Chapter 42: Mercenary (1)
“Um, Big Brother. Are you perhaps dissatisfied with us in some way…….”
Eddy, upon hearing Harang's words, asked cautiously with a bewildered expression.
It was understandable, as the Eddy Family was currently enjoying its greatest prosperity.
Although they hadn't gone around boasting about the specific results of the bet for fear of provoking the Portville family, everyone in the city already knew.
The fact that the Eddy Family, against most expectations, had crushed the pride of the swordsmanship family.
If this had been a false rumor, they might have shown signs of anxiety, wondering when the truth would be revealed, but…….
‘That’s not it either.
Because we won fair and square with our skills.’
Although it was merely a Wooden Sword duel where Aura couldn't be used, defeating a mid-level Expert swordsman with pure swordsmanship was also a sufficiently valuable result.
The effect was clear just by looking at the other thugs.
The guys who used to skip training every time, saying it was bothersome, painful, and difficult, had been participating diligently for a month now.
As their actions changed, their skills changed, and as their skills changed, their mindset also changed.
How did it change, you ask?
‘Well, obviously, they’re incredibly confident!’
They were no longer a small-to-medium gang that bickered with Travion in the city's back alleys.
The organization's reputation had risen to a level where they could pride themselves on being, both in name and reality, one of the groups representing Marzen.
‘But why?’
Naturally, questions had to arise.
In a situation that couldn't be better, to abandon their entire foundation?
To start a new line of work?
If any other fellow had said that, he would have immediately landed a fist, but this was Harang, no less.
Harang Big Brother, who had made him who he was today.
Therefore, Eddy could only wait for Big Brother's answer with a cautious expression, and after a moment, words flowed from the black-haired young man's mouth.
“Yesterday, while looking around the street stalls in the eastern Outer District, I saw some thug intimidating traveling peddlers from out of town.”
“Yes? Intimidating them? That can't be, recently there have been hardly any incidents caused by our side…….”
“Ah, it wasn’t the Eddy Family. However, he did lie and say he was affiliated with the Eddy Family.”
“Ha! Have you ever seen such a son of a bitch! Who is it! I need to break that bastard's legs right now!”
Eddy retorted in a loud voice.
He had no choice.
Perhaps due to the family's recently increased reputation, petty criminals impersonating them kept popping up here and there.
Pale and the other executives were having a considerably hard time because of these guys who kept appearing endlessly, no matter how many they caught.
Including Eddy, of course.
However, what Harang focused on was not the fact that someone had impersonated the Eddy Family.
It was the fact that the Eddy Family had become the target of impersonation.
“Why do you think that thug impersonated the Eddy Family?”
“Yes? Well… because we’re doing well these days?”
“That’s not entirely wrong. But more accurately, it would be ‘because they’re scary,’ right?”
“Huh?”
“Isn’t that so? Thugs can’t help but be frightening figures, can they?”
“……”
Eddy remained silent.
Harang’s words were true.
No matter how relaxed one's heart was, how good-natured one was, or how much one showed only good sides to those around, if the label ‘thug’ was attached to their name, the image changed completely.
Not just Merchants, but everyone around them couldn't help but fear him.
Harang, having thought this far, explained it to Eddy.
He himself could see it because he was watching from a step back, but it could be different for the person involved.
Indeed, he, who had lived as a thug for a long time, couldn't understand what the problem was for a long while, only belatedly realizing what Harang was trying to say.
“No matter what kind of heart we have, no matter what actions we show…… we can’t go on like this, as thugs.”
“That’s what I think, yes.”
Harang nodded.
It wasn’t really a matter to force.
He wished for all transactions between Merchants and the Eddy Family, no, between people, to be conducted on an equal footing.
It was not what he aimed for, for one side to gain benefits through powerful force and fear.
However, if he forced this upon Eddy, Pale, Iron Fist, and Bloody Fist, he himself would just become the same kind of person.
Therefore.
“I would like the Eddy Family to officially register their name at a Mercenary Brokerage and then, from an equal position with Merchants…… meaning, not by collecting protection money through fear and dread, but by providing military force through sound contracts and receiving commission fees in return.”
“Hmm.”
“Of course, if you don’t want to, this is fine too. I’m just stating my thoughts.”
Harang did not intimidate Eddy.
He merely shared his thoughts as such and then left the vacant lot where training was in full swing.
They would likely need time to think.
‘If possible, I hope things go according to my story.’
Why am I having such thoughts?
Whatever choice Eddy makes, whatever actions Pale and the other members take, it should be of no concern to me, so why do I wish for them to follow my thoughts?
‘Since coming out of the village, I’ve had so many various worries.’
Of course, he had no intention of ignoring this.
Because he knew that such new stimuli, new experiences, promoted his own growth.
The reason?
It was certain.
Surprisingly, he had recently been experiencing much faster growth than when he was undergoing harsh training inside the village.
However, separate from such things, the world was still difficult.
Among them, people were even more difficult.
‘If the Eddy Family follows my words, what kind of story will I tell next?’
And what kind of stories will they tell.
And accordingly, in what direction will the relationship between myself and them flow.
I couldn't know.
But that was why it was interesting.
“For now, shall I go watch a street circus or something.”
Harang, muttering to himself, headed for the market.
He spent time alone, not only watching the circus but also looking around various places in Marzen.
Three days later, Eddy and Pale came to him and said.
“We will follow Big Brother’s words.”
“We will become Mercenaries.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Harang replied with a smile.
* * *
The Eddy Family, rulers of Marzen's back alleys, suddenly changed their profession.
They decided to quit being thugs and become Mercenaries.
Of course, not everyone agreed with this decision.
Those who didn't have deep ties with Eddy, namely the thugs of the former Travion Family, reacted to Harang’s proposal with disbelief.
“What the fuck, now that life’s finally gotten better, what? Register as Mercenaries and live off commission fees?”
“What kind of bullshit is that! Why do we have to do such troublesome things, even paying a commission to the Mercenary Brokerage!”
“If it’s going to be like this, there’s no need to stay in Marzen. Big Brothers, isn't that right?”
“That’s right. It seems like it’s time to leave.”
It wasn't simply a matter of rebellion.
In fact, they had harbored dissatisfaction with the Eddy Family for some time.
For the Travion Family members, who had chosen the life of a thug because they liked earning money by comfortably intimidating others as they pleased, the Boss named Eddy was like ill-fitting clothes.
‘What?
Show respect to Merchants?
Bullshit!
Those bastards are the type you have to beat the shit out of and threaten to get money from!’
‘Train?
Physical training?
Are you crazy, when we don’t even have time to booze and gamble…….’
‘Just teach us the Aura Cultivation Method!
That bastard Harang, he’s so strong himself, but what he teaches is just physical training everyone knows… Maybe he only taught it separately to the Eddy Family executives?’
For them, whose heads were already full of such thoughts, being told to abandon the easy path of a thug and choose the path of a Mercenary with its many restrictions was an utterly unacceptable story.
In the end, most of the former Travion Family decided not to follow Eddy’s words.
It wasn't just their story.
Among those who had originally belonged to the Eddy Family, not a few defected.
Eddy and Pale wore bitter expressions as they watched them leave for other cities.
‘But this is right.’
However, Eddy did not regret it.
Unlike other thugs, he hadn't become a thug because he wanted to.
He had merely ended up this way while struggling to survive after coming to the city, and his real dream was to become stronger.
There wasn't really a reason.
Does a man need such a thing to pursue strength?
Anyway, recently, the goal he had half given up on due to his ambiguous talent had been reignited.
To be precise, it was thanks to Harang, the figure who had appeared in his life like a comet.
He constantly provided him with better choices.
He had removed the pretense that had unknowingly filled his body.
He had removed the fat that had unknowingly accumulated in various parts of his body.
Now, every time he wielded the sword, which was more familiar than his fists, his respect for Big Brother grew steadily.
It was the same this time.
A great thug?
There was no such thing.
But there were great Mercenaries.
Even if there weren't, he could just become one.
Unlike a thug, being a Mercenary was a profession that allowed one to dream such sweet dreams, a profession not shameful in front of others.
‘Alright.
Let’s do this properly.’
‘Let’s do it, Big Brother! Let’s show them we can do it too!’
‘Sounds good!’
‘I like it too!’
‘Let’s cheer up, Big Brothers!’
Pale, the Fist brothers, Glen, and the younger brothers who belatedly decided to follow their will.
Although the scale had shrunk from about 80 members to 25, it was okay.
He patted the shoulders of everyone, who had become even more tightly knit, and immediately sought out Big Brother.
Harang nodded and said with a smile.
“More people remained than I thought.”
“Fewer remained than I thought…… Those idiots. Harang Big Brother presented them with a life vision, and they couldn't even take it……”
“Vision? What’s a vision? Do you know?”
“Are you asking me right now, Bloody Fist Big Brother?”
“It’s a bit absurd that they made the wrong choice because they didn’t know something even these blockhead Fist brothers know. And even…… Daereon stayed.”
Pale muttered, looking at the former assassin, Daereon.
For him, it was indeed an incomprehensible choice.
Thanks to helping with the bet against the Portville Sword Family, he had received the antidote from Harang, so he was currently a free man.
But why on earth was he sticking around here, even accepting the lowest position, rank 25, in the reborn Eddy Family?
Of course, Daereon had his own thoughts.
‘You idiot!
I’ve only suffered until now, wouldn’t it be too regretful if I just backed down like this!’
As he saw it, to succeed, one needed one of two things.
Either be born with talent, or cultivate the insight to ride on the coattails of someone talented.
Daereon thought he was the latter.
The level of a mid-level Expert was an excellent skill that wouldn't be disregarded anywhere, but it was hundreds of kilometers away from the life he desired.
He organized his thoughts again.
Would he choose his current life, where being a guest retainer at a decent Swordsmanship Guild was the best he could achieve?
Or would he stick closely to Harang, who possessed such incredible talent that he could one day make a name for himself in the kingdom, perhaps even across the entire continent, and get some scraps?
‘Of course…… I have to choose the latter.
Yes, indeed.’
Daereon, smiling with a vile expression, dreaming of his brilliant future.
Harang, seeing him like that, smacked him hard on the back of the head.
Bbeoeok!
“Aargh! Why…… Why?”
“Just because.”
“……”
“Want another one?”
“No, no, sir…… Hehe, hehehe.”
Daereon gave a servile laugh.
The fact that Harang had started speaking informally to him, while still speaking formally to others except Glen, came as a big wound, but it couldn't be helped.
Because Harang was someone who held grudges longer than one might think.
‘Let’s do well from now on.
From now on…… if I gradually build up achievements, I too will be able to rise to a higher rank.’
First…… Let’s surpass Glen, rank 24!
Of course, no one cared whether Daereon made such a resolution or not.
Harang was the same.
He, who had scanned everyone once, spoke in a more energetic tone than usual.
“Now, shall we go? To become Mercenaries?”
“Yes! Big Brother!”
Eddy and everyone else answered in a confident voice.