Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The Calm Before the Storm

I heard the voice of a god.

“Holy... shit.”

My body trembled and goosebumps rose across my skin.

“What’s wrong, Henry? Are you cold? Want me to hug you with my big embrace?”

“No.”

“What happened?”

“I think I heard the voice of a god.”

“What?”

“Seriously?”

Both the Mercenary King and Rose stared at me in shock.

“If I lied about something like this... given the situation, wouldn’t I get struck by divine punishment?”

“I don’t know whether divine punishment truly exists, but even devout priests rarely hear a god’s voice.”

The Mercenary King laughed in disbelief.

“If there weren’t already a Saint right now, you might’ve taken his place.”

“Henry, if I become the Hero, do you want to be the Saint?”

“No, I’m not interested. I was an atheist... Well, now I guess I’m a theist.”

I mean, a god literally slammed a voice directly into my head. Even if I lacked faith, there was no way I could remain an atheist.

“Anyway, the god said I might be right, but told me to remember that this place is real.”

“Looks like I backed the right side. I only happened to pass through this place, yet one strange thing after another keeps happening. Life really is impossible to predict.”

The Mercenary King stroked his beard and shrugged.

“Perhaps the Demon King really will revive, just as you said. The gods wouldn’t agree with your words for no reason. They must have judged there was enough basis to consider it possible.”

“I almost wish the god had denied it.”

“Same. I don’t like dangerous things.”

“The boy I can understand, but the young lady looks positively delighted.”

“Of course. Isn’t it only natural for someone as beautiful as me to bear such an important mission?”

Rose cupped her face like a flower and looked at the Mercenary King.

“Yes, yes. Please save the world.”

The Mercenary King patted both Rose and me on the head.

“Then let’s head back. We’re done here.”

“Okay!”

“Right. Hmm... I’m probably staying here until the bandits are found. I’ll train you together with my grandson. Give you something closer to real combat experience, and I also have some elixirs I’ve secretly stockpiled, so I’ll share some.”

“An investment?”

“I’m a mercenary. If you save the world someday.”

“We’ll make you famous. And if we make money along the way, we’ll pay you back afterward.”

“Honor alone would be enough.”

With that, we left the clearing and returned to where the Mercenary King’s grandson and the lord were waiting.

“You’ve returned. How was my daughter’s ability?”

At the lord’s question, the Mercenary King thought for a moment before answering.

“Impressive.”

“Really?”

The lord’s face bloomed into a smile, apparently not expecting such praise.

Well, he had never thought too highly of our training in the first place.

“Grandfather.”

“What is it?”

“How does she compare to me?”

The Mercenary King glanced toward us, smirked, and answered.

“You might be caught soon.”

“Really?”

He looked at Rose in shock.

He probably assumed the Mercenary King meant Rose because I was a commoner and she was the lord’s daughter. But I’m pretty sure he meant me. Rose had already caught him, passed him, and entered an entirely different universe, so there was no point comparing them.

“The world is vast.”

“Very vast. So work hard.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“We’re mercenaries anyway, aren’t we?”

“We are.”

“Young Lady, and boy. Introduce yourselves to my grandson. This is Eril Wolfson.”

“I’m Henry.”

“Rose Branda.”

“Rose, even so, speaking that casually is a little...”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I want you to get along. Speak comfortably with each other. You’ll be training together from now on anyway.”

“Ah, then nice to meet you, Eril.”

If someone above you tells you to do it, you do it. Absolutely not because I also wanted to drop the formal speech.

“Nice to meet you, Rose and Henry.”

Look at him staring at Rose like a textbook romance-fantasy male lead.

“Why are you staring so much? Am I too pretty?”

“Hah. Ridiculous.”

Rose smiled in a way no thirteen-year-old should be capable of, then stuck right to my side.

Anyway, does this mean the first romance-fantasy incident is over?

Judging by the timing, rather than being the event that got her into the academy, it was probably more of a flashback episode from her past.

Then through her connection with the Mercenary King, he became her mentor. She grew up training alongside his grandson, and entered the academy based on the swordsmanship she learned.

Seems plausible. Of course, it’s only a guess. The one issue is how she became his disciple in the original.

I could just say, Because it’s romance fantasy! but not every romance fantasy has broken logic.

Well, for now, I’ll be satisfied with what we gained.

***

A few days passed.

Our routine didn’t change much. The only addition was going to train under the Mercenary King.

“Your basic stamina is satisfactory. And you understand your weaknesses. But...”

“Ugh!”

“Henry! Damn it.”

“Your inability to cover those weaknesses is itself your greatest weakness.”

The Mercenary King’s axe moved almost weightlessly. The problem was that every swing broke our flow, slipped through the opening, and sent us flying.

“I’ll tell you your strengths and your problems.”

The Mercenary King sat before us while we rolled around on the dirt and began giving advice.

We were being pushed back simply because the difference in ability was enormous. There was also a difference in realm, of course, but the gap in pure skill was like heaven and earth.

“Your strength is coordination. Normally, when two swordsmen fight together, their blades interfere with each other, so even reaching one and a half times their normal strength is impressive. But the two of you... You’re at least twice as effective together.”

“Doesn’t feel like it when we can’t even touch you.”

“Because your opponent is me. In terms of realm alone, the gap between the boy and me is heaven and earth. Between the young lady and me, it’s like an insect compared to a human.”

“I’m an insect?”

“That’s not what he meant. He’s using it as a comparison. More importantly, even though Rose is Stage 4, is the gap really that big?”

“That is how much the differences grow at higher stages. Advancing through stages is ultimately like constructing a house.”

He lifted the bottle at his waist and drank from it. I thought it was water, but when I realized it was alcohol...

“Stages 1 through 3 are essentially laying the foundation. From Stage 4 onward, you begin erecting your own will.”

“Will. Then Rose, what kind of will did you use to create sword aura?”

“Me?”

At that question, Rose’s face reddened and she inched closer to me.

“Want to know, Henry?”

“You smell like sweat. Move.”

“Hey!”

“You two are certainly close. Very good. Anyway, put another way, if someone can establish their own purpose and possess a firm will, going from Stage 3 to 4 may actually be easier than going from 2 to 3.”

“Does sword aura require will?”

“No. Having a will simply makes manifesting sword aura easier. Will itself is not a requirement.”

“Then rather, will becomes essential when going from Stage 4 to 5.”

“Exactly. The moment you weave your sword aura together using that will, sword force is born.”

“Then what about Stage 6? How do you reach that?”

“By understanding your deficiency.”

The Mercenary King smiled as he looked at us.

“The inner demon is born from the same will that allowed you to use sword aura.”

“What?”

“Huh?”

“The suffering born from that will becomes the boundary of your philosophy, and that will manifests as a property. For example, say you pursued strength, and that desire allowed you to manifest sword aura.”

Rose and I listened closely. She scooted closer beside me, but maybe because of her romance-fantasy-heroine buff, even her sweat somehow smelled pleasant.

“Then your desire for strength becomes your inner demon. You’ve finally become strong, so why not simply wield that strength as you please? If you become consumed by it, you go berserk. Only after overcoming it can you finally advance to the next stage.”

“So simply becoming stronger isn’t everything.”

“Correct. No matter how strong you become, if you cannot overcome your inner demon, you can never move forward.”

“Then what about you, Mercenary King?”

“Thanks to you two, I think I’ll be able to advance soon.”

The Mercenary King thought for a moment before speaking.

“I originally cultivated strength for the weak who suffered. But in peaceful times, what use is strength? Am I even necessary in this age...”

“You are.”

“Exactly. I trained for peace, but at some point, I forgot that. When you spoke of romance fantasy, of defeating the Demon King, and of what comes afterward—when you spoke about peaceful times—I finally understood.”

The Mercenary King stood, placed a hand on each of our heads, and stroked them.

“If you possess strength, then even in peace you can become a symbol, allowing that peace to last even longer. It will be soon. I will overcome this inner demon.”

“If it goes well, our territory gets a little something too, right?”

“A little... something?”

“He means a tip or reward. I told you not to use words like that!”

“I learned it from Henry!”

“Haha, very well. I’ll make sure to give you a little something. The phrase rolls off the tongue nicely.”

While we bickered, the Mercenary King raised a hand and stopped the conversation.

“Eril is here.”

Eril soon entered and waved at us.

“Monopolizing Grandfather again today?”

“Got a problem with it?”

“Yes, I’ve got plenty.”

“Really? Henry, go get some water. Let’s dump it on him.”

“Come on, don’t do that.”

“Hey! Don’t say that while actually going to fetch water! You’re worse! More importantly, Rose, I found this flower while out patrolling...”

Ah, by the way, our dear male lead seems to have fallen for Rose, whether due to the power of romance fantasy or pure cliché.

At first he was prickly, but gradually became interested in Rose and began showering her with gifts while showing classic tsundere behavior.

Whenever anything happened it was, ‘It’s not like I was thinking about you, but here, a gift,’ or, ‘Rose, want to run around the village outskirts together as training?’ and so on.

Of course, Rose is the childhood friend I raised in spirit, so it feels a little wasteful. But romance is ultimately her own business, and I’ve never dated anyone, so there’s nothing I can advise her about anyway.

“A flower. Thanks.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Don’t I get one?”

“What kind of man asks for flowers?”

“Henry, I’ll pick one for you later.”

“I don’t really need one.”

“Really? Don’t worry, I’ll bring you a pretty one.”

“I was just saying it, Rose.”

“No. You look like you need one.”

“All right, that’s enough, everyone. So Eril, what news did you bring?”

Our trivial chatter only stopped after the Mercenary King cut in.

“Grandfather, I think we found the bandits’ base.”

“That took quite a while. It was supposed to be a simple cleanup of defeated bandit remnants, so I only brought trainee mercenaries and new knights.”

At those words, I stared at the Mercenary King.

“Ah, did I not mention that? Ahem. I thought this would be easy.”

“Rose, apparently.”

“Mm-hmm. Our territory isn’t even considered a real territory.”

“It is rather small, so even Grandfather probably...”

“Whose side are you on! Haa. Anyway, continue.”

“There’s a slight problem.”

“A problem?”

“The bandits themselves are ordinary. The problem is two people. One Stage 4 mage and one thief.”

“So the mage set up a barrier, which is why you couldn’t find them.”

“Yes. At present, Grandfather is the only person here above Stage 4.”

For a moment, the Mercenary King’s eyes turned toward Rose, but soon shifted back to Eril.

“Then I’ll have to step in. Mages are certainly dangerous.”

The way advancement works differs between mages and martial fighters, but the overall strength of the stages is similar.

The difference is that just as swordsmen excel at close-range one-on-one combat, mages excel against multiple opponents, and become stronger the more preparation time they have.

And at Stage 4, they can wipe out an entire area.

If everyone accepted casualties, they could probably defeat the mage without the Mercenary King, but that wasn’t the path he wanted.

“Does the enemy know we noticed them?”

“No. I came straight back.”

“Then we strike tonight. We’ll finish it quickly. Tell everyone to prepare.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“Henry, Rose.”

“Yes, Mercenary King.”

“Why?”

“You should leave now. Truthfully, I’d like to ignore it and stay longer, but that would violate my principles.”

“It can’t be helped.”

“Exactly.”

With those words, Rose and I went outside and headed back toward our hideout.

“So once the bandits are dealt with, he’ll leave immediately.”

“Probably.”

“If I helped, it would end even faster!”

Rose shadowboxed, throwing punches into the air.

“You don’t have enough real combat experience.”

“Really? Hmm... Henry, I’m scared. Want to stay at my house tonight?”

“You’re stronger than me, so stop talking nonsense. I don’t want the lord stabbing me.”

Even while exchanging pointless jokes like that, somewhere deep down I had relaxed. The Mercenary King himself was going, so I assumed everything would end easily. That there wouldn’t be any more problems.

But for a moment, I think I forgot this was a romance fantasy.