Chapter 234: 234 Mercenary Group

Not missing the opening left by the distracted Goblin Fighter, Chris’s sword flashed forward.

Accompanied by a faint glimmer indicating the activation of a skill, Chris’s blade swung so rapidly it was hard to count the strokes.

Having lost all its HP, the Goblin Fighter dropped its weapon, stood frozen for a moment, and then collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.

“Got him!”

Chris shouted as he took down the leader.

The eyes of both the mercenaries and the goblins, who had been glaring at each other from a distance, all converged on that spot.

Perhaps to draw the goblins’ attention, Chris mimicked what the Goblin Fighter had done, raising his sword high and shouting at the pack.

Terror instantly spread among the goblins as they confirmed that the leader who had led them was dead.

The expressions of the goblins, who had been threatening the mercenaries as if they would pounce at any second, immediately turned to panic, and they turned tail to flee back into the forest.

“Phew…”

“I’m… I’m alive…”

As the goblins completely vanished into the woods, the mercenaries, who had been watching with tense faces, exhaled deeply and lowered their shields and weapons.

“Captain!”

While the relieved mercenaries sat down one by one, Rin, who had been helping on Chris’s side, ran over to Ian.

Rin’s eyes sparkled as she recalled watching Ian direct the mercenaries and block the goblins.

“We actually won!”

“It was no big deal. We had more people from the start anyway…”

Ian replied as if it were nothing, but to Rin, it seemed that Ian’s command—which instantly turned the tide of a battle that looked unfavorable—had played the most crucial role.

She had heard Ian mention earlier that he had no mercenary experience, but Rin, thinking that couldn’t possibly be true, spoke with glowing eyes.

“Where did you work as a mercenary before? Or were you in the guard?”

“No, I just… saw it somewhere.”

It wasn’t that Ian hadn’t been nervous; now that the battle was completely over, a stinging pain belatedly rose in his arms from gripping his weapon so tightly.

In the meantime, Chris, having confirmed the goblins had fully retreated, returned and checked on the state of the gathered mercenaries.

After verifying there were no casualties, Chris walked toward the hut with the firmly closed door.

“You can come out now! We’ve chased them off!”

As Chris knocked and shouted, a slight commotion broke out inside the hut that had been as quiet as a grave.

The door creaked open slightly, and a herbalist poked his head out to scan the surroundings. Soon, several herbalists stepped out, sighing in relief.

The herbalists who had hidden from the goblins thanked Chris and the mercenaries repeatedly.

“The goblins have fled, but just to be safe, it would be best to return to the city.”

The herbalists nodded and scurried back inside to pack up the herbs and belongings they had left in the hut.

After a short conversation with the herbalists, Chris turned back toward the mercenaries.

The chatter among the mercenaries died down as they realized Chris was approaching, and his footsteps stopped in front of Ian and Rin.

“Are you two in the same mercenary group?”

“Ah… yes!”

Chris’s gaze swept over the two of them quickly.

“What are your names?”

“I’m Ian. This is Rin.”

Chris didn’t pry into where he had learned such things and simply nodded in silence.

Among those who came to such a place to work as mercenaries, those without some kind of past story were actually the minority.

As long as talented mercenaries were increasing, they were more than welcome.

“You did well. If we hadn’t chased them off immediately, the herbalists would have been in danger.”

Since Chris couldn’t have handled dozens of goblins along with a Fighter all at once, he would have had no choice but to retreat if the mercenaries had all fled.

That’s exactly what would have happened if Ian hadn’t stepped up at that moment.

Chris committed the two faces to memory. They were just rookies who had just become mercenaries, but those with extraordinary talent always drew attention even in their rookie days—like an awl in a pocket.

“Alright, stop resting and everyone get up. If we’re any later, the sun will set.”

Once the herbalists were ready to leave, Chris shouted to the resting mercenaries.

If they delayed any longer, they would have to trek back across the plains in the dead of night.

* * *

As the city drew near, Chris looked back at the mercenaries following him and spoke.

“Everyone, once you return, collect your reward at the guild. Normally the captain has to report the mission results, but I’ll handle it all at once this time.”

If it were a game, it would have been settled with a single ’Mission Complete’ button, but in reality, things didn’t get resolved so simply.

The mercenaries perked up at the word “reward,” but quickly lost interest in the talk of paperwork that followed.

Exhausted from the fatigue of their first battle, most mercenaries couldn’t focus on Chris’s explanation, but Chris didn’t particularly care.

He simply shared some helpful advice for the few captains who stayed close and listened.

Mercenaries have to look out for themselves. After today, no one would step up to help them, so whether they liked it or not, they had to survive on their own.

Ian, who would have to do exactly that from now on, listened quietly to Chris’s explanation.

Before the city gates, Chris stopped for a moment and looked back at the mercenaries.

It was the last thing Chris had to tell the mercenaries today.

“Listen up, everyone. Those guys who ran away earlier deserted a transition call, so they’re heading to a cell. They would have been caught at the city entrance.”

A brief silence fell among the mercenaries at Chris’s shout.

Fortunately, things had gone well this time, but the mercenaries who had secretly thought about running during the fight stiffened at the mention of jail.

“If you lot want to continue being mercenaries, don’t get any stupid ideas. Just keep doing what you did today.”

With those words, Chris turned away without another word.

Behind him, a low murmur of even more tense whispers broke out among the mercenaries.

“Um, Captain…”

Rin also pulled on Ian’s collar with a stiff face after hearing about the jail.

“What’s a transition call?”

“…Didn’t you read the terms when you joined the guild?”

“The-there were too many difficult words… the receptionist said if I didn’t understand, I could just write my name at the bottom.”

“…”

To operate as a mercenary in this city, one had to join the guild, and those mercenaries had several obligations.

One of them was the duty to be conscripted and fight when the city or its citizens were in danger, just like now.

The Labyrinth City, Labyrinthos, was a city built to explore the ancient labyrinths.

Since the monsters inside the labyrinth surged at certain intervals and poured out, Labyrinthos also played the role of defending against those monsters with its walls.

The reason Labyrinthos gathered mercenaries with numerous preferential policies and benefits was, ultimately, to use them as the front line to block monsters and protect the city.

If one neglected that duty and did not participate in the city’s defense, their qualification as a mercenary was revoked, and those who intentionally evaded it became prisoners of the city.

In Labyrinthos, anyone could work as a mercenary regardless of their origin or past, and they received massive gold rewards incomparable to mercenaries in other cities.

But in exchange, the mercenaries had to risk their lives to protect this city.

* * *

The guild counter was crowded with mercenaries trying to settle the payment for the mission they just completed.

Everyone had been flustered when they were suddenly dragged to the field, but their faces were bright now that they were receiving an unexpected reward from the first day.

Perhaps the guild had prepared in advance while the mercenaries were out, as it was soon Ian and Rin’s turn.

“The two members of the Ian Mercenary Group. Please show your tags.”

After receiving the tags and confirming the names, the guild staff member held out a pouch containing the pre-prepared reward.

“Ah, wait a moment.”

The staff member, who had been processing things mechanically after repeating the same task dozens of times, paused for a second.

Staring silently at the details written on the document, the staff member stopped Ian and Rin as they were about to leave the counter.

After disappearing behind the counter for a moment, the staff member returned with another pouch from the safe and handed it to the two of them.

“This is an additional reward sent by Mr. Chris.”

The contents of the pouch were very light, but it was something that hadn’t been given to the other mercenaries.

“You must have been quite active. He’s not the type to usually leave things like this.”

“Yes, well… we got lucky.”

The pouch Ian peeked into contained small coins engraved with the guild’s emblem, looking different from ordinary currency.

Rin, thinking it was money, opened the pouch with a bright expression, but her face turned subtle upon seeing the unidentifiable contents.

However, Ian, as if he already knew what it was, left the counter after saying his thanks.

Rin, who was about to ask what it was, followed Ian out while watching his reaction.

“What is this used for?”

Rin asked while looking at the mysterious coin that wasn’t ordinary currency and didn’t look like precious metal.

It was a familiar item to Ian.

A dedicated currency given by the guild as a reward for certain special missions.

Commonly referred to as ’Guild Coins’ for short.

These coins could be used at places like the guild-exclusive shop or paid for various guild-related contents to receive benefits.

Especially since there were many places to use them for convenience, the amount one collected would practically determine the comfort of the subsequent gameplay.

…At least, that was how it worked in the game.

Since he couldn’t know exactly how it was operated in reality, Ian planned to look into it properly later and only explained the general purpose to Rin.

Rin’s eyes sparkled after hearing Ian’s explanation.

“Then we might be able to exchange it for money too!”

“We could… but it’s better not to. This can be used for things more useful than money.”

If it worked exactly like the method Ian knew, there were things that couldn’t be bought with money but could be bought with these coins.

* * *

“…”

“…”

After the longest day since dropping into this city passed.

The walls of Labyrinthos were being dyed by the glowing red sunset.

Ian naturally looked for an inn to spend the night, as he usually did, but an unexpected small problem left him slightly troubled.

In the game, visiting an inn after finishing the day’s schedule was a very simple system where the stay fee was deducted and the date passed, turning it into morning in an instant.

But now that it was no longer a game, he actually had to sleep at the inn, and unlike yesterday, Rin was with him.

“…”

Naturally, an inn like this didn’t have separate single rooms.

It was the same room.

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