Chapter 91: Dark City Kalbaron (1)
“I’ll be back. As I said, it might take a while.”
“Take care, Boss!”
“Stay safe!”
“Come back soon!”
The daily routine of the Eddy Mercenary Corps usually started in the late afternoon and ended at dawn.
Since their main task was protecting nighttime merchants like taverns and brothels, they had no choice but to maintain a different schedule from ordinary people.
Thus, seeing Harang off early in the morning was an extremely tough task, but all five executives, including Eddy, attended to watch their de facto leader depart.
They watched Harang ride away on horseback for a while before returning to their hideout to catch up on sleep.
Eddy, however, didn’t.
Even after the black-haired youth became a mere dot in the distance, he stood in place for quite some time.
He seemed lost in deep thought.
Daereon asked him about it.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, you haven’t gone in yet?”
“Come on, how could I go in first when the leader’s still out here?”
“You’re quite the flatterer.”
“You don’t like it?”
“Not exactly. Haha.”
“Haha, right? Sweet words are always nice to hear.”
Eddy and Daereon exchanged jokes, bursting into laughter.
But a silence soon settled, and a brief moment passed in that quiet.
Eddy spoke again after pulling a cigarette from the pack in his pocket, lighting it, and taking a drag.
“Phew… Daereon, I’m scared.”
“Of what? Oh, are you worried about where Boss Harang is headed? Come on, what’s there to worry about? Even if it’s the Dark City Kalbaron… you know, don’t you? Our Boss Harang is invincible. He’ll come back this time too, perfectly fine, in tip-top shape.”
‘That way, I can keep reaping the benefits by his side…’
As Daereon thought this, Eddy exhaled another puff of smoke.
The cloud, mixed with a sigh, rose high and dispersed.
Looking up at it, he murmured softly.
“No, not about Boss. I’m scared of myself.”
“Boss?”
“Yeah. My pathetic self, who looks so inadequate next to Boss Harang… I’m terrified of my own shortcomings.”
“…”
“Isn’t it obvious? Boss’s skills are so great, it hurts to even talk about it. Not only did he take down Dukan Iter’s neck, but this time he even received a Special Gold Plate from the Mercenary King Austin. What does that mean? It means he’s not just a talent that a small kingdom like Nadan would covet, but one that even the most powerful kingdoms would salivate over. If he wanted, he could become a royal guard, a guest of a renowned Swordsmanship Hall… no, he could even aim to be the next master. So why does someone like him stick with us?”
“Because he’s close to us, and he’s comfortable with us…”
“Yeah, that’s probably it. Bonds, connections, loyalty… if it weren’t for those, someone as great as him wouldn’t be hanging out with us. But will that last forever?”
“…”
“I don’t think so.”
Sss, phew…
Eddy took another deep drag of his cigarette.
He rubbed out the cigarette, burned to its root, with his fingers, gazed a bit longer in the direction Harang had gone, and muttered quietly.
“I need to train.”
“What? You mean… Boss, train without sleeping?”
“I slept a bit earlier. About two hours.”
“Come on, that’s barely touching the pillow…”
“It’s fine. Lately, I’ve been feeling less tired than before. Is it because of the training method Boss Harang taught me?”
It was true.
When he first started training, it was so grueling he thought he’d die, and he often spent half a day in bed.
But lately, it wasn’t like that.
His body brimmed with vitality, and he felt he could push the intensity even higher.
“I have to get stronger somehow. To be someone worthy of standing by Boss Harang’s side. To earn that right… there’s no other way.”
“…”
“Well, I’m off.”
“Uh, uh…”
Daereon stared blankly as Eddy waved and walked away.
He stood rooted to the spot for a while, alternating his gaze between the direction Harang had gone and the direction Eddy had taken.
Of course, he couldn’t stay like that forever.
Soon, with resolve, he muttered quietly.
“Damn it. I’m coming too!”
He couldn’t fall behind.
He, too, wanted to stay by Harang’s side.
Despite his young age, he wanted to live grandly beside the monster who showed boundless strength.
To do that, he had to work harder than ever.
“Let’s go together! Let’s train together!”
Looking at the back of Eddy’s head, now closer, Daereon shouted loudly.
***
Boom!
“Come on, Mom, really…!”
Huffing angrily, Sheratiya Viyan returned home, trying to calm her rage.
Her irritation was through the roof.
In the midst of her hectic schedule, she’d been summoned and nagged, so she’d rushed to her family’s estate by carriage, thinking something serious had happened.
But the reason her parents called her was utterly ridiculous.
“How’s it going lately?”
“Huh? What?”
“You know, that swordsman. The one you’re getting along with.”
“Harang? What about Harang?”
“What do you mean, what! Are things progressing well? Any good news… no, wait. You’re hopeless with these things and won’t get it if I beat around the bush. Fine, I’ll be direct. When are you getting married?”
“What? What’s that supposed to mean out of nowhere?”
“Daughter, why are you raising your voice? When your mother is speaking…”
“Exactly! I didn’t say anything outrageous. Your daughter’s of marriageable age and dating, so isn’t it normal to ask about marriage? Right?”
“Sigh…”
“What, is it not going well? Should we meet him separately, give him a gift, make a good impression? You’re not good at that stuff. He’s like a block of wood…”
“No, I said I’ll handle it!”
“Hey, daughter! Raising your voice again…!”
“I’m saying, stop meddling in my love life and take care of yourselves! I’ve got another pile of debt notices addressed to me! What have you two been doing lately? Huh? What’s with that necklace? And that gold watch on Dad’s wrist? Huh? Did you buy them? Did you buy new stuff?”
“Ahem. Well…”
“Come on, your parents can spend a little to feel good. Why are you getting so worked up about it?”
“Arghhh! Seriously!”
Recalling the conversation with her parents, Sheratiya clutched her head.
She was furious.
Their inability to manage their own affairs while meddling in her love life, their sudden shift from their initial attitude toward Harang to a snobbish one—none of it sat well with her.
‘I only lied to avoid their nagging, but now it’s going to make things worse.’
She couldn’t say she’d broken up with Harang either.
If she did, they’d grill her about what she did wrong to make him leave, and even if she navigated that crisis, another one would surely follow.
“Then how about we introduce you to someone else instead of that Harang fellow?”
She could already hear them saying it.
It was obvious.
“Ugh…”
Thinking of her parents gave her a pounding headache.
Sheratiya reached for her magic lighter to smoke but stopped, realizing she’d been neglecting her health lately.
But without cigarettes or alcohol, how was she supposed to relieve stress?
What could she do to calm her irritation, regain her composure, and dive back into work?
As she pondered, an unexpected figure flashed through her mind.
It was Harang.
His seemingly expressionless yet goofy face played automatically in her head.
“What the…”
Pfft, Sheratiya laughed.
It was absurd.
Sure, she’d gotten closer to him recently, but not to the point of sharing such trivial matters.
That’s right.
Definitely.
They weren’t childhood friends, and going to see him in this situation was clearly unreasonable.
“…”
But five minutes later, Sheratiya Viyan, defying her own thoughts, quickly prepared to go out, hopped into a carriage, and headed to the Eddy Mercenary Corps’ hideout.
‘No alcohol. My condition’s been off lately, and it’s not even night… Yeah, I’ll suggest we grab some tea. The excuse… maybe talk about that assassin, the ancient assassin? Say it’s taking longer than expected because there’s not much info. It’s not like I’m making it up. It’s true.’
As Sheratiya mulled over what pretext to use to talk to Harang, she received shocking news: Harang had left for the Dark City Kalbaron the day before.
“What? Why?”
“Well, because of a request…”
“What? What request? What crazy bastard sent a request to a place that dangerous? Are they insane?”
“Well, it was directly from the head of the Austin Mercenary Brokerage…”
“What? You mean the Mercenary King? Mercenary King Austin?”
“Yes. That Austin.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Well, anyway… you probably can’t see Boss Harang right now.”
Pale answered, sweating profusely.
Hearing this, Sheratiya stood dazed for a while, then nodded and had no choice but to return home.
“…”
But a moment later.
“This is kind of annoying.”
Inside the carriage, Sheratiya, who had been worrying about Harang’s safety with a serious expression, suddenly scowled.
The fact that he’d gone to such a dangerous place without telling her anything.
It shook her heart more than she’d ever imagined.
“That jerk… didn’t he say it himself? That I’m part of his circle. He clearly said I’m one of his people!”
That’s right.
He definitely did.
Harang had said that since Sheratiya was part of his circle, she should be careful not to get into trouble with the Jeten Guild Leader.
He’d said it clearly!
“But.”
Thud!
“Why.”
Thwack!
“Didn’t he tell someone so close… that he was going to Kalbaron?”
Thwack, thud!
Thud! Thwack! Thud!
Sheratiya’s dainty fists pounded the carriage cushions repeatedly.
The dull thumps echoed, but no one was there to hear them.
Naturally, her muttering to herself went unheard as well.
But her emotions lingered on her face, and the mansion’s servants had to tread carefully to avoid triggering her stress.
‘Harang, you’d better watch out when you get back!’
No, first, shouldn’t he come back safely?
Whatever!
Muttering to herself, Sheratiya threw herself onto her bed.
She had a ton of work to do, but no matter how hard she tried, nothing was sinking in right now.
***
Shortly after Sheratiya Viyan visited the Eddy Mercenary Corps’ hideout, Harang stood gazing at the skyline of the Dark City Kalbaron and murmured.
“It took longer than I thought.”
His sword was stained with warm blood that hadn’t yet cooled.