Chapter 241 : For Some Reason, There Was No Answer

The meeting with Duke Elsbears concluded successfully.

I left the mansion with a proud heart and walked the streets dominated by winter.

I felt good, for a change.

As the proud captain of the Sherwood Mercenary Corps, I had secured an important commission under good conditions.

And I had also given the multiple-personality demonic swordsman I had been waiting for a good beating.

How could I not feel good?

Even Hudmilla wouldn't be able to resist praising me when she heard this news.

When I fought them, it didn't seem like Hartz and Sorrow were holding back either.

That's why I had hidden my identity and attacked them.

I hadn't been pushed back by their fierce attacks, and had even kicked them soundly twice, so I was confident that my skills were not inferior to the other members.

I could finally stand shoulder to shoulder with them!

"Hahaha..."

If I didn't neglect my training and continued to grow stronger.

Then, I would be able to develop into the true captain of Sherwood, one that even the captain couldn't help but acknowledge.

I had not forgotten my goal.

To defeat Guston of the Greatsword.

That was my ultimate goal.

I was getting closer to my goal, one step at a time.

So how could I not feel good?

"Hahahaha..."

I laughed heartily as I walked the streets of Tundra.

People didn't seem to care whether I was smiling brightly or not.

As expected of Tundra. So refreshing.

"Ah."

Come to think of it, I still had to get my hands on one of Ophosis's nine great swords, the Turquoise Sword.

I had forgotten about it while negotiating the commission.

Well, I'll just have to ask when I get the chance next time.

It's not urgent.

At first glance, one might think that Tundra, a barren northern region with nothing, would be poor.

But surprisingly, it was a city as wealthy as any other metropolis.

Tundra was a city created to block the magical beasts coming down from above.

But the source of its wealth was, ironically, the magical beasts.

The magical beasts were Tundra's source of money.

The high-quality hides, teeth, bones, and magic stones of the magical beasts were Tundra's popular export products.

The Tundra-born magical beasts that migrated south from beyond the barrier, also known as the white hell, were quite famous.

In foreign countries where magical beasts were relatively rare, they were said to be in such high demand that you couldn't get them even if you wanted to.

Can you imagine the popularity?

After the wave ended, after confirming the kills and making sure to eliminate any potential dangers.

The soldiers would sort out the marketable parts, perform simple trimming (cutting large ones into pieces, removing non-marketable parts to minimize volume), and then transport them inside the wall.

Then, the people who had been waiting inside would rush over and take the magical beasts, or in the case of large ones, start working on them on the spot.

Even as I was walking the streets now, I could easily see people who had brought the corpses of magical beasts and were diligently trimming them here and there.

Men and women alike were rolling up their sleeves and bravely cutting off the limbs of the magical beasts and skinning them.

It was like selling magical beasts to catch magical beasts.

As I was looking around and leisurely walking the streets... I asked the Heavenly Demon for his thoughts.

"Master."

[What is it?]

"Duke Elsbears. What did you think of him?"

The Heavenly Demon answered plainly.

[He was an impressive man.]

"Hmm."

[He is a man worthy of being named among the top ten masters.]

"Oho?"

[Like a man of the north, he is rough, but he also has a surprisingly gentle side. He is a man who knows how to combine the two well. That is probably why he was able to become a leader respected by the people.]

"You've already seen through that much?"

[Of course. The soldiers' loyalty was extraordinary, so it was not difficult to notice.]

As expected of the Heavenly Demon.

Even though he hadn't said much, it seemed he had been watching everything with a hawk's eye from inside.

I too had often caught glimpses of the duke fighting while cleaning up the magical beasts in the first wave.

No magical beast could withstand his single strike.

No matter how big it was, it would be split in half and spill its blood before the duke's Turquoise Sword.

Whether it was D-rank, C-rank, or B-rank, there was no difference before him.

Probably not much different for an A-rank either.

As I was chatting with the Heavenly Demon and walking the streets of Tundra.

A certain thief jumped down.

His movements were as light and nimble as a lark.

"Little brother!"

It was Dofang the Boastful, who went around preaching the strange theory that the more skilled an assassin was, the more talkative they were.

Dofang spoke to me urgently.

"Little brother, stop that psychopath. He's really trying to kill me."

"Hartz?"

"I think I can handle Hartz somehow, but Sorrow is the problem. He was genuinely trying to kill me. He was emitting killing intent!"

Ice Mage Sorrow was originally a cold and level-headed guy.

I didn't know if his disposition was fixed according to the magic he could use, or if he had a talent for ice magic because of his original disposition.

In any case, Ice Mage Sorrow was a cold ice mage who never uttered a lie.

If he said he would kill, he would really kill.

"Brother Dofang."

"Yeah?"

"Why did you deceive your comrade like that? You knew that Sorrow was serious about anything related to alcohol."

Weren't you afraid of the consequences?

A merciful guy like me would just beat him up a few times and let it go.

But in front of the alcohol-loving connoisseur Sorrow, he should have thought carefully about the weight of his words.

He should never have taken it lightly.

He was reaping what he sowed.

Dofang looked at me with a serious expression.

"Little brother. Don't you know that as long as you don't get caught, you're golden?"

"..."

He didn't seem to be reflecting.

Come to think of it, the man in front of me was a world-class scoundrel whose hobby was thievery.

I suspected he had sold his conscience for a high price long ago.

'Should I just let him die?'

The thought was brief.

In any case, a terrible thing like fratricide shouldn't happen within the mercenary corps.

As the captain, it was my duty to stop it.

"Brother Dofang."

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry. Who am I? Am I not the wise captain of the Sherwood Mercenary Corps? I have a plan."

As I said that, I took out the contract I had shared with our Duke Elsbears and handed it to him.

"Hmm? Little brother. What is this?"

"Just read it without talking."

Dofang muttered as he read the request form.

"Ah, a request form. It seems the duke has made a request to Sherwood."

The man who couldn't keep his mouth shut even while reading a request form, that was Dofang the Boastful.

"Hmm. A reconnaissance mission beyond the barrier. The risk is very high. Mobility is life in reconnaissance. He probably didn't feel safe entrusting it to the sturdy knights. And it's not very suitable for them either."

Muttering and nodding, Dofang's eyes, which had been carefully reading the request form, widened when he reached the end.

"...?"

Then, as if in disbelief, he looked back and forth between the request form and me.

"Little brother. Am I dreaming right now? I'm not seeing things, am I?"

"Of course not."

"Did the duke really offer this as payment?"

"Hey now. Don't you see Duke Elsbears's signature written below?"

Dofang looked at me with eyes as if he were seeing a savior.

"Ooh! As expected of our little brother! Ashuban of Sherwood! Sherwood of Ashuban! I believed in you!"

I grinned and patted Dofang's shoulder.

"Then go and gather our members at the inn. We have a request to take care of."

* * *

I gathered the Sherwood members at the inn and explained the commission I had received from the duke.

In the process, there was a bit of a commotion as I had to stop Sorrow, who was sitting across from me, from giving Dofang a gift of cool ice.

But when I whispered in his ear the reward he would receive if he successfully completed this commission, he quickly became a gentle lamb.

"...Is that true?"

"Of course. If you don't believe me, you can check for yourself."

The cautious and level-headed Sorrow only nodded and sat down quietly after seeing the request form with his own eyes.

"So, you mean we have to go on a reconnaissance mission beyond the barrier?"

Sorrow, who had become frighteningly focused on the commission as soon as he heard the reward, asked.

"Yes. We have to see the scale of the magical beasts with our own eyes, so we'll have to go much further than you think."

Just then, Princess Lilia, who was occupying one of the seats, raised her hand.

"Wow! That sounds fun! I want to go too!"

"No."

"Eh. Why."

"Where do you think a noble princess of a nation is going, beyond the barrier?"

"Hmph. Then at least take Sir Monde with you. He'll be worth one person."

At that, Sir Monde, who was sitting delinquently next to Princess Lilia and sipping alcohol, looked at the princess with a surprised face.

"Princess. What are you talking about? I'm your guardian knight."

"Be Sherwood's guardian knight for a while. And tell me what it was like when you get back."

"No, what do you mean..."

"Let's do that."

I quickly accepted her favor before he could say anything.

To be honest, Sir Monde was more like a mercenary than a knight, so I thought he would be useful.

Besides, he was also a classmate of that perverted knight, Sir Lyle. Meaning, his skills were certain.

To be more certain, I got the princess's confirmation.

"Can I work him as I please?"

"Of course! Use him as much as you want! He's sturdy, our Sir Monde."

"Alright. You heard that, right? Sir Monde, I'll be counting on you."

Sir Monde said to the princess with a desperate face, as if pleading.

"Princess. What are you going to do without me? Huh? What if you get assassinated in this harsh north? You need me, Princess!"

Princess Lilia simply brushed off Sir Monde's desperate plea.

"I'll be staying at the duke's mansion. If it really comes to that, I'll ask the duke to assign me a cool knight. To be honest, I'm getting a little tired of you, Sir Monde."

"P-princess..."

Look at that devastated face.

Did he lose his country or something?

I chuckled and added Sir Monde to our forces as well.

This made the numbers just right.

"Alright."

I spread the map of the terrain beyond the barrier, which I had received from the duke, on the table.

The land beyond the white, frozen barrier is vast.

Not only that, but it is also cold and dangerous.

It is an unknown land where anything can happen.

Of course, it would be safest to stick together in a group, but it's not efficient.

I wish the rest of the Sherwood members would come quickly, but for now, we have to carry out the commission with this number of people.

Since every hand was precious, we decided to split into pairs and scatter.

"Brother Dofang, you go with Hartz and Sorrow and check the northeast along the forest."

Dofang tentatively raised his hand.

"Um, little brother—"

"Ah, and as the captain, I'm not taking any objections."

"..."

I could see Sorrow's lips slowly curling up.

"Dofang. We're on the same team now, so let's do our best."

"..."

A team that was already strengthening its resolve.

I was satisfied.

I continued.

"Schmidt, you go with Linda to the northwest plains."

—Yep!

Schmidt nodded vigorously.

Schmidt was originally famous for being fast.

It was said that when he ran with all his might, only a golden afterimage could be seen.

He was the second fastest in Sherwood after Dofang, so I wasn't worried.

Linda was a bit slow on her feet, but if she ran away on Schmidt's back while scattering poison, there would be no great danger.

Schmidt would know the right time to run away.

This combination was also good. No worries.

But only Schmidt answered vigorously, and Linda was nowhere to be seen.

"Come to think of it, where did that puppy Linda go? During this important meeting."

Schmidt made a sign.

—She's researching magical beast blood, and now she's treating the injured.

"Ah, is that so? Then Member Schmidt will relay the plan."

—Yes, Captain!

Finally, I looked at Sir Monde, who must have been waiting with anticipation.

"And Sir Monde, you and I will go to the northern mountains and valleys."

"..."

Sir Monde didn't answer, just stared at the floor with a gloomy face.

They say silence is affirmation.

I decided to interpret that silence as 'Yes, I understand, leader! I will dedicate my life to you!'

I clapped my hands and concluded the meeting.

"Alright, that's the end of the meeting. We have to leave early tomorrow, so get some sleep early today. It's quite chilly out there, so dress warmly. That's all."

The members scattered to prepare for tomorrow.

Princess Lilia got up from her seat and patted the shoulder of Sir Monde, who had turned into a stone statue, and encouraged him with warm words of support.

"That sounds fun, Sir Monde. I'm jealous. I want to go too."

"..."

"Think of it as going in my place and have a good trip. Don't forget to tell me about it when you get back. Okay?"

"..."

For some reason, there was no answer from Sir Monde.

(End of Chapter)

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