I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 12

After instructing Aider on the day’s tasks, Lucas and I left the mansion.

About 30 minutes later, Lucas and I stood in front of the mercenary guild.

It was called a mercenary guild, but it was essentially just an inn.

It was a place where mercenaries not yet employed by the Empire stayed, ate, drank, and lived.

Mercenaries not yet hired would stay at this mercenary guild temporarily. If I hired them, they would be incorporated into the city’s forces; if not, they would leave for another city.

Since you never knew when good talent might come and go, it was good to visit often.

Even though it was early morning, the sounds of boisterous drunken revelry could be heard from inside. Lucky bastards.

“I’ll go in first, Your Highness.”

“No.”

As Lucas reached for the doorknob, I shook my head and pulled his hand away.

“I’ll go first.”

Then, I kicked the door open and went inside.

*Bang!*

“Come on out~!”

My rough entrance made the mercenaries, who had been drinking and partying inside the guild, all look my way at once.

Those fervent gazes were quite warm. About 100 of them, I’d guess?

“What? Who the hell is that!”

“You got a death wish or something!”

The fierce glares were a bit much, but I wasn’t intimidated at all.

The looks in these guys’ eyes were tamer than those of the black spiders, and besides,

“I’m going to be your employer!”

More than anything, I was the boss. You guys were the underlings.

I scanned the mercenaries and growled.

“What, you bastards? Can’t you lower your eyes?!”

Lucas covered his eyes with his hand. What. What. I’m a psycho maniac anyway. Is there anything I can’t do?

We strode into the mercenary guild. I could hear whispers all around me.

“It’s the Third Prince, Ash.”

“That psycho? The one who kills everyone if he doesn’t like them?”

“Isn’t he the one who annihilated the troops at the forward base…?”

“But they say he killed all the spiders too?”

I ignored the murmuring and calmly headed deeper into the guild, scanning the surrounding mercenaries.

‘Is there anyone who shines?’

The mercenary guild was basically a place to ‘draw’ new characters.

To make it easier for players to recognize, high-grade characters emitted a subtle aura within the guild.

R-rank was blue. SR-rank was purple. SSR-rank was gold. That kind of thing.

I walked around inside the mercenary guild, trying to find that light. Where are you!

“……!”

And then, I finally found it.

At the very back of the mercenary guild, at the bar, sat an elderly woman in a neat military uniform.

Behind her silhouette, a faint purple light shimmered.

‘An SR-rank character?!’

What a stroke of luck! I couldn’t hide my smile as I approached the mercenary.

“Welcome to the Crossroads branch of the Continental Mercenary Guild, Your Highness.”

The woman had neatly swept her white hair back into a bun.

Her left eye was missing, covered by a leather patch, and a large cigar was clamped between her wrinkled lips.

I casually sat down next to her.

“May I ask your name, mercenary?”

“Gladly. I am Jupiter. It’s an honor to meet you.”

SR-rank lightning magic user, Jupiter!

Recognizing her, I cheered inwardly. This old woman was already at the mercenary guild?

I gestured with my chin at Jupiter, who was giving me a polite salute.

“That’s an unfamiliar uniform. Which country is it from?”

“It’s from our Everblack Empire. It’s a model from decades ago, so you may not have seen it before.”

Jupiter proudly brushed off her old black uniform. There were more than ten medals pinned to her chest.

I already knew, but I still let out a “Hoo~” of admiration.

“So, you were originally a soldier of the Empire?”

“I served for 30 years. I was even the captain of the 2nd Magic Corps of the Empire. After retiring, I’ve been making a living as a mercenary.”

“Devoting yourself to your country even after retirement, you’re a model soldier!”

“Not really. I’m just doing mercenary work because my retirement pension isn’t enough to live on.”

*Smirk.* Jupiter smiled. It was a villainous smile, not a soldier’s.

“But the mercenary world isn’t bad either. It’s merit-based and performance-based, so I’m making enough to get by.”

“You seem to have expensive tastes?”

“It’s a bad habit of an old man who’s lived on the battlefield his whole life. I can’t seem to grasp the concept of saving when I don’t know when I’ll die.”

Jupiter skillfully blew smoke from the cigar in her mouth and smiled at me.

“So, Your Highness. What brings you here?”

“Is there any other reason to come to the mercenary guild? I came to hire some useful mercenaries.”

“Or did you come to buy some disposable pawns to die in your place?”

At Jupiter’s sarcastic remark, Lucas’s hand went to the hilt of his sword.

“How dare you…!”

“Lucas.”

I grabbed Lucas’s arm to stop him.

“It’s okay.”

“……”

Lucas reluctantly stepped back, still glaring at Jupiter.

“The results of the battle at the forward base have already spread far and wide, Your Highness. It seems you paid a considerable price for your reckless first campaign.”

Jupiter tapped her cigar with her long, wrinkled fingers and tilted her head.

“It’s true that we’re just a bunch of hired thugs who fight for money, but we’re not fools digging our own graves. We have no intention of throwing our lives away following a greenhorn commander.”

“I see.”

Nodding, I scanned the mercenaries in the guild.

“But you guys, aren’t you here to sell your lives anyway?”

Some of the mercenaries flinched at my harsh tone.

“Isn’t it because you have no other way to make a living that you’ve ended up on this godforsaken front line? But now you’re afraid to sell your lives?”

*Whack!*

I faced Jupiter and pointed my index finger in front of her face.

“You say you’re not a fool digging your own grave? That’s a bit strange, ‘Ms.’ Jupiter.”

“Huh? What do you mean…”

“Your career is impressive, but the reason you were discharged was because you were caught secretly skimming off the top, wasn’t it? Wasn’t that digging your own grave?”

“?!”

Jupiter’s one eye widened. She probably didn’t expect me to know everything.

I grinned and continued.

“You were involved in everything from defense industry corruption to secret trade with enemy countries. When you were caught, you were dishonorably discharged as if you were running away! And yet, you’re still wearing your military uniform with pride. How shameless!”

The embodiment of corruption. A fallen and rotten soldier. A dishonorably discharged veteran whose achievements were erased.

But her ability as a combatant was real. A heroine who was more suited to being a pirate than a soldier.

That was this old woman, the lightning mage Jupiter.

Jupiter bit her lip. The end of her cigar trembled.

“Your Highness. Although it ended badly, I have pride as a soldier of the Empire. Please watch your words…”

“How much?”

I cut her off with a sneer.

“How much can you sell me that pride of yours for?”

“……”

Jupiter’s eyes narrowed. We locked eyes for a moment.

This kind of person was more trustworthy. Because they only had one principle of action.

Money.

Only money!

“I’m asking how much it would take for you to become my hunting dog.”

Jupiter chuckled and put the cigar back in her mouth.

“I’m quite expensive, you know. I’m getting 100,000 Adels a year…”

“200,000.”

*Thud.*

The cigar fell onto the bar table. Jupiter asked back, her face as if she couldn’t believe her ears.

“Huh?”

“I’ll give you double. 200,000.”

It might be a lot for a mercenary’s annual salary, but I was the prince of the Empire and the lord of this city.

More than anything, I had just sold over 400 high-grade magic stones.

Throwing money around?

If I could buy an SR-rank hero confirmation ticket, I’d do it as much as I wanted.

“I’ll buy your fear of death! I’ll pay double your current annual salary in a lump sum!”

Mercenaries were usually hired on a weekly basis. Because they were like flies, not knowing when they would die.

But I was going to give them an annual salary all at once.

I took out a stack of gold coin certificates from my pocket.

I showed the certificates in my hand and smiled at the inside of the guild.

“Cowards who don’t want to sell their lives, get lost! But if you’re a real mercenary who wants to earn a lot of gold, come to the open space west of Crossroads tonight.”

I left only those last words and turned around. I left the guild as I felt the bewildered gazes of the mercenaries on my back.

Lucas, who had quickly followed me, looked back at the closed door of the guild and asked.

“Will the mercenaries… come?”

“Of course. They’ll definitely come.”

This place was the monster front line where the fallen gathered.

The mercenaries all gathered with the dream of making a killing and getting out.

For these people, double the annual salary was a proposal that was so sweet it would rot their teeth.

Money was scarier than death.

On Earth, and in this world, that truth was the same.

“Even if the other mercenaries don’t, I must recruit Jupiter. Our party definitely needs an area-of-effect attacker.”

“But according to what you said, Your Highness, she seems like a woman with a very shady past.”

“On the battlefield, Lucas, a capable piece of trash is more reliable than an incompetent moralist.”

Monsters don’t follow morals. They just kill the humans in front of them.

We’re not in a position to follow morals either. All we need is the ability to kill monsters.

“……Well, that’s just on the battlefield.”

I smiled bitterly and got into the waiting carriage.

“As a lord, I have to show a little bit of morality.”

***

The next place I visited was the temple.

Lucas had been nagging me to get the burns I had suffered in the last stage treated.

It didn’t matter when I got it fixed, but I also had business at the temple, so I came quietly.

“Welcome, Your Highness. We have been waiting for you.”

A young woman in a tightly fitted priest’s robe greeted me.

The representative of the non-R-rank heroes, Saint Margherita. With a skill set focused solely on healing and shields, she was a top-tier healer in the game.

‘I can recruit her later if I meet certain conditions.’

But I wasn’t here to recruit her today.

Margherita healed my burns in an instant. It felt like it didn’t even take five minutes.

“It’s done. There will be a faint scar left, though.”

“Thank you, Saintess.”

I put my unbandaged hand in front of my chest and gestured to Lucas.

Lucas handed me a bag of gold coins, and I put the whole thing into the donation box.

“Then, Saintess, as we discussed in advance…”

I had sent Damian here in advance last night.

To convey my business. It seemed like everything had been discussed, as Margherita readily nodded.

“Yes. I have called all the priests who are currently free.”

About a dozen priests who had been waiting bowed to me. Damian was among them.

Damian smiled awkwardly, and I gave him a thin smile.

“Then let’s go right away.”

I led the priests and walked ahead.

“We have a lot to do today. You’re going to have a hard time.”

***

That evening. West of Crossroads.

Under the sky dyed red by the setting sun, a procession of coffins from the forward base arrived.

Even after gathering all the coffins left in Crossroads, it wasn’t enough, so some of the troops had to be sent into the forest to make coffins.

In the open space of the western wasteland, soldiers had been ordered to dig graves in advance. The coffins were placed in the empty spaces one by one.

The priests recited prayers for each coffin.

The coffin was placed in Ken’s grave, which was set up at the very front. I silently watched the scene.

A choir sang as they watched this process.

It was a hastily assembled choir, recruited from Crossroads and even nearby villages, anyone who could sing. It was hastily assembled, but it was quite listenable.

La la la… La la la la….

A mournful and beautiful song echoed.

Citizens flocked out to watch this scene.

The neatly lined-up soldiers. The Imperial flags covering each coffin. A large choir. It was a proper funeral, a rare sight in this city where death was common and cheap.

More than anything, the compensation money that would go to the bereaved families.

Among the citizens who came to watch, the amount of compensation money was being whispered about.

Those who were surprised by the amount were murmuring. Soon, the rumors would spread quickly.

‘I have no intention of sugarcoating it.’

I smiled bitterly inside as I watched the citizens murmuring in surprise, as I intended.

Yes, I have no intention of sugarcoating it. This is a show. But it’s a reasonable show.

‘Loyalty doesn’t come for free.’

Rewards for devotion. Honor for death.

Only this, rewards and honor, create loyalty.

‘Fighting on this front line must be accepted as a noble mission for humanity.’

Not reluctantly, but willingly. They must fight monsters with their chests puffed out.

And then, and only then, would the mercenaries become a real army.

“I am Ash ‘Bonehater’ Everblack, the newly appointed Third Prince and Lord.”

After a series of procedures, I stood in front of the citizens who had gathered like clouds.

It was a bit ironic that the first meeting between the lord and the citizens was at a funeral.

“Is that the new lord?”

“That crazy prince?”

“He looks like he has a bad temper…”

Among the citizens who were talking as they pleased, I could see Jupiter and the mercenaries. They came properly.

“Let me say this first.”

Thousands of eyes were on me, but was it because of my long career as a streamer? Or was it because my fear had evaporated from rolling around with monsters?

I wasn’t nervous at all. The words I had prepared came out smoothly.

“You will continue to die on the front lines!”