Chapter Nine: The Protected Evil

Demon Town, within the jurisdiction of the Black Knight Mercenary Corps.

The Black Knight Mercenary Corps is an elite team of over a hundred members, functioning as both mercenaries and adventurers. While each member engages in their own adventurous life, they can also gather at the call of their leader to take on major commissioned tasks.

Such organizations as mercenary corps are not particularly prevalent within the United Kingdom; instead, they are very popular in the Ost Empire, located to the east of the world, separated from the vast Holy Empire by a huge expanse.

Most situations between adventurers and mercenaries are similar or comparable. If one must point out some obvious differences, it’s mainly that mercenaries tend to act as a group, while adventurers prefer to work alone or in small teams.

Or rather, because mercenaries are primarily structured as groups, it’s easy for them to create “territorial” divisions, where each city has a distinctly powerful leader to oversee things, while adventurers managed by guilds rarely encounter similar issues.

Of course, at least in the United Kingdom, where mercenary activity is not widespread and most mercenaries are also adventurers, the situation hasn’t developed to that extreme.

In the lounge of the mercenary corps, Lester, having removed his black heavy armor, sat facing Vilyric and the others, with hot tea and snacks laid out on the table.

“So you’re saying you left West Sea City and came to operate in Demon Town because you had a conflict with another group of adventurers and were worried about retaliation?”

“Yes, that’s exactly it. It has been over a year now, hasn’t it? Life is truly unpredictable. I never expected to bump into you two here. How have you been lately?”

Indeed, it has been over a year…

When Vilyric heard the priest uncle casually mention Lester’s name, she thought back to the few adventurer leaders she encountered in a dark jungle when she first came to this world.

She recalled giving Lester a spirit-level shield as a parting gift after saying goodbye, having noticed that his battle gear had suffered damage—a gesture that completely shocked him.

Vilyric initially thought it was just the small-town folk being naïve, but she gradually realized that the equipment forging technology in this world was overall quite backward.

Although during her time in the City of Courage, she occasionally considered asking Liliya to send someone to check on this guy, it wasn’t a high priority, and eventually, she forgot. If it weren’t for hearing someone mention him by chance, the Priestess would have truly not remembered.

Though Lester didn’t explain everything clearly—perhaps due to the presence of others in the hall—Vilyric understood from his earlier hints that he likely had recently obtained the “Black Knight’s Soul Battle Shield” and, not knowing how to hide it well, had drawn the wrong kind of attention.

That’s why he had to leave his home and come to the unknown northern town to restart his life.

“We’re all doing well, Uncle Lester. What about your former teammates? Didn’t they come with you?”

Vilyric looked around and noted that neither Leon, the youth she once saved, nor the little girl priest and ranger girl were among the members of the Black Knight Mercenary Corps.

As if recalling the past, Lester smiled bitterly.

“Well… everyone has their own life. I, on the other hand, am all alone. Although we came together with common goals, how could I drag others down because of my own issues? Those guys’ goals were only for me; by leaving, I am actually keeping them safe. After all, West Sea City is a place governed by law, and there’s no way it could become lawless.”

“I see…”

Nodding, not wanting to dwell on the matter, Vilyric glanced again at the large black shield resting against Lester’s leg and smiled slightly.

“But I didn’t expect you to make such remarkable progress in just a year, Uncle. You’ve reached this level already!”

Judging from his aura, Lester was now about at the Earth level, and one of the conditions for the mercenary corps to be rated is that the leader must possess corresponding strength. This means, with the help of the “Black Knight’s Soul Battle Shield,” he could even exhibit strength comparable to that of the Sky level.

Saying he had advanced rapidly was no exaggeration.

Reflecting on this, Lester couldn’t help but feel emotional.

“On my way to Demon Town, a lot has happened. If it weren’t for the opportunity Vilyric provided, I probably could have never reached this level.”

“Haha… let’s move past the ‘opportunity’ stuff. To be honest, I was a bit shortsighted back then. If not, you wouldn’t have had to leave your home, and besides, your strength growth is all due to your hard work. It doesn’t have much to do with me.”

The tall man shook his head.

“Although I, Lester, am a rough guy, I can distinguish between gratitude and enmity. Perhaps Vilyric’s actions ignited everything, but those with malicious intent who sought to seize treasures are the real culprits. Otherwise, Leon and the others knew about this incident; why didn’t they take any action? Instead, they worked hard to help me escape and even pooled money for travel expenses, right?”

“Speaking of which, I owe you an apology. That Cyril brat, unaware of his manners, was arrogant and offended you and your companions. I failed to discipline him… He used to be with the Ghost Thieves, and he’s got a bad temper, although he has reformed now…”

Seemingly feeling that this topic wasn’t suitable to continue, Lester paused and slapped his thighs firmly.

“Right! Vilyric and your companions have come from afar, so stay here for a while. Let me treat you well; don’t hesitate to ask for anything, as long as I can do it…”

“No, no, we’ve already booked a hotel.”

Vilyric hurriedly raised her hand to stop this overly enthusiastic guy, not out of modesty but because, to be honest, the conditions at the mercenary corps’ base… are really quite average.

After all, adventurers who also serve as mercenaries tend to be a rough-and-tumble bunch. It’s nice to call it “simple,” but let’s be real—it’s just crude. The snacks and tea here taste terrible, completely unacceptable for the Priestess who has gotten used to finer things from some royal majesty.

Staying in their high-priced hotel would be much better. Vilyric, now a wealthy lady, certainly doesn’t need to skimp on these small expenses.

Lester easily guessed the black-haired girl’s intentions, didn’t call her out, and instead just laughed heartily, sipping a big gulp of tea.

“Haha, you haven’t changed a bit, Vilyric. By the way, what brings you to Demon Town? Is it business? Because this isn’t a good choice for tourism right now.”

Ah, there we go, the intel just rolls in. This is way simpler than Vilyric flopping around like a headless chicken flipping through a task board.

Someone pretended to ponder for a moment.

“Well… to be honest, it mainly is for tourism. However, I heard there’s been a significant commotion over in the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons recently, so I wanted to come here and check it out and get in on the action. Do you know anything about it?”

“Truly impressive of you to dare come get involved in such matters. Ah… the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons…”

At this point, the leader’s expression visibly sank, lightly sighing as he looked particularly helpless.

“It’s not just a little disturbance; the north is a complete mess. The abyss disaster from the south, Vilyric must have heard about it as well, right? Even with something like that happening, the northern army hasn’t dared to move a single soldier to provide support. Currently, I’ve heard troops are massing over here, and all four gates of Demon Town are on lockdown.”

“It’s ominous; a magical beast war might be upon us soon.”

   

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