Chapter – 27
Following his father Count Amand’s advice, Pirantseva created a fake identity and used it to form a mercenary band.
As if everything had been prepared in advance by Count Amand for Pirantseva, things proceeded smoothly, and he swiftly established his mercenary band before leaving the County of Ilya.
Pirantseva did not operate as a mercenary within the Empire but went to another kingdom for his mercenary activities.
There were many reasons, but one was to avoid potentially causing trouble for his father, so he moved to a kingdom where he was completely unknown.
Pirantseva crossed into the Duchy of Belforden and began his first mercenary work there.
Even while working as a mercenary, he kept up with news related to the County of Ilya.
Although the news was often delayed and he couldn’t actively seek it out frequently due to his mercenary duties, he managed to hear bits and pieces through merchants.
The investigation into Count Amand lasted a full year, but with no evidence of wrongdoing found, it was concluded to be a plot by the dark mages, and Count Amand was released.
“If father were a noble without power, he would have suffered an unjust fate.”
Through his father’s case, Pirantseva learned that discrimination among nobles also depended on where the center of power lay.
Although Count Amand returned to his territory, Pirantseva did not go back to the Empire or head to the imperial capital to enter the Academy.
Instead, Pirantseva operated as a mercenary in the Duchy of Belforden, using the information he possessed to seek out dungeons that were hidden or undiscovered within the Duchy.
“This isn’t very good.”
There was also the problem of obtaining items after finding dungeons and killing monsters.
Unlike in games, where monsters drop items upon death, he had to search for them manually.
Even after all that hard work, it was rare to find the items he wanted; most of the time, he ended up with useless items, gems, or currency.
“It’d be nice to get something like a swordsmanship manual or martial arts guide to study.”
Human greed is like that—it’s hard to ever feel satisfied.
“Wandering around dungeons without much gain seems pointless. I should go somewhere I can gain more practical combat experience.”
Pirantseva chose practical experience over dungeons for now.
The place he headed to was the war front between the Duchy of Belforden and the Lumani tribe.
He participated in their war as a war mercenary and spent five years there—to be precise, four years and four months.
The war ended with the Duchy of Belforden subduing the Lumani tribe, and Pirantseva managed to make a substantial profit from it.
Through numerous contracts and long participation in the war as a mercenary, he achieved merits, and his career was recognized, allowing him to be promoted from a D-rank mercenary to a C-rank mercenary.
Once Pirantseva became a C-rank mercenary, he received scout offers from many mercenary bands.
From the bands’ perspective, recruiting a mercenary who could pull their weight was helpful, so they generally didn’t accept greenhorns, still wet behind the ears.
Of course, exceptions always existed, but that didn’t apply to those without money.
Pirantseva received scout offers from many mercenary bands in the Duchy of Belforden, but not wanting to be hindered in training his magic and Celestial Demon Arts, he continued taking contracts alone.
“So what?”
Operating alone like this, Pirantseva got into many disputes with other mercenaries, leading to countless fights.
Whether his opponents were B-rank or A-rank mercenaries, Pirantseva didn’t care; he fought them and beat up mercenaries across Belforden.
This earned him quite a reputation among the mercenaries.
“That crazy bastard?”
“Yeah. You know Patterson?”
“A-rank mercenary Patterson?”
“Yeah. I heard he got beaten to a pulp by Pirantseva, lost all his teeth, and can only eat porridge now.”
His reputation among mercenaries wasn’t exactly good, but if they needed the help of the skilled Pirantseva, they sought him out.
Even for contracts that were a bit challenging for a C-rank mercenary, going with Pirantseva, who beat up A-rank mercenaries, made it easy to complete the request.
Pirantseva knew the mercenaries were using him, but he didn’t care.
His goal was to improve his skills through real combat, and ultimately, to hunt the Ancient Dragon Artilance. As long as he could get stronger, he judged it worthwhile to take on requests, even if they were somewhat dangerous.
“But he beats up A-rank mercenaries… why won’t the guild raise his rank?”
Other mercenaries were very curious about this.
Clearly, Pirantseva’s skill surpassed that of an A-rank mercenary, yet the Mercenary Guild refused to grant him a rank above C.
“I don’t know either. But from what I’ve heard, Pirantseva has only been a mercenary for about five years, so I guess it’s because his career is still short?”
A mercenary’s rank prioritized combat prowess, but experience was also important.
A single moment of misjudgment could lead to the death of both the client and fellow mercenaries, so his rank promotion was put on hold.
“Experience, my foot…! Tell that to anyone who’s ever been on a request with Pirantseva. Even A-rank mercenaries listen to his directions and move accordingly…”
Pirantseva was somewhat satisfied with his mercenary life in the Duchy of Belforden, but due to territorialism from mercenary bands and a gradually decreasing number of jobs, he eventually had no choice but to leave Belforden and return to the Empire.
In the small territory of Berti, located within Marquis Raymond’s domain, a Mercenary Guild was unusually established. The reason was the Berti Gorge, the largest monster habitat in Marquis Raymond’s lands.
The territory was named Berti precisely because it was established near the Berti Gorge, and it was also the only safe zone in the area.
The Berti Gorge, always teeming with monsters, was both a land of opportunity where mercenaries could get rich and a land of death that led to their demise.
After leaving the Duchy of Belforden and returning to the Empire, Pirantseva came to this Berti territory and had been living here for a year. The reason was that deep within the Berti Gorge lay a dungeon inhabited by a giant serpent named Staccato.
‘Now that I think about it, it’s not exactly the same as Freedom.’
Similar yet different, different yet similar—it confused him.
‘Staccato’s skin is incredibly tough and durable, impossible to pierce with a normal sword. Yet, it’s extremely comfortable to wear. Making armor out of it would be like gaining an extra life.’
Pirantseva thought that, above all else, he needed to obtain Staccato’s skin to make armor if he wanted to embark on more dangerous adventures than his current ones.
Pirantseva wasn’t settling for the status quo; he was moving to take on gradually more difficult and dangerous adventures. This was both the fastest way to get stronger and his driving motivation.
However, he didn’t charge in recklessly. Unlike the game world, this world was a dead-end world where death was permanent.
In this way, Pirantseva was slowly moving forward through a build-up of improving his abilities.
“Pirantseva, where are you off to today?”
As Pirantseva entered the Mercenary Guild, the gazes of the gathered mercenaries turned toward him.
“Well, I need to check the requests first.”
The guild’s request board was covered with numerous request sheets. However, requests like escorting merchants or nobles to other territories were all snapped up by mercenary bands, so the remaining requests were mostly monster subjugation.
“Looks like the Magic Tower posted a lot of requests today. Seeing how it’s all monster subjugation…”
“Right. The escort requests were all swept up by the bands, so what can you do. So, which one are you going to hunt?”
The mercenaries here treated him more warmly than those in the Duchy of Belforden.
“Uncle Bild, why do you want to know?”
“Because going with you increases our chances of survival.”
This was the trust Pirantseva had earned from the mercenaries during his year here.
If you went monster hunting with Pirantseva, at the very least, you wouldn’t die.
In reality, among the mercenaries who had gone on monster subjugation with him, some got injured, but none died. That’s how excellent Pirantseva’s mercenary skills were.
“Hmm, there’s no request that particularly catches my eye. I was thinking of going to hunt that giant serpent that supposedly lives deep in the gorge.”
When he mentioned hunting Staccato, the mercenaries in the guild each had something to say.
“Hey man, don’t even joke about that.”
“That thing isn’t something mercenaries like us can handle. If you can’t use mana, you can’t even pierce its skin.”
Pirantseva felt grateful that they were worried about him.
“Ah, it’s just talk. Who would actually go?”
As he said this, Pirantseva tore a single request sheet from the board.
In that instant, the mercenaries rushed over and lined up behind him.
Seeing the mercenaries like that, Pirantseva chuckled.
He brought the request sheet to the guild desk, and the staff member said with a smile,
“Pirantseva, you’re always so popular.”
“That’s why it’s a bit tiring.”
“Hunting Ogres… you picked a slightly dangerous job. Can you handle it?”
“Whether the folks behind me can or not, I certainly can.”
Hearing the staff member’s words, some mercenaries left the line behind Pirantseva.
They judged that their own skills weren’t up to facing Ogres.
“Pirantseva, if we go hunt Ogres, can you save me if things go bad?”
“Uncle Bern, I’ll have my hands full myself. How can I look after you too? If you’re not confident, just drop out.”
Though it sounded cold, Pirantseva was right. Dropping out if you lacked confidence was the shortcut to a long life.
Mercenaries needed to know themselves better than anyone else and avoid reckless bravado to survive long in this profession, and those who chose this line of work were well aware of this.
Hearing this, a few more people dropped out.
“100 pairs of Ogre molars… that means you have to hunt at least 100 Ogres…”
When the staff member mentioned 100 Ogres, a few more people left.
Naturally, only three people remained behind Pirantseva.
“This… it’ll be tough with just us, right?”
Even though no one had died on monster hunts with Pirantseva, the mercenaries judged that hunting 100 Ogres with just four people was too dangerous, so more dropped out.
Finally left alone, Pirantseva chuckled wryly.
“There’s no one behind you now. Are you sure you can handle it alone?”
“Of course. The request doesn’t have a set deadline, so I can just take my time, hunt them one by one, and collect them.”
Hearing this, the mercenaries tried to line up behind Pirantseva again, but the guild staff member wrote something on the request form.
“Alright. If it seems dangerous, run away.”
“Don’t worry. I never do things that will get me killed.”
Pirantseva took the request form from the staff member and turned around.
“Are you going alone?”
“If you come with me, you’ll die, uncle. I’m young and can run faster than Ogres if I need to, but you’d get caught. Only those confident they can outrun an Ogre should join me.”
Since Pirantseva’s words weren’t wrong, no more mercenaries attached themselves to him.
“Ugh, darn age…”
In response to that muttered complaint, Pirantseva chuckled slightly, left the mercenaries behind, and exited the guild.
After leaving the Mercenary Guild, Pirantseva bought the necessary supplies.
He didn’t know how long it would take to hunt 100 Ogres, so he bought food to stave off hunger and a few other necessary items.
After storing the purchased items in his Bottomless Pouch, Pirantseva left the territory.
“Off to hunt monsters again?”
A soldier guarding the territory’s wall asked Pirantseva.
“Yes, Uncle Isak. I’ll be back.”
“Alright. Oh, Pirantseva.”
“Yes?”
“If you happen to see some Fern Herb while you’re hunting in the gorge, could you gather some?”
“Fern Herb? Is someone sick?”
“My wife is sick. She’s been feeling unwell since last night. But someone like me can’t just go to a mage or a temple for healing, can they?”
It was hard enough to meet a temple priest, but even finding a mage in a remote gorge territory like this was difficult. And even if one did, the treatment cost was too expensive for ordinary people, making it an unattainable dream. This was their reality.
“Sure. If I see some, I’ll gather it for you.”
So, their treatment methods involved gathering herbs passed down through folk remedies, brewing them for drinking, extracting juices for wounds, or drying and powdering them to mix with water for medicine.
Pirantseva, well aware of their circumstances, never turned down such requests.
However, he never acted on the fact that he could use magic, such as healing them with it.
“Thank you, son.”
Pirantseva gave a slight nod to Isak and then passed through the wall gate.
“The Ogre habitats are on the right side of the gorge. There are a few monsters on the way there…”
Pirantseva first organized the situation in the gorge in his mind before moving out.
No matter how familiar the environment, charging in recklessly could lead to injury—a lesson he had learned repeatedly during his five years as a mercenary. After realizing that organizing the situation like this before moving out had the advantage of reducing mistakes, he developed this habit.
“Since no one’s following me, I should hunt Staccato too.”
Pirantseva felt it was about time for him to leave the Berti Gorge.
“No matter how tough its skin is, a Mana Sword and 5th Circle magic should be enough.”
