A short while later, after finishing their meal, the party sat on tree stumps and rested. Though, by “rest,” most of them were still absorbed in mana cultivation. Then, as Damon was leisurely looking over the mercenaries, a strange glint appeared in his eyes.
“Hm?”
Juliana, having finished her meal, had somehow come to stand before him. And she was staring straight at him. Damon met her gaze as if amused and smiled faintly.
“Why have you come to me?”
“I have something to say.”
At her blunt attitude, suspicion appeared on Damon’s face.
“Something to say to me?”
“Yes.”
Wondering what sort of trouble she was about to cause this time, Kasim hurried over. To him, Juliana had already become an exceedingly dangerous presence, like a spark inside a powder keg. The gazes of the mercenaries all turned toward them as well.
“How interesting. Very well, what is it you have to say?”
Looking into Damon’s eyes, Juliana raised a finger and pointed at Kasim.
“I once heard something from the mercenary captain. According to him, you have clearly made a serious mistake.”
“A mistake?”
Juliana nodded and continued.
“Yes. Normally, in a mercenary corps, if one of its members catches a rare or valuable monster, that monster is strictly considered the collective property of the entire corps. I heard it quite clearly. Of course, when it is distributed, the mercenary who caught it directly receives the largest share, but it is customary for a certain portion to go to the mercenary captain and the other mercenaries as well.”
“………”
“But you violated that rule. Even if you and the Death Knights under your command killed the dragon, that means you cannot monopolize the corpse all by yourself. Since you are, for the time being, a member of the mercenary corps, I think it is only proper that you follow its customs. That is what I wanted to say.”
A thin smile rose on Damon’s face.
“So you mean you and your escort knight intend to get involved and take a hefty share as well?”
Unexpectedly, Juliana shook her head firmly.
“That’s not it. My face isn’t thick enough for that. I have not the slightest intention of demanding a share for myself. The same goes for Mitchell. But you have fellow mercenaries. Don’t you think you should share the dragon’s corpse with your comrades to some extent?”
At her unexpected attitude, Damon’s eyes widened.
“T-then are you considering the other mercenaries right now?”
“You may think whatever you like. But I think it is unjust for you to monopolize the dragon’s corpse by yourself.”
Having finished speaking, Juliana turned and strode away, as if she had said all she needed to say. Damon looked at Kasim with a troubled expression.
“Captain. Is what she said truly correct?”
Kasim was just as troubled. He had never imagined Juliana would make such a bold demand. Of course, it was not as though such a custom did not exist. Even putting aside its original purpose of strengthening the unity of a mercenary corps, it was indeed a custom that a monster hunted by an individual would be shared among all members of the mercenary corps to which that person belonged. Though, of course, half of the monster strictly went to the person who had hunted it.
However, as Kasim watched the dragon hunt, not even for a moment had he thought of such a thing. The dragon’s might had been that overwhelming, and if not for Damon, it was certain the entire mercenary corps would have been annihilated by a single gesture of the dragon’s hand.
In truth, the value of a dragon’s corpse was tremendous. Beginning with the dragon heart, whose value was beyond price, the dragon bones and scales sold for unimaginably high sums, and even the meat and blood became important research materials for magicians.
Because of that, the corpse of the Ancient-grade dragon Damon had slain could quite literally be called an immense fortune. Of course, Kasim was human as well, so it was not as though he had no greed for it whatsoever… But Kasim was able to empty his mind without much difficulty.
“Such a custom does exist, but please do not concern yourself with it. For us, it is already an enormous stroke of fortune that we escaped with our lives. We could never have killed a dragon. Therefore, it is most proper that you, Sir Magician, take the spoils.”
“That is not so.”
Damon shook his head. He understood well the nature of organizations. If such a custom existed, it was proper to follow it. Though the dragon could not have been killed without him, comrades were still comrades. If he monopolized the dragon’s corpse for himself, he would not be able to earn the trust of the other mercenaries. This was a separate matter from teaching them the mana cultivation method.
Damon looked at the mercenaries and gave an awkward laugh.
“I did not know such a custom existed. This is the first time in my life I have belonged to a mercenary corps, so I was unaware.”
Kasim hurriedly waved his hands.
“No. We do not feel the slightest bit slighted over that.”
As if agreeing with Kasim’s words, the mercenaries all nodded at once. In truth, to them, receiving the mana cultivation method alone meant they had already received a great favor from Damon…
But Damon did not easily yield.
“No. It is not right for me, as a member of the mercenary corps, to break the rules. I am also a legitimate member, so I would like to follow the rules as much as possible.”
After speaking, Damon brought a hand to his chin.
“Hmm. But what should be done? That dragon’s corpse is something I absolutely need… Wait. How about this?”
Damon looked straight at Kasim.
“How much do you think that dragon is worth?”
“W-well?”
Kasim could only shake his head. That was only natural, for until now, not a single Ancient-grade dragon had ever been slain in Arcadia. The same was true of Wyrm-class dragons. Only three or four unlucky young dragons of around a thousand years old had ever been killed. Even such small dragons could fetch a full thousand gold. From Kasim’s perspective, that was truly an astronomical sum.
Considering that dragons were creatures that grew in proportion to their age, the corpse of an Ancient-grade dragon had to be worth several times more than that. After all, its body was that much larger.
But from the beginning, Kasim had no intention whatsoever of offending Damon. His sincere thought was that he did not want to commit the folly of losing the magician’s favor while trying to obtain a trifling sum of money.
“I mean this sincerely. We have absolutely no interest in the dragon’s corpse.”
“Come now. Don’t say something else. Tell me roughly how much it is worth.”
When Damon, unable to endure it any longer, grew irritated, only then did Kasim reveal his honest thoughts.
“A-approximately four thousand gold…”
Upon hearing the amount, Damon’s face brightened.
“Then since you said half of it is my share, that means I only need to distribute the other half to you.”
“I-if we go by custom, yes, but…”
Damon thrust his right hand into his robes. A moment later, he drew out a pouch that looked heavy.
“Take this. It is two thousand gold. Originally, it would be proper to dispose of the dragon’s corpse and divide the proceeds, but it is something I need, so I ask for your understanding.”
Damon handed the two thousand gold he had received from Zengart to Kasim without regret. Damon had little attachment to money, and considering that inside Increasia there were treasures far greater than that, there was nothing to feel惜 about. Moreover, since it was an expense to be used by the mercenary corps as a whole, it seemed fine to hand it over. Damon did not particularly need money. Besides, Damon thought that gaining the mercenaries’ trust took priority over two thousand gold.
Kasim accepted the pouch with a doubtful look. His eyes seemed to be saying that surely such a small pouch could not contain the enormous sum of two thousand gold. But when Kasim opened the pouch, his eyes nearly popped out. The pouch was indeed filled precisely with gold coins.
So great was his shock that Kasim even stammered. This was the first time in his life he had ever touched such a huge sum.
“Y-you were serious.”
“It was a bit heavy, so I cast a lightening spell on it. The amount should be accurate.”
As soon as Damon finished speaking, the pouch suddenly grew tremendously heavy. Its weight was enough to make even the well-built Kasim stagger. Faced with this unexpected turn of events, Kasim was beside himself.
“I-if you do this…”
“It’s all right. I have little interest in material greed anyway. Besides, inside the magical treasury Increasia are treasures worth tens or hundreds of times that amount. That money itself was obtained by disposing of a few treasures from the vault. I may not look it, but I am quite wealthy.”
After speaking, Damon grinned. At this unexpected windfall, even the mercenaries were unable to come to their senses. Mitchell was the same, and Juliana, too, could not hide her surprise. Patterson, his mouth hanging wide open, spoke to him.
“There are that many treasures inside the magical treasury?”
“Would that not be natural? It contains only the finest among the things those greedy dragons scraped together over thousands of years. Moreover, most of the treasures are dwarven craftworks.”
Most of the mercenaries knew that dwarven craftworks were tremendously expensive. To think that Damon, whom they had considered nothing more than a wicked black magician, possessed such an enormous fortune… Looking around at the dumbfounded mercenaries, Damon deliberately frowned.
“That does not mean you should covet my treasure vault. Increasia is a magical treasury that is impossible to steal. I barely managed to seize it myself by taking advantage of a moment when those dragon bastards let their guard down. Do you understand?”
“H-how could we possibly do that?”
“I trust you.”
Damon nodded and relaxed his expression. Only then did Kasim collect himself and carefully gather up the pouch of gold coins.
“In that case, we will gratefully accept this money.”
“Well, it is your money anyway, so there is no need for gratitude. That much should be quite helpful to the mercenary corps’ finances.”
‘Helpful? Of course it will be.’
Barely swallowing the words that almost burst from his mouth, Kasim trembled faintly with delight. Two thousand gold was easy to say, but it was truly an enormous amount of money. With this much, one could easily hire every mercenary corps in Arcadia for an entire year.
‘Truly, taking in the black magician was the greatest fortune of my life.’
He had obtained the mana cultivation method of an absolute being from another world said to possess strength equal to Emperor Krosen, and in addition had secured the huge sum of two thousand gold. For Kasim, there was nothing more he could possibly ask for.
“We will use it gratefully. For now, this money will be kept as the mercenary corps’ common property until the mission is over.”
“That is for the captain to decide.”
Even when he said it would be kept as the mercenary corps’ common property for the time being, none of the mercenaries raised any objections. That meant they trusted Kasim that much. Or perhaps, even if that were not the reason, it meant they trusted even more in the future that would unfold before them. None of them were the sort to be blinded by the huge sum before their eyes and ruin something greater… Soon, the mercenaries let out cheers.
‘That was a good decision.’
Having exchanged the vast sum of two thousand gold for the trust of his comrades, Damon wore an exceedingly relieved expression.
While Damon and his companions were rejoicing, in a place far away from them, a man was sunk deep in worry. And he was someone who held an important position managing the great and small affairs of a nation.
“This is truly troubling.”
The man let out a long sigh and looked out the window with troubled eyes. Suddenly, a sigh escaped him as though his strength were draining away. It was a sigh that leaked out because the work he had been pursuing had not gone as he wished.
The man’s appearance was no different from that of someone who had run into an insurmountable wall.
“It is beyond my strength. There is nothing more I can do.”
The man’s name was Theodore. He was the regent of the Krosen Empire, running day and night to protect the imperial authority that was gradually collapsing. But he had now run into a massive wall.
A wall called Fershtein, one that could never be overcome. A bitter smile formed at Theodore’s lips.
“I truly respect you, Duke Fershtein. To think you would drive me, who had some confidence when it came to using my head, into such a corner. If only you had not coveted the imperial authority, I would have respected you from the bottom of my heart. At the very least, your ability is something a person like me could not even come close to reaching.”
As he continued speaking, he could not help but feel a piercing sense of defeat surge up within him.
When he first entered the imperial court wearing the title of regent, he had burned with passion, determined to restore the collapsed imperial authority.
But most of that passion had now been broken. Duke Fershtein, skilled in cunning schemes, had blocked Theodore’s path with truly meticulous thoroughness. Every plan he had pursued had been utterly ruined by Duke Fershtein’s interference.
Of all the things he had attempted so far, only one had succeeded. Through the sacrifice of two loyal subjects who truly cared for the Krosen Empire, he had managed to delay Duke Fershtein’s ambitions to some extent.
In other words, it was the matter of eliminating Crown Prince Alcaris by the stratagem of killing with a borrowed knife.
At the time, Theodore had viewed the situation with great optimism. Since Crown Prince Alcaris, whom Duke Fershtein had supported, was dead, the only alternative was the second prince, De Beers, and he believed the day when the duke’s ambitions would be crushed was not far off. But that had been a clear miscalculation.
As befitted a genius of schemes, Duke Fershtein easily found a breakthrough. It was to thoroughly turn Prince De Beers, who would become the new emperor, into a puppet. His scheme struck true without fail.
Like a skirt slowly soaking in rising water, the crown prince gradually had his real power nibbled away, until at last he lost everything except the authority to give orders to the Krosen Knights. Of course, even Duke Fershtein could not take that away. Traditionally, the Krosen Knights swore loyalty only to the emperor and the imperial descendant who would succeed him.