Chapter 38 : Days in the Free City of Loren (14)

Chapter 38: Days in the Free City of Loren (14)

“Eek eek, keekik!”

“Yeah. Yeah, you little rascal. We won. Heh heh. We almost kicked the bucket by a hair.”

Miles burst into a broad grin with the monkey that had crept up next to him when the yeti collapsed.

The slash he had taken to the abdomen from the yeti had, thankfully, not been deep.

The new chainmail had absorbed most of the impact.

Thanks to that, Miles slapped on some quick first aid and got to his feet, then walked over to Shatien.

“Hey, rookie. You’re fine, right? You aren’t hurt, right?”

“Heh. I’m fine, Miles. I’m just… tired because I used too much strength.”

But Hudson, unfortunately, wasn’t fine. He had been the first to be attacked by the yeti, and his injuries were severe.

“Hudson! Hudson! Hey. Get a grip. If you fall asleep here, you’ll die.”

—Slap slap slap

Startled, Miles hurried over and smacked him across the face. Hudson let out a hoarse shout, his face pale.

“Argh! Agh! you lunatic, stop hitting me. I’m awake!”

“Oh, my bad. I thought you passed out, hehe…”

“…”

What a clown show.

Dragging his exhausted body, Shatien went over and asked Hudson a question.

“Can you walk, Hudson?”

“I think my left leg broke. Kehehehe.”

“Damn…”

Looking at Hudson’s grin, Shatien felt heavy. Judging by the condition, it looked hard to avoid lasting damage.

“Kgh. I’m fine.”

Hudson forced a smile and tried to reassure Shatien instead.

“Cough, cough. We took down a yeti with just the three of us, you know? When else do I ever achieve something like that! Kehehe. Yeti slayer huh. This is a wound of glory.”

His shameless bravado made Shatien snort.

“So you got yourself a drinking story to milk for life huh?”

“Hey, rookie! Not just a story. It’s free drinks for life.”

“Huh? Hahaha. That’s true enough.”

Even so, Hudson’s condition was clearly bad.

Shatien and Miles cleaned up the scene and kept checking on him.

“Damn it, he isn’t going to die, right?”

“Don’t say bad stuff like that, Miles. He’s going to move just fine.”

“I hope so, but…”

They worried he would burn up all night and fail to wake, but thankfully Hudson regained some strength in a single day.

“Look at that. The Count’s army ace still has it! Hudson!”

“This guy, seriously. I’m the Count’s army ace, Hudson. I don’t die from a scratch like this. I haven’t even been paid yet.”

“Eek eek! Keekik keekik!”

Bickering and trading jokes like that proved he had recovered to a degree.

The party dragged the dead yeti down the Arhen Mountains, stayed in a nearby village, and sent a runner to the merchant association.

The merchant association headquarters was too far, and they needed to secure the hide quickly first.

“Yeti slayers! You took down this ugly monster with only three people. Impressive.”

The village’s only butcher cried out in surprise at the sight of the yeti.

Parts of the hide were damaged, but the core torso still held plenty of usable pelt.

“With this, you can get a lot of intact fur. How do you want to handle my fee?”

“We will give you the bones and meat, excluding the other components. That should be enough, right?”

“Heh heh. Of course.”

The butcher grinned like he had struck gold.

Yeti meat wasn’t tasty, yet meat itself was precious in these times. Smoked properly, it was decent fare.

Bones weren’t as valuable as sinew or heart, but they still had uses. Mages and alchemists paid fair coin for them.

Maybe thanks to all that, the butcher’s wife set out a very generous table.

Shatien and his group were able to rest comfortably while waiting for the merchant association’s people.

Not long after that came news.

“We heard. You really hunted a yeti.”

Someone arrived from the merchant association, and even the branch manager Marhen came in person with a crew.

* * *

“The hide is in much better condition than I expected. I do wish the entire upper body had been intact.”

“The fight was fiercer than we thought, so we had no time for care.”

Just remembering the moment made his insides go cold.

To hear Master call a yeti nothing special made Shatien feel anew how astounding Master truly was.

“We all took a beating, so we couldn’t spare a thought for the pelt. In the end, we just went all out and slashed it big.”

“Wait…”

The branch manager Marhen, who had been listening, asked again.

“Do you mean you fought the yeti head-on?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“Hnng.”

A yeti was a mid-tier monster.

Among humanoids, it was cunning and powerful, the kind that required a knight-class combatant to subdue, same as a troll.

And they fought it head-on and won.

That meant this mercenary’s skill was knight-class.

She hadn’t seen the exact scene yet.

‘The elder said there wouldn’t be an issue... So he wasn’t lying huh?’

She had liked him at first meeting, but learning his ability was at a knight’s level made her even more pleased.

With growth that fast in a short time, it was hard to predict how far he would climb.

The merchant association had too many enemies, and force was always necessary.

If she befriended a knight-class mercenary who had some political sense, he would be a great help later.

The branch manager Marhen’s ears pricked.

“Um, is there a problem, Branch Manager?”

“Nya!? No, no. No problem at all. Nothing’s wrong. The problem is actually that you did too well. No. Like. Seriously. Problem? Of course not. I meant you were excellent.”

“?”

The sudden babbling threw Shatien off, but he had no intention of pointing it out and embarrassing her.

“In that case, we delivered the yeti hide per the contract. How will you settle the payment…”

“We can do it right away. I brought the disbursers along. Shall I pay you now?”

“Yes, please. One of my companions is badly hurt. We need treatment money.”

After hearing Shatien, the branch manager clapped once.

“Ah! The merchant association will help with that much. You helped the merchant association’s business, so we can at least do this. I will line up a good doctor.”

“Oh-! Thank you.”

A doctor connected to the merchant association would be highly skilled. He had worried Hudson might end up crippled, so this was a relief.

“Then I will ask for that favor. Thank you for the help.”

“Think nothing of it. If you are grateful, help me with my work next time.”

“Ahaha... Ask me anytime within what I can do.”

“Just hearing that makes me happy! Heehee.”

For some reason, the branch manager’s mood was very bright.

‘Maybe she had some good news?’

He figured she was pleased since she had gotten the gift for Count Bellua in good order.

“Go outside and find the disbursers. They will settle your funds. By the way, are you going straight back to the Free City of Loren now?”

Shatien nodded.

“Yes. I have been away for quite a while. The Centurion formation is not complete yet, so there are things I need to handle.”

“Ah yes. I recall you said you got a Centurion’s post. If you need anything, tell me. I will instruct the disbursers to help with that as well.”

Oh, lucky.

Maybe his diligent goodwill had paid off, since help poured in from an unexpected corner. Shatien offered thanks again and wrapped up the meeting.

It was time to head back for real.

* * *

Leaving Hudson to Miles, Shatien went straight to find Master.

He told the whole yeti story in detail, but when he finished, Master’s interest was elsewhere.

“I see. What did that featherbrain say?”

“Huh?”

“Marhen. The cat beast-person.”

“Oh, the branch manager?”

Why bring up the branch manager out of nowhere. Shatien had no idea.

“She asked that I help with her work sometime later.”

“And what did you say.”

“I said I would, if it is within what I can do. Why, is something wrong?”

“…No. Tsk.”

The old man realized talking more would only waste breath.

“So you said you put your will into the sword for a moment?”

“Yes. For a moment… I felt like I became one with my blade.”

“Placing will in the sword also means becoming one with it. You experienced something uncommon.”

His disciple’s growth was astonishingly fast.

Even if that mysterious power had helped, maintaining it long enough to cut a yeti was another matter altogether.

Once a man cleared one wall, the next ones grew easier.

“I would love to see that result right now…”

“Ahaha... My body… is a bit, you know.”

“I know.”

It had been a wall crossed with mysterious help.

Such feats came with a price. His body had likely, no, it clearly taken a heavy burden.

The disciple looked in bad shape at a glance. This was not the time to use the body. This was the time to rest and recover.

“You overdid it to bring down a mere yeti. You are still lacking, far too lacking. With your skill, you should have been able to handle it easily.”

The old man clicked his tongue in regret.

Then a thought struck him, and he found a solution, a way to teach this lacking disciple without straining the body.

“You. From now on, come here at the usual hours.”

“Ahem. My body is not so…”

“Hey. Who said you will use your body?”

“What?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. If you cannot use the body, you use the mind, yes? If you trained with your body, now you will train with your head.”

“...?”

And so a course of study he had not planned began.

* * *

—Smack!

“Ack!”

“Do not doze. How long has it been since you opened that book.”

Amazingly, although he had been a knight, the old man possessed excellent learning.

He even had a separate study, a room with an enormous collection lining one wall.

“Truth lives in books. The things you have not experienced, the feelings and methods, all of it is in books.”

He tapped Shatien on the head again as he yawned.

“You will fill your lacking intuition through books. Reading and interpreting text is very good for logical thinking. When you wonder what you should do and how, especially how you should use the sword, it helps greatly in finding your methodology.”

Despite the Master's little speech, Shatien was unsure.

The book he was reading…

“But this is a history book. A record of war.”

Yes.

The book in Shatien’s hands was not about swordplay or logic.

It was a history volume narrating the conduct of war.

He was a nothing mercenary.

He wasn’t a noble, so he wondered why he needed this.

“Oh? Is it?”

—Shing.

Master drew the sword at his waist and tapped the flat with his fingers.

“Do you want to go have some fun swinging this together?”

That meant shut up and read.

“…Thank you, Master.”

Shatien bowed his head.

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