Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 52

The Man of Rumor 3

The mercenaries my uncle hired at great expense were, to Legion, just good-for-nothing thugs. He had never seen them do anything productive in the territory.

On their days off, they were almost always drinking at the tavern.

They mostly hung out among themselves and ignored the villagers. Nevertheless, they took everything they could get. They showed up at every festival, eyes bloodshot, prowling around like dogs in heat, trying to pick up women.

The amount of money going to those guys was enormous.

But he couldn’t just kick them out. They were the standing army. The volunteer army alone couldn’t stop the monsters that came down every winter.

In fact, they had managed to block the monsters’ invasions reasonably well for several years. Most of the monsters were small species like goblins and kobolds.

They were proud of having stopped the monsters and demanded higher wages from my uncle. They were individually hired mercenaries. If they didn’t get paid, they would pack up and leave immediately. My uncle had no choice but to accept their coercive wage increases, swallowing his tears.

But why were they really here?

Legion couldn’t figure it out. The way they were acting was just like….

“Bacon.”

“Yes, Master.”

Bacon quickly approached Legion’s side.

“Doesn’t the way they’re acting look similar to the way you guys used to act?”

He was implying they were bandits.

Bacon made a sour face. How he wished he could forget his dark past. But it always got brought up.

“We only did it once.”

“Whether it was once or a hundred times, you still committed banditry.”

“Well, that’s true, but….”

“Why are they here instead of patrolling the territory?”

“They are….”

Bacon was about to speak when the mercenaries’ leader shouted first.

“Lord, it’s been a while. I heard you survived that mess. Quite unexpected.”

“‘It’s been a while’? ‘Quite unexpected’? Is that son of a bitch talking down to me?”

Legion pointed at the mercenary leader as he spoke.

“Yes, he is talking down to you.”

“Is that bastard crazy? Now even dogs and cows are talking down to me.”

-Hostility is felt from the bandits.

Hostility? Why?

-How should I know?

I really don’t understand. I clearly reconciled with my uncle, so why are they here? Is my uncle trying to stab me in the back?

If my uncle stabs me in the back this time, I really won’t forgive him. I will hold him accountable. Of course, I hope he doesn’t. Where else would I find a territory manager like my uncle?

If I go to the city and say, ‘Looking for a professional territory manager from the Alexander Territory, I’ll pay twice the salary of other territories,’ they’ll probably come. I made a lot of money selling mithril [a rare and valuable metal]. I also announced that I would drastically reduce taxes for the territory residents. Thanks to that, my luck is increasing day by day.

Still, it was too much of a waste to pay a professional territory manager twice the salary. My uncle’s skills are quite good too. It’s cheaper that way.

-Don’t trust your uncle yet.

I know. But what’s their combat power?

-The one who appears to be the mercenary leader is 89, the rest are around 50.

They’re pushovers.

-They are pushovers. Even the exclusive servants here could wipe them out.

I didn’t realize it before, but now that I see them, they’re really weak.

-True.

The exclusive servants receive much less salary than those guys. Moreover, they are unpaid for a year. But those guys are weak, rude, and get paid several times more.

They’re getting the axe.

He decided to fire them all.

“Master.”

Bacon called to Legion.

“What?”

“They are no longer mercenaries.”

“What do you mean they’re not mercenaries?”

“Remember the day Paring ran away?”

“Yeah, why that day?”

“They robbed Julian, the vice-lord’s mansion, and ran away.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Payne and Shalom were extremely angry at the time. They said they would cut off all their heads. If Julian, the vice-lord, hadn’t stopped them, there would have been a mass slaughter.”

“Those bastards deserve to die. Why didn’t you just kill them?”

“They said that if they did, the survivors would harm the territory residents. They said it was better to just let them go. I was really surprised. We saw him in a new light.”

“I see. So those sons of bitches pretended to run away and then targeted us.”

Legion turned to the mercenaries, who were laughing gleefully. They seemed to be underestimating him quite a bit.

“Whether you’re mercenaries or whatever, that’s desertion. You got paid but didn’t work.”

“That’s right. It’s desertion.”

“How do we deal with desertion?”

“Execution or 20 years or more of forced labor.”

“Oh, I see.”

Legion smiled grimly as he looked at the mercenaries. You guys are in big trouble.

* * *

After Paring left, the mercenaries, judging that there was nothing more to gain here, decided on their own paths. Twenty of them said they had saved up quite a bit of money and would return to their hometowns.

The remaining thirty had nowhere to go. But they weren’t skilled enough to become mercenaries.

Moreover, it was the time when monster attacks would begin.

The colder it gets, the more monsters that can’t withstand the cold attack the territory. This year, the cold wave is even more severe.

If they were unlucky, high-level monsters like trolls or ogres could attack the territory.

It was very dangerous. They had received enough salary, so they didn’t want to stay here any longer. Moreover, Paring, who should have been protecting them from the rear, was gone. The risk was much higher.

But even after several days, there were no monster attacks. In the past, there should have been at least two battles by now.

Some mercenaries secretly gathered rumors. Unbelievably, the monsters were not even approaching the territory.

Ah!

The mercenary leader, Memajer, regretted it deeply.

If only they had held out a little longer. Then they could have squeezed even more money out of Julian, the vice-lord.

They had stolen all the valuables from the mansion, so they couldn’t go back. Even if they didn’t know, Payne and Shalom would be trying to kill them.

Those gruff middle-aged knights.

It wouldn’t be difficult to take down two of them, but the losses would be too great. They were knights, so they had some skill. The damage on their side would also be significant. There was no need to fight with them.

Then the mercenary leader, Memajer, came up with a brilliant idea. He knew why the lord had suddenly become rich. The lord periodically traded with the orcs. He didn’t know exactly what was being traded, but he had heard that it was quite valuable.

So Memajer persuaded his men.

“Let’s just do one big hit. We’ll rob the lord’s carriage. We’ll divide it up and go our separate ways.”

His men were tempted.

“But the lord will see our faces. We could become public enemies.”

“You worry about everything. Kill them all. The dead tell no tales.”

Memajer grinned, revealing his yellow teeth. His men were swayed by his persuasion.

They were planning to do one last big hit and leave.

That’s how they blocked Legion’s path.

Memajer assessed the lord’s forces. Five low-level mages. Even if they were low-level mages, he couldn’t ignore them. But once a melee started, the mages’ power would be negated.

He would deal with them all at once through a preemptive strike.

Fortunately, Sepia, the ogre, was nowhere to be seen. If he had been with them, they would have given up this operation.

It was an opportunity given by the heavens.

A divine revelation that they had suffered enough and should take a lot of money and live happily.

Memajer said to Legion.

“We never worked for you anyway, so we have no burden on our minds. So don’t expect any guilt from us.”

“Who said anything?”

Legion shrugged.

“You certainly have a lot of guts. But I wonder if you can maintain that courage even with a sword to your throat.”

Memajer drew his sword. His men drew their swords and bows at the same time.

“Mages, stop! Don’t even move your mouths!”

They seemed to have quite a bit of experience compared to their skill. Certainly, their overall combat power increased when they held bows.

But-

They couldn’t fire their arrows.

“Hey, over here.”

Legion gestured towards their rear.

Memajer, feeling an immense sense of foreboding, quickly turned around.

Behind them, dozens of orc female warriors were already in formation. Their eyes said they would cut off all the mercenaries’ heads if they fired even one arrow.

“Oh, when did you get here?”

“What do you mean when? We promised to come out to meet you here for the first trade since the road was built. You guys were waiting at the point where we agreed to meet. Anyway, are you going to continue what you were doing?”

Legion asked with a bright smile.

It was a disaster.

Cold sweat poured incessantly from Memajer’s forehead. Five mages in front, and the notoriously strong orc female warriors blocking their retreat.

They had no chance of winning.

“Wh-what should we do?”

One of the men asked with a terrified look. He was nothing like the imposing figure he had been a moment ago.

“I-I don’t know either.”

“What do you mean you don’t know, Captain?”

“Wait, wait, let me think for a moment.”

Memajer glared fiercely at his subordinate. Did they not have any thoughts of their own? Why were they forcing him to think?

“That thought, can I hear it too?”

A female figure, exuding an aura so powerful that it stood out even among the orc female warriors, strode forward. The mercenaries couldn’t stop her.

They were intimidated by her aura and parted to the left and right.

The approaching orc female warrior casually placed her hand on Memajer’s shoulder.

Memajer was so petrified that he couldn’t even breathe.

“I’m Amadeus. Have you heard of me?”

“N-no.”

“You haven’t heard of me?”

Amadeus tapped Memajer’s chin with the back of her hand.

Memajer felt like his personality was shattering into pieces. This was the first time he had experienced such humiliation since he had taken up a sword. He seriously considered whether to stab this orc woman with the sword he was holding.

“If you want to stab me, go ahead.”

Amadeus accurately read Memajer’s mind. The hand holding Memajer’s sword twitched.

“The moment you move – I guarantee that none of you will survive.”

The men who heard Amadeus’s words shook their heads wildly. Captain, don’t swing that sword.

“Now, put down all your weapons while I’m being nice. I’ll count to three from now on. If you don’t put down your weapons by the time I count to three, I’ll consider it an act of hostility. Anyone holding a weapon will be shot to death. One, two….”

At the same time as Amadeus counted, the mercenaries dropped their weapons to the ground.

There was no time to read the situation.

As soon as one person put down their weapon, the other mercenaries threw all the weapons that could be a threat to the orcs to the ground.

Only then did Amadeus release her hand from Memajer’s shoulder.

She shouted towards Legion.

“What should we do with these guys?”

“They’re a gift.”

Legion shouted, flashing his white teeth. Amadeus gave a thumbs up.

After all, it’s good to have allies.