It’s almost near dawn but the Travelers’ Shelter was still rowdy. I could hear the sound of glasses clinking together from the inn lobby. It seemed they were still drinking heavily until now. Also, I could hear the loud noises of people betting their money from the second floor. Perhaps they were gambling as well.
It was unbelievable. They were having a lot of fun without any worries.
Inside the outdoor bathroom of the Travelers’ Shelter, one hairy mercenary was choking and shaking his legs in the air with his pants half off. He came to the bathroom to take a shit but got strangled by a snare coming down from a roof prop.
Shortly after, he died. I took his money and identification card out of his pocket. Then I threw his body under the toilet.
The corpse slowly sank into the fecal water by the weight of his armor. It was quite deep. His whole body was submerged so I couldn’t see a single hair.
I threw an empty bottle on top of his dead body.
People would think it was an accident. He was too drunk so he missed his step and fell under the toilet. Of course, there’s a strangling mark yet it would be considered as an accidental death since the commander of the Polkin Gateway wouldn’t make a big deal of it. If he did, it would still be okay.
“Another one is gone now…”
While whistling, I was about to step outside the bathroom. At that moment, I ran into another mercenary coming into the bathroom. He was a very handsome man who almost made me jealous.
As soon as I stood behind him, I immediately strangled him with my forearm, dragged him into the bathroom, and choked him to death.
Again, I took money out of his pocket. Then I took his pants off down to his ankles and threw his body into the same spot where I threw the hairy guy’s body. After that, I kicked and broke a part of the wooden floor of the toilet.
The story completely changed now and actually, it seemed more plausible.
These two guys were making a forbidden love intensely and suddenly the toilet broke so they drowned to death. What about the strangling mark? They would be just considered as masochists so it didn’t matter.
I paid a silent tribute for a moment. I was very grieved since their beautiful and noble love came to a tragic end. As I was about to leave the bathroom, another middle-aged mercenary was coming with short and quick steps. He probably needed to take a leak quickly.
Yes, that’s right. The tragic love story had an unexpected and clandestine twist. It was 3P.
“Well, everything is settled here now.”
Once I took care of the dead bodies, I stepped outside. I thought of going for 4P, 5P but the story didn’t seem plausible so I just moved on. Anyways, the toilet was too small for four people to go inside and do something together.
I turned around the corner and went out to the big street in front of the Travelers’ Shelter. Then I found one mercenary soldier sitting in front of the inn’s entrance door. He probably came out to get some fresh air.
Since he was alone, I was trying to kill him but there were a few other drunk passersby around the street so I couldn’t.
‘Actually, I can just take care of him right now.’
I looked at a patrol team of two soldiers with their spears approaching from a distance. Thanks to them, I could give it a try. If I made a mistake, I could just apologize. If not, another Alon’s underling would be taken care of.
So I started walking slowly along with patrol soldiers. And by the time one patrol soldier passed by the mercenary, I kicked the tip of the spear of the patrol soldier.
The spear spun in a strange trajectory, the sharp tip of the spear pierced through the neck of the mercenary who was just getting fresh air.
The mercenary grabbed his neck pierced through by the spear and moaned in pain. The patrol soldier was very embarrassed due to such an absurd accident and gave his arm to the mercenary to take him to a hospital.
Of course, I already disappeared into the dark alley.
* * *
As I came closer, Armida who was waiting in front of the temple welcomed me by waving her hand.
“Hey little bro, come here quickly.”
“Hey sis, did anything happen?”
“No. Nothing happened.”
“Some of them are still wandering outside?”
“There’s none outside. Only those inside the inn are left.”
I took the piece of paper out of my pocket and checked the number. I drove seven of them out to the west gate by threat. I disguised the accidental deaths of four mercenary soldiers in the toilet and the well. Five were sent to the Hall of Divinity by Teleportation Magic. So, the total was sixteen but there were only a little over twenty of them left.
While we took care of sixteen of them, nearly the same number of Alon’s underlings ran away.
With a dumbfounded face, Armida walked close to me.
“Seriously, how can they all run away like that?”
I folded the piece of paper and put it back inside my pocket.
“It is not unusual. The leader ran away under the cover of darkness while leaving hundreds of his underlings behind in Kara. The gate is sealed shut so they can’t go anywhere. And some of their fellows are disappearing. So, they know something is going wrong. Thus everybody starts running away in an instant.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. That’s the mentality of those who make their living by using swords.”
She seemed to be able to understand what I said.
“Yet, Alon seems to be trusted a little bit. Still, there are more than twenty underlings left, right?”
I laughed hollowly. She’s so naive.
“Why do you think they haven’t run away yet?”
“Isn’t it because of loyalty?”
“Of course, a few of them might have loyalty. But most of them don’t.”
“Then why are they still here?”
“They’re after Alon’s money. If they just run away, their life would be still very difficult. But Alon has a lot of money which can turn their life around. Those who make their living by using swords can’t resist this kind of temptation.”
She opened her eyes wide.
“Really?”
“So we need to finish our job quickly. If we keep stalling here, Alon would become a dead man. Those inside the inn are still drinking and gambling even though 30 of their fellows have disappeared. Do you think that makes any sense? They are trying to take Alon off his guard.”
“Wow~”
I started heading back to the Travelers’ Shelter and beckoned her with my hand.
“Hurry up. We don’t have much time. If Alon gets killed, we fail our job.”
“I got it. Wait for me.”
With Armida, I went back to the Travelers’ Shelter. It’s time to finish the job. After I asked her to cast the ‘Sound Arresting Magic’ over the entire inn, I killed all of Alon’s underlings including the guys sleeping in the rooms as well as the guys drinking and gambling.
These dead mercenary soldiers could rest in peace at the Hall of Divinity thanks to Armida’s generosity. It was such a huge honor for them.
* * *
The day slowly began to grow light. The rowdy inn until yesterday was so quiet as if nobody was inside.
Alon was tossing and turning in his bed. But soon, he slightly opened one of his eyes because of a spooky sound from somewhere in his room.
Srrrk. Srrrk. Since he’s been working as a mercenary for a long time, he must know what kind of sound it was. It’s the sound of sharpening a sword.
As if this was something he already expected, he quickly lifted up his upper body and grabbed the sword which he hid under his bed.
“You fuc**** bastards! I knew you guys would betray me long ag…?”
While sitting at a shady corner of the room, I waved my hand with a smile on my face under the white mask.
“It’s me. You still remember me, right? It’s been a while. How have you been?”
He was so frightened and his body was shivering so much that his blanket fluttered.
“White… white mask?”
“I am sorry I woke you up. Get some more sleep if you’re tired. It will take a little more time to sharpen my sword.”
“No, sir. I am fine.”
“Oh really? Then just sit there and quietly watch me sharpening my sword.”
I poured water on the sharpening stone and started sharpening my Yojo again. Of course, Yojo wouldn’t get any sharper but it didn’t matter anyway.
At that moment, Alon drew his sword with courage and yelled desperately to call his underlings.
“Hey, guys!”
I picked my ear because he’s too loud.
“Stop yelling. Nobody will come no matter how many times you yell.”
“What? Why?”
“They’re all gone.”
“To where?”
With a spooky smile, I stared at him.
“Where do you think they’ve gone?”
He got pale and plunked down on the ground. In a much smaller and desperate voice, he said.
“Master, why did you come here?”
“I came here to attend to some serious business. Someone spread a bad rumor about me in Kara. Then he ran away and came to the Polkin Gateway. He called me a brutal murderer who threatened other people. So how do you think I feel about that? He’s made other people think such a generous Master like me as a psycho. So how couldn’t I be pissed off, right?”
Alon smoothed down his face.
“Who the hell is that guy, sir?”
“Some guy whose body size is about a penis.”
“Master, how could a person’s body size be about a penis?”
Haha. He knew how to respond to my jokes. He was certainly a veteran mercenary leader who went through all kinds of experiences.
“There’s something you don’t know. If you keep slicing off a man, he would end up in the size of penis. I will slice you off with love so don’t worry too much. You want to be exactly about the size of penis, right?”
As I stood up grabbing Yojo in my hand, Alon stepped back trembling in fear
“Ma… master…”
“I will spare your penis. I am also a man so I know how important it is for any man. If someone finds out your penis, he or she would bury it under your tomb or throw it away in a trash can.”
Alon realized that his gruesome death was near so he put down his sword and laid down flat on the ground.
“Master. I am very sorry, sir. Please spare my life. If you do, I will never forget your grace.”
“It is too late though. People in Kara have already lost their confidence and trust in me. They avoid me as if I am a brutal murderer. Now, I can’t even walk outside my house.”
“Then I will go to Kara and dispel that rumor. If the one who first spread the rumor says it’s not true, everyone will believe your innocence, right sir?”
He took my bait. So I pretended to be interested in his offer.
“Well, that sounds like a good plan but how can I trust you? Let me cut your finger off first and then discuss it. With some pain, people take their actions quicker.”
As I tried to grab his finger, he pulled out his hand right away and begged.
“I will keep the promise no matter what. So please sir….”
“You’re such a coward. You don’t die even if you lose your finger. It will get healed in no time.”
He made a dumbfounded face as if he heard some crazy nonsense.
“Master… Don’t play with me… I will go to Kara with you. Please trust me.”
“Are you really going to Kara with me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So when?”
He slightly raised his head.
“Sir, can I go a little bit later? My current situation is not so great.”
“Oh really? Then I will just slice your body off until you become the size of a penis.”
“Never mind, sir. Once they open the gate today, I will leave right away.”
He started crying and that’s the exact reaction that I wanted from him.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, sir. But I have one favor.”
“What favor?”
“Sir, I am being chased by the Kasim Bandits right now. If I get caught, I will certainly be a dead man. So, please protect me for a while. If you protect me, they won’t be able to do anything.”
Feeling awkward, I scratched the bridge of my nose. The job I had been doing here was not that difficult but there’s a lot of minor issues. Both the client and the culprit had so many conditions.
I actually wanted to beat him to near-death right now but given the current situation, it seemed that I might be able to use Alon in a better way in the future.
In fact, the Alon Mercenary Guild committed such a great sin. They intruded into the Hall of Divinity and left dozens of corpses inside. That was an unpardonable atrocity that would evoke public indignation from everywhere. Obviously, the Great Temple of Divinum would try to find the leader, Alon no matter how.
If I handed Alon’s head over to the Church at the right moment, I would be able to make a huge sum of money.
“I am a lazy man so I can’t protect you. But I will write a letter for you.”
“What letter?”
“I will ask them to spare your life. If they refuse, I will go to see them with my uncle Zenbe and my very scary sister. Of course, nothing good will happen to them once we meet them.”
It meant that we would slaughter all the members of the Kasim Bandits.
Alon’s face got brighter. He seemed to think that it was a good plan for him.
“Sir, that sounds like a good plan but will they believe it’s a letter from you?”
“They should. I will sign the letter. And actually, I am also kind of curious about what will really happen if they refuse my request. They are one of the Great Desert bandits so they probably have a lot of money which I can…”
“I understand, sir. I will just trust you only.”
Alon accepted my offer after all. He probably thought that it would be better to take a risk than to get killed right here by me. Anyways, I could successfully complete my job so I smiled brightly. I felt so proud of myself. The reward after hard work was so sweet.
“Alright then. Let’s move now. The sun will rise soon.”
A little after, I asked Armida to cast ‘Location Tracking Magic’ on Alon’s body. At least I should be able to find him anywhere he would go.
After that, I took all the money from Alon and we went outside the gate around the morning. Then I handed him over to the guard warriors of the Verbe Merchant Guild. Alon started yelling and cursing at me because he got deceived but once I scowled at him, he became quiet in an instant.
The basic retainer for this job was 800 riffs of gold. And another 150 riffs of gold for the client’s extra request. On top of that, there’s an additional income of 1,053 riffs of gold which I stole from the Alon Mercenary Guild. So, the total was 2,003 riffs of gold.
Overall, it was a good haul. It was as profitable as the Fraker hunt.
The Alon Mercenary Guild. They had been around in Kara for a long time so they made quite a lot of money.
* * *