Chapter 63. Didn’t You Say You Had Something to Say?
After the whole beating was over.
Raileigh flopped around, his mind swimming in a haze.
‘W-what kind of hands are those…….’
How could they be that vicious.
Sure, he couldn’t compare to the mercenaries who made monster-hunting their main profession, but he still had his own pride—he thought he was pretty decent.
It had been over a decade.
He’d survived going in and out of Hamelin Great Forest for over a decade—could he really be someone who couldn’t even use his fists properly?
But the person in front of him wasn’t on that level at all.
Every time a punch landed, it rattled his bones, and if he got kicked, his whole body lurched.
Resist? He couldn’t even think of it.
No—he did think of it, but every single time, as if the guy somehow noticed, a fierce fist came flying at him again and again.
“U-ugh… ughhh…….”
As Raileigh groaned, pain buzzing all the way into his bones, an indifferent voice rang in his ear.
“I didn’t even hit you that hard. Quit whining and get up.”
Didn’t hit him that hard?
He beat him like a dog, and he’s saying he didn’t hit him hard?
“You want me to hit you hard for real, just once?”
“……N-no.”
Raileigh jolted and snapped himself upright.
‘I-I’m really going to die.’
The instincts honed from over a decade of Hamelin Great Forest told him.
If he got hit hard, he wouldn’t be feeling pain or anything—he’d be saying goodbye to this world.
At the same time, the social instincts he’d sharpened spoke too.
‘Tch… bow low. Right now.’
This wasn’t even in the same realm as that half-baked mage he’d tried to fleece earlier.
Forget tact, forget experience—this guy wasn’t even sane to begin with.
His calculation was fast.
His action was faster.
“Come over here and sit.”
“H-hehe…… am I even allowed to share a table with you? I’ll just stand.”
“Then stand.”
Like a loyal retainer who’d served at his side for years.
Even while every joint in his body ached, Raileigh snapped to attention and stood rigidly at the side!
At the same time, another thought popped up.
‘You son of a b*tch…… and you really just make me stand?’
Aster stared at him, then casually asked,
“You from the Black and White Zone, by any chance?”
“H-how did you…….”
“Yeah. I figured.”
That kind of backbone wasn’t something anyone could have.
A hollow backbone that only people who’d been beaten a lot—and trained their sense for reading the room—could possess.
A flexible mindset that could bend beliefs depending on the situation!
That was one of the strengths people from the Black and White Zone had.
Anyway.
“Name?”
“I…… used to be called ‘Sneaky,’ back then.”
“……?”
“Ah—‘Sneaky’ was my name back in the Black and White Zone. My name now is Raileigh.”
“You made it.”
“Haha. Thank you. It’s true—there’s nobody in our bunch who made it as far as me.”
Yeah.
For a Black and White Zone vagrant to make it as a mercenary—that really was a huge rise.
Most of them joined some back-alley gang in the Black and White Zone and ended their lives early.
That’s enough small talk.
I took in the Black and White Zone junior(?) with my eyes.
“From what I heard earlier, you can’t go back into the great forest?”
“Ah…… I, um. Where did you hear that from, exactly?”
“From the beginning.”
“……Ah.”
The truth was, I’d entered Sun of the Pastures right around when their conversation started.
So.
- Mage, have you thought it over?
Around then, I guess.
I’d been watching in silence as things played out, but the sight was truly something else.
‘What, please, spare me?’
If a mercenary signs a contract, he fulfills it—or he pays the penalty and gets the hell out.
What kind of nonsense is it to appeal to emotions?
This was him blatantly trying to strip the mage bare.
‘Honestly, that’s not even the real problem.’
I crossed my legs, leaned back in my chair, and looked at Oberon sitting to my right.
The real problem was that guy.
- No, Mage. I’m the one who should be sorry. Ah—then what about the penalty for breach…?
- You have handed over something more precious than your life… it seems you have fulfilled your role, Raileigh.
How could that possibly be a thing to say?
My head went foggy.
I should’ve grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the floor, and even that wouldn’t have been enough—yet he was acting grateful?!
‘This…… I’m glad I came quickly.’
Something felt off.
Two days since leaving the academy.
I’d sped up because of this anxious feeling rising from deep in my lower belly.
Three Warp Gates.
And then, a full day and a half of running without rest.
Even while pushing through that forced march, I’d thought dozens of times, ‘Do I really need to do this?’
But seeing this now, yes—I needed to.
‘To think a dumbass like that would show up.’
It was enough to make my liver and gallbladder go cold.
Anyway.
“Friend.”
“……Yes.”
Gulp.
Raileigh swallowed a thick mouthful of saliva under my gaze.
“Let’s get our positions straight. So—are you going into Hamelin Great Forest or not?”
“Well, I…….”
I wasn’t even looking at him on purpose, but I could practically hear his eyeballs rolling around.
I added a little help to his 고민.
“Speak comfortably. If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. If you drag along someone who can’t go, all you get is baggage.”
“…….”
At the unexpected words, Raileigh’s eyes went wide, but I meant it.
I hadn’t entered Hamelin Great Forest yet, and even in my previous life I’d never experienced Hamelin Great Forest—
But there was no way to know what kind of variables might be lurking inside.
Bringing someone with no will to go was worse than not bringing them at all.
Maybe he caught the sincerity in it.
“Th-then…… is it really okay if I don’t go?”
Raileigh voiced his true feelings as honestly as he could.
Even so, part of him was jittery.
It hadn’t been long since he’d experienced the masked man in front of him, but the guy’s temperament was so impossible to read.
But unlike that jittery fear, my reaction was strangely plain.
“Yeah. Then.”
“……R-really, sir?”
“Yeah. Really.”
People’s feelings are truly sly.
“Th-thank you! Thank you!”
Up until just a moment ago, Raileigh had been cursing me in his heart in every way imaginable—
Yet now, he couldn’t help seeing the masked man in front of him as an angel.
Had he ever expressed gratitude with this much sincerity before? He could say with certainty: never.
“Good. Then tell me.”
I asked Raileigh quietly.
“Tell you… what?”
“Where do you want to be buried. You said you can’t go into Hamelin Great Forest, so I’ll exclude that. Even if you’re going to go, I’ll at least let you choose where you’ll be buried.”
“…….”
Raileigh pressed his lips shut.
I looked at him.
‘You think I’m just going to let you go?’
Look at the state Greentown is in.
In a situation like this, what kind of insane Pathfinder would go into Hamelin Great Forest?
A short silence.
It wasn’t long before Raileigh opened his mouth.
“I am a mercenary with honor.”
“Mm, yeah?”
“Hamelin Great Forest. I promise you a safe and comfortable escort to the Fourth Base Camp.”
“Mm.”
Raileigh bowed his head in an utterly grave tone.
He looked almost dignified—like a high-end restaurant manager.
But—
‘This bastard’s going to run.’
That’s what I thought looking at him.
That guy had a face that would betray you no matter what.
And sure enough—
‘F*ck, if I go, an opening will come eventually.’
That’s what Raileigh was thinking.
And so.
“…….”
One sucker watching the whole thing like an idiot.
One future traitor.
And me, too.
A party bound for Hamelin Great Forest was formed.
Greentown’s back gate.
At the entrance leading into Hamelin Great Forest, Oberon stood waiting.
‘……Mm.’
It seemed things had been resolved well.
Just a moment ago, worries had been storming through his head—how he would find a Pathfinder, and how he could ever locate the Fourth Base Camp with only a map.
And now all of it had been solved in an instant.
Meanwhile—
There was one problem that hadn’t been solved. No—
A new problem had appeared.
‘……It was Sakwol (朔月), right.’
Sakwol.
He had heard of it before.
The old war era.
A secret special-operations unit that, in the past, his master—and the Empire’s war mages—had belonged to.
It was so classified that, as time passed, even the name had been forgotten, but Oberon’s master sometimes reminisced about those days.
- Truly…… they were crazy bastards. But it was fun.
And as he said that, he showed him—
A mask with a black base and a white band.
- This is the proof of Sakwol. It’s nothing special, but later, I’ll pass it down to you too. We had a promise among ourselves. It will probably be no small help.
Someday, if he was qualified, he would inherit the Sakwol mask.
‘Then…… does that mean that person earlier had the qualifications?’
No—should he even call him “that person”?
Oberon recalled the masked figure of Sakwol he’d seen earlier.
The unidentified mage who told him to call him “Senior.”
A build not very different from his own.
His face was covered, so his exact age was unclear, but Oberon could tell.
‘……He was definitely my age.’
It was part of Oberon’s “talent.”
Eyes that could, to some degree, see through the essence of things.
He couldn’t read someone’s true intentions, but various bits of information flowed in naturally even without trying.
Only fragments, but still.
Anyway.
He couldn’t tell the face or features, but the moment he saw him, he just knew.
That the masked man in front of him had lived through years not so different from his own.
Two thoughts crossing.
‘Truly…… amazing.’
How could someone around his age inherit the proof of Sakwol?
Rumor had it that the young head of House Brando was born with unprecedented talent.
And in House Dinai, the young lord and the second son were acknowledged as geniuses as well.
Could he be a genius like them?
With that level of talent, would it be possible?
It was a kind of awe.
But at the same time……
‘……What do I do?’
He couldn’t shake the worry.
Inheriting Sakwol meant he’d shown qualifications worthy of it, but—
‘…….’
A certain horror flashed through his mind.
- Kkyaaaah—!
- Guhhh……
Undead that had begun to spread their influence from somewhere in Hamelin Great Forest all the way to the Fourth Base Camp.
No—ancient wraiths that had emerged into the world as Destrow’s seal loosened.
Could a boy his age truly endure that horror?
‘Master… why would Master’s friend…….’
Why would he send such a young child into a place like this?
Oberon himself was young too, but precisely because of that, he understood all the more.
Strange beings.
What kind of mental shock struck when you faced them.
And that wasn’t his only worry.
‘……Mm.’
Should he speak up even now?
‘It’s too dangerous.’
Even if he was skilled enough to inherit the proof of Sakwol, Oberon didn’t expect him to be meaningful combat power.
If so, rather than bringing him into a land full of death—
Wouldn’t it be right to speak politely and send him back even now?
It was an extremely altruistic thought—something most people couldn’t do.
To crush Destrow, that cursed existence, they should be clinging desperately to even a single straw—
Yet he was worrying about someone else?
It was then that Aster’s voice came.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, Sen……ior.”
Oberon tried to use the address “Senior,” as Aster had said—but since he was already guessing his age,
it felt awkward in his mouth.
Still.
“Your preparations…….”
Before he could finish the question, Raileigh’s voice rang out.
“It’s all done, Mage!”
And just like that confident voice, he had a mountain of luggage strapped to his back.
But the load was so excessive that—
“Um, Raileigh. It must be heavy—wouldn’t it be better to put some of it in my Subspace…….”
It was an attentive tone, but Raileigh stubbornly shook his head.
“No, Mage. These are things we’ll need to pull out and use right away in an emergency, so it’s better to keep them in a backpack like this.”
Of course, it was a lie.
If he put it in the mage’s Subspace, it would only be a hassle when he ran away in the night.
Even if he had to abandon everything and flee in an emergency, he couldn’t leave any leverage that might snag his ankles.
Of course—
‘…….’
I wasn’t unaware of what he was up to, but I let Raileigh do as he pleased.
‘Even if you run, it’s still Hamelin Great Forest.’
Besides, even a cat leaves a mouse a breathing hole when it chases it.
It was better to let him hold onto some hope.
Anyway.
‘Hmm, so it’s Hamelin Great Forest at last.’
I quietly lifted my head and looked forward.
Hamelin Great Forest was truly enormous.
Even from far away at Greentown’s back gate, it was like the thicket and trees were right in front of my nose.
A natural treasure of overwhelming grandeur.
‘Yeah. So it’s in there, huh?’
Maybe my body knew we were facing Hamelin Great Forest.
Woooong…… woong.
A faint resonance I could feel in my chest.
More precisely, it was a resonance it vomited out as we got closer to Destrow, but either way.
I quietly savored that resonance.
‘Good. Let’s find out what it’s hiding.’
To be honest, this kind of Fire Seal resonance was something I could ignore without losing anything.
My purpose was to build a tower—to create the Library of All.
Sure, the power of a magic tome might help, but it wasn’t my true goal.
But ever since my regression, up to now—
It was like an inexplicable premonition. No, “a pull of fate” was the more accurate expression.
That pull was speaking.
The prologue of the book called this newly begun life.
How many pages the story would continue for, where the period would be stamped—none of it was decided yet, but……
‘In the end, it feels like this bastard is going to be tangled up in every moment.’
So how could I not look into it?
“All right. Let’s go.”
After steadying my mind simply, I started walking forward.
It was also right then that Oberon finally steeled himself.
“Sen……ior. I have something to s—”
He forced his lips apart with difficulty.
But he didn’t get to finish.
“Ah, ahh……! Mages! Careful, careful!”
Far ahead, the bushes of Hamelin Great Forest rustled.
They rippled a few times, and then spat out a mass of something—what Raileigh spotted was exactly that.
And what it was, was—
“H-Hamelin orcs! Ones you wouldn’t see until the Second Base Camp—how are they here……!”
Orc riders numbering in the dozens.
Each orc was mounted on a massive wolf, and their speed was ferocious.
So much so that, even from quite a distance, they would arrive in no time.
“……!”
As Oberon’s eyes widened at the sudden appearance—
Ffff—
A low, thin sound of something cutting the air.
That was the moment hundreds of something floated up into the sky.
Oberon, without realizing it, stared up blankly. And what spread before his eyes was—
‘Hongok (紅玉).’
Red gemstones.
They gleamed under the bright sunlight, beautiful beyond measure.
But—
Pibibibibit—!
The instant the hongok shot forward—
the result produced by those beautiful blood-red jewels was anything but beautiful.
Countless ripping sounds echoing through the air.
A chilling slaughter sound with no way to properly describe it.
And when the slaughter sound finally faded—
“…….”
“…….”
Oberon and Raileigh stared ahead in a daze.
The dozens of orc riders were gone.
No—rather than “gone,” they had been crushed and dismantled by innumerable explosions.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
‘……How.’
Oberon’s thoughts stuttered at the incomprehensible sight—
and then a low voice reached his ear.
“Junior.”
“…….”
“Didn’t you say you had something to say?”