HTSAADK 03

A Way to Live as a Disaster-Class Knight: Episode 003

3. Three Mercenaries and a Stupid Merchant

I was walking along the mountain path. I had sold the gray bear, used the money to buy a sturdy leather backpack from a general store, and stuffed it full of provisions.
It would have been nice to get spices, but the general store in Milford village didn’t handle pepper or salt.
They were such high-priced goods, and there was the critical problem of having to store them for a long time because the villagers were poor.
Salt was relatively easy to store, but pepper lost its aroma over time, so it wasn’t a product Milford handled.
Anyway, I had swallowed a bit of regret and left Milford.
The destination was the small city of Bamertan.
A city about two days’ ride on horseback to the west, belonging to the territory of Viscount Marcus.
The lord was a pot-bellied former merchant, rumored to have bought his title with money. They called him a Baronet.
Unlike existing nobles, a Baronet couldn’t inherit the title, but to become a real Baron, he was supposedly squeezing the blood out of his territory’s people, etc.
Anyway, that place could be called my first destination. I heard there were many monster disturbances nearby, making it good for mercenaries to live.

“Hmm. The taste isn’t bad.”
I was walking the path while tearing into the cheap jerky bought from Tom’s general store.
The money I got from selling the gray bear was 50 silver.
A considerable amount.
Because the carcass’s preservation state was good, and recently, bear paws started selling for high prices in nearby territories, the meat also sold for stamina-boosting purposes, allowing me to sell it for a much higher price.
Tom said he spent half the money he had on buying this gray bear.
I couldn’t tell if it was true or a lie, but anyway, it meant I made a much larger sum than catching wolves.
Hunting beasts is quite a lucrative business like this.
Although the critical problem was that a gray bear of the size I caught could cause casualties even if a dozen low-rank mercenaries tackled it…
Anyway, considering the average monthly living expenses for a family of four is about 20 silver, I made a bit more than double that.
Actually, a gray bear of that size could fetch a much better price if taken to a city. It was just a pain to carry, and I needed many supplies, so I disposed of it there.
I needed travel supplies, and for that, I needed money.

“It’s not something I can do by plundering.”

How long had I been walking the mountain path eating jerky? The narrow mountain path widened a bit, revealing an open highway.
It was a well-maintained road, compacted so carriages could pass.
Following this, it would take three days.
Two days on horseback, so with my footsteps, three days would be enough.

But I had no choice but to stop my footsteps not long after.
A carriage that had been running on the highway in the distance had its wheel stuck in a ditch.
“D-damn it! Why did the wheel come off, dammit! Even if the meat is salted, in this weather it’ll go bad soon! Isn’t there any way, Walter!”
“Goodness! Merchant Anselm, we’re just low-rank mercenaries. What skill do we have to lift a carriage stuck in a ditch? Do you think we’re bears or trolls?”
“Ahh! Just do as you’re told, why so much talk! Do you know how much money I paid to hire you?”
A skinny middle-aged man was arguing with mercenaries making absurd expressions. Beside him, a young man who looked like the merchant’s attendant was stomping his feet anxiously.
The atmosphere was quite tense. Seeing the mercenaries, whose pride was hurt, twitching their hands on their sword hilts, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was a situation on the brink of explosion.
The skinny merchant called Anselm was raising his voice even within that ominous atmosphere.
“I’ll file a complaint with the Mercenary Guild as soon as we return! You! And especially you! Daring to humiliate this person who will become a great merchant, you’ll have to pay the price!”
“…Merchant Anselm. This is difficult for us too. Let’s stop here.”
There were two carriages total, and three mercenaries hired as escorts. The group was too small to be called a mercenary band.
But judging by the aura they emitted, and how they were maintaining maximum rationality while dealing with a problematic employer, it was clear they were well-trained mercenaries.

I sat on a nearby rock at that interesting sight and pulled out a piece of jerky from my backpack, chewing on it.
It’s a sight hard to see in an illegal slash-and-burn village. That cramped, narrow village was located on the outskirts adjacent to the mountains, a place where people’s footsteps rarely reached.
It was a remote village where even seeing travelers was difficult, let alone mercenaries.
So, seeing mercenaries of that level, or a merchant raising his voice and spewing insults, was also a first for me this time.
Quite interesting.
In a world without dramas, games, or novels, such spectacles could also be considered a fairly interesting form of amusement.

But then.
The mercenary man first called Walter narrowed his eyes and spoke as if spitting out words.
“If we unload all the cargo and use our strength, we might be able to pull the carriage out. If you give us time, the carriage…”
“D-dare you touch my cargo? Pl-planning to steal it, huh? Is that it? Did you deliberately push my carriage into the ditch?”
The skinny merchant began pointing fingers while insisting on an unreasonable stubbornness.
My skin might be hard enough to block arrowheads, but I thought it was nothing compared to that skinny merchant.
Even though his heart wasn’t made of steel and his head would surely shatter if fought, he could spout such abusive language.
As if my thoughts weren’t far off, eventually one mercenary who had been enduring it exerted force on his hand at his waist and drew his sword.
“…Talking about seeing, seeing. Hey, Merchant sir, do we look like complete dicks to you?”
“D-drawing a sword? A-are you insane?”
“What’re you gonna do? If you slander us to the Guild, getting screwed is the same either way. If we kill you and throw the corpse to the mountain beasts, that’s it. What can they do if we say the merchant went missing while camping? If we deliver the cargo intact, they’ll probably believe it, right?”
Incidents where mercenaries kill merchants and plunder cargo are more common than one might think. Not all mercenaries are trustworthy ones.
But if they deliver the cargo intact to the city, they could avoid that misunderstanding.
They could disguise it as a real accidental death, not plunder. They’d still receive suspicious looks, but it meant they could get past the immediate crisis.
Of course, they’d receive penalties for failing to perfectly escort the merchant, but they seemed heated enough to accept that.

“S-spare me! I-I misspoke! If you’re upset, I’ll apologize! Huh? W-Walter, I actually admired you! Your strong swordsmanship and charisma! S-so I guess I was a bit jealous and my words slipped! It’s true!”
“What? What the hell is this son of a bitch spouting nonsense…!”
Even I, who was watching the situation, was surprised by the skinny merchant’s sudden change in attitude.
The moment the sword was drawn, his attitude changed drastically. He was even flattering the man named Walter, whom he had treated like an insect.
I wasn’t the only one finding it absurd, as the other mercenaries also made dumbfounded expressions.

Interesting.
This was quite a fresh development.
The mercenary called Walter trembled his hand and bit his lip.
“…Damn. If you were going to apologize that easily, you should’ve done it before I drew my sword.”
“W-what do you mean?”
“I mean it’s irreversible, damn it!”

The moment the mercenary gritted his teeth and tried to swing his sword, the merchant, who was stepping back, met my eyes as I sat on the rock.
Even while tripping over a stone and falling, the merchant stared at me intently and raised his voice.
“…O-over there, traveler! Please save me! I’ll reward you! 5 silver! No, I’ll give you 10 silver!”
For a moment, I doubted my ears at the merchant’s desperately crying voice.

5 silver?
If what I heard correctly, the merchant definitely mentioned a reward of 5 silver.
No, he immediately raised the price, so ultimately I was offered 10 silver.
For a moment, I couldn’t help but be impressed.
Just how miserly do you have to be to call out such an absurd, ridiculous amount in a life-or-death situation?
Of course, 10 silver isn’t a small amount of money.
Equivalent to close to 1 million won in modern terms, even for mercenary work, for a low-rank mercenary, it’s about a week’s work.
But judging solely by this merchant’s situation, his attitude was clearly trying to get away cheaply for his life’s value.
If I step in here, the mercenaries I’d have to subdue are three.
Subduing all of them and saving the merchant’s life for 10 silver—this is no different from asking me to work for free.

“W-why aren’t you answering?”
“…I’m not that cheap of labor, you know. Besides, I have enough money for now.”

I couldn’t help but be impressed that the first medieval fantasy merchant I encounter in my life was such a madman.
Not all merchants are like this.
That merchant called Anselm was clearly a peculiar one unlike other merchants.
Walter, who had been bristling as if to cut Anselm’s head off right then, looked back at me and narrowed his eyes. A clearly wary attitude. He flinched and trembled after checking my muscular physique.
“Damn. What is that bulk?”
“Walter. Calm down. We can’t kill a merchant in front of another person.”
The man with a robust build next to him blocked Walter and shook his head.
He also seemed heated, as his expression was stiff, but he seemed to be maintaining rationality.
Above all, among those three mercenaries, he had the most well-developed physique.
The forearm revealed between his well-organized leather armor boasted solid muscles impossible without training.
Sharp gaze, well-refined aura, the sense to grasp the situation, etc.
I guessed he was probably the leader of their group.
The man with short hair looked back at me and asked warily.
“I am the low-rank mercenary Hokarn. Who are you?”
“A traveler? No, I should say mercenary.”
“Mercenary. I’ve never seen a mercenary without a weapon. Your bulk is certainly…”
Low-rank mercenary Hokarn’s gaze swept over my body. A look meant to see through the opponent’s fighting style, personality, and maximum combat potential.
Hokarn silently looked at me, then twisted one corner of his mouth and said.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t see you, so if you have no business, I’d appreciate it if you passed by. We have no intention of causing friction with Merchant Anselm. I hope you don’t have any other misunderstandings.”
“Was there anything to misunderstand from the start? I was just thinking that merchant guy was asking for it.”
“…Huh? A-asking for it, you say?”
“Yeah. That merchant guy did something deserving first. Am I wrong?”
I gave my honest impression from watching while sitting on the rock, and at this, the mercenary named Hokarn, who had been wary of me, opened his mouth wide.
“Didn’t Merchant Anselm make a request to you? We were concerned you might intervene in this matter.”
“Ooh!”
“Why do you say that?”
“That thing, is it okay? It’s quite big.”
Making an interested expression, I stretched out my finger and pointed behind the carriage.
Precisely, at the sky.
The mercenaries turned their heads following my finger and widened their eyes.

Paaaat-
Something in the sky began descending rapidly.
“Kyaak!”
It snatched up the skinny merchant’s body as it flew and soared into the sky.
It was a giant crow with a wingspan approaching almost 7 meters.
An overwhelming size unseen in the modern era.
A monster with a ruthless physique almost worthy of being called a pterosaur.
“S-save me! Damn it! I beg you, save me!”
The merchant, kidnapped by the giant crow, screamed as he got farther away.
And that sight was being watched by the mercenaries, who just moments ago had been arguing about killing or saving the merchant, with dazed expressions.

“D-don’t we have to save him? Walter, you didn’t plan to kill him either, right.”
“Ha, damn. That damn merchant.”
No matter how much of a bastard he was, the employer was the employer. Eventually, Walter, who had frowned, took out a bow from his back, notched an arrow, and aimed at the crow.
Even during this, the crow was getting farther away, and Walter, with trembling hands, gripped the bowstring, concentrating.
Judging by his expression, he didn’t seem very confident.

I got up from my seat, picked up a stone that had fallen on the ground, and quietly looked back at Hokarn and Walter’s group.
“Do you happen to have pepper? Salt?”
“…Huh?”
“If you pay a reasonable price, I’ll catch that crow for you.”

At my lightly thrown-out words, the faces of the three mercenaries contorted with absurdity.
I have no intention of helping for free.
Save the merchant—a typical sycophant who’s stupid but servile before the strong—and get a guarantee of identity from him.
That’s the conclusion I reached.
Of course, if he picks a fight with me like he did with Walter, I plan to smash his skull.
Judging by that typical strong-weak-weak-strong merchant, it doesn’t seem like he’ll do that.

Next.