“What is it, Garumel? Are you offering to pay?”
“Well… how much is it?”
“Three shillings.”
“Cheap. I’ll pay.”
“I don’t mind, but this is unusual. I didn’t know you had such a charitable side.”
Sena felt a little, no, very embarrassed.
When a commotion arose, Garumel spotted Sena and offered to pay for him.
Sena, who had been criticizing Garumel behind his back, felt a pang of guilt for accepting his help.
“Thank… you.”
As Garumel sat down opposite him, Sena bowed his head deeply.
“Come on, no matter how well off you are, you should know you need money to eat.”
“…”
In truth, Sena had simply lost his money, but he didn’t correct the misunderstanding. It was less embarrassing to be seen as ignorant than to admit he had been careless.
“I’ll repay you when we get back.”
Anyway, it was kind of Garumel to help him out of a difficult situation. Sena expressed his gratitude sincerely.
“Forget it. Think of it as payment for treating me last time.”
“…You’re generous. I thought you were someone who’d be merciless when it came to money.”
“I’m not going to make a fuss over just three shillings.”
“I think the word ‘fuss’ is inappropriate.”
“Is that what matters to you?”
Garumel’s face turned incredulous. Sena hesitated for a moment before speaking. He wondered if he was being presumptuous, but decided it was better than regretting it later.
“I heard you haven’t been paid for your last job.”
“Huh? You heard about that?”
“Could you forgive the client, just as you showed kindness to me?”
Sena looked at the shabby girl standing nearby. Her expression was dark, and she was on the verge of tears.
“That won’t be possible.”
But Garumel was firm.
“I can pay on her behalf.”
Garumel looked at him with a face that screamed he didn’t understand.
“…Do people often call you a pushover?”
He was right. Sena turned his gaze away quietly.
Garumel sighed. He was dealing with a troublesome personality.
“I’ll do anything for money. Most people here would. Money is the only goal for mercenaries.”
“I understand that. But…”
Garumel cut him off.
“You’ll pay? I don’t doubt your sincerity. Given your status, you wouldn’t trade your honor for a small amount. You don’t seem like that type. But it would be credit. If I allow it this time, others will start expecting the same.”
“I don’t know much about mercenaries.”
But Sena wasn’t naive about this part.
“But I know about knights.”
“What are you trying to say?”
Garumel had applied for the Imperial Knights’ test. He had tried to pass the test, even if it meant killing someone. Sena spoke firmly.
“A knight wouldn’t do that.”
“….”
Having given the medicine, it was time for the cure. Sena spoke with a kind smile.
“You’ll forgive her, right?”
Garumel was speechless. Just as Sena didn’t know much about mercenaries, Garumel knew little about the world of knights.
I see. Now that I aim to be a knight, should I at least pretend?
“Damn it.”
He cursed briefly, held his head, and spoke to the girl.
“Just go.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Disappear before I change my mind.”
The girl thanked Sena with teary eyes and quickly vanished.
Garumel was very displeased about the lost payment. Of course, Sena was in a good mood.
“You did well. I’ll tell Her Majesty, ‘Garumel is working hard to become a knight.'”
“Yeah, make sure you tell her. Every little detail.”
“So, what was the job?”
Sena asked out of personal curiosity.
Mercenary King. It sounded like an impressive title.
But does he accept jobs from ordinary girls?
“I can’t tell you that. Even if I don’t get paid, a client is a client. I can’t divulge the details.”
Garumel spoke firmly. Sena’s eyes sparkled.
So he wouldn’t reveal his client’s intention to run away either?
‘…No. He really seems to aim to be a knight. If I mention it, it might reach Astria’s ears.’
In that case, it would be a confinement ending for sure.
Let’s find another mercenary.
Sena picked up his spoon.
Steam had been rising from the stew for a while, and the aroma was very fragrant. With a bright face, Sena asked.
“How’s the preparation for the third test going?”
“It’s not going well. The third test is tomorrow.”
Garumel complained with a lethargic expression.
“What kind of test doesn’t give you any time to rest?”
‘That’s just how Astria is.’
From what he had observed, Astria had no concept of ‘rest.’
Yum Yum. Sena spoke while eating a spoonful of his stew.
“How many people passed?”
This lamb stew is delicious.
“Thirty people.”
“Oh, that’s quite a lot.”
“The test was divided into four regions: east, west, south, and north. You only saw the eastern one.”
“I see.”
“Now, it’s my turn. Why are you out here? Someone as noticeable as you.”
“Am I that noticeable?”
Garumel seemed genuinely curious.
Even with his hood pulled low, Sena’s long silver hair couldn’t be hidden. His pale skin was exceptionally white, even among the nobility.
Setting aside appearances, Sena’s demeanor, gestures, and speech were imbued with an undeniable elegance.
“Yeah. It’s quite unusual to see the Empress’s physician eating stew at the Mercenary Guild.”
“I came out to gather herbs. I am a healer, after all.”
Sena said evasively.
“Without a guard?”
Garumel immediately dismissed that thought.
“That was a mistake. You don’t need a guard.”
“??”
No, I do need one, Sena thought as he looked at Garumel with a bit of stew on his lips.
“Still, I didn’t expect you to come out with just a wooden sword. Is that enough?”
Garumel smirked, but Sena couldn’t understand the meaning behind it.
“…You seem full of openings. On the surface, you don’t look like a strong person at all.”
That’s because he’s not strong.
“Allowing gaps like that means you’re confident you can handle anything.”
Please stop misunderstanding.
“Last time, I didn’t even notice until my hand was halfway cut off.”
That was just a lucky skill.
“How humiliating.”
Garumel clicked his tongue.
‘He’s definitely a strange person’, Sena thought, continuing to eat his lamb stew contentedly.
**
Sena left the Mercenary Guild.
He couldn’t comfortably search for people with Garumel around.
To shake him off, he decided to start with a different task: gathering herbs that would help Astria’s health.
But…
“Why do you keep following me?”
Garumel had persistently followed him.
“I’m the type who can’t live with debts.”
“Oh, it’s really fine.”
“It’s fine with me too.”
“…But I’m not fine with it.”
“Where are you going? This path leads to the church.”
Garumel looked at Sena suspiciously.
“Are you a priest?”
Sena narrowed his eyes. This person is annoying.
“I’m not a priest.”
“Then why are you heading to the church?”
“Justitia seems to like me.”
“So, you are a priest after all.”
“…Do mercenaries not understand the concept of a joke?”
Sena sighed lightly.
“I’m going to look for herbs, not to the church.”
“I see.”
Sena stopped walking. He put his hand on his hip and looked at Garumel with a determined face.
“Why are you following me? If you won’t give me a reason, please go back.”
Garumel stroked his pointed beard with his index finger.
“I’m just heading in the same direction by coincidence.”
“Oh, really?”
Sena decided to ignore him and resumed walking.
Garumel followed Sena like a wandering wolf.
Curiosity. That was the real reason Garumel was moving.
Sena was a type of person Garumel had never encountered before. From the beginning, he was curious about what exactly Sena’s identity was.
A skilled healer, but with an incongruous strength. Which side was his true nature?
“Are you hurt?”
However, the interesting scenario Garumel imagined did not unfold.
Sena’s daily life was boring. Boring enough to make him yawn.
He would treat an injured cat he happened to come across and stop to admire any pleasant scenery for a long time.
There was no excitement, yet he lived such a life without ever seeming bored, like a priest.
‘Is he really not a priest?’
To Garumel, Sena seemed more like a priest than any priest he had ever seen. His speech and behavior were priestly.
He even looked like a saint, the kind you’d read about in fairy tales.
Just a while ago, hadn’t Sena persuaded him to help a complete stranger?
– Recently, there are many sick people in the slums. If they see them, they will surely say it’s because they don’t believe in Justitia and execute them.
-They are desperate to get rid of the slums.
-Please block the church’s investigation. That’s the content of the request.
Perhaps that was why the request that came to Garumel’s mind was one of the unpaid ones.
The ridiculous difficulty of the request.
For most mercenaries, it was an absurd task.
It was impossible for a lowly mercenary to exert even a bit of influence on the church.
But Garumel was a mercenary known as the Mercenary King.
As long as he was paid, there was nothing he couldn’t do.
– Do you have the gold? It’ll take quite a lot.
– …Yes.
That was an obviously false answer.
How much money could a girl from the slums possibly gather?
However, Garumel accepted the request. It wasn’t out of sympathy, compassion, or charity. At least, that’s what Garumel thought.
He was simply a mercenary who was sometimes easily deceived. Today, he wanted to be one of those times.
-Here it is.
The situation was worse than it seemed. The injuries on the people were horrific. Their hands and feet had turned black as if charred.
It reminded Garumel of ‘demons’.
He understood why the girl was more worried about the church than their lives.
Even Garumel, who didn’t believe in God, thought they might have been ‘hated by God’.
The girl was right. If the church found out, they would be eradicated.
Moreover, they would destroy the place where they lived. Garumel had heard before that the church wanted to eliminate the slums.
They would probably erase it without a trace.
Therefore, Garumel moved the injured to a hidden location and silenced those involved.
But Garumel knew that information was like water that would eventually leak out. There were no eternal secrets in this world.
Unless the root cause was removed, it was just a matter of time.
‘… Now that I think about it, it was covered up by that ridiculous slash, but he healed my half-cut arm in an instant.’
So Garumel was looking for a healer who wasn’t a priest.
It seemed he found one right in front of him.
A good healer, as kind as a fool.
From the moment he first saw him, Garumel wanted to ask for his help, but he had to confirm if Sena was a priest or not.
He didn’t seem to be a priest. If he were, he wouldn’t be so broke.
But Sena was genuinely poor. Garumel had a keen sense for money, and he felt that Sena didn’t have a cent to his name.
That shabby wooden sword Sena carried? Garumel initially thought it was enough, but now he was sure it was because Sena didn’t want to spend money on a proper sword.
“Wow, they have this here. It’s hard to find, where did you get it?”
Sena was now excitedly looking at herbs in a shop. Garumel approached him. Sena sensed him and widened his eyes.
“You’re still following me? I’m really sorry to ask, but could I borrow some money? I’ll pay back double! Double!”
Does he think everyone else is as gullible as he is?
Although he didn’t know.
Garumel smirked and said.
“I have a patient. Could you help?”
Garumel carefully chose his words. He doubted Sena would follow him just on his word. How could he bait this naive healer?
However, Garumel’s worries were unfounded.
Sena tilted his head slightly, then handed him a four-leaf clover.
“Sure, I’ll help. But could you buy this for me?”
Garumel glanced at the price tag. The clover cost 1 shilling.
For the record, Sena thought this was a very good deal.
