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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“This is better, at least. Considering it uses the user’s mana… The effects… Honestly, I prefer this one.”
“What is it this time?”
“It uses mana to boost vitality. It also has size adjustment, and resistance to poison, contamination, and curses.”
They weren’t legendary ancient artifacts for nothing.
“And it seems to self-repair over time even if it’s severely damaged…”
It repaired faster if you infused mana into it.
In a way, it was even more convenient than the Sword of Regeneration.
“…Is it really okay for me to receive something like this?”
“Honestly, you expected this much functionality, right? It’s an ancient artifact, a legendary one at that.”
“That’s true, but…”
She had been a knight once.
She would have thought it strange if a legendary ancient artifact didn’t have at least this much functionality.
‘Honestly, they’re both a warrior’s dream.’
A sword that could heal wounds without the help of a priest, albeit close to a cursed sword, and armor that could keep the wearer from getting tired as long as there was enough mana.
They were full of features that maximized a warrior’s abilities without any complicated magic, so they were artifacts that any warrior would want to possess even at the cost of a fortune.
Therefore, Kayla couldn’t hide her joy, even though she seemed embarrassed.
‘I guess she couldn’t even dream of such artifacts during her time as a knight.’
She must be ecstatic inside.
“Athena, Baldur, let’s spar a little.”
“…Please go easy on me, Master.”
No, she was openly delighted.
It seemed she wanted to test out her new equipment right away.
“We have an appointment in the evening, so don’t overdo it.”
I shook my head and gave them a brief warning, and the three of them rushed out.
They wouldn’t spar nearby, so they probably left the castle.
The three returned just before the branch manager sent someone.
Shortly after their return, the messenger sent by the branch manager arrived at the inn, and we followed him to the Mercenary Guild.
‘I thought we would meet outside…’
I soon understood the reason.
‘Is it because of Annelise?’
It seemed they intended to settle Annelise’s matter along with this invitation.
She was tied up and present with the Mercenary Guild branch manager.
‘They must have called Tildi to confirm as well.’
Judging by her bound state, it seemed the ruling was in our favor.
Well, with the perpetrator and the victims being clear, there was no way things could go wrong.
“Welcome. I apologize for the late invitation.”
As we entered, the branch manager of the Doriem Mercenary Guild personally rose to greet us.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Colmail, the branch manager of Doriem.”
Although he was the branch manager of the Mercenary Guild, Colmail looked more like an administrator than a mercenary.
He had neatly combed hair and was dressed in formal attire, giving the impression that he knew nothing about fieldwork.
Of course, that was just his appearance.
As the branch manager, he must have been a mercenary once.
The Mercenary Guild wasn’t a place where someone with no experience could become a branch manager.
Especially in a large branch like Doriem, the branch manager was often a former high-ranking mercenary.
As a relatively influential branch, competition was inevitably fierce, and those who overcame such competition and became branch managers were usually former high-ranking mercenaries.
There were exceptions, but it seemed Colmail wasn’t one of them.
‘It seems he hasn’t stopped training.’
His posture alone indicated that he was no stranger to combat.
“I apologize for the late invitation. I hope you weren’t offended.”
As he extended his hand towards me, I shook it nonchalantly.
“I’m Do-Inha. It’s fine. It’s understandable that a branch manager of this scale wouldn’t have much free time. I don’t mind.”
It was a bit unexpected.
‘He knows I’m a warlock, and that I can use curses, but he’s shaking my hand without hesitation.’
People usually avoided even physical contact with curse users.
Or rather, they generally avoided contact with any warlock, but he shook my hand as if he knew nothing.
It could be seen as a gesture of goodwill.
It also meant that he valued me and my party highly enough for a branch manager to initiate such a gesture.
I shook his hand lightly and released it.
Naturally, there was no childish power struggle.
He briefly greeted my companions and offered us seats.
“First of all, I want to thank you for choosing our branch.”
With light greetings, we talked briefly about how our mercenary life was, whether there were any inconveniences in our activities, and whether the branch staff had made any mistakes.
Since I had no ill feelings towards the branch staff, the conversation flowed smoothly.
There had been an unpleasant incident at the Sleeping Bear Inn while we were waiting for our mercenary badges to be issued, but the innkeeper had handled it well, and neither Servisso nor Brenel had made any insults towards me, so it was natural.
‘He probably knows about that incident too.’
The Sleeping Bear Inn was connected to this branch after all.
However, there was no need to bring it up.
Colmail was showing me goodwill, and I had no reason to have a bad relationship with him.
‘This is where we’ll be working for a while.’
It wouldn’t hurt to be on good terms with someone who was also close to the lord.
My companions’ expressions changed slightly as they recalled the incident during the conversation, but they didn’t speak up when I didn’t react.
Instead, I continued the good atmosphere by briefly praising Servisso.
Colmail then brought up Cereo’s party’s betrayal and expressed his regret.
“I never imagined they would do such a thing. It’s a good thing Priest Tildi was there, or you might have been in serious trouble.”
“It’s fortunate that we had a devout individual with us.”
“To think promising individuals like them would fall so far…”
Although Tildi and I had made a deal, it was true that we would have been in a bad situation if he hadn’t been there.
Colmail paused for a moment before carefully speaking again.
“So, I wanted to discuss Annelise’s punishment.”
I looked at him attentively, and he continued cautiously,
“First of all, if your other companions have no objections, we intend to make her a slave and assign her to you.”
My companions showed no objections to Colmail’s words, and he continued,
“However… if possible, we would prefer not to brand Annelise with the slave mark.”
“…What do you mean?”
Athena couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke up.
Kayla also spoke after Athena.
“Are you suggesting that the Mercenary Guild condones betrayal?”
“Of course not… Personally, I’d like to execute her…”
Colmail’s gaze towards Annelise was filled with contempt.
Of course, based on his previous actions, it wasn’t impossible that it was an act, but judging by the faint killing intent he was showing, it seemed genuine.
“However, we received pressure.”
“Pressure? Surely not from the lord.”
“No, Annelise has no connection to the lord. Rather, she’s connected to the Demihuman Alliance.”
“She’s a half-dark elf. A half-blood.”
‘…A dark elf? And a half-blood?’
“For a half-blood, her appearance is completely human, so you can’t tell by looking, but it’s confirmed.”
Just like her appearance, she had no talent in dark magic.
Honestly, I still couldn’t believe it.
Her skin wasn’t dark, she wasn’t particularly tall, and her ears were human ears.
And she was a dark elf half-blood?
“Frankly… I also learned about it recently. However, the source of the information is very reliable…”
It seemed that the source of the information wasn’t happy about Annelise being made a slave.
“Who is it?”
“…The royal family.”
I couldn’t help but frown at those words.
“Someone from the royal family subtly informed me. It seems they were the ones who prepared her identity as well. They said there was a deal with the Demihuman Alliance.”
“You might not know this, but the treatment of humans within the Demihuman Alliance isn’t very good. Naturally, the treatment of half-bloods, who have mixed human blood, is also poor. Besides, Annelise has a completely human appearance, so they were the ones who initiated the conversation.”
“…Dark elves don’t have a good standing within the Alliance either.”
They were pushed aside by the elves.
The Demihuman Alliance officially had four classes, and dark elves were limited to the third class by birth.
For reference, the highest class was the first class, and elves were usually limited to the second class.
The Demihuman Alliance was a place where one’s status was determined by their race.
‘Of course, there are exceptions everywhere.’
There was also an unofficial fifth class, called the untouchables, which consisted of unregistered individuals.
But it was a derogatory term used unofficially.
As mentioned earlier, officially there were only four classes.
“You seem to know. Still, there are a few families that have survived by sticking together. She’s a descendant of one of those families.”
Just like humans, demihumans also had families.
To be precise, those who were once called tribes came together under the banner of the Demihuman Alliance and became known as families.
“I was also ordered not to disclose this information to anyone else… even our lord.”
That was why they called us here.
‘This is troublesome.’
Annelise was also one of my targets for revenge.
But compared to Cereo, her crime wasn’t that serious.
It was Cereo who directly caused my downfall.
Annelise was also responsible, but…
‘If the royal family is involved, the downsides outweigh the benefits.’
Revenge wasn’t my top priority.
It was survival and freedom.
It wouldn’t be good to attract attention.
Besides, I was aiming to become an authorized warlock.
Making an enemy of the royal family here would only cause trouble.
I sighed briefly and spoke to Colmail,
“Wouldn’t the problem remain even if she wasn’t branded with the slave mark?”
“…That’s true. She did betray us, and the news will inevitably spread.”
Even if I forgave her, Colmail would have to punish her.
Otherwise, he would face distrust from countless mercenaries, but the royal family was preventing that…
‘He can’t reveal the internal circumstances.’
Therefore, even if I forgave her, the problem wouldn’t be solved.
“So, we’d like to officially declare her as your slave and have your party accept Annelise…”
“Unacceptable.”
“Absolutely not!”
Before I could even answer, Kayla and Athena expressed their opposition.
Colmail’s expression became troubled.
Even if I was the party leader, it was difficult to make a unilateral decision if my companions objected.
Parties, unlike mercenary groups, had no binding rules.
Furthermore, considering Kayla and Athena’s value, he could easily guess that I wouldn’t ignore them.
I shrugged my shoulders in response.
‘Honestly, I’m not interested either.’
Of course I wasn’t interested.
She wasn’t exceptionally skilled, and I had no positive feelings towards her.
“She betrayed us once. She could do it again at any time.”
“She’ll only be a hindrance. Besides, the fact that there’s this kind of intervention means they want her to survive, right? In the end, we’ll have to protect her, but we can’t work while protecting someone like her.”
She would officially be a slave, but it would be no different from us being hired as her bodyguards.
Colmail spoke up at our strong opposition.
“Of course, we’re not asking you to simply accept her.”
He was in a difficult position as well.
Come to think of it, Colmail wouldn’t be happy about this situation either.
It would be easier for him to handle things by the book.
But that wasn’t possible.
“The royal family will actively support your party… In fact, if it hadn’t been for this incident, that support would have gone to Cereo’s party.”
‘Was this the secret behind Cereo’s party’s smooth growth and lack of contact with other factions in the previous round?’
I had thought it was a testament to their exceptional abilities, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
It was absurd.
It meant I could never have caught up to him on my own.
He had been secretly receiving support from the royal family.
All that effort I had put in…
Of course, this wasn’t some kind of sport where receiving support was unfair.
I just felt a sense of emptiness because the past, where I had struggled without knowing anything, now seemed ridiculous.
At the same time, I naturally felt disgusted.
I sighed inwardly and composed myself.
‘Support…’
It still bothered me that I couldn’t deal with Annelise right now.
Even excluding what happened in the past, our relationship wasn’t good in this round either.
Her life was ruined because of my request, and all her companions died.
Of course, there was a bit of coincidence and her own fault, but humans weren’t always rational beings.
However, it was difficult to act on my emotions given the circumstances.
‘And she’s a dark elf half-blood…’
Dark elf.
My master’s race was dark elf.
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[Bruh fr? i hope he mind breaks her or somethin idk man]
