You Can Give It to Me (2)
'There must be a reason.'
Yes, he didn't know yet, but there must be a reason.
That was why everyone had been confused when they saw the future Yulian.
Erenes had merely been suspicious, but Artherion was convinced that Yulian was the Adversary.
"I wonder when I'll find out."
According to Ghislain's predictions, it would be at least after the battle with the Demon Realm began. Until then, both Yulian and Deneb had to become stronger than what he had seen in his dream.
The same went for Kyle. No matter how much he thought about it, the one who had fought alongside him as the hero's companion seemed to be him.
'Don't waver, just focus on achieving the goal.'
He had to trust the dream he had seen. There had to be a reason why the Saintess had summoned him here.
Without firm belief, if his heart wavered continuously, he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything.
So he couldn't waver. That was the way Ghislain had lived his entire life.
It was by living that way that he had finally brought down the duchy and saved everyone.
Even if the Saintess had summoned him here just to use him, it didn't matter.
'I will give my all and move toward what I believe in.'
If the result was unsatisfactory, he would change it then, even if it required wielding immense power.
Ghislain deliberately eased his mind. One of his strengths was that once he made up his mind, he never wavered.
Ghislain organized the battlefield. He understood why everyone was rejoicing, but they couldn't afford to waste time here.
"Let's check out this bastard's hideout. Looks like there's plenty to gain."
Andrew agreed readily. In fact, it wasn't even about permission. Ghislain was already the leader of this group.
Basilud had cleverly concealed the entrance to his hideout with trees and rocks. Judging by the traces of magic, he had also used spells to distort and hide the surroundings.
The cave, structured like an anthill with multiple interconnected chambers, was surprisingly well-maintained. There were lanterns hanging around, and even old carpets laid on the floors.
It had enough furnishings for someone to live in.
Of course, that was only in comparison to other caves—it was nowhere near as good as an actual house. Bugs were swarming all over the place.
The soldiers wandered through the cave, inspecting everything with curiosity.
"Oh... so this is where the dark mage lived."
"It's not as bizarre as I expected."
Everyone was busy looking around in fascination.
There were a few rooms filled with unidentified bones and rotting corpses, but there weren't as many truly grotesque objects as they had imagined.
Contrary to popular belief, dark mages also had rather mundane daily lives.
As Ghislain examined the rooms, he commented,
"Well, a cave is a good place for storing and studying corpses."
Caves were less affected by external temperature changes. With magic, handling corpses became even easier.
After roughly inspecting the cave's structure, Ghislain immediately began searching the area thoroughly.
Apparently, Basilud hadn't felt the need to hide things too well. Precious items were piled up in random crates and sacks.
People let out gasps of admiration at the sight.
"Wow! Are all these gems?"
"He lived in a cave but sure accumulated a fortune."
"Mages really are rich, huh?"
Though it wasn't impressive to Ghislain, to the others, it was an immense amount of wealth. Even Andrew couldn't help but swallow his saliva in regret.
Nordhill was merely a small barony. After two large-scale subjugations in a short time, its treasury was nearly empty.
For an ordinary mercenary contract, the employer would typically take all the loot while only paying the mercenaries their wages.
However, since their contract with the Yulian Mercenary Corps granted the mercenaries all the spoils, there was nothing Andrew could do.
That said, he wasn't about to betray them either. The moment he did, the entire force here would be slaughtered.
Ghislain looked at Andrew and said,
"Moving all this is going to be a hassle. Help us transport it, and I'll give you 30%."
"Understood!"
Ghislain was a man who gave generously when it was time to give. Andrew's face lit up as he nodded.
Even just 30% was a considerable sum. He had thought simply succeeding in the subjugation would be enough, but now he was also making money—he couldn't help feeling thrilled.
But money wasn't Ghislain's true objective. He owned stakes in a gold mine. He could secure this kind of small fortune anytime.
"The real treasure is the spellbooks."
Finding them was easy. Basilud's study was packed with them.
With an excited expression, Ghislain quickly sifted through the books.
Surprisingly, there were only a few dark magic books. After all, dark magic inherently had fewer variations than other types of magic.
"Damn… there's actually a 6th-circle spellbook here."
There were several 6th-circle spellbooks. Even after excluding duplicate spells, there were still a significant number of spells included.
There were also plenty of lower-circle spellbooks. Learning unfamiliar spells now would later allow for creative applications.
"Studying is tough, but casting spells isn't hard."
Ecstatic, Ghislain eagerly gathered the spellbooks. The difficulty of studying didn't concern him at all.
'After all, I have an incredible mental lifeform that thinks, learns, and gives me answers on its own. Studying is never difficult for me.'
He was referring to Astion. Unlike Dark, who had also resided in his consciousness but was far inferior, Astion was vastly more intelligent.
Available 24/7, he answered whenever called. He could even be trained to improve his performance.
So there was no reason for Ghislain to fear studying.
Having gathered a trove of spoils from Basilud's hideout, the group returned to the territory.
The streets were filled with people who had come out after hearing the news. They cheered for the triumphant return of the army.
"The dark mage is dead!"
"Long live the Lord!"
"The Yulian Mercenary Corps is the best!"
The dark mage had caused immense harm to the people. Many had been captured and used as test subjects by Basilud.
Countless soldiers had died in the subjugation, and even the former lord had perished.
Now that the dark mage who had ruined the territory was dead, the people could finally feel relieved and celebrate.
"The Yulian Mercenary Corps is truly amazing, isn't it?"
"They defeated the dark mage who had survived two failed subjugations."
"I heard the commander personally beheaded him. They say he's unbelievably strong."
"And what about the mage? He used a duck to take down the dark mage's disciple!"
"And those two priests? Whenever the priestess radiated light, the undead collapsed instantly!"
Wherever one went, the topic of conversation was the Yulian Mercenary Corps.
Yet once again, there was barely any mention of Kyle.
Even though he had worked hard, Kyle couldn't shake the feeling that the world was deliberately trying to erase him.
He had suffered through so much, yet his role always seemed to be the smallest.
"Argh! So annoying! I took down the most enemies!"
"The world is like that. Keep training," Dark said with a solemn expression. He had been quite enjoying his life lately.
In Fenris, everyone was strong, so his words carried no weight. He was lucky if he wasn't ignored outright.
But here, he felt like he was someone important. Advising weaker people was the most enjoyable thing.
To commemorate the subjugation of the dark mage, Andrew held a small banquet. Though the territory wasn't wealthy, he couldn't let the occasion pass without expressing gratitude to his benefactors.
During the banquet, Andrew subtly approached Ghislain.
"Would you consider becoming the territory's exclusive mage? I will also appoint your companions as knights of the land and grant you a small estate. I will offer you the best treatment I can."
Ghislain replied with an amused expression.
"We're expensive."
"Oh, how expensive?"
"We receive 30% of the revenue from the Lacus Territory."
"The territory's revenue?"
"Yes. You do know a gold mine was discovered there, right?"
Andrew swallowed hard and simply nodded. Since Nordhill was close to Lacus, he had heard about it.
How envious he had been when he first heard that a gold mine had been discovered there!
He was also aware of the role the Yulian Mercenary Corps had played. That was why he had been so eager to recruit them.
'Wait… 30% of the revenue? From a territory with a gold mine?'
He hadn't known that the Yulian Mercenary Corps had secured such a stake. That information had never spread.
A developing gold mine meant a flood of wealth over time.
Andrew, dazed, could only murmur in admiration.
"Wow… That's incredible. You must be really wealthy."
It was impossible to hire the Yulian Mercenary Corps with money. Andrew realized he had nothing valuable enough to offer and felt a little discouraged.
Nordhill's strength lay in its relatively developed livestock industry. The land was small, but it was well-suited for raising animals.
So far, the territory had been sustained by selling livestock byproducts.
'I could offer them a lot of ducks… maybe some land…'
But it wasn't enough to keep them. Land was precious, but the Yulian Mercenary Corps was skilled enough to secure a much larger estate from a better territory.
Livestock farming was also risky—an outbreak of disease or poor weather could ruin it.
In the end, Andrew had no choice but to give up. The mercenary corps was too powerful to be swayed by money or force.
Only a much higher-ranking noble could negotiate with them on equal footing.
But then, Ghislain said something unexpected.
"Well, I have been considering staying here a bit longer."
"Really?"
"Yes, we need to focus on training for a while. For now, we plan to base our mercenary activities around this territory."
There was a chance that the person who had met with Basilud would return. Ghislain also wanted to study magic and gather more information while waiting.
There was still much about this era that he didn't understand.
Hearing this, Andrew's face lit up.
"Ah, please stay as long as you like! Whatever you need, I will support you."
Andrew had been deeply concerned about the situation with the dark mage. Whether it was a priest from the Salvation Church or another dark mage who had manipulated Basilud, it meant that someone had their eyes on Nordhill.
But now that the Yulian Mercenary Corps was staying, he couldn't have felt more reassured.
"I will provide you with the best residence available. You won't experience any major inconveniences."
Andrew arranged for them to stay in the finest manor the territory had to offer.
To Ghislain, who had once ruled the great Lutania, the manor was unimpressive—pathetically so.
But for Yulian, Deneb, and Kyle, it was a different story.
"Wow, are we really staying here now?"
"This is amazing. Isn't this the kind of place only nobles can stay in?"
"Traveling with Ghislain really feels like living in luxury!"
Just like in Lacus, those who had grown up in the countryside found even a modest residence extraordinary.
Training was difficult, but their standard of living had vastly improved compared to before.
With a stable base secured, Ghislain stacked up the spellbooks and summoned Astion.
Seeing the pile of books, Astion let out a gasp of amazement.
— Whoa, that's a lot. I didn't expect you to collect spellbooks this fast… You're really something.
'Now, start studying.'
— …
'Studying is never wasted.'
— … You're not just going to keep them for yourself?
'You can have them too.'
— …
'You need to learn them anyway, don't you?'
— …
Astion couldn't argue. If he wanted to grow stronger, he had to learn many spells and advance his own level.
— Are we studying dark magic too?
'No exceptions. Knowledge is power. A person must never stop learning.'
— …
Reluctantly, Astion began his studies. In the end, it wasn't a bad thing—he needed to master magic anyway.
Meanwhile, Ghislain continued his personal training whenever he had the time. He focused particularly on improving his inadequate physical condition.
Living in the manor provided by the lord required little expenditure, but Lacus Territory continued to send funds regularly.
Thanks to that, Ghislain and his companions could focus entirely on their training while living comfortably.
Of course, training wasn't all they did. To gain experience, they also continued their mercenary work.
They accepted dangerous commissions from neighboring territories without hesitation. Enhancing their reputation as a mercenary corps was also important.
Thus, they spent about two years in Nordhill Territory.
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