The request I’d accepted this time was a designated request through the Adventurers’ Guild. The client was the city’s military, and the task was to assist in a reconnaissance mission.
Snort.
Had I known I would need a horse for this, I would’ve brought Frederick from the start. What a waste of time.
“That’s a fine horse.”
Still, it was fortunate they’d at least given me time to retrieve him.
Even the captain, who looked rather annoyed, raised her eyebrows when I mentioned Frederick.
It seemed even she recognized that he was extraordinary. Frederick was indeed an outstanding steed.
“We’re departing.”
“Yes!”
Either way, the soldiers obediently answered their captain’s shout. The sight of dozens of scouts riding horses in graceful and perfect coordination sure was one to behold. Even I, who’d only temporarily joined their ranks, felt my heart racing at the sight.Not that I would ever want to enlist, though.
Clip-clop!
I spurred Frederick to follow the group moving in complete unison.
He seemed rather disappointed that he couldn’t race around freely but quickly adjusted to the pace.
The steady rhythm of their trot—thud, thud, thud—was actually quite brisk.
“Clear the way!”
“Step aside!”
And as we crossed the city while maintaining that speed, we soon reached the walls, where the gates looked clean and orderly from front to back.
The path had been cleared so our horses could pass through.
“Speed up!”
Thanks to that, we were able to pick up speed as soon as we exited the gate. Thud, thud, thud, thud. Thirty soldiers and one adventurer on horses galloped along the paved road.
“To the right!”
However, we only followed the paved road for a short while, and we soon veered off the main path in accordance with our reconnaissance mission.
Thinking back to the earlier briefing, I guessed our goal was most likely the beach.
Crunch!
As we reached the coast, I caught sight of all the pebbles and rocks scattered about while admiring the shoreline.
Most of the coasts I’d seen in the West were sandy, but here around Bemurchen, they were all pebble beaches. In the distance, I could even see something resembling a mudflat.
“Spread out! We’re entering the mudflats!”
Ah, so it didn’t just resemble one; it was an actual mudflat. But could the horses even move through mudflats? Wouldn’t their hooves get stuck?
I swallowed my doubt and surprise, simply following after the soldiers. If they were doing it, it must be doable. That was my mindset.
Splash, splash.
Sure enough, the horses ran across the mud without sinking, splashing water everywhere. It seemed this was possible because the soil below wasn’t the squishy mud I usually associated with mudflats, but instead more like sand submerged in water.
Flap, flap.
Startled by the approaching herd of horses, the birds resting in the wetlands flew up and scattered.
“Don’t let your guard down! If you spot Merfolk or Sirens, give the signal immediately!”
Was it really enough to just run around and keep an eye out like this?
The captain had explained that we should give the signal as soon as we noticed anything unusual. But how was I supposed to know what qualified as “unusual”?
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered why they’d hired me to begin with. I just continued to scan the area, keeping pace with the others.
Suddenly, I noticed a faint movement out on the horizon.
Waves? No, the movement was far too unnatural for that… It was almost like something was splashing in the water…
“Three o’clock on the right, splashing!”
Just as I was trying to get a better look, someone else shouted. That direction was pretty much identical to where what I’d found was.
“Slow down!”
Oh… So, even minor splashing needed to be reported.
I decided to just speak up the next time I noticed something similar as I turned my head.
“One legless Merfolk! Likely a straggler!”
“Are you certain it’s just one?!”
“I’m certain!”
Soon, something resembling a Merfolk came into view between the shallow puddles on the ground. It had apparently noticed us as well, as it had just emerged from that waterhole and was trying to move toward the sea.
It must have missed its chance to escape during the low tide… It was a legless type—something I’d learned while with these guys was that Merfolk were divided into those with legs and those without—so it had been stuck in that hole, unable to get out and walk away.
The term “straggler” seemed quite fitting.
“Adventurer, let’s see how skilled you are! Kill it! The rest of you, slow down!”
But the Merfolk was lying so flat that I couldn’t properly make out what it looked like…?
“Vice-captain, assist!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Ah, that surprised me just now. I didn’t expect to be called on like that.
“Maintain your pace and advance to where the Merfolk is! Once you’re close enough, just throw the harpoon you were given to pin it down!”
Unlike the strict captain, the vice-captain shouting at me was almost as laid-back as Deb. From what I’d noticed while listening to his explanation earlier, he seemed pretty approachable.
“As I explained before, use the spear to finish it off once it’s immobilized. If you don’t want to see your horse get its legs cut off, be careful when approaching!”
Like the captain, he wasn’t particularly warm toward me, but hearing him joke around like that almost made him seem friendly. He’d also helped me out in many ways.
“So, how is it? Confident you can do it, or should I just kill it for you?”
“I just have to kill it, right?”
“Yeah. They aren’t the kind you can interrogate.”
So there was no point in catching it alive. Then why bother getting closer to it? I might as well just kill it from here.
Swish!
Instead of using the harpoon I’d been given, I unsheathed my longsword and fired my sword energy.
I’d debated whether to kill it [Arcane Spear] or sword energy but decided on the latter… I’d chosen it for just one reason.
The captain wasn’t especially fond of me, and [Arcane Spear] was pretty hard to see, so if I killed it with [Arcane Spear], there was a chance that she might doubt me because she couldn’t properly see what had happened.
“Oh…”
“…What is that?”
On the other hand, despite its inky color, my sword energy was large and thus easily visible.
“H-Hold!”
Neeeeigh!
It seemed to have worked, at least on the vice-captain. He urgently stopped his horse, his expression one of utter surprise.
Splash, splash. I gave Frederick the same signal.
“S-Sword energy can fly…?”
The vice-captain blinked rapidly, looking stunned, before scratching his head and turning around. “Should I check?” His gaze was fixed on the captain.
“…Check it first.”
“Yes, if it’s alive even after its body was split in half, it’s not a Merfolk. Understood.”
The vice-captain shook his head from side to side before slowly riding his horse forward.
“If you want a look at the Merfolk, you should come along too. No need to bother if you’ve seen one before, though.”
Oh, in that case, I should take a look.
I followed the vice-captain at a trot. I’d seen illustrations of Merfolk before we left—I’d also encountered them in the game—but I’d never seen one in person.
“…Damn. It really died that easily.”
The Merfolk, which we confirmed was dead, literally looked like a mermaid.
Although, unlike the romanticized depictions in most media, it resembled a marine creature much more closely. In the original Legend of Heroes, they were so grotesque that comments like “Wow! Cthulhu’s kin!” popped up quite often.
Poke, poke.
I watched as the vice-captain prodded the merman’s body with his long spear, then turned my attention to estimating how much distance he maintained from it.
The reason they’d given me a 3-meter-long spear—it could be separated at the center, splitting into two 1.5-meter-long pieces that were more convenient to ride with—was apparently because they needed to keep that far away from Merfolk.
“Since we’ve confirmed it’s dead… Let’s go back. Adventurer, you’re quite something.”
“Is it okay to just leave it there?”
“We don’t have the resources to recover it.”
Fair enough…
I nodded and returned with him to the rest of the group. When I glanced at the captain’s face, her expression had softened a bit compared to before.
“It would seem they recommended you for a reason.”
She seemed rather impressed by my use of sword energy.
“We’re moving out again! And, Adventurer, we won’t wait for you anymore, so just catch up to us on your own once you’re done!”
However, her treatment of me hadn’t exactly improved. Since this was probably just her original personality, I didn’t feel all that offended.
Thus, we resumed our reconnaissance and Merfolk cleanup.
* * *
“We’ll make camp here!”
The reconnaissance would continue until tomorrow. In other words, we had to spend the night sleeping outside.
“Team 3, come with me to check the surrounding area. Teams 4 and 5, look after the horses. Team 6, you’re in charge of guarding.”
“Yes!”
“Vice-captain, handle everything else while I’m gone.”
“Understood.”
That included preparing meals. We’d had some bread for lunch, but we couldn’t afford to do the same for dinner.
“You heard all that, right? Teams 4 and 5, take care of the horses. Team 6, spread out and guard the area. Teams 1 and 2, prepare meals and set up camp!”
We were divided into six teams of five, except for one team of six due to my presence, and they began to work on their respective tasks.
Team 1, which I belonged to, happened to be in charge of preparing and cooking dinner. Team 2 was setting up camp.
“Hey, Adventurer.”
The vice-captain, who’d volunteered to light the fire—the captain and vice-captain were also part of Team 1—dragged me along with him. It seemed he wanted to talk to me.
“Are you… a knight, by any chance?”
However, I was in no position to sit here and chit-chat with him…
I’d literally never started a fire, so I certainly wasn’t good enough at this to multitask.
I diligently struck the flint, glancing enviously at Team 2 as they moved away rocks and dug trenches to draw water from a nearby stream.
Luckily, the fire started on my third attempt.
“Is this information relevant for reconnaissance?”
“Not really…”
“Then I won’t answer.”
Maybe I was being too curt with him because I’d been caught up in my own complicated thoughts. The vice-captain seemed a bit embarrassed.
“Alright then. Let’s hang the pot over the fire.”
To cook, you first had to hang the pot over the fire. I glanced at the other soldiers preparing ingredients before moving to assist the vice-captain.
Of course, since I’d never done something like this before, the vice-captain quickly grew frustrated watching me do it and did it in my stead.
“Hey buddy, are you really an adventurer?”
“…”
Sorry for being such a lousy adventurer…
I was at a loss for words.
“…Can you at least cook?”
“…I can.”
That wasn’t a lie.
It wasn’t like I was completely incapable of cooking… Well, I at least wasn’t like those modern alchemists in manhwa who turned anything they put in a pot into ashes…
I just… might, on some occasions, undercook the food or burn it a little. Or sometimes, maybe both.
“…”
“…”
“…Well, it happens. There are some things in this world you just aren’t meant to excel at.”
Th-Thank you for saying that…
I accepted the vice-captain’s consideration with a subtle expression. That was, in fact, the right thing to do for everyone’s sake.
Well, it might seem like I was breaking character, but it wasn’t that extreme. And this was much better than making the others eat terrible food, right…? I wasn’t with my usual party either…
“Anyway, go help the other pitching that tent over there. I can handle the cooking myself. Once you’re done, help out Team 2.”
Well, fair enough.
I helped the soldier tasked with setting up a tent for the captain. Since it was the captain’s exclusive tent—in other words, a one-person tent—it wasn’t that hard to do.
Assisting Team 2 with digging trenches went similarly. Although the stream was a bit far, there was an already pre-prepared section, and with six people working together, we were done in no time.
“How’s the meal coming along?”
“It’s all ready.”
Before long, the captain returned from scouting the area with a few soldiers.
“Teams 1, 2, and 3 eat first. The rest stand guard.”
In case of an emergency, we took our meals in shifts.
Those in Teams 1, 2, and 3 quickly gathered around the food.
“Where are you from?”
Just as I received my share of the food, the captain asked me a question. It felt a bit sudden.
“Which knight academy did you attend?”
Ah, so that’s what she meant. I didn’t expect her to ask this either, though.
“Munmund? Tchechebator? Harson? Hadeneru? Osla? Or perhaps Zaidad in the South?”
I slowly closed my eyes and opened them again. The names of knight academies from all over the world popped up one after the other.
“Do I have a reason to tell you?”
“If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. It was just personal curiosity.”
Fortunately, the captain didn’t press for an answer. Her precise and straightforward personality was certainly helpful at moments like this.
***
“Once you’ve finished eating, clean your dishes so the next group can eat. Make sure to always move in pairs.”
The reconnaissance team leader, Dietra, remarked after noticing the adventurer’s empty bowl.
Although he’d received an explanation on how this reconnaissance mission would proceed in the city, such minor details had most likely not been passed along.
“If you’re finished, please come along with me.”
As expected, after hearing that and a soldier perceptively stepped forward to assist him, the adventurer began to move. Unlike when he initially joined the team, she quite liked his ability to pick up and act on instructions.
No wonder the lord personally recommended him.
“Captain.”
In fact, he might be even better than the vice-captain right now. She glared at the excessively talkative man.
“Ah, don’t be so stiff.”
However, the vice-captain had joined the reconnaissance team before her and had been of great help, given her severely lacking conversational skills.
“Can you also do what the adventurer did earlier, Captain?”
“…No.”
Rather than glaring at him harder, she simply offered a straightforward answer.
“Then, what about the people from the academy you came from?”
“They can’t. At least, not as far as I know.”
She didn’t care that her answer might diminish her standing.
Like the vice-captain, all the soldiers present had been with her for twenty years. This answer wouldn’t shake her authority in the slightest.
“It wouldn’t be much different anywhere else either.”
Besides, what the adventurer had done earlier wasn’t something that would hurt her pride just because she couldn’t do it.
The person who could do it was the strange one.
“If you can shape Arcane Power and shoot it out, that would make you a wizard, not a knight.”
“Is that so?”
“Hmm… Maybe he’s just some weirdo wizard who wants to be a knight?”
“That’s also difficult to believe. From what I’ve learned, the more Arcane Power you possess, the less your body moves the way you want.”
Although they’d have no trouble with normal activities, that’s as far as it went. Those who could use enough Arcane Power to become a wizard were usually physically inept—at least by knight standards. Compared to ordinary people, they were average.
It wasn’t just a matter of reflexes or talent; rather, their body simply didn’t move as their mind wanted.
“I’ve heard that some manage to catch up through sheer effort… but not to that extent. That adventurer is probably a special case.”
As she spoke, she recalled her mentor, who had passed away a few years ago.
They, along with their children, were precisely those types of people—those who’d overcome the obstacles of Arcane Power through effort. The fact that she could no longer hear from them made her feel a bit melancholic for a moment.
“…Then why is that guy an adventurer?”
But it was only for a moment. She came to her senses after hearing the vice-captain’s words.
“It’s his personal choice. Respect it.”
“True, but… Don’t you think it’s a bit of a waste? We only have ten knights total in our city.”
Usually, ten would be considered a lot. Well, given the nature of the battles in their city—killing Merfolk required more spearing than precise swordsmanship—they’d already invested quite a bit in hiring those ten.
She suppressed the urge to give that answer. Even though she was the type who usually admitted things that were evident, she didn’t want to undermine her own usefulness.
“Right, right. When I saw him at the checkpoint advancing through the curse without hesitation, I thought it would be so much better if he did something besides adventuring.”
“…? Ah, he was the one who saved Magarita…?”
“Yeah. He’s probably the same person. He even helped us catch a Demon Worshiper a few days ago.”
“Then it really is a shame. Adventurers usually don’t hunt Demons. He’s wasting his talent like that.”
“It varies from adventurer to adventurer. And when I looked into him, I found out he’s actually pretty famous for hunting Demons, you know…?”
“Huh, is that true?”
“Captain, you’re surprisingly bad at keeping up with recent news… That adventurer, his alias is ‘Demon Knight.’ He’s known for killing Demons and criminals.”
Instead of joining the conversation, the captain had simply let the soldiers be as they began to chatter loudly around the open fire.
Doing so didn’t suit her nature, but she’d learned that in situations like this, such topics simply passed by if she left them alone.
“But why Demon Knight? Is it because he’s killed a lot of Demons? Or did people mistake him for a demon knight too often?”
“I don’t think that’s the case though…? I heard that he’s ruthless and cold-blooded, and his fighting style is terrifying, like that of a vengeful spirit… I think it might also mean that he’s insanely strong, to the point where he doesn’t seem like a person.”
“Even if that’s true, comparing a person to a Demon? And he didn’t seem that merciless to me, you know?”
“Who knows, maybe he actually is a Demon…”
However, if it went beyond mere chatter and reached the level of insulting someone, she could no longer leave it unchecked.
“Refrain from making such disrespectful assumptions. You know how vile and filthy Demons are, yet you dare use them as a comparison?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be swayed by rumors. Look at the essence of things. Rumors are clues, not the complete puzzle.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
It wasn’t good to completely shut yourself off from rumors or remain ignorant of all worldly affairs. However, it also wasn’t good to put enough faith in rumors to be swayed by them.
“And he is a companion of the Hero.”
After telling the soldiers that, she gave them the final clue to bury their suspicions.
That was also why she’d suppressed her opposition and agreed to let the adventurer join her reconnaissance mission.
“Excuse me?”
The lord had judged that the Merfolk’s movements were unusual, and in fact, during the previous reconnaissance mission, one soldier had died and another had lost their leg.
In such a situation, it wasn’t foolish to add more skilled people to their reconnaissance team. It had hurt her pride a little because it felt like she was admitting she was lacking, but after seeing the adventurer’s power, she was less bothered by it.
“So refrain from talking such nonsense.”
“Wow…”
“The Hero came to our city?”
“I told you to refrain from talking any more about this.”
Had it been a mistake to tell them? Since there was a high probability they would be fighting together, the lord had said he would soon announce the Hero’s presence, so she’d been informed in advance.
“But about the Hero. I heard a Demon incited her into killing the Skyflow Tiger…”
“…”
“Yeah, there’s no way that’s true.”
She held back a sigh as she prepared to leave the murmuring soldiers be.
Peeeew, bang!
It was at that moment that a signal flare, issued to everyone in case they encountered something unusual, lit up the night sky.
“Captain!”
At the same time, the people who’d gone to wash their dishes rushed back.
“The Merfolk are coming!”
Something was happening.
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