The Regression Of A Grand Mercenary - 46 - In our Return

When the sun was lowering, we came back to the tangerine inn after looking at the houses offered to us by a man who was friends with Evelyn’s father. He had us go through dozens of houses, but each one wasn’t to my liking. And on the fifteenth offer, I finally found a place that I was satisfied with.

The price was a little steep, but knowing the investment of having a home in the city, I couldn’t waste the chance ot buy the house.

It was located in the center of the city…a place that was far from where the slums were and far from where the rich districts was. It was a perfect place that complimented the normal civil lifestyle that we had in our village. Everyone who lived in the middle of the city was middle class.

The security was tight and the people in the neighborhood were nice. So having agreed, I shook the hands of the man and we made a deal.

When we arrive back at the inn, we were unexpectedly greeted by Theodore lowering his entire body down on us in a pleading bow.

He apologized that night…

He said sorry in ways that I couldn’t really understand why. Presenting himself like he committed a grave mistake. And after hearing his apology about his own pride of wanting to be his own person, and thanking me of the opportunity I gave him, we settled the tension that was between us and we returned back to what we had before.

After that night, the next day, I visited the Samsel guild by myself. I had two reasons for coming here.

One was for the payment I had to claim from Liondel for the blade I made for him out of the materials I claimed from the Alba fox. And the second reason I came here was for taking in the request that Oxy offered me on the first day we met.

He wanted to have a sword forged for him that suits his very personality…in exchange, I wanted to make a deal with him that he wouldn’t really be able to deny. He promised me himself that he would pay me anything in return for a perfect sword that suits his style of fighting.

Right now, I’m not looking for gold, instead…I’m more in need of his authority here in the city.

***

“Oh, so you finally came!” said Oxy as he was by the bar of the guild, drinking his favorite drink. Mead. From the way his eyes were drooping, his head was moving unsteadily, and how red his face was, It was likely to be said that he was drunk.

And with him coincidentally was Ron Wessel, also an alcoholic who likes to drink early in the morning.

“Hmm? Do you know this brat?” asked Ron as he looked at me with a familiar gaze.

“Of course I know him! He’s the kid that’s going to make it possible for me to overcome Liondel, that bastard! Hahahaha!” he said as his stinky breath spewed across the room all up to my nose.

“Really? And how do you suppose you plan on doing that?! You’re still way below his level…if anything, it would take you over a hundred duels just to finally get some sort of chance. That pervert who only looks at swords is a pervert to no end!! Let’s cheers to that!”

“Hahaha! You said it! Cheerss!!”

They were both clearly drunk.

“…I’m sorry, but maybe now is not a good time to talk about this.” I said, as I know nothing would develop if Oxy was drunk.

“Oh come on…come here. Come here!! I got to tell you something!” said Oxy as he was waving his hand to me. Inviting me to come closer.

“W-what is it?” I asked.

“Burppp**~~ Whew….hahaha!” Oxy let out such a hot burp, it almost made me nauseous.

“…Ugh.”

“Hey, Hey! …hey…” said Ron as he was calling to me next.

“…”

“I heard from that old geezer…that old bastard! That your little brother…ugh…uhh…h-he actually passed the test! Isn’t that great?”

“…”

“…I-if that’s the case, that means that the boy…h-he…uh…hhe finally gets to be a wizard! Cheers!!~~~ugh, my head, it hurts.”

“…Yea, that’s what I came here to talk about.” I said.

“Hmmm? Hmmmmm??? What is this about wizards?? Are you guys talking about wizards??! Geez…you don’t need wizards!! All you need is a bitch old heap of thick iron on your hands!! You don’t need wizards!!! you need muschleess!!!” said Oxy drunkenly as he started waving the bottle of mead on his hands like a sword.

“Ugh, again. Why are you guys this drunk at this time?” I asked as it was still early in the morning

“Its because they just came back from a mission last night. They’ve been drinking non-stop since the success of their mission.” said Stella as she came and approached me.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, well…that’s Oxy’s story, but for the old man, he’s just drinking like always.” said Stella as she looked at Ron.

Having separated myself from the two drunks, I talked to Stella instead.

“Geez, I really need to talk to him today. I can’t do it if he’s this drunk!”

“Unfortunately I can’t help you with anything Mr. Thill. But if I may be allowed to ask, what do you intend to talk about with that drunk brute?”

“It’s about his request. It’s similar to Liondel’s hobbies, but this time…Oxy wanted a personalized weapon made.”

“Ah yes, I’ve heard of that a couple of days ago. He was boasting about how he was going to finally overthrow Liondel from his position. I thought it was…just him being hysterical like always.”

“Well, I doubt it would be that easy to overthrow Liondel. Liondel is an actual martial artist who throws himself into a world full of swords…Oxy is more of a straight-head warrior who relies on nothing but his power. The two are completely different.”

“Hmm, would it be possible for you to just visit him again tomorrow? I’m sure by then that if he does sober up a bit by then, then you should be able to talk to him.”

“I’m sorry but I can’t. By this afternoon, me and my family will be returning back to our village.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. We’ve done everything we wanted here and now its time to go back home. My brother passed the academy exams and my other brother was able to get into a culinary school using his connections. ”

“I see, if that’s the case, then why not leave him a note. I’m not really certain if he would be sober by the next day, so its best that you would just leave him a note. I’ll personally deliver it to him.” suggested Stella.

“Well…I guess that can work. I mean he really does want a sword, if he wants to work with me, its better that he goes straight to our village. I have my workshop there.”

Having been given this advice, I wrote the details of how Oxy would come visit me to talk about the details of his request and the price for this request.

Having left the note, I then asked about the wanting to meet with Liondel to talk. But as I mentioned him, Stella reminded me that Liondel was off on a mission.

So I couldn’t get my pay for the swords I made.

Yet right before I was saddened by this, Stella pulled out a bag full of coin and she gave it to me.

“Mr. Liondel said that if you ever came by, he told me to give you this in payment for the swords you made for him.”

When I looked at the bag, I counted about 40 pieces of gold coins. It was enough to spend two semesters for Theodore’s classes.

“Huh, he gave me extra.” it was only about 30 coins at most…yet Liondel was grateful and he added a bit more than our usual deal.

After I was handed the payment, I said my thanks to Stella and I left the guild.

By that afternoon, me and my siblings were in front of the tangerine inn, with our things ready.

We were ready to leave the city.

Just as how we left, the conditions of the snow were just as heavy as we arrived a few days back. But unlike how when we made our way here, I had bought a few things that would help our travels along the snow.

For one, a heater artifact that works as a stove for cooking and a fireplace that keeps people warm against the ice and snow. Knowing our home, having this artifact will help us get through the days much easier.

Another item to help us were newly bought coats that were extra thick. The girls were the ones who picked these coats for us, so we were extra comfy and extra warm.

Lastly, we also bought a few things like groceries that were only available at the city. With the season being as it is, travelling merchants would slow their visit to the other villages, including ours. We had to prepare for the winter.

As we made our way to the exit of the city, I made a small detour to visit a friend.

In front of a simple looking old shop, I smiled and got off of the carriage. From there, I knocked on the door of the shop and a familiar face came by with a smile on his burly mustache.

“Hello Mr. Churi.” I said as I greeted him kindly.

“Ah its you, my friend. Why have you come? And who are those children with you?” he asked.

“These are my siblings.”

“Oh, I see. They do look very similar to your face. Haha, so why have you visited?”

“I simply came by to give you this.”

As token of gratitude, I handed Mr. Churi an item that I was able to make with the materials I had in my workshop. It was inside a wooden box that I also made.

“What is this?” he asked.

“As a blacksmith myself…I offer this gift to you in symbol of my friendship.”

“Hmm?” having been curious, Mr. Churi opened the box and saw what was inside it.

“!?” he was shocked.

“This is the Cicial mark of my family…and we only give these to our friends who we acknowledge as our own brothers.”

“W-why are you giving this to me?” he asked.

“It shows my respect for you as a Cicial Blacksmith. The history of this mark in our family isn’t that long…it only started back when my grandfather started the tradition and he passed it on to my father and my father told it to me. They say that we only give these marks of ours as a form of respect to other blacksmiths who we acknowledge to be more than just welders of weapons.”

“I see, but why are you giving it to me? This is only our second time meeting, so I find it very strange that you would give something as precious as this to someone as ordinary as me. Compared to you, I’m not very much of a genius with making weapons.” he asked

“…but you know their value. You are genuinely a true blacksmith both spirit and flesh from the moment I have seen you admire my blade. Unlike the other blacksmiths I know, you carry heart. You didn’t show a negative emotion that disrupted your sight for admiring a well-forged sword.”

“…heart? I don’t know what that means, but I’ll take that as a compliment.” he said.

“Thank you.” I said.

“Hmm, so this emblem is the mark of your family…and you intend on giving this to me to show your good faith? Am I reading this right?” he asked.

“Yes…Mr. Churi, I wish to be friends with you.” I said.

“Hmm? Ha…hahahaha, haahahahah! Hahah! That’s hilarious!”

“…” I only smiled as Mr. Churi started laughing at me.

“After all that, you could have just said to me that you wanted to be friends.”

“I’m sorry, but I can sometimes be very awkward.”

“Haha, yes…so can I. Hmm, sure let’s be friends.” he said as he stretched his hand forward, giving me a sign to willingly shake his hand.

As I did, he smiled and said.

“From now on call me Murly, that’s what my friends call me.” he said.

To him, it may seem like this was just our second meeting, but to me, he was already a part of my family. He is a good man…a man I am willing to protect.

After our visit, we finally left the city and started making our way back home.

***

Two days later…

We finally arrived back at the Fether Village around mid-day. And just as when we arrived, immediately, we were meet with a row of familiar faces.

“…?” One in particular was the vice elder of the village.

And the rest were the people who had a sort of authority in the village. Those people were none other than the members of the village council, people who were tasked with managing the village to keep its peace and protect the villagers from any sort of conflict.

In total, there were eight people standing before us just as we arrived at out home.

I thought that Evelyn would have been the first person to greet us back, but this sudden greeting just after our journey back from the city made me uneasy.

“Its good that you’re finally back, Thill.” said the vice elder.

We never really did talk much back when my father was still alive. In fact, I barely had any memories of a good friendship between these people…I was a bit introverted back then. So them greeting me was an odd case.

“Why are you all here?” I asked.

And when I asked, they all looked uneasy as if they were nervous. My sixth sense was telling me that something had happened.

So I asked again.

“What happened?”

“…Our village was raided two days ago.” said the vice elder.

“By who?” I said as my grip started to hardened.

“Bandits.” he said as a nervous sweat fell from his cheek.

“…” in that single word alone, my own bloodlust could not be controlled.

The horses started to become erratic and nervous at the feel of my own anger. Their animal instinct were being buried with the instinct to run. But I grab a hold of their reigns and started calming them down.

After that, I started to calm my nerves down.

“…Tell me everything that happened.” I said

As the Village council was explaining everything to me about what had happened, my siblings, they started to unpack our things. And while they did, from the distance, a certain blonde haired merchant girl was seen making her way towards our home with a frowned expression.