33 Chapter 33: Midgardia

Now that I thought about it, the whole purpose of taking the manticore mission in Millennial Town was to avoid the heroes in the first place. Unfortunately, I finished the manticore mission much earlier than expected and returned while Havia City was still embroiled in the search for the missing Sword Saint Minamoto Kureha.

I was so excited about getting the reward for slaying the manticore and dumping its grisly head and stinger off at the guild (freeing my magical pouch of space) that I had completely forgotten about that. No, that wasn't true. It was still I the back of my mind. I guess I was just being hopelessly optimistic about the heroes leaving after me spending two days out in Millennial Town.

How naïve.

"Ugh, what do I do now?"

I sure as hell wasn't going to hide in my room in Blue Moon Inn. I had much bigger goals such as taking revenge on the heroes and I didn't want to waste too much time hiding out when I could be gathering information or accumulating wealth to buy better equipment and weapons. I needed to be properly armed when going up against the heroes.

Well, this is still an opportunity…

I could still execute my strategy of luring the heroes out individually and killing them one at a time. That was the best plan I had for now. Isolate them, draw one of them away from the others, and then go to town on him or her with my zombies. It worked with Minamoto Kureha, Tsukishima Tomoyo and Kijima Takeshi.

It should work on the others.

Those three, plus Samejima Hiroki who Kobayashi murdered…that means there are twenty-five of my former classmates left.

Slowly chipping away at their numbers while keeping a low profile, and then accumulate more special abilities and weapons that might help me get strong enough to face the whole lot of them at once. Yeah, that should work.

For now, I still needed money to survive in this new world, so I headed to the guild house for a new job.

I didn't get very far. About a few blocks away from the guild house, I caught sight of a huge crowd gathering in front of the place.

Those are not…mercenaries, are they?

They didn't look like mercenaries at all. While most of the curious onlookers were normal civilians, there was a fair number of armored knights surrounding a couple of seemingly important people. I stopped and stared for a few moments, activating my Absolute Appraisal. Even if I couldn't make out their features from this distance, I could at least guess what was going on.

I knew it.

I could see at least two heroes. One of them was Sakaguchi Seiji, and the other was Asakura Akane. They were talking to a mercenary outside the guild house, who was gesturing animatedly. I shrank back so as to stay out of sight, but I could feel a chill.

I can't stay here.

Sighing, I turned around and quickly made my way to the city exit. Perhaps I should ride out toward Millennial Town and hide there for a few weeks or so. The townsfolks were grateful to me for slaying the manticore so they surely would be more than happy to help me out. Additionally, the town was quite a distance from Havia Town so it was unlikely any of the heroes would make the trip all the way out there.

However, I stopped when I saw the number of knights and soldiers marching out of the southern gate, accompanied by more heroes. There was no going out that way. Apparently someone must have reported on Kureha leaving through the southern gate a few days ago when she and her knights chased after me.

Oh boy.

Forcing myself to calm down, I suppressed my panic and made an about turn. This was stupid. I should have stayed in Millennial Town instead of being greedy for the reward. I picked the quest to stay away from Havia City for a long time, so why did I let greed get the better of me and returned to get rid of the manticore and grab the gold coins? What was the point of getting so many gold coins when I found myself trapped in Havia City?

Don't panic. There's still a way out, surely.

There were four exits in the city. North, south, east and west. If the knights and military were busily occupying the southern gate, then I theoretically could leave from the northern gate and then circle around toward Millennial Town.

No, wait. Sakaguchi and Asakura are questioning the guild. If they find out I'm still alive and a member there, they will attempt to trace my footsteps and hunt me down. That means they'll look for me in Millennial Town too.

I realized there was a silver lining in the cloud after all. Had I not been aware that the heroes would eventually track me down through the guild, I would be caught off guard when they showed up in Millennial Town one day. Truly a blessing in disguise.

But even so, where do I go?

It didn't matter. Anywhere was better than here. I just needed to get out of the city. Then I could think of a destination later.

Fortunately, the northern gate was not occupied by any troops so I silently left through there before summoning Matsukaze and riding out of there. I quietly apologized to Hughes and the other mercenaries in the guild for leaving without telling them. Maybe in the far future, I would be able to get some intelligence regarding what the heroes were there for. If I was merely being paranoid and they were asking questions about Kureha normally, then I could return after the whole commotion regarding Kureha died down.

Otherwise…this was farewell forever. It was a pity. I liked Hughes and a few of the mercenaries I traveled with, especially Alan. I couldn't say the same for Alicia, but at least Sophia wasn't annoying and arrogant.

Maybe we'll meet again.

For now, I should focus on escaping.

I rode aimlessly along the road, heading toward the north. I had no idea where I was going. Probably toward Midgardia, where Helsfort and the northern lands belonging to the demons lay. Speaking of which, I found it intriguing that the heroes and the army had returned to Havia City rather than seize the initiative and capitalize on their momentum to push into demonic territory and eradicate them from Restia. Perhaps the war of extermination was proving more difficult than they thought? Or the loss of three of the heroes (including Samejima) caused them to cut their losses and turn back?

As usual, I need more intelligence and information.

Such information I could collect if I was a higher-ranked mercenary. I had heard that bronze-ranked mercenaries and above had access to military information, which was why I planned to slowly rise through the ranks. I was on course to reaching that goal and infiltrating into the military. It irked me to have fallen just short of the goal.

I had finally reached chrome rank, and was just a couple ranks shy of my goal. My former classmates had chosen the worst timing possible. Or perhaps I was just blaming everything except myself for not going my way.

After a few hours of riding, I managed to reach Midgardia without any incident. There was a small town on the border, close to where skirmishes with the demons often took place. Fortunately, there was a garrison of significant strength also stationed there to ward off such demonic incursions and keep the population safe. The town lived off traded and profited off the military presence, selling the soldiers comfort goods and offering services.

Much like how the Japanese businesses thrived off profit from the American military forces stationed in the air bases on Okinawa.

I couldn't help but compare this world with that of Japan, where I had grown up in. there were eerie parallels with Earth, even if the place was completely different. While the presence of magic significantly altered the culture and the way this world operated, the politics and economics of both worlds functioned in the same manner.

I didn't know whether I should feel comforted about the similarity or not. It did make it easier for me to apply the logic from my world to here and act accordingly. As long as I could anticipate how to make money and how the people in this world interacted on a level similar to Japan, I could survive indefinitely.

"Oh, hey! A visitor! We haven't had one of these for a while!"

While I rode into town, I overheard a vendor exclaiming to his customer. A few soldiers glanced in my direction, but when they saw that I wasn't a threat, they looked away. I was initially surprised at the lack of checkpoints and security, but I quickly realized I had arrived from the "correct" way – the route from the city. In contrast to the southern entrance, the northern entrance of the town was fully fortified, with barracks lined up behind a formidable wall.

The fortified town in Midagardia, Fortellia. It was my first time here, but I had heard Captain Dante Infernius mention it to me while we were riding back, and also read about it from one of the books in my Library of Eden.

Unless the demonic army recovered and organized a retaliatory strike, or the heroes planned to return and invade Helsfort and the demon-held lands in the north, those heroes wouldn't visit here for a while. And if they did, I would just leave and head for demonic territory. I would much rather take my chances with the demons than my former classmates, who were all bullying, murderous maniacs.

Not only did I have Machiavellian Charisma that might or might not help me in negotiating with the demons, I knew my former classmates would never listen to reason and would do their absolute best to kill me.

I got off Matsukaze and dismissed him before entering the nearest inn. The innkeeper looked surprised, mostly because the garrison-town of Fortellia rarely had any visitors. Most people stayed away from the fortified town because of the demonic threat, and only the most reckless of merchants would do business here. Even so, they would arrive in large groups, escorted by military troops or mercenaries, and not alone like me.

"You here by yourself?" the innkeeper asked. I nodded. As he rummaged for a key to one of the rooms, he casually threw out a question. "Ah, a merchant? On business?"

"Not exactly," I replied and handed my ID to pay for the room. He took it and nodded when he saw my details.

"A mercenary, then. Makes sense. They're hiring you guys to scout ahead into Helsreach, aren't they?"

"They?" I repeated. The innkeeper stared at me, perplexed.

"The military, of course."

"Ah, yeah. Of course." I hastily nodded. "That's what I'm here for…but not for scouting. More for the fighting, actually."

The innkeeper snorted as he handed me my ID and keys. "Another glory hunter? Youngsters these days…I know the heroes succeeded in killing off the Demon Lord, but there's still plenty of demonic nobles and monsters out there. Try not to get yourself killed."

"Yes, sir."

I couldn't believe my luck. The army was hiring mercenaries? To push further into Helsreach? That was the best way of getting away from the heroes as quickly as possible. And if the heroes did show up, it would be a simple matter off disappearing into enemy territory where they didn't have the jurisdiction or ability to launch a full-scale hunt for me.

I had best find out more details about this tomorrow.

*

The military installation was pretty robust and intimidating, and true to form, the security checkpoints to the garrison were pretty severe. I was turned away by the soldiers guarding the place before I could even tell them that I was a mercenary. It appeared I needed a special pass or ID to even get close to the place.

"What do I do now?"

While at a loss, I caught sight of a group of mercenaries returning from the forest, battered and wounded. Escorted by a group of soldiers, they argued and complained loudly before being led into the garrison.

"We risked our necks doing your jobs! Don't you tell us what to do!"

"You knew the risks when you accepted the job, sir."

"Yeah, scouting in Helsreach? We applied to be scouts! Not frontline soldiers!"

Contrary to what I told the innkeeper, I didn't care about glory or fighting. Scouting suited me just fine as long as I could leave human-held territory and hide from the heroes. I wanted to follow them, but the mercenaries disappeared into the garrison while under the protective gaze of their military escorts. The sentries glared at me when I took a step in their direction, which discouraged me from getting any closer.

I sighed and returned to the inn, wondering what I should do.

That night, my peace was disturbed when a raucous group tumbled into the inn, gathering into the tavern at the first floor and ordering a round of drinks.

"Hey, innkeeper! More mead!"

"Coming right away, sir."

I could hear the din from my room, which annoyed me. Voracious laughter and loud voices rang through the first floor down below, assaulting my ears and disturbing my peace. I sighed and peeked out of my room.

With the door open, I could hear the laughter and taunting banter even more clearly. I winced as the loud voices slammed into my ears, almost like thunder.

"Did you see Meek? He wet his pants the moment he saw that demon!"

"Shut up, Bold! You crapped your pants too, didn't you?!"

"No, I didn't."

"Ha ha ha ha! He got you there, Bold!"

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"Shut it."

"Man, those hot demon chicks…I know they're not human, but I want to bang one of them someday."

"Really, Rusty? Didn't you hear how they'll drain the vitality of all the men they fucked? You'll get fucked if you do them, in more ways than one."

Another round of laughter.

I frowned when I overheard the topic of their conversations. Demons? Curious, I shut the door to my room and made my way to the stairs. Peering from above, I saw that it was the group of mercenaries that I saw earlier that morning.

"Ah…!"

I wanted to approach them and ask if I could join them, but I felt a little awkward. Surely they wouldn't just let any stranger join them, even if I was a mercenary from the same group? Would they find me suspicious?

"Man…I need to send a request back to the guild to recruit new members," the biggest mercenary in the group complained before he downed a mug of mead. The frothy alcohol dribbled down his thick, dark beard before he let out a hearty yell of satisfaction.

"Fresh meat for the grinder, boss?" a lanky mercenary with a scar over his face asked with a grin. The boss scowled.

"Well, we've got to replace our losses, Meek. We lost Rack and Lessa today. Damned military never tells us anything and sends us on suicidal scouting missions. If they weren't paying us fifty gold, I would never let them order us around like that."

"Yeah, we're doing their jobs for them. What right do they have to act so high and mighty?" a thickset mercenary with broad shoulders growled.

"Well, they're paying us," a thin, almost intelligent-looking man pointed out. "As the guy said, we knew the risks when we took the job. If we wanted a safe job without risking our lives, then we have plenty of other quests to consider."

"This one pays the best, though." The boss shook his head. "But the rate of attrition is pretty high. We've lost and replaced at least eight members in the past two weeks. Those demons certainly don't play around."

"Makes us wonder how those heroes do it, eh?" Meek smirked.

"Idiot, they're the chosen of the goddess Evelyn. They have powers none of us can even imagine, granted to them by the goddess herself."

"I wonder why the goddess has to summon them from another world," the thickset mercenary grumbled. "She could have just given us those powers and we can fight for Legnica ourselves. Why bring in outsiders?"

"If you were that noble and responsible, Bold, why aren't you in the army?" Meek taunted, eliciting a laugh from the others.

"Yeah, Bold! There's no way the goddess Evelyn will look at someone like you!"

"You want the powers of the heroes? Dream on!"

Even as the mercenaries laughed the question off, I alone considered it seriously. Indeed, why couldn't the goddesses just bestow powers upon the residents of Restia? Why go through all the trouble of summoning people like me from another world? Was there some sort of restriction regarding the bestowment of powers? Or were the humans of Restia unable to withstand the divine powers that the goddesses grant the heroes?

That makes no sense, given how the follower of Lyia, Asura, is granted powers from the goddess of knowledge.

I stopped. Wait, was Asura even from this world? He was an oni, right? A Japanese demon that shouldn't belong to a medieval fantasy Western-styled world like Restia. Was he summoned from another world too?

Ugh, this was confusing.

"Well, anyway, I need at least one more mercenary or Metzen's squad will be severely understrength, especially after losing both Rack and Lessa."

"He can have Rusty," Bold suggested as he gestured to a weedy-looking man with stringy hair and a balding scalp. Rusty blanched at that.

"You throwing me away, Bold? I'm hurt!"

"I'm tempted to move members around," the boss agreed while flatly ignoring Rusty's feigned objections. "But your squad is already understrength, Bold. I don't want to increase the burden on you. We need at least five new members…but even just one guy will make a difference. I'll talk to Burge and see if he can spare a guy…"

"Um…"

I was trying to hold my excitement as I descended the stairs. The mercenaries were chatting so loudly that they didn't hear me approach. I cleared my throat, but none of them paid any attention to me despite my waving about.

"Um…"

"Isn't Burge understaffed too? He lost ten men the other day to an ambush from the demonic army. Those long-eared demihumans, I believe, shot a bunch of them down with those magic ranged weapons."

"Apparently they aren't magic ranged weapons, Bold," the intelligent-looking guy spoke up. "They're muskets. They operate on gunpowder and some sort of propellant mechanism that ejects a projectile at high speed and force. If his majesty will see the value of such weapons and mass produce them, we would see a revolution in warfare."

"If you're so smart, Reading, why don't you try building one of those things yourself?" Meek sneered. The man named Reading spread his hands helplessly.

"I have neither the resources nor the knowhow. I think the blacksmiths would be the more appropriate people to ask."

"Then in the end this is all just pointless speculation and chattering. Let's just stick with what we know, eh?"

Meek twirled his blade around and flipped it into the air before snatching it by the hilt. Toying with the dagger, he grinned.

"This little Shadow has never let me down!"

"I'm sure your prized dagger is reliable, Meek," the boss said mildly. "But it's unfortunate that you are not."

Another round of laughter that drowned out any attempt I made to attract their attention. I sighed as I stood behind the boss, at a loss of what to do.

"Sorry, sir…"

I was about to tap the boss's shoulder when he suddenly whirled around with a dagger. I ducked on instinct, throwing my head backward and watching the deadly blade whizz past my face. I flipped myself back with a cartwheel and got back to my feet, widening the distance between us. Already, my hand was moving toward my staff.

"Relax, boss! That's just a kid."

"Yeah! Stop attacking!"

It was his men who stopped him. The boss blinked and stared at me for a few seconds before he sheathed his dagger. He huffed.

"Goddess Evelyn, kid. Don't sneak up on me like that. After spending so much time in Helsreach, I've gotten a little paranoid."

Clearly he had been acting on reflex when I moved to tap his shoulder, and not because he intended to kill me.

"Sorry," I apologized with a bow of my head. My hand drifted away from my staff and fell to my side.

"You have some business with us?" Reading asked. I nodded.

"I couldn't help but overheard your conversation earlier."

"Which one? The one where Meek sucks at wielding his dagger?"

Bold broke in roughly and sent everyone into stitches. Except the guy in question, of course. Meek was protesting futilely, but nobody paid him any heed.

I cleared my throat.

"Actually, if you don't mind, I want to join you."

"Join us?"

The boss's eyes narrowed as he spun around in his chair to study me. He looked up and down, his lip curling in disapproval.

"Are you talking about the scouting mission to Helsreach?"

"Yes, sir. If you would have me, I would be happy to help out."

"Kid, you do know that we're not going there for fun and game, right?"

I wordlessly produced my guild ID and showed it to him. The boss scanned through it, and then nodded.

"I see. A chrome ranked mercenary, huh? Fine." He turned to a young man with a beard and handsome features. "You mind taking him, Metzen?"

Metzen shrugged and nodded. "Sure. Any help will be appreciated. Like you said, we're pretty short on men after Rack and Lessa recklessly surged far ahead today."

"All right, then make sure you get this kid up to speed." The boss turned back to me and frowned when he tried to read my name. "T…Tanaka, eh? Welcome to the team. Try not to let us down or drag our heels. And most of all, try not to get yourself killed."

"Yes, sir." I saluted. "I'll do my best."