Interlude: The Commander of the Hauzar Mercenaries, in the forest

It happened a few days back from the attack.

Hauzar, the leader of the Hauzar Mercenaries, had a dream.

Five years had passed since the time when he had no choice but to engage in the same kind of activities as a bandit.

He gathered a group of fellow adventurers, called themselves the mercenaries, and while repeatedly killing bands of thieves and protecting villages from monsters, he has steadily improved his equipment and gathered a group of friends.

And now, as their name is gradually becoming well known, they suddenly receive a big job offer.

The request, which came through several intermediaries to prevent the origin from being traced, was to assassinate —- the Holy Princess.

I was not without hesitation. I have always tried to take on jobs that would help people as much as possible.

But this time, I was moved by the amount of compensation.

Even with the advance money alone, I was able to get some pretty good equipment. Another mercenary group had also been asked to help, and if we could get there first, we would get the full amount of the reward.

And if we improve our abilities as a mercenary group, we will be able to take on more lucrative jobs from high status clients.

If we accumulate achievements in this way,—- it should eventually become possible to negotiate with a city that is likely to develop in the future and be formally hired as a knightly order, a guard and patrol force.

Then there would be no more need to lead a nomadic life.

He would be able to live the rest of his life peacefully with his friends as a member of the city, not as a group of suspicious drifters.

Hauzar’s dream, which he had doubts about how long it would take, or even if it would ever come true, had become a reality and was now within reach.

Until just a few moments ago.

Now —- that dream has been crushed.

In the woods not far from the road leading to the capital, Hauzar watched the end of the scene, feeling the cold sweat wetting his back.

“Mu, human warriors are fragile things. They are good for eating, but too boring for a contest of strength.”

The reddish-bronze-skinned ogre, whose physique far exceeds that of a human, mutters in a bored manner, holding a blood-stained club in his hand.

The ones lying in front of him are those who used to be Hauzar’s companions.

Some have had their heads crushed, others have had their torsos snapped right across, or their chests caved in in the shape of a foot …….

Their former comrades were now lying on the ground as corpses that could never have been made by the strength of human muscles.

There were other corpses that could not have been.

Some of his friends were now standing in the forest, turned into stone statues. Not figuratively. Their skin, hair, and even eyeballs had hardened to gray, and only their clothes and weapons retained their original colors, as if it were a joke.

“What are you eating, fish,…… munya,…… it’s a star,…… suh.”

Beyond that, a petite woman was curling her body and floating with dark magic.

Her fluttery clothes were out of place in the forest, and her hair was long and shimmering, the color of decayed leaves. The words spilling out of her mouth were incoherent and devoid of any meaning. Her eyes are closed and she appears to be asleep.

However, the third eye, the red evil eye that has turned —- his friends to stone, is gaping and wriggling, looking around.

Even among the evil eyed people of the three-eyed triads, it had an odd appearance and power.

Some of them were still breathing.

But it was clear that they could not be saved.

Two shadow wolves were playing with the bodies of their moaning companions, pulling them along.

A sword-wielding monster with sharp fangs and the ability to lurk in the shadows. Sitting in the center of the herd, laughing is a small beastman boy with dark brown hair and long ears.

“Haha, both Dee and Tess are doing great!　……, will you give me that?　Thanks!　You’re a good boy.”

A minotaur at his side offers him a human corpse, and the rabbit beastman boy happily thanks him.

The minotaur was a monster that had been tamed by his fellow teammate, a Tamer.

The one he was now offering up was his former master, whom he had violently killed.

The Minotaur’s sudden betrayal left his fellow trainer Tamer dead with a surprised look on his face.

The boy’s ability to tame and subdue even other people’s monsters in the blink of an —- eye could no longer be called a skill, but a natural gift as a trainer-tamer.

I looked to my right and saw my companion breathing fire.

Orange flames erupted from his mouth, nose, and burnt-out eye sockets.

The fellow staggered around alive for a while, but eventually, as fire broke out of his torso and through his belly, he collapsed to his knees.

Nearby, the black demon man clucked his tongue abominably.

“Tsk, he’s dead already. I miscalculated. …… The flame was too strong. The position of the transfer is not good either. …… Damn, I’m still too inaccurate!　I’ll never be able to match my brother like this,……!”

A demon man with black fur and horns as curly as a goat’s spits out with a twisted expression on his face.

He transfers magical fire and burns the target from the inside.

The demon who turned his companions into burnt corpses one after the other with his deviant skills is simply angry at his own inexperience.

“Why ……?”

Hauzar muttered blankly.

“Why are the demons …… in a place like this, and who are these …… abnormal people…? …”

“Are you the head?”

A demon standing in front of him asked.

And, ah, this is the guy.

Black hair and black eyes. Although his appearance resembles a human, his white skin, like a dead man, has black lines running like tattoos.

“Why are the Demons…… here ……?”

“Answer me. What purpose did you have in laying down your troops in this forest?”

He is pressured by eyes like an abyss.

Hauzar no longer has any choice but to answer truthfully.

“The assassination of the Holy Princess …… I was supposed to be waiting for them down the road …….”

“Hmmm …… human political strife. Then we had nothing to do with it.”

“You had me worrying, Captain.”

“It can’t be helped. If there are soldiers in a mysterious place like this, everyone will be vigilant.”

“Munya …… confusing ……”

The demon, the trinocular eyed, speaks to the beast boy.

“Gahahaha!　I had an unexpected supply, and that’s a good thing!　But, Zolmnem!”

The ogre, who had been smiling broadly, turns around and says reproachfully.

“The human is a warrior, too. He is also the head. Are you sure you are not approaching him too carelessly?”

“Eh? The captain won’t lose to a human. You seem to be scared of them, and he’s probably small fry anyway.”

“No…… this one is not weak.”

A god-demon man called Zolmnem looks at Hauzar with his dark eyes.

Then he mutters to himself in a voice so small that even his companions cannot hear him.

“The ability value is high for the “[ level]”. Especially, 【HP】 and 【Durability】 are excellent. Above all, the [skills] of good luck and incitement are rare. They are very useful for the head of a mercenary group. …… Your [status] is not bad at all.”

“Ha … haha …”

Hauzar had no idea what this god-demon was saying.

He senses that he has just been praised by the mere words and gives a drawn-out laugh.

“Oh, thanks …….”

He’s head flew off.

Rolling on the ground, Hauzar’s vision showed the sight of his own body from the neck down, instantly engulfed in flames.

The swordsmanship is so good that you can’t even see the sword line, and the magic is completely unchanted.

As his consciousness poured out with his blood, the last thing Hauzar heard was the cold muttering of Zolmnem with his treasured sword in his hand.

“—-, but nothing compares to me.”

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