CH 18

“These bastards…”

Tarki looked at the surroundings, just in case, but could not see the signs of any attack. With his sword in hand, he rolled up his blankets. He walked slowly around the sleeping mercenaries and found the two guards lying asleep on the rocks behind the campfire.

“Phew. You two are just taking my money from me.”

Tarki woke the guards with his feet.

“Huk?!”

“You brats, you are sleeping here?”

“Ah… L-Lord.”

“Lord, what? Call me knight. I am still in training. Hm?”

Tarki realized that the condition of his mercenaries was somewhat strange. The mercenaries recalled the situation and claimed they didn’t fall asleep but had passed out after being attacked.

“Yes. T-that…”

“L-looks like we were attacked.”

“Really? It wasn’t a dream?”

“It was real.”

“What should we do?”

Tarki took his men and looked around the camp but found no other signs. It was because Azadine had cleanly packed and left everything.

“Kuak? What? The loot!”

Tarki was horrified to see that their loot box had been opened.

‘Looking at his reaction, it seems like it’s not him. Was it one of the mercenaries??’

Azadine was observing the mercenary camp from afar.

‘No matter how I look at it… this staff seemed to originate from the Kurt clan.’

Even though he could not use magic, he had been trained in it. The feeling and scent of magical objects and the subtle aura he could see indicated that this was an object made using the magic of the Kurt Gods.

“It’s just like the sudden appearance of the magic book. Emperor’s Voice, can’t you give any kind of insight?”

[That doesn’t exist. It is the job of humans to investigate. I am simply a created spirit.]

“You are completely useless.”

[Wouldn’t I be very useful in letting you feel safe without worry at night? Besides, don’t I tell you the exact time?]

“However.”

Azadine sighed.

The messenger of the Emperor may seem like a superhuman to ordinary people, but he was also a human. Fatigue inevitably builds up.

“I guess I have no choice but to take a break and ask those kids. I wish I could use magic too. I said I don’t need a servant, but I end up relying on them.”

Azadine withdrew with some regret. He had wanted to observe the mercenaries a little more. However, if there really was someone there who used the Kurt’s magic, they would not be easy to deal with.

‘There is also a chance of being caught while on the path. Hmm, things feel like they’re becoming complicated.’

The next day, Azadine pushed his blankets off.

“Yawn… the more I sleep, the sleepier I get. Teacher always said it as well.”

He got up and looked around. Mediam and Ismail were still asleep.

“What time is it?”

[It’s 2:04 pm.]

The Emperor’s Voice announced the time.

[My utility is great just by telling you the exact time to this level. Be grateful to me.]

“… ah, yes, yes, yes. I guess so.”

Azadine answered dryly and then laid down again.

“Get up, kids.”

“Euk!”

“Uh?”

The two children got up to their feet.

“Did you not decide to appraise the bone staff?”

“Ah, yes. Right. Give it here.”

“It might be a cursed item, so I will do it.”

Ismail received the bone staff from Mediam and began to push magic into it.

“What do you see?”

“I can see a green and black magic.”

“Green and black magic? If it was the King of Tooth, red magic would be mixed. Is it from another Kurt?”

“Yes. The ability that is imbued in it… is to look for a specific thing. The magical power inside is limited, so it will soon break when used. It isn’t very strong. It’s a mass-produced item, but… nonetheless, its creator has amazing skill. This is well made despite using cheap materials.”

“Hmm.”

Azadine heard this and clicked his tongue.

“Well… since it’s made of bones and was held by someone of the Kurt, I know that it is an item that belongs to them. It has become clearer. This…”

“Uh?”

“No. Let me take care of it.”

Perhaps the ogre holding this wand had come looking for the page in Azadine’s possession. However, if he told Mediam and Ismail about the staff’s function, they would want to try it out. This would inevitably show them the closest copy of the book… which was on Azadine.

‘There is no need to tell these kids I have it. Wait. Then if I have the page, I will get targeted again and again…’

More people would be after him. He had to hurry.

“We need to head to Salasma soon.”

“Do we leave now?”

“No. Let us go after we are done eating and clearing things up.”

They were busy, but since they had destroyed the monster’s scouting unit and retrieved the staff from the mercenaries, there was no need to rush without a meal.

Besides, if someone among the mercenaries could use this bone staff… they probably needed to do something since it had disappeared.

‘If I keep my distance and chase after them, I think I will see something interesting.’

“Is this a joke, you bastards!?”

Tarki was furious. Expensive silver candlesticks and plates had vanished from the looted goods, and his mercenaries had an injured expression.

“You hid it somewhere to take it later! You bastards! If I come to….”

“No!”

“We were really attacked. Look at this.”

The mercenaries who had stood guard last night showed their necks and expressed their denial. There were clear handprints on their necks, but Tarki ignored them.

“To claim that there was a thief we haven’t discovered by now and show off those scars to your advantage! If what you are saying is true, do you mean to say that a thief snuck into an armed mercenary camp, didn’t attack you with a poisoned dagger, but had instead grabbed you and knocked you out?”

“No, tha…”

“R-right.”

The captain of the mercenaries clicked his tongue.

“Aside from that, the arrowheads and some grains are missing too.”

“Grains?”

“Yes. Also… one of my possessions disappeared. No matter how I see it, this was no normal thief.”

Tarki was no fool either. It didn’t matter whether the mercenary captain was telling the truth.

The problem was his feelings. If he felt insulted, the mercenaries would immediately turn against Tarki.

‘We will have to end this discussion here.’

They didn’t know who had targeted their loot. Still, they would inevitably react if he scolded the mercenaries more than this.

“Tch, fine. Well, then, pretend that you got attacked. As punishment, I will cut the salaries of those who stood guard. Will that be enough?”

“Yes.”

“Ugh.”

The mercenaries who lost part of their salaries looked dissatisfied. However, their opponent was the illegitimate child of a noble, so it was impossible to protest further.

“Hmm.”

However, the mercenary captain, who wasn’t affected by the pay cut, didn’t seem to like it.

“For now, it is fine to punish the subordinates for their failure in vigilance. The problem is with what we lost.”

“Uh? What is it?”

“Hahaha. It is impossible to say.”

The mercenary captain burst out laughing.

“Really? It doesn’t seem like a huge deal.”

“It isn’t that… Perhaps the thief is headed to a nearby village? Could we take the village by your order, Lord Tarki?”

“What? A village nearby, you mean the one we came down from? It is difficult to take that one over.”

Farming villages and peasant hamlets could be erased from the map anytime, so there were no problems looting them. However, villages at the border acted as gateways and could not be easily touched. A major gate such as that is noticed on the King’s map and is often monitored.

The Gateway of the East Village they had looted until just yesterday was not named in passing. It actually had a gate but was not yet engraved on the map.

It wasn’t a gate to the borders but to a barren land. It wasn’t a village that was untouchable and could be plundered.

“It doesn’t matter. Even if Lord Tarki disagrees, we will plunder at your command.”

“Uh? What? What is that supposed to mean?”

Tarki became puzzled when he saw the mercenary captain attempting to take the lead.

But then…

Puak!

The mercenary captain pulled a dagger and thrust it into Tarki’s lower abdomen.

“Kuak?!”

“Uh? Captain!”

The mercenaries were also surprised at this sudden exchange. He had suddenly stabbed their employer in the stomach with a knife.

“W-what are you doing?”

“Relax. This… is a dagger given by a witch to me.”

“Uh.”

Tarki was startled. He could feel the cold sensation in his stomach… but there was no blood or wound.

The dagger stuck in his stomach then suddenly transformed into a strange spider.

Kakaka!

And went inside.

“Hee?!”

“D-did you see it?”

“Spider!”

“What you saw.”

The captain smiled at the lord.

“This present is harmless right?”

“Yo-You. What did you…”

Tarki drew his sword in indignation.

Even though he was an illegitimate child, Tarki was a child born out of wedlock to a noble who had enough money to hire mercenaries.

He had trained faithfully in swordsmanship since childhood, and even seasoned mercenaries could not ignore his skills. However, the fight never started.

“Would you like to stay silent?”

The mercenary captain blew a whistle.

“Kuak!?”

A piercing pain shot through his stomach, and Tarki slumped forward. The sword fell from his hand and rolled away.

“Now, now, let us calm down.”

“T-this…”

Tarki’s face was drenched in a cold sweat. He had been fine when pierced by the dagger but was now in indescribable pain.

“The spider in your stomach just bit the flesh inside.”

“What?”

“If you don’t listen to me, the spider will lay eggs in your stomach. Ah, I have seen the body of someone who died from that, and it was quite gruesome. Even I had to drown in a drink to forget what I saw then.”

“What are you even saying when you were the one who stabbed me? No, before even that, what is this? What magic is this? Is this Kurt magic? Something related to spiders?”

“I just got it from a passing witch. I don’t know about the other things.”

“B-bullshit!”

“Oh, now, be careful with your words.”

The mercenary captain blew his whistle again.

“Kuaaak!”

Tarki trembled in pain and rolled on the ground.