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EP.32 [First Mercenary Quest After Receiving Sister's Prayer Boost]1
After finishing the final briefing,
The Red Fox Mercenary Group executives joined the regular soldiers.
They then headed straight for the village of Jebodang outside Athens.
Medical officer Peter, carrying medical supplies, rode in a cart with the elf Priscilla,
While the other executives were on horseback.
In the front row were Captain Jeanne, Assault Captain Eugene, and Mari,
With Ivan, Thomas, and finally Sophia in the back row.
"This is surprising... I heard the Sophists only appear in the territories of nobles belonging to the anti-imperial noble alliance Tyrannos. Were they really spotted in the Dark Forest of Jebodang?"
"Only three people saw them. And even they didn't directly name the Sophists, just said they were wearing unusual monk's robes, so I inferred it was them based on their testimony."
As they were starting to leave the Pangea region, Ivan and Thomas began discussing the Sophists.
"Hooh... They've become a mystical group on the level of an esoteric religion for 12 years now, but you know their characteristics well, Thomas."
"I saw them doing secret deals with the Sophists when I was in the assassination squad. I saw all of them except the Jedi - the Priests, Claymores, Nagarjuna. It was quite a big secret deal."
The Sophists led by Ulysses Schneider
Were an order that strived to reach an outstanding level through the sword.
Hence they were also called the Order of the Sword
And had more of a philosophical than religious color.
However, after Ulysses, who symbolized that color, was branded a murderous demon and
Dishonorably passed away, the Sophists transformed into a mystical religious group that rarely showed themselves outwardly.
And that meant more than just a change in color.
The start of an extremely secular, profit-driven and political path,
The corrupted Sophists are now referred to as a core force of Tyrannos, the largest disruptive force within the Elysium Empire.
"It's truly ironic, isn't it? Most mercenaries side with the Empire, but because the anti-imperial noble alliance's disruptions haven't ceased for hundreds of years, the mercenary system has become established and expanded."
"Do you believe the conspiracy theory that the Empire is deliberately neglecting them to some extent?"
"Heheh! That's not it, Thomas. At least the imperial family members, high nobles, and officials I glimpsed when I was in a brass-scale mercenary group didn't give off that feeling."
The roots of the anti-imperial noble alliance run deep
And their conflict with the Empire spans well over half of Imperium's thousand-year history.
Because they have caused civil war for such a long time,
Quite diverse and in-depth conspiracy theories are widespread among the public.
"Anyway, since you say you've seen the monks, Claymores, and Nagarjuna, I'm curious what kind of guys the Sophists that the Jebodang people are testifying about are."
Ivan shifted the topic of conversation back to the Sophists.
The Sophists are divided into three levels, excluding the term Jedi which refers to their leader.
First is the Highlander, a junior monk.
Second is the Claymore, an intermediate monk meaning "great sword",
Lastly, the third senior monk title is Nagarjuna, meaning "great serpent".
"They said it was a black cloak. In that state, there was an emblem of a golden sword wrapped by a snake on the armor. It probably means Claymore."
Thomas described the Sophists spotted in Jebodang as testified by the villagers,
With an expression that said it wasn't easy.
"Claymore? If they're Claymores, wouldn't they be at least Sword Runners, or many of them Sword Users?"
When Thomas directly mentioned the Claymore rank along with their cloak color,
Ivan was quite surprised.
The reason could be sufficiently understood through the general awakening level of Claymores he mentioned.
"And they're not just outstanding in awakening ability, but also have reached a certain level in swordsmanship... Hmm... This is seriously not easy."
"Don't worry too much, Advisor Ivan. The area they were spotted in isn't inside Jebodang or near the Dark Forest. So even if those testimonies are true, we probably won't encounter them directly. And as you know well, unless it's directly in a conflict zone or Tyrannos territory, Sophists almost never start fights with mercenaries."
Ivan showed full vigilance, while
Thomas diagnosed that the possibility of directly encountering them was slim, citing his own reasons.
"..."
And Eugene was silently listening to Ivan and Thomas's conversation
From the front of the procession.
'Have the Sophists now become that kind of group?'
Two years after Eugene's father Ulysses Schneider's death,
That is, for two years after Eugene entered the Orléans family,
He could occasionally hear talk about his father from the world
And mentions of the Sophists related to him.
After all, the corruption and fall of Ulysses, a Sword Master and sword saint, was one of the biggest scandals in Imperium Empire history at the time.
So Eugene Schneider was also aware of the Sophists' corruption beginning at that time.
But for the next 10 years,
He hadn't come across the name Sophists even on the pilgrim's path.
So just as he gradually forgot memories of his father,
Eugene lived forgetting about the Sophists as well.
And now he's hearing such in-depth news about them like this.
Swish...!
Jeanne looked at Eugene positioned to her left.
The reason Eugene hadn't heard the name Sophists from others for the past 10 years
Was the power of Jeanne's father, Antoine de Sel Orléans.
Antoine's power, which was strong from before,
Grew wings in the overwhelming form of the Grand Duke's family in those 2 years after Ulysses' death.
Under the foundation of that power, Antoine took measures to prevent his friend's honor from falling further.
He even obtained the emperor's consent to prohibit mentions of Ulysses and related topics even within noble society.
Of course, it continued to be talked about among commoners with a much broader spectrum for a few more years.
However, from a certain point, new gossip was no longer derived from the nobles,
So as more time passed, Ulysses' name gradually disappeared from the overall memories of people on the Pedon continent.
'The Sophists who have become a mystical religious order rather than a philosophical sword order...'
In Eugene Schneider's thinking,
There are two things his father Ulysses Schneider left behind in the world.
One is his son, himself,
And the Sophists.
So from Eugene's perspective, it's like hearing news of a forgotten sibling.
"Oh my! Oh my, thank you! Thank you so much for accepting our request, Mercenary Captain!"
Bow! Bow! Bow!
After traveling for about half a day since leaving Athens, just as the sunset was beginning to color the sky,
The Red Fox Mercenary Group arrived at Jebodang village.
The village chief greeted them from the village entrance
And formally welcomed their saviors at the village central hall.
At that point, the Red Fox Mercenary Group's porters and shield soldiers
Had already begun setting up the base camp in a designated area where the distant Dark Forest could be seen.
"We are simply mercenaries who receive money and are worth that money. So there's no need to show such an attitude."
"This was a situation all mercenaries avoided! Just the fact that you've come like this is enough to make our village tearfully grateful!"
Bow! Bow! Bow!
If it were noble young lady Jeanne, she would have responded warmly to the village chief's bowing,
But mercenary captain Jeanne is different.
As she said, since it's a relationship mediated by money,
No one knows at what point or in what way even someone bowing right in front of you like this might suddenly change without a fair amount of trust built up.
Starting with an appropriate distance,
That is the cornerstone for doing mercenary work smoothly.
'They look full of expectation, but also faces consumed by fear to the same degree.'
A few steps behind Jeanne, Eugene slightly moved his head to look around.
Besides the village chief and some villagers inside the hall,
Not a few people outside the hall were hiding behind walls here and there,
Or peering through gaps in doors to look at the mercenary group that had responded to their quest.
The appearance of the Jebodang people thus confirmed,
The villagers' faces had become deeply shadowed with despair
From being tormented by goblins for quite a long time.
In the psychology of those faces intently staring at the Red Fox Mercenary Group,
A desperate hope of grasping at straws could be felt.
'This is why the Grand Duchess is so earnestly doing social work. More and more blind spots that public power can't reach are being created.'
Jebodang can be seen as a representative example of blind spots created by the sudden increase in monsters.
Monster subjugation is originally a part-time job concept for mercenaries.
But recently, difficulties beyond the part-time level are being created not infrequently,
So under the existing system, it has become difficult for commoners to be protected.
From the Empire's perspective, frequently mobilizing large-scale troops to protect small villages on the outskirts of cities that don't much help secure tax revenue would be a severe administrative waste.
"When did you go up there?"
If unexpected variables occur, they may have to face goblins inside the village.
So Eugene went around here and there familiarizing himself with the village structure before night fell completely.
Then seeing the elf Priscilla up on the roof of the Light Goddess Church, he called out to her.
"Just now."
Priscilla answered coolly with an expressionless face,
Looking out at the distant Dark Forest.
She was wearing a monk's hood as usual.
"It seems it will rain in a few days, we'll have to settle this within two days."
At that moment, Priscilla mentioned the weather.
As elves are spirit folk, they can sense weather changes with amazing accuracy.
"Hey Eugene, how much do you know about monsters?"
Then she casually tossed a question at Eugene as if throwing a pebble.
"That they're beings created with the involvement of demonic energy?"
Eugene answered in a calm tone with his arms folded.
He looked like he didn't quite understand Priscilla's intention in asking.
"Want to come up here too? Or is it difficult for a human with such a large, sloppy body to climb up?"
"Are you provoking me?"
"Yeah."
So Priscilla demanded that Eugene come up to the top of the church.
Priscilla looking down at Eugene with an expressionless face
It was quite an infuriating expression.
"By the way, how old are you, Priscilla?"
"Does it bother you that I'm speaking informally?"
"Yes."
"But what can I do, you look like a kid to me. You can think of me as quite a bit older than Ivan."
"So you're an old lady."
"....."
Eugene gracefully climbed the wall with his heavy body all the way to the roof peak.
After showing such an impressive sight,
He got one over on Priscilla using the pretext of finding out her age.
"Monsters are ultimately beings belonging to the spirit world. That's why they tend to appear in places abundant with spirit energy."
Priscilla smoothly turned the topic back to monsters.
And her gaze turned again to the distant Dark Forest.
"That forest now called the Dark Forest, in the very distant past, a small number of elves lived there. It was a place considerably connected to the spirit world. Back then it was called the Forest of Life."
"Ah, are you talking about ancient Prasia times?"
"Oh, you know about Prasia despite being a commoner human? Not bad."
Swish!
Priscilla was looking not at the current Dark Forest,
But at the Forest of Life where elves existed in some ancient era.
Ancient Prasia continent was something Eugene had come across in the Orléans Grand Duke's library,
So he reflexively responded without thinking.
Then Priscilla turned around with a surprised expression, as this was knowledge usually only upper nobles knew,
But commoner-concept Eugene knew it.
"Haha, I was lucky enough to have a chance to learn reading. So I was very interested in books."
"Suspicious guy."
Eugene, who felt he had slipped up, smoothly covered it up.
"In that Prasia era, humans and elves coexisted on this continent. In fact, human magic was passed down from the elves."
However, true to elf nature, Priscilla was far from persistent,
So she immediately just said what she wanted to say again.
"But upheavals occurred in the spirit world, and at the same time as human civilization developed, elves began to leave the continent. As a result, that Forest of Life where elves lived became the Dark Forest where goblins settled."
Whooosh...!
Flutter!!
Priscilla's face as she looked out at the distant Dark Forest
Was still expressionless, but gave a feeling of new emotions.
Just then a wind blew
And Priscilla's cloak attached to her monk's robe fluttered.
'Oh, Priscilla finally took out her bow.'
Eugene Schneider's eyes widened at the new content of Priscilla's revealed by that.
On the day Eugene first saw Priscilla, and from this morning until coming here,
He hadn't seen the elf archer Priscilla's weapon, her bow.
But upon arriving at the quest location as the camp began to be properly set up,
Priscilla was carrying her bow.
The so-called World Tree bow,
Elf archers are given bows made from World Tree branches at birth.
'As expected, there's no bowstring.'
Priscilla's World Tree arrow revealed by the fluttering cloak,
That arrow had no bowstring.
In other words, it meant a bow that uses mana arrows rather than regular arrows.
And what that means,
'As an archer, she's Expert level or higher.'
It meant Priscilla's mana awakening ability was above Jeanne, Ivan,
And Sophia.
At minimum Expert level.
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