By Zephyria 
We continued to run in a constant direction, except for the times we ate and slept.
Although I had previously told Ruben about two types of footwork, I had only taught him the forms and techniques. Now, seizing this opportunity, I stayed by the children’s side, teaching them with every step, playing around.
Ruben and Benjamin both had well-developed Dantians, knew all the body’s Acupoints, and were incredibly intelligent. They nearly fell a few times at first, but they followed my teachings well. Thanks to the absence of monsters, we could practice footwork to our heart’s content, which was great.
After running for how long?
One day in the fourth week of February, Hugh Benson, who was running ahead, signaled for the children to stop. He raised his left hand to his side, clenched it into a fist, and shook it up and down, then extended three fingers. It meant there were three monsters. Everyone held their breath.
Following Hugh Benson, I moved slowly, as if in stealth.
The monsters that appeared before us were Trolls. I knew they typically grew to about 3 meters, but these were unusually large ones, around 5 meters.
But no matter how big they were, they were Trolls. We had dealt with Trolls to our fill before. Hugh Benson, after counting the monsters twice and thrice, pointed at me, Rubel, and Benjamin with his fingertips. All three of us nodded once and charged forward.
I took on the one on the far left. From a distance where the Troll’s arm couldn’t reach, I leaped diagonally and severed its neck with a single blow. I laid the Troll down to the left, ensuring its blood wouldn’t splash onto the children, and watched them fight.
Benjamin and Rubel fought quite well too.
Benjamin’s leaping ability had been praised by Professor Sanson before. He instantly leaped onto the Troll’s shoulder and aimed for its neck. However, since he couldn’t yet form Sword energy, he struck the same spot three times, like chopping a thick tree with an axe.
Then, he leaped off the Troll’s body, which collapsed as if it were made of wood. Benjamin grinned and wiped the blood that had splashed on his face with his sleeve.
Rubel ran swiftly, disorienting the Troll’s vision. He aimed for its blind spots, darting nimbly around the Troll, even between its legs, provoking it. The moment the Troll, enraged, thrashed and slammed its long arm onto the ground.
He immediately climbed up its arm. He maintained his balance on the flailing limb and easily escaped its grasping hand. Rubel, having found his footing on its shoulder, gripped his sword in reverse. With a crunch, he pierced its Adam’s apple and immediately pulled his sword out.
Then he struck again, and again. Avoiding the Troll’s hands, he struck the back of its neck, then its opposite shoulder, then its collarbone, then its shoulder again. After circling and carving, the Troll’s head finally fell off.
The heaviest part of a Troll is its arms. Rubel slid down its arm, which hit the ground before the body, like a slide. He was covered in Troll blood but was smiling brightly.
Whose child is he, to have grown so well. Filled with pride, I opened my arms to hug him as he ran towards me, but Marianne seized the moment to cast Clean Magic.
Rubel, now spotless and handsome as if he hadn’t been splashed with blood at all, immediately bowed to Marianne.
“Thank you, Young Lady Marianne.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Please continue what you were doing.”
Chuckling, I readily hugged Ruben again and patted his back. “Well done, well done,” I said, stroking his head.
Benjamin asked Marianne to cast magic on him too, and Marianne teased him, saying she was a valuable person and demanded a price.
Seeing us chatting, Hugh Benson sighed and took out a reagent bottle. As we all helped him prepare to collect the Troll’s blood, taking out reagent bottles,
I sensed movement approaching from far away.
Our group generally wore comfortable clothes, adorned with Artifact accessories on our necks, chests, and waists, etched with defensive magic. Only Hugh and Elvin wore leather-armored light armor, layered multiple times.
The approaching presence numbered twelve in total, all clad in light armor.
They were clearly mercenaries of Second-rate to First-rate caliber. The one at the front was the largest among them, similar in build to Elvin, but he had no hair left on his head, so the midday sun shone directly on his scalp.
Leaving my friends and me behind, Hugh Benson and Elvin stood blocking their path.
“What is it?”
“Ah, these are the ones we’ve been tracking and cornering for three days. How can you just intercept them like this? Huh? There’s a code of conduct.”
“What?”
“Still, you caught them, and we have our pride, so… how about half and half…”
“Are these bastards insane?”
As Hugh Benson bared his teeth menacingly, laughter erupted intermittently from the group of mercenaries.
They were outnumbered and didn’t sense any significant aura from Hugh Benson, so they ignored him. As the bald mercenary at the front took half a step closer, Hugh Benson quickly scattered Flying Daggers.
Pah-pah. A very short sound was heard once. Twelve Flying Daggers were simultaneously embedded in the ground. Upon seeing the Flying Daggers blocking their path, their demeanor instantly became respectful.
“…Ahaha! We didn’t recognize you, Knights. My apologies. You must be very busy, so may we help you clean up? We’ll sweep and tidy everything until not a single bone or speck of dust remains.”
“Oh, my.”
“It must be difficult for the Knights to carry those… Honestly, it’s just pocket change…”
A hollow laugh escaped me at their sudden change in attitude.
While everyone else remained silent, Hugh Benson scanned the mercenary leader from head to toe and blurted out,
“How much will you give us?”
“…What?”
“We caught them, and we’re selling them to you. How much will you pay?”
“But you’re people with plenty of money.”
“We don’t. We’re so poor we have to sell this just to make a living, so how much?”
Only then did the leader’s gaze fall upon us behind Hugh.
“Ah, there are so many eyes watching. Just what those nobles are wearing…”
“Ah, so how much? We’ll just burn it all, Marianne.”
“Yes, Boss!”
Marianne instantly swung her staff and drew a Fireball Magic Formula. Seeing the flickering flames, the bald man rubbed his bald head with a sound of “Ooh,” and straightened his previously bowed back. Only then did the man, who had seemed like a mere sycophant, appear as a Martial artist.
However, the moment he pulled out his money pouch, the bald man reverted to a merchant’s face. He counted each coin, his demeanor as casual as a vendor selling fried meat on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
“Since you seem to know the market well, I’ll offer you the going rate. It’s about a fifteen-day journey from here to the Withrow Duchy, so we’ll deduct travel costs. How about 2 gold per monster?”
“3 gold.”
“Ah, honestly, even if you drain them, there’s a lot of spilled blood, so you can’t get much.”
“It would have taken you half a day to kill those, so stop the nonsense and give me 3 gold.”
“…2.5.”
“3.”
“…2… 2.8. No more than that.”
“3.”
“…Krrrk.”
Hugh Benson accepted the coins counted out one by one by the bald man and gestured, “Let’s go.” Our group silently left the Troll carcasses behind and followed Hugh Benson.
Glancing back at those diligently extracting blood and dismembering the Trolls, I asked once we were far enough away that they couldn’t hear,
“Why did you insist on getting paid for something that couldn’t even be fully collected and would have been discarded?”
“Because from now on, they’ll be following us. It’s annoying to do unpaid labor every time.”
“…What?”
“Well, you’ll see.”
And indeed, it was as he said.
From the very next day, they followed us, keeping a distance of about half a day’s travel. When we rested, they rested at a distance, and when we moved, they quickly moved too. Then, after we defeated monsters, they would rush over, hand over money, and collect the carcasses.
It felt like leading a pack of obedient hounds. I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.
When I asked again why they were doing this, Hugh Benson’s answer was quite brilliant.
“Knights aim to reduce the monster population by exterminating them, but mercenaries come here for the monster byproducts. It’s even better if they can just take monsters that others have already killed. There’s no risk of injury, and our skills are better than theirs, so the quality of the byproducts will be higher.”
“…Ah. The reason for taking money is…”
“If you let them get away with it for free, they’ll start pestering you for all sorts of things later. They need to know from the start that we’re difficult customers, so they’ll be careful. Even when you’re alone, if a mercenary group like that hangs around, name your price first.”
“…How much do you usually ask for?”
“Ah, that varies each time… Usually, half the market price is the cost. Troll blood can go for about 6 to 8 gold for four bottles, so they probably thought we were being somewhat lenient, even though they know what they’re doing.”
“Wow, that’s quite profitable!”
“Carrying all that is also work, so sometimes do this.”
Beside him, Marianne’s eyes sparkled, and she thanked him for teaching her something good. We had gathered such attentive people. I always felt pleased when I saw those who could take care of themselves.
That evening, dinner was spent discussing the prices of various monster byproducts.
However, for me, I didn’t dislike the fact that the mercenaries were following us.
It was good that the troublesome task of carrying around monster byproducts was reduced, but more importantly, I felt better knowing that those who wanted the slaughtered beasts’ parts were taking them, rather than leaving them to waste.
While monsters were beasts that harmed humans, they were still living beings. If they were to be killed, I felt more at ease hunting them for their hides, meat, blood, and bones.
Thus, this peculiar symbiosis continued.
When only our group was present, Hugh Benson would call Rubel “Your Highness.” However, in front of the mercenaries, he called him “Ru.” After all, there was no benefit in emphasizing his status here. Everyone agreed.
Lately, we had been venturing into areas with a Mana Concentration of 45mp, facing various Medium-sized Monsters.
Most were Trolls, and occasionally we hunted Minotaurs. Facing familiar monsters whose weaknesses we knew well was not difficult at all. My sword’s edge grew sharper with every swing, just like the children’s. Each passing day was so sweet and joyful.
Then, in mid-April. On a day when the climate near Dunmel Canyon turned harsh, and a cold wind still blew.
A strange scream approached from far away.
“Aaaargh!”
“Knight! Knight! Save us!”
“Agh!”
“Kniight!”
The faces of those running towards us were already familiar.
When facing monsters in large numbers, like Minotaurs, these mercenaries usually waited at a greater distance. This was to prevent their attention from being divided and getting hurt.
So, when there was no sign of them for a while, we assumed they were waiting and stood up, swords in hand. Hugh Benson cursed, “Those damn bastards.”
Above the heads of those mercenaries, eight Griffins were chasing them.