Chapter 12
The next afternoon.
Cadel headed to the mansion to meet Viscount Stra. Fortunately, he didn’t have a hangover from last night’s drinking. Perhaps it was thanks to the honey water Van had diligently kept handing him.
Seeing Cadel arrive in relatively decent shape, the Viscount once again summoned him to the drawing room.
“Your skills are certainly reliable. I’ve included double the proposed commission.”
The viscount placed a coin pouch on the table. Cadel swiftly snatched it up and immediately counted the money right in front of him. The sight of him acting like a beggar frantically snatching up a dropped breadcrumb made the Viscount’s brow furrow.
“Do you not trust me? Even for the illegitimate child of a fallen family, you have absolutely no manners.”
“Ah…! I suppose it’s become a habit from working as a mercenary for so long. My apologies. It might be pocket change to you, Sir, but it’s quite a large sum to me…”
An uncomfortable gaze filled with disgust fell upon him, but Cadel just smiled affably and pulled the strings of the coin pouch tight.
The amount is exact. Since it’s double, my plans will go much smoother.
Checking the money right before the Viscount’s without an ounce of tact wasn’t some habit from his mercenary days. He had only been a mercenary for a single day so what habits could he possibly have? Cadel planned to run away the moment this conversation ended. Since he wouldn’t be returning, he was merely verifying the commission fee right then and there just in case.
Who knew if Viscount Stra might have pretended to make a mistake and shortchanged him just to save a penny or two? Regardless of the era, money always had to be counted accurately.
“Enough. So, have you managed to persuade your loyal dog?”
“Ah, about that…”
“It doesn’t matter if you couldn’t. If that mercenary becomes a nuisance, I can just have my soldiers kick him out.”
“There’s no need for that, Viscount Stra.”
The Viscount raised an eyebrow. He set down his teacup and arrogantly crossed his legs.
“You have a peculiar expression. Is there a problem?”
“No. No problem at all.”
“Good. Then, let us formally discuss the matter of you joining—”
“I’m going to decline your offer, Sir.”
“…What?”
Cadel stood up without hesitation. He tucked the coin pouch into his coat and gave the Viscount a light, silent bow.
“Being an escort mage isn’t really to my taste.”
“Not to your taste? Are you in any position to be picky!”
“I’m not in a position where I can’t be picky, either.”
“You are from a family that fell to ruin for plotting against the imperial family—”
“What does that matter? This is the Mainyu Kingdom, Viscount.”
“Viscount?”
“Yes, Viscount. I’m sick of watching you rack your brain trying to acquire a valuable mage on the cheap by constantly bringing up my old family. I’d rather roll around as a mercenary for the rest of my life and die than escort someone like you. I refuse your offer.”
Dumbfounded by the sudden change in attitude, the Viscount’s mouth dropped open. A trembling breath escaped his lips. Not missing that moment of stunned silence, Cadel swiftly slipped out of the drawing room.
The guards outside followed Cadel’s movements with their eyes. It seemed they hadn’t heard the conversation in the drawing room. He tried to walk with confident strides, hoping to slip away naturally without drawing attention, but—
“Catch him! Right now!”
When the Viscount burst out of the drawing room with a shout, Cadel immediately broke into a run.
* * *
Van was waiting on a small trail behind the mansion with a horse he had prepared in advance. Ron had lent him the money on the promise of settling it later.
“It’s about time for him to come out…”
Cadel had said the conversation would wrap up in fifteen minutes at most. It felt like twenty had passed, so unless something had happened, he should be showing up right about now.
As he glanced anxiously at the mansion’s back gate, a familiar figure entered his field of vision. Realizing it was Cadel, Van immediately broke into a wide smile. However, that smile was quickly wiped away when he spotted a group of soldiers chasing after him.
“Van! We have to run!”
At Cadel’s distant shout, Van mounted the horse with practiced agility. He spurred the horse forward slightly, and as Cadel closed the distance, Van grabbed his outstretched arm and hoisted him right up onto the back of the saddle.
“Catch him! Don’t let him get away!”
Van snapped the reins hard, and the horse broke into a gallop. Cadel reflexively wrapped his arms around Van’s waist and glanced back. The soldiers who had followed him from the mansion had stopped their pursuit and were gathering in a group. When the man who seemed to be their captain gave an order, a few of the swift-footed ones hurriedly rushed back toward the estate.
“It looks like they’re going to bring horses to chase us.”
“It doesn’t matter. By the time they start their pursuit, we’ll have already left the village.”
Van was right. They rode along the road without resting for a moment, and before long, they had left Vils Village behind. It was only possible because they had prepared their escape in advance.
Even after leaving the village, Van rode for a long while before slowing down. Cadel, who had been burying his head against the greatsword strapped to Van’s back all the while, slowly lifted his face. His head throbbed from being pressed against the hard metal.
“Captain, if the sword is uncomfortable, please tell me. I can secure it behind the saddle. Or we could switch places.”
“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” Cadel answered hastily.
He didn’t know how to ride a horse. If they needlessly switched places and he fell off, breaking a few bones would be the least of his worries. He had gone through all the trouble of escaping so he couldn’t just walk back to the viscount’s mansion on his own two feet. If he went back, instead of healing him, they might torture him for the crime of insolence.
“If we had received the commission beforehand, you could have comfortably ridden your own horse, Captain.”
“Yeah.”
“If we keep riding without resting, we should be able to reach a village by evening. Please bear with it just a little longer.”
It seemed he would have to learn horseback riding as soon as possible. That would be faster than earning enough money to casually ride in a carriage everywhere.
Aside from taking short breaks for the horse, they truly rode without resting. Thanks to that, they arrived at a new village around the time the sun began to set. Van found an inn, paid the fee on behalf of the completely exhausted Cadel, and asked the staff to prepare bathwater. Thanks to Van’s sensible consideration, Cadel was able to soak his body in warm water right away.
“I feel like I’m dying…”
They said you usually got bruises on your butt and thighs the first time you rode a horse, but he didn’t know it would hurt this much. It felt less like he had ridden a horse and more like his whole body had been trampled by one. Cadel rubbed his sore rear and made a tearful face.
“Why does it have to be a medieval setting? It would be so nice if it were modern. No, if there were at least magic gates or something, we could just zip around.”
His intense physical fatigue led to resentment toward the game’s era setting. He cursed the lazy game design until his anger subsided, then slumped in the bathtub, exhausted by his own outburst.
“…I’m tired.”
Since transmigrating into the game, incidents had occurred non-stop, leaving him no time to calmly organize his thoughts. The problem was that he was too tired to think of anything right now. Submerged in the warm water, Cadel’s eyelids fluttered shut.
With this level of fatigue, he should have fallen asleep immediately. It would have been natural to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep and wake up groggy.
However, as his consciousness faded, Cadel realized he had entered some sort of alternate space. It was a void similar to when he had first chosen his starting member, but the difference was that this space was black instead of white.
“What’s this now?”
To think they wouldn’t even let him sleep in peace. As he grumbled and looked around the empty surroundings, a system window soon popped up.
[Entered the unconscious state.]
[There is a viewable story.]
[Van Herdos’s Memories – Starting Member Exclusive Story]
[Van Herdos’s Memories – Past Story (Affinity surpassed 70)]
“Story…? Don’t tell me it means individual character stories.”
In ‘Hero of Knights’, it was possible to win over knights by raising their affinity.
Individual stories would also unlock depending on those stats, and users with deep affection for specific characters would unlock these stories to indulge their fandom.
“If it’s a starting member exclusive story, it must be about the recruitment process. Since that’s a part I don’t know about.”
Cadel pondered for a moment. He didn’t feel obligated to view the individual story, but Van was currently his actual subordinate. If he viewed the story, he would get to know him better, and it would be easier to adopt the appropriate attitude when dealing with him.
Besides, he was curious. Just how exactly had he recruited Van for the man to have such deep loyalty that he would throw his life on the line without a moment’s hesitation?
But before he could select a story, another system window blocked his view.
[Acquired stories can be viewed whenever you enter the unconscious state.]
[Upon viewing a story, fatigue recovery is reduced by 50%.]
“Fatigue recovery reduced by 50%?”
That wouldn’t do. He was already dead tired and to think he would only recover half his energy even after a full night’s sleep.
If it could be viewed whenever he entered the unconscious state, that meant he would have a chance to view it every time he slept. Cadel decided to just be glad he had learned of this system’s existence for now.
“Sorry, Van. But I don’t think getting to know you slowly is a bad thing.”
There would be plenty of opportunities. He could find a more suitable time to view the story.
Thinking this, Cadel opted for 100% fatigue recovery. However, for the remaining two days of their journey to Hermel City, he couldn’t view the story even once.
The reason was simple. Not even once did he have any stamina to spare.
