“Did everyone cut down the trees properly?”
“Yes!”
…And the weird thing was this. They had definitely looked like a ragtag bunch before, but… the moment my father arrived, discipline fell into place immediately. It didn’t even seem like he was trying to impose discipline…
He swept his gaze over the mercenaries standing in perfect formation, then jerked his chin at me. “How? Feel like running away yet? You’re a noble lady, after all.”
Just then, the mercenaries carefully spoke up. “That lady’s strong.”
“No way in hell.”
No way? No way in helllllll? Ah, seriously. Because I’d lived in a Confucian country, there were times I’d really wanted to be good to my young dad. But this dad of mine was way too obnoxious.
“Count Sehera looked so much like you!”
“Ah, really? Like me?”
“Yeah. He had that overwhelming presence of yours.”
There were times like that when I’d felt proud. But…
My father gave the oddly disciplined mercenaries a quick once-over, then stomped his foot to pull everyone’s attention back to him. “Whatever, just do a good job. Starting tomorrow, we’re going out to smash monsters.”
“Oh.”
“Those b*stards. Those f*cking pieces of trash. I’m going to wipe them all out, every last one. Screw the nobility. I became a mercenary just so I could slaughter all of them.”
“…”
“The Imperial Defense Forces can’t do the damn thing right except be a total pain in the ass, you know?”
“Ah…”
“I’m going to clean up every last monster corpse and dump them there. If they still run their mouths then, I won’t let it slide.”
I threw up my hands in complete surrender. This man was a loose cannon among loose cannons.
Of course, it was true that the Imperial Defense Forces were sitting on their hands. But for a man who held the title count and archmage to suddenly, and so recklessly, become a mercenary? Come to think of it, isn’t he completely insane? No forethought. No backup plan. He’s completely a human bulldozer…!
What on earth do he and I look like?
…Count Florette, I’m not letting you off the hook for this.
* * *
Day two of life as a mercenary. It had been three days since I used the <Time Slip Machine>. I was gradually adjusting to this grueling mercenary life. Was it because my past life as a modern person had been tempered by countless part-time jobs?
“When we first met, I was prejudiced because I thought you were some noble lady in a dress, but you’re more of a mercenary than any of us.”
“Is that so? Cut down more wood over there.”
“Okay.”
“You’re good. Real good.”
“Haha! Thanks.”
“Giselle, here’s the wood.”
“Ah, Vientin. Why are you cutting wood? Those guys are doing it all for us.”
I sat beneath the stump of a freshly felled tree, watching them. In my hand, I held a piece of roasted monster pork, tearing into it.
They say praise can make even a whale dance. They’re chopping that wood quite diligently. The mercenaries weren’t whales, but receiving praise had clearly made their shoulders square with pride. They were vigorously feeling the trees.
Meanwhile, the vice-leader of the mercenary band, who had been watching my satisfied expression, shouted loudly. “Everyone, look at Giselle! Look at the sheer force of her tearing into that whole roasted black pork with one hand!”
…What?
“I’m telling you, she took down a giant rhinoceros with her bare hands! She is nothing short of a true mercenary!”
That doesn’t sound like a compliment, you know…
Still, fun times with the mercs were one thing. There was another problem entirely.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at my father. “I have a question.”
“Yeah.”
“That mountain, are you planning to move the whole thing by yourself?”
To be honest, I’d already reached the point where calling my own father ‘you’ didn’t even really prick my conscience anymore. Guess I really have turned into an unfilial child.
My father, who couldn’t possibly dream that he was being addressed as ‘you’ by his future daughter, asked back with a puzzled face. “How did you know?”
“Want me to help?”
“What could you possibly—”
There was no need for further words. As I stared straight at him, light spilled from the tips of my fingers. For a fraction of a second, the ground tilted. And then… a massive crater of earth shifted to the right.
“You can just move it like this.”
In that instant, my father’s eyes gleamed. It was the look of someone who had just found a highly useful worker…
I’d screwed up… Yeah, I’d really screwed up.
He rushed over to me in a flurry and shouted loudly. “Oh, I like you a bit. But I’m still better at it.”
The next moment, it felt like an earthquake had hit. A crackle, like a bolt of lightning, seemed to strike down. I clamped my eyes shut, bracing myself against the tsunami-like earthquake… or rather, I didn’t have to.
“Giselle, it’s fine. Rest assured.”
…Thanks to Vientin protecting the ground around us with his sword aura, we were perfectly safe. I clung tightly to Vientin’s hand, and the mercenaries did the same all around us.
“Hey, that’s enough.”
“Wow, I thought a landslide was happening…”
“It has to be at least this much.”
As I watched him, a sudden question popped into my mind. At this moment, my father is strong. Way stronger than me. Strong enough to walk alone into a monster’s nest and massacre every last one inside. Strong enough to move a mountain by himself. But why? Why had all of his power been taken from him so meaninglessly?
* * *
It was my third day with the mercenary band. The fourth day using <Time Slip Machine>. And this was the first time I was getting a proper look at Count Sehera’s true power.
“Today! We’re all going into the monster nest together!”
“Oooh!”
“Perfect chance to measure the strength of our new mercenary! Killing two birds with one stone!”
Watching his back with a dubious expression, I entered the monster’s nest with one prevailing thought. Wow, damn. That man is absolutely a monster. He sliced through all kinds of monsters, leaving absolutely no openings. He found a monster nest after breakfast and slaughtered them; he found another nest after lunch and killed them; he found a new nest after dinner and slaugh—
“Wow, crazy. There’s treasure here. I’m going to move you out.”
“Kkueeek?”
“Ah, are you asking if I’m moving you to another village? No, no.”
“Kkuek?”
“You’re going to the afterlife. What else would I mean?”
…Right, instead of just killing them, he would craftily plunder the monsters’ treasure troves first. Well, they did say the monsters here have been harming the villagers. More than a few humans had been killed by these monsters, so my father was currently being treated as a hero, but still… It still feels a little questionable.
When I stared at him, he shrugged and said, “What, am I too handsome? Are you struck speechless?”
“I am certainly speechless…”
What an obnoxious narcissist.
Why the hell did Count Florette ever like Count Sehera? Still harboring the same serious question, I went to join Duke Kalinos and the other mercenaries.
“This is the last monster nest…” Father spoke slowly, then shifted his feet a few times.
I stepped closer to catch what he was muttering under his breath. “What exactly did you just—”
Thud, rumble! In that split second, the cave unexpectedly split in half, leaving only Count Sehera and me on one side.
“Crazy…”
This was insane. We were really isolated like this.
I heard a racket as if someone was trying to break the cave down. That was probably Vientin going wild. Raising my voice, I shouted. “Vientin, I’m fine! I’ll destroy the monster nest and then head out. Go play with the mercenaries!”
A muffled rumbling sound came from the opposite side of the cave wall. He was probably responding to my words.
Glancing at Count Sehera, I asked. “What do we do now?”
“What do you mean what? The only thing to do is head out through the other passage at the back of the nest.” He pointed toward the darker part of the cave. “Why don’t you take the lead this time? I’ll watch to test your skills.” With that, he crossed his arms. It was as if to say he wouldn’t lift a finger.
…Ah, come on. He’s just dumping his chores on me, isn’t he?
My face twisted in a scowl. But then, it wasn’t a place where particularly difficult monsters appeared anyway. Moving as a mercenary, monsters weren’t actually something that concerned me all that much. However…
A sudden look of concern crossed my eyes. Something about his presence feels off. Even inside a cave, his senses should be finely honed; his eyesight ought to be at the level of a Mongolian. But right now, he was acting strange. His steps weren’t his usual confident stride but rather hesitant, faltering footsteps. He was acting exactly like someone whose vision was compromised. What is it?
Even as I pondered, we passed through the section of the cave illuminated by the faint glow of night-luminescent pearls and stepped into a part completely submerged in darkness. From here on, I need to focus properly.
Neither Count Sehera nor I made the slightest sound. And then, the ambush came without warning.
Comments (0)