Chapter 32
Having passed a sort of employment test, I joined the group training session for the mercenaries the next day.
The training ground in the Burkden Domain was quite large and well maintained. Even with 50 mercenaries gathered, it didn’t feel cramped.
Considering that most rural domains had only a few dozen soldiers at best, a training ground large enough to accommodate around 200 people was unusually large in scale.
“This is Karl-nim, who joined us recently. He’s a Free Knight, and his skills are incredible. He took down Kirk with a single hit!”
“Kirk? In one hit? Aren’t you exaggerating a bit, Hob?”
“I swear it’s true! I wasn’t the only one who saw it. That administrative deputy and at least ten others witnessed it too!”
The mercenaries who had been sizing me up with suspicion were now looking at me with a trace of fear in their eyes.
“I’ve spread the word about your martial skill, Karl-nim. The mercs won’t dare mess with you now. Not bad, right?”
Hob thumped his chest, proudly claiming that thanks to him, I wouldn’t get into any unnecessary trouble. I let out a small sigh at his antics and simply scanned the surrounding mercenaries.
‘Nothing seems out of the ordinary.’
The people gathered here were purely mercenaries in every sense of the word.
“You’re the one they say is so skilled, right?”
A man who clearly had some ability approached me. From what Hob had rambled endlessly like a broken radio, the mercenaries had formed two main factions, and this guy appeared to be the leader of one of them.
“I’m Tutor. You’ve heard of the Black Axe of Enterville, haven’t you?”
“?”
Tutor introduced himself with overflowing confidence, but my indifferent reaction bruised his pride.
“You’ve never heard my name? Anyone working in this area should know who I am.”
“Karl. Free Knight.”
I simply introduced myself, implying that I didn’t know much about the mercenary scene. But my tone came off as arrogant in Tutor’s eyes.
“You must be pretty confident in your skills, judging by how stiff-necked you are.”
“What are you trying to say?”
My directness made Tutor frown for a moment before smoothing over his expression.
“Well… what do you say to joining us? It’s not like it would be a bad deal for you.”
“I appreciate it, but I prefer working alone.”
“You should know that keeping to yourself like that can get you killed, Free Knight. Our world isn’t like yours. We don’t have anything to fall back on. Every day’s a fight to survive.”
He shrugged and continued to ramble about the harsh reality of being a mercenary.
“I’ll manage.”
Having had enough of his chatter, I finally cut him off.
“…You’re rejecting my offer of goodwill?”
“I’ll take the sentiment. Now stop talking.”
Just as Tutor’s face turned red and he was about to step closer—
Thud!
A heavy thump sounded, and someone approached and suddenly dropped to one knee beside me.
“Teach me.”
“….”
The murmuring around us reached a peak as a massive man knelt before me. Tutor fell silent the moment he saw Kirk on one knee before me.
He knew full well that he wasn’t a match for Kirk. And if that same man was kneeling before me… there was nothing more to be said.
“What are you asking for?”
“That punch. I want to learn everything that makes you strong. If you teach me, I’ll, uh… I’ll serve you. Or whatever it’s called. I’ll help you.”
“I don’t take students. And I don’t need an assistant.”
“I’ll do anything you ask.”
Kirk now planted his forehead to the ground and grabbed my leg.
“Please teach me.”
His eyes shone with a troublingly pure light. I let out the tiniest sigh.
“Don’t bother me elsewhere. Just attend the regular training. I’ll keep an eye on you.”
With those short words, Kirk stood up like a shot and thumped his chest with laughter.
***
Since that day, I had steadily attended training. At first, the mercenaries looked at me with suspicion, but after seeing my intense individual training sessions, they started acknowledging me.
Once they accepted me, they realized my skills were far beyond what they had expected. After that, mercenaries began hovering around me, hoping for advice whenever the chance came up.
For a mercenary who lived on the edge of a blade, even a fragment of knowledge about battle and survival could mean the difference between life and death. And being friendly with someone strong was never a bad idea.
Of course, anyone who wanted to approach me had to first get past a wall named Kirk.
“Karl-nim, the mercenaries are desperate to learn from you. They’re practically circling you like vultures!”
Hob puffed his chest out again as if my skills were somehow his accomplishment.
“Stop talking nonsense. Your strikes have no weight.”
“…I’ll work harder!”
As Hob swung his sword, Kirk stood nearby, swinging his massive axe incredibly slowly. So slowly that anyone might think it was frozen in place.
His face turned bright red, body shaking, and a puddle of sweat had formed beneath him.
“Um…”
Someone awkwardly stepped forward toward me.
“What is it?”
My even voice and detached gaze fell on the man, making him flinch slightly.
“What is it?”
“…Forgive me if I’m out of line, but would you be willing to teach me, even just a little?”
The man knelt and looked at me with desperate eyes.
“I’ve never had a proper teacher. I’ve just picked things up by watching others or learning from older mercs. But now… I’m not even sure I’m doing it right.”
His voice matched his small frame—lacking confidence. Seeing him reminded me of myself when I had no teacher and had to learn by scrambling around on my own.
“Draw your sword.”
“S-sir? Yes!”
The man gripped his sword tightly. Moments later, he lay collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted. But his face was glowing with satisfaction.
“What’s your name?”
“Paul.”
“If you want to keep learning, come again.”
“…You really mean that!?”
I answered with a nod. After that, mercenaries lined up to learn from me, one after another. I didn’t turn anyone away and gave each a fair amount of instruction.
“Don’t swing your weapon to look cool. In real combat, the most important thing is simplicity and efficiency. Don’t expect to be standing on solid, flat ground during a group battle! You must be able to strike with power from any position!”
Roughly a month passed like that. As usual, I trained all day with the mercenaries and returned to my quarters.
“A month already.”
As I taught each mercenary, I made detailed notes about them. After about a month, my notebook was filled with information on all the mercenaries.
Among the roughly 50 mercenaries, I checked the names of the three who hadn’t once sought me out.
“Blanky, Theodore, Mata.”
All three were quiet types, and it was hard to gauge their skills. They didn’t attend many training sessions, and when they did, they mostly hung around the edges.
‘Remember—what you see isn’t all there is.’
The old woman’s last words circled in my head. What was it that couldn’t be seen? I paid close attention to even the smallest things. That evening, I stepped out of the inn and walked the streets for a while.
***
“Did you hear? Another family’s son disappeared last night.”
“I’m telling you… at least one or two people go missing every month.”
Recently, the biggest concern in the Burkden Domain was the series of disappearances. Even though the domain had a relatively large population for a rural area, someone vanishing every week was a serious problem.
And the lord had effectively turned a blind eye.
He claimed to be investigating, but the residents hadn’t seen any results. It seemed mercenaries had been hired under the pretense of investigating and patrolling, but they just trained among themselves every day and did nothing else.
“Kekekeke. You think hell is far away?”
A familiar voice made my head whip around. The old woman I hadn’t seen in a month had returned. I quickly moved toward the sound of her voice.
“Looking for me, were you?”
It had been a while since someone caught me off guard.
My body moved faster than my mind, swinging my sword behind me. It was a reflex I’d developed over a decade of life on the battlefield.
“Oh my, are you going to kill a poor old woman?”
Of course, my blade didn’t touch her. I sheathed it again and looked at her.
“You weren’t the one I was after?”
“I was.”
“Will you be eating again tonight?”
“Of course.”
I brought her to a nearby restaurant. She devoured the food like someone possessed. People glanced at her strangely, but no one paid attention to the table I was at.
That, too, was likely one of her abilities. I didn’t speak while she ate—I just waited.
“So, why were you looking for me?”
“I was curious about something. Are you a witch?”
In this world, witches and Mages were similar, yet different. Both were rare for ordinary people to encounter.
Mages had a more neutral image. Witches, on the other hand, were associated with cunning, deceit, and darkness.
But they existed—just like Mages. And among them, one had reached the level of divinity: the one whose trace I’d found in the cave I explored with Isabel—Gullveig.
I was convinced this old woman was a witch. And perhaps she didn’t harbor ill will toward me. I thought it might be a good opportunity to talk. Maybe I could learn something from this unkind system.
“Does it matter if I’m a witch?”
“No.”
“Then why ask?”
“Just curious. What is a witch in this world? What is a demon? Are you affiliated with Tarantula?”
I fired off a string of questions. Whether she answered or not was up to her.
“I’m not part of that Tarantula. Witches… kekeke.”
She paused and looked at me. A rare fool among fools who could hold a proper conversation.
“Witches, Mages, demons… they’re all similar. The difference is what they desire.”
“What do they desire?”
“Yes. In the beginning, there were humans. The first evil began with them. Every demon was born from a human.”
I had read many books since falling into this world, but nowhere had I seen that demons were originally human. The common belief was that demons were inherently evil and corrupted humans.
But if her story was true, then demons had once been human too—at least, in this trash game’s setting.
“Gullveig desired gold, wealth, and eternal beauty. Her wish came true.”
“If becoming a Witch or Mage was just a matter of wishing, the world would be full of them.”
“Of course, wishing alone isn’t enough. You must wish intensely, offer the right sacrifices, and perform secret rituals in the right way.”
“Even so, how could the first demon have known to make a sacrifice or conduct a ritual?”
“They didn’t. So they devoured endlessly. They ate humans, fear, and dread. It’s hard to follow the right path—but easy to stray. As long as your belly’s big enough to swallow it all!”
She laughed madly again. I watched her, deep in thought.
In this world, there were several supernatural forces. Let’s assume what she said about demons, witches, and Mages is true. Let’s also say the Essus Order’s divine power is as they describe.
Then what about a knight’s power?
Conviction. Someone once said it. Qi is the power of belief, created by strong conviction and the training that follows.
‘But I have no conviction.’
I had no belief in this world. I simply swung my sword to survive.
“You’re a knight.”
“Yes.”
“Funny, how your strength is so great, yet so incomplete.”
Her observation was accurate.
“With that half-hearted mindset, you’ll lose everything.”
I turned my head for just a moment—and by the time I looked back, she had vanished like smoke once more. No one even noticed her disappearance. I remained seated, slowly finishing another glass of alcohol.
The next day, as we trained as usual at the castle, a mercenary came running in.
“Karl-nim! Karl-nim! We’re mobilizing!”
Viscount Julio had finally made his move. The mercenaries departed toward the vast forest behind the Burkden Domain—the Forest of Shadows.