Just then, Vientin rubbed between my brows as if smoothing out the wrinkle there and murmured, “Still, congratulations on joining up, Giselle. Relax your face.”
“…”
He whispered in a very low voice so only I could hear. “Either way, you got to meet your father, didn’t you? I’m nervous too, meeting my father-in-law…”
“…Pardon?”
A memory of the past Vientin flashed through my mind. Back then he’d greet my adoptive father, Count Florette, with a “Good to see you, Father-in-law,” or something like that, hadn’t he?
When I shot him a sharp look, Vientin whispered under his breath, “I’ll make sure to treat my father-in-law with all due respect.”
…Maybe his social skills had improved. Just a little. I looked at Vientin with a look of proud satisfaction.
Right then, my father, who had been rustling through flyers and pulled out a [Mercenary Band List], turned his head to look at me. “Ah, even if you lost your ID card, you’ve still got some kind of identity, right?”
“Oh.”
“Well, at least give me a fake one. I’ve gotta have something to introduce you to the other mercenaries with.”
Maybe I’d been so giddy about seeing my parents that I’d stopped thinking straight. I hadn’t even considered a fake identity.
“Just say I came up from some countryside…”
As I faltered, Vientin, who had been keenly observing the situation, stepped in. “That’s right. I am the local lord of a tiny rural area called Adelia, located in the Provance region, roughly 150 km from the capital.”
…W-What? Does a place like that actually exist?
But Vientin’s face stayed perfectly clear and calm. His detached, cool expression, as if he were utterly incapable of telling a lie, actually left me flustered instead.
At that moment, Count Sehera, I mean, my father, shrugged his shoulders. “Ah, that area. Hardly anyone knows it. That’s unusual. Folks from the capital never have any reason to go there. Out here on a little trip, are you?”
“Mo-More or less, yeah. Hahaha.”
“I’m the mercenary commander leading this monster subjugation force. Name’s Felix.”
“…Felix?”
“Yeah. Just call me Felix.”
Something was off. He’s Count Sehera. And there shouldn’t be any reason for him to hide that, right? … I’m pretty sure neither his real name nor his childhood name was Felix.
He clicked his tongue and said, “It’s an alias.”
“Ah, as I thought…”
“Don’t make that face like, ‘Why bother with an alias? Got some tragic backstory or something?’ I just don’t like my real name. I prefer to be called something cute.”
“Cute?”
“Yeah. I’m actually on the cute side, you know.”
He was not cute at all. Is he out of his mind? What is this feeling of being utterly overwhelmed in a battle of wits?
With that rather strange feeling, I arched my brows. I, Giselle, had just developed a burning urge to beat the dad I was meeting for the very first time.
* * *
“You okay, Giselle?”
It had been one day since I joined the mercenary band. And about two days since I’d been with the <Time Slip Machine>. At this very moment, I deeply regretted my decision to enter the mercenary band just to meet my father.
“How many damn trees are we supposed to chop down?”
When I grumbled, one of the mercenaries opened his mouth. “If you wanna smash monsters, this is what you gotta do. It’s basic physical training!”
“What on earth do monsters have to do with trees…?”
A mercenary next to him muttered with a sour face. “We’re chopping these to sell them. We’re basically lumberjacks. And the leader is what we call a miser… utterly blinded by money.”
…As expected of my father. His reputation wasn’t exactly stellar either. Suddenly, Count Florette seems incredibly amazing…
But why on earth were these mercenaries diligently chopping wood even while cursing him under their breath? In short, why didn’t they just run away? Holding onto my doubts, I casually chopped away while scanning my surroundings. Even so, one question lingered.
“Why would noble folks come to a mercenary band anyway?”
“And as a married couple, at that.”
“I heard the leader tested them with a slime before bringing them in. It’s obvious without even looking. They must be incredibly weak.”
“We don’t take weaklings, though.”
Right beside us, they were bad‑mouthing us behind our backs, no, to our faces, while they grumbled.
The atmosphere in this mercenary band is terrible, isn’t it? What even was this?
Listening to their complaining voices, Vientin spoke in a low, threatening tone. “Noisy.”
…Even without knowing his true identity, I guessed anyone could tell from that one line he wasn’t some ordinary guy. The ones who’d been talking shit shut up in a hurry.
Riding that momentum, I snapped at them, practically threatening them. “Wow, the hazing here is truly insane.”
“Giselle.”
I shook my head at Vientin, who had gripped my arm, and replied firmly. “I can’t calm down.”
At that, Vientin shrugged his shoulders and said, “No, there is no need to calm down. I was planning to lend you my sword.”
“Ah.”
“Don’t get blood on your hands. Just handle it with a blade.”
“Got it. If I need to, I’ll use the sword too.”
It was just as I took the sword from him and glared at them with a growl. One of the mercenaries shouted boldly, “What are you doing? Think you can even leave a scratch with that sword? A delicate lady like you?”
“Haa…” I swept my hair back.
Then the mercenary tossed out a pretty tempting offer. “Wanna bet on who takes down that monster rhino over there first, before the leader gets back?”
“Oh.”
“Honestly, I can understand that guy, but Giselle, was it? You, woman, I really can’t tell if you’re strong at all.”
“So you’re looking down on me because I’m a woman?” To be honest, taking down a rhino was nothing to me. I twirled the sword with a flick of my wrist and said, “A rhino, huh?” Smirking, I rolled my wrist a few times.
The moment the mercenary nodded, I stared intently at the rhino huffing out hot air right beside the monster nest. And then… Thud! Before the mercenary could even try anything, a blinding white light shot from my hand. The monster rhino near the nest collapsed to the ground with a heavy thump.
“Oh look. Guess I win.”
At my light remark, the mercenaries’ faces twisted.
To tell the truth, it was a hassle to even put on this kind of performance for these mercenaries. However… I’ll establish dominance by taking down the rhino, and then I’ll use them as my underlings for the next week. I’ll make them chop the wood instead of me. Just thinking about dumping all the grunt work on them made my eyes gleam with madness. Isn’t that sweet…?
“Guys, what do you think?”
“…”
They blinked their eyes, looking as though they couldn’t believe what had just unfolded.
Dominance has been established. But it felt like it was still a little lacking. I looked at the other remaining monster rhino next to the dead one.
From what I’d heard earlier, that crazy rhino had attacked a village and killed someone. I’d overheard them whispering that it was a monster my father had tied up. Supposedly, he was going to deal with it later. Alright, I’ll just deal with that rhino now too.
Thud.
“Two down.”
Standing in front of the monster rhino’s corpse, I hawked and spat on the ground. That should be enough to establish dominance.
The mercenaries who’d been treating me like some adorable little lady now wore looks of pure bewilderment.
“So…” I casually shrugged and looked around at them. “Are we good now?”
One of the mercenaries who’d picked a fight with me earlier asked politely, “Excuse me, but you don’t really seem like someone who should be a mercenary. J-Just what exactly is your true identity…?”
“<Mage>.”
“…?!”
“Does that answer your question?”
Another mercenary stared at me, flustered. “I don’t know much about that field…”
Staring down at him with my chin lifted arrogantly, I said casually, “Then just stay quiet.”
Thanks to dumping my chores on them, I finished my quota in absolute comfort.
It was short a while later. As the sun began to set, my father, who had been drinking at the pub, returned completely wasted.
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