007. Mercenary Conflict Cliché?
“I don’t normally ask this sort of thing, but did you properly pay money for that kid?”
I had been forcing down a tasteless, foul-smelling meat pie, so when someone picked a fight with me as if telling me to stop eating, I could happily set down my fork.
That was why I could even smile at the face of a crude, rugged-looking mercenary.
‘So this is that quest. The cliché mercenary conflict at an inn!’
“Compared to you, walking around in expensive clothes, this child doesn’t look like part of your party. You didn’t kidnap her, did you?”
“That’s a groundless accusation—”
“It’s not a kidnapping! The magician took me in!”
Before I could step in, Yanne snapped back as if angry.
Perhaps because of Yanne’s reaction, the mercenary was flustered, but some who seemed to be his companions rushed over and grabbed the big man.
“M-Magician, sir? We have been rude. Please think of it generously. We apologize.”
The mercenaries immediately bowed their heads at the word “magician” and tried to return to their seats.
“Hey, hold on, everyone. We shouldn’t just tuck our tails between our legs right away. We don’t know if he’s a real magician or not! And even if he says he took her in, he could’ve fooled her with words.”
“Hey, you bastard, shut it!”
“Mmph mmph.”
The mercenaries forcibly covered his mouth, dragged him away, and crammed him back into his seat at their table.
“Nooo— I mean, he said he’s a magician, but we can’t verify that? What would a magician be doing in a backwater like this?”
“...”
At Joi’s words, the others at the table also thought, *Well, he’s got a point. A magician in a backwater like this?*
“Joi. A magician is a quasi-noble. Normally, merely suggesting we verify it would be enough to have your tongue cut off for insulting a noble.”
When the one at the far end of the table spoke quietly, the rampaging Joi finally lowered his momentum.
“But, Captain Chiko. He could be a fake magician. If we catch an impostor, we might even get a reward. And besides, you’re the one who needs a magician right now, Captain.”
At Joi’s words, the mercenaries’ gazes moved to the right arm of the one called Captain.
The one called Captain Chiko had his right arm wrapped in bandages, and several splints were set against it as if it had been fractured.
“Yeah, I need it the most. Fine. I’ll put up my entire fortune of 2 gold right now.”
Chiko pulled 2 gold from inside his shirt with his left hand and placed it on the table.
Chiko had suffered an injury where the bones of his right arm had shattered and pierced through the flesh.
There had been too many wounded on the battlefield, so he hadn’t received treatment from a magician.
A healer had no choice but to set the bones by hand and barely apply splints, but the results hadn’t been good.
Even though a skilled healer had treated him, Chiko’s arm was turning blue.
The flesh was rotting from the inside.
And everyone knew the condition he was in.
“I’ll put up 10 silver.”
“Me too, 5 silver.”
As the mercenaries pooled their money together, 3 gold was gathered.
Since the cost of a single healing spell from a magician was 3 gold, everyone had contributed.
Joi took the 3 gold and went back to Jinu.
“Magician, sir, my name is Joi. I apologize for my earlier rudeness. And here is 3 gold. Our captain injured his arm, so please cast a healing spell on him.”
Joi thought that if he was a fake magician, they could beat him up, and if he was a real magician, they could get the captain’s arm healed—either way, it would be a gain.
So for now, he bowed his head at a right angle and spoke politely.
“I heard everything you said. Come over here.”
I had been listening to their entire conversation because I didn’t want to eat the meat pie.
And hearing that treatment from a magician cost 3 gold, I did some calculations.
I calculated 1 silver at roughly 20,000 won. Since silver coins and gold coins were at a 20:1 ratio, 1 gold was 400,000 won, meaning 3 gold was 1,200,000 won.
Since the Healing buff could be used more than 10 times a day, simple calculations showed it was possible to earn over 12,000,000 won per day.
Of course, since it was gold from a game in development, there was nowhere to spend it except inside the game.
“First, we’ll need to undo the bandages.”
As soon as my words fell, as if she had been waiting, Yanne jumped out holding a pocket knife.
The bandages, tightly wrapped around the splints, had their knots cut by Yanne’s knife work, and the wounded area was quickly revealed.
Bloody fluid was seeping through the stitched-up wound. Even to me, someone who had only ever encountered medicine through documentaries or dramas, it looked like it hadn’t been treated properly.
“During a war contract, I blocked an enemy attack and the bone in my forearm broke and stuck out.”
“So they stuffed the protruding bone back in and sewed it up.”
By this era’s standards, even a skilled healer didn’t seem to worry about bacterial infections; it looked like they had just shoved the bone back in, set it, and stitched it up.
For now, I touched the wounded area once.
“Hmm.”
It was severe.
Blood flows through a person’s arm, so the skin and muscles had elasticity.
So unless something had pressed on it for hours while sleeping, it was rare for marks to remain on the skin.
However, Chiko’s arm had lost that elasticity.
It seemed this had happened because the blood wasn’t circulating properly.
Seeing that the skin of his forearm had turned entirely blue, it seemed like the flesh was rotting from the inside because blood couldn’t pass through.
I worried whether the Healing buff would really work on a wound this severe, but it was worth trying once.
I decided to cast the Vitality buff first, then the Healing buff, and observe the progress.
I was about to just cast the buff, but doing it without an incantation seemed like it would look unimpressive, so I purposely made up a chant and recited it.
“Elon PayPal Tesla Twitterut~.”
The light of the Vitality buff descended over Chiko’s head and was absorbed into his body.
When I used the Healing buff next, light of a different color permeated Chiko’s body, and that light settled in his injured arm, creating a sparkling glow.
“Ooh! I failed to recognize you. Please forgive me.”
Realizing he was a real magician, Joi fell to his knees and bowed his head.
“It happens. Have this friend drink boiled, cooled water often, and for now, don’t wrap his arm; just leave it be. I’ll take another look in an hour.”
Jinu shrugged as if it was nothing and waved his hand, sending the mercenaries back to their seats.
***
Chiko, who led a small, terribly ordinary mercenary band, had been despairing ever since injuring his arm.
It was because his arm seemed to be rotting away; sensation was gradually fading, and now even moving his fingers had become difficult.
He too knew that once the smell of rot started coming from his arm, it would have to be amputated.
He had been worrying about how far he could go as a one-armed man.
So, just in case, when Joi had said he would verify the magician, Chiko agreed and put up the money.
And he was able to receive healing magic.
At first, his arm kept feeling tingly, but now it felt somewhat refreshed, though clumps of black, rotten blood were rising out of the stitched wound.
After wiping away the black, rotten blood several times, the color of his skin seemed to return somewhat.
The positive changes he felt in his arm gave him hope that it might heal.
“Um, Captain Chiko, but he said he’d take another look in an hour and cast magic again. Do we have to pay more money then?”
“Yeah. That’s the rule with magicians.”
If only his arm could heal, he didn’t mind spending more money.
However, the problem was that he currently had no money.
The guild vault had the money to give the magician, but first, he intended to stick close to the magician.
***
“I can feel the tips of my fingers. Thanks to you, Magician, I don’t think I’ll need to cut off my arm.”
When I checked his arm again after some time, it seemed like the dying arm had come back to life with a single buff.
Thinking that I had saved someone from losing an arm with the Healing buff and Vitality buff, I felt good too.
I cast Vitality buff and Healing buff on Chiko once more.
“Elon PayPal Tesla Twitterut~.”
As the light permeated Chiko’s body again, he fell to both knees like a knight receiving knighthood.
“Um, Magician, sir. However, we currently lack the treatment fee. Could we not pay you in the city where the Mercenary Guild is located?”
I had already received 3 gold, and the fact that they were offering more money seemed to mean that in these parts, you had to pay for each casting of healing magic.
As I pondered what to do, I remembered a game setting and decided to try it out.
“What is your name?”
“It’s Chiko.”
“Then, Chiko. Swear that when you later have the means, you will bestow upon the poor an amount equal to the treatment fee you would give me.”
“Huh? Is it alright to swear such a thing? What if I swear and don’t keep it?”
Even as he spoke, Chiko thought to himself that this magician must be young and ignorant of the ways of the world.
He could make verbal oaths dozens, if not hundreds, of times.
Of course, if they happened to meet again later, he might ask if the oath had been kept, but such was the life of a mercenary that you never knew when you’d meet again.
“Well, if you don’t keep your oath, it just means I misjudged you. What can be done?”
At the magician’s nonchalant tone, Chiko immediately made the oath.
“I swear to you, Magician, that as long as I live, I will help the poor with more than twice the amount of the treatment fee.”
“Good. Then that’s settled. I’m leaving this place tomorrow morning. If you find me again before I leave, I’ll cast healing magic one more time. Then, see you tomorrow morning.”
Chiko bowed politely and stepped back.
As they went down the stairs from the second floor of the inn, everyone thought to themselves that this healing magician was a bit lacking.
That he knew too little of the ways of the world.
However, contrary to the mercenaries’ thoughts, Jinu had his reasons for acting this way.
*‘Seeing as classic JRPG clichés are applied in this game, there must definitely be settings or options that don’t appear in the game status window.’*
For example, something like “alignment.”
Good and Evil.
Good deeds and evil deeds.
It was one of the old clichés of RPGs.
The so-called karma cliché.
It was the kind of system where accumulating good deeds would later grant you a holy sword, or a holy-attribute mount like a Pegasus.
Conversely, if you went down the evil alignment path, you could obtain a demonic sword or gain the benefit of being able to contract with the demon race.
If such a karma cliché was applied, one had to accumulate good or evil deeds to obtain hero-grade unique items.
That was why he was giving to accumulate good deeds.
And he didn’t know if the Charm stat among his ability stats might also be affected by this karma.
He needed to check if accumulating good deeds raised his Charm.
“Why are you staring?”
As I was thinking about the karma cliché, Yanne was looking at me with sparkling eyes from the side.
“You’re amazing, Magician. To think of the poor. And, from now on, I’ll wear clean clothes too and call you Master. That way, there won’t be misunderstandings like today.”
Looking at Yanne sending me a respectful gaze with sparkling eyes, I thought, *So this is the feeling you get from doing good deeds.*
***
[Knock knock knock!]
Scarcely had the sound of a rooster crowing in the distance faded than there came a knocking at the door.
Yanne, who had been sleeping wrapped in a blanket and hood on the floor in front of the door, rubbed her eyes and opened it. Outside stood Chiko and Joi wearing awkward smiles.
“Little miss, this is freshly baked bread.”
Perhaps because we had said we were leaving today, the mercenaries had come early in the morning.
Hearing that the mercenaries had arrived, I got up. After Yanne washed her face in some heated water, I saw the bread they had bought.
Even though it had just been baked, there were hard baguettes, wide whole-wheat bread, and scones studded with raisins.
Smelling the savory scent of freshly baked bread put me in a good mood at the thought of being able to eat proper bread.
I split a scone in half first. It had been properly colored using only egg yolks, and the raisins were embedded one by one, giving the feeling that it had been baked with care.
I shared half with Yanne and took a bite. The characteristic dryness of the scone, combined with the sweet and tart raisins, immediately filled my mouth.
It was the first time since entering the game that I thought the food tasted genuinely good.
Yanne’s eyes went wide at the harmony of the raisins and the savory flavor of the scone as she looked at me.
With a tacit understanding that we should buy these when we left later, I nodded my head.
“So, has sensation returned to your arm?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, Magician, it seems to have almost healed.”
Chiko slowly bent his arm and moved his fingers. Though he still felt some discomfort, his external injuries seemed to have definitely healed.
The flesh that had been dying and turning blue was now almost the same color as the rest of his body. The inner flesh that had been the problem seemed to have revived.
It seemed like with just one more Vitality buff, the body’s vigor alone would be enough to fully heal it.
This time, I cast Vitality buff and Healing buff without an incantation.
“If there’s no pain after 2–3 days, you can start with light hand exercises and use your arm.”
“Thank you, Magician. If I may, I’d like to repay this favor later. Could you tell me which Magic Tower you are from?”
“I did not heal you to gain a name. Therefore, you need only keep the oath you swore to me.”
“Th-thank you, Magician.”
As Chiko and Joi bowed deeply and left the room, four or so patients were standing behind the mercenaries.
“Magician, I cannot straighten my leg properly.”
“Magicia— *cough cough* Magician, sir. Please, healing magic, *cough cough*...”
“Now, now. The magician has just woken up. He needs some time. So line up until the magician wakes up and gets dressed! I said line up! No cutting in line there! Get in line!”
The innkeeper stepped in and lined up the patients, giving me a sense of déjà vu.
*‘No way, is this the Heo Jun “Please line up!” cliché!?’*
***
Even if the *Heo Jun “Please line up!”* cliché had come to pass, I couldn’t treat everyone standing in line.
Those whose illnesses couldn’t be cured by the Healing buff had to be coldly turned away.
I separately singled out those who had been ill for a long time, and had Yanne give each patient two silver coins.
“This isn’t an illness that can be easily healed, so just buy something delicious to eat and rest comfortably. The magician said this is the best that can be done.”
“B-but... *sob sob*... *cough, cough*.”
The patients who received the silver coins left crying.
Having had a magician acknowledge that their illness was incurable, they were grieving that their lives would soon end.
For the others who seemed like they might benefit from the Healing buff, I took whatever money they had as a treatment fee and cast buffs on them.
And I left the inn.
“Magician, sir. Please take this.”
The innkeeper handed me a handbag made of linen cloth, which was full of those unidentifiable meat pies.
“Please have them when you’re feeling peckish. Hehehe.”
He had probably made a hefty profit thanks to the people coming for treatment.
Yanne took the meat pies and packed them, but since I didn’t want to eat them, I went around the village buying eggs and various ingredients to take with us.
And I found the bread shop and bought all the remaining scones.
Now, as we were about to depart the village, someone stood in our way.
It was the mercenaries.