Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 63

The Champagne Mercenary Company was on night duty that evening. Hussen had already divided them into groups and assigned time slots since not everyone needed to stay up all night. I was assigned to the last slot along with Trowell and Hussen.

“El, wake up. It’s our turn.”

“Umm?”

I opened my eyes to the gentle shaking and saw Trowell gazing at me. It was still pitch dark, like the middle of the night. The air was thick with the scent of grass, heavy with the coming dawn, and the chirping of insects echoed through it.

“Ah, sorry, Matthew. I meant to just close my eyes for a moment, but I actually fell asleep.”

“It’s okay. Hussen just woke up too. Shall we head over to the bonfire?”

“Yeah.”

The weather, with winter approaching, was colder at dawn than at night. As a spirit, I didn’t feel the cold, but to avoid unnecessary suspicion, I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and sluggishly crawled to the bonfire. The firewood, which seemed like it would never go out, crackled, occasionally spitting out small sparks as it burned.

There, I found Hussen, his face relatively free of sleepiness. He was bringing branches from nearby and throwing them into the bonfire. He gave a short laugh, saying, “Yo,” as Trowell and I approached.

“Aren’t you tired? Night duty must be tough to endure, right?”

“I’m fine. Aren’t you the one who’s tired, Hussen?”

“I’m so used to this kind of life that it’s like breathing. It doesn’t bother me anymore.”

He became a mercenary about fifteen years ago. Since both of his parents were mercenaries, he was accustomed to the life from a young age. He said he spent more time playing in the mercenary guild than at his own home.

Rather than hanging out with his peers, he volunteered to do chores for the mercenaries and enjoyed learning how to hunt and fight. It was already predicted by many that he would follow the same path as his parents. And he said he still doesn’t regret that choice.

“But isn’t it dangerous? Especially since Hussen is a gold-ranked mercenary, you must get a lot of dangerous requests.”

“That’s true. But I’m proud to be a mercenary. Even if it’s a rough life where all I know is fighting, I like the life I have now, hanging out with my comrades and traveling together. Well, that’s why I can’t have a normal family, though.”

“Hee…”

At that moment, Trowell slowly got up. I looked at him, puzzled, and he smiled and said,

“I’ll go check around to see if there’s anything wrong.”

“Ah, if that’s the case, I’ll come with you…”

“No, I’m fine on my own. El, you stay here with Hussen.”

Trowell sat me back down, who had stood up awkwardly, and walked away leisurely. I watched the darkness swallow his figure and suddenly turned my gaze to Hussen. He was staring intently at something, still holding the firewood. His expression was softer than ever.

I turned my head to follow his gaze. There, I saw someone lying down. It was Sherry, fast asleep with a blanket covering her face.

‘Could it be…’

Feeling absurd, I looked at Hussen again. He couldn’t take his eyes off Sherry, not even noticing my gaze. Seeing him like that, it was hard to believe that he usually treated Sherry so coldly. I reflexively asked,

“Is the reason you don’t accept Sherry’s feelings because of that?”

“W-what?”

Hussen looked at me, startled, as if he had been caught doing something bad. Seeing his noticeably flustered face, I felt a mischievous impulse. But I tried to suppress it and continued to speak as calmly as possible.

“You said you like the mercenary life and that’s why it’s hard to have a normal family. I was wondering if the reason you don’t accept Sherry’s feelings is because of that—because you can’t promise her a stable and peaceful life.”

“N-not really for that reason…”

“Then why are you refusing her? Sherry is cute and pretty, isn’t she? Well, no matter how pretty she is, it can’t be helped if you don’t have feelings for her. But Sherry is too pitiful as she is. If she keeps getting rejected by someone she likes, she’ll definitely be hurt a lot.”

Perhaps he felt something from my earnest words, Hussen frowned as if contemplating for a moment. He looked at Sherry’s sleeping face, sighed, and buried his face in his hands, roughly sweeping back his hair.

“Hussen?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. So, I… well. It’s not that I dislike Sherry. She’s attractive and lovely enough. Probably to the point that anyone would have to look back at her.”

“Then why?”

Looking at him with a questioning expression, Hussen’s face became even more complicated. It was hard to guess his intention, whether he wanted to cry, laugh, or get angry. Then, he suddenly said something out of the blue.

“I’m the one who raised Sherry as a mercenary.”

“Huh?”

“She was a little girl who ran away from the orphanage and was wandering the streets. I think the head of the orphanage was trying to sell Sherry as a concubine to a merchant. As you know, Sherry is pretty, right? So, there seemed to be a lot of guys eyeing her. But still, wanting a child who isn’t even ten years old as a concubine, or the guy who was going to give her away—they’re both crazy. I couldn’t just leave her, so I took her home, fed her, and took care of her as part of the family from then on. I taught her swordsmanship from time to time and taught her various skills needed as a mercenary. She seemed to have a great talent, learning everything quickly. So, when she said she wanted to become a mercenary like me, I didn’t stop her.”

“Um, what does that have to do with…”

“Do you understand? There’s an eleven-year age difference between me and that child.”

“……!”

Only then did I realize the meaning of what Hussen was trying to say, and the real reason he was agonizing. I felt my mouth gape open without me even realizing it. He continued to lament with a gloomy expression.

“When I first met Sherry, she was only nine years old, and I was twenty, having already had my coming-of-age ceremony. El, what would you do if a girl you practically raised confessed her love to you?”

“Cu, cough. Hmm… it would definitely be embarrassing, but…”

“Right? You think it’s very embarrassing too, right?”

“Still, there’s no need to think too deeply about it, is there? Actually, even though an eleven-year age difference is a lot, it can happen. You can’t let something like that get in the way of love…”

But I couldn’t continue speaking because, at that moment, Hussen’s eyes shone blue. He grabbed my shoulders with a terrifying force.

“Hu, Hussen?”

“Yeah, I know! I know it! What does that age difference matter when you’re in love? The marriageable age for women in the Empire is from fifteen, and Sherry is a charming and beautiful woman, so it can’t be helped if I’m tempted. But El, think about it. If I really had feelings for Sherry and married her, what do you think people around me would think? No, I don’t even need to go that far. Just think about Herold and Mighty here!”

“Huh?”

I looked at him with a bewildered expression, but he didn’t seem to notice, already out of his mind. He had completely abandoned his usual calm image and was muttering like a madman with unfocused eyes.

“Obvious, right? It’s so obvious! Would those guys stay still? They’d make fun of me like crazy. Especially Mighty, who has been openly saying that he has feelings for Sherry, would glare at me like he wants to kill me! Herold will say the obvious! He’ll blabber about an old geezer trying to rejuvenate himself! I, I!”

“Hu, Hussen! Calm down!”

“I’m not a pedophile!”

“……”

A chilly wind blew from somewhere.

In the end, they were the cause of everything: Herold and Mighty. He couldn’t handle the teasing from those two.

I could guess how much mental burden and pain he had been living with as the leader of the group, and what kind of words he had been suffering.

Perhaps realizing my frozen expression, Hussen quickly composed himself.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be holding onto you, who has nothing to do with this, and saying these things. I must have been out of my mind for a moment. Just forget what you heard, since I was just saying it.”

“But…”

“No, really, it’s okay. I’m asking you, please don’t worry about this issue in the future. I think this is something I have to solve myself.”

Hussen, who spoke with a bitter smile, returned to his usual taciturn self. But in my head, the desperate words he had shouted at the end were still echoing.

‘I’m not a pedophile, huh…’

No words could express his feelings more poignantly than that.

If possible, I wanted to find a way to help him. But this was really a problem he had to solve himself, just as he said. All I could do was hope that he would burn with such passionate love that he wouldn’t care about the teasing of those around him. Of course, it was questionable whether Hussen, who seemed to have a strong sense of pride, could really become steadfast in the face of the gazes of others.

At least, the only gain was that I found out that he saw Sherry as a woman. If Sherry knew this fact, she would be overjoyed. Of course, I can’t tell her, so nothing will change for the time being.

Really, I was curious to see what would happen to this couple with so many stories and troubles.

* * *

As the day dawned, the procession slowly began preparing breakfast. Although it started early, it took a considerable amount of time just to prepare, as there were so many people. However, the mercenaries who saw the distributed meals all expressed dissatisfaction.

“Tch, it’s this again?”

“It’s so little that it doesn’t even touch my stomach. It’s killing me to fill my belly with this.”

“This request needs to end quickly. The pay is good, but the food is so terrible.”

“Ah, I miss hot meat soup. I want to tear into white bread filled with sweet red beans and roasted goose.”

The head of the Phoenix Merchant Guild was a middle-aged man named Yuren. He wasn’t a bad person, but he occasionally used petty tricks to save money. For example, he would leave a town right in front of them and insist on camping on the road, or he would provide dried seafood and jerky for meals every few days. As a result, there were always small and large noises among the mercenaries, but seeing that it wasn’t improving, the guild leader seemed to be completely unaware of such problems or ignored them even if he knew.

On the other hand, when it was mealtime, I would take advantage of a suitable opportunity to leave and return. I didn’t want to force myself to eat rough food when I didn’t really need it. Trowell also disappeared from time to time, so it was clear that he was thinking the same thing as me.

While people were eating in groups, I wandered alone in a quiet place. Then, I saw a man getting out of one of the carriages parked nearby. Judging by his neat attire, he seemed to be one of the guild members. He looked around with a stiff face for a moment, and then he noticed me standing there and approached.

“Excuse me, but have you seen Yuren-nim [esteemed title] by any chance?”

“Yes? Yuren-nim? Ah, are you talking about the guild leader?”

At my question, the man nodded with an anxious expression.

“He said he was going to see Sophie for a while and left, but we haven’t heard from him since. I’m worried, so I’m looking for him.”

“Oh dear, when did he leave?”

“That’s… maybe about half a gak… [a unit of time].”

Half a gak would be about thirty minutes. That’s more than enough time to go to the bathroom. It was understandable that he was worried about him not returning yet.

‘Could it be that he encountered a monster?’

This area was all forest covered with bushes and trees. In this world, forests are not very safe places. There are ferocious beasts that could jump out from anywhere, but if you take the wrong direction, you could end up in a monster nest.

“Would you mind waiting here for a moment? I’ll go look for him.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay on your own?”

“Of course. He probably didn’t go very far anyway. I’ll find him and bring him back.”

I stopped the man who was trying to follow me and quickly turned around. I didn’t know what my thoughts were based on, but I had a feeling that I could easily find him on my own. I’ve been getting smarter lately, so I had a reckless belief that I would somehow manage this time too.

And my vague expectation became a reality the moment I entered the forest. When I thought I should take a closer look around, unfamiliar landscapes began to unfold before my eyes.

Dense trees and scattered rocks, with slopes in between. Places that were clearly located a little further away from here quickly flashed through my mind.

“… Huh, what is this?”

I forgot to walk and stopped, overwhelmed by the unfamiliar experience. It felt like I was looking around through someone else’s eyes. The scenes that were pouring out on their own were frantically blurring my vision. The direction they were leading was pointing to one place.

I walked along the path as if possessed, not even knowing the identity of the gazes. How long had I been moving like that? A sharp scream came from the bushes.

“Aaaagh! Help me! Someone, please help me!”

‘……Found him!’

I couldn’t believe I would really find him. I quickly pushed through the bushes and saw several goblins. I sighed as I found the middle-aged man trembling among them. He was a mess, having fallen and rolled around, but it was definitely the guild leader Yuren.

Fortunately, he was only dirty and didn’t seem to be seriously injured. Of course, that didn’t mean I could rest assured. The goblins were ready to attack at any moment.