probably be on the hook for damages from the original group.”
”We want to avoid trouble. ──Oh, but I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Yelmar. I’m the representative of this mercenary group.”
”I see, Yelmar. My name is──”
”I know.”
The young Wolfman smirked, revealing his sharp canine teeth.
”I know, ‘Crescent Moon Knight’ Kian of Izerland, right? The one who defeated ‘Sword Saint of the Sun’ Oswald. When I heard Natasha’s story, I thought it was unbelievable, but now that we’re face to face, I can really see it. You’re strong. Are you really human?”
”――――.”
”Natasha was someone I had hired. A former head magician of the Danofen family is hard to come by, even if you want one. I knew she was a wanted person, but I went ahead and made a contract. Will you be cracking down on us as Maribel’s loyal knight?”
”It depends on your future actions.”
Kian turned his gaze toward the silvery monster, felled by Natasha, now in a dying state.
”We are pursuing the perpetrator who killed the residents of a mountain village right outside the forest as part of our adventurer’s Guild quest. It seems that a man, who has become a werewolf, was killing villagers there. He used to be a Wolfman like you, but did you know he had been eating villagers?”
”Yeah. Things got out of hand, so I figured someone had to keep it under control. That’s why I left it to Natasha. I don’t think they’ll attack the village again.”
”‘Don’t think’ isn’t good enough! We need to resolve this so no more villagers end up dead. If there are any other dangerous people out there turning into werewolves and eating humans, we have to deal with them.”
”The only one doing the killing was him. The others—Shield Cain, Sword Cain, and the rest—already got put down. …That’s right.”
Yelmar unfastened the sword’s scabbard and casually dropped it.
The white blade flew, severing the head of the wolf-man who had been in a state of death.
The wolf’s decapitated head, with its tongue lolling out, rolled to the water’s edge and rocked gently on the calm waves.
”Now the monsters who had been committing murder are dead.”
Gazing at the giant figure bleeding black blood, Yelmar sheathed his greatsword.
When he fastened the scabbard with his thumb, he turned his gaze back to Kian.
”We were building a ‘castle’ in the lake, but we’re abandoning it all and moving somewhere else. There will be no more deaths in the surrounding villages from now on.”
”Are you planning to commit murder in another place?”
”No? We will reflect on this incident and vow to do honest work. Let’s give out some food to the unfortunate children in the orphanage first.”
”────”
’Kian, if you’re going to fight, focus your magic power on this one. I’ll lend you my weapons.’
Kian carefully opened his mouth as he ignored the words about “glasses.”
”What were you doing under that lake?”
”We were making a base. After all, wouldn’t everyone need a resting place after returning from battle?”
”Sword Cain came up from beneath the lake. …Were you running some kind of Bloodsucking Kind breeding experiment down there?”
”I have no obligation to tell the confidential information of my mercenary group to a single adventurer. If you want to know something, just send an investigation team or something. As I said before, we are abandoning this place and moving to another location. Outside of Izerland.”
”……”
He was calculating the pros and cons in his mind.
As an adventurer, bringing back the monster’s head that was still lying there would be enough.
He didn’t know what Yelmar and his group had been doing, but since they had been discovered by Kian and his group, they would truly leave this place and go far away.
He wouldn’t want to build another ‘base’ in Izerland again.
On the other hand, if he attacked them.
He could possibly save lives that they would kill in another place, but that was all.
Even if he expressed a sense of justice, it would only save a few hundred lives at most.
The rewards from the adventurer’s quest wouldn’t change.
Moreover, he might suffer significant losses, and even if he won, it would likely be impossible to kill all 30 of them.
In the first place, challenging an unknown opponent without the Windsong Blade wasn’t exactly a wise decision.
That greatsword of Yelmar’s was clearly a type of magic sword.
If it possessed those deadly abilities, they wouldn’t be able to handle it.
’If you have this one’s weapon, you can manage. Killing everyone and converting the noteworthy ones into servants is an option too. However, it will require a fair amount of magic power.’
(For now, let’s hold off.)
Kian nodded once.
”Alright. I’m not exactly heroes.”
”Heh, I’m glad to have a smart guy. It would have been a hassle if you had been one of those muscle-headed knights talking about justice for the world.”
”However, I’ll need some money to back down.”
”Sure. How much do you want?”
”You decide. Just give us a sum that you think will make us retreat peacefully.”
Kian said this and gestured towards the waiting Sword Cain.
They revealed the folded blade and stepped forward to serve as a human shield.
Seeing the ability to control Bloodsucking Kind displayed, Yelmar narrowed his blue eyes in caution.
”Twenty gold coins. Can’t you let it go with this?”
”Alright. I’ll let you go. However, if the guild master asks, I will report it, and later an investigation team might be dispatched without my knowledge. I won’t be able to oversee everything, so it’s best to stop any wrongdoing and leave this place quickly.”
”I’ve been saying I intended to disappear without being told. ──Hey.”
Yelmar extended his hand.
One of his subordinates stepped forward and placed a heavy bag of gold coins on it.
”There are 23 extra coins as a gift. A token for a good friend.”
”The negotiation is settled then.”
”Yeah. —Mind if we take our witch back now?”
”Fine. But if this woman causes me harm—”
”I get it. Do what you want. While she’s under our employment, we’ll keep her in line.”
”Heh… Good for you, Ms. Natasha. Looks like you get to live a little longer.”
”……!”
Natasha stood up, her face pale with fear.
If she dared to throw another curse or anything at him, he’d use Glasses to track her to the ends of the earth and bind her.
After that, he’d torture her until her dying breath, making sure she regretted ever defying Kian.
(And when it’s time to finish her off… strangulation during r*pe sounds about right. Even a worn-out woman like her ought to tighten up nicely.)
”Heh heh heh…”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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