Wandering Mercenary in an Open World

Chapter 3:

Once outside the village, Ruon immediately began to head towards the nearby city. There, he planned to collect the bounty for the banshee and look around for various rumors and happenings.

After traveling along the road for about half a day, a distant, massive city wall came into view. As Ruon approached, moss could be seen clinging to the ancient gray wall. He merged with the crowd lined up in front of the wall and walked towards the city gate.

“Halt.”

Two soldiers guarding the gate approached Ruon.

“What’s your name?”

“Ruon.”

While the soldiers blocked Ruon, the onlookers whispered among themselves and quietly entered through the main gate. Being restrained in a relatively freely traversed gate meant one of two things: one was either a criminal or deemed troublesome.

Ruon fell into the latter category. His appearance was suitable for a protagonist, with a height exceeding that of an average adult male, broad shoulders, a bow slung behind him, and a sword at his waist.

‘How annoying.‘

Ruon let out a short sigh. Customizing his character to look big and strong sometimes came with inconveniences like this.

One of the soldiers gazed at Ruon, scanning him up and down, and asked, “What brings you to Grungrad?”

“To collect a bounty.”

“What bounty?”

“A bounty is a bounty.”

Upon Ruon’s dry response, the two soldiers exchanged a few words among themselves. Eventually, one of them spoke.

“We have a question before you pass. Is this your first time in Grungrad?”

Ruon nodded in response, and the soldier added, “A blockade has been imposed due to the appearance of ghouls. We hope you don’t wander around needlessly. That’s all, you may pass.”

Having passed the inspection and entered the city, Ruon raised an eyebrow. Ghouls?

Ruon had encountered those dreadful monsters that tore apart corpses several times before. Each time, he found that they gave a decent amount of experience points. As he had been stuck at a certain level for a while, the news of ghouls appearing piqued his interest. He headed towards the guard building located on the outskirts of the city.

***

“…It isn’t a counterfeit?”

Suppressing the urge to punch the soldier with sharp features, who was scratching his nose, Ruon responded with superhuman patience.

“It’s an item obtained by killing a banshee.”

“Can’t confirm it, that’s why I’m asking.”

“I didn’t wait three days just to hear that response.”

The soldier, who had raised an eyebrow at Ruon’s remark, met his intense gaze and quickly lowered his eyes.

“W-We have someone who can verify it. Please wait.”

“This is already the third time I’m hearing that. Isn’t there anything each of you can handle on your own?”

“It will be different this time, I promise.”

The soldier replied with even more seriousness, as if pleading for belief. Since they were so adamant, Ruon took a step back.

“…I’ll wait then. You’re not going to tell me to come back tomorrow, right?”

“I’ll try to expedite it as much as possible.”

As the soldier left through the back door, Ruon sat down on a chair. Looking out the window, he could see the bustling scenery of the city.

As one of the oldest cities in the kingdom, Grungrad was filled with buildings that bore the marks of time, creating an impressive atmosphere. But such things didn’t matter much to him.

In the midst of an affair that he thought would be over in a few minutes, now stretching into the third day, nothing else caught his attention.

He had dealt with the monster they had set up the notice for and, despite presenting the evidence, the city guard had merely glanced at the pendant with a puzzled expression. Without exception, they claimed they didn’t know and left to call someone else.

As if they had coordinated it, they didn’t forget to consistently annoy Ruon by adding, “Today is busy, so come back tomorrow.”

Of course, I heard an explanation that personnel were being dispatched due to the sudden appearance of ghouls, leading to a lack of personnel within the city, but even considering such circumstances, three days seemed excessively long.

‘When will they actually come?’

A sigh escaped Ruon as he thought about the soldier who was still nowhere to be seen. No matter how you looked at it, this place was supposed to govern a fairly large territory, yet the handling of matters was like this. Should he turn everything upside down?

“You’ve waited a long time.”

Just as Ruon’s patience reached its limit, a middle-aged man who appeared to be older than he actually was entered the room. Without delay, he grabbed the pendant on the table and fiddled with it for a while, as if he had been informed beforehand.

“It has a faint but long-standing curse. It seems to be related to spirits.”

“Ah, thank you, sir.”

The accompanying soldier bowed his head towards the middle-aged man. Judging by the term “sir,” the middle-aged man seemed unrelated to the military. Was he a magician?

After a while, the soldier returned with both hands full of silver coins.

“I apologize for making you wait. We don’t have gold coins at the moment, so please understand that we’ll pay in full with silver coins.”

As Ruon silently gazed at the stacked silver coins, the soldier asked in a low voice, “Do you need a separate pouch? Then I have to take out one silver coin…”

What an audacious brat. He wanted to pocket a silver coin for just a leather pouch? Even the ice cream sold at the top of the mountain didn’t cost that much.

“It’s fine.”

Ruon seized the reward from the soldier’s hand and poured the silver coins into his leather pouch. Luckily, the pouch was spacious enough, so he was able to fit all the silver coins.

Seeing the disappointment in the soldier’s eyes, Ruon’s face crumpled. 

‘Damn it, I knew it would be like this. Is it even true that they only have silver coins?’

As Ruon seriously contemplated smashing that shameless fellow who wanted to cheat him out of the reward, he remembered that the lackluster affair had finally come to an end thanks to the soldier summoning the middle-aged man. He walked out of the building just as he was, reflecting on the incident.

‘What would be good for lunch today? Are there any good blacksmith shops? I should stock up on jerky.’

While thinking about such things, someone gently blocked Ruon’s path outside. It was the middle-aged man who had just appraised the pendant.

The middle-aged man spoke.

“There is someone looking for you. I hope you won’t refuse the invitation.”

***

Ruon, who had adapted reasonably well to the medieval fantasy world, still felt uncomfortable around nobles. Despite possessing a robust physique and exceptional combat skills due to his relentless level-ups, he couldn’t help but feel useless in front of nobility. Could it be because he was born in an ordinary household? That was his guess, as if he couldn’t adapt in a world that had become excessively aristocratic in nature.

Therefore, Ruon was currently in a highly uncomfortable and annoyed state. The reason being that the person who summoned him happened to be a noble. And not just any noble, but the lord’s wife.

Median, the wife of the ruler of Grungard, sat in an elegant chair and gazed at Ruon. Her face, adorned with splendid decorations and richly colored makeup, made Ruon feel quite burdened.

She pursed her crimson lips.

“A warrior who killed a banshee, isn’t that right?”

Since her tone didn’t seem to expect an answer, Ruon remained silent. As expected, Median didn’t wait.

“I’ve been researching you over the past few days. I became interested after I heard rumors that you single-handedly killed it.”

“Did you find anything?”

Unlike Ruon, Medyan responded as if she had been waiting.

“Of course. Ruon. No, should I call you the wyvern-killer?”

While Ruon’s brow slightly furrowed, Median cheerfully raised her bright red lips.

“I expected you to be famous, but… honestly, you exceeded my expectations. I couldn’t even imagine that the warrior who killed the wyvern in Nardam and disappeared suddenly would be you.”

It was true. Ruon had once worked as a guard for merchants in the city of Nardam, and one day, when a starving wyvern attacked the carriage from above, he had shredded the winged lizard to pieces.

Upon hearing the rumors, the ruler of Nardam not only tried to bestow knighthood upon the warrior who killed the wyvern and force him into being one of his bodyguards, but also displayed a deranged determination to send his daughter to him in marriage. Naturally, Ruon immediately left Nardam.

‘Damn it. It was all for nothing.’

A bitter laugh escaped him. He had thought enough time had passed for it to be forgotten, but the noble before him was confident that he was the one who hunted down the wyvern.

So Ruon decided to just admit it.

“I do have memories of killing such a monster. It wasn’t an easy battle.”

“Impressive.”

Median smiled and extended her hand to the side. A maid standing nearby quickly handed her a glass of wine.

Taking a sip, Median spoke.

“My husband is a hero. A war hero, to be exact. Do you understand what that means?”

Ruon remained silent.

“As is often the case with those who establish their position by piling up enemy corpses, he is insatiable in his desires. He always indulges in new women, caring more about his health and victories than protecting me. I am no idle person, constantly pleading for his attention. But if this continues, it will become troublesome. It is my role to give an example of what happens to other women who seek to attach themselves to my husband.”

Wait, is this woman perhaps…?

“If you expect me to assist you in an assassination request, I refuse.”

Upon Ruon’s firm words, Median widened her eyes and then burst into a crazed laughter. She giggled so much that the wine spilled. She barely caught her breath, wiped away the tears running down her cheeks with the back of her hand. Was this situation so funny that it made her cry?

“Do I seem like a woman who would order the lover of my husband to be killed, wyvern-killer? Moreover, someone else has already taken the lead, so don’t you worry.”

Then why did you call me? That thought crossed Ruoan’s mind, but he didn’t say it out loud. It was clear that this woman would reveal everything if he just stayed silent.

“The example has already died. Afflicted by a witch’s curse, she ended up twisted and buried in the corner of the cemetery. After that, ghouls began to appear in the cemetery.”

Ghouls? The unexpected word made Ruoan’s eyes widen slightly.

“It’s a curious occurrence, isn’t it? This is definitely not a mere coincidence. There must be a problem with the curse, or the witch must have played a trick. Thanks to that, my situation has become difficult. The Lord ordered the subjugation of the ghouls, and I might end up caught in the middle of the situation if I’m not careful. So, I hope you can resolve this matter before such an unfortunate event occurs.”

What a coincidence indeed.

From Ruon’s perspective, who was already interested in ghouls, there was no reason to refuse. It was a win-win situation considering the potential rewards, even if it would put him at odds with the guards. 

As Ruon smiled inwardly at the unexpected situation, Median quickly added.

“It would be better for you not to even consider refusing. As I mentioned before, I have looked into your whereabouts. It seems I also know the identity of the heinous criminal that killed five people within Grungrad’s territory.”

‘What? Is she blackmailing me now?’

At Median’s words, Ruon fired up with anger, momentarily recalling the decapitated head of a dead burglar. It seemed that this woman wanted to prevent him from getting away.

“If I say a word, a criminal can become a virtuous citizen in an instant.”

Looking at Median, who had an eager expression, Ruon smirked. He had no intention of refusing from the beginning, and Median’s feeble attempt at blackmail felt rather insignificant.

“Well, fine. I’ll do it.”

As Ruon casually nodded, Median’s face flashed with momentarily but visibly displayed surprise. Her reaction was different from what he expected. After a moment of silence, she slowly spoke.

“…Good, wyvern-killer. Now, get to the burial place of that woman before the subjugation team and eliminate the reason for the sudden appearance of ghouls.”