‘What a coincidence.’
As Mitchell recalled the story he had heard from his father, he was dumbfounded. Of all people, Riley was the vice-commander of the Royal Guard Knights…
There could be no coincidence more absurd than this. The fact that Riley, a man bound to his father by an endless string of ill-fated ties, was sitting in a position that could determine his own fate made Mitchell’s head spin. Staring intently at him, Riley formed a sinister smile.
“As you know, the Penslot Royal Guard Knights isn’t a place just any stray dog can wander into.”
“……”
“In other words, that half-baked swordsmanship you picked up in some rural backwater won’t work here at all.”
Mitchell’s face flushed red with humiliation. As if determined to insult him thoroughly, Riley continued to mock Mitchell.
“If you learned from that fellow Hailes, then there’s no need to even look. He left the Royal Guard Knights because he lacked the skill, after all.”
A low, sunken voice escaped Mitchell’s lips.
“I warn you. Do not insult my father.”
“Well, well. You’re exactly like your father.”
A sneering smile appeared on Riley’s face. In any case, he had no desire whatsoever to see Mitchell’s skills. The mere fact that he was Hailes’s son was enough to make him no different from an enemy.
“I’ll at least commend your courage in coming here wanting to become a royal guard knight. But unfortunately, a royal guard knight isn’t a position just anyone can take. Hundreds of riffraff come here every year asking to be examined, you see.”
Mitchell remained quietly silent. No, it would be more accurate to say he was desperately suppressing the rage boiling up inside him.
“Regrettable, but it can’t be helped. Even if I wanted to give special treatment to the child of an old classmate, my position as vice-commander won’t allow it. If you’re truly set on taking the examination, then try filling out an application form.”
When Riley lightly gestured with his hand, one of the royal guard knights standing in the corner approached. He held out the examination application form in his hand to Mitchell. From between the visor of his helmet came a look of pity. Since Mitchell had already fallen out of Riley’s favor, he was as good as failed, and the knight finished his explanation perfunctorily.
“Just fill it out as you see fit.”
Mitchell clenched his teeth and began filling out the application. After filling in every single blank, Mitchell checked it once more to make sure there were no mistakes.
“Here it is.”
The royal guard knight took the application Mitchell handed over and passed it to Riley. In that instant, a flash of fury surged in Mitchell’s eyes. It was because Riley, after receiving the application, tore it to shreds without even looking at it.
‘You bastard.’
His fist, hanging at his side, clenched tight and trembled. Perhaps he looked as though he might explode at any moment, for the royal guard knights in the corner all approached Mitchell at once.
“I warn you, do not even think of acting rashly.”
After confirming that the royal guard knights were blocking the way without a gap, Riley spoke in an oily voice.
“If you want to know whether you passed the screening, come back around this time tomorrow. I will inform you then whether you may take the examination.”
Telling him to come back to learn whether he could take the examination after tearing up his application—Mitchell could only be utterly dumbfounded. His bloodshot eyes glaring, Mitchell rose to his feet. Riley’s jeering continued to reach his ears.
“For your information, whether or not you may participate in the examination is entirely under my jurisdiction. So I advise you not to harbor any hopes of luck.”
Mitchell’s body trembled faintly from humiliation. Doubt over why he had ever come here surged into his mind. At last, tears began to flow from his eyes. Hot tears streamed down Mitchell’s chin. After that, Mitchell did not say a single word until he left the palace.
It was quite some time later that Mitchell entered the Paradise Inn. Mitchell staggered into the inn, completely drunk.
“Huh? Sir?”
One of the attendants, startled, supported Mitchell. It was the same attendant who had received a large tip from Kasim.
“I-I’ll take you to your room.”
The attendant supported Mitchell and went upstairs. Since he did not know his lodgings had changed, the attendant guided Mitchell to Kasim’s room.
“Mitchell!”
Kasim, receiving Mitchell, was shocked. During the year they had spent together, Mitchell had hardly drunk at all. He had always appeared neat and proper, so Kasim found it hard to believe this man was truly Mitchell. Dead drunk, Mitchell began rambling as if in a drunken fit.
“C-Captain? Captain?”
“That’s right. It’s me, Kasim.”
Tears streamed from Mitchell’s eyes as he looked at Kasim. As if there were nothing more to think about, he began to pour out his words.
“Captain. Please take me in.”
“……”
“I-I may not have done much for you, hic, but I-I did put all my effort and sincerity into teaching swordsmanship, didn’t I?”
“I know that too, Mitchell.”
“I still remember what you said, Captain. That y-you’d take me back anytime if I returned.”
“……”
“P-Please take me in. If I’m not accepted here, I-I have nowhere else to go…”
Kasim nodded as if there was nothing to consider.
“Of course. From this moment on, you are a member of the Kasim Mercenary Corps.”
A faint smile appeared on Mitchell’s distorted face.
“T-Thank you, Captain. I-I’ll do well from now on.”
Seeing that there seemed to be some story behind this, Kasim first supported Mitchell and walked toward Damon’s room. It seemed the details would have to wait until tomorrow, after Mitchell sobered up.
“You’re very drunk. Sleep for now. Let’s talk about the rest tomorrow.”
Kasim took the constantly swaying Mitchell to Damon’s room and quietly laid him on the bed. As if sunk in deep sleep, Damon lay under the blanket without moving. Mitchell lifted his hazy eyes and looked at Damon.
“Damon?”
“That’s right. Sleep with Lord Damon tonight.”
Kasim pulled the blanket over him and looked at Mitchell with gentle eyes.
“I don’t know what happened, but remember one thing. You have comrades.”
“C-Comrades?”
“That’s right. We already think of you as a true comrade.”
Having said that, Kasim left the room, leaving Mitchell behind as he kept repeating the word comrade. However, Mitchell did not fall asleep easily. After thinking deeply about something for quite some time, Mitchell staggered up from the bed and approached Damon. After hesitating briefly, Mitchell called Damon in a low voice.
“D-Damon.”
“I’m listening. Speak.”
Unexpectedly, Damon’s answer came immediately. It seemed he had not been asleep.
“Y-You weren’t sleeping?”
“Damn it… First that dragon bastard keeps me from sleeping for three days, and now even you’re disturbing my sleep with drunken nonsense.”
Damon quietly cursed and sat up.
“S-Sorry.”
“No need to be sorry. People sleep less as they get older anyway… So what made you drink yourself into that state?”
“I-I…”
He seemed to want to say something, but perhaps because his tongue was twisted, the words did not come out properly. Seeing that, Damon frowned.
“Shall I sober you up?”
Seeing Mitchell unable to answer and merely nodding, Damon sighed and rearranged his mana. When the magic manifested, Mitchell regained his senses in an instant. The alcohol in his body vanished all at once. Though he was not completely sober, he had no trouble listening or speaking. Coming to himself, Mitchell wore an embarrassed expression.
“I-I’m sorry. I was just so depressed…”
“You marched out all full of spirit saying you were going to become a royal guard knight, so why did you come back blind drunk? What on earth happened that made you say you wanted to join the mercenary corps again?”
Seeing that Damon knew everything that had passed between him and Kasim, it seemed he had been awake for quite some time already.
“Was there some problem with becoming a royal guard knight?”
Seeing Mitchell’s complexion darken in an instant, Damon realized that there was some circumstance behind it. But Damon did not press him. Everyone had at least one secret they wanted to hide. Did Damon himself not carry an enormous secret in his heart as well?
“If you want, I can make you a royal guard knight. What do you say?”
“No. I no longer have any desire to become a royal guard knight.”
Mitchell smiled bitterly and shook his head. He had already keenly realized that advancement could not be achieved through pure skill alone. Moreover, like his father, he had already become thoroughly disillusioned with the nation called Penslot. If they had made someone like Riley the vice-commander of the Royal Guard Knights, there was no need to see the rest. Mitchell lowered his head and quietly revealed his thoughts.
“I don’t want to live seized by vanity anymore. From now on, I want to live diligently while fulfilling my duty as a mercenary.”
Damon stared fixedly at Mitchell. What in the world had happened for a person to change like this? Curiosity rising within him, Damon could not hold back in the end and opened his mouth.
“Can you tell me what you went through?”
“……”
“If it is within my power, I will help.”
Mitchell remained silent for a long while. A moment later, he raised his head as if he had made up his mind about something.
“Very well. Now that we’re comrades, I suppose I shouldn’t have anything to hide.”
Mitchell soon began to explain the tangled affair between his father and Riley. After laying bare without omission the ill-fated connection formed in the previous generation, Mitchell told him everything that had happened a short while ago. Finally, he added one more sentence.
“If a position is decided not by pure ability but by the halo of one’s family, I have no desire to belong there. From now on, I’ll be content as a member of the Kasim Mercenary Corps.”
“Hmm. So that happened.”
Though he had heard the whole story, there was no change in Damon’s expression. A moment later, he reached out and lightly patted Mitchell on the shoulder.
“First, welcome as a comrade. So cleanly forget everything I did to torment you until now.”
Mitchell formed an awkward smile.
“What are you saying… Back then, I truly behaved terribly.”
“No. The truth is, I did a lot of things to you that I shouldn’t have. Well, since you told me your story, shall I tell you one secret too? Would you like to hear this?”
Damon took something out from inside his clothes and handed it to Mitchell. It was a conch shell about the size of an adult’s fist. To Mitchell, who had no idea what it was, Damon explained how to use it, and not long after he put it to his ear, Mitchell’s face turned pale. It was because the harsh words he had spoken to Juliana flowed out exactly as they had been.
“T-This is?”
“Everything you went through back then was all my production. The wolf pack, losing the money, all of it… At the time, I was determined to give you lot a proper lesson.”
“H-Heavens…”
“Think of it as repayment for telling me your story. If we get rid of just this, then what happened back then will be completely buried…”
Mitchell shook his head as if dumbfounded, then soon regained his composure.
Crack.
Gathering mana in his hand, Mitchell crushed the conch shell and gave a bitter smile.
“You really are wicked too, Damon. To think you could plan something like that…”
“I do have a wicked side to me by nature. Anyway, will you turn around for a moment?”
Mitchell turned around without knowing why. In that instant, Damon’s palm pressed against his Mingmen acupoint.
“As an apology for what happened back then, I’ll help your training a little. Immediately operate the mana cultivation method you’ve been practicing.”
“What?”
“There’s no time. I’ll draw in mana and pour it into you, so you have to begin training with all your might.”
Realizing Damon’s intention, Mitchell immediately began his cultivation.