The mercenaries stared at my aura for a long time, as if there were something terribly fascinating about it.
Not a single one of them was chattering or getting excited.
They simply gazed blankly at the blazing flame, just like I had once done.
“Uh…”
One mercenary came to his senses and stammered in a dazed voice.
“I-It really is aura?”
“…Pfft.”
At those words, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at how pure his reaction was.
“You said earlier it wasn’t that you didn’t believe me.”
At my remark, the mercenaries panicked and began babbling incoherently.
“No, no!!! We believed you, of course we did! It’s just that we haven’t seen aura many times, so it was fascinating!”
“…Okay, you pass.”
“Phew…”
As expected of the tact honed through long years of mercenary life.
If it came down to eloquence alone, most mercenaries would probably have reached the level of Master.
“Then that’s enough now, right? I’ll be going, okay?”
After calming the briefly overheated atmosphere, I returned to my lodging.
When I said I hadn’t been able to wash for eight whole days because there had been no water to bathe with in the Demon Realm, everyone let me go without another word.
Getting rid of that grimy feeling had to be acknowledged.
—Splash.
“Haa…”
—Bubble, bubble.
I sat in the bathtub filled with warm water, sinking in until even half my head was submerged.
At that, the tension that had built up in my body slowly washed away.
Judging by what was written in the entry and exit records, I had camped outside for a full eight days—not just outside, but in the Demon Realm.
I had probably done it alone, and if so, it made sense that this much fatigue had accumulated.
‘First I’ll wash… and think about it again tomorrow…’
I closed my eyes in the bathtub.
It wasn’t as though I was trying to sleep; it was just that I couldn’t overcome my fatigue, and my heavy eyelids fell on their own.
And so, unintentionally, I fell asleep.
***
I had a dream.
I didn’t know who it was, but in any case, I was walking after someone.
I hunted monsters.
I hunted them, and hunted them again.
Someone simply stood ahead, waiting for me.
Doing nothing, just standing there.
I thought that someone was being unfair.
At times, I even doubted that someone.
But as time passed, doubt turned into certainty.
I rubbed my blurred eyes and tried to see that someone properly.
‘Ugh…’
When I opened my eyes again, what stood before me was not someone, but a great light.
It was warm, and it shone quietly.
But what I felt most strongly from that light was not comfort, but an overwhelming majesty.
As soon as it sensed my gaze, it suddenly flared up fiercely.
Soon, the dark-red light rippled and rushed toward me as if to swallow me whole.
As if this time, I would be the one to burn… that was what the flames seemed to say.
***
“Hah! Hah!”
A room filled with silence.
It was dawn, and the sun, not yet fully risen, shone gray.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
“A d-dream, huh.”
Without a word, I slowly turned my head and looked around the room.
—Tick. Tock.
The alarm clock, still far from ringing.
The damp towel hung over a chair, left there because I had staggered back to my room half-asleep and hadn’t managed to put it away.
Other than that, it wasn’t as though the lodging was on fire or anything.
There was only my familiar room, exactly as it always was.
“Haa…”
So it was a dream.
I let out a deep sigh of relief and lay back down on the bed.
………
“Ah, shit. This is driving me crazy.”
It seemed like I had woken up far too early, so I lay down again, but I didn’t feel like sleep would come back just because I was lying there.
I frowned and sprang out of bed.
—Creeeak. Thud.
Maybe it was because it was morning, or maybe it was because I’d had that strange dream.
But today, the sound of the old hinges seemed especially loud.
—Chirp, chirp. Chirp, chirp.
The sun had not yet fully risen, so the weather was still quite cool.
In truth, whether the people of Roten called it cool or warm, to outsiders, being located in the empire’s far north meant it was all the same weather—perfect for freezing to death.
In any case, I was currently heading to the cathedral early in the morning.
To Roten Cathedral, a historic cathedral located in the center of the great city of Roten.
I needed to find the cause of the damn things that had been happening to me lately as soon as possible.
Because at this rate, I felt like it would keep bothering me until I was sure no more strange things would happen.
It was definitely because I had been continuously exposed to demonic energy in the Demon Realm.
If I went to the cathedral and received purification, I’d surely get better.
***
A place where the entire building was dyed pure white.
A sacred place that the northern sun illuminated first.
I was now at Roten Cathedral.
Nature, harmonizing with the enormous white tree that embraced the cathedral from the center, greeted me.
Even though it had been a long time since I came here, the countless stairs leading to the cathedral still clearly displayed the sanctity and grandeur of the place.
Though it was early morning, I could see a few people sitting down to rest after exhausting themselves climbing the stairs.
If it had been somewhere else, resting might have been somewhat uncomfortable, but…
—Rustle, rustle.
The trees on both sides of the stairs became shade, blocking the sunlight,
—Drip, trickle.
and the stream of water flowing down from above helped people wet their throats.
The source of the water was the fountain at the end of the stairs.
It was a fountain that drew up groundwater, and perhaps fittingly for groundwater flowing beneath a cathedral, they said it wasn’t just ordinary water, but had a slight medicinal effect.
It wasn’t as though it cured diseases, but if you drank it, it gave you just a little bit of strength.
I also took a sip while climbing the stairs, then headed toward the cathedral again.
Fortunately, because it was very early in the morning, there were fewer people than usual.
If I had come in the afternoon, the line would have stretched all the way from the cathedral entrance down the stairs.
Right now, it seemed I could meet a priest if I waited about thirty minutes.
“Brother, there has been no encroachment upon you whatsoever.”
“Pardon?”
After the wait, the priest I met delivered a result that was hard to believe.
“If you had been affected by demonic energy, you should have felt stinging or burning when you touched the holy water. But since you said you had no such reaction at all, for now, you have not been affected by demonic energy.”
“That can’t be…”
As if he was used to reactions like mine, he maintained a calm expression and said,
“It is highly likely to be a psychological issue. It is something often experienced by those who return after spending a long time in the Demon Realm for the first time. The Demon Realm is a place that induces extreme tension. In a place where you never know when monsters might spring out, and alone for eight whole days at that… your brain is still in a state of alert.”
“Ah…”
I nodded at the priest’s words.
“That could be it.”
“If you live as you usually do, your brain should return to normal. If by any chance you feel more discomfort later or your symptoms do not improve, please visit the medical ward inside the cathedral rather than me.”
The priest clasped my hand tightly and said,
“I hope you recover even a day sooner, Brother, and return to your daily life.”
I thanked him, paid the fee, and left the cathedral.
Having firmly believed I would get better if I received treatment at the cathedral, I had no choice but to return with a bit of disappointment.
—Trudge. Trudge.
As I was going down the stairs, I decided to sit beneath a tree for a moment like the people I had seen on my way up and sort out my thoughts.
I closed my eyes and inhaled and exhaled at an even rhythm.
When people commonly think of mercenaries, they imagine ignorant ruffians who cannot control their emotions, but in reality, that was not the case.
For mercenaries who were always thrown into dangerous areas, the concentration and composure that could be gained through meditation were extremely important.
I calmed the negative thoughts and separated them from the rest.
The fact that I had been living normally, then suddenly opened my eyes on Mount Tusnis.
The fact that the Demon Realm, which I should have been seeing for the first time, had felt familiar.
The someone I had met in my dream, and myself being swallowed by flames.
These things kept injecting negative thoughts into me.
‘Anyway, it doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to figure out the cause. What’s important is that I’m alive right now without any problems, isn’t it?’
I just had to forget it and live as usual.
I could ignore all those feelings of unease.
There was no need to dwell too much on things that had already passed.
I had returned to Roten safely, after all.
‘Yeah, this is enough. The cathedral said it wasn’t because demonic energy affected me anyway.’
Using the examination result I had heard at the cathedral as grounds, I quickly sorted out my thoughts—unlike the fuss I had been making until now—and got up from my seat to head back to my lodging.
***
I changed into the clothes I wore when doing mercenary work and strapped on the sword I had obtained on Mount Tusnis.
My vacation was over, so starting today, I had to work again.
“You’re here!”
The mercenaries who had arrived first greeted me warmly.
“Yeah. What request do we need to handle today?”
“Taking care of a mutant boar that appeared in a nearby forest.”
“Well, that happens often enough.”
“Right.”
I naturally walked to the center of the building and shouted,
“Is everyone here?!”
“Yeah!!!!!!”
Everyone gathered here was a member of the mercenary unit I led.
I led them out of Roten to carry out the request.
Fortunately, the requested area was a forest not far from Roten.
The mercenary corps probably thought I had spent the past week training in the Demon Realm, so I figured they had assigned me this request out of consideration.
‘They really didn’t have to.’
Inwardly, I felt grateful.
Of course, I also felt a little sorry.
Because I hadn’t been training for a week; I had just been a guy who passed out.
Even the aura had simply appeared when I opened my eyes after passing out.
‘Well, let’s complete the request first.’
We were able to arrive at the target area quickly.
“Everyone, keep a sharp watch on the surroundings! Gart! Check the boar’s location with the telescope! Skol and a few others, investigate whether there are any traces left by the boar!”
“Okay!”
The mercenaries swiftly began carrying out their assigned roles.
About five minutes after my order was given, Gart, who had climbed up a tree, shouted.
“It’s the boar!”
When Gart pointed out the boar’s location, all the mercenaries, including me, began running in the direction he indicated.
The boar we encountered head-on was considerably large.
Even among the mutants I had met until now, it was especially big.
Its size was a full four meters.
It was a rather troublesome creature, with parts of its body hardened into steel.
The mercenary corps had surely given me this request out of consideration, but it seemed they had assigned it thinking it was an ordinary mutant boar.
An ordinary mutant boar was only two meters tall, had skin only slightly tougher than a normal boar’s, and at most traveled in groups of about four.
In any case, I could see the unit members growing tense at the unprecedented size of the boar.
Normally, I might have been as tense as they were.
Even if it was only partial, the moment that boar had hardened into steel, hunting it with ordinary iron weapons was out of the question.
Right now, we had no way to take that thing down.
If it had been any other day, there was no telling how many people might have had to be sacrificed just to find a way to kill that boar.
But.
‘Somehow… I feel like I can do it.’
On impulse, I drew my sword and charged at the boar.
“Huh??? Evan?????”
“What are you doing?! You need to come back at once and form up first!”
Normally, that would have been true.
Because that was the sensible way to respond.
If I had not possessed aura.
—Whooooosh!
Dark-red flames flowed out from between my lips.
Fire billowed along my sword.
I lightly kicked off the ground, leapt, and slashed at the boar’s neck.
—Tap.
Landing lightly on the ground, I turned my head slightly and checked the boar’s condition.
‘Did I… fail?’
Since it was my first attempt at hunting a monster using aura, my mind felt uneasy.
But my senses, despite this surely being the first attempt, were somehow already certain that I had killed the boar.
It was a nerve-racking, tense moment.
—Slide, thud!
The mutant boar’s neck was cut cleanly and fell to the ground, rolling.
The mercenaries took in the sight with wide eyes.
A few even had their mouths open, drool trickling out.
“E-Evan!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Waaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!”
All the mercenaries there cheered and rushed toward me.
“Fuck, isn’t this seriously insane?!?!?!”
“I knew you were always a talented bastard, but you! You finally went and did it!”
“You’re the hope of our mercenary corps, seriously!”
“Hahaha.”
At my comrades’ fuss, I gave an embarrassed laugh.
“So, you should enter the mercenary selection tournament for the Hero’s party.”
Huh…?
“Pardon????? Me!?????”