Chapter 37
Trapped in a Damned Game
A house where a cold wind seeped through the cracks in the door, as if something was amiss.
There was a man with sleek black hair, slicked back with hair oil, and pale gray eyes.
He was the kind of man who seemed out of place in this location, where spiderwebs hung in every corner.
“You’re late.”
Even his still figure, simply gazing out the window, exuded the bearing of a noble. He was waiting for someone, endlessly.
“Lord Roderick, the night is deep. You should retire to bed.”
A maidservant looked at him with worried eyes. Her young master, who had always been bright and smiling, had been filled with nothing but shadows on his face ever since he lost his family to his uncle’s sword.
“It’s fine.”
“You waited all through the dawn yesterday as well, didn’t you? The dark circles under your eyes have grown deep. I promised Lady Anabel that I would take good care of you, Lord Roderick.”
Roderick fell silent for a moment at the mention of his mother’s name, brought up by the maidservant.
“……Then I must not become pitiful. That way, I might have the face to see Mother.”
“Lord Roderick!”
Lily, the maidservant, grabbed Roderick’s wrist and pulled strongly. A mere maidservant pulling a noble—such a thing should not happen. But for now, even Anabel would have taken her side.
“Please… I beg you, get just a little sleep!”
However, Roderick, who had been the legitimate heir of a knightly family, was a being who contained a world too deep and vast to be pulled by the delicate hand of a maidservant. He, who hadn’t budged an inch under Lily’s pull, pushed the window wide open.
“You’ve come.”
Beyond the window, on the dark forest path, there was an approaching light. Roderick was inwardly glad that the ones he had been waiting for were returning. Even if he didn’t yet know if the news they brought was good or bad.
After four days of travel, Dermu and his party finally came upon a small hut hidden deep in a remote forest.
During the journey, they had encountered demons twice, but they were merely one 1-star and one 2-star.
Since both had already absorbed a soul once, he didn’t gain any skills, but he did obtain 10 stat points.
When they stopped to camp, he never stopped training until he went to sleep.
“You’re still awake, I see.”
Ruzak said as he dismounted his horse.
Roderick had come out personally to greet them.
“I couldn’t sleep. But who are these you’ve brought with you?”
“Mercenaries pursuing the Cult of Ruin.”
“These people?”
Roderick was startled by the unexpected answer.
He scanned the mercenaries who had come with them.
They were all battered and bruised.
Each one sported a bruise on their face.
Yet their eyes were sharp.
Like a back-alley gang just waiting for someone to step out of line.
“This is Dermu, the leader of the Torch Mercenary Group.”
Ruzak said, pointing at Dermu.
Unlike the other mercenaries with their battered faces, he was in pristine condition.
“Torch Mercenary Group? I haven’t heard of it.”
“I hear they merged with the former Red Dog Mercenary Group.”
“Red Dog… Ah, you mean the mercenary group active in Lunafall?”
The fame of the Red Dogs was such that even a noble like Roderick knew of them.
While Walter shrugged his shoulders as if to say “I’m this good” to Silphia,
Dermu dismounted and approached Roderick.
He then bowed respectfully.
“I am Dermu.”
“The fact that Sir Ruzak brought you here means you know who I am?”
“You are Lord Roderick Aslan, are you not?”
Roderick nodded.
Ruzak spoke in a low voice from the side.
“He also knows that Cailos made a contract with a demon.”
“You told him that as well?”
“I knew from the beginning.”
“……!”
Roderick’s eyes widened as he looked at Dermu.
Ruzak continued.
“Therefore, I judged they could be of help to us and brought them here.”
“Well done. Lily, please escort our guests inside.”
“Please come inside. You can tie your horses anywhere around here.”
Dermu and his party tied their horses to a tree and entered the hut.
With over ten men entering, there wasn’t even a proper place to sit.
“My apologies. Given the circumstances, I cannot offer you proper hospitality.”
Roderick was sorry he couldn’t even offer the guests a cup of tea.
Dermu sat in the chair opposite Roderick and shook his head.
“It’s fine.”
“Good, thank you for understanding. Your name was Dermu, right? You said you knew that Cailos made a contract with a demon. How did you find out?”
“We are pursuing a certain demon. We learned of it during that pursuit.”
“By any chance, is that demon connected to the Cult of Ruin?”
“Yes.”
Tap. Tap.
Roderick tapped the old table with his index finger.
“What are your intentions regarding the Cult of Ruin?”
“I intend to eliminate every single person involved, without leaving a trace.”
“And that includes Cailos?”
“Of course.”
Dermu answered without hesitation.
Roderick liked that confidence.
“It seems we share the same goal.”
Roderick needed swords that shared his purpose.
Sharp and ferocious swords, at that.
Coincidentally, mercenaries with a common enemy had appeared before him.
He didn’t want to let them slip away.
“I think I understand why Sir Ruzak brought you, believing you could be helpful.”
Although they shared a common enemy, the people before him were mercenaries.
To wield them as his swords, he had to offer something in return.
“Torch Mercenary Group. I wish to hire you. I can trust your skills, since Sir Ruzak personally brought you here.”
However, the current Roderick had nothing to offer.
He had lost everything to the Cult of Ruin and Cailos.
“But I cannot pay you right now. I can only pay you after I reclaim my stolen position. If you want money, I’ll give you money; if you want a knighthood, I’ll grant you a title. If only I can push Cailos out and reclaim my family. Will you lend me your strength?”
The mercenaries all looked at Dermu at once.
Their leader now was Dermu.
All decision-making authority lay with him.
“I will lend you my strength.”
Their original purpose in coming here was to join forces with Roderick.
There wasn’t a hint of hesitation in Dermu’s decision.
‘He doesn’t hesitate at all?’
And that very point appealed to Roderick.
They had to oppose none other than a Count’s family.
The current Roderick had no power.
Realistically, the possibility of reclaiming his family from Cailos was extremely low.
While his opponent commanded numerous soldiers, he had only a few knights and one maidservant.
[Sub Quest: Help Roderick Aslan reclaim his stolen family.
Reward: ‘Fame +70’]
Dermu looked at the quest window that appeared before his eyes and spoke.
“In return for lending our strength to help you, Lord Roderick, return to your rightful place, I ask that you later lend us your strength in return.”
“In destroying the Cult of Ruin?”
“Yes. Even if we succeed in dealing with Cailos, if we don’t handle the Cult of Ruin, they will move again to seize the Aslan County.”
“For what purpose?”
Dermu pulled Mauren’s diary from his inventory and held it out to Roderick.
Lily’s eyes widened at the sight of Dermu, who didn’t look like a mage at all, using spatial magic.
“What is this?”
But what drew more attention was the unusual diary that had appeared through spatial magic.
“It’s a diary written by a member of the Cult of Ruin.”
Roderick began to examine the diary.
Dermu continued.
“If you look through the contents, you’ll see that the Cult of Ruin uses the Hamet River as a major supply route.”
“The Hamet River……”
Roderick’s eyebrow twitched.
That’s because the Hamet River port was located in Ordan, one of the major cities of Aslan County.
“Are you saying the Cult of Ruin will never give up the Hamet River?”
The Hamet River, where the eastern, northern, and central regions met, was a junction where countless goods flowed.
The reason Iselan made a contract with Cailos was also to use the Hamet River as a safe supply route, evading the eyes of the Church.
“It seems we need to cut out the festering wound.”
Anger flickered in Roderick’s eyes as he scanned the diary.
After all, Cailos’s actions all started with the Cult of Ruin.
Roderick had a debt to repay the Cult of Ruin.
“I will also lend my strength to destroy the Cult of Ruin.”
Without taking his eyes off the diary, Roderick added.
“To think they were creating Demonic Humans in Aslan’s lands……”
The Cult of Ruin was creating Demonic Humans in Aslan’s territory and moving them, along with war supplies, to their main stronghold in the north via the Hamet River.
Roderick gritted his teeth at the events that had transpired without his knowledge.
Dermu pulled out a heavy purse of money from his inventory and said.
“300 Gold. Please use this money to gather any useful mercenaries you can, Lord Roderick. As many as possible.”
“And you?”
“I’ve obtained information that the Cult of Ruin will show themselves at the Hamet River port a week from now. I am going there.”
Since Roderick’s face was known, it would be difficult for him to move together.
Therefore, the moment for him to move had to be the decisive moment.
Dermu intended to set the stage for that.
“When the time comes, I will contact you separately.”
Dermu handed over a disposable communication device he had purchased in Lunafall.
“I will have you back in your rightful place within a month.”
To pull Cailos down in just a month?
Roderick thought they might be moving too hastily.
“Isn’t the timeframe too short? Wouldn’t it be better to move after completing our preparations perfectly, even if it takes more time?”
“No. A month is enough. Please trust me.”
A month might be short for Roderick, but for Dermu, it was an extremely long period.
He had to find a candidate for the Apostle within two months, after all.
Although he said a month, Dermu planned to restore Roderick to his place even sooner.
“……”
Roderick stared at Dermu without a word.
His blue eyes were unwavering.
Even though they had just met today, for some reason, his gaze inspired trust.
Roderick turned his gaze to Ruzak, who was standing beside him.
Ruzak nodded slightly, as if to say, ‘Let’s trust him.’
“Very well. Then I shall wait for your contact and gather people in the meantime.”
Roderick picked up the communication device placed before him.
Dermu rose from his seat right after.
“Then I will contact you later.”
“Where are you going?”
As Dermu turned his back towards the door, Roderick asked.
“To Ordan, of course.”
Dermu responded as if asking why he was stating the obvious.
Walter, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, spoke up.
“You just got here and you’re planning to move again already?”
“That’s right, you must be tired from coming all this way. Rest a while before you go.”
Ruzak also chimed in.
Dermu looked at him and said.
“Rather than resting here where there’s not even a proper place to sit, wouldn’t it be better to get to Jordan a day earlier and rest at an inn?”
“……”
Ruzak looked around the interior.
It certainly wasn’t a suitable environment for rest.
“I’ll see you later, Lord Roderick.”
Creeak—
Dermu opened the door and went outside.
The mercenaries, glancing around, followed him out.
The Torch Mercenary Group hit the road again immediately, as if pressed for time.
Tap. Tap—
As Ruzak reported the events that had transpired in Lunafall, Roderick tapped the table with his finger and said.
“He saved Marken, who was about to become a Demonic Human… It seems he’s more capable than he looks.”
The knights lined up beside him nodded.
“We sparred a bit; they all had usable skills. It’s a bit of a shame I didn’t get to cross swords with Walter, the former leader of the Red Dogs, though.”
“There was also a guy named Kai who was quite skilled with a dagger.”
“There was also an interesting fellow who used a bow like a sword.”
The knights, who usually didn’t speak highly of anyone’s skills, were talking with faint smiles on their faces.
Their reaction secretly surprised Roderick.
Ruzak then spoke.
“The elf handled three elemental magics.”
“Three?”
A mage who could handle three elemental magics was a special existence, welcomed anywhere.
It was puzzling that such a person belonged to an unknown mercenary group.
“And about the one named Dermu.”
Ruzak added with an unreadable expression.
“His skills are excellent, but… he’s a magic swordsman who uses a rather peculiar magic.”
“What kind of magic?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen such magic until now. It was a first—something I’ve never seen or heard of before.”
“What in the…?”
Roderick’s curiosity about Dermu only grew.
