Chapter 29: Those Hidden in the Sand (2)
As midday approached, the small village beside the oasis was filled with activity.
The villagers did not come out of their houses to avoid the fierce sunlight, but the mercenaries were engaging in conversations, building friendships, or picking fights to exchange information.
The most active among them were those belonging to small and medium-sized mercenary groups that had entered the village the night before.
"......A sand worm appeared?"
"It was blocking the way out, I'm telling you. Five teams left from the Count's territory, but only two arrived. Why do you think that happened?"
"It was a big one?"
"Don't even mention it. It was sucking in entire carriages...... Both horses and people were ground up alive."
"Huh...... It's no different from a monster."
"Don't say that. Desert people hate the word monster. Call them spirits."
"Tch, if it's a monster, it's a monster. What's with calling them spirits?"
Amid the fluttering flags symbolizing various mercenary groups like Grima and Fire Ants, the members glanced somewhere while sharing information as if wanting to be heard.
What they were keeping an eye on were the 'Mountain Rabbits'.
As one of the few large mercenary groups in the Astria Kingdom, this was an unspoken protest meaning 'we're in the same business of living by the sword, so please give us some crumbs'.
"......Give us some information. They won't say a word."
"They're not Mountain Rabbits for nothing. Just look at how the villagers gave them sleeping quarters. They only gave us space to pitch tents, but they gave those guys entire houses. That's not all? Look at that. Other women are even preparing breakfast for them. They're on a completely different level."
"Damn, there are women preparing breakfast?"
"If you're dissatisfied, go join a place like that, you bastard."
"If that were possible, I would have moved long ago."
The complaints mixed with grumbling also contained some inferiority complex. While there was a difference in their armed state from the start, it mainly stemmed from the villagers' treatment and the sight of women handling menial tasks.
Bang!
"This bastard is cheating!"
"Who's calling who a cheater!"
Thud! Thud!
Soon, a gambling session opened to relieve boredom, and after a few rounds of punching to settle disputes, the Mountain Rabbits still showed no particular reaction.
This was because an internal meeting was being held, leaving no energy to pay attention to external matters.
***
The private meeting between Marquis Hoover's envoy and Commander Royce ended successfully.
The envoy heard about the commission the Grima mercenary group had received and was angry, but judged that it wouldn't affect the overall situation.
"As I mentioned earlier, I just need to arrive safely at the Count's territory. Opening negotiations is what's important. As for those people, do as Commander Royce sees fit."
"If it's as I see fit......"
"Grima, was it? They haven't harmed the Marquis's territory, so our interests align for now, don't they? If they help with the escort, I'm even considering hiring them additionally. I'll leave the decision to Commander Royce."
After finishing the meeting with the envoy and calling Joltan inside, he spilled out everything he knew in a completely intimidated state.
Upon entering the room, he saw that the noble's envoy was showing respect to a mere mercenary.
While he couldn't grasp what situation this was, it was enough to realize that the Grima mercenary group's lives depended on the Mountain Rabbits.
"Count Mozak gave you a designated mission?"
"Yes. We've fallen into a trap. You know better than anyone what a designated mission means. If we refuse, we'll obviously be expelled from the mercenary guild, but if we accept it as is...... That will bring much more serious consequences. Commander Royce, please help us. We will never forget this favor."
The choice was entirely up to Commander Royce.
As the silence seemed to lengthen, his heart grew anxious as well.
"Please, I beg you, just let us follow! Even if my boys are stupid, they do their share. They're guys who've been rolling around in the west all their lives! If you give us orders, we'll follow them without a word!"
"Hmm...... There's no need to follow orders."
"Then we'll obey!"
"......"
"......Wouldn't it be possible to just travel together?"
Royce sent him outside for now.
Shortly after, a meeting with only official members.
Unfortunately for Joltan, rather than measures regarding Grima, the main topic of discussion was the content of the private meeting with the envoy.
"So, what is Marquis Hoover offering?"
"Lady Hoover."
"In exchange for sending troops, he's offering his daughter?"
The Mountain Rabbits filled the room densely and let out groans.
Nobles were a tribe difficult to understand.
"Count Mozak has wanted to expand his influence for some time, and as part of that, he's repeatedly requested marriage with the Marquis Hoover family. While the conditions on both sides haven't matched until now, the situation has changed."
"Is that sufficient?"
When the commander shook his head, Calix looked around at the others, and Hadiya whispered in his ear.
"For mercenaries like us, the word sufficient has no meaning. At least those who live by the sword should think so."
The following statement was similar.
"Marquis Hoover's envoy said he would make an offer that Count Mozak couldn't refuse. While he didn't reveal everything, there seem to be other trading conditions as well. It would be right to assume the negotiations will succeed. But the judgment isn't made by others. We make it."
"You're right. Is there any additional internal information?"
"According to information collected by Hagen and Hadiya, it seems certain that Count Mozak hasn't finished war preparations. It matches what the Grima mercenary captain said, too. He hasn't requisitioned carriages or summoned surrounding nomads."
"That's not bad news. It doesn't seem like he really intends to wage war?"
This was Calix's first time attending a preliminary meeting. The veteran mercenaries casually threw out remarks in a light atmosphere, but their content was directly related to the mercenary group's safety.
"Then the top priority would be crossing the desert. Since monsters occasionally appear, it would be good to have a local guide. The guy provided by the Marquis family isn't very trustworthy."
"We can just ask the village chief for that."
"Who asked you? I'm talking to the commander."
"We should also change the carriage wheels if possible. Just adding planks to the wheel surface isn't enough. The locals attach what's-it-called, what do they call it......"
"Sled runners?"
"Yeah, sleds or something like that instead of wheels."
"It's not sleds, it's sledges, you idiot."
"Isn't it enough if we understand each other? A guy raised in a pigsty acting like a flower deer."
"Oh, really? Making mistakes and then getting angry?"
Although half of it was bickering, anyway, the more preparation they could do, the better.
It was unfamiliar to Calix, but a familiar process to the Mountain Rabbits.
Soon, after finishing safety procedures regarding desert crossing, the meeting topic returned to 'Count Mozak's territory'.
More precisely, it was a discussion about whether the Grima mercenary group would be useful.
"I understand their situation, but honestly, it doesn't seem absolutely necessary. The negotiation success rate is high, isn't it? Won't we just end up splitting the commission fee?"
"They'll pay separately from the Mountain Rabbits."
"Ah, really? Can we decide freely?"
"Hmm, while not mentioned directly...... The Marquis family seemed to want us to accept them if possible."
"Well, if we leave them alone, they might go to plunder the Marquis's territory. Then the story changes a bit. Isn't it like getting free labor? To put it bluntly, even just sticking their headfirst into the sand would give us relative satisfaction, right?"
"......"
Calix's lips twitched at the vicious comment before quickly closing. While he was impressed by the person named Joltan, the Mountain Rabbits came first over Grima.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the experienced mercenaries soon found a use for them.
"Are those friends from the desert?"
"I heard they mainly operated in the west. They should be familiar with desert terrain, too."
"Oh, I saw them too. Those guys had sled runners attached to their supply wagons. Looking at their armament level and attire, they weren't just random bones that had been rolling around somewhere."
"Use them for desert crossing?"
"Similar but different. Use them for escape."
At Hagen's single remark, the noisy room instantly became quiet.
"......What is this bastard saying. If it's for escape, you mean preparing for when negotiations fail. Did I understand correctly?"
"Right. How do we know if negotiations will succeed or fail? If the situation seems to be going strangely, we need to escape quickly."
"You always pick only unlucky things to say-"
"Wait. It's not completely unreasonable."
"Zahira, why are you doing this, too?"
"No, there's a chance negotiations could fail, even if it's one in ten thousand. While it's unlikely that envoys or escort soldiers would be killed, it wouldn't be bad to think of it as installing a safety device, right?"
"A last resort safety device?"
"Right. If we have to use it anyway, it should be useful, right? Wait outside the Count's territory and get help when we need to escape. Even if fighting breaks out, it would be a great help in overcoming numerical disadvantage. And above all, don't forget it's 'free.'"
"......"
It made sense.
Everyone's ears perked up, apparently tempted by the word free. However, they hesitated to speak about a story that was considered the worst case.
The oldest mercenary stepped forward to sort out the situation.
"Comrades, don't think too deeply. You said it would be troublesome if Hoover territory collapsed?"
"That's right. The moment the mission fails, the 'Mountain Rabbits' would be as good as dead even if alive."
"Then we just do it, why think it is so complicated? Whether we go this way or that way, if there's a risk of dying, isn't it better to at least choose how I die! If there's a need to draw swords, we draw them, and if there's a need to run, we run!"
Calix couldn't help but chuckle at Gregor's confident statement.
The surrounding mercenaries were the same.
"Those are the right words! Being a mercenary means fighting when you have to fight. Don't think complicated, let's solve it easily, as Gregor said. Think of it as adding one more safety device."
"Hmm, good. I agree."
"Me too."
Of course, there were still matters to confirm.
"So everyone agreed...... Commander, can we trust those Grima guys? It would be troublesome if we got backstabbed."
"If they received two knots despite having only about ten mercenary members, they should be seen as people with at least minimal integrity. Also, it's a trustworthy 'situation'. The Grima mercenary group didn't carry out Count Mozak's commission."
"Can't we make it more certain? What if they turn out to be guys with no sense of responsibility whatsoever?"
"We can write a letter with Lady Ella's help for that. Address it to the mercenary guild, asking them to put out a bounty if there's no contact within a certain period."
"Oh, that's good!"
"Instead of this, let's call the person directly and ask."
The veteran mercenaries listened to the commander's words, then remembered that Grima's captain was waiting and called him into the room to start questioning.
Whether Grima had approached them with a plan to backstab them, what level their discipline, regulations, and combat power were at, how much experience they had in fleeing, how they would flee if they had to, whether they had special methods to avoid getting caught, etc.
After considering dozens of possibilities and launching an indiscriminate barrage of questions, they drove the mercenary captain with nearly 20 years of experience to the brink of tears.
"I was wrong......"
"No, you didn't do anything wrong, just answer the question? If you change carriage wheels to be like sleds, are they faster than horses?"
"This damn-, how can a carriage be faster than hors-"
"......"
"That would be difficult...... But in the desert, hiding well is more important than fleeing quickly. Heh heh heh."
"This bastard, that laugh is unlucky. You look too menacing."
"......"
"Still, he seems capable. Commander, he's decent?"
Whether his pride was hurt by being treated as a petty thief who mastered the art of fleeing. But in the end, he received a passing notice.
The end of the meeting.
With this, the Mountain Rabbits finished the process of sharing information acquired locally, and Joltan also found a way to maintain the Grima mercenary group.
In Calix's opinion, it was a good result for everyone.
"Then from this moment on, consider the actual mission to have begun. Count Mozak's territory is only two days away at most. Since we don't know when or where combat might take place, don't let your guard down, and also be careful about what you eat and drink."
"Yes, Commander!"
"By the way, aren't you going to praise the young master?"
"Hmm?"
If this unexpected topic hadn't come up, he would have stood up just like that.
Young master.
It was a word that didn't include a single letter of the name Calix, yet everyone's gaze turned to his face.
"Ah, I was so busy I forgot. Calix."
"......Yes."
"You persuaded the Grima mercenary captain and showed excellent judgment in various ways. Everyone brought various information, but your contribution was the greatest. The Marquis family was very grateful, too."
"Thank you."
The commander's praise only lingered in his ears.
"......Young master. This really sticks to the tongue?"
"Hahaha, right. I should call him that."
"Young master...... Comrade? I don't really like it, cook comrade!"
It was undesirable.
Really.
***
Mercenaries are people who live off commission fees. Even the desert village they stopped by on their way couldn't be an exception.
"Is this the end?"
"Yes. You just need to deliver those additional items. Goat milk, salt, and dates."
"......Is this paid as tax?"
"That's right. We call it Dawarib. Originally, this should have been sent several months ago, but it was delayed because we were looking for someone trustworthy. Additionally, we ask you to take one person. He won't be a hindrance. He's my eldest son."
"Understood. We can get help finding the way."
While major things were rewarded with silver and gold coins, small requests like letter delivery were compensated with dried food or drinking water instead.
Whoosh whoosh.
Thud, thud, thud.
As Vice-Captain Marik finished his conversation with the village chief and waved his hand, the Mountain Rabbits left footprints in the sand as they exited the village.
The village children stared intently at this sight.
As the sun disappeared beyond the sand dunes, bright moonlight illuminated the barren ground, while starlight had lost its vigor in contrast.
"It's not a good day for traveling!"
And new companions had also joined at the very back of the procession.
The number was sixteen. There were only three supply wagons, and a flag with a disgusting bug drawn on it was fluttering on one side of the cargo area.
"......Why are you following, brother?"
"Brother? Rather call me big brother, you bastard."
"No, so why are you following? Didn't you say you were the head of the Guri-guri- whatever mercenary group?"
"It's 'Grima', damn bastard!"
Mercenary captain Joltan couldn't stand it and got into an argument with Volga.
It wasn't strange.
Since newcomers weren't qualified to participate in meetings and didn't know the details, Volga also didn't know the reason for traveling with Grima.
"Ah, it was Grima. You said it was an insect name."
"It's a very tough one. It doesn't die easily either."
"Why not just mosquito or fly. Looking at how tenaciously they cling, that would be perfect."
"Hey, you, don't be spiteful. Good things are good things. We joined because we help each other."
"Hmm, I see."
"......Understanding immediately, this is an unexpected response."
"This guy is definitely up to some mischief again. Don't even think about doing anything stupid. This Volga is watching."
"#@$!!"
However, surprisingly, Joltan was a great help.
Pukwaak!
"It's a sand worm!"
"Ah, dear. Those guys react to sound, so if you talk, you're screwed. Damn! I just got screwed, too! But...... If it's this size, it might be okay!"
"Stop talking shit!"
"......"
While his way of speaking was rough as befitting a mercenary, looking inside it was full of knowledge that Calix didn't know.