Chapter of Grim Reality: Military Meeting

“I, Willrich of Larfias, formally request the aid of the Lomerian Dragon Knights in the subjugation of rebel forces inside the country. The payment shall be ten thousand gold coins and a single wish, as long as it is in my power to fulfil.”

With a serious expression, devoid of even the tiniest hint of a smile, the king, Will, stated his request. Next to him, Ruben was watching us, or rather Korwen, for his reaction… As for Korwen himself…

“I’m listening.”

“Mm. Then I shall explain.”

Will smiled at Korwen’s reaction then swiftly started explaining the details of his request.

“As you know yourself already, there have been various… incidents around the Kingdom, involving either our own aristocracy, the Akkian Empire or the Witch Worshippers.”

“... I do.”

“Great! Then you also understand that the current situation is rather precarious for our kingdom.”

“Seeing that the King is requesting mercenaries without a nation, yes, that much was obvious. I’d like it if you could get to the point.”

With a wry smile, the king shook his head.

“So impatient. But I can’t blame you, I guess. You are right, you have no nation, you do not owe us any loyalty and as long as you get paid, you will do any job. As king, there is nothing worse than having to rely on nationless and faithless vagabonds.”

“... You’re saying that to my face?”

“That’s what everyone will see. I know you are trustworthy, of course, but my personal opinion doesn’t matter. The military, the army is the incarnation of a nation’s might. That I, as king, have lost control to part of it is inexcusable.”

After letting out a sigh, Will turned to Ruben, then pointed at a bag that was right next to the man. Seemingly understanding what Will wanted, Ruben opened the bag and handed him. A stack of… papers.

“Those are?”

“Investigation reports, financial reports, contracts, quite a lot of different things, actually. And these are just a small part of what was unearthed during the investigation into the Allena family.”

“... Illegal activities, then?”

“Worse. Well, they are illegal so… Ah, whatever. Point is, the Allena family, you could say, is a little… unhappy with the rulers of the kingdom. My father and me especially.”

“Hmm…”

Korwen received the stack of papers from Will and skimmed through them. A few seconds later, he stopped and then… handed the stack to me. Ehhh…

I was a little confused for a second but Korwen had already returned his attention back to Will and Ruben. Well, nobody seemed to complain so… it’d be fine to take a peek, right?

Don’t mind if I do.

In the meantime, the two continued. As for Karen, she was also peeking at the papers in my hands.

“So, that noble family wants to overthrow the current sovereign? Are they planning a regicide?”

“You’re trying to kill me off quite quickly, aren’t you? But yes, that’s what it’s likely turning out to be. But it’s a lot more complicated. The Worshippers and the Empire both threw their lot into this as well. And even now I have no idea what those fanatics are planning. As for the empire, it should be obvious enough.”

I put the stack of documents on the table, seeing as I’d rather listen than skim through those right now. Karen didn’t seem interested in them either anymore. Whoever wrote those reports sure had a thing for writing in the most unclear and confusing manner they could. No time to decipher a whole paragraph that was just saying they saw someone suspicious at night...

“The Empire clearly wants the entirety of the kingdom. They likely made a deal with the Allenas and other influential figures. We have confirmed several merchants and some nobleborn to have had contact with the Empire in a regular manner.”

“Mm… And so? Your plan is to purge those?”

“They still have value so I’d rather have them captured alive. Either way, I still have more than enough forces under my control to deal with the local problems myself.”

“That sure doesn’t look like it.”

“Mh?”

Korwen’s eyes narrowed and he leaned forward, staring at Will.

“It has been barely a few hours that we returned from our failed expedition into the western forests, attacked by unknown thugs who were after the life of Lady Karker’s daughter and her companion.”

“...”

“This doesn’t look to me like you have things under control.”

“...”

Silence overcame them, each staring at the other, not even blinking. After several seconds, maybe even a minute, Will closed his eyes and sighed.

“Are they safe?”

“They are.”

“...”

Will let out another sigh, then a smile appeared on his lips for just a few seconds before being hidden by a serious, hardened expression.

“You don’t make it easy on me, are you? I cannot—and will not—discuss your incident. However, I am pleased to hear that they are safe and thank you on Madam Karker’s behalf.”

“So you’re going to stay quiet on that?”

“That I will.”

“I see.”

Now it was Korwen’s turn to sigh.

“Then I will not press it further. Let us return to the important part. Honestly, while I am interested in all the problems and the overall situation, I still do not know what your… job offer actually entails.”

“Mh, I wanted to get to that soon…”

“I apologise if this sounds rude but I had a very draining day and am not in the mood right now to listen for half an hour to your lengthy explanation. Get to the point.”

“... Haaa, so impatient. Well then, I’ll keep it short as you requested: The request is about the extermination of the Witch Worshippers, which presumably have a base in a village in the north.”

“Now we’re talking. But a village occupied by the worshippers?”

“Rather than occupied, the reports suggest either indoctrination or that they were even… replaced entirely.”

“...”

Replaced? How could you replace a village population?

“Ruben has the details. Ask him anything you need. Is that enough?”

“Hardly. But it’s something. Then, I hope you don’t mind me asking another question.”

“Go ahead.”

“... The payment. You mentioned a single wish. What does this entail? Is this a wish you will fulfill as king or a personal one.”

“Haaa… As the king. I will listen to one request. Only one. As long as it does not violate our laws, we will do our utmost to accommodate this wish.”

“... That’s not something you would casually offer. You know full well that we could request treasures or dangerous tools… In other words, there’s something problematic enough that you are willing to put this much on the line.”

Treasures or dangerous tools… Wait, then… he could request that an entire country moves a single time in accordance to his will? That’s…

“... I truly wish you were easier to deceive at times. You are half correct.”

“Only half, huh.”

“Only half. There are two reasons I go out of my way to offer this: First, I know you well and I can roughly guess the kind of wish you would make. Rather than money, you are more interested in something that is not simply obtainable through ordinary means. Magic tools, forbidden books, weapons or who knows what. Losing such a thing is not necessarily a loss for my country and our coins can be spent elsewhere.”

“Hmm… And the second reason?”

“... We have reason to believe that they have a very troublesome magician among their numbers.”

“In other words, there’s accordingly danger mixed in.”

A dangerous magician… Among the worshippers… That… wouldn’t happen to be her, right?

“The monetary compensation wouldn’t be enough for a job of this scale. That is why it includes the single wish.”

“I see.”

“Did that answer your question?”

“It did, indeed.”

Korwen closed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. A short moment of silence later, it was Will who spoke up again.

“So, Korwen. Will you take the job?”

“... That’s not something I can decide so quickly.”

“Usually, I’d let you take your time. Unfortunately, I do not have that much time. I’d like you to decide quickly before the chance is lost.”

“... Chance? Did something happen?”

“Part of the army set out in an emergency. A large monster was sighted and they went to subjugate it.”

“... I see.”

A… large monster?

The only large monster I could think of right now… was that huge roper. Did Korwen already inform the army about it?

“With that said, I’ll leave you alone for a while to think about it. Ah, is there somebody who could show us around? I always wanted to take a look at a place like this.”

“Karen, go and bring Merim.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Ah, she left.

“Will, would it be all right if Ruben stayed here. I wanted to talk about some things with him.”

“Of course, that’s fine. I’ll take a look around on my own then. Oh, right, I saw those interesting familiars. What were those?”

“... That’s nothing I can talk about.”

“That so. How unfortunate. Even if we pay you?”

“Even with payment.”

“I see. Then, no choice but to observe them on my own!”

At that moment, Merim entered the tent with Karen right behind him. She found him quite fast, didn’t she?

“Captain, you called?”

“Merim. Show this man around the camp for a while. Make sure to treat him well.”

“Understood.”

“Then, until later, Korwen. I am awaiting a positive reply.”

With a wave of his hand, Will left together with Merim.

“Haaa… He’s still as much work as always.”

“Sorry, Korwen. He’s a politician at heart. He’s neither a military man nor a merchant.”

“Which is quite noticeable. He talks a lot.”

“Talking is his job, after all.”

Korwen stood up from the bench and walked over to his desk. It was hard to spot from here but he had a small barrel filled with ale next to his chair, which he lifted up now, showing it to Ruben.

“Want some?”

“... With pleasure.”

“What about you two, Yumi, Karen?”

“Nn? Well, a little.”

“... No, thank you.”

Karen grimaced at the question as she sat down next to me again.

“So only the three. Got nothing else here, though.”

Korwen filled three mugs and brought them over, handing one each to Ruben and me. Ruben quickly downed half the contents down his throats.

“Haa! That’s some good ale.”

“And you’re drinking it like water.”

“That’s how it should be.”

“Well, if you think so.”

Korwen sat down next to us and sipped on his own mug.

“So, I heard you were found guilty? The kingdom’s hero turned criminal?”

“Hey, hey, where did you hear?”

“A little bird told me.”

“Tsk. Those stupid nobles. Sure, found guilty of provoking the Empire. Or rather, the Empire claims that I ordered the attack on their envoy and they demand the kingdom to hand me over. Utter bullshit!”

Handing him over? That sounded more like they plotted to get rid of an important military figure to me.

“But it worked. The nobles that wanted to get rid of me jumped onto it and the remainder was unsure what to believe. If the king hadn’t bailed me out in secret I would still sit in that cell and rot away.”

“... Then, is the situation that bad?”

“... I am honestly not sure whether it is just bad or really bad. I don’t understand politics but the king said it is nothing he can’t deal with. As long as the Empire keeps out.”

“Hmmm…”

So, if the Empire wasn’t in the picture, this all wouldn’t have happened. Well, that much was probably obvious.

“It also seems like the Worshippers are in cahoots with the Empire. Did I tell you about the occurrences in the surroundings, incidents at villages and the like?”

“Yes, I recall hearing about that a few times.”

“Investigations suggest that the Worshippers are to blame. No idea what the damn fanatics are doing, though.”

Ruben once more down the contents of his mug until it was empty.

“Haaa! Where the heck did you get this stuff?”

“Mh, took a liking to it? It’s from Jeva.”

“Jeva? Where’s that?”

“North of Krohmea. Small town that makes its income from brewing that stuff. It’s pretty common up there actually.”

“Seriously? That’s quite some distance. Tsk, no way I could afford that. Too bad. Another!”

“Get it yourself.”

Without delay, Ruben stood up and walked to the small barrel, filling his mug again.

“Maybe some merchant is carrying it, might want to look around.”

“I could look around once things calmed down, I guess.”

Well, if it was from an area past Krohmea even… Yeah, well… Good luck.

“Enough about the ale for now, though. Ruben, you said the Worshippers work with the Empire…”

“Well, how else can you explain this? Sure, it might be coincidence that the Empire is causing trouble and the Worshippers join in. Might be just each of them jumping at their chance. But worst-case they work together. And… you remember that magician that caused the problems in the fort?”

“Of course I do.”

“Mhm. The king managed to get the documents from the preliminary investigation. Likely, that man had some connections to the Worshippers. It sure would fit their fanatic way, too.”

That magician… Wasn’t it the one who blew himself up? Destroying the gate?

“... I see. If that’s true, there’s little doubt about it.”

“Right? I bet their original plan was something like taking over the fort in the name of medical relief or some shit. Cause we all thought it was some dangerous illness. Then, from there they’d have a straight way into the kingdom, right to this city. Don’t need to tell you, of all people, what that would mean, right?”

“There wouldn’t even be a siege.”

“Pretty much. But, thanks to some coincidences and your band being around, it didn’t work out all that well for them. This is likely a backup plan.”

A backup plan… Then…

“Nn, is that why they only hired those mostly useless thugs? They couldn’t prepare?”

“That might indeed be the case, Yumi. But they still managed to round up quite a lot in that short amount of time.”

“Thugs? Are you talking about the thing you mentioned, about being attacked?”

“Yes. We were planning to fulfill our contract with the Academy and bring them the things they requested. The whole thing got blown off when dozens, maybe over a hundred even, of thugs were sitting around and ambushing our squads.”

There were only a few injuries caused by those thugs. With that said, the… casualties… were they from the trolls? Probably.

“That many? Mh… What happened to those thugs?”

“We killed whoever crossed our way but we didn’t hunt them down, if that’s what you want to know.”

“I see. I’ll look into that matter. That many thugs, they can’t appear out of thin air. The town is relatively safe and only has few issues with criminals anymore. I can’t imagine them rounding up that many thugs from only there.”

“They also used imperial-made weaponry.”

“... I see.”

Few criminals… Maybe they’ve come from surrounding places as well?

“Korwen, we are truly in your debt. If it hadn’t been for your band arriving, the kingdom might have already disappeared.”

“Thank me once everything is over. And I hope you’re going to invite me to some good alcohol.”

“The best brew you’ll find in the whole of Lafria. I promise.”

“Ha, I’ll hold you unto that!”

With a big grin, Korwen lifted his mug, towards Ruben. Smiling wryly, Ruben lifted his own mug and the two of them clanked them together.

“Cheers!”

“Cheers.”

A hearty sip later, they put down their mugs.

“Still, things need to get done first.”

“That is true. So? I successfully threw Will out before he could talk my ear off with irrelevant nonsense. Tell me, what do you know about the Worshippers for that job. And what do you know about the operation as a whole.”

“... Haa, there’s a lot going on. A lot.”

Ruben was shaking his head as he sighed again.

“I’ll give you a rundown of the whole operation first: Currently, part of the military is away, investigating a large-scale monster that appeared to the north. Thanks to a very quick-witted subordinate, the responsibility for the investigation was pushed to our opponents. In other words, most of their military forces are currently away.”

“... There’s no way they’d allow that to happen? How in the blazes…”

“Lots of convincing, from what I heard. Or rather, as bad as it sounds, fear-mongering. A bit of embellishment about a Large Dragon-class monster was more than enough to scare the ones high up. They sent away their ‘most trusted’ men to deal with it.”

“Sounds like idiots.”

“They’re idiots, all right.”

They scared the people in charge, huh… Not exactly a nice way but... If it works, why not?

“The details on how he did it don’t matter. The important part is that he did. And that gives us a chance. The remaining men under my command will take control of the city. We even got Lady Karker’s cooperation.”

“The old Karker, huh… That’s quite reassuring to hear. For you all.”

“It is. But unfortunately we do not have men to spare during this part. We need to purge the city and bring back the order as fast as possible. But if the Worshippers attack during that time, it’ll turn into a bloodbath. You know as well as I do how little they think of humanoid lives.”

“... Even if you could fight them off, it’d turn into a massacre for the civilians. I see. That’s why you want us to deal with them first.”

Ruben nodded at Korwen, affirming his words.

“That’s exactly it. The Worshippers number at least fify and there is word going round they even have monsters under their control.”

“Monsters?”

“Yes. Ogres, it seems.”

“... They wouldn’t happen to wear equipment?”

“... An odd question. But yes, they do. Korwen, you know those?”

“Fought some in Arkesta. Just prior to our escape from there.”

Wait, those scary, well-equipped ogres?

“That’s… surely not a coincidence. Mind asking what you did there?”

“We busted up some criminal organization researching immortality through the use of mana crystals and monster research. Definitely something on the bigger end of the scale, not some little group doing research. The Black Guards got forced into a job guarding them, that should say enough. We got them out, together with that girl’s sister there.”

He pointed towards Karen with his chin.

“If it hadn’t been for her request, we might still sit in Arkesta, though. Now I’m twice as glad that I accepted that job back then.”

“A criminal organization… In other words, their cooperation goes for far longer than just this occasion.”

”Likely.”

“Hmm… It scares me to think what would have happened if not for your timely intervention.”

“What, the hero of Lafria, scared?”

“Of course I am. If I wasn’t scared, I’d be laughing in my grave right now, yearning for you to join me on the other side.”

“... That’s some scary love. I’m married already, please stay away.”

“...”

Korwen backed away with an expression of disgust adorning his face.

“That was a fucking joke, Korwen. To hell, can’t even make a joke around you.”

“Make a better one next time.”

“Tsk. This fucking idiot. Haaa… More importantly, there are still some things to say.”

“I’m listening.”

Leaving behind the disgust, Korwen’s serious expression returned again, his eyes narrowing as he waited for Ruben to continue.

“First of all, the monster subjugation will likely be close to the village. Maybe even less than two hours away.”

“... I would’ve liked to hear that earlier.”

“The king didn’t deem it all that important so he dismissed it.”

“... Good thing he’s king and not a general.”

“I wholeheartedly agree. With that said, it’s unlikely you will encounter the monster or the subjugation forces. The monster was apparently headed southwest. Not really away from the capital but neither is it coming closer.”

“Mhm… Mind asking what kind of monster it is?”

“Apparently… A giant roper.”

“...”

A… giant roper?

“A giant roper, you say, huh… That’s interesting.”

“It’s a bother, that’s what it is.”

There was… only one roper that he could mean, wasn’t there? But… Korwen didn’t seem to have any intention of mentioning that.

“We’ll deal with it and that’s it. Also, that monster is the Academy’s fault anyway. They triggered some trap or so and woke up that thing. Nothing to do with the Empire nor the Worshippers.”

“I see. So, it’s safe to assume it won’t interfere.”

“I’d say it’s fairly sure. Just to be on the safe side, however. Should you find yourself engaged with it, just get away. Preferably away from the capital, don’t fucking bring it here, you hear?”

“I won’t, I won’t.”

“... I hope so.”

Ruben eyed him with some suspicion but he didn’t pursue it further.

“Long as you deal with the Worshippers.”

“We haven’t accepted the job yet. I still have questions. For example, how many magicians do the Worshippers have?”

“... At least three. Plus that dangerous individual.”

“... A woman with pink hair. Hair the same colour as Yumi’s?”

“That girl there? Yes, it’s the same. I mean, they’re the Witch Worshippers, so it’s obvious.”

“Mhm... “

So, it probably… really was her.

“That individual, the woman, we probably had a run-in with her before as well.”

“You… are you involved in everything here?”

“It’s not like I asked for it, you know?”

“... So, what happened?”

“She used magic in a large radius, influencing everyone but our magicians and those of us with a protection tool. It was only to make us stay away from an area for a short amount of time but...”

“... That’s troublesome. But a simple protection tool helped?”

“Yes. No idea if it still works if she were to go all-out, though.”

“I see. I’ll requisition the tools from the army supplies and send them over.”

“That’d be helpful.”

Oh, then, the question of how to deal with that issue had already been solved, huh…

“With that out of the way… Fifty worshippers, three magicians. That’s a lot less than I expected for such a job.”

“The problem is mostly the dangerous individual. A complete unknown, after all. For the other Worshippers... It seems that someone has been going around disturbing their activities.”

“Disturbing their activities? That’s not something I expected to hear.”

“Neither did I. It worried me so I wanted to investigate but… The king assured me that everything was fine and not to worry about it. He didn’t want me to look into that, for some reason.”

“Hee… Now, that’s interesting.”

A person who was disturbing the Worshippers? Or, not necessarily a person, maybe a group?

“Can’t tell you much about it either. Only know that several villages were protected by an unknown entity, killing the Worshippers left and right. Whoever they are, they got my thanks.”

“Hmm…”

“Well then, I think we talked about the most important points now? How about you tell me your decision?”

“My decision, huh…”

Silence fell once more, everyone watching Korwen and awaiting his answer.

“Ten thousand gold coins isn’t much in the way of payment. However, the single wish Will promised intrigues me… Depending on what he is willing to do to fulfill it, we might accept the request. Although, depending on his answer, we might not.”

“... In other words, you are fine with leaving the civilians to die?”

“I am a mercenary first and foremost. I’m not running a charity. The lives of my men are my first priority.”

“... And that’s why I hate you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Korwen only chuckled at his rather unfriendly response.

“And yet, you are sheltering elves. You got quite some screwed priorities.”

“That, too, is but a job. Although, I’d very much welcome it if they stayed. They’ve been quite a blessing.”

“Those familiars running around everywhere. Are they some elven invention?”

“Who knows?”

“Hmph… Not telling, huh.”

“Of course not.”

An elven invention… Ahhh… They weren’t but… If people thought the elves made them, that wasn’t actually such a bad thing, was it?

“But to mingle with elves… You must be the first mercenary band ever to do that. They’re known to hate humanoids. How in the blazes did you do that?”

“Secret.”

“Tsk, are you willing to say anything at all?”

“Of course not. Am I stupid? You think I’m willingly blabbering about our work secrets? I’m not your king who spits out all the nation’s secrets if the day is long enough.”

“Ahhh… At least give me something!”

“I gave you ale.”

“... Tsk.”

Much to my surprise, he didn’t complain anymore and just sipped on the ale Korwen just mentioned.

“Wish he would talk less sometimes.”

“Your king?”

“Yes. He’s not stupid, but he loves to hear himself talk. Especially in informal settings where he doesn’t have to hold back.”

“Sometimes, it makes me question whether the king and Will are really the same person.”

“Not only you, Korwen. He is a good king and a good man. Just… Well, no man is perfect.”

“Hahaha, that’s true. So, I’ve been wondering for a while already but… To my knowledge, Will should’ve met the witch at most... two or three times? He made quite some bold assumptions there.”

Huh? Bold assumptions?

“He somehow convinced himself like that… Not even his mother believes that the witch is the cause of her being… small-statured. I mean, have you ever met that family? Quite a few of them are pretty small, some even more than she herself is. That’s definitely running in the family.”

“Haaa… As expected.”

“Nn? Wait, so… The things he mentioned earlier were wrong?”

That… surprised me a little.

“Yumi, you’ve met her yourself. What was your impression?”

“A monster.”

“Well, that’s… Not entirely wrong. She sure got more than a few screws loose but do you think she would meddle with someone’s body just like that?”

“... Yes.”

I was, after all, the prime example. Right here, in front of them.

“Okay… Well, I’m not saying it’s not like that. Just, his observations are based on two or three meetings over his entire life. People are quick to convince themselves of the weirdest things.”

“Uhm, Mr Captain…”

“Yes, Karen?”

“The Elder mentioned before, that… the reason the fairykin don’t like her is partly because she would chase after the young girls…”

“... Well, maybe his assumption is not… all that wrong.”

Ahh, she sure did tell us that…

“... Okay, maybe he is correct. But maybe he isn’t. Making assumptions like that is pretty dangerous… Haaa… Don’t let Greyward or Lily hear of this, okay? Under no circumstances.”

“Huh? Nn, got it…”

“Okay…”

Why those two? It’s not like we were talking about anything problematic or related to them, were we? Greyward obviously not but for Lily there was… n’t…

Lily… Is about as old as Karen… Karen isn’t exactly considered tall for her age... And Lily... is even shorter… to the point she tried to hide it… with that magic tool that made her appear taller...

If… Just talking hypothetically… If Yumias was really influencing the growth of young girls around her so they would stay small… Then… Lily, who was closest to her…

“Nn. We won’t tell them.”

No reason to start up some family disturbances there. We should… bury this. Yes, bury it… Far, far, into the depths of our memories...

Rinne

On a small note, a few might have noticed a small blunder of mine this week. Last year, I had the beginning of an unfinished side chapter saved on SH. I accidentally scheduled it and then put the scheduled date to some far off date, thinking it wouldn't matter. I planned to release it in a short while after all and then I'd fix the scheduled date. Well, long story short, the chapter got trashed and I... forgot to delete the chapter on SH. And the scheduled date was a few days ago. Whoops...

It didn't seem that many people even found it but sorry to the ones that did and were confused about it... Also sorry to the guy whose comment got deleted together with the chapter.

And that's already it. Wish you all a happy week. Thank you for reading and stay safe and healthy!