"It has truly been a long time, Russelrent-nim."
Watching the lich bow its head respectfully toward him, Russelrent nodded.
The opponent was none other than Gedenhaide, the indisputable chieftain of Berkis’s Guardians. Having seen him many times already, he knew Gedenhaide’s face clearly. Though calling it a face was generous, as it was nothing more than a skull stripped of all flesh.
"Yes, it has been a while. I trust Lord Berkis is well?"
"That is so, however……"
Because Gedenhaide’s answer was less than favorable, Russelrent narrowed his eyes deeply. He already respected Berkis even more than Kranus the Dragon Lord. Therefore, he could hardly be uninterested in matters concerning Berkis.
"Has something happened to him?"
At Russelrent’s question, Gedenhaide hung his head as if he had committed some great sin and continued.
"The truth is, a great incident occurred while you were asleep, Russelrent-nim."
Soon, astonishing news spilled from Gedenhaide’s mouth. News that a human who had been made into a lich had deceived Berkis’s eyes, learned magic, and then stolen Incresia, the dragons’ treasure vault, before fleeing. Hearing the absurd fact that the Green Dragon Zikreit had met a miserable death in the process, Russelrent opened his eyes wide as if he simply could not believe it.
"How in the world could such a thing happen……? You expect me to believe that a mere lich wretch killed Zikreit and plundered Incresia?"
"Y-yet all of it is true. Lord Berkis has verified everything. Judging by the circumstances, it seems the wretch has already fled to Arcadia, according to Lord Berkis."
So absurd was it that Russelrent shook his head. However, the fact that the chieftain of the Guardians, who should be protecting Berkis’s lair, had been waiting here for a whole month already spoke of how that was unquestionably true. As far as he knew, the Guardian chieftain could never leave the lair empty. Especially if that period amounted to as long as a month…………
"Damn it all……"
Russelrent’s face suddenly contorted. Because inside Incresia were also a considerable number of treasures he had collected. Only the most precious and valuable among the treasures amassed over four thousand years.
"I truly cannot understand. Why did Lord Berkis not kill that wretch and instead make him a Guardian? To keep someone so dangerous……"
"He is astonishingly cunning and his intellect is exceptional as well. Originally, Lord Berkis had merely captured him as a tool for biological experiments. It simply happened that he was turned into a lich. Truthfully, that wretch is not a human of this place. Since he was a human who crossed over from another dimension, it seems Lord Berkis became curious."
"No matter if he's from another dimension, still?"
Grumbling poured repeatedly from Russelrent’s mouth. Having Incresia stolen entirely was no ordinary matter. Russelrent’s reaction laid bare the avaricious nature of a dragon greedy for treasure. Meanwhile, Gedenhaide’s explanation continued.
"At the time of his capture, he was a wretch who had not even reached the level of a 3rd-Circle Expert. Yet that wretch astonishingly studied magic for five hundred years and rose to become a Master of the 9th Circle. In particular, that detestable wretch infiltrated Lord Berkis’s magic library and stole magic to learn it. He is absolutely not someone to be taken lightly."
"Hmm. A truly detestable wretch. Then, is that wretch the reason you have come here?"
"That is correct. Lord Berkis wishes for you to cross over to Arcadia, capture and kill that wretch, and retrieve Incresia. If his lifeline is severed, Incresia will automatically return to the next dragon in turn. However, because Lord Berkis awoke during his slumber, he must remain in sleep without stirring for another fifty years. Therefore, he said you are the only one who can accomplish this, Russelrent-nim."
Russelrent nodded with an expression that said it made sense. In fact, it was only natural. Currently, he was the only dragon who had awakened from sleep. Furthermore, while crossing over to Arcadia, a continent ruled by humans, was certainly a troublesome matter, as an adult dragon who had reached the Wyrm rank, Russelrent possessed ample ability to do so.
In other words, there was no other dragon fit to undertake this mission besides him.
Russelrent nodded as if there was nothing more to think about.
"Very well. I shall cross over to Arcadia and capture and kill that wretch. Therefore, you must tell me everything about that wretch’s characteristics, the magic he mainly uses, and so forth."
To recover his own treasures that would be inside Incresia, Russelrent had already been thinking of taking personal action even without separate urging. Gedenhaide handed over the booklet he was holding to Russelrent.
"Everything about him is written here. Currently, there should not exist a human mage of the 9th Circle in Arcadia. Finding him will not be terribly difficult."
"Very well. Worry not. I shall surely complete the mission and return……"
Watching Gedenhaide bow his head, Russelrent quietly rearranged his mana. To cross over to Arcadia, he absolutely had to polymorph into human form. They were humans he abhorred with every fiber of his being, but for now he had no choice. No matter how dragons might be called the mightiest of creatures, if surrounded and attacked by numerous humans, preserving his life would inevitably be difficult…….
Flash.
With a blinding flash, Russelrent’s massive body was gradually shrinking.
Far removed from that place, on the continent of Arcadia, a man was racking his brains.
‘This is driving me mad. What am I to do about this?’
The man looked at his employer before him with a troubled expression. However, the employer showed no sign of bending her will in the slightest. It would be no exaggeration to say her stubbornness was tougher than wrought iron.
"If I didn't know, I would let it pass, but now that I know, I cannot stand idle. You have seen the villagers’ despairing reactions, have you not? Are they not pitiful? Therefore, we must definitely capture and kill that evil Necromancer."
Seeing his employer glaring at him with both hands planted firmly on her waist, the man could not help but feel exasperated once again.
Of course, the intention of punishing an evil Necromancer for the sake of the villagers was in itself beyond reproach. Rather, it should be seen as an intention burning with a sense of justice, one worthy of commendation. But one needed weapons to even think of hunting monsters.
Honestly, going blindly to capture a Necromancer when their available forces could by no means be considered adequate was nonsensical.
The man bore the name Kasim. In his mid-thirties with a rugged face and a fairly burly build, Kasim was a mercenary seasoned on the battlefield. Having joined a renowned mercenary band in his early twenties to begin his mercenary life, he was also a fairly experienced mercenary who had earned some renown after surviving countless near-death experiences.
From his perspective, this request made no sense whatsoever. Their fighting force consisted of nothing more than the employer and one knight attendant following her; the rest were his subordinate mercenaries. A force that could by no means be called strong. Yet despite this, the employer was obstinately being unreasonable.
His employer was a girl named Yuliana, who looked perhaps just eighteen. Mind you, she possessed the status of a princess of some kingdom.
A princess of Karsel, a backwater country unworthy of being called a kingdom. Therefore, one could hardly find in her the dignity expected of a royal princess. It was evident enough just from how she browbeat him without regard for means or methods.
"You were definitely commissioned to protect me from our Karsel Kingdom to the Crosen Empire. Is that not so?"
"Y-yes, that is so, but……"
"I shall go with Michel down this path to capture the evil Necromancer. Then, must you not naturally accompany me and protect me?"
Kasim shook his head with an expression that said he was truly at a loss. If only he possessed even a single mercenary company, he would have followed his employer without a second word. But alas, the fighting force he possessed amounted to merely seven mercenaries including himself. And two of them were mere children who hadn’t even dried the blood scabs on their heads?
In truth, Kasim was formerly a vice-commander of a fairly famous mercenary band called Thunderbird. Just as there existed countless kingdoms, territorial disputes were unavoidable, and consequently localized wars broke out practically daily in Arcadia. Because the Crosen Empire existed, large-scale wars did not occur, but small-scale disputes over territory or interests were practically an everyday affair.
Where there is demand, supply must inevitably increase. Countless mercenary bands were established to accept commissions for proxy battles.
Thunderbird Mercenary Band was one such band born in this manner, boasting considerable fame in the mercenary world. Kasim had served there as a centurion commanding over a hundred subordinates, achieving countless military merits.
His moniker ‘Kasim the Sword Breaker’ was known to nearly anyone who had made a decent living as a mercenary. But as most mercenaries did, Kasim desperately wished to have his own mercenary band. No matter how hard he fought risking his life, he only elevated the name of the mercenary band he belonged to.
In the end, he rallied the subordinates who followed him and left Thunderbird Mercenary Band. Those who followed him then were two young boys who had just become mercenaries and four mercenaries belonging to his hundred-man unit. A mercenary band composed of a mere seven. But Kasim did not lose courage.
"Though our appearance is humble now, who can say? If we gradually take on small commissions, gather people, and raise our name, the name of our Kasim Mercenary Band might one day surpass even Thunderbird Mercenary Band."
Having rallied his subordinates’ hearts with a speech, Kasim immediately set out to find commissions. But work rarely came their way. Because they could not wage war with merely seven people. Thus, what they could do was nothing more than escorting important persons or exterminating monsters. But in Arcadia where monsters had already died out, there was no work for them to do. The Kasim Mercenary Band, having failed to receive a single commission for a whopping three months. Then, the long-awaited commission finally came to them…….
An old man who identified himself as the chancellor of Karsel Kingdom—though his appearance was none other than that of a country farmer—came to find him one day.
"I wish to commission you. The mission is to escort our kingdom’s princess to the Crosen Empire."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
Though it was the commission he had been waiting for, the content was so unexpected that Kasim could not help but be bewildered. Entrusting a princess’s escort to a mercenary band was unprecedented. Moreover, was it not to a small-scale mercenary band with merely seven members? But Kasim, whose situation was dire, accepted the commission without hesitation.
"Worry not. We shall definitely succeed in our mission."
"But the commission fee seems a bit high."
The fellow calling himself chancellor of a mere kingdom had haggled the price down by more than half from the proper rate, but he didn’t care. Anyway, this was his mercenary band’s first commission.
But had he known the princess they were to escort was such an unreasonable girl, he would never have accepted the commission. This pig-headed girl was now pushing him to the edge once again.
"What will you do? If you do not follow, I shall mercilessly consider it a breach of contract."
‘This is driving me mad.’
Kasim’s face had turned entirely sullen. Of course, Kasim, who was used to mercenary life, knew full well what a breach of contract meant. Normally, if a mercenary band violated a contract, they were obliged to pay an amount equal to three times the contract deposit.
But alas, Kasim had received the full commission amount as the contract deposit. Given the current situation, he absolutely
He had not taken that into account. Therefore, from his point of view, breach of contract was something he could not even imagine.
Considering the financial state of the mercenary band, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, they had to complete the mission no matter what. Though he bore responsibility for protecting the lives of the mercenaries under him, he could not afford to pay compensation on their very first job, and in the end, he made up his mind.
“Understood. We will accompany you as well.”
Though he answered as if nothing were wrong on the surface, Kasim was weeping inside. Whether she knew his feelings or not, his employer, Princess Yuliana, smiled broadly.
“You’ve made the right choice. The necromancer tormenting the villagers must be punished by our own hands.”
It was truly like slapping a child who was already crying.
‘Damn it all…….’
Kasim had to use every ounce of his strength to swallow the curse that almost burst out of him. In all his life, he had never seen a girl act so recklessly. And she was, nominally at least, the princess of a kingdom. With a hardened expression, he silently picked up his beloved weapon, the Sword Breaker.
The Sword Breaker. A sword with a saw-toothed blade, it was an exceedingly cruel and grotesque weapon designed not so much to cut an enemy as to tear them apart.
When it clashed with a blade of inferior strength, it could chip the opponent’s sword, making it an extremely effective weapon against swordsmen. Its appearance brought to mind the Langya Jian of the Central Plains. The Sword Breaker was the cherished weapon that had brought Kasim to where he was now, almost like a friend to him.
Having taken up his weapon, Kasim rose to his feet.
“When do you intend to depart?”
“We’ll go right now.”
After answering briefly, Yuliana turned her head and looked at the young knight standing beside her.
“Mitchell. You’re coming too, right?”
In that instant, Kasim’s face crumpled. He had already assumed that the knight called Mitchell had decided to accompany them. But to think that had been a blatant lie……
In short, Kasim had been completely deceived by Yuliana. But a man could not take back words he had already spoken aloud. All he could do was glare with burning eyes, looking back and forth between Yuliana and the young knight called Mitchell.
“Well? Don’t you think our forces are too weak to catch an evil necromancer?”
Mitchell, who answered with a frown, was quite a handsome man. He was a stylish young man who looked to have just passed twenty, wearing old but well-polished plate mail. The way the corners of his mouth curled upward gave him a slightly sly impression, but overall, he was rather good-looking.
Judging from the way he spoke casually with Yuliana, they seemed to have known each other for quite a long time. But Kasim, listening to them, once again felt utterly dumbfounded.
‘Good heavens, an escort knight and a princess speaking to each other so freely…… I’ve lived long enough to see many things, but this is the first time I’ve seen a kingdom with such a complete collapse of hierarchy.’
Of course, Kasim’s thoughts were not without reason. In an ordinary kingdom, royalty belonged to a class that could not be approached lightly. An escort knight and a princess being on such familiar terms as they were now was something utterly unimaginable. But there was a fitting reason for it.
Like the Kingdom of Antros, the Kingdom of Karsel was a small country with a total population of less than ten thousand, and it could be seen as little more than several mountain villages gathered together rather than a proper nation. Thus, although its ruler wore the grand-sounding title of king, in essence, it was more appropriate to regard him as a mayor respected by the people. In such a Kingdom of Karsel, there was no way royal authority could truly exist.
Yuliana and Mitchell were childhood friends who had grown up together since they were young. Therefore, there was no formality between them. Though one was the king’s daughter and the other the son of the captain of the palace guard. Seeing Mitchell hesitate, Yuliana furrowed her brows.
“Then you’re not going?”
“Well? I’ll have to think about it a bit.”
Seeing Mitchell shake his head, Yuliana smiled sweetly. She already knew exactly what Mitchell’s greatest weakness was. An ambitious social climber who wanted to make a name for himself, become a formal knight, and seize wealth and honor at the same time.
That was Yuliana’s honest assessment of Mitchell. The reason Mitchell had followed Yuliana this time was also because he intended to catch the eye of the central nobility at all costs and rise in the world.
“What a pity. If you catch the necromancer, your name will spread far and wide throughout Arcadia, and beautiful noble ladies will come running from afar just to see you.”
As expected, Mitchell reacted as though his interest had been piqued.
“Is that necromancer really that infamous?”
“Of course. He’s notorious. Who knows? If you catch him, the Crosen Empire might grant you the status of paladin on the spot…… If that happens, nobles will rush to compete with one another to take you on as a knight under their command.”
Those words were decisive. The wavering Mitchell made up his mind with that single remark.
“Fine. I’ll take part.”
“An excellent decision.”
Having achieved her goal, Yuliana smiled faintly. In truth, she did not particularly like Mitchell. When they were young, they had been quite close, like brother and sister, but after she grew older and came to know Mitchell’s true nature, her affection for him had cooled completely.