Chapter 36

Chapter 36

There was a chill in the air. The fact that Pahell was a member of the royal family didn’t change a thing, and the mercenaries were prepared to kill both him and his loyal men at any moment.

“Just kill them all. Things could get messy if we get involved with the royal family. Let’s get it over with and cross the border as quickly as we can,” Donovan suggested, and Phillion anxiously opened his mouth.

“A-after this job is done, there is a huge reward waiting for you! Our master is the heir of the Porcana Kingdom—you’re basically escorting the future king!” Phillion desperately exclaimed.

“I don’t give a shit if he’s a royalty or not, you’ve already tricked us once. Besides, you’re just a small-time royalty. Maybe things would be different if you were an Imperial.”

The mercenaries chuckled. They knew that even a king of a small kingdom wasn’t to be messed with, and if they were standing before a real, official king, they would be on the ground right now bowing for mercy. However, the mercenaries were the ones in the right and with power at that moment.

‘We’re not breaking our integrity even if we kill Phillion and Pahell right here. They’re the ones who violated it first.’

Lou, the Sun God, wouldn’t punish the mercenaries for that very reason. Phillion lied in the name of Lou on top of violating the promise of integrity. There was nothing tripping the conscience of the mercenaries with Lou on their side.

“You have to pay for what you’ve done with your integrity, Sir Phillion,” Urich said, calling Phillion by his title Sir for the first time. Pillion’s eyes were trembling in fear.

Step, step.

Urich walked up to Phillion and squatted down in front of him. His yellow eyes gazed at Phillion.

“Please, Urich, take our prince to the capital of Hamel,” Phillion said in a low voice. Urich replied in a whisper that was quiet enough that the other mercenaries couldn’t hear him.

“At this rate, my brothers are going to riot. Since you were the one who broke the promise first, they’re going to want to kill you and your little prince. Also, just take all your belongings—your money and your pearls. If you really want to protect your young master, then you have to pay for what you’ve done with something that’s worthy of the forgiveness of my brothers.”

Pillion’s eyes widened at Urich’s words as it wasn’t what he had expected to hear. His voice was friendly, quite far from the anger he expected him to be feeling.

‘This man wants to carry on with the job. But if that’s the case, why did he expose my secret to the other mercenaries?’

Urich’s actions were contradictory, but Phillion didn’t care about understanding his intentions right now.

“Whatever is fine, as long as you can bring Prince Varca...”

Phillion dropped his head. He knew that he had already lied using his soul as the consequence.

“Sir Phillion, I don’t understand it at all. Why do you go so far to protect this immature kid?”

“He is of royalty and the heir of the kingdom. That alone is worthy of my loyalty, Urich.”

“Nope, as far as I’m concerned, this is all just a joke. Bachman, how many brothers did we lose?” Urich turned around to ask Bachman as he showed a bitter grin.

“We have three dead. Wait, no, four. Another went just now.”

After hearing their casualty, Urich turned to look at Phillion again.

“Are you left-handed, or right-handed?”

Phillion knew what was coming. He took the glove off his right hand and put it out in front of him.

“Right.”

Urich’s axe spun in his hand as Phillion anticipated the pain with his eyes closed.

Crush!

The fingers of Phillion’s right hand were severed one by one.

“Hmph,”

Phillion withheld his groan with all his strength as his fingers fell to the ground.

“S-sir Phillion...”

Pahell, who was watching the scene unfold in terror, released a stream of tears as he collapsed to the ground.

“It’s alright, my prince, stay right there,” Phillion managed to show a smile even though sweat was pouring down his face. His right hand now only had a single thumb left. It was a grotesque sight.

“I-is, is that everything? Are we good now?” Phillion shook violently as he tried to stop the bleeding in his hand. Urich turned to Bachman again and asked.

“Bachman, how many wounded? The ones who are clearly bleeding.”

“Hmm, we have five with a bunch of bandages around them.”

Phillion’s face turned pale as he saw Urich’s look screaming ‘I need more blood.’

“You have to spill just as much blood as my brothers have spilled, don’t you think?” Urich said as if he was finding amusement out of this. A shiver went down Phillion’s spine after seeing Urich’s creepy smile.

Rip—

“Same here.”

“Who knows? Maybe he’ll give us some farmland for us to settle down on. A king can do that much, right?”

One by one, the mercenaries raised their hands in favor of completing the job. Pahell promised the rewards that each mercenary asked for—money for those who wanted payment, and land for those who wanted it.

Phillion and the guards breathed a sigh of relief. They had survived.

“That’s what I’m talking about, my prince. Well done,” Phillion soothed the prince as he stroked his head with his left hand. If Pahell hadn’t promised the rewards for the mercenaries out of spite and stubbornness, they would have killed all of them as payback.

“Sir Phillion, your loyalty will certainly be rewarded. When I become the king, I’m going to spend whatever it costs to get the pope to pardon your sin. I will not allow your soul to wander this world. I swear on Lou’s name...”

Phillion stopped Pahell mid-sentence and shook his head.

“Swearing on Lou’s name is something that people without trust do with each other. Your word alone is sufficient for me, prince.”

Pahell clamped his hands over his chest and opened his mouth as tears covered his eyes.

“I, then, swear to you on my own name, not Lou’s.”

* * *

Phillion was being treated by one of the guards. The guard wiped the dried blood from his back and applied an ointment.

“The wound is surprisingly shallow for the amount of bleeding,” the guard said as he dressed the wound. Phillion bent forward and back to feel the severity.

‘He only cut through the skin. The muscles are fine.’

It was just a long tear in his back that looked like a nasty gash. It wasn’t much of an injury.

‘Urich, you clever man.’

Phillion re-evaluated his assessment of Urich. He was much cleverer than he had initially thought.

‘I still don’t understand why he told the other mercenaries about my lie. He wanted to carry out the job regardless, so all he had to do to prevent all that commotion was just keep it to himself.’

Urich’s action was questionable.

Step.

After finishing his meal, Urich walked up to Phillion. Phillion waved the guards away to make room for a private conversation.

“Go get some meat, you lost a lot of blood,” Urich said as if he wasn’t the cause of all the bleeding.

“I know it’s weird for me to say this to the person who tortured me, but thank you, Urich.” Phillion nodded to show his respect.

“I understand why you lied. If you had told us that you were on a royal quest from the beginning, we wouldn’t have taken the job. It was because of your lie that we made it this far. So, in the end, it seems like your judgment was correct,” Urich chuckled. Even Donovan, who was the first to vote in favor of this job in the beginning, wanted out as soon as it was revealed that it involved the royal family. That’s how dangerous and complicated it made things for the mercenaries.

‘I was able to convince my brothers only because we were already doing the job.’

Urich glanced at Phillion’s right hand. After losing four fingers on one hand, his life as a warrior was over.

“Try not to blame me too much. You did violate the integrity. The job not being the same as the description is the same as mercenaries turning on their employer. It would have been fair for me to crack your master’s skull into two right in front of you,” Urich said as he picked his nose. There was blood clotted up inside his nose, which he picked out and flicked into the fire.

“There is no blame. In fact, I think you let me off easy. But can I ask you a question?”

“If I say no, are you not going to ask?”

Urich’s banter made Phillion chuckle despite his sore body.

“If you wanted to keep the job, why did you expose me to the other mercenaries? Again, I’m not blaming you for it, I’m just curious.”

“That’s right, I do want to finish this job because I want to see the capital of the Empire. If I’m going there with a noble, then I’m sure I’ll get to see even more of the capital that you call the center of the world than if the mercenary squad were to visit it on our own. Actually, since you guys are part of the royal family, doesn’t that mean I get to see the emperor himself? Right?” Urich’s words became quicker, and his eyes sparkled like that of a young boy.

“If you wish, I can help you see the emperor from afar in the royal audience.”

“The estates and castles of the nobles that I’ve met were amazing. I can’t imagine how magnificent the emperor’s will be, goddamn. I bet it’s full of incredible things,” Urich laughed as he slammed his own knees. The Imperial steel sword that had become Urich’s treasure was also something that could only be found in the workshop of the emperor.

‘This man...’

Phillion felt the eagerness of Urich. It was the pure desire of a child.

“I really want to go to the capital of the Empire, especially if it’s with a noble. However, I have no intention of lying to or betraying my brothers for my own desire. That’s all. I realized that you violated our trust, and I had the duty to notify my brothers.”

It was simple. Urich was honest. He didn’t lie about his desire to see the capital, nor had he broken his duty to his brothers.

‘Clear and simple.’

Phillion suddenly gained clarity.

‘This man can be trusted. Even though he’s a barbarian, he honors his oaths and duties. He’s probably more loved by Lou than a man like me who lies with impunity in his name.’

Phillion had taken a liking to the man who had cut off his fingers. It was quite ironic.