Published at 21st of November 2020 09:28:09 PM
Translator: Seven
Editors: Ana_Banana, Yahiko
Frey immediately received a new Mercenary Card .
Unlike the C-rank card which appeared to be made of bronze, the rank Mercenary Card seemed to be made of sparkling gold .
The one-eyed man, Domki, gave him a warning . (TL: you guys can’t understand the forbearance it took to not give him a dumber name)
“As you can see, this Mercenary Card is made of gold, so it’s worth a lot . They can be sold for dozens of gold at a general store so they also cost a lot to reissue . So you should pay attention not to lose it . ”
“I understand . ”
“…are you a 5 star Wizard?”
“Yes . ”
Domki’s eyes flashed with amazement .
Looking at his reaction, Frey thought back to Eizek’s advice .
Eizek told him that it would be the most convenient to act like a 5 star Wizard whenever working externally .
This was because it made it easier for him to have people recognize his strength without raising any suspicions .
If it was a wizard who was above 5 stars then it would be strange for them to be a mercenary who wasn’t already a part of a group or well known .
Especially if it was a young Wizard like Kain .
Therefore, while Frey donned the face of Kain, he did not intend to use any spells above 5 stars .
He didn’t expect to encounter anything that would force him to .
“You’re amazing even without a staff . ”
Staff .
Now that he thought about it, Frey realised that he had forgotten to find a staff .
This was because he already had the Staff of the Great Sage .
‘A Wizard without a staff would raise some doubts . ’
Because of this, he would need to carry a staff, just for appearances .
Frey decided to get one that very day .
Fortunately, Domki didn’t say anything else about the staff .
“Are you a part of a Mercenary Group?”
“I’m not, and I don’t intend to join any groups at the moment . ”
“I see . ”
Domki smacked his lips with a slightly regretful expression .
As the leader of a Mercenary Group, he desperately wanted this young man standing before him .
No matter which Mercenary Group they wished to join, a 5 star Wizard would be welcome with open arms and treated like royalty .
This was because there was always a lack of Wizards in their line of business .
That was why even 3 star and 4 star wizards were paid more than ten times other Mercenaries in the same rank .
Domki’s Mercenary Group already had a 5 star Wizard which was already impressive, however, no matter how he looked at it, Frey was much stronger .
Of course, he couldn’t force him since Frey had already told him his thoughts .
“rank Mercenaries are given free accommodation within the Mercenary Guild and you can request free equipment repair once a month at any affiliated blacksmith . In addition, there are no restrictions when entering or leaving the borders of the empire and its allies, and you can create a Mercenary Group of your own . There…”
Domki began explaining the benefits of being an rank Mercenary .
Frey listened to Domki .
rank Mercenaries made up less than 1% of the Mercenary population, and it was the goal that most Mercenaries aimed for .
This was because they knew that the S-rank and SS-ranks which were filled with monsters were dreams that could never be achieved .
After listening to the benefits, Frey understood why so many Mercenaries would risk their lives to reach the rank .
“…that’s it . Do you have any questions?”
Domki’s voice was gentle and it was nothing compared to the cold and harsh tone that he’d used before .
Frey felt like the man in front of him was trying to obtain his favor .
“I have a request I’d like to make . ”
“What is it?”
“There is a mission to escort a group of peddlers to the Great Reynols Forest . ”
“Great Reynols Forest…at this time…”
“Huh?”
Domki shook his head .
“There are much better missions for you to choose . ”
“Is it difficult?”
“It’s pretty standard, but something terrible happened recently . ”
“Something terrible?”
“I’m sorry but I can’t talk freely . It’s confidential for now . If you really want to take the mission then you can directly talk to the person who made the request . ”
“I understand . ”
“If it’s money you want, then it’s not a bad mission . I’ve heard that that mission pays quite well . ”
The pay .
Although he still had one platinum coin left, Frey intended to wander the continent, so the more money he had, the better .
Frey decided to tell Domki his plans and seek a second opinion .
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to return with them after taking them to the forest…would that be okay?”
“One way escort…hmm . It’s a tricky condition, but…”
For an rank Mercenary and a Wizard at that, the requestor would be willing to accept a few conditions .
After doing some calculations, Domki nodded his head .
“I’ll tell you in advance . The pay will drop to less than half . Are you fine with that?”
“Yes . ”
“Stay in the guild today . I’ll inform you as soon as the date of departure is coordinated with the peddlers . ”
“Thank you . ”
It didn’t matter because Frey could use Warp whenever he wanted to anyway .
What’s more, he had memorized the coordinates of the places that he’d visited before .
He knew the coordinates for Uthiano, as well as Grode, Pillat, the 3rd Magic Tower, and even Drake Mountain .
Frey returned to the first floor where he showed his new Mercenary Card to the girl at the counter .
“You became an rank Mercenary…”
Not even an hour had passed .
The man in front of her turned out to be much more amazing than she’d expected .
“I heard that I can rent a room for free . ”
“O-, of course . Here’s the key . ”
Frey took the key from the employee and put it in his pocket . He didn’t have any intention of going upstairs just yet .
Instead, he looked around .
Mercenaries .
In a sense, there would be no one who was as sensitive to the surrounding situation than this group of people .
The more skilled a Mercenary was, the better their understanding of the happenings in the world .
“A few days ago, I saw the S-rank Mercenary Elsie, and her face really is amazing . If I didn’t know it was her, I might’ve tried something . ”
“Your fingers would’ve gotten cut off . Hehe . ”
“They said there’s going to be another civil war in Silkid . It’s dangerous but it’s also a really good place to make a killing . Wanna come with me?”
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“Geotanbul is also a great place to earn nowadays . I heard that there are pirates there that are working with undead so they are trying to draw in as many escorts as possible . ”
“Undead again? Damn skeleton bastards . We’ve been seeing them a lot lately . ”
There were many interesting stories, but they weren’t what Frey was looking for .
It was then .
“Did you hear that Count Isaka might step down from his post as the 5th Magic Tower’s Master?”
“Huh? Really? What for?”
“Well . I’m not sure . I just heard about it from my friend who does chores at the 5th Magic Tower . ”
“Come to think of it, he has been staying at their family home for a long time . Hasn’t it been about two months?”
“It doesn’t make sense for the Tower Master to be away for such a long time . I feel like he will be fired . ”
Frey got up from his seat and headed over to those Mercenaries .
There was a gentle smile on his face .
“Hello, seniors . ”
“Huh?”
“Who the hell are you?”
The Mercenaries looked at him with suspicious gazes .
“I’m just an ugly junior who knows nothing about the world . I’d like to ask you some questions . ”
“Well…”
“Of course, I can’t hear your experiences if your mouth is dry . Please bring plenty of beer and snacks . ”
Frey made an order to a waitress who was passing by and the Mercenaries’ faces brightened immediately .
“Junior really has good eyes . ”
“There is probably no one else in all of Pillat who has as much experience as our party . ”
“Right . What do you want to know?”
It was much easier than Frey expected .
There were two reasons for this .
One was that Kain Rixton’s appearance gave people a good impression .
Kain’s face allowed him to easily gain people’s favor simply by giving them a gentle smile .
The other was the simplicity that came with people who were called Mercenaries .
Most of them lived in the present and enjoyed the simple pleasures in life .
The Mercenaries in front of him were either C-rank of D-rank but they would not find his actions strange .
Instead, they would only think that he was in a good mood that day .
“Are there any rumors about the Blake Family recently?”
“Rumors?”
“Even small things are fine . ”
“Why do you want to know about that?”
Frey thought about it for a moment and made a slightly hesitant expression .
“I want to become one of the Blake Family’s guards . ”
Taking a hint from ‘Frey’s memories, he knew that there were always many people who desired to become the Blake Family’s guards
The Mercenaries laughed and nodded at his words .
“Well . The salary is high and it’s a stable job . ”
“Sometimes those guys can even eat what the nobles eat and enjoy other luxuries . ”
“Except for the intense competition, it is a great job . ”
Most of their words were useless, but Frey still smiled and waited for them to finish their chatter .
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When the beer was finally brought out to them, a large man sitting on the right began speaking .
“Well, come to think of it, Hans did say that he saw several wagons entering the Blake Family property at dawn . ”
“Why was that? Were they supplies from the capital?”
“There were too many for that . And I heard someone’s voice from inside . Sounded like they were screaming or something . ”
Frey’s gaze became sharp .
He immediately thought about human sacrifice, but the other mercenaries simply laughed at those words .
“Puhahaha . Screaming? That’s a pretty good ghost story . ”
“That sort of thing is common for those aristocratic families . It’s probably a servant from another province or country . ”
“Well . I don’t think we need to take it seriously . ”
After that, they told Frey a lot of information about the Blake Family, but most of it was unimportant .
They mainly praised the amazing talents of the eldest and second sons Mischael and Heinz, as well as the head of the family Isaka’s tremendous magic skill .
‘Frey Blake’s name was not even mentioned once .
Was he simply forgotten, or was simply not important enough to discuss?
He didn’t think too deeply about it because he wasn’t that interested .
After asking the Mercenaries for forgiveness, Frey stood up from his seat .
Then he went to a nearby store and purchased a suitable staff .
“That will be 10 gold . ”
The price of a staff had been ridiculously expensive 4,000 years ago and it remained the same now . It was the same for all magical items .
Frey paid the bill without complaint .
Then he decided to explore the city of Pillat since he had nothing to do until it was time to sleep .
He also had the slight expectation that he’d be able to receive a clue about Isaka’s actions .
But, of course, he found nothing .
The next day .
A waiter approached Frey after he came down to the first floor after washing his face .
“Mr . Kain Rixton, Mr . Domki asked me to pass this to you . ”
It was a flyer .
On it, was the information about the escort mission to the Great Reynols Forest .
‘It’s a union of peddlers . So they handle many kinds of goods . ’
It ranged from simple clothing and local specialties to precious metals, magic items, and scrolls .
If there was such a large collection of precious goods, then it was understandable why thieves would target it .
“There will be a total of twenty-five Mercenaries . ”
This was a mission with a fairly large number of people .
The specific numbers were 1 S-rank, 7 rank, 12 B-rank and 5 C-rank Mercenaries .
Frey tilted his head slightly when he saw the 5 C-rank Mercenaries, but then he realised that they all had specific professions such as Scout, Priest and Herbalist .
Such professions did not need to have a high combat ability .
‘But 7 rank Mercenaries?’
Turk .
Then someone sat beside him .
Turning his head to look, he found that a bearded man who appeared to be in his thirties was looking at him .
“Are you Kain Rixton?”
“And you are?”
The man smiled cheerfully and stretched out his hand .
“I’m Alkon, leader of the Great Reynols Forest escort mission . ”
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The leader .
If that was the case then there was a high chance that this man was the sole S-rank Mercenary on the mission .
Frey grabbed his hand/
“I am Kain Rixton . Please take care of me . ”
“Haha . We weren’t able to leave because we lacked a Wizard, but you arrived just in time . Domki is famous for being incredibly strict, but he couldn’t stop praising you . ”
Alkon laughed as he shook his hand .
His grip was so tight that not even a needle would be able to fit between their hands .
He carried a large axe on his back, so it was almost certainly his weapon .
‘If he’s an S-rank Mercenary then he should be at least a First class Magic Warrior . ’
This meant that this person was stronger than the Dark Elf Liamoson, or Honor Fianne from the Trowman Rings .
Of course, there were not many people who had reached such a level of strength .
From what Frey had heard, the number of people on the continent who had done so didn’t surpass 100 .
“Is this mission so dangerous that it requires an S-rank Mercenary?”
At Frey’s question, Alkon’s face became a bit solemn .
“Something terrible happened recently . Have you heard about it?”
“I only know that something bad happened . ”
This was because Domki did not tell him what happened .
Alkon nodded .
“I see . Well, you will need to know since you are now a part of the group . A group of peddlers who were headed to the forest to deliver their goods was annihilated . ”
“Including the Mercenaries?”
“That’s right . ”
“Who did it?”
Then he heard something that he would never have expected .
“Undead . ”
“…?”
Frey’s expression became a bit strange .
At most he thought that it would be a monster or a bandit who was after the goods .
Alkon sighed .
“These days, undead are being spotted all over the continent . They say that sometimes they join hands with other races . Either way, it’s not good . ”
‘Come to think of it…’
Frey recalled the Lich who had attacked the Cortez .
The 6 star Undead who had joined hands with the pirates to attack the ship was a creature that had an unreasonable hatred toward living beings .
The stronger an undead was, the more intelligent, but they could never get rid of the hatred they felt .
Frey frowned .
It wasn’t about the problem with the undead .
The problem was that they might slow him down .
‘I don’t think I’ll have to worry too much about this mission because the guild is paying a lot of attention to it . ’
He spent the rest of the day conversing with Alkon .
Alkon seemed to like Frey . No, he simply pretended to feel that way so that they could be closer
Perhaps it was because he was a Wizard .
It was almost as though he was afraid to show any dissatisfaction .
Frey simply conversed with him while maintaining a certain distance .
And the very next day, Frey got onto a carriage and headed toward the Great Reynols Forest .