< 35 : Bipolar (4) >
The Guildford Mercenary Corps was a well-known mercenary group in the empire.
They had a reputation for clean work and excellent skills.
Not to mention the cheerful personality of their leader, Guildford.
That’s why people came from far away to entrust their requests to Guildford.
The current mission of the Guildford Mercenary Corps was also given by a requester who came from a distant place.
The task was to investigate an old building after clearing the way of the monsters that blocked it.
It was not a difficult job for someone with Guildford’s abilities.
In fact, until halfway through, there was no problem with the monster extermination.
“Boss? Why did you suddenly stop?”
If it weren’t for the mysterious pain that Guildford felt in his arm, that is.
Guildford stopped walking as he felt a sharp pain in his right arm.
He had no memory of being injured by a monster during the battle.
Yet, he rolled up his sleeve and checked his right arm as he felt a stinging sensation from it.
“Hmm…”
Guildford endured the burning pain as he closely observed the strange phenomenon that was happening on his arm.
His skin was turning red and black spots were slowly rising above it.
A pattern of black barley grains.
If he looked closely at the pattern, he could remember seeing it somewhere before.
Guildford, the leader of the mercenary corps, was holding his arm with a grim expression. Jenny, the mage of the mercenary group, asked him.
“Boss? What’s wrong?”
“Something seems to be wrong with my arm.”
“Let me take a look.”
The strongest force of the mercenary corps was undoubtedly their leader, Guildford.
As soon as he said there was a problem, Jenny rushed to him.
When the mage approached him, Guildford moved his hand away and showed his arm to Jenny.
He had some idea of what was going on, but he thought that a mage would know more about this kind of thing.
Jenny’s eyes scanned Guildford’s arm carefully.
“What do you think? Does it look like a problem?”
“Boss. Did this just happen?”
“Hmm.”
“I think this is… a hero’s mark?”
A hero’s mark.
Guildford began to ponder as he heard the words that confirmed his suspicion.
Heroes were those who were chosen by the goddess to fight against the evil god.
If what was left on his arm was a hero’s mark, then Guildford would have to make a decision soon.
Would he disband his mercenary corps and head to the temple?
Or would he pretend not to know and continue to lead his mercenary group?
Either way, there were pros and cons to each option.
“Which temple’s mark is it?”
“The temple of abundance.”
“The temple of abundance, huh…”
“You just have to go to the holy land since you have the mark. By the way, boss, you being a hero might be a better match than I thought?”
Guildford had never been to the holy land himself, but he knew well enough about the temple of abundance.
The temple of abundance was one of the most influential temples in the holy land.
If Guildford went to the temple of abundance and revealed that he was a hero, they might welcome him as a hero.
But Guildford felt a reluctance for some reason.
He didn’t want to leave his beloved mercenary corps, and he didn’t want to be bound by the duty of being a hero.
“I’m not going to the holy land.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Don’t we have things to do? I think I like being a mercenary leader more than a hero.”
Guildford said that and walked past Jenny to move forward again.
When Guildford started walking again, his subordinates who were waiting for him also followed him.
Guildford shouted loudly in a cheerful voice to his subordinates who were walking behind him.
“Alright, it was nothing! Let’s keep moving!”
Jenny, who was standing still, was startled by the sight of the group that had gone far away.
She had fallen behind by dozens of steps while she was spacing out.
She sprinted with all her strength toward the front where the group was.
Haa.
Her rough breathing echoed around her because of her hard running.
Jenny barely caught up with Guildford and looked at his arm as she spoke.
“Boss, are you really not going to the holy land?”
“Let’s drop that topic. I like my current comrades.”
“Geez, our boss really loves sweaty men!”
The mercenaries around them burst into laughter at Gaff’s words, who was the vice-leader.
Everyone was laughing except for Guildford, who had an awkward expression on his face.
Guildford, who was walking ahead, raised his middle finger at Gaff.
And then he said with a forced laugh.
“Gaff. Save your nonsense for the drinking table.”
“Hurk! How dare I disobey the words of our hero!”
“Hahaha!”
The mercenaries laughed again at Gaff’s reply to Guildford.
Guildford shook his head as he heard Gaff’s voice from behind.
They were the same as always.
Even if a mark appeared on Guildford’s arm, the mercenary corps didn’t change much.
Thud. Thud.
The rough footsteps of the mercenaries echoed on the mountain road.
Maybe it was because they had cleared most of the monsters that were coming at them.
While Guildford and the mercenaries were walking on the road, no new monsters appeared.
“Boss! There’s something over there!”
Instead of monsters, what appeared in front of Guildford was an unidentified building that was shabbily built.
The wall that had been painted with colorful paint could not withstand the traces of time and only remnants were left.
The roof of the building also partially collapsed for some reason.
He didn’t know what its original purpose was, but it was not a building that could be used continuously.
Guildford and the mercenaries stopped in front of the building that they had found.
“The building looks very old.”
“Is that the building that was mentioned in the request?”
“It probably is.”
The building was too small for its size.
It was a contrast to the effort that had been put into building it.
It was not big enough for all the mercenaries of the corps to fit in.
Guildford turned his head and picked out some people as he saw the building that looked smaller than expected.
Jenny, the mage.
And Gaff, the vice-leader.
He thought it would be enough to take these two with him.
“Gaff.”
“Yeah, boss!”
“Jenny.”
“Yup.”
“Only you two follow me inside. The rest of you wait outside.”
The mercenaries who received the order to wait looked for a place to rest and started chatting.
Guildford, who had picked out the people who would go inside, opened the door of the building.
Creak.
The inside of the building was revealed along with the sound of the hinge shaking.
Maybe it was because the building had been neglected for a long time.
There was a lot of dust inside the building.
“Achoo…!”
“Jenny! Why are you coughing in my direction… Oh, boss! There’s an expensive-looking sword over there?”
Gaff, who was turning his head away from Jenny who was coughing, found something and shouted.
Beyond the roof that had fallen inside the building due to the passage of time.
There was an old altar and a sword that emitted a suspicious light.
The light from the sword on the altar was fundamentally different from the light that was reflected by the sunlight.
Guildford’s hand moved reflexively at the sight of the sword that had a brilliant light.
“…”
Guildford reached out his hand toward the sword and grabbed it.
Clack.
At the same time as his hand gripped the sword tightly, the mark on Guildford’s arm began to emit light.
He felt a warm sensation from his hand that held the sword.
At the same time, a powerful voice echoed in Guildford’s head.
The voice that reached Guildford’s ears was an imposing male voice.
-“Hero. Have you opened your eyes?”
Guildford turned his head and looked around as he heard the voice.
But there was no one else in the building except for Jenny, Gaff, and himself.
He couldn’t find anyone unfamiliar.
Guildford, who couldn’t find the owner of the voice, asked a question to the unidentified voice.
“Who are you? You’re hiding your appearance.”
-“My name is Shinki Ascalon. I have been waiting here for a hero who will save this world.”
“Could it be…”
-“Yes. The sword you are holding is me.”
Guildford gaped at the sword as he heard its voice introducing itself.
A sword that could talk by itself.
He had never thought that he would meet a sword that was only passed down in legends.
As Guildford looked at the sword with a surprised face, Ascalon emitted a strong light once and asked him.
-“Hero of abundance. What is your name?”
“I am the leader of the Guildford Mercenary Corps… Guildford Proud.”
-“A hero from a mercenary background. You must be quite skilled in combat. In that aspect, you might be better than the previous heroes.”
Ascalon didn’t show any reaction after hearing Guildford’s identity.
Rather, he showed that he had met several heroes before.
From what he had heard so far, the artifact in front of Guildford seemed to have something to do with the hero’s mark.
He knew about the heroes.
This was an opportunity for Guildford to get some information that he lacked.
Guildford decided not to miss this chance and asked Ascalon what he was curious about.
“Ascalon. I have something to ask.”
-“What are you curious about?”
“What is your relation to the heroes?”
-“Each hero is given an artifact that suits them. And I am the artifact prepared for the hero of abundance.”
“That means…”
-“It means that you are my master.”
The artifact in front of him was Guildford’s.
In terms of ownership of material, and also in a religious sense.
It was a very pleasant thing to hear that the artifact that shone in front of him was his.
As long as there was no annoying talk from the temple.
“I like that. Being a master.”
-“Of course, there aren’t many people who would hate an artifact.”
“Is that what you think?”
-“At least, that’s how it was for all the previous heroes. If you have any other questions, I’ll answer them as much as I can.”
“Then Ascalon, is there no problem if I don’t go to the holy land?”
Guildford asked his next question to the artifact in his hand.
He didn’t need to go to the temple and be dragged around by them to drive out the evil god.
That was what Guildford thought.
He thought it would be fine to smash the cult of the evil god that he saw while running his mercenary corps.
He just had to do his role in some way.
Ascalon laughed unpleasantly at Guildford’s question.
-“Of course, you can do that. As long as you are confident enough.”
“I am Guildford Proud, the leader of the Guildford Mercenary Corps. Do you think I don’t have enough confidence?”
-“Even if you are better than the previous ones, that’s only compared to them.”
“What do you mean by that?”
-“You will have to go through the hardest time among all the heroes so far.”
Guildford understood that Ascalon’s words were not a light warning.
Guildford pondered over Ascalon’s words as he continued his story.
-“The law of the world will not favor you.”
“The law of the world…?”
-“The supreme karma of the world is a being that has a bipolarity of good and evil.”
-“Good can only exist with evil. And the same goes for evil.”
-“When this boundary collapses completely, the world will be filled with chaos.”
“Are you saying that there is something wrong with the goddess now?”
The story of the supreme karma was a unfamiliar topic for Guildford.
Even so, he could understand the next part a little bit.
Evil exists because of good.
It was a very tricky thing to say that the great being that ruled the sky had to protect it.
Even if they were gods, they were not free from some constraints.
And Guildford asked about the problem that the gods who looked down on the earth had.
-“There is a simple but difficult problem.”
“What problem?”
-“The problem is that they can only extend their hand of salvation to you if there is a great evil.”
The law of the universe.
It was too big and huge a problem for Guildford to solve.
