Chapter 11

　　“That noble bastard actually asked you to serve as his personal mage?”

　　Even though they were still inside the bastard’s mansion, Van openly scoffed at the Viscount without hesitation. Cadel, meanwhile, checked their surroundings before nodding.

　　Being a mage under a viscount’s protection and patronage was certainly better than being a street mercenary. Van probably thought the same, which was why he was likely anxious that Cadel might choose to abandon him.

　　But that wasn’t going to happen. As long as he remained in this world, a stable life was not Cadel’s goal.

　　He wanted to clear things up before any useless misunderstandings arose. Nothing exhausted a person more than a misunderstanding, after all. But before he could even speak, Van beat him to the punch.

　　“Making an offer like that before even paying the commission fee is incredibly petty. So, what is your plan, Captain? Are you going to take the money first and then refuse?”

　　Contrary to Cadel’s worries, Van didn’t even seem to consider the possibility of Cadel abandoning the mercenary corps. His beautiful golden eyes were filled with absolute trust. Facing his own reflection in them made Cadel feel a strange, ticklish sensation in his chest.

　　Had anyone ever shown him such transparent trust in his entire life? Of course, Van’s loyalty was likely the result of system manipulations… but it still felt good.

　　“That’s the plan. That’s why I came to check on you, just in case your treatment was going to take a while. I plan to take the money and run.”

　　“But as long as we stay in the Viscount’s territory, it’ll be hard to avoid his interference. He might even resort to force.”

　　“Right. Originally, I planned to stay here a bit longer and look for other commissions, but…”

　　Cadel swept his hair back with a sigh. His initial plan was to handle multiple commissions at the Midday Whale to build up his capital. He’d train and raise his stats on the side. That was how he’d played the game, after all. But this world wasn’t going to let him put off the main story to focus on grinding.

　　Well… I suppose I could stay at the Viscount’s estate for a while and use their financial backing to develop Van.

　　That might actually be more efficient. The downside was the risk of Van’s loyalty plummeting.

　　Van despised nobles. Cadel didn’t know the exact reason since he hadn’t played through Van’s personal storyline, but Van Herdos’s hatred for the aristocracy ran deep regardless. The only one he followed was Cadel, a fallen noble. It was obvious Van wouldn’t be able to endure even a short stint of Cadel pledging loyalty to Viscount Stra.

　　Sure, he wouldn’t betray me out of nowhere, but it’d leave a bad taste in my mouth. I actually want us to get along.

　　Joining the Viscount’s household wasn’t a necessary step anyway, and as long as they received their pay for the Smog Plains, they wouldn’t starve from an immediate lack of funds. He didn’t want to make his future path more difficult just to take the easy way out now.

　　“Do you know how long it takes to get out of Viscount Stra’s territory?”

　　“Hmm, the closest place from here would be Hermel City. It’s adjacent to the capital, Drakium, so finding work should be easier… It’ll take about three days on horseback.”

　　“Three days.”

　　Three days! Cadel swore inwardly and clenched his fists.

　　He already had dark circles under his eyes from staying up all night. He wanted nothing more than to scrub his grimy body in a hot bath, and he was dizzy from hunger. And yet, he had to embark on a three-day journey starting tomorrow morning.

　　Are we going to have to camp out? We are, aren’t we? There’ll be bugs… so many bugs. It’ll be cold, the ground will be hard, and the only food will be dry bread or jerky…

　　Just imagining it made him so depressed that his eyebrows drooped in misery.

　　“Captain? What’s wrong? Are you tired?”

　　Perhaps bothered by Cadel’s gloomy expression, Van tilted his head and studied his face. Meeting that worried gaze made Cadel feel a little better.

　　Right. It’s not like I’m the only one suffering. Once I level up properly, I can say goodbye to these hardships.

　　Now was not the time to complain. What did it matter if he had to rough it for three or four days? If there was something to be gained from the hardship, it wasn’t something to be unhappy about.

　　“Let’s get something to eat first. I’m about to collapse from hunger.”

　　“Did that noble bastard not even offer you a meal?”

　　“He gave me tea. Anyway, if you keep calling him a noble bastard—”

　　“Hmph. Even if you look delicate enough to live on morning dew, Captain, that guy is incredibly thoughtless. Why would a mercenary who just came back from a fight want to drink scented water?”

　　What the hell is he talking about? Cadel rubbed his forehead and dragged Van out of the mansion. He felt like a disaster would strike if they stayed even a moment longer.

* * *

　　Cadel and Van strolled down a street lined with food stalls. They didn’t have enough money on hand to eat at a restaurant. Instead of a proper meal, Cadel held meat skewers in both hands, while Van walked beside him, holding a water canteen at the ready in case he choked.

　　“I’m eating all of this because you said you had no appetite, but don’t even think about refusing food once we get paid.”

　　“Understood, Captain.”

　　Seeing that angelic smile drained Cadel of any desire to nag further. He slowly shook his head and focused on devouring his skewers. Then, he suddenly remembered an item he had forgotten about.

　　“Ah, right. Hold this for a second.”

　　Cadel shoved all the skewers into Van’s hands, then rummaged through his own travel bag that Van was carrying.

　　“Captain…? What are you doing?”

　　“I have something for you.”

　　“For me?”

　　“Who else would I give it to?”

　　What he pulled out of the bag was a long, familiar-looking gray bandage. Van looked down at the cloth Cadel offered and smiled awkwardly.

　　“Bandages again?”

　　“It’s not just any bandage, punk. It’s a high-grade artifact dropped by the Mummy Queen.”

　　The bandage was actually the hidden item he had received as a quest reward: the Queen’s Bandage.

　　Cadel had remembered the reward while searching for the healing room to see Van. After confirming that the item was stored in a virtual storage space called the ‘inventory,’ he had pulled it out.

　　A super high-grade item that keeps weak undead away just by carrying it, increases recovery when wrapped around the body, and boosts durability when wrapped around equipment! …Explaining all that is annoying, so I’ll just gloss over it.

　　Cadel snatched the bandage back from Van, who was trying hard to hide his bewilderment, and began wrapping it tightly around the greatsword on his back. Standing on his tiptoes to wrap it meticulously, he managed to make it look quite stylish. At the very least, it looked far better than the rag-like piece of cloth Van had originally carried.

　　“Alright. Good things will happen if you carry it around, so don’t ever lose it.”

　　“Is it really okay to give me such a precious item? Wouldn’t it be better if you kept it, Captain…”

　　“What are you talking about? You’re my person. I don’t consider it a waste at all to give good items to my people.”

　　Besides, he didn’t even have any equipment to wrap that long bandage around. And funneling early capital investments into knights rather than the player was more helpful for growth anyway. With those thoughts in mind, he patted Van’s shoulder in satisfaction, until suddenly a system window popped up.

　　[Knight Van Herdos’s Affinity has increased by 5.]

　　[Current Affinity: 78/100]

　　It went up again?

　　“My person…”

　　Dumbfounded, Cadel turned to look at Van, only to see his earlobes flushed bright red. Van rubbed his heated ears and cast his eyes downward. A beautiful face made even shyness look good, but…

　　Fuck, his affinity goes up no matter what I say!

　　Getting goosebumps was a separate issue. Cadel resolved to speak as little as possible and forced himself to look away. Beside him, Van spoke in a voice so sweet it practically oozed into his ears.

　　“I’ll cherish it until the day I die, Captain.”

　　“No… Just throw it away when it gets worn out…”

　　Now blushing all the way to his cheeks, Van handed the skewers back to Cadel with a silly grin.

　　“Because I’m your person until the day I die, Captain.”

　　It seemed like he wouldn’t listen no matter what Cadel said.

* * *

　　While waiting for the day to pass, Cadel and Van happened to run into Ron and Babil, who treated them to drinks. They said they had gone to Young Master Drew to collect their pay, only to be chased out with curses like, ‘Be grateful I let you keep your lives, and get lost before I change my mind.’ Seeing them blabbering away in the pub all through the early hours, even after suffering such consequences for a slip of the tongue, showed just how furious they were.

　　Listening to their scathing complaints while struggling to fight off the creeping intoxication and sleepiness, Cadel tuned back in as the topic eventually shifted.

　　“I hear there are ominous rumors going around Hermel City these days.”

　　“Ah, you mean the rumors about the temple? That worshippers are disappearing in droves on their way to service?”

　　Hermel City was their next destination. Cadel rubbed his heavy eyelids and chimed in.

　　“Disappearances? Who is kidnapping the worshippers?”

　　“We don’t know that much either. But seeing as the rumors have reached all the way here from Hermel City, it can’t be completely baseless. Seems like something’s wrong at the temple.”

　　“Is it an old rumor?”

　　“It’s been about a week. Well, around here, the Smog Plains were a much bigger issue than far-off Hermel, so it hasn’t been much of a topic.”

　　The temple in Hermel City.

　　His veteran player’s intuition told him there was a high probability it was connected to the next main quest. There was indeed a storyline centered around the temple.

　　Cadel drained his glass and etched the information about the temple that Ron and Babil shared into his mind.

　　A new area and a new quest. Maybe there’ll be a chance to recruit a new knight.