Chapter 12 - Crisis, Opportunity, Crisis (3)

Published on

Oct 16, 2022

•15 min read•178 views

“Um—pwaah!”

The first thing Professor did when he got out of bed the following day was to drain out all the alcohol in his stomach.

“ugh… my head.”

Why the hell do the mercenaries drink so much?

The joy of the clean taste of alcohol which he hadn’t tasted in a long time, came to the side one by one and offered him alcohol to the point where he couldn’t even breathe.

“Ugh… I definitely remember the….”

Damn Gedroits. Inducing a hangover? Still, in reality, one wouldn’t know what happened once they get so drunk, but in GG, there is a way to check everything that happened.

“Status Window. Check player logs.”

Tring!

I scrolled down the log where my actions would be recorded and turned it over to the last part I remembered.

+player Professor’s log

7pm - Entered the Inn ‘Silver Cry’.

7pm- Drank a glass of pale ale/ physical recovery small with 15 seconds mental strength recovery 5%/ increases intoxication by 2%.

7pm - successfully persuaded the Master of Silver Cry, Waldrof Topric. The battle phase was canceled.

7pm - Drank a glass o Dragon Blood/ Recover 15% of HP, increase maximum mental strength by 35 for 35, fire resistance is small for 35 minutes, apply skill [100x courage] for 15 minutes/increases intoxication by 40%/1st-degree burns (Tongue throat)

8pm - Have a glass of Pale ale +

8pm - have a special pork steak +

8pm - have a glass of pale ale +

8pm - Became friendly with the mercenary ‘Mitch Edwal’ at the party

8pm - Drank a bottle of Ascent Mountain Lager +

9pm - Have a glass of pale ale +

Drink…

Drink…

11 pm drink…

12 pm drink…

“Were they trying to kill me?”

Here he was, thinking he did have a little too much, but this was way too much. Somehow, this morning, when he felt his stomach was empty, he thought he would die.

“Wherever I look… drank, drank, drank, drank, drank, fell. Drank, drank, drank… no other special thing at all…!”

While the film was being cut to see through it fast, I noticed one thing.

+player Professor’s log

Received an F-rank mercenary card from the Turan branch manager of Mercenary Guild, Waldrof Topric.

[Item F-rank Mercenary card (Turan/ Trapper) — A seal used to prove the identity and rank of the mercenaries. Rodrick’s mercenary guild seal is engraved behind it.]

“I thought it was a dream because the memories were all jumbled, but I was really accepted.”

I can’t remember when I got the card, but I vaguely remembered the scene where Waldrof said something like, ‘A guy like you is a trapper!’ You did well, Professor!

When I looked at the job field in the status window, it was changed from Unemployed to Trapper. When registering as a mercenary, one can decide their main position, but since I was unemployed, it seemed like what was present got registered.

“This isn’t a job I will continue, but right now, there is no other job as good as this.”

Strictly speaking, the trapper is an almost dead profession among the players. Since the nature of the job depends on materials, it needs a lot of capital, and even if one does put in a lot of investment, one must move defensively because the growth isn’t very high.

Even after being taught by a professional trapper or a guild specified it, not many would get the same effect and [Job-related skill proficiency by 30% bonus].

However, factors like proficiency and development aspirations are only meaningful when one can see their future. Perhaps things will be different at the start of the plays, but as time passes, the damage does not rise when one is in danger.

“Anyway, since my job changed, I got the trap-making skill for now. If I make traps with things around, free materials, and the processing steps, the stats may increase a little. I can use things like ‘broken twigs’ or ‘small wood’ which aren’t too strong!”

- Soygaybar : wasn’t he just too much of a cheapskate till a while back?

- takealook : Even the children who work in the shittiest place throw twigs away, but one’s trash is another’s precious metal…

“You can’t even think of nice words. Compare them to my body. Anything else, and one strike, will shatter my body. What good would lifting a heavy piece of wood do with a broken arm? Now, tell me which one is more reliable. Look at how productive I am in the present situation, not the value of things I use.”

I had been experimenting with everything before we moved, and this body is pretty resistant to tensile stress, that is, tugging, pressing, or pushing objects in an axial direction, which is a feature of the ‘glass body,’ but it is pretty vulnerable to impact. It doesn’t help me at all unless there’s some kind of armor that absorbs the impact.

‘The weapons are the same. Because the same amount of force I wield will have an impact on my arms.’

After so much thought, he chose the job Trapper. With this body weaker than NPC, it was best to solve without getting close to the enemy.

“Kuak- Ack- my stomach hurts. I should go down and eat something.”

I wanted to lie down and rest, but in GG, time is the most important resource. If I play now, I would be too weak at the time of Mutation Blood. As I was already behind in growth, I could not be wasting time here.

As I roughly organized my thoughts and went down the stairs, I felt the floor was much quieter than yesterday, and Waldrof was wiping a glass with a frown.

Hearing the sound of me coming down, he paused as he looked at me.

“… Good morning, Waldrof.”

“If you didn’t wake up by lunchtime, I was ready to call for a funeral director, but luckily you woke up, old man.”

“Old man?”

“Yes, brat. You were drunk yesterday and so loud. Never mind. It isn’t like I have only seen the docile ones in mercenaries when they newly join. You were all high, and now you’re back to your low self. Come on, have some soup and calm your throat.”

“Yes.”

He must have asked questions while I was drunk.

‘Um… there must have been a reason I was so drunk.’

However, someone who came from another place to be a mercenary is here. How can a person be naïve enough to simply accept them? He might not be a criminal, but someone sketchy came in. The thought of dying yesterday made me shiver.

Wheik

“Guak!”

“Right, think you’ll survive now?”

“Ah, I feel so relieved. Until recently, it felt like my intestines were twisted inside, and my throat had a hole in it.”

“Well, boy, you know how to speak.”

“Slurp- but where have all the others gone? Ah, did you send them on requests?”

When I looked at the clock in the status window, it was still 10am. It wasn’t too early, so I guessed they went to work.

“… right. They went to work.”

“Then why is your expression so pouty? Did you break up?”

At first, I thought he drank a bit too much, but as time passed, the frown kept getting deeper and deeper.

Swish!

“Euk!”

And the Mental Weakness began to hit me as soon as I began to think about something with a clear mind.

‘A disheveled table, snacks which haven’t been cleaned, bottles of alcohol. Soot marks and ash on the table. What did they burn? The muddy footprints on the floor, the flagstones in the center of the city, meaning that there were people from the outskirts or outside….’

Every piece of information my mind was telling me was too serious to brush off.

‘Yesterday, the Tuan Mercenary Guild people seemed to have good unity. The relationship with their master also was fine. There is no way they would leave the place this messy. Unless something…’

Organizing the thoughts, the frown on Master looked different.

“… did something bad happen?”

“Old kid. You have sharp eyes.”

Waldrof put a pipe into his hand, lit it up, and inhaled.

“… the knights of the lord had come in the morning.”

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With the mention of the Knights from the Lord’s castle, the atmosphere changed. Professor began to turn more anxious.

“… what did they come here for?”

“Phew.”

Waldrof, unable to speak due to the pipe in his mouth, smoked and said…

“There was a war. It looks like the cubs of mute have pushed into the vicinity of Turan.”

“Ehhh???!!!!”

Professor, who just wanted to start small traps of twigs and woods, felt like the world collapsed.

“Phew.”

Waldrof also seemed upset as the pipe had gone dry, and he had to fill it again.

“The situation looks serious. All of the people at the training center on the city’s ‘training street’ have been conscripted, and the Lord’s command has been given to us to join in the fight regardless of skill.”

“W-wait. I just came yesterday….”

“… sorry. As soon as the card was registered, your record was notified. You too, kid.”

“Ahhhh!”

How can my life be so out of luck? Why is heaven like this! It is one trouble after another, more curses which cannot be broken down! This looks like a fucking Everest’s worth of problems!

How huge the level difference will be? Mute? Even the lowest one is level 9!

“Do not be too sad. You would have been drafted even if you had been anywhere in the city.”

“Uhhh… why…”

“Aside from guys like us who live with knives, all young and strong men are being dragged into this.”

Worst news ever.

Because mercenaries are those whose job is to fight, if anything like this occurs, they are the priority recruits, and afterward, they are paid in accordance with their union in the proper way. But what about civilians? When young men in the city in charge of production die, the city’s development slows, resulting in a long-term weakening of the city’s authority. But they’re pulling everyone down as a meat shield?

“Is the situation that bad?”

“Turin is inside the Morudic estate. But why would they come here if they were stopped?”

“… shit.”

This means that the city was hit before. No matter how peaceful the lords of this time were, it wouldn’t be normal to be captured by 9th to 8th level mutes.

‘And this is still early time for warlocks. There is no way that high-risk objects like level 5 or higher can be mass-produced by now. That is impossible. Who touched this? Has an incident made the queen of theirs feel threatened that she decided to gain more force?’

‘Calm down. This is still the second day of the game. Regardless of my character level, what is happening now is impossible for me to even help. This is the normal storyline of this seed. Then the scenario wouldn’t have progressed to the point where it could never be solved.’

A solo play game, but nobody plays the same one. Even if you inherit someone else’s world clear seed, only the effect is inherited, and the world that is created has a different flow, so no one can predict how the game will pan out.

Only one thing is predictable.

That it isn’t impossible to clear. This means that the event is a natural one.

‘From the start, we start by handing over 2 cities. Making a battle that is generally impossible at this time possible means that a loss of investment has been made on the part of the warlock and the queen. This isn’t just a high-risk, high-gain event.’

Lack of information. I know this is what this was pointing to, but I don’t even know anything.

“Why do you feel so anxious when saying war?”

“… I can’t simply stop worrying.”

Waldrof closed his eyes and smoked again.

“Don’t do it. At best, you are just 19. I tried to make you not be called, but the people saw you registered on the list of mercenaries, and regardless of age, they wanted you down there. I am sorry. All I could do with my authority was push your services to the second call.”

“… and the position?”

If the name is on the list, then there is no way out. Fortunately, the job I chose was the trapper…

“… Shields.”

‘Whyyyyy!!!’

“Shit! I know they want to use the little ones ahead in the front line! Why do the high-ranking people get the say for this!”

“Then, what about the general infantry, archers, and supplies?”

“All civilians in the castle have also been called! It was said that the seats were filled right away when it came to supply, and the positions that needed a little bit of power were filled with skilled soldiers, so all the F-rank ones are shields!”

Shield soldiers. The horses are shield soldiers, but in battles with mutes, they reduce them as they get consumed by them.

The reason the war with the mutes is difficult is the ridiculous wildness they possess, but the biggest problem is that the moment their blood or saliva touches someone, that person gets infected.

The essence of Mutation Blood is not a normal lifeform but a slime in which the Queen’s commands get put.

The orders are given by the queen, and it differs depending on the time of the year, but in year 124, the queen shouldn’t be fully grown, so I felt complicated. The orders given to the mute will be one or two at most.

‘More meat, more genes.’

Therefore, the mutes in this period have very high infectivity compared to their weak combat power. When bitten through saliva, and when blood gets spilled in, the mute cells invade the blood vessels of the host’s brain and turn them into infectious ones. When enough infestation has gathered to satisfy the Queen, the mutes return to the Queen and sacrifice themselves.

“Isn’t there any survivor in the two cities ahead of us?”

“Would that be possible? There were a few refugees, and the Lord and his subordinates of those places managed to escape.”

“But not normal people?”

“… those fuckers.”

He must have ordered the soldiers to throw them out and withdraw them.

‘This time, it had turned more erratic because the army acted like that. Pelas and Morudic’s soldiers are famous for being well trained. The city was captured, but the number of infected people was reduced due to the struggle of the soldiers, so they couldn’t handle it. Thanks to that, the mutes must go after the next cities to get trained soldiers’ bodies. Stupid lord! If only they were made to fight alongside the knights for proper defense and attack, they would have been able to stop them.’

It’s obvious, even if one didn’t fight. Frightened by the sudden appearance of mutes, he had the strongest knights escort him and run away, leaving the soldiers.

Thanks to that, now they had to fight it.

Bang!

In a desperate situation, Professor was thinking when the door swung open with a soldier coming in. After a quick glance around, he took a deep breath and said, “Mercenaries of Turan! Open your eyes and ears! Follow the order of Romilio De Valcados, the Lord of Norther Rodrik and one of the most revered knights, Lord of Turan!”

“Here he is.”

“Already?”

“It means that the men of the Lord have gone down. Enough to bring out the ones who postponed their duty for the first time due to illness or old age.”

After that, the soldiers were talking about something, but in a nutshell, it is like, if you don’t want to be chased away as a traitor or deserter, just come in and work.

‘Damn it, did I come to play to do military service?!’

After a moment’s frustration, Waldrof leaned over the bar and whispered.

“Look, oldie.”

“What?”

“It cannot be helped as things turned out like this. As a mercenary, there are days when you are unlucky like this.”

“Isn’t it my first day, though?”

“… well, my mercenaries were mostly driven out too, and I had used my strength. The mutes don’t have any strategies; they just run around and fight when they want, and most of the battle style is close range. Then you should band together to the far left, closest to the wall.”

“You mean…”

“They say that if you hold out once, just before the fight starts when they charge, make space behind. Hold on, keep trying. Do not run from the battlefield. Just hold on and run without even looking back. When the fight starts, you cannot even see much.”

Nod.

I just nodded to his words. His words of ignoring the command there as soon as the battle started and being an independent group, counting like a commander, were impossible, and if someone caught him saying this, well, he would be beheaded.

“Huh, I don’t need to explain the fact that it’s something you shouldn’t say out loud.”

“Now! Those who are called, move ahead! F-rank mercenary Neil Casey, F-rank Xabi Mojo, F-rank Professor, D-rank….”

“Now, you need to go for real. Do not forget, it is just one day, but you have become one of our brothers since yesterday. Let’s not meet like corpses on the street.”

“Do not say that.”

“Huhu, the God of War is a liar, huh? But we need to say this to live.”

Waldorf and I greeted each other and tapped our hands as mercenaries do.

“Nice, everyone is here! From now, we move ahead.”

At the command of the leading soldier, I, along with the other conscripts, moved towards the barracks in front of the castle gate.

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