Chapter 16

During that time, a total of nine mercenaries charged at him. Each had different strengths and strategies, but the outcome they faced was not much different.

Smack!!

The crack of a whip, followed by a scream. The men struck by Woojin's low kicks all had to limp away, dragging their legs.

Watching this, Claire asked,

"Is there a reason you only attack their legs?"

"That's the least dangerous place to hit."

A person's thigh is thick with muscle, and sturdy bones are set deep within it.

By carefully controlling his strength, Woojin reduced his opponents to a moderately crippled state, allowing the situation to end without anyone being seriously injured.

It was so one-sided that calling it a fight would have been embarrassing. The mercenaries who witnessed it abandoned any thought of challenging him. If they rushed in recklessly, they would only end up humiliating themselves.

"… It's unusually quiet today. Maybe the number of challengers really has dropped."

"I suppose so."

After driving off the mercenaries, Woojin spent his time chatting idly with Claire while practicing magic.

It was an ordinary day, no different from usual.
The escort mission they had taken on this time required little actual work. There were simply too many personnel.

Ten Tarasques, three mercenary companies, and the merchants' laborers were moving together. The laborers also carried crossbows, meaning they could be used as combatants in an emergency.

Few magical beasts would be bold enough to block a force of that magnitude, and even if they did attack, it seemed likely they could repel them without suffering major damage.

On top of that, the two sons of Golden Maggot had even hired personal bodyguards.

Three holy knights from the Order Alliance, along with the squires who assisted them. Though small in number, they were elites who could not be compared to ordinary mercenaries.

In short, to summarize the situation…

"… Why are there so many troops?"

Woojin muttered to himself. Claire, standing beside him, looked puzzled.

"Isn't having more manpower a good thing?"

"It is, but no matter how I look at it, there are too many people. Some of them have nothing to do, so they come looking for me just to pick a fight."

And that wasn't the only thing bothering him.

"The two sons of Golden Maggot seem excessively timid. The eldest was named Cedric, wasn't he?"

"No, the eldest is Derek. Cedric is the younger one."

Derek and Cedric.

Derek, the eldest, was regarded as the true successor of Golden Maggot, while Cedric was said to be an executive in charge of important affairs within the merchant company.

Instead of riding in carriages, they traveled atop Tarasques. A large tent hung over the beasts' backs, and Derek and Cedric remained hidden beneath it the entire time.

For some reason, the two men avoided appearing in public settings. As a result, Woojin and the other mercenaries were carrying out this job without even knowing what their employers looked like.

"Jonathan said he's never spoken to them directly either, right?"

"Yes. I heard that during negotiations they either used letters or communicated through representatives. So there were no issues in proceeding with the commission."

"No matter how I think about it, they're being overly cautious… Shouldn't they show their faces at least once?"

Even the captains of the mercenary companies who accepted the commission had never spoken with them in person. The blood heirs of Golden Maggot hid themselves beneath the tent, as if imitating recluses.

… Just like their father.

"Golden Maggot Wolf lived in seclusion until just before he died. I remember mentioning that before."

"That's right. We talked about it during a walk. Now that I think about it after hearing you… it really is a strange situation."

At some point, Claire folded her arms as well. The two put their heads together in thought, but even then, they found no answers.

Several questionable things were happening, yet all Woojin and Claire knew were secondhand rumors. To grasp the current situation, they needed clearer clues.

"How can we get information?"

"Well… there is a rather crude method."

"What method?"

"Spying. If we lie in wait near the tent, maybe we'll get a glimpse of Derek at least once. No matter what, he has to go to the bathroom sometime, doesn't he?"

If they could see Derek and Cedric in person, they might be able to gauge their current condition.

"That's worth trying."

"Uh… you're actually going to do it? I was only half joking."

"There's nothing else to do right now anyway."

Since the idea had come up, he might as well try it immediately. Woojin stood up and began walking somewhere. Claire followed after him anxiously.

"Wouldn't it be better not to? I was the one who suggested it, but if we're caught spying, it could put us in a difficult position…"

"I'm not going to get close. My eyesight's pretty good."

After reassuring her, Woojin began climbing a nearby tree.

His movements were so skilled and swift they looked almost acrobatic. In the blink of an eye, he reached the top.

In the distance, he could see the Tarasque and the tent strapped to its back—the tent where Derek and Cedric were staying. A couple of guards stood nearby, but they didn't notice Woojin.

From here on, it was a test of patience.

Chewing on some jerky he had taken from his pocket, Woojin waited for someone to come out of the tent. After about forty minutes, a neatly dressed woman walked inside.

'Who is that woman?'

She might be someone who could serve as a clue. He focused even harder on the tent.

Before long, the woman stepped back out. In her hands was something she hadn't been carrying before—an object shaped like a small jar.

She walked to a patch of grass some distance away and emptied the contents of the jar.

"… Wow. I didn't calculate for that."

A sigh escaped Woojin's lips. There was nothing more to see. Deciding that, he climbed back down.

"Be careful not to get hurt coming down."

Claire greeted him from below. She had been reading a book the entire time while waiting for him.

"Did you see anything from up there?"

"It was a waste of time."

"Why?"

Woojin gave a wry smile.

"A female cleaner came out carrying a chamber pot."

It seemed the two sons of Golden Maggot were relieving themselves inside the tent. Claire's face twisted in disgust when she heard that.

"… They go that far? At this point, that really doesn't sound sane."

"Yeah."

Woojin agreed. Just as rumors had spread that Golden Maggot had gone mad, perhaps his two sons were also suffering from some kind of mental issue.

In any case, his motivation vanished instantly.

"So what do we do now?"

"Let's just go back. It doesn't seem like we'll get any information through ordinary means."

Investigating people like that from behind the scenes would likely be difficult. If they dug any deeper here, they might get caught instead, so it seemed wiser to pull back at this point.

Claire felt much the same.

"Honestly, I didn't want to get any more entangled with people like that. It feels like it would be bad for my mental health…"

Anyone would probably feel the same.

… Perhaps that was why, but shortly after they returned to camp, Woojin and Claire noticed an unfamiliar man.

A middle-aged man in full plate armor. He was sitting by the fire pit, prodding the burning logs with a poker. It seemed the dying flames had bothered him enough to settle down and tend to them.

Woojin recognized who he was at a glance. Full plate armor was not common.

'A holy knight of the Order Alliance.'

One of the men assigned to guard the children of Golden Maggot. Had he also come here to distance himself from the stench of the chamber pot?

Of course, the only way to know was to speak with him directly. Woojin addressed the holy knight.

"What brings you here?"

The knight replied in an unhurried tone.

"One of the squires under my command was limping. I was curious whose handiwork that was, so I came to take a look."

Woojin had thought he had only struck mercenaries, but it seemed one of the knight's subordinates had been mixed in.

"My apologies for that."

"There's no need to apologize. The fool likely learned a lesson from it… In any case, what is your name?"

"Call me Jin."

"I am Raymond. A servant of the Goddess of Harmony."

The Goddess of Harmony, Eah.

She was a goddess frequently mentioned in the Chronicles of the Demonic Realm. A higher deity who presided over law, art, and judgment. The Order of Harmony, which worshiped Eah, held considerable influence within the Alliance.

After brief introductions, Raymond's gaze swept around Woojin.

"By the way… I heard you tamed a wolf-type magical beast. Where is it now?"

"Probably hiding. It's rather wary of strangers."

"Then that can't be helped."

Raymond gave up readily. It seemed he had come partly to see the wolf for himself.

Fweeet~!

Woojin let out a whistle. Before long, the rustling of bushes could be heard, and Rex stepped out from the thicket. The red wolf cast a wary glance at the holy knight.

"… Hah. To think you truly tamed a wolf."

Raymond exclaimed in admiration, as if he could hardly believe what he was seeing.

Woojin found that puzzling.

"Is it that remarkable?"

"It's unprecedented. The Order has attempted to tame wolf-type magical beasts several times, but every attempt ended in failure."

The Order Alliance had made repeated efforts to tame wolves. Since dogs and wolves were not so different, they assumed wolves would be easier to domesticate than other magical beasts.

Yet every attempt had ended in dreadful failure. For some reason, wolves stubbornly refused to obey human commands.

From Raymond's perspective, Rex was an exceptionally tempting anomaly.

"Would you be willing to share your method for taming a wolf-type magical beast? If you do, I will reward you handsomely."

Raymond proposed a trade. He likely felt it would be shameless to ask for such valuable information for free.

… As it happened, Woojin also wanted something.

"I'd prefer to exchange information."

"An exchange of information… I'll have to hear what you want first before deciding. What is it?"

Woojin voiced the question that had been lingering in his mind.

"Why are our employers so frightened?"

The excessive number of troops and the self-imposed seclusion. He had tried to guess what lay behind those two facts.

Fear.

Perhaps the two sons of Golden Maggot were gripped by overwhelming fear. So much so that even with this many troops protecting them, they still could not feel at ease…

"… That is a difficult question to answer. I am currently on assignment."

After a moment's thought, Raymond replied.

It was the answer Woojin had expected. Speaking about the state of the people he was assigned to guard would be improper.

Yet despite his refusal, Raymond's eyes repeatedly drifted toward Rex, as if reluctant to let the opportunity slip away.

"Is there nothing else you require? If you provide the information, I will report it to the Order Alliance and ensure you receive a substantial reward."

"Nothing comes to mind at the moment."

"Then I will return at a later time. I seem to have wasted too much time admiring the wolf. Remember, my offer still stands."

With that, Raymond departed.

Watching the holy knight's retreating figure, Claire murmured regretfully,

"That's unfortunate. It was a chance to gain information."

"We didn't come away empty-handed."

The idea that the sons of Golden Maggot were frightened had, until now, been nothing more than Woojin's conjecture—a hypothesis drawn from circumstances, without solid proof.

But in their recent exchange, Raymond had unintentionally confirmed it.

"He said it was a difficult question to answer."

"Yes. He didn't deny it."

To find a question difficult to answer meant that it struck close to the truth.

Let's assume that premise.

The two sons of Golden Maggot were seized by fear. The reason remained unknown, but considering the timing, it was likely connected to their father's death.

Derek and Cedric had begun living in voluntary seclusion. Yet even that had not been enough to calm them. To preserve their lives, they needed to move somewhere safer. That place, naturally, would be within the Alliance's fortified walls.

And so, the two brothers hired as many troops as possible and set out on their journey.

Summed up in a single sentence…

"… Are they running from something?"

It was not a comforting conclusion.