"Hmm, a child."
The voice coming from beyond the helmet was chillingly elegant.
A refined, beautiful voice, hard to believe it belonged to someone who had just slaughtered dozens of lives.
The unknown knight lightly shook off the blood dripping from his sword and looked down at me.
"Perhaps because they are uneducated mercenaries, they drag even such young children into the battlefield. How utterly barbaric and unpleasant."
'What…?'
Those words snapped something inside my head.
Jack's head rolling at his feet, Captain Barkas's body split in half.
The warmth and jokes they had given me were dismissed as 'something barbaric and unpleasant' by a single word from this knight.
And what? After massacring people like that, all he has to say is….
Unpleasant?
"You know nothing…."
My trembling hands stopped.
I gripped the sword hilt as if to crush it.
Boiling anger dyed my vision red.
"Don't blabber carelessly when you know nothing!!!"
Pang—!
Simultaneously with my shout, my body shot forward.
It was the fastest movement of my life.
It was the movement of every member of the Acies Mercenary Corps engraved in my eyes and remembered by my muscles.
Swish—!
Three daggers pulled from my bosom flew toward the knight's face.
The full-power moving throw taught by Spio.
But the knight didn't even swing his sword.
"Hoh?"
He merely tilted his head slightly, and the daggers futilely cut through the air and embedded themselves in the tree behind him.
Thud-thud-thud—!
"Die!!"
Chasing the trajectory of the daggers, I dug into the knight's lower guard.
The horizontal slash following a sliding motion, feigning a jump, which Jack often showed.
AKA 'Slip Slash.'
If it was the first encounter, it was a great technique to catch the enemy off guard.
Jack's Slip Slash was perfectly realized in my body.
Speed and angle unbelievable for the muscle strength of a 10-year-old child.
Clang—!
The knight's longsword lightly blocked my sword.
"Interesting."
Like an adult playing along with a child's toy, there was not even a tremor in his wrist.
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
I pressed on without resting.
The secret techniques of the members copied via 'Trace' were realized one by one through my body.
The thrust of spearmanship, the downward strike of axe skills, and even the cowardly technique of scattering mud to obscure vision.
For the first time, the knight's eyes narrowed.
"A strange fellow. How is this possible?"
The knight tilted his head.
" The body is clearly that of a child… but the movements are those of a seasoned mercenary who has rolled for decades."
"Shut up!!"
This was the last one.
I kicked off the ground and leaped up.
The ultimate technique of the strongest member of the Acies Mercenary Corps, which Captain Barkas enjoyed using, AKA 'Mountain Splitter.'
I put my entire body weight into a forward flip and struck down vertically.
A one-hit-kill attack carrying rotational force, body weight, and even gravity.
I put all my hatred and killing intent into the tip of the sword.
Please, I screamed, hoping to make even a single scratch on that high-and-mighty helmet.
"Kuaaaaaah!!!"
Claaaang—!
Along with a rupture sound tearing the eardrums, my wrist screamed.
But what split wasn't the knight, but my sword.
The blade, broken in half, spun in the air and stuck into the mud.
Thud—
"...."
It was futile.
"Hmm…."
The knight admired in a low voice.
And aimed his sword at me.
No, strictly speaking, at the empty space to my left.
"I saw something good. In return, let me show you one too."
Woooom—
The knight's sword resonated.
'W-What is that…!!'
An overwhelming aura I had never felt even once.
The knight drew his sword down vertically.
Zap—!
Along with a flashing sound, it felt like the space a span away from me distorted.
And,
Rumble-crash—!
Devouring the sprawling corpses and the earth, the bastard's crimson strike spread out.
'What the…!'
A sword strike?
Can you call this a sword strike?
I thought it might feel like this if a cannon was fired in the form of a sword strike.
The knight slowly pushed the sword he was holding into its scabbard.
The metallic clink sound dragged me back to reality.
"Piace Style, Vertical Slash. It is called Red Flower (Jeokhwa)."
Holding the broken hilt, only then did I gasp for breath.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!"
My whole body trembled.
"Good eyes. You must have been a fellow dearly loved by the members. Their care is embedded in those crude techniques you showed."
The knight added indifferently as he mounted his horse.
"Fine. I will spare you."
"Just kill me…! Kill me, you son of a bitch!!"
I screamed, but the knight chuckled and looked down at me.
That look wasn't even contempt.
It was exactly that level of indifference, like looking at a single flower that happened to bloom next to a weed while passing through a field.
"Decisions are made by the strong. You, the weak, cannot even die as you please."
"Kuh…."
There were no words to refute him.
"You seem to have quite the talent. Try to survive tenaciously and climb up. Then you might meet me again on some nameless battlefield. If that time comes, I will take the trouble to harvest your life."
The knight spurred his horse.
The giant warhorse brushed past me.
I shouted until my throat tore.
"Name! I must know your name!! I will definitely take revenge!!"
"Huhu, that's good too. Leorel Piace. I will be waiting with pleasure."
Like that, the knight disappeared into the fog.
I collapsed on the spot, grinding my teeth and clutching the mud.
Grind—
"Leorel Piace…!!!"
Mud mixed with Jack's blood slipped unpleasantly through my fingers.
Decisions are made by the strong.
Those words hovered in my mind like a curse.
It was two days later when I returned to the empty base.
"...."
There was no one.
The well where the members would wash their faces while cursing every morning, the training ground soaked with the smell of sweat, and the dining hall where we tilted glasses every night.
Only silence filled them.
I went into Captain Barkas's room and crouched on the old chair he used.
A few villagers came and offered words of comfort.
"Danel, cheer up."
"Oh dear, those good people…."
"Luck… was not on their side…."
Luck wasn't on their side…?
Right, maybe so.
Because the existence called a knight that I experienced was like a natural disaster that ordinary people like us had to bow our heads to, trembling in fear, and just hope would pass by.
A desperate sense of defeat bound my entire body.
The emotion of that day, that I would definitely take revenge, remained, but upon actually returning, the sense of loss from their absence was too great.
Food wouldn't go down my throat either.
On the third day of refusing food and drink and burying myself in darkness.
"You have to live!! You idiot!!"
The door burst open with a familiar voice.
It was Lia, a village girl who often came to play at the mercenary corps.
She grabbed me by the collar and shook me.
"At least you have to live! The Captain must have entrusted you with something! You didn't survive alone for nothing!!"
At Lia's shout, my closed eyes opened.
'…Entrusted?'
After Lia left, I recalled a conversation with Barkas in the empty room.
It was around evening when the sunset was falling, after sword training was over.
"Do you want to learn Aura that much?"
"Isn't it obvious? No, if you learn it, you learn it. Why is that even a crime?"
Barkas lifted a keg and took a sip.
"That's because the nobles are cowards."
"Cowards?"
"Yeah, they hide it tight because they don't want what they have taken away. Because if a cool and strong guy like me learns Aura, they won't be able to handle it! Kuhaha!!"
Barkas laughed loudly and patted my head.
"But Danel, there is just one place. A place that is an exception."
I pricked up my ears.
"Where?"
"The Northern Empire. Ashuhalt Duchy."
A place called a paradise for war because invasions by monsters and northern barbarians never cease.
A legendary land where Ashuhalt, who was a Margrave, was promoted to Duke solely acknowledged for his military merits.
"If you build up merits there, you might be able to obtain at least one very low-grade Aura cultivation method."
"Are there grades for Aura cultivation methods too?"
"Isn't that obvious. So even if you learn it anyway, the gap is already wide."
"They are very meticulous sons of bitches."
"Kuhahaha!! Yeah, total sons of bitches!!! Kuhahaha!!"
'Ashuhalt Duchy…!'
I raised my body.
I packed the mercenary corps' emergency funds and seals from Barkas's dusty desk and the members' rooms.
Ashuhalt Duchy.
If it's there, I might be able to dig into a crack in the 'power' those high-and-mighty knight bastards are monopolizing.
"Watch me, everyone."
I carefully folded the flag of the Acies Mercenary Corps and kept it in my bosom.
"You're leaving…?"
"Yeah, thanks to your words, I came to my senses. Thanks, Lia."
Lia teared up a little.
"Just… can't you live here with us? Mercenary stuff is dangerous, you know… If you quit and live helping out at the inn here!"
Tap—
I placed my hand on Lia's head.
"I will definitely… come back to see you someday."
Lia eventually wiped her tears.
"Idiot, Danel is an idiot!!"
"Take care, Lia."
"You must, you must come back."
"Yeah…."
Ignoring the fluttering and warm goodwill of a teenage girl with effort, embracing everything I had in a single old flag.
Thud—
I left for the North like that.
10 years later,
The Northern Empire, Ashuhalt Duchy.
Although called the North, the Ashuhalt Duchy was a fairly livable place with four seasons.
So the barbarians even further north must be making a fuss to take over this place.
Creak—
A hut in a small village on the outskirts of the Duchy.
The old hinges moved with a noise.
"You here again?"
Gerrick, the contact for the Information Guild, asked as if annoyed.
"Hmph, you pretend not to be glad, but you'd have no customers if I didn't come."
"Bullshit."
I threw off my blood-stained leather gloves and sat on the chair.
The 10-year-old brat was nowhere to be seen.
Now, a 20-year-old young man, standing over 180cm tall, radiating a cool atmosphere with solid muscles hardened by roaming numerous battlefields, was there.
"What kind of way is that to speak to a regular, Gerrick."
"Hah… It's because you really seem like a crazy guy. If you earned enough money to be called the 'Mercenary King' in the North, you should drink booze and meet women. Why do you pour your entire fortune into this kind of information every day?"
"Damn it, what Mercenary King…. I feel dirty because it sounds like you're teasing that nickname."
Mercenary King.
It was a nickname attached to me for completing the most requests most perfectly in the North over the past 10 years.
A nickname that was initially something like 'Request Addict' solidified as it is because the Mercenary Guild Master asked, 'Are you planning to become the Mercenary King or something?'
It wasn't a name given because I was overwhelmingly strong.
I killed more diligently than anyone else, and survived more tenaciously than anyone else.
Right, it was a meaning containing the expectation of 'might become the Mercenary King in the future.'
"Here's the payment. Just give me the intel."
I tossed the pouch of money I received for taking a monster's head.
Gerrick grumbled but held out a thick envelope.
"Hey, are you trying to become a soldier for a noble family or something? Or… trying to seduce a noble lady?"
"You can think that if you want."
"Isn't this a crazy bastard? You'll be arrested for insulting nobility!! Hey!! Hey!! Danel!!"
Bang—!
The guild door closed.
Gerrick shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, is it my death? It's his death."
"Wait… if that bastard even mentions that I handed over the information…."
"Hey, you fucker! Danel! Hey! See you there! What are you going to use that for!!"
I took the documents and returned to my sanctuary, built quietly alone on the outskirts of the village.
It had the advantage of being unpopulated and quiet as it was a dangerous place where monsters occasionally roamed.
Inside the old hut, relying on a single candle, I flipped through the documents.
[Viscount Berdo Family: Swordsmanship family.
No knight-level expert in the family for 30 years.
Currently considering hiring external military force due to financial difficulties. Presumed to possess the lowest-grade Aura cultivation method 'Blues Roar'.]
A chuckle leaked out.
"'Blues Roar', my ass. Perfect for dancing. That's why they have no knights."
This was what I had been doing for the past 10 years.
Background checks on noble families to learn Aura.
Digging into nobles cost a formidable amount of money.
But, I considered it an investment.
If stealing the cultivation method is a crime, the goal was to make them need me and hand it over themselves.
'Viscount Berdo family…. There might be a possibility. I'll need to make contact…."
I tilted my head.
'Hmm… But it's a bit ambiguous that there hasn't been a single knight-level for 30 years….'
Tap tap—
My finger tapped the word 'Cultivation Method' on the document.
I never forgot that knight's red sword energy from 10 years ago for even a single moment.
The vertical slash I could never forget.
I was certain that was a realm that could absolutely never be achieved with some lowest-grade Aura cultivation method.
Mid-grade, no, even low-grade is fine.
As long as it's not the lowest grade….
"Phew… Damn it…. Is it a dud this time too…."
There was another reason I solved requests like crazy.
It was in the hope that the fame built up in the North all this time would become the key to opening the door of that solid noble society.
'You'd think at least one guy would come looking for me.'
It was then.
Knock knock knock—!
A strange knocking sound rang out in the silent hut.
I reflexively grabbed the sword I had set down.
'Who is it? There's no one to come?'
There was no answer from outside the door.
However, a strangely sweet scent was seeping in, riding the cold night air.
A very expensive and fancy scent that absolutely did not suit this desolate mercenary hut in the North.
I slowly grabbed the doorknob.
"Who is it."
Then came a beautiful voice, like rolling silver beads.
"E-Excuse me, w-would you happen to be the Mercenary King?"