33rd Chapter: This Place is Insane. (1)
Manus cunningly started to incite the people.
“This is beyond what an individual can handle. We’re just wasting our time here.”
“Yeah, but the destination isn’t far from the entrance…”
“Pfft, do you believe that? Where is it? How deep do you think we’re going?”
“…”
“Looking back now, there are so many strange things. We set a destination in a forest where no one has ever been? Do you even know where that is? Why are we going? What’s there?”
“Um, I hadn’t thought about it like that…”
“Damn it! Our employer has to be crazy! Not just some delusional weirdo, but an audacious lunatic with execution power! We’re all gonna end up dead!”
No one could refute Manus’s words.
There had indeed been instances where nobles or lords fell into delusions and did bizarre things.
A silence settled as the mood darkened.
The older mercenary, Toran, furrowed his brow while listening quietly.
“If it weren’t for our employer, we’d have been dead long ago. Stop creating unease with your useless chatter.”
“…No, I’m just feeling uneasy.”
“Do you think it’s common to meet such an employer? Our employer is fighting at the front, trying hard to save our lives more than anyone else.”
Usually, nobles just give orders to mercenaries without leading the fight themselves. Especially in dangerous situations.
Mercenaries are hired to be shields, not to accomplish something together.
That was a fact even the mercenaries readily accepted.
But Ghislaine was different.
She continually showed the determination to save just one more person.
Toran, already impressed by that stance, growled at Manus.
“If it weren’t for our employer, we would’ve all died already. It’s not delusion; it’s real skill. We can trust and follow her.”
Manus could no longer refute Toran’s words.
Other mercenaries nodded in agreement.
“Right. She’s not just using us as meat shields.”
“It’s clear she’s different from other nobles.”
“She’s quite skilled at commanding. This isn’t her first rodeo.”
“With someone like her, we can trust her.”
Still, they had to fight powerful monsters, so injuries and deaths were inevitable.
It couldn’t be helped.
Manus grumbled, reminding them of that fact.
“How long do you think that’ll work? It’s fine for now, but if we keep this up, we’re all gonna end up dead.”
What’s the point of showing off amazing abilities?
If we keep fighting without a break, we’ll all collapse from fatigue in the end.
If it weren’t for Ghislaine, we’d have been dead long ago; this forest was dangerous.
The monsters at the entrance were the ones pushed out from competition, and yet they were stronger than those outside the forest.
While we’re still alive, we should just cut and run.
That’s why Manus kept bringing it up.
He feared that if they fled, their employer would kill them; even if he let them go, he wasn’t sure he could make it back alone.
Stirring up the mercenaries, who were filled with anxiety and fatigue, to pressure their employer and minimize the penalty for leaving seemed like the best plan.
“Don’t you find your life valuable? Even if you’re a mercenary, who goes looking for death?”
But Toran scoffed and retorted.
“If you’re getting paid, isn’t it the nature of a mercenary to risk your life?”
“What a moron. Where do you find mercenaries like that nowadays? We’re just going to die as meat shields. If things get really dangerous, our employer will run away anyway.”
So what’s the hallmark of a skilled mercenary?
Completing missions at the cost of their lives?
No, the one who survives the longest is the most skilled.
Knowing when to bail when things get dangerous is also an essential skill for a mercenary.
Believing and following nobles is just plain dumb.
Even if they act like they care now, they’ll ditch us and run the moment things get risky.
That’s just how nobles are.
As Manus continued to incite, a few mercenaries began to waver.
Their resolve was starting to crack with his realistic comments.
‘Damn it, stupid old fart!’
But it was the stubborn ones, like Toran, that posed a problem.
Most of the mercenaries seemed to have this absurd notion that they would complete the mission no matter what, trusting their employer.
Just as Manus was about to speak again, Toran grabbed him by the collar.
“Look at that. The medicine and potions our employer is using are worth more than our own lives. Would you do the same? Do you really think our employer wants to use us as meat shields?”
At those words, nearby mercenaries all turned their heads.
Their gazes fell on Ghislaine, who was treating the wounds of the injured soldiers.
Those who saw that all fell silent.
The medicines the employer was using were indeed worth more than their own lives.
The mercenaries nodded along, murmuring among themselves.
“Well, it doesn’t seem like he’d throw us away.”
“His healing skills are no joke. I thought he was some kind of professional healer!”
“He’s not using much of that potion, but it sure works wonders.”
As the people’s reactions began to wither again, Manus bit his lip.
At that sight, Toran released the grip he had on Manus’s collar.
“We got paid, so we should just follow orders.”
“Tch.”
Casting a sideways glance at Manus, who spat in frustration, Toran returned to his seat and quietly watched Ghislaine.
At first, he had also thought he needed to go back.
But little by little, he found himself drawn in by how different this employer was from the ones he had encountered before.
Muna was gradually drawn to Ghislaine in his different appearance.
He had encountered many brave, commanding, and intelligent nobles.
But it was the first time he had met a noble who treated mercenaries like humans rather than disposable tools.
He had never seen a noble fight so valiantly without caring for his own safety.
Toran was being inspired not by money but by Ghislaine as a person.
“I might really die, but… I still want to see a bit more.”
It wasn’t that he wasn’t scared of death.
Like Manus said, he could really die.
Still, even if he died, he wanted to experience what the end would be like together.
It might be a foolish decision, but… if a mercenary, who sells his life for money, runs away because he doesn’t want to die, can he really be called a mercenary?
That was the last belief and conscience Toran held as a mercenary.
“By the way, our employer has a lot of money. They said it was a poor territory, but how did they get such expensive medicine?”
As Toran said, Ghislaine was using precious medicine and potions without hesitation.
It was so excessive that Belinda was constantly nagging him.
“No, Young Master! How can you use such precious herbs and potions like that? We need to save them for when you get hurt! I’m going crazy, really!”
Ghislaine tightly wrapped a bandage around the mercenary’s arm as he spoke.
“Why save them? I brought them to use them all. We need to use them properly when necessary.”
“If you keep this up, there won’t be anything left when you need it later!”
“Well, let’s think about that when the time comes.”
Belinda glared at Ghislaine while grumbling.
“I’m dying over how wasteful it is to use expensive medicine, and you’re doing the healing yourself?”
“These guys are doing a terrible job at healing. Just watching makes me want to puke.”
Belinda clutched her chest in frustration at Ghislaine’s casual answer.
The injured mercenary, moved, said, “T-thank you. Young Master.”
“Enough. Rest well while you can. Later, learn the proper emergency treatment methods too.”
“Hehe, got it!”
Seeing mercenaries trying to disinfect their wounds by splashing them with urine and sticking useless herbs all over them, Ghislaine’s head momentarily felt heavy.
Reluctantly, he went one by one to teach and take care of them.
“If you treat a splint like that, the bone will misalign. And you, no more urine! If you apply more, the flesh will rot. You idiot! Why are you drinking it!”
The mercenaries, moved by Ghislaine’s actions, began to increase in number little by little.
Other employers usually either discard mercenaries with serious injuries or leave them to die.
Keeping them alive costs money and is tiring work.
Belinda squinted her eyes and watched Ghislaine tending to the mercenaries.
“How does the Young Master know about these things? He wasn’t the type to care for others like that… Could it be that he’s really possessed by a dark mage?”
While she was worrying about unnecessary things, the party gradually moved forward.
On the fifth day of their repeated battles, they discovered a small lake.
“Wow, water!”
“It’s so refreshing!”
As soon as they found the water, the mercenaries all rushed to quench their thirst.
They had brought their own water, but it was lukewarm, and as time passed, the smell from the water pouch made it less than ideal for drinking.
The ice-cold water of the lake instantly relieved their accumulated thirst.
The icy waters of the lake were so cold that they instantly quenched his accumulated thirst.
Usually, Ghislaine would have restricted the movements of the mercenaries, but he didn’t stop them this time.
He looked around and fell into thought.
‘The route I’ve organized is relatively accurate.’
The path taken by the kingdom’s expeditionary force in his past life was different from the one he planned to take.
Naturally, the monsters weren’t recorded in the order they encountered the party.
Ghislaine rummaged through his memories, matching the anticipated route with the recorded monsters again.
So far, it had mostly lined up well, and perhaps out of luck, there were even monsters that hadn’t appeared.
‘Now it’s going to get really dangerous.’
This lake was the most crucial junction he needed to pass to reach his destination.
And it was also the place that signaled the start of greater dangers.
[They probably began to follow us as we passed the lake.]
Ghislaine repeated a phrase from his memories several times and spoke to the party.
“Let’s rest here for today. Let’s wash up and resupply for a change.”
Following his orders, the mercenaries cut down nearby trees and prepared their campsite.
“Young Master, I’ll prepare dinner right away.”
After realizing Ghislaine’s skills to some extent, Belinda rarely moved when dealing with monsters.
As a result, she consumed much less stamina than others.
She took a small pot from the wagon, filled it with water, and added various seasonings and jerky to make a warm soup.
“Here, eat this. You need to eat heartily in places like this to have the strength to work afterward.”
“No, but it’s not fair that I’m the only one eating this every day…”
“Ugh! Stop whining and just eat!”
Belinda fiercely waved a fork in front of his face with a mischievous grin.
Ghislaine nodded helplessly.
Seeing this, the mercenaries whistled and jeered.
“Ahhh, some are getting warm and delicious food while others are stuck munching on hard jerky!”
“If we’re just following the Young Master around and not even fighting, at least cook for us!”
“Yeah, from now on, you’re in charge of meals! Woohoo!”
“We want warm soup too!”
Ping!
Suddenly, a sharp sound sliced through the air as a fork lodged deep into a nearby tree.
It had been the tree one of the jeering mercenaries was leaning against.
Seeing the fork lodged right next to his ear, the mercenary broke out in a cold sweat and rolled his eyes.
Belinda chuckled.
“Hohoho, you all have hands, don’t you? Make it yourself. Got it? I’m busy taking care of our Young Master here.”
The mercenaries nodded repeatedly.
They had thought she was just a maid, but her fork-throwing skills were anything but ordinary.
Getting careless could result in them not knowing what hit them.
Ghislaine chuckled and said to Belinda,
“Once you’re settled, take care of the mercenaries a bit too. They’re all working hard.”
“Well, I’ll think about it.”
“Still, I’m not feeling particularly hungry today, so maybe these can go to the others…”
“Complaining about side dishes after coming this far? You need to eat quickly. Remember what happened if you didn’t eat right away when you were little?”
Belinda took out a new fork and waved it in front of Ghislaine’s eyes.
Ghislaine chose to remain silent and obediently sipped the soup.
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