Mitchell turned his head, and his eyes went wide.
“Huh?”
Every mercenary’s gaze was fixed on him. Most of those eyes were filled with admiration. The sight made him feel smug despite himself, but he forced his expression back into order.
“Has something worth staring at appeared?”
Mitchell spat the words out curtly, then rose and approached Juliana. Only then did Kasim come to his senses, shake his head, and speak.
“The meal is ready.”
“I have no appetite. I have no desire, not even in my dreams, to eat at the same table as that man…”
At Mitchell’s words, Juliana nodded as though she agreed.
“I won’t eat either.”
In the end, Kasim had to bring the mercenaries back to where Damon was, grumbling endlessly in his heart about what an ill-fated bastard he was.
“Food’s ready.”
When Damon saw the prepared meal, his face lit up and he pounced on it. It was food made by mercenaries, so there was nothing particularly fine about it, but after a bout of fighting, his appetite could not help but stir.
Watching Damon devour the food in a rush, Heinrich ladled him another bowl of soup boiled with dried meat.
“Thanks.”
Damon accepted the bowl without refusal, gave Heinrich a faint smile, and shoveled the rest into his stomach. Gerald watched him for a moment, then rose with a bowl of soup in his hands. It seemed he intended to take it to Mitchell and Juliana. At the sight, Damon narrowed his eyes.
“They said they wouldn’t eat. Is there any need to take it to them?”
Gerald gave an awkward shrug and began walking toward the two with the bowl in hand. Perhaps because he was lame, the way he walked so carefully so as not to spill the soup looked rather pitiful. Kasim, watching, shook his head ruefully.
“Poor bastard. He knows perfectly well it won’t work…”
At those words, Damon, who had been gulping down soup, turned his head.
“What do you mean? What won’t work?”
Kasim’s face was clouded with deep complexity.
“I don’t know for certain, but Gerald is almost surely going to beg that man Mitchell to teach him the mana cultivation method. Of course, it’s impossible, but Gerald is desperate to become stronger right now.”
“Is there some story behind it?”
“It is a long one.”
According to Kasim, Gerald had an extremely unfortunate past. Though Gerald had been reluctant to speak of it, after spending several months together, he gradually opened his heart, and one day he told Kasim the story of his life.
In short, Gerald’s entire family had been ruined because of a wicked merchant. Because of that, Gerald had made up his mind to become a mercenary and was willing to use any means necessary to grow stronger. But, in the end, there was a limit to how strong one could become in a small mercenary band.
“That fellow is from Tezeros, a wealthy commercial kingdom to the northwest. He said he had a fairly happy childhood with his parents, who farmed for a living. The problem was that Gerald had an older sister with a rare beauty. And, of all people, Proctor, a wicked merchant of Tezeros famous for his lechery, set his eyes on that sister…”
Proctor, smitten by the beauty of Gerald’s sister, had openly proposed marriage. At the time, Gerald’s sister was in the flower of her youth, nineteen years old, while Proctor was well past forty-five. Proctor, who already had a record of replacing five wives, shamelessly tried to make Gerald’s sister his sixth wife. But Gerald’s parents refused the proposal without a second thought. Unless a household was crazed for money or power, there was no reason to give their daughter to a lecher like Proctor.
“The misfortune of Gerald’s family began then. Proctor quite literally used the law in cunning ways to harass Gerald’s family. Through his influence, they were unable to tenant-farm, and even their house was put up for auction, leaving them buried under a mountain of debt. But even in that situation, Gerald’s father firmly protected his daughter.”
In the end, the one who could not endure it was Gerald’s sister. Hoping to sacrifice herself so that her parents and younger brother might live well, she eventually went to Proctor of her own accord.
But the misfortune of Gerald’s family did not end there… The sister who had married Proctor returned home less than a year later, driven mad. Tormented by the perverted Proctor until she could bear no more, she had finally lost her mind. Gerald’s mother, shocked by it, took to her sickbed and slowly withered away until she died, while his father became a ruined man sunk in drink. His mad sister, too, one day suddenly became a cold corpse… Had he not harbored vengeance toward Proctor after seeing such a thing, he would not have been human…
Gerald, who was fifteen at the time, hid a sword on himself and infiltrated Proctor’s estate. It was to kill Proctor and avenge his sister and mother. But what awaited him were dozens of heavily armed guards. In the end, Gerald was beaten quite literally half to death and handed over to the Tezeros garrison. It was the aftereffects of the beating he received then that left Gerald with a limp.
Although attempted murder was a grave crime, Gerald was fortunate enough to serve only two years because of his young age. But what waited for him was a house already passed into another’s hands and his father’s lonely grave… In the end, Gerald sought out a mercenary band, intending to gain strength and plot revenge, and finally became a member of Kasim’s mercenary band. Having heard Gerald’s unfortunate story, Damon let out a long sigh.
“There really are all sorts of wicked bastards in the world. Why on earth does the king of Tezeros keep such a man alive?”
“Isn’t the law always on the side of those with power? And they say the bastard still eats well and lives well.”
Seeing Kasim nod with a desolate expression, it seemed he, too, had some story of his own. But Damon did not ask. Everyone had stories they wished to hide.
Instead, Damon turned his head and looked at Gerald.
Having approached Mitchell and Juliana, Gerald was pleading for something again and again. But seeing Mitchell repeatedly shake his head, it seemed matters were not going as Gerald wished. He even knelt and begged, but Mitchell’s head never nodded in the end. Watching the scene, Kasim clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, tsk. If it were me, I’d teach him at least something…”
In his eyes, Gerald, struggling desperately to obtain strength, looked endlessly pitiful. Of course, even if he did obtain strength, he would not be able to take legal revenge on Proctor.
Faced with repeated refusals, Gerald ultimately hung his head. Turning around, Gerald trudged back this way without strength. Watching him, a thought flashed through Damon’s mind.
‘I should look for a chance to pass on Baegyo’s internal energy heart method to him.’
In truth, Damon possessed an internal energy heart method that could be called more powerful than any mana cultivation method in this place.
It was the Asura Death Spirit Heart Method. An internal energy heart method capable of rapid cultivation, completed by Sa Junhwan through dozens of martial arts instructors in order to create the Guardian Demon King Army. Its speed in gathering internal energy surpassed that of any internal energy heart method that had ever existed.
Moreover, because it possessed stability that made one unlikely to fall into qi deviation, Damon was confident that, though its history was short, the Asura Death Spirit Heart Method was not inferior to any internal energy heart method of the Central Plains. Had its power not already been sufficiently proven through the exploits of the Guardian Demon King Army?
Of course, the Asura Death Spirit Heart Method also clearly had the weakness of demonic arts, in that cultivating it to the absolute peak was difficult, but in Arcadia, that was no problem at all. In this place, even if one did not reach the absolute peak, one could earn more than enough fame…
Damon turned his head and looked at the mercenaries. Depending on the situation, he thought it might not be bad to pass it on to the rest of them as well. Their skills were pitiful, but their hearts, at least, were decent…
‘Perhaps the mana cultivation method best suited to them is the Asura Death Spirit Heart Method.’
The Asura Death Spirit Heart Method was certainly an internal energy heart method with outstanding effects, but it had several restrictions. One had to begin cultivating it in a state where one had learned no internal energy whatsoever. Because of that, the Asura Death Spirit Heart Method had not been widely distributed among Baegyo warriors. Experts of the unorthodox path usually entered a sect after having already studied various martial arts or internal energy methods.
In the end, the true effect of the Asura Death Spirit Heart Method had so far been seen only by the warriors of the Guardian Demon King Army.
Of course, there was no way the mercenaries had built up internal energy until now. If he passed the Asura Death Spirit Heart Method on to them, they would undoubtedly transform into internal energy experts in a short time. Paladins, as they called them here.
As he watched Gerald trudge over and slump down weakly, another good idea came to Damon.
One of the few martial arts he knew came to mind. It was a martial art that could not have been more suitable for Gerald, and the only sword art Damon had learned in preparation for contingencies.
‘That’s right. Since he’s left-handed, if I pass on the Left-Hand Sword Art along with the Asura Death Spirit Heart Method, it would be excellent. The people here hardly use their left hands, so it might display unexpectedly powerful force.’
The Left-Hand Sword Art. It was an extremely unconventional sword art that used the left hand, and because the sword came flying from angles one would never anticipate, it was extraordinarily difficult to face. Since it was especially advantageous for surprise attacks, swordsmen who learned this sword art deliberately used their left hands while leaving their right hands unused. For that reason, it could be called an extremely suitable sword art for Gerald, who was naturally left-handed.
Though Damon had learned it in preparation for facing an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, he had never once displayed this sword art until now. Of course, he had learned all of the sword paths and sword forms themselves. Thus, Damon found himself swelling with the desire to pass on a powerful internal energy heart method and martial arts to the comrades he had gained unexpectedly.
Perhaps it was due to his antipathy toward the orthodox internal energy methods that dominated Arcadia. Although he was now walking the path of a mage, he had originally been an expert of the unorthodox path who wielded mighty demonic arts, and he could not lack pride in the martial arts he had learned. And the unorthodox martial arts of the Central Plains, with their long history, were in no way inferior to orthodox martial arts in terms of power…
‘Good. I’ve decided. In Arcadia, where orthodox martial arts hold sway, I will pass on the orthodox demonic arts of Baegyo. Emperor Crossen succeeded, so there’s no reason I can’t. First, I will use them as roots and make the demonic arts take root in Arcadia without fail.’
As Damon’s firm resolve settled in, the night deepened.
When morning dawned, an unexpected incident awaited the party. Mitchell and Juliana had cleaned out all the party’s provisions and fled in the night. They had tied up Heinrich and Patterson, who had been standing night watch, as well.
“I-I’m sorry. With my ability, there was no way…”
Once the gag was removed, those were the words Patterson barely managed to get out. Of course, as he was nothing more than an ordinary mercenary, he could not have stopped Mitchell’s surprise attack. Looking at the empty food sacks, Kasim’s anger surged to the top of his head.
“Those damned bastards…”
From here, it was more than two days’ distance to the nearest village where they could obtain food. Since Mitchell and Juliana had taken everything without leaving even a single piece of bread behind, it meant everyone would have to starve until they reached the next village. It was enough to make one burst with rage. Juliana had taken her revenge on Kasim in this fashion.
Damon appeared, pushing through the mercenaries who were murmuring among themselves. Looking at Patterson and Heinrich, who were rubbing the bodies that had been tied up all night as though they ached terribly, Damon shook his head bitterly.
“Looks like they ran off in the night. I suppose those young people couldn’t restrain their boiling passion?”
“T-That’s not it…”
Kasim could not bring himself to say the words. The other side had done this for revenge. Juliana was truly the most troublesome employer he had ever encountered. To think a princess of a kingdom could do something like this…
“What a shame.”
Damon smacked his lips as though disappointed. It was a little regrettable that he would not see Juliana’s face for a while, but it was not unbearable. After all, what he had been interested in was only her outer appearance, which resembled Daphne. Moreover, he had already predicted this result to some extent.