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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“…”
In heavy silence, I gazed at the Nameless War Ghost.
Facing her directly, rather than observing from afar as before, I could see her in detail.
Her brown hair, tied back, was slightly wavy, and her eyes were deep and unreadable.
She held a shortsword, but I saw another sword in a scabbard on her back, separate from the one at her hip.
Two daggers were also tucked into her belt.
Considering her small stature and slender frame, she looked more like she was surrounded by weapons than equipped with them, yet strangely, it didn’t seem unnatural.
Around my age, from a mercenary company, equipped with various weapons, and possessing combat prowess beyond her age.
Without any system window or explanation, I was certain.
This girl was one of the six selectable templates that players could choose from.
A key to navigating this treacherous world.
‘It’s unexpected that she’s female, but not unusual.’
The template only determined the background setting and abilities.
Name, gender, and appearance could be customized by the player within certain limits, and in “Hero Assembly” mode, they were completely random.
I had played as a male Nameless War Ghost, but there was no guarantee it would be the same this time.
“Uh, um, thank you. You saved me.”
I thanked the girl, whose name I didn’t even know.
I was genuinely grateful, but even if I weren’t, there was no harm in making a good impression on the Nameless War Ghost.
“…”
But there was no response.
The girl didn’t speak or gesture.
She just stared at me.
Her gaze, somehow mystical and seemingly able to see through me, made me feel strangely anxious.
Was the Nameless War Ghost mute? There was no such setting, was there?
Or had I done something to offend her? If it was about abandoning them and running away, that was Dorf, not me. I needed to clear up the misunderstanding.
“Hey…”
Just as I was about to speak again, the girl finally opened her mouth.
“…Just words?”
What did I just hear?
Hmm, maybe the impact hadn’t worn off yet. My ears must be ringing.
“I wouldn’t think you’d try to get away with just a verbal thank you after saving your life. A reward would be nice, or a decent weapon would be even better. It’s a rich boy’s life we’re talking about, so it should be worth that much.”
“…………………………”
I looked up at the sky.
It seemed the first protagonist I encountered had a rather peculiar personality.
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The girl introduced herself as ‘Regret’.
“I wasn’t planning on getting involved. But if both you and that fatso died, the request would be a failure, and we wouldn’t get paid. Clark and the others didn’t seem to be in a position to worry about anything else.”
“So you came to save me?”
“I didn’t know if I’d find you, but I had time to kill, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I wasn’t planning on fighting in front of the others anyway.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a hassle.”
Regret didn’t elaborate on what the hassle was.
But I could guess.
Standing out wasn’t always a good thing.
Especially for a young girl, even a strong one.
“…What are you doing?”
I asked Regret, who was examining the sword that had fallen beside the dead man with the pierced throat.
“Checking if it’s any good. But it’s nothing special. Not bad, but not worth replacing my current one.”
She tossed the sword aside.
Had she been replacing her weapons every time she defeated an opponent with better gear?
“Anyway, judging by what you said, that fatso is probably dead by now. Guess the request is a failure.”
“Everyone will be disappointed,” Regret said, as if it were someone else’s problem.
From what she said, it seemed the remaining mercenaries and traders would be able to survive on their own.
If I rejoined them now, the lord’s son, with his dwindling number of allies, wouldn’t have any options.
But—
‘If I return empty-handed, will that Lord let me off the hook?’
I didn’t know.
I wasn’t the main player in this transaction, just there to observe and learn, so I shouldn’t bear much responsibility, but I knew too little about the Lord’s character.
All I knew was that he was the head of a ruthless trading company that amassed wealth through unscrupulous means, a womanizer, and a cold-blooded man who ignored the infighting among his own children.
Hmm, no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine a good outcome.
After a moment of contemplation, I made up my mind and spoke.
“If I told you there might be a way to get the reward, what would you do?”
“Huh? How?”
To Regret, who tilted her head curiously, I said,
“…We capture the culprit behind this incident.”
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Stern Baldwin, heir to the Baldwin family and son of Sardan Baldwin, was growing impatient.
“…Isn’t this taking too long to capture a single child?”
The men Stern had mobilized for this operation were elites who trained and dined with him regularly, the future core members of the Baldwin forces.
Due to the poor financial state of the territory and the need for a swift ambush, they were lightly equipped, but their skills were undeniable.
He had expected this to be a simple operation.
However, contrary to Stern’s expectations, no news of victory came from the comrades who had carried out the ambush, and the comrade who had chased after the youngest son of the Midas family, who had escaped the trap, hadn’t returned either.
‘Should I have led the ambush inside myself?’
As the heir to the territory, he had been persuaded by his comrades to oversee the ambush at the exit, focusing on securing their target and preparing for contingencies rather than joining the fray.
Now, he regretted that decision.
If he had been fighting, he wouldn’t be so anxious waiting.
“Master Stern, shouldn’t we just finish off this one?”
One of the young men remaining by his side gestured towards Dorf, who had been screaming like a pig before passing out.
His face was swollen from repeated blows, his front teeth were missing, and his limbs were grotesquely twisted.
He was barely clinging to life. But Stern shook his head.
“He worked as the Lord Midas’s hands and feet. He might know something about their weaknesses or dirty dealings, so we’ll keep him alive for now.”
“Understood.”
-Rustle.
Suddenly, they heard a sound from the thicket.
Stern and his subordinate turned their gaze towards the sound and widened their eyes at the sight that emerged from between the trees.
Chrom Midas.
The primary target of this operation, the boy with the tainted Midas blood, was dragging something larger than himself across the ground towards them.
The realization that the “something” bore a striking resemblance to their comrade who had shared meals with them just yesterday, and the sight of the boy smirking at them before casually tossing their comrade’s body aside like a discarded object, robbed them of their composure.
“You bastard!!!!”
As the man charged forward, consumed by rage, a blade flashed from the side, intercepting him.
In a blink, the man’s body spun in the air like a windmill, and the momentum combined with the force of the blow nearly severed his neck, spraying blood everywhere.
As Stern attacked in a fury, Regret threw aside her longsword and drew her shortsword to meet him.
Stern’s eyes flickered for a moment, surprised that a young girl had killed his comrade, but rage quickly consumed him.
-Clang! Clang!
Unlike his comrades, who had been killed almost instantly, Stern, the next lord and a recognized knight with years of training, was a match for Regret.
In fact, he was overwhelming her.
‘Incredibly light and unpredictable movements, surprisingly strong for her slender frame. She has the nerve and the sense to aim for vital points without hesitation.’
But that was all.
‘She’s never learned proper swordsmanship, her foundation is weak. And while she’s strong for her size, she’s no match for me!’
Every time their weapons clashed, Regret stumbled backward, and Stern’s attacks grew fiercer.
When Regret tripped over a protruding tree root and dropped her weapon, he was certain of victory.
‘This is the consequence of cooperating with the Midas family. Don’t blame me!!!’
He brought his sword down for a killing blow.
…Or, he would have.
If the girl, whom he thought had fallen, hadn’t spun around and tripped him.
“Wha—”
-Thud!
Stern’s head slammed into the tree trunk, sending a jarring shock through his body.
Through the excruciating pain of his face scraping against the bark, he managed to open his eyes.
The last thing he saw was the image of the girl, who had pulled a large club from who-knows-where, striking him down.
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