No matter how much people held out, he handed over the pelts without question. There was even a case where he sold two pelts for a mere five silver. When a boy said he wanted to make a coat for his father and held out five one-silver coins, Kasim accepted them without a word and gave him two pelts.
“Th-thank you so much. Now I can make not only Father’s coat, but Mother’s too.”
Watching the boy run off in delight, the smile on Kasim’s lips deepened.
In this way, the 150 Ice Troll pelts were sold off in no time. The ones left dumbfounded by the sight were the merchants who had come in with their wagons loaded.
“How can this be? You sold them to us for one hundred gold each, so why are you handing them over to those people at such absurd prices?”
To the merchants protesting with their eyes wide, Kasim dismissed them with a single sentence.
“I sold those pelts for those people’s entire fortunes.”
“Even so…”
“Business is solely up to the seller. If you want one too, hand over your entire fortune. Then I’ll give you a pelt.”
When the old man was left speechless and fell silent, Kasim dusted off his hands and rose. The faces of the people who had still been unable to buy pelts came into view. They were people who had been late because they had gone home and returned, or people who had no money. Their faces were full of anguish.
“Do you people need pelts as well?”
At Kasim’s words, one scrawny man quickly nodded. At a glance, he was a man who reeked of poverty.
“Y-yes. But I don’t have any money…”
“If you have no money, goods are fine too. Right. That will do. Go home at once and bring back your best set of going-out clothes. Then we’ll exchange what we’re wearing for them, and the deal will be made. They smell a little, but they’re whole hides without a single blemish, so if you wash them, they should be usable enough.”
The man’s face brightened at once.
“U-understood. If they don’t suit you, I’ll even make them into clothes and bring them back.”
As if there was nothing to think over, he ran out of the inn. The rest of the people were the same.
In this way, every last Ice Troll pelt owned by the Kasim Mercenary Corps was sold off, even the ones they were wearing.
“That takes care of everything.”
Kasim rose with a relieved expression. Though he had sold the pelts in a rather absurd manner, not a single mercenary raised an objection. For one thing, they trusted their captain completely, and for another, the Kasim Mercenary Corps’ finances were extremely abundant. Damon, too, seemed to approve of Kasim’s decision, and was nodding.
“You really are the captain. Well done.”
Thanks to Kasim’s decision, the mercenaries received a passionate welcome from the villagers. The villagers, who had unexpectedly come into a windfall, brought out one item after another that they had been saving in order to express their gratitude. Though their circumstances were poor, their generosity of heart was anything but.
“I thought you’d need firewood if you were going to bathe, so I brought some.”
“Try eating this. I buried it in the snow to use for my daughter’s wedding.”
Fish, firewood, clothes, and other things the people had brought piled up in the inn hall. The Ice Troll pelts, with their excellent insulation, were truly vital to them, and so the villagers spared nothing for their benefactors. There was even someone who brought his wife along and tried to have her serve them.
In any case, the mercenary corps was able to rest for the first time in a long while. The mercenaries bathed in water heated with plenty of firewood, changed into newly made clothes, ate the dinner the innkeeper and his wife had prepared with all their hearts, and then sank into deep sleep. It was a honey-sweet slumber, enough to make them forget nearly a year of grueling training.
After sleeping an entire day and waking, the mercenaries gathered together without delay. Since they had achieved their intended goal to some extent, it was time to discuss their plans from here on. Damon looked over each member of the group, whose faces had changed completely, and smiled in satisfaction.
“You’ve all worked hard. During the eleven months we spent in the north, everyone has changed a great deal.”
Indeed, over the nearly one year they had spent in the heart of the north, the group had made astonishing progress. Most of the mercenaries had become able to deploy a rudimentary Aura Blade, something that would be impossible to believe unless seen with one’s own eyes. Thanks to the merciless training that continued day after day, along with the constant practice of the Surasa Spirit Art, the mercenaries had now reached a level where they could operate mana. Of course, compared to ordinary Paladins, they might still be lacking, but judging by their rate of growth, it was certain they would soon rise to a level no less than that of Guard Knights. Moreover, the occasional clashes with Ice Trolls had further honed their real combat experience. At long last, a mercenary corps composed entirely of Paladins was coming into being in Arcadia. Damon first looked at Kasim.
“Still, Captain, your tenacity is something to acknowledge. Since you can easily hold out for ten minutes even against Helbertron, you won’t lose rashly even if you fight a fairly decent Paladin now.”
Kasim replied with a bitter smile.
“You praise me too much. That’s only because Sir Helbertron goes easy on me.”
“No. The other day, Helbertron was impressed. He said your uniquely unorthodox martial arts were difficult to block. But just what sort of story do you have that makes you so obsessed with improving your skill?”
Damon’s question seemed to have struck the mark. Noticing a tender light flicker through Kasim’s eyes, Damon tilted his head.
“It seems there is something you cannot speak of. I won’t ask any further.”
“Thank you.”
Kasim nodded with a lonely expression. After watching him for a moment, Damon turned his gaze to Gerald this time.
“Gerald. You are now the second strongest in our mercenary corps. Excluding Mitchell, of course.”
Glancing briefly at Mitchell, who sat silently, Damon continued.
“Your left-handed swordsmanship can be considered nearly complete. However, you must never rest content with that. To complete left-handed swordsmanship, abundant real combat experience is essential.”
“Understood.”
Gerald bowed his head, his eyes filled with emotion. He considered Damon the benefactor of his life. If not for Damon, he would still be wandering the continent as a greenhorn mercenary, and his revenge might have remained forever impossible. But now it was different. The energy surging through his body gave him courage. Even if a Paladin blocked his path, he had the confidence to stand proudly and fight. Though even with his improved swordsmanship he might not be able to take legal revenge, he could find great consolation in the fact that he had gained strength. He had been quiet to begin with, but after learning left-handed swordsmanship, Gerald became even more taciturn. He gave off a sharp air, like a single well-honed sword.
After looking at Gerald for a moment, Damon turned his gaze to the others. Patterson’s face came into view, still talkative and cheerful despite having grown stronger. Damon looked over the rest of the mercenaries one by one, including Heinrich, who now carried a fairly masculine air, as well as Helton, Vieri, and Jackson. Their faces clearly showed the traces of having cultivated internal energy. Their unusually glossy taiyang acupoints at their temples would protrude more noticeably as their internal energy was perfected, and once they passed a certain level, their faces would return to ordinary. That was the so-called peak realm. Though their race was different, the changes in the body brought about by internal energy were almost identical. Damon considered that point to be the boundary dividing Sword Masters and Paladins.
‘Once they reach the peak realm, they’ll be able to use aura force without difficulty. Judging by their growth so far, they’ll reach the realm of Sword Masters within at least five years. Of course, going beyond that will be difficult due to the inherent limitations of demonic arts…’
Most of the warriors of the Guardian Demon King Army who had once served under him had also remained in the peak realm. It was the stage where they could condense aura force into their weapons. They had become peak experts in just ten years, and it was all thanks to the Surasa Spirit Art, which allowed for rapid advancement. This ancient internal energy art, which had produced one thousand peak experts in a short period of time, had raised Damon’s fellow mercenaries to the realm of Paladins. If they had enough real combat experience to support them, they would certainly be able to fulfill their roles with dignity. Thinking that, Damon nodded silently.
‘Though I don’t know whether I’ll be able to achieve my goal, I’ll go as far as I can. If I’m with them, the path of revenge won’t be so lonely…’
After finishing his thoughts, Damon turned his head again. There stood Mitchell and Juliana. In a way, they were the ones who had gained the least during the year spent in the north. First of all, there was no way Juliana, who had practically done nothing but idle away her time, could have gained anything. What was surprising was that her attitude toward Damon had changed completely over the course of that year. It remained unchanged that she would play pranks on him from time to time and get thoroughly beaten for it, but in her eyes when she looked at Damon there was some strange emotion. Moreover, as time passed, the number of times she played pranks on him decreased, and there had already been several occasions where she was seen staring intently at his back while he was absorbed in his research on summoning. Considering the attitude she had shown when they first met, it was an astonishing change. The more Juliana acted that way, the colder Damon treated her. Not only was there no room at all in his heart for any woman other than Daphne, but fundamentally, he had no interest whatsoever in Juliana. Except for her appearance, which resembled Daphne’s…
When Damon looked at her, Juliana did not avoid his gaze, but met it head-on. Unable to endure her piercing stare, Damon was the first to turn his head away. Inwardly, he poured out every curse he knew.
‘What an unfathomable woman. Surely she hasn’t started taking an interest in me now, has she? Well, even if she has, it’s useless effort…’
Lastly, Damon looked at Mitchell. Sitting in a chair with an expressionless face, his entire body radiated loneliness. Of course, it was not that he had gained nothing during the time spent in the north. No, it was more accurate to say that his skill had improved dramatically through sparring with the Death Knights. Since ancient times, duels against experts were the most effective way to improve one’s skill. He had become at least twice as strong as when he left Karsel. Even so, loneliness never left Mitchell’s face. It was probably due to the relative sense of deprivation he felt over the mercenaries’ abilities, which grew day by day. Unlike the mercenaries, who had learned a rapid internal energy art, Mitchell had learned the ordinary internal energy art of Penslot. As such, it was only natural that he could not expect his internal energy to advance as much as theirs, and the ever-narrowing gap in skill even made him doubt the swordsmanship he had learned until now. Though he clenched his teeth and trained, his skill simply would not increase easily. As if he were blocked by an invisible wall.
Watching him, Damon clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘Foolish fellow. To doubt the internal energy art he learned…’
Recalling that while orthodox internal energy arts were slower to cultivate than demonic arts, they showed even greater power in surpassing the peak realm and rising to the supreme peak, Damon shook his head as if there was nothing he could do.
‘It can’t be helped. Since he has decided to leave, there’s no need to concern myself with him any further, is there?’
After looking over the group, Damon turned to Kasim.
“Then, Captain, say a few words. About the journey that will begin from now on.”
Kasim rose without refusal. He could not help feeling grateful to Damon for preserving his dignity at every turn, but he forcibly suppressed that feeling. He had already resolved that he would even give his life for Damon’s sake. The special quality of Damon’s, which had once completely won over the hearts of the Guardian Demon King Army in the Central Plains, was now beginning to shine. Kasim watched Damon move to the back, then quietly began to speak.
“We will now begin our journey. Though our destination is the Crosen Empire, there is still a little more than one month left until the postponed selection ceremony is held, so during that time, we plan to travel throughout northern Arcadia. Since there are several matters to take care of, we will travel on foot, so I ask that you follow my command well.”
After finishing, Kasim looked at Mitchell. For some reason, a tender light lingered on Kasim’s face.
“The first place we will go is Penslot. There, we will part ways with Mitchell.”
When Kasim’s words ended, the mercenaries began to stir. As they had grown quite attached to Mitchell while receiving swordsmanship lessons from him, each of them wore an expression of regret. Contrary to his arrogant first impression, all the bad impressions they had held of Mitchell had vanished as they spent time with him. Now that they knew his true character, it was only natural that their regret was deep. They wanted desperately to ask him to stay, but the mercenaries could not bring themselves to say it aloud. As if understanding their hearts, Kasim continued in a low voice.
“I have already finished speaking with Mitchell. He has made up his mind to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a Guard Knight of Penslot.”
Hearing that, the mercenaries’ spirits sank at once.