There was no time to read all the system windows that popped up one after another.

“I cleared it……?”

The word meant only one thing. Cadell rushed to the direction where the bud was.

“Van! Van!”

Fog and aura mixed together, so nothing could be seen properly. He almost tripped over the rocks several times, but there was no time for him to slow down.

Before long, he was able to spot Van standing in the middle of the ghastly wreckage. Cadel’s eyes widened when he checked his condition.

“What on earth did you……! What have you done!”

Cadel ran over at once and grabbed Van’s shoulder tightly. His whole body was wet as if he had just been showered with blood. The chest armor he was wearing was nowhere to be seen, and the exposed limbs were so full of scratches that it was difficult to see them properly.

Van looked down at Cadel, who was holding him and shaking him. The red energy in his eyes slowly faded and the original golden color was gradually revealed.

“Did you get the blood by hurting your body? Are you crazy? Huh? I thought you were going to die!”

“Commander…….”

“Don’t call me, you crazy bastard!”

Cadel, furious to the point of smoke rising on top of his head, screamed. But Van did not give in, and he even smiled with his bloody face. He laughed because scolding was what Cadel did well.

Suddenly, Van’s eyes darkened and his body leaned forward.

“Van……?”

He felt a heavy weight on his shoulders. He could feel the faint breath on the nape of his neck where Van’s lips touched. A breath that seemed to be cut off at any moment. It was only then that Cadel realized that Van’s condition was far worse than he expected.

‘Blood Sword is originally a technique that naturally invokes by destroying a large number of monsters. He filled it with his own blood.……. It’s the worst. He’s going to go all the way to the afterlife!’

Cadel, feeling impatient, wrapped Van, whose weight was like a huge rock, around him. He then shouted at Ron and Babyl, who were still standing there watching blankly.

“Don’t you have a potion? A healing potion! Is it correct to call it a potion? Anyway, are there any hemostats that can stop the bleeding right away?”

“Uh uh…… I have a potion…….”

As Ron stammered back, Cadel, who approached with a frightening speed, pulled his luggage with all his might.

“Give it to me!”

“Uh uh? W, wait…….”

“And you! You get a horse from the town right now. As soon as possible!”

Babyl, who was pointed out, wanted to refute, saying, ‘Why should I listen to your orders?’ but he owed them his life several times. He was not shameless enough to refuse such a request.

Eventually, Babyl nodded and hurriedly ran toward the exit. Meanwhile, Cadel poured the potion he had received from Ron into Van’s mouth. The robe he spread to lay him down was soon drenched in blood.

“Is there a healer in town?”

Cadel, who was watching Van nervously, asked. Ron thought for a moment, then shook his head hesitantly.

“Most small towns like Vils have no healers. It’s all about visiting a healer who happens to visit from time to time. One pharmacist has been feeling unwell recently, so he’s not working…….”

“Are you saying there isn’t one?”

“……Ah yes, there is none.”

Cadel opened his eyes as if asking him to answer correctly. Then Ron, who hesitated with a troubled expression, made a sighing voice.

“There is a healer belonging to Viscount Stra’s family. Of course, to receive treatment from that person, the Viscount’s permission is required.”

However, he would not give valuable manpower to treat a mere mercenary. Ron was saying that.

* * *

Cadel slowly raised his teacup. When he awkwardly lowered his eyes, he saw a messy face reflected in the yellowish tea water. A faintly rippling wave. He took a sip slowly, as if savoring it as much as possible, and, as expected, slowly put the teacup down.

“……It’s an honor. I’m grateful enough that you gave me a healer, but you even served me a precious tea. Viscount Stra is truly a merciful man.”

Across from him was Viscount Stra, who sat cross-legged leisurely. The gray hair that was pulled up without leaving a single strand, the eyes that went up thin like a fox, and the crooked mouth that showed no mercy.

There was no atmosphere of mercy even if you search everywhere. However, Cadel praised him as ‘the merciful Viscount Stra’. Well, Van was still being treated by the Viscount’s men somewhere in this mansion. There was nothing good to spoil the mood.

‘By the way…… I didn’t expect my threats to work. I met a healer more easily than I thought.’

Cadel carefully smacked his lips.

He rode the horse that Babyl brought him – he couldn’t learn to ride the horse, so he left Van to Ron, and he was also given a ride by Babyl – and found the Viscount at once. He confronted the guards who came out instead, threatening him with the content, ‘If you want to take back the Smog Plain, come out immediately!’. Shortly thereafter, the Viscount’s son, Drew, came down, and he explained the urgent situation to him.

Of course, he expected a scuffle to come and go but Drew unexpectedly obediently sent Van to the healer. In addition, he even escorted him to the drawing room.

If he had known that the person he was facing here was Viscount Stra, he would have been outside even if it was hard.

‘How are you supposed to treat an aristocrat?’

He had lived in a world without social status. Of course, even there, there was an invisible gap, but it was not as clear as it was now. Because of that, Cadel was saving his words. Viscount Stra also didn’t say anything, so the drawing room they were in was enveloped in terrible silence for a while.

Fortunately, Viscount Stra personally opened his mouth just before Cadel was suffocated by the silence.

“Cadel Lytos. Is your name correct?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The Viscount raised his eyebrows in interest at Cardel’s answer. He looked disgusted.

‘Why are you making that face? What’s wrong with my name.’

Cadel glanced at his polished face and sneered. And after a pause, the Viscount immediately reminded him of a fact he had completely forgotten.

“To see the fallen noble of the Osma Empire in the Kingdom of Mynue. It’s a strange thing, isn’t it? Even casually spilling the name Lytos…… Quite interesting.”

The fallen noble of the Osma Empire!

The identity of Cadel Lytos, which he hadn’t had the slightest idea of. Cadel blankly stared at the Viscount’s face at the completely unexpected story. The Viscount, as if misunderstanding Cadel’s expression, laughed openly at him and smirked.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know? Wasn’t it once a promising magician family? I heard that they were exterminated for committing the treacherous crime of attempting to assassinate the Imperial family, but I never thought I would meet its bloodline in a place like this. No, should I say half-bloodline?”

“…….”

Viscount Stra’s sarcasm did not hurt Cadel at all. He felt like he was listening to someone else’s story, and indeed it was.

‘That’s right. Cadel Lytos was the illegitimate son of the fallen house. If it was fallen, it was fallen, if he was the illegitimate son, then he was the illegitimate son. That’s nothing to do with me, so it’s okay.’

Cadel Lytos in the game had a strong attachment to his family even though he was an illegitimate son, so raising the family to its original position was his second goal. But it didn’t matter at all to Cadel now. He only had to see the end of the story and return to the original world.

“Look at you. A mercenary……. A mercenary, not even a knight! Isn’t it really funny? Running away to someone else’s land is nothing but mercenary behavior…….”

The Viscount let out an eerie laugh. His pupils were small, and his gaze, which had a sinister atmosphere, was openly looking down on him. However, Cadel responded calmly without showing any signs of being offended.

“You don’t need pride to make a living. I just found my own way to live.”

“The magic of the Lytos family was famous. I wonder if your skills, an illegitimate son, are as good as the rumors.”

“Check out the Smog Plains.”

Cadel lifted the cup with a calm face. Then the Viscount’s expression changed subtly. He seemed suspicious and entertaining.

“Did you really clear the plains with just four people?”

“Two, to be precise. The other two weren’t very useful.”

“……Are you sure?”

“If you’re talking about subjugating monsters, yes, I’m sure. My competent subordinate has gotten to that point, so it’s not saving face if I’m not sure.”

The Viscount had a sarcastic attitude as if saying he had no face, but he didn’t bother to bring it up. Instead, he raised his chin proudly.

“It’s already dawn. I’ll send my soldiers to check tonight.”

“The commission fee won’t be available until the next day.”

“Not only that.”

“……?”

“If the recapture of the Smog Plains was successful, Cadel Lytos. You’ll get a chance to be my man.”

Cadel was speechless for a moment and blinked.

A chance to be my man. He had a vague idea of what he was trying to suggest, but the problem was the nature of the game. Maybe this old man was setting a pink flag, and his mouth was parched with fear.

Fortunately, the Viscount was not that kind of unscrupulous.

“Magicians are precious. Proper magicians are more valuable, and those with bloodlines are even more valuable. Even if you are the illegitimate son of the Osma Empire’s fallen house, its value does not fall easily. Even though you’re gnawing away at your own worth.”

“That means…….”

“I’ll help you quit your job as a cheap mercenary. Accommodation will be taken care of, and you will receive a salary, so there will be no worries so far.”

From the point of view of Viscount Stra, this was an unconventional offer with no reason to refuse. Rather, Cadel had to lie flat first and show loyalty. He said he’d personally wash the fugitive magician and keep him by his side. Cadel was compelled to accept even if his life was at stake.

Looking at the Viscount making such judgments, Cadel thought quietly.

‘Is Van’s treatment over?’

A magician belonging to a Viscount. It was a total disaster.

It was obvious that he would be bullied for being an illegitimate magician, and he would have to run into Drew, who had a bad temper, all the time, and, crucially, it didn’t help Cadel’s future at all.

His only goal was to escape. He wanted to hurriedly return to his body, which he did not know what state he was in after being hit by a truck. He had no intention of spending the rest of his life in a world devoid of any high-tech civilization.

But now, with the help of the Viscount, Van was being treated. If he hastily refused and upset the Viscount, he could have been kicked out without receiving treatment. Cadel chose his words as carefully as possible.

“I want to seize the opportunity right now, but…….”

“I hope you don’t intend to refuse.”

“I have a subordinate. He’s loyal enough to give his life for me.”

“You mean the guy who was dying?”

Cadel nodded with a bitter expression.

“Before accepting Viscount’s proposal, I want to convince him. If I leave the mercenary corps without saying anything, he will feel betrayed.”

“It was a pretty usable body. He’s from the aristocracy, too?”

“No, he’s a commoner.”

“Well, that’s too bad.”

Are you saying that you can let in a fallen noble but not an excellent commoner swordsman?

He endured being offended by the values he couldn’t understand and looked at his eyes as if asking for permission. The viscount said unkindly.

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll be able to see if you’re a real deal tonight anyway.”

“Thank you, Viscount Stra.”

Cadel bowed his head, smiling as politely as possible. Only then did he manage to get out of the drawing room.

For now, he had to meet Van first.