Chapter 4
Drew looked Cadel up and down, rubbing his chin doubtfully.
“A mercenary group? You look too scrawny to be mercenaries. You look like you couldn’t even kill a rabbit.”
“Judging by the bullshit you’re spouting, you look like you’re barely even human.”
Those words hadn’t come from Cadel. Whipping his stiff neck around, he saw Van, who had stepped up beside him at some point, staring at Drew with a blank face. His slouched posture and sharp glare were utterly hostile.
“What did you just say?”
It was the prelude to an unexpected standoff. Cadel didn’t have the slightest intention of clashing with Drew. Startled, he hurriedly pulled Van back.
Van seemed deeply enraged that his captain had been called “scrawny,” completely dropping the smile he had worn up until now. Cadel, however, took no offense. He hadn’t looked in a mirror yet, but he was fully aware that his physique was much slighter than Van’s.
“Looks aren’t everything. We’ll take our fee after the job is done, so why not leave it to us? You have nothing to lose.”
“Hmm.”
Cadel’s bright smile and hasty change of subject seemed to give Drew pause. Fortunately, he didn’t deliberate for long.
He raised a hand, ordering his knights to sheathe their swords, and looked down at Cadel with his trademark arrogant gaze.
“Fine. I’ll leave it to you. The target location is the plains past the forest, about half a mile from the village entrance. It’s blocked off by a high fence, and those two know the way, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding it. Right. What is the name of your mercenary group?”
“We are the Red… Scale Mercenaries.”
“Red Scale? Never heard of it. Are you from out of town?”
“Well… you could say that.”
To think the name of his future knight order—a name he would have to say and hear countless times—was this embarrassing. Cadel forced a smile, trying to cool the heat rising to his face.
At that moment, a clear chime rang out as a system window popped up before his eyes.
[Main Quest ‘Cursed Land’ accepted!]
[Clear the quest to progress the story. Rewards will be provided.]
[Upon failure, you will lose the knight ‘Van Herdos’.]
Cadel’s mouth twitched as he casually read through the system window.
…Hmm? Lose what?
* * *
Losing a knight as a quest failure penalty. If a garbage game like this actually existed, it would flop immediately upon release and disappear without a trace!
After a brief moment of indignation at the absurd penalty, Cadel quickly regained his composure. It was ridiculous, but this wasn’t a real game. Technically, it was more like different life that just happened to share the exact same world as the game.
Therefore, this penalty could also be seen as a sort of prophecy. If he failed the commission, Van would meet his end in one way or another.
He could die fighting monsters, or die in an ambush… No. Maybe “losing” him doesn’t mean that.
It could mean losing Van Herdos as a knight. What kind of future could a captain offer if he couldn’t even overcome a mere tutorial quest? Even if Van grew disappointed and stormed out of the mercenary group—actually with only two of them, they were more of a duo than a group—Cadel would have nothing to say.
I have to succeed in this quest no matter what. If I lose my one and only knight, I have no future.
He didn’t even know how to recruit new knights yet. Nor could he expect a new knight to have better stats than Van.
So his only option was to clear it!
Clenching his fists with renewed determination, Cadel shifted his gaze. He was currently heading toward the “Cursed Land,” following the two men he had met at the tavern, Ron and Babil.
According to what he’d heard on the way, their destination, the Smog Plains, was a monster habitat that had been a headache for Viscount Stra for a whole six months. The warriors who set out to subjugate the monsters either died or fled, causing the area’s infamy to rise day by day. Recently, no one would step forward, even if offered money.
“We’ll be entering the edge of the forest soon. The mercenaries who went to the Smog Plains ransacked the place so much that most of the monsters have probably been wiped out, but still, don’t let your guard down.”
Saying that, Babil let out a heavy sigh. Although their numbers had increased, he still couldn’t shake the bleak feeling of being marched to his death.
“Captain, if monsters appear in the forest, I’ll handle them,” Van whispered quietly, bowing his head.
“Please save your strength.”
He was currently carrying Cadel’s luggage, his own bag, and a greatsword tightly wrapped in cloth. No matter how Cadel looked at it, Van was the one who needed to save his strength. But lacking the confidence to persuade him, Cadel just smiled meekly.
Come to think of it, how am I supposed to fight? Cadel Lytos is a mage, so I shouldn’t need to swing a sword. Magic… how do I use magic?
Now faced with an actual quest, the problem belatedly dawned on him. The system never stepped forward to explain anything first. It only confirmed the results when Cadel voluntarily obtained or achieved something. Therefore, he would have to figure out how to fight on his own as well.
Entering the forest, Cadel pushed through the tall, dense vegetation and checked his stats.
[Cadel Lytos]
[Titles: 6-Star Mage, Red Scale Mercenaries Captain]
[Magic Attribute: -]
[Equipped Gear: -]
[Owned Knights: Van Herdos]
[Knight Order Cost: 3/10]
[Capital: 3 Silver]
[Ongoing Quests: Cursed Land]
[Reputation: 2/100]
Overall, it was dismal and unimpressive. Scanning down the list in disappointment, he fixed his gaze on “Magic Attribute”. Then, a new window popped up.
[Magic Attribute Allocation]
[Available Points: 10]
[Fire: 0/100]
[Ice: 0/100]
[Lightning: 0/100]
[Wind: 0/100]
[Earth: 0/100]
[Light: 0/100]
[Darkness: 0/100]
Oh! I have points? It would have been a disaster if I went in without checking.
Attribute allocation in the early stages of the story was extremely important. The types of skills available varied depending on the magic attribute, and distributing points haphazardly without a clear focus would result in a tragedy where he was good at nothing.
Knowing this better than anyone, Cadel unhesitatingly went all-in, dumping all 10 points into the Fire attribute. There was nothing with as wide an operational range and as devastating an effect as Fire skills.
I think the early fire-type skills were things like Fireball, Explosion, and Fire Demon’s Arrow…
Cadel Lytos used instant-cast magic that didn’t require chanting right from the start. He was a natural genius. So as long as he figured out how to handle mana, he would have no trouble using skills.
I’ll have a chance to practice. Let’s not rush.
According to Ron, the monsters of the Smog Plains began their activity when the moon rose. The sun hadn’t even set yet, so there was plenty of time.
“By the way, Van. You haven’t even eaten properly. Will you be okay? There should be some jerky Young Master Drew gave us in my bag. Do you want to eat that, at least?”
Cadel spoke to Van, who was clearing a path by pushing aside the pesky grass and bushes in front of them. Turning his head slightly to look at Cadel, Van smiled softly.
“I told you, Captain. Starving for a few days doesn’t affect me. I’ve trained for it.”
“Still…”
“Besides, jerky from Young Master Drew? I’d rather scoop mud off the ground and eat it than accept food from a piece of trash who insulted you, Captain.”
Saying such things with a smile was weirdly chilling. Cadel stood close behind Van as he went back to pushing through the bushes and clearing the path.
“I don’t really feel insulted. Compared to you, it makes sense that I look scrawny.”
Someone who couldn’t even catch a rabbit, was it? It was true. He even had a hard time watching feathers being plucked from an already dead chicken. Drew had judged him perfectly.
“You aren’t scrawny, Captain. Well, mages do tend to have lower stamina in general… but you’re different. Your body simply has slender, delicate lines. If I had to put a word to it, it’s beautiful.”
“…Huh?”
Had he heard that wrong? He felt like he had just heard, The Captain’s body has slender, delicate lines and is beautiful.
Doubting his ears, Cadel looked up at the back of Van’s head. Then, a firm voice that showed no intention of correcting itself continued.
“Those noble bastards really don’t know how to appreciate anything properly. They’re just draping silk over their greasy mugs. You’d look much better than them even stark naked, Captain.”
“I-is that so…”
While blankly listening to the increasingly bewildering praise, a flash of realization suddenly struck Cadel’s mind like lightning.
That’s right. This was an otome game!
Whether the player was male or female, this game was absolutely desperate to pair them up with every single knight that appeared. He hadn’t really realized it at the time since he had only skimmed through the main story.
What do I do.
Cadel felt as if he had just caught a tiny glimpse of an otome game’s true nature. He broke out in a cold sweat that hadn’t even appeared when he’d first realized he was possessing a game character.
R-right… Now isn’t the time to worry about such trivial things. Whatever it is, I just have to go my own way, right? Yeah, that’s all I have to do!
Forcefully uprooting the creeping sprout of anxiety, Cadel stealthily widened the distance between himself and Van.