The Druid Who Devoured the Great Nature

“Is it really okay to send him off like that?”

As I finished my conversation with Poldon and came out, Hella was standing there. Was she secretly eavesdropping? She approached me right away, showing no sign of trying to hide it.

“If you have something to say, you should have just joined in instead of eavesdropping gloomily.”

“Gloomy? I was being considerate.”

“Considerate?”

“Why is your reaction like that?”

When the word ‘considerate’ came out of the mouth of the most self-centered person I knew, I failed to control my expression.

“I thought we would just end up fighting if we talked, so I avoided it.”

“You’re not the type to care about that.”

“Well, it’s true that I prefer a direct fight rather than a war of nerves like this. People usually make up and become friends after a fistfight, even if they act like they’re going to kill each other.”

It was a very hot-blooded way of thinking, typical of someone from Gellerg City. Or was that kind of ignorant way of thinking the average among mercenaries?

Waver, behind Hella, crossed his arms in an X, as if to say, ‘Don’t lump me in with her.’

“But with guys like that, even if you fight, it doesn’t establish a hierarchy, and instead of resolving grudges, you just build up more resentment.”

“How do you know that?”

“I can tell just by looking. I have a good eye, you know, a good eye. My good eye, which offered you a scout when you had nothing, is telling me so.”

“……?”

I think he had said he would raise me out of personal interest, not as a scout. He had already finished the process of beautifying and justifying it in his head, so his face showed no shame as he spoke.

“In the first place, the target was you, but they were petty guys who were just trying to act tough on us, who had nothing to to with it. If we can’t exclude them from the mission, then it’s best to just avoid them.”

“Okay, I get the excuse, but what do you mean by ‘is it okay to send him off like that’?”

“It’s nothing. I just think he’s going to cause an accident.”

It wasn’t a joke, as she changed her attitude and spoke in a serious tone.

“If I had said it directly, we would have really fought.”

It was a statement that showed a great deal of distrust in his skills. Even during the negotiations between the cities, Hella had given them a poor evaluation. Had the prejudice from that time remained strong?

“Don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying they’re going to cause a mess because they can’t even catch a single mercenary corps. They’re the private soldiers raised by the princess of Sylvester, so if they can’t even beat guys like that, they should just go and die.”

“Then?”

“It’s easy to get rid of the mercenary corps, but you said there are strange guys behind them.”

The mysterious force that had suddenly appeared and begun to rule behind the scenes in District 17. Surprisingly, even Sylvester had not yet been able to uncover their identity.

“The Cherrypickers and the Balban Mercenary Corps have no connection with those guys. So, apart from the meaning of cutting off external support, they were perfect as the first target.”

“I know that too. But those guys are bothering me. In that sense, I agree with Sylvester’s opinion of safely trampling them one by one.”

“You’ve become much more cautious since I last saw you. I’m not being sarcastic, so don’t take it the wrong way.”

“Aish, I’m not trying to act tough in front of the new recruits. We’re in the middle of an important conversation, so you get lost, Waver.”

Hella, who had chased away Waver who had approached with a sly expression, pursing his lips, continued.

“Suppose you found evidence that those guys were doing the same thing during the mission. What would you do?”

“It would be troublesome if they messed up the board we had set, so we should finish the mission quickly without dragging it out.”

“That would be a relief. I think those guys are so blinded by their achievements that they’ll secretly start something to find out their identity.”

“……”

I had wondered if they were guys who couldn’t even make such a basic judgment, but the reality was that I couldn’t say, ‘There’s no way that would happen.’

“But don’t go and warn them. If you do, they might really do it out of a sense of rebellion.”

“Then what do you want me to do? If your goal was to ruin my mood with ominous words, you’ve succeeded. Should I praise you?”

“I’m sorry for saying ominous things, but just be careful. It’s different to get hit without knowing and to get hit knowing.”

Yes, it was just a hypothesis. A delusion that was highly unlikely to happen. In the first place, it was not my job, as a mere hired hand, to prepare for such a contingency.

“I’ll tell Sylvester for now.”

That was the best I could do.

***

District 17 is an industrial zone comparable to District 10. The amount of goods consumed there, which had almost monopolized the production of the illegal weapons market, was enormous. This was not a number calculated only by the materials used to produce goods in the factory.

An environment where it was cheaper to treat people like slaves than machines. It was impossible to even accurately grasp how many workers were being used in the factory. Just counting the food they consumed to live was an enormous amount.

To monopolize this supply of goods was, to put it simply, a matter of making money with money. That’s why the Fire Clan had decided to cooperate with the Cherrypickers. If they just bowed their heads once and swallowed their pride, they could sit on a pile of money.

It wasn’t that they were asking them to do difficult things. They just had to put a tag on the cargo they brought in and transport it to its destination. Sergei, the leader of the Fire Clan, had been living an easy life every day like that and was planning to retire at an appropriate time.

That’s why the accident that happened today was close to a disaster.

Krrrrrumble!

Suddenly, the earth shook, and a roar echoed, and then a turbid dust cloud soared high into the sky. It was the moment when the material warehouse managed by the Fire Clan turned into a handful of sand. For some reason, the screams of his subordinates seemed to be mixed in with the explosion.

Behind his tightly closed eyelids, a crimson bloodstain flickered. Without realizing it, his grip on the steering wheel tightened as if he would break it.

“You fucking bastards!”

It was a situation where curses couldn’t help but come out. If he thought about the astronomical loss he had suffered from that one explosion, it was normal for tears of blood to flow.

Sergei repeatedly spat out curses and stomped on the accelerator of the truck.

“What the hell are those bastards!”

It was an attack. And looking at the scale, it was not a sudden battle, but a thoroughly planned attack. How long had it been since such a commotion had occurred in this District 17? If it had been someone else’s business, he would have laughed it off, saying they had bad luck.

But since it was his own business, his face turned pale, and his lips dried up. The confidant sitting in the passenger seat looked at his expression and asked carefully.

“Sir, shouldn’t we at least try to fight instead of running away like this?”

“Are you even saying that now! Didn’t you see the barricade collapse in the blink of an eye?!”

As a price for becoming a well-fed pig and moving away from the front lines, Sergei had gained a sense of observation. The attackers were not at a level that could be dealt with by the organization’s capabilities. When he swung his spear once, the subordinates who had been charging at the front were split in half. When they responded with firearms, the guys dodged by just rolling on the ground a few times, looking bored.

That’s why he had quickly run away, leaving his dazed subordinates behind. His judgment, which had accumulated wealth by giving up on fighting with mediocre organizations and going under the Cherrypickers, urged him to run away, saying this was over.

“I’ve never seen those faces before. Were there still guys who would cause trouble in District 17? Don’t just stand there blankly, use your head! We have to make an excuse to the Cherry guys!”

Since he had abandoned his subordinates and run away, revenge was out of his hands. What was important was the excuse. The loss of his base was painful, but this was nothing. If he could just be sure that the Cherrypickers would continue to entrust him with work, he could rebuild the organization. So, he had to think of an excuse to not lose their trust.

“……Come to think of it, I have heard news that a few organizations have collapsed overnight recently.”

“What? I haven’t heard that.”

“That is, I thought it was unrelated to us, so I didn’t report it and just let it go. Since more work would come to us, I thought it was a good thing…”

“Hey, you stupid bastard! Why are you telling me that now!”

Several organizations of a similar scale to theirs had collapsed overnight. It was clearly a planned attack with a purpose.

“Do the Cherrypickers know about that?”

“They probably do. But they say there was also damage on the Balban Mercenary Corps’ side. To say that they were only targeting us…”

“Even Balban…? Ah.”

A bolt of realization struck Sergei’s mind.

“They’re trying to take control of the goods in District 17 now.”

“Yes?”

“Good, that’s enough for an excuse.”

If an individual organization was hit, it was incompetent. But not only the Cherrypickers, but also the Balban Mercenary Corps were attacked. The purpose was clear. In that case, it was not his fault for not being able to deal with it, but the fault of the Cherrypickers for not warning him of the danger in advance.

It was then that Sergei, who had found a breakthrough, was overjoyed.

“……!”

The roof of the car caved in. It was the shape of a human foot. Not only had they destroyed his base, but they had also chased a running vehicle? What kind of monstrous guys had attacked?

It was an unbelievable imagination, but the evidence was right in front of him. He felt like he was going crazy, but Sergei did not take his foot off the accelerator. The vehicle was already running at its limit speed. It was more dangerous to brake suddenly just because he was surprised.

“Get the bastard on top off!”

Since he was hanging on to a running vehicle, that guy had also taken on that much risk. Although he was an incompetent subordinate, he should be able to do that much.

The opponent’s reaction was faster than that. The long spear tore through the top plate of the car body and was embedded in the subordinate’s head.

“I don’t know why they all run away without exception. It’s a hassle to chase them.”

A person sat in the passenger seat through the crack in the top plate. Sergei’s mind went blank. His breathing was not controlled, and his hands and feet were out of control, trembling.

“Hey, drive properly. We’ll get into an accident like this. I’m the best driver. Want me to give you a lecture in the meantime?”

“You, you! Do you think you’ll be safe after causing such a mess in District 17? When the Cherrypickers and the Balban Mercenary Corps figure out the situation…!”

“The lines are also cliché. Isn’t there anything a little different? I’m getting tired of hearing it.”

As if the threat was futile, the spearhead mercilessly scratched his neck.

“Don’t feel wronged. In any case, those guys will end up in the same state as you before they can do anything.”

The figure in the passenger seat fell, and the vehicle, which had lost its driver, hit a wall and exploded.

***

[I have just received a report from Hella that the sweep of the Fire Clan has been completed.]

Milina’s briefing poured in through the earpiece.

“You didn’t miss anyone, did you?”

[Yes, we didn’t miss a single ant, so the Cherrypickers will never know our identity.]

Is this the capability of a large corporation? The request, which I was doing together with a megacorp for the first time, was quite impressive.

‘It’s so comfortable, I wonder if it’s okay.’

Everything, from the base of each organization that had gone under the Cherrypickers to the schedule and movements of the members, was in the palm of my hand. It was clearly different from other requests where they just provided basic information and relied on the contractor’s capabilities.

The expression ‘moving people like chess pieces under a big picture’ was a perfect fit. If you mess up the work even with such a solid backup, you’re incompetent. And the Drexier Mercenary Corps was fully meeting my expectations.

‘They’ve exploited the blind spot of the cooperative system well.’

The Cherrypickers had taken a conciliatory policy of avoiding bloodshed and taming them with interests. Thanks to that, they had achieved a large scale and had taken control of the industry, but they had the disadvantage of a loose cooperative system. The subordinate organizations also had no loyalty and were just a pack of hyenas busy eating the crumbs.

Even if another organization was attacked, they would be busy calculating the interests they would gain instead of helping. Since they would keep quiet among themselves until the number was reduced to a certain extent, it was perfect for picking them off one by one.

Therefore, the Cherrypickers’ response was bound to be late. Of course, there was no way they wouldn’t know forever. If it was one or two, it would be different, but reports from several subordinate organizations had been cut off in a few days. It was a natural step for them to start noticing the sense of unease.

As I was thinking that, a call finally came.

[The Cherrypickers have started to make a move.]

‘They’re not gentlemen.’

Picking them off one by one was just a bait. When the Cherrypickers figured out the situation and tried to come up with a countermeasure. The key was to strike at that chaotic moment and take their heads. If the Cherrypickers were to collapse, the subordinate organizations would naturally fall apart.

“Guide me.”

It was my job to decorate the finale.

(End of Chapter)