Chapter...111

"A Secretly Capable Child Is Seeking For Her Dad"

Inside the carriage.

With a sullen expression, Lucarion stared at Tia, who was sitting across from him.

For a while now, Tia had been leaning against the wall, humming to herself.

“Love is a frozen moooon”

At the incomprehensible lyrics, Veil muttered,

“What’s with you freezing things all the time? And what would a little brat like you know about love?”

“Yes”

Seeing Tia’s bright, cheerful expression, Veil let out a hollow laugh.

“What do you mean yes? You probably played house twice and already think you’re ready to get married”

Tia’s sparkling green eyes instantly widened.

“Tia really is gonna get married though”

Nordix burst into hearty laughter from where he was listening.

With a warm smile, he asked,

“Astie, do you want to get married when you grow up?”

At her energetic answer, Raul and Enzo turned toward her with curious expressions.

Hugging her teddy bear, Orb, tightly in her arms, Tia puffed out her chest proudly and replied,

“When Tia gets married later, I’m gonna wear a princess dress.”

“A princess dress”

“Yep And two of them too! For the procession dress, I’m gonna wear one with lots of fluttery stuff underneath, and when I greet people, I’m gonna wear a mammoth dress”

The mercenaries looked completely bewildered, making Tia tilt her head inwardly.

Come to think of it wasn’t it called a mammoth dress.

Well, anyway.

The child’s eyes sparkled once more.

“And then Tia and my spouse are gonna live together happily for a super, super long time.”

For a plan made by a four-year-old, it was surprisingly detailed.

After exchanging glances with the others, Raul asked,

“But Boss, where exactly did you learn all this?”

Tia immediately put on a dignified expression.

“I heard moms talking about it at the playground. And weddings are in fairy tales too, and on TV.”

“Yeah But”

Tia unconsciously closed her mouth.

Several wedding scenes she had seen on television suddenly flashed through her mind.

The weddings on TV were well.

They were incredible in a completely different way from the ones in Disney animations or fairy tales.

Lowering her voice seriously, Tia spoke again.

“If the groom cheats and they get divorced, then they get married again. And then the first wife cries a lot.”

Everyone’s eyes widened, but Tia merely shrugged and continued.

“And then they grab each other’s hair and go, ‘Hey Did you steal my husband Then you should’ve managed your husband better And then they fight.”

Raul choked and coughed awkwardly.

Veil added in disbelief,

“What kind of thing is this TV that it teaches you such filthy relationship drama?”

Tia looked at Veil as if he were hopelessly ignorant.

“Oppa, it didn’t teach me. It showed me. And besides, TV having problems isn’t exactly news.”

Then, mimicking the tone of Grandma in Room 107 as if to say there was much more where that came from, she added,

“The world’s gone mad, I tell.

After shrugging her shoulders, Tia started humming again, and the mercenaries fell silent.

At some point, the child had returned to gazing happily out the window.

The sky at that moment was brilliantly clear.

‘It was raining when we first arrived at Adeline unni’s village.’

Now even the chilly weather had warmed enough that leaving the window open no longer felt cold.

‘Only three more nights of sleep till we reach the capital for real’

Thinking that, Tia grinned gleefully.

Before leaving Kaldenvine Ridge, Basto had said

“We’ve packed food, drinking water, and pretty much everything else. Veil’s recovered too, so we plan to leave immediately.”

“If we travel without resting, we should arrive within four days.”

When she heard that, Tia’s heart had nearly burst from excitement.

It had already been quite a while since Blackie helped her come to this world.

She had stopped counting the days, but it had definitely been over thirty no, more like forty nights already.

‘But now all I have to do is go to the Commander’s house in the capital and check the Holy Knights organization chart.’

Then she would finally learn what her father’s real name was.

And she would find out where he was now too.

‘When I meet Dad again he won’t recognize Tia.’

Still, that was okay.

Because with the dad in this world, they would simply start over from the beginning.

Tia promised herself not to be sad over things like that anymore.

All relationships took time in the first place.

Making new friends at kindergarten was like that too, wasn’t it?

Her heart thumped excitedly.

‘Grandma from Room 107 said if you do things slowly, one at a time, everything works out.’

So Tia would stay brave.

As a mercenary, she would take care of her team members until the day she could finally tell her father the whole truth.

The child hugged her teddy bear tightly and rested her chin on the windowsill.

Both of her rosy cheeks were filled with anticipation.

Meanwhile, at the Central Branch of the Imperial Capital Compensation Bureau.

“What’s this?”

Director Ornel frowned as he reviewed documents sent up from the eastern region.

In his hand was a sheet of paper labeled Agabert.

“What kind of group are these guys for their projected ranking to rise this much? From 39th to 12th”

It was rare for a mercenary group’s ranking to rise so steeply.

Even Trevaga, during its prime, had never climbed this quickly.

In the end, Ornel stubbed out the cigar he had been smoking against a flowerpot stand.

Then he waved the document overhead.

“Remy. Bring me the supplementary documents for this if there are any.”

At his words, someone poked their head out from between the bookshelves across the room.

It was a young woman with dark circles under her eyes and messy hair.

“Supplementary documents for Agabert hold on, where did I put those again”

After rummaging around several desks, the woman suddenly exclaimed.

She tucked the papers she found into a file folder and brought them over to Ornel.

“It must’ve been left out because it arrived directly from headquarters this morning.”

A large emblem of the Holy Order was stamped across the page she handed him.

That meant the document had been reviewed by none other than the Supreme Commander of the Holy Order, who governed the entire organization.

“Let’s see Official notice from Holy Order Headquarters Document number 3393”

Ornel’s eyes sharpened seriously.

Indeed.

The document contained details regarding Agabert’s rise in ranking.

But one particular word immediately caught his attention.

“Krazar”

Krazar was an ancient monster so powerful that even Valentis Luminen had reportedly struggled against it for five whole days long ago.

But now, not only had such a monster resurrected

“The Death Spirit King destroyed it alone”

At his muttering, the subordinate employee who had been walking away froze in place.

And it wasn’t just Remy.

Everyone in the busy central branch turned to stare at Ornel.

Calmly, Ornel continued reading the report.

“H-Headquarters has reached a conclusion regarding the recent controversies surrounding the ‘Subspace Incident’ and the ‘Reappearance of an Ancient Monster, based on in-depth review and reports from related organizations”

Headquarters has defined this matter as “The Resurrection of the Ancient Monster Krazar.”

The individual responsible for handling and resolving the incident is the “Death Spirit King” (alias) of Agabert, and said feat has been classified as the conquest of a large-scale magic stone fortress by an individual.

The Compensation Bureau (Central Branch) is instructed by Headquarters to adjust Agabert’s future ranking accordingly.

Ornel swallowed hard.

Hesitating, he picked up Agabert’s file once more.

On the paper

next to the words “Quarterly Ranking Change,” the numbers stood out clearly.

“From 39 to 12.”

He stared blankly at the document.

Was this even possible?

And if it was, then their growth rate was faster than even Trevaga’s.

Only after a long while did Ornel finally lift his official seal with a dazed expression.

Soon, the sound of a loud stamp echoed throughout the bureau as he pressed it firmly onto the approval line.

At that moment, Astie’s “Fresh Mercenary Group,” Agabert, officially secured 12th place in the continental rankings.

And then, four days later

Under the brightly shining moon in the night sky above the center of the imperial capital,

Agabert’s carriage rattled along the paved road.