29 - A Certain Mercenary And A Meeting Room

Inside a room at the base of the mercenary company Dawn’s Battlefield in Lecole, two men sat in silence.

One was Orland, the leader of the company.

He remained seated, staring at the papers in front of him on the desk, saying nothing.

The other was Edward, a tall, slender, blond man who had long served as the strategist of Dawn’s Battlefield.

Though he looked to be in his mid-thirties, he was actually only twenty-seven, and his appearance made him seem a little older than he was.

Conscious of that fact, he nevertheless directed silent pressure at the captain before him, who was likely the cause of it.

“Well then…”

Edward broke the silence, adjusting his glasses.

Orland flinched and turned his face away, avoiding eye contact.

“Captain. I’m fairly certain I told you three days ago, ‘Please review this document.’ Would you kindly repeat what you just said?”

The pressure intensified.

Even Orland knew he could not stay silent forever.

But when he thought about “what came after,” he was too afraid to say it.

“Captain…!”

Emotion slipped into Edward’s voice, pressing harder.

Orland knew, he knew—but he still could not open his mouth.

“Captain! Enough is enough… at the very least, you must learn to read and write!”

“B-but… but I can’t help it, can I?!”

“I understand you were happy to be allowed back into the brothel, but you must also realize, as the face of Dawn’s Battlefield, you hold an important role, don’t you?!”

“I-I can at least write my own name…”

“Captain, that much even the lowest mercenary can do.”

Edward cut Orland off sharply.

“…Captain, you were supposed to be studying with Alitta and Loyd, weren’t you?”

At Edward’s words, Orland flinched again and averted his gaze.

From that reaction, Edward understood.

(This bastard skipped.)

He did not say it aloud, but his eyes accused without restraint.

“Listen, since we don’t have much time, I’ll summarize the key points. Memorize every word as if your life depends on it.”

One hour later, a worn-out Orland stumbled into the chamber where the main members of Dawn’s Battlefield had gathered.

Since everyone else was already present, Edward, acting as moderator, gave a short announcement: “Then, let’s begin.”

“First, I’ll say this upfront—it’s a dull matter, but about our funds. As you know, in preparation for our next objective, we invested heavily in equipment. As a result, our funds have dropped to less than half. Oh, don’t worry about my medical expenses—they’re just operating costs.”

Orland waggled his healed finger to show it off, and a few small laughs rippled through the room.

In truth, the treatment had not cost much. But weapons had been far more expensive than expected, reducing funds by over sixty percent.

Edward did not correct the vague figure—he knew from experience that being too honest about finances was not always wise.

So he simply listened in silence.

“Well, there’s no need to go into detail here. In any case, we’ll have direct dealings with the lord soon, so that won’t be a problem. Now, the next report.”

Orland shifted his gaze to Edward, who nodded in agreement as planned.

“It has been confirmed that there was a goblin colony in Old Eilqueel, south of the Old Rukudil ruins where we last fought.”

As murmurs of “I knew it” rose, one member raised his hand and asked, “Was…?”

“Yeah, past tense. As I said—‘there was’ a colony. Estimated size: two thousand. But it was completely wiped out.”

Two thousand was massive for a goblin colony.

Hearing that it had been annihilated, the room buzzed with unease, certain that “something happened.”

“As for the cause, according to the information from scouting parties Unyielding and Linked Moon—it’s strongly believed to have been destroyed by a single entity.”

The members drew sharp breaths.

Even the slowest among them knew who it must have been.

“It’s one thing if Unyielding made a mistake, but I can’t believe Linked Moon’s scouts would. This was almost certainly the work of the new species. And as for the guild master’s ruling… the results weren’t good. The new species has been classified as ‘Calamity’-class. The only reason it wasn’t ranked higher is because there have been ‘no reported casualties.’”

Ignoring the strained laughter that followed, Edward continued.

“Currently, we’re the only ones with actual combat experience against the new species. As before, I want all of you to remain silent about the details. Its threat cannot be understood without fighting it. The others need to learn that themselves. That’s all about the new species.”

Edward looked to Orland, who nodded and took over again.

“Our next job is to eliminate the goblins infesting Old Carnash Fortress. Unlike last time, this time there’s almost certainly a queen. On top of that, since the fortress still retains some functions, we’ll be doing something rare—storming a base against goblins. A rare opportunity indeed. We should thank our client for it.”

The members laughed, their motivation not bad at all.

Orland had expected groans of “More goblins?” but this was a pleasant surprise.

“We don’t know the exact scale, but… at minimum, eight hundred. Possibly over a thousand. If Imperial weapons still remain in the fortress and can be used, difficulty will spike—but that’s nothing to worry about. Also, this time it’s a joint operation with Unyielding and several other mercenary bands. Knights and soldiers directly under the lord will tag along, but I hear they’re just supervisors, so relax.”

Knights were rarely welcome among mercenaries.

Many companies had been ruined when knights, chasing glory, interfered in battle.

Knowing that would not happen this time, the members let out sighs of relief.

“That’s about it. Just do things as usual. Make thorough preparations—that’s all.”

Orland clapped his hands and dismissed the meeting, and the members filed out.

Seeing them off, Orland sat back in his chair and leaned against it, gazing at the ceiling.

“We bought weapons, but the number is still far from enough, and the quality… I can’t say it’s fit for taking on the new species.”

Edward, standing beside him, voiced his concerns, and Orland let out a heavy sigh in agreement.

“Yeah… weapons we can probably scrape together somehow. The real problem is manpower.”

“That’s the same everywhere. Skilled people—especially magicians—can only be poached with huge sums or raised from scratch. With our current funds, we can’t do either. At best, we can add one person.”

“Yeah, figures.” Orland slumped onto the desk.

Knowing there was no solution, Edward sighed too.

Even in Seizeria, a nation centered on magic, magicians were always in short supply.

If even Seizeria suffered from shortages, then naturally the same was true here.

“Ah, if only there were some gorgeous, talented magician who didn’t want money…”

As Orland leaned back in his chair with that complaint, Edward gave him a cold smile. “I’ll be sure to tell Annie.”

“Wait—why the hell are you bringing her up here?! Hold on, Ed! Where are you going?! Hey!”

Orland rushed to chase after Edward.

And so, the captain of Dawn’s Battlefield once again wept over the extra bar tab.