130 - A Certain Hero’s Point Of View

In a rattling, bone-shaking carriage with terrible suspension, I was talking with a former mercenary.

Though to be precise, I was the only one chattering away, completely ignoring anything he tried to say and just keeping the conversation going on my own.

“—So anyway, I told them, ‘Give me the youngest girl you’ve got.’ And what did I get? A fifteen-year-old priest as my chaperone, just barely an adult, and a twenty-one-year-old old la—uh, big sister. I don’t mind the old man; I know exactly how strong he is, so he’s no problem at all—in fact, I’d have asked for him myself. But that old la—big sister, no matter how you look at her, she’s just not up to snuff. I mean, if that’s the case, they could’ve just sent someone even younger, right?”

“…No, they could not.”

“Look, I’m being modest here, but I’m pretty handsome, right? On top of that, I’m one of the strongest humans around. Plus I’ve got a marquis house backing me—every possible ‘popular guy’ trait jammed in there. So women flock to me, as many as you like. But the thing is, not one of them is actually looking at ‘me.’ You get that?”

“…No, I do not.”

“So I wanted a pure girl, completely untouched by that kind of thing… but apparently they didn’t quite grasp my intentions, which is a problem, you know? Ahh, if only that chaperone girl were five years younger… Her face is pretty, she’s slim—she would’ve been right on target.”

“…What exactly were you planning to do to that kid?”

“Obviously, educate her. If I’m going to raise her to suit my tastes, she has to be young. I mean, I said ‘a young girl,’ so how did they not realize I wasn’t asking for someone with combat value?”

“More to the point, if you can hear what people are saying, how about shutting your mouth? Don’t assume a mercenary can keep suppressing the urge to punch that smug face of yours forever.”

When the collared former mercenary tried to glare me down, I raised my hands in surrender and said, “So scary, so scary.”

“Don’t be so cold. I was just about to get serious.”

Watching the collared man spit out, “Should’ve started with that,” I held up one finger.

“First point. About the ‘Dragon Buster’ title… Honestly, I couldn’t care less. I probably could have earned it on merit, but at the time, the marquis house wouldn’t allow that. Understand that they wanted a heroic figurehead for the war they expect will break out with the neighboring country soon, and that’s why things ended the way they did.”

“You really think anyone’s going to be satisfied with that?”

“Probably not,” I replied with a laugh, then raised my middle finger alongside the first to indicate, “Second.”

“I’m not counting on you as fighting strength. I know how you fight, and there’s no doubting your skill…”

“But,” I added, and looked at him with something like pity in my eyes.

“You just don’t meet the standard I require.”

A dangerous tension hung in the rattling carriage.

And I poured oil on the fire by continuing.

“Let me be clear. As long as you cough up everything you know about that new species of monster, that’s enough for me. After that, all I need is for you not to get in the way.”

A cheap provocation—but you could never have too many “walls” out on the battlefield.

First, you irritated them and wounded their pride.

You made them so angry they lost their ability to think straight—some other emotion would work too, but in this case anger was probably optimal.

In fact, he gave me exactly the answer I wanted.

“Big talk, huh… If you’re going to run your mouth that much, you’d better make sure your prey doesn’t get snatched away by the likes of us.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, allowed myself a fearless grin, and jumped down from the carriage just as it came to a halt.

Now he would never skip the fight out of personal resentment.

It was certain he would lie in wait like a hungry tiger, searching for openings in the new species during the battle.

(I’ve heard this monster is highly intelligent. In that case, it will go for the easiest point to break.)

I liked to raise my odds of victory as high as possible, I thought with an inward smirk, and since I’d had enough of that stifling, bone-jarring carriage, I had it stop once so I could switch to another one.

As soon as we arrived at our destination, the town of Lecole, I stepped down from the carriage.

The first place I headed for was the mercenary guild—where I had the guild master called out and addressed him in a thoroughly arrogant manner.

“I’m willing to overlook the mercenary guild’s blunder and even clean up after you. Naturally, I trust you understand your position… so I expect your fullest possible cooperation. Am I clear?”

The reaction went without saying—he looked like he had just swallowed a bitter bug, and his murderous aura was practically visible.

I was well aware I’d said enough to make anyone feel that way—“Well, that figures,” really—so I quickly took my leave of the mercenary guild.

The rulers probably wanted the mercenaries under control before the war broke out, but having me do it seemed more likely to backfire.

I would do exactly as I was told so no one could complain later, but I wanted to corner whoever came up with this idiocy and ask what they planned to do if it got me stabbed in the back.

“Not that I consider myself enough of a fool to actually get stabbed.”

I added aloud, and headed for the manor where the members of this extermination party against the new species were gathering.

“Are you people out of your minds?!”

And the moment I stepped inside, that enraged shout from the collared man hit my ears.

After listening for a bit, it seemed they had used magical insects to deal with the new species of monster.

Even I could only give a wry smile at that.

Handled badly, the swarm could have moved north and devoured several villages.

As I was thinking, “I can’t believe they even got approval for that,” I heard that the lord of this territory was apparently furious and no longer inclined to be picky about methods.

Surprisingly, though, the lure seemed to be working very well, and for the moment everything was proceeding according to our side’s plan.

“Huh. Our apothecary’s not half bad.”

I couldn’t help voicing my admiration, but apparently the situation was, “We have no idea why this is working.”

So much for the compliment.

In short, the people on the ground wanted to exterminate everything before the situation dragged on and disposing of the magic insects became dangerous.

However, the higher-ups showed no sign of budging from their stance of “Maintain it until the new species is dead.”

(Ah, I’ve finally figured out why they dragged me out here.)

No matter how strong this new species of monster was, why go this far when it wasn’t even a dragon?

Once I had the answer to that question, I let out a sigh.

(If I remember right, the lord here is… ah, yes. This should be the family of the chancellor’s son’s wife… I think?)

I’d had all those marriage connections drilled into me, but they were already starting to slip my mind.

Seriously, noble society was such a pain.

In any case, I settled things there by boldly declaring, “I’ll bring back the head of that new species myself.”

I added a request that they dispose of the magic insects as well while they were at it.

Honestly, having bugs interfere in the middle of things would be the last straw.

Dealing with nobles really was a hassle—especially when I had to say lines like, “Who do you think I am? Are you doubting the strength of the Dragon Buster?” to the lord’s reluctant representative.

With those nuisances handled, I checked over the members chosen for this monster hunt before we set out.

First, the mage Kaijis—probably the one I would end up relying on the most.

He was sixty-eight, quite advanced in years, but I knew well that his magical prowess more than made up for his diminished stamina.

No matter what we were up against, having his support was tremendously reassuring.

Next, the mage Sesaira—and unfortunately, I expected nothing from her.

She was apparently outstanding for a young mage, but based on the information I had and my appraisal of her abilities, she was unlikely to be of any real use.

She was a slender woman with striking long red hair, but the shoulder-baring red robe-dress did not suit her build at all.

Apparently she would be mocked if she didn’t wear the latest fashion, but I couldn’t help thinking, “Is that really necessary right now?”

The chaperone priest, Shrin—she fell short in various ways, but she would at least fulfill her role as a walking medicine box.

With her neatly arranged short blond hair and good looks, I could more or less see what they were aiming for, but she was still far off from what I had requested.

And finally, the collared former mercenary Orland—a skilled fighter wielding the magic sword known as Giant-Killer.

I had already set the stage, so all I could do now was hope he would move as I intended.

I gave them a brief once-over and then nodded, small but firm.

“Let’s go.”

We had already discussed everything that needed saying in the carriage.

So with that one brief word, I turned my back on them and began to walk.