Chapter 34
Trapped in a Damned Game
Clatter.
The sound of utensils clinking echoed through the dining hall.
The meal was a simple one, consisting of just a few pieces of bread and soup.
While we had been kneeling before the goddess’s statue offering prayers, Orben had prepared dinner.
It was a modest meal, but no one complained.
They knew they were uninvited guests who had shown up suddenly, and that preparing meals for seventeen people was no easy task.
“Is everyone feeling alright?” Orben asked, tearing off a piece of bread and dipping it into his soup, addressing those who had been poisoned by miasma.
His lips seemed permanently upturned in a smile, likely because he was in a good mood after receiving a substantial donation.
“My head still hurts, but I’ll live.”
“I really thought I was going to die like that before receiving the priest’s treatment.”
As if grateful just to be alive, people smiled.
If they had been just a little later, they would have lost their lives without a chance to be saved.
“Although the miasma has been purified with divine power, your headaches will likely persist for a few days.” Orben added.
Miasma wasn’t something that could be so easily eliminated.
The people nodded at Orben’s words, then exchanged glances before looking over at the mercenaries who were in the middle of their meal.
Finally, the brown-haired young man spoke up.
“It’s a bit late, but thank you very much. If it weren’t for all of you, we wouldn’t be here eating warm bread like this.”
As the young man bowed his head, the other two followed suit.
The Red Hounds, their shoulders tense, pointed to the wounds on their bodies.
“If you’re grateful, buy us a drink later. Seems like we need to disinfect these injuries.”
“Damn right! We deserve a drink! Getting such a big wound on my handsome face… a single drink is a cheap price to pay.”
“A wound on your handsome face? You mean your ugly mug?”
“What are you talking about, you bastard with a face that looks like an orc’s anus.”
“An… orc’s anus…? You, come here, you little shit. Shall we have a little ‘man-to-man’ talk?”
The Red Hounds started bickering among themselves.
They looked like a group of close friends who had gotten together after a long time and were just messing around.
Orben swallowed the bread he was chewing and spoke up.
“I heard the situation from Dermot. How did you end up captured there?”
The brown-haired young man answered in a lowered voice.
“We were tricked by the promise of money if we helped them with their work. The others were probably the same.”
The two people beside him nodded in agreement, indicating it was the same for them.
Orben’s gaze grew increasingly heavy.
He felt pathetic for having been unaware that demon worshippers were active in Lunapol, right under his nose.
According to what he’d heard from Dermot, the number of people who had become Maimen and couldn’t be saved was in the hundreds.
Orben planned to spend the entire dawn in prayer for them.
“Dermot.”
Amid the noisy sound of the Red Hounds’ squabbling, Luzak called Dermot in a low voice.
“We plan to leave tomorrow. Is that alright?”
“Can you give us a few days?”
Dermot could leave immediately if needed.
All he possessed was the body he was in now.
But the Red Hounds he planned to recruit were different.
They had a base here and needed time to dispose of their belongings before leaving.
First, he needed to recruit them, though.
“Alright. But I can’t give you more than three days.”
“That should be enough.”
Dermot ate his soup and silently waited for Walter to arrive.
Walter and Kyle returned just as the meal was ending.
Dermot gave Orben a gold coin and asked him to bestow a blessing on Walter.
Orben complied immediately.
By the time they reached the Hamet River, Walter would likely be able to wield a sword again.
“H-hey, Captain. Are you going to keep dribbling like a baby?”
After the meal, the two were eating the leftover bread and cold soup.
With both arms injured, Walter could only eat if his subordinate literally put the food into his mouth.
“You bastard! If you put it in properly, I wouldn’t dribble! Now give me some water!”
Water trickled down Walter’s chin.
‘They’re as noisy as ever, that’s for sure. It means they’re full of energy, which isn’t a bad thing, I suppose.’
Dermot clicked his tongue internally and shook his head.
Before long, the two finished their meal.
Dermot stood up and stretched his hands out in front of him.
As his hands distorted the space and disappeared, everyone watched in amazement.
Thud!
Dermot pulled out a large chest and placed it on the table.
When he opened the lid, gold coins glimmered in the candlelight on the table.
“Holy shit! What is all this?!”
“I’ve never seen so much money in my life!”
“I-it’s not fake, is it?”
The Red Hounds’ eyes widened.
Priest Orben and Luzak also stared silently, seemingly speechless.
“Half.”
Dermot looked at Walter as he spoke.
Walter was blinking rapidly.
“Uh…?”
“It’s the money we found in the mansion. Let’s split it half and half. Why? Don’t want it? Should I take it all for myself?”
“No! Of course I want it!”
Walter waved his hands frantically.
Seeing this, Dermot let out a light chuckle and then looked at Tom and Silphia.
“Help the Red Hounds sort the gold coins into two halves.”
“Huh? When are we supposed to sort all this…?”
“Got it.”
Silphia raised an eyebrow and grumbled, but Tom grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the chest full of gold coins.
“Hey, you guys! Help out too!”
Walter nodded at his members.
They promptly gathered around with wide grins to help divide the money.
As people sat around the gold coins, Dermot squeezed through them, glanced at Walter, and then jerked his chin towards the door.
Walter, sensing Dermot had something to say from his look, quietly followed him out.
“Do you have something to say?”
Walter asked as they exited the dining hall.
Dermot closed the door behind them.
“I’m thinking of forming a mercenary band.”
As the sounds from inside faded away, Walter tilted his head and asked.
“And?”
“One that specializes exclusively in dealing with demons and demon worshippers. So I need capable comrades.”
The moment he met Dermot’s blue eyes, Walter could finally guess why he had been called out separately.
“Wait. Don’t tell me… you’re asking us to join the mercenary band you’re creating?”
“Quick on the uptake.”
“That’s so unexpected, it’s a bit startling…”
Dermot continued the conversation impassively.
“As a man, as a mercenary. Don’t you have any thoughts of climbing higher?”
“Higher… you say?”
“The Gold Rank.”
“…!”
Gold Rank.
A title granted only to the top three mercenary bands registered with the Imperial Mercenary Guild.
The Gold Rank bands only took commissions from influential nobles within the Empire, making a fortune, and their prestige was higher than that of most knightly orders.
It was a position Walter had dreamed of since childhood, but also a goal he had buried in a corner of his mind after facing realistic limitations.
“You speak as if something realistically impossible could be done immediately.”
The Gold Rank bands had monsters among their ranks.
Prominently, figures like the teacher of the Imperial Knight Commander, or a Pyromancer counted among the Empire’s top mages.
In other words, to become a Gold Rank band, one would have to surpass one of the bands reigning at the top, alongside such powerhouses.
With their lives on the line.
Joining an existing band was one thing, but creating a new band to reach Gold Rank?
Walter considered it impossible.
“You’re right, it’s impossible right now.”
But Dermot did not.
“However, in a few months, it will be entirely possible.”
His eyes. His expression. His tone.
Everything about him said it was possible.
“Are you pure… or insane…?”
Trailing off, Walter let out a sigh.
Dermot just shrugged his shoulders at him.
“Well, if you’re satisfied with your current life, forget I mentioned it. I can just find others.”
Dermot tapped Walter on the shoulder and recited.
“I’ll be registering the mercenary band at the Mercenary Guild tomorrow at noon. Think it over, and if you decide, come find me at the Mercenary Guild.”
Creeak-
Dermot opened the door.
The noisy sounds of people sorting gold coins poured out.
The next day, at noon.
Dermot opened the door of the Mercenary Guild and stepped inside.
At that moment, people began to murmur.
“Is it true they rescued people from the demon worshippers?”
“You heard the rumor, right? That people poisoned by miasma went to the church. And then the Red Hounds and those three hurried to the church? It all adds up.”
“To think they fought demon worshippers and came back alive…”
“Seems like they’ll make a name for themselves soon. Maybe I should get acquainted now.”
Rumors about Dermot and his party had spread throughout Lunapol in just one day.
People who wanted to use his newfound fame approached, but Dermot passed by without even glancing their way.
“I heard the rumors. What happened?”
Lea rushed out from behind the counter and asked.
Unlike the others who approached out of curiosity or personal gain, she was the only one who seemed genuinely worried about the three.
“It was nothing.”
“So the person I connected you with was a demon worshipper…?”
Lea bit her lower lip and looked at him cautiously.
It seemed she thought they had been put in danger because of her.
“Did you know they were a demon worshipper when you introduced them?”
“…Huh? Of course not!”
“Then don’t go feeling down for no reason.”
Dermot gave Lea’s shoulder a light tap.
Lea nodded silently.
“I’m thinking of forming a mercenary band. Can you help, Lea?”
“A mercenary band? Of course!”
Seemingly happy that she could be of help, Lea hurried back to the counter with a bright expression.
Dermot followed her.
Lea took out a form and said,
“You know you have to pay 1 gold to the guild every month if you register a mercenary band, right?”
Registering a band with the guild allowed priority access to well-paying commissions and reduced fees.
In return, they had to pay 1 gold per month.
It was a kind of membership fee.
Frankly, he probably wouldn’t need to receive many commissions through the guild, but this was a necessary procedure.
Besides, 1 gold per month wasn’t a particularly burdensome amount.
“I know.”
“Then, could you list the names of the members?”
“Dermot, Tom, Silphia.”
Lea began writing down the names on the form.
“Just the three of you?”
The moment Lea finished speaking, a shadow fell over Dermot.
“Lea, could you write my name down there too?”
“Huh? What do you mean, Mr. Walter?”
“I’ve been staying here too long, and every day was getting boring. So I thought I’d try to climb higher.”
“Climb higher…?”
Not understanding what he meant, Lea tilted her head in confusion.
But Walter didn’t elaborate further, he just looked at Dermot and grinned.
“W-what? The Red Hounds are joining someone else?”
“Madness. What is happening…?”
As the Red Hounds members began stating their names to Lea one by one, the hall grew chaotic.
“W-wait a minute! We have to work with them?”
Silphia asked, flustered.
Walter lifted one of his feet towards her and said,
“Miss Pointy-ears, as a token of becoming comrades, how about a handshake? Since my hands are like this, I’ll use my foot instead.”
“You insane mutt bastard!”
“Hey now! I’m a patient! Don’t hit me!”
Watching the two bicker, Dermot let out a light chuckle.
And he pondered deeply.
How he was going to put these guys to work from now on.
