Chapter 9
They say humans are adaptable creatures, but I think that's wrong.
The journey for the Goblin subjugation was, once again, on foot.
I thought I had gotten used to it after marching a few times, but my legs started aching again with the extra luggage.
On top of that, the journey was even more exhausting because I wasn't used to the armor, which was basically just rawhide.
'I should have invested in stamina or strength if I knew this would happen.'
It was a bit too late for regrets.
Of course, since the ability description noted a slight increase, I doubted I would really feel it, but it had to be better than nothing.
Oh, speaking of perks, I had discovered something new about this game system.
The morning after I chose my new perk, most of the muscle pain from the grueling march had vanished.
Not only that, but when I checked while taking a shower, I saw that most of my lingering wounds had already healed.
Could it be a mechanic like in games where your health restores when you level up?
Of course, I couldn't be completely sure since I hadn't suffered any major injuries yet.
Besides, considering the wounds I got from the Kobold, the recovery rate probably wasn't that high.
It likely wouldn't save me from the brink of death like a real game.
Even so, these small details acted like an anchor, helping me keep my sanity in this unfamiliar place.
The language ability, the game system... I didn't even want to imagine the horrific fate I'd be facing right now without those two things.
***
There were four groups of Mercenaries heading out for the subjugation in total.
Us three.
Four bearded guys wielding Axes.
Four gloomy-looking guys with bows on their backs.
And finally, Arnold's crew, which had a whopping seven members.
"...There are way too many of them."
Baldic whispered, glancing at Arnold's group.
"For sure. I see a Ring, too."
Arnold was no ordinary Mercenary.
They had better gear than us and vastly outnumbered us.
Their swords looked better than ours, but the difference in armor was even more striking.
Of course, he wasn't fully decked out in grand knight's armor.
He was wearing Chainmail over his shirt, and that alone looked intimidating enough.
No, rather than intimidating, to be honest, I was jealous.
"Where did that bastard get something like that?"
"Who knows. Maybe he stole it?"
I nodded at Baldic's words, but when I looked at the Chainmail more closely, I noticed something odd.
The length was awkwardly short, barely reaching his chest.
It looked ridiculous, almost like he was wearing a tank top.
...If he actually took off his undershirt, wouldn't it show underboob? A useless thought popped into my head.
Ugh, just imagining it felt dirty.
Anyway, we lacked gear, were outnumbered, and were at a severe disadvantage.
"Damn it all! What are we supposed to do then?"
"...."
Baldic vented his frustration, and Drek fell into deep thought.
Judging by his expression, he didn't seem to have a solid plan.
Instead of staying quiet, I threw out a suggestion.
"How about we sneak in and steal it at night?"
Drek took a short breath and replied in a low voice.
"That would be the most common method, but it won't be easy."
"Really?"
"Mercenaries don't camp together for minor missions like this in the first place. They use separate campsites, so it's hard to break in."
"Separate camps? Why?"
Wouldn't it be safer to stick together?
"To prevent theft. And since there are a lot of rough guys around, it's better to stay apart to avoid unnecessary conflicts."
Hearing that, I nodded in understanding.
In fact, even though we were all heading toward the same goal, each group was moving at least ten paces apart from the others.
"Of course, they do tend to camp together in dangerous areas or on battlefields."
"Battlefields?"
It was a word that felt both familiar and distant.
But judging by his tone, Drek sounded like he had experienced war firsthand.
"Have you ever been to war?"
"I have. I needed the money."
"Everyone needs money."
Baldic chimed in.
"Anyway, to work as a war Mercenary and keep all your limbs. You must be lucky, huh?"
"...."
Drek stayed silent for a moment before pointing to his right cheekbone.
"Do you see this long scar? It's a wound I got in the war."
He had more than just one or two scars on his face, but hearing him say that made it look completely different.
"Because of this, most of the money I earned went to medical bills."
"Why didn't you come to me? I would've done it cheap."
"...Right."
"I used Healing Magic back when I worked as a Priest! What do you take a Priest for!"
Drek looked at Baldic without a word before letting out a short sigh.
Did he not realize that the problem wasn't people looking down on Priests, but him?
Walking along the road, we soon reached the entrance to the forest where the Goblins were hiding.
The group taking the lead was, as expected, Arnold's crew.
They exchanged a few short words among themselves, decided on a direction, and then glanced back at us, jerking their chins as if telling us to follow.
Since we were essentially Mercenaries working for Mercenaries, we quietly followed behind them.
By the way, the way those guys swaggered as they walked made them look exactly like a gang of thugs.
The snippets of conversation that leaked out were riddled with curses and dirty jokes.
It perfectly matched the stereotypical image of a Mercenary I had vaguely pictured.
Just then, Drek, who had been quietly surveying our surroundings, spoke up.
"It seems we aren't the only ones who took the job."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Those guys, they're only staring at Arnold's hand."
At those words, I discreetly observed the other two groups, and something strange definitely caught my eye.
They were also continuously throwing glances at Arnold's group, studying them.
"Don't tell me he gave everyone the same job?"
"Probably."
"That damn Broker bastard! This is exactly why I don't trust Brokers!"
Baldic fumed and ground his teeth.
Ultimately, this operation that was supposedly assembled for a Goblin subjugation was turning into a human subjugation.
I let out a soft sigh.
"It might actually be better this way, right? At least we won't have to worry about losing Arnold."
After all, this was an almost impossible operation for just us alone.
It might be better if it turned into a three-way battle like this.
"That makes sense."
Drek replied briefly and looked around.
"Whatever happens, we need to take care of the Goblins first."
"True. Aren't we drinking the kimchi soup a bit too early?"
"Kimchi soup? What's that."
...Ah, they wouldn't have it here.
Since I had been constantly speaking in Korean, it just slipped out too naturally.
"Ah, it's... like a local dish."
"A local dish?"
Drek tilted his head.
"Anyway, where are you from? Judging just by your hair color, you look like you're from our side."
Ironically, Baldic, the one saying that, had blonde hair. Were there a lot of black-haired people in his region?
I still hadn't gotten a good look at my own face yet, but listening to Baldic, I wondered if I had a Middle Eastern vibe.
"Your skin is too pale for that, though...."
"Do you think we're all dark-skinned!"
Baldic scoffed.
Baldic's appearance had a very typical Viking feel to it.
Tanned skin, a fierce expression, and even a bushy golden beard.
Of course, he didn't look all that threatening due to his short stature.
"Have you ever heard of Korea, by any chance? Or maybe... Goryeo or Joseon."
"Korea?"
Drek muttered it to himself as if chewing on the word for a moment, then shook his head.
"Those are all names I'm hearing for the first time."
"I don't know either. I guess you're not from our side."
Baldic chimed in from the side.
...Is this a completely different world?
I thought it would at least be a similar parallel universe.
Or maybe these two just don't know about it.
There didn't seem to be internet here anyway, so there'd be no real way for them to know news from distant countries.
Whatever the case, it wasn't good news for me.
"...It's fine if you don't know. Anyway, I came from pretty far away."
"Hmm, kimchi soup... The name sounds delicious."
"I'll definitely treat you to some if the opportunity arises."
While I was busy promoting national prestige in a fantasy world, a commotion could be heard from the front.
"Sounds like they're fighting?"
"Yeah. It must be Goblins."
Drek answered briefly, raising his head to look ahead.
It seemed that Arnold's crew, who was taking the lead, had encountered the Goblins.
Anyway.
"But why aren't they calling us?"
"Why do you think? That's all money over there, would you call us if you were them?"
Ah, that makes sense.
Each Goblin is essentially loot, and loot means compensation.
They probably wanted to handle a few Goblins by themselves.
"No wonder they took the lead. There was a reason for all of it."
"Of course there was."
A brief silence fell before I asked again.
"But shouldn't we be hunting them too? We came out here after accepting the job anyway..."
"There's nothing to gain by stepping up right now, it'll only make them wary."
Drek gestured forward with his head.
In the direction he pointed, it wasn't Arnold's crew, but the other two Mercenary groups.
They didn't join the battle either, merely standing still in their spots to check their weapons.
"Don't tell me, are they already engaged in a battle of wits?"
"Looks like it."
Drek nodded firmly.
"The situation is about to change."
"Pardon?"
"Human blood is going to spill before the Goblins'. Those guys don't even seem to care about the Goblins."
Come to think of it, everyone except Arnold's gang was just standing still and watching, even though a fight had broken out.
"Then... there's no reason for us to rush either."
"Right. Catching Goblins right now is just doing someone else a favor."
I understood.
If a clash with Arnold's gang was inevitable anyway, there was no need to take the lead.
"But, looking at their expressions... we're really going to see blood."
"It's already been decided."
Drek's tone was calm. It was as if he already knew exactly how everything would flow.
The Broker had said he didn't care whether Arnold lived or died.
However, in this situation, it seemed unlikely that Arnold would make it out alive.
I felt like I finally understood a little why Baldic hated Brokers.
"When do you think those guys will make their move?"
"Probably... tonight."
"Tonight, huh...."
After a long march, the sun was already beginning to set.
The fact that a life-and-death battle was going to happen soon didn't feel real at all.
After first encountering the Goblin group, we also found their dwelling.
It definitely gave off a primitive vibe, fitting enough to be called a 'village'.
However, the scale was much larger than expected.
-Fuck, how many of them are there.
-Looks like there's easily over twenty.
After locating the Goblin settlement, it was decided that we would rest at the campsite before attacking.
Arnold's crew argued for an immediate attack, but they were met with opposition from the other three groups who had different motives.
We agreed to set up our campsites separately, at a distance from the settlement, and everyone went their own ways.
Strangely enough, everyone was just staring at the backs of Arnold's crew as they left.
For some reason, the sight felt ominous.
We also set up a simple campsite not too far away, gathering wood to light a campfire and pitching a tent.
I worried that lighting a campfire might alert the Goblins, but the forest was so dense that the smoke probably wouldn't be visible.
Baldic tied a tripwire to a tree and asked.
"Shouldn't we find out where they're going?"
"We'll find out when the fighting starts. There's no reason to make the first move."
Drek spoke calmly, as if he was used to this.
As we were passing the time chewing on dried fruit in our darkened campsite, a commotion broke out not far away.
"What the hell! Are they fighting?"
"They sure are in a hurry."
We hurriedly grabbed our weapons and scrambled to our feet.
The battlefield we arrived at after pushing through the forest was absolute chaos.
Clang! Clang!
"F-uck! You bastards!"
"Aaaaargh! Die, you son of a bitch!"
All three groups, excluding us, were tangled together in a massive brawl.
Two men were already lying cold and dead, and another was bleeding out, drawing his last breaths.
Perhaps due to the difference in skill among the Mercenaries, most of the casualties belonged to the other groups, not Arnold's.
One of the guys spotted us watching the situation from behind the bushes and shouted.
"Damn it, Captain! Those bastards are here too!"
"These f-ucking bastards, they really took us for fools."
Only then did Arnold reveal himself from the back.
Unfortunately, he still looked completely fine.
He was covered in blood, but it looked like someone else's.
Two people from what could be considered our side had died, while Arnold's side had only lost one.
It wasn't a positive situation.
However, upon seeing the tall Drek suddenly appear, the opposition was noticeably tense as well.
Drek stepped forward without a word.
As his massive frame pushed through the bushes and entered the battlefield, some of the fighting Mercenaries momentarily froze.
"Bastards like you are just all brawn and-"
Whack! Thwack!
One Mercenary who charged in with overflowing enthusiasm had his head snapped back by Drek's swinging Shield, and was immediately pierced through the chest by the tip of his short sword.
The fallen Mercenary showed no signs of ever getting back up.
And as for me...
Overwhelmed by the bloody chaos unfolding right before my eyes, I stood there in a daze, half out of my mind.
My head spun, and my heart thumped wildly. I couldn't breathe.
'U-Uh... What do I do....'
It was then.
Smack!
My head jerked to the side at the sharp sound of my cheek being struck.
Through the Riiiing—— in my ears, I could faintly hear Baldic's urgent shout.
"Pull yourself together! If you just stand there dazed, we're all going to die!"
"Uh... What? A-Ah... Y-Yes, okay!"
I barely managed to steady myself and nodded.
As I clenched my trembling fist, I belatedly felt the texture of the Dagger in my hand.
This wasn't just a Dagger. It was the only means of survival I had right now.
Taking a deep breath, I stared at the battlefield in front of me.
Drek walked slowly toward another enemy with an expressionless face.
He looked like an executioner devoid of any hesitation.
His presence made me feel reassured, but there were still many enemies.
Before I knew it, Baldic had also raised his Dagger and started moving behind Drek.
His fighting stance was sloppy, but there was a clear resolve in his eyes.
'Alright, I can do this too.'
A gleaming blue magical energy smoothly seeped into my hand.
The mana, which I hadn't been accustomed to until recently, was now faintly responding to my will.
[Water Shield]
The water flowing from the Canteen on my waist hardened into a cold, solid form over my hand.
Holding my sword and Shield, I took a step forward into the battlefield.
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