Wolves of Hader

In front of the Goro merchant guild building.

I was sitting there on a chair out front.

My greatsword leaned against the wall.

The mercenary corps that had arrived this morning were flooding the other end of the alley.

They were from Tern, more than 400 people. More are still arriving.

The mercenaries who arrived first froze at the sight of the alley.

Some even backed away. The mercenaries who came in later were the same.

All of them stared at us and the corpses scattered about, their faces hardened.

They couldn't retreat or attack, just waiting in helpless silence for their command staff.

"Young lord,"

"Yeah?"

"All the bodies are out."

"Stack them here for now."

"A-alright."

Kudo answered and withdrew.

When I had come out of the building, Kudo's face was something to see.

He was frozen, staring at me as though seeing a ghost.

The other members had changed too.

The ones who used to chat and idle around before the fight had now become silent and diligent, working hard to move the corpses.

The eyes of Kudo and the others had changed as well.

Shock.

Awe.

Respect.

Fear.

All these emotions were mixed together.

Many still seemed unable to recover from the shock.

The stench of spilt organs and blood filled the alley.

The ground was squelching with thickened blood, and blood was still flowing out from the entrance of the merchant guild building.

The mercenaries who had occupied this alley and the Goro merchant guild building were completely annihilated.

About 330 in number.

If Kudo hadn't lied, not a single one was spared.

The archers stationed in each building had all been dealt with by Kudo and my men.

They had rushed each archer with three or four men each—no mercenary could have withstood that.

The berserkers wiped out the mercenaries inside the buildings and dragged away the Merchant leader Goro, after which Kudo and the members entered the building and finished off the fallen.

Not even the most brutal and vicious criminals could have managed this easily.

They must have never seen such a horrific scene. That's why they still couldn't recover from the shock.

Right now, corpses were being piled into a corner of the alley.

They were roughly stacked and covered with cut-up tarps.

We had no intention of burying them. The mercenary corps should take care of their own.

"Young lord, did you see the steward has arrived?"

"Yeah. I saw him earlier."

On the opposite end of the alley from where the mercenaries were standing, Tris's guards and a steward had arrived.

Whether they were scared or simply following orders, they were just watching.

"Young lord."

"Why do you keep talking to me?"

"It's not that. Someone's coming."

Looking toward the narrow alley beside us, I saw a hooded intelligence officer approaching.

He handed me a letter and immediately turned back the way he came.

〈Steward Aldo's family rescued.〉

〈The viscount and baron's houses successfully seized.〉

〈Merchant leader Goro's mansion is being taken and searched. Full capture of the viscount's and baron's families.〉

"Who's the contact from?"

"My comrades."

"Well... Would you care for some tea?"

"How could you want tea with the smell of blood everywhere?"

"You really are just a person after all, young lord."

I looked at Kudo.

"What are you talking about now?"

"I just wondered if you were really the same kind of person as me, seeing how you sit there so calmly."

"When this is over, make sure to clean up this whole area properly. Also compensate the alley shopkeepers for their trouble."

"Of course."

At that moment, a commotion erupted among the mercenaries.

"Move aside! The deputy-leader is here!"

"Don't any of you recognize my face?"

"They're all from Tern, they wouldn't know you, deputy-leader! He's just arrived! Who will report on this battle? Is there no survivor?"

A path opened amidst the mercenaries and a huge man walked forward.

Someone that looked to be a staff officer followed behind.

That giant was Geroz's deputy-leader.

The deputy-leader stood before his men and, frowning at the piled corpses in the corner, pinched his nose and turned to the staff officer beside him.

"Didn't we send about three hundred men?"

"We did... but it appears they've been wiped out."

"Wiped out? I don't even see their forces?"

The staff officer looked around the alley and the surrounding buildings with a scowl, then let out a hollow laugh.

"They must be lying in ambush inside those buildings. Judging by the lack of signs of fighting, I'm sure poison was used. The stench in this alley is the evidence."

"I see..."

The deputy-leader and the staff officer looked at me and smirked.

As if to say, do you think we'd fall for such poison? It figures for them. But why aren't the mercenaries saying anything?

The deputy-leader stepped forward two paces.

"Are you Roger Hader?"

"Yeah."

At my response, the deputy-leader gave a slight snort.

The deputy-leader had come late, so he had no idea how those bodies under the tarps had died.

"They say the Hader house was destroyed and then recovered. And now, you rush to your own doom. Do you really think you can handle our Geroz mercenary corps?"

"What's so hard about it?"

He snorted again, then continued.

"Listen well. The Goro merchant guild, the two houses, and your own house were at war and made a truce, but as of today, the war has resumed. We are mercenaries hired by the Goro merchant guild, so we are now participants in this war."

"The entire Geroz mercenary corps?"

I asked, as if I had no idea.

The deputy-leader's confidence swelled.

"I hereby declare in all gravity! Our Geroz mercenary corps is a participant in this war! We will carry on this war on behalf of the Goro merchant guild!"

He shouted boldly.

He must be thinking, can you really fight such a mighty power as I have behind me?

With the entire Geroz corps on the move, few houses would survive.

And the empire's nobles, pressured by the divine order, might attack us.

Still, not a single mercenary responded to the deputy-leader's proclamation.

Those who arrived earlier had seen the bodies in the alley, all lying in two pieces.

Over forty of them.

At that moment, I stood up with my sword.

All the mercenaries instantly took a step back.

The deputy-leader shouted,

"What are you all doing? Are you all so scared because the advance party was wiped out?"

Shouldering my greatsword, I began walking toward them. It seemed there were no officers among them who would defy the deputy-leader.

Maybe stepping up at all would get them expelled.

"You really declared that the entire mercenary corps has joined this war, right? Not just individual contract mercenaries hired by the Goro guild?"

"Of course! Don't you dare look down on us!"

"Deputy-leader! Don't do this!"

"That won't do! Withdraw the declaration!"

Some mercenaries finally began to shout out.

But the declaration was already made.

Whether it was individual contracts or the entire corps had been ambiguous.

"Manager from Tris, please record this accurately. It is now confirmed that the Geroz mercenary corps has joined this second war between the five houses."

"How utterly laughable! Your house will be gone before this year is out! The divine order has named you as the man who killed the high priest and our leader! No mercy will be shown!"

The deputy-leader stepped back.

I immediately followed.

"Why wait until the end of the year? Why not finish it now?"

"You! How dare you!!"

Srrrnk.

"Exterminate them all!"

The deputy-leader drew his sword and took a stance. But no mercenary moved.

Only the deputy-leader glared at me with intent to kill.

"What are you waiting for? Kill this man!"

His shout echoed down the empty alley.

At last, even the deputy-leader and staff officer realized something was terribly wrong.

Why couldn't they figure out the situation?

Was this a man who had gotten his position without any real skill?

On top of that, he did slightly resemble the leader who had died with the high priest in the arena.

"The mercenaries who died ignored my warnings three times. So listen and remember. Leave Tris immediately. You should also leave the Geroz mercenary corps. Otherwise, you'll die just like them."

"What?!"

"This time, there won't be a second warning. The moment my sword moves, every one of you will die."

The mercenaries still didn't move.

But they were deeply shaken.

I shouted sharply.

"Do I need to count to ten again?"

At last, the mercenaries at the rear started to retreat.

As the back moved out, those at the front—who had been unable to back away—also withdrew in an instant.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

No response.

Thanks to the idiotic deputy-leader, they were all about to die.

He screamed at the top of his lungs.

"All traitors will be expelled! I'll hunt you all down to the ends of the continent! I'll strangle every last one of your kin!"

The mercenaries retreated to the opposite end of the alley.

Then someone called out.

"You really think you'll win?"

"The deputy-leader can't even recognize the Sword of Light!"

"We're out!"

"Damn it! We almost died for nothing!"

Now I understood why the mercenaries had held their tongues.

They were afraid that if anyone mentioned the Sword of Light, I might massacre them.

The deputy-leader looked at me.

"The Sword of Light?"

The staff officer looked even more shaken than the deputy-leader.

Realizing what a deadly spot he was standing in, he began to edge away.

But something flew toward him.

Thud—

An arrow lodged in the fleeing staff officer's forehead.

He toppled backward.

The deputy-leader bared his teeth as he looked at the fallen man.

"There's no way you're the Sword of Light at your age!"

"You only see what you want to see. If something doesn't fit your view, you refuse to believe even what's right in front of you. You mistake the power behind you for your own strength."

"The divine order will not stand for this!"

"What does the divine order have to do with this war?"

"You'll see soon enough. You'll find out what happens to you."

"So the real master of the mercenary corps is the divine order, then. In that case, I can consider that the divine order has joined this war as well, correct?"

"You will taste the full horror of the divine order! Even if I die today without avenging my brother! Even as a ghost, I'll watch you!"

"Alright."

I crossed my arms and looked at the deputy-leader.

Gnashing his teeth, he stared silently at me.

A strange, awkward silence fell.

"I won't die so easily!"

"As you wish."

I walked back to my chair in front of the building and sat down.

Now only the deputy-leader was standing in the alley. On the other side, the berserkers had returned.

"Kudo."

"Yes, sir."

"Call over the mercenaries and have them take care of the corpses."

"What about him?"

"Leave him be. Looks like he's trying to die."

"What?!"

"Oh, so you're here to watch him die."

"Yeah. I never said I'd kill him myself."

Kudo chuckled and walked away.

He stared at the deputy-leader as he passed, then stopped and doubled back to ask,

"What are you doing now?"

"What do you mean, what?"

"I'm saying you should surrender. Or have you just lost your wits as a deputy-leader?"

Kudo walked away down the alley.

Then the berserkers came into the alley and surrounded the deputy-leader.

They lowered their swords, looking relaxed.

The deputy-leader could do nothing, his hands quivering.

Fighting to the death was one thing, but killing himself seemed so unfair.

Either way—

The withdrawn mercenaries, now disarmed, began to return to the alley, pulling carts one by one.

They looked terrified.

They must be afraid that we'll kill them after promising to let them live.

But none of my people paid them any attention.

"We have no intention of burying those in our land! Put them on your ship and deal with them as you will!"

Even at Kudo's shout, the mercenaries just moved the corpses in silence.

They probably didn't know the dead; the earlier arrivals were from the divine order, after all.

About an hour passed.

All the corpses had been loaded onto the mercenary corps' ship, and the mercenaries were set to leave today.

Then Kudo's members brought up huge buckets of water and began washing the gore-soaked alley.

With all the members moving, the cleanup went quickly.

Meanwhile, I set up a tent and went through the secret ledgers of the Goro merchant guild.

I also sent letters to all those involved in this matter. They would have no choice but to visit me.

While everyone was busy—

Only the deputy-leader stood sweating in the middle of the alley—though the day was not hot.

He didn't want to die, but he didn't want to surrender, either.

And Kudo kept teasing him.

"You're the head of the divine order's security force, right?"

"Get away from me!"

"What's the divine order going to do now, then? Ahh, you only came yourself because your brother died. So now you're the leader, right? What's your name?"

"Do you want to die?!"

The members had almost finished mopping up the blood—except for where the leader stood.

At that moment, one member splashed water at his feet.

"Move aside, will you? We're cleaning!"

"What do you take me for!"

"Come on, we can't mop up the blood if you don't step aside!"

The deputy-leader shuffled back two steps.

The member splashed water where he'd been standing and scrubbed busily with a broom.

Kudo lingered nearby again.

"Is dying really that hard? Surrendering so tough? At this rate, you'll be standing here all night."

"Hmph."

The deputy-leader groaned miserably.

He must have missed his chance to make a choice.

Time passed, and when the sun was high overhead—

At last, the ones I'd been waiting for arrived.

Priest Horo and merchant leader Barako came walking up.

With their guard escorts.