* * *

‘I should be happy, or I should be pissed off about this.’

Two days later.

Cadel, who visited the tavern ‘Emily’s Hood’, was drinking in succession as it was burning. Van, sitting across from him, calmly pushed a bowl of snacks as if he had given up on stopping Cadel from drinking.

“Did the Temple of Depollo officially bless them? That’s amazing. It wasn’t a knight order, but the temple gave a blessing to a mere mercenary corps.”

“Maybe it’s related to that hideous rumor. Will they bless the mercenary corps who did nothing?”

If I hadn’t heard the news, would I have calmed down?

Cadel gritted his teeth as he slammed his cool empty glass onto the table.

‘What’s the point of giving the credit to the mercenary corps you abandoned while you take all the rewards yourself? You’ll give me the façade fame I want, so don’t come and bother you, that’s your intention?’

That was right. Currently, it was a topic that was making a lot of noise in taverns, streets, and even neighborhood kids. The ‘Mercenary Corps from other areas blessed by the Temple of Depollo’ was none other than the Scarlet Scales Corps.

Lumen, who stole the female believer and fled, seemed to have safely obtained the reward from the temple and seemed to have introduced himself as a member of the mercenary corps as if he were patronizing. So the bishop must have personally stepped up and bestowed his blessing. Of course, that wasn’t a bad thing.

‘My reputation went up by 15 at once. With a reputation of 37, I can easily recruit any low-ranking knight. But…….’

I felt terrible!

Van gritted his teeth and reached for Cadel, who was about to order a new drink. His worried face was already in tears.

“Commander, stop drinking!”

“I’m so upset I can’t stand it!”

“That bastard would have fallen over by now, broken his nose, and died of an overdose! There is no need for Commander to resent him to the point of ruining your health.”

“Then, the colossal gold coins that the corpse had must have been stolen by someone else? Piss off!”

Cadel was angry. No, where was the knight that raises the favorability by 10 right before leaving? They fought together until the very last minute, and he even owed his life!

Cadel still couldn’t forget the empty back of Van and the seven fallen trees. Rather, it came to his mind periodically and made him pound in his chest.

‘Shouldn’t I give him a chance to increase his loyalty? Of course, I thought he accepted the offer too easily on the topic of loyalty 5, but why is it so clear that he’s dining and dashing?’

If he had waited a little bit, he could have built a friendly relationship by buying good weapons, matching armor, and earning trust.

Is it because the timing is a step behind?

Cadel ordered a drink, resisting Van’s disapproval. Maybe because he was so pissed off, instead of drunkenness, anger came up.

Van sighed as he looked at his commander, who was gushing and snorting. In his heart, he wanted to find that rotten bastard right away and tear him to shreds. Meanwhile, he couldn’t bear to leave because he thought Cadel would be drunk. He said, pulling at Cadel’s arm, who was tilting the empty glass to the end and trying to shake off even one more drop.

“Don’t be so upset. If we go somewhere else, we won’t hear about the traitor, and we’ll get new commissions.”

“Where are we going?”

Cadel shrugged off Van’s touch and squinted.

“Don’t tell me you’re looking for that punk―”

“What a beautiful thing!”

“Then there’s no reason not to leave, is there?”

There’s no reason not to leave? Rather, it was a problem because there were so many.

In games, sub-quests for sufficient training usually appear before proceeding with the next main quest, giving you a chance to stay in the area. The last time in Bills Village, he unexpectedly ran away because of Viscount Stra, and because of that, he was unable to stay in the village and accept requests.

But things were different now. The temple officially classified the mercenary corps as a friendly group, so the situation itself was hopeful. Cadel was humiliated to even look at the situation created by Lumen as hopeful, so he frowned.

“Soon we’ll have to find the temple again. At that time, we should protect our source of income properly.”

As Cadel said, the opportunity to enter the temple came quite quickly.

* * *

“Commander of the Scarlet Scales Mercenary Corps, Cadel Lytos. May the protection of the Legendary Knight Loden and the Great Goddess Depollo be with you.”

The face of the bishop who blessed him was full of benevolence. He didn’t feel particularly sacred, but there was a sense of stability that made the viewer feel comfortable. Cadel was polite as he kneeled to receive the blessing.

“Thank you for giving me another chance to help the temple, Your Grace.”

“I should say thank you instead. It was enough just to wipe out the demon that was harming the believers, but to think you even took care of cleaning up the aftermath yourself.”

“Haha, you appreciate someone who didn’t even turn down the offer.”

“I was worried because I didn’t seem to have given enough compensation to the member who came instead of you before. I just wanted to replace the hearts of the believers.”

Did Lumen get paid less than he thought? The assumption alone seemed to make Cadel feel a little better.

Meanwhile, the bishop, who smiled benevolently at Cadel, was looking over his shoulder. In the quiet gaze, the Holy Knights gathered near the entrance of the temple filled up. Originally, it was the knight order who should have eliminated the witch instead of the mercenary corps.

Upon arriving here, they were taken aback by the fact that the target had already been eliminated, but fortunately or not, another incident occurred that required the power of the knight order. They were traps that filled the forest behind the temple. The witch disappeared, but the dozens of trap magic that remained intact had caused so much damage to the believers even until now.

For that reason, the bishop asked the Holy Knights to lift the trap, but somehow Cadel came to ask for the request. He said that since he was a magician who was good at detecting traps, he would be more competent than the Holy Knights.

It was not an easy choice. Hiring him would hurt the pride of the knight order, and if he refused, the image of the temple that officially blessed the mercenary corps would be damaged.

In the end, the bishop decided to stand on the side of the temple, not anyone else. Even if the Holy Knights were offended, they could never harm the sacred place that enshrined Loden and Depollo.

“Working with the Holy Knights, the job could be finished sooner than you think. We hope that peace in the temple will return as soon as possible, and we will do our best.”

He didn’t know if he knew the back story. Cadel paid a silent tribute, flaunting the impression of the remains.

The bishop nodded, hiding his complicated feelings. He just hope there would be no trouble between the knight order and the mercenary corps.

* * *

“I’ll do the trap detection here, so get back. It gets in the way of navigation.”

There’s no way there’s no trouble.

Cadel thought as he looked at Yohan, the commander of the Order of the Holy Knights, who gave a dry look almost as if he were looking at inanimate objects.

‘Well, even in the game, until the mercenary corps become a knight order, they are ignored in all directions. Although it was expected……. Still, it’s disgusting to be treated like this in person.’

Hardships and adversity, disregard and discrimination always come to the protagonist of a fantasy game. Cadel had already realized that from Viscount Stra’s attitude. Thinking about the promotion of the knight order far and far away, it just felt helpless.

If he talked back, the tiring work would only be doubled. Let’s just ignore it. Cadel, who averted his gaze first, opened his mouth to express his opinion as softly as possible. But before he even uttered a word.

“Are you really saying such a thing because you don’t know if this side with only two people is a hindrance or if the side that’s swarming like a herd of ants is a hindrance?”

Van, who had been guarding Cadel’s side with an uncomfortable expression the whole time, jumped out. Throughout the search, Van subtly ignored and put up with the knights’ petty behavior whispering about the mercenaries amongst themselves. Some said that he was an insignificant mercenary from a commoner’s family, and others said why mercenaries intervene in the affairs of the temple. If he were to fly off the handle at each one, the position of the commander, Cadel, would be embarrassing.

But even if he put up with everything else, he couldn’t stand Cadel being treated as an intrusive hindrance.

Yohan also wrinkled his brow as if he was offended by Van’s harsh language.

“That’s harsh. Why don’t you start with the discipline of the only member? Mercenary Commander.”

“I use my body as well as my words. Do you want to experience it? Knight Commander.”

A spark flew between the two men’s gazes. Cadel intervened between the two, holding back his sigh. He always thought about it, but the position of mediation was really troublesome.

“Sir Yohan, I am aware that Holy Knights can use magic. But no better than a real magician. Don’t you think so?”

“Better than a mediocre magician though.”

“Of course, but the one before Sir is far from mediocre.”

Let’s speak softly, softly. Cadel said in a friendly tone as he brainwashed himself.

“I’ll leave it up to you to explore the trap. But we’ll take care of the trap disarming.”

“No, you don’t have to. Both exploring and disarming―”

“If you have an excellent magician by your side and still want to have a hard time…… I won’t stop you. But we didn’t come here on purpose to watch the slow processing. If you can’t cooperate, let’s move separately from here on out.”

Yohan’s expression hardened. He also knew that no one was more effective than a magician at dispelling magic traps. But it seemed to be hurting his pride to admit it easily. Cadel stared at Yohan as if he could see right through him, but when he finally didn’t open his mouth, he turned his head away with a sigh.

“It seems that we have lost some energy from each other. I’m sorry.”

If you can’t appease it, it’s better to walk away early than to endure discomfort and stick by their side. Cadel, who judged that, patted Van’s forearm, who was still angry, and said.

“Van. Let’s go back to the other side.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Yohan looked at the back of Cadel, who was moving away without hesitation, and soon clicked his tongue annoyedly.