"Ha, I'm tired as hell. I'm going to have to start killing demons today...."
It was a little late in the morning.
Grine muttered to himself as he stretched in his inn room.
Today was finally the day he was supposed to go on a demon hunt with Taigan and Ron.
It was going to be a troublesome day. He'd hunted demons before, back at Eldain Academy, but even then he'd bribed the others with money and passed the test with ease.
It hadn't been that difficult then.
He had the capital and the backing of a large family.
So graduating from Eldain with decent, if not top, grades was an easy task.
"Huh. By the way, Nox the asshole blew my right arm off, and Schultz the bastard… I paid a pretty penny for him."
Schultz had been by his side for more than a decade.
It would be a shame to lose him in a moment, in a foolish decision.
But what can you do, a dead man is dead.
It wasn't something to dwell on.
If he wasn't good enough to beat Nox in the first place, he'd always be good enough to be replaced.
Grine decided to give it no more thought, and headed downstairs for breakfast.
However.
As he passed by the bottom of the stairwell, he saw the face of a stranger.
A younger brother who looked just like him, but more handsome, and therefore unnecessarily annoying.
It was Nox von Reinhafer.
What was he?
He doesn't even know him.
We've never had a warm breakfast together.
Grine's gaze met Nox's, his expression impassive.
It was as if he had been waiting.
Then he looked back at himself and said.
"Brother, why don't you join me for a meal, I have something to tell you."
For some reason, Grine felt a chill run down his spine.
Why?
The servant coming to wake him up should be Ron, not Nox.
He was supposed to be the one to watch over him, and he had been.
He'd been pretty good, given his lack of experience as a Pathfinder, and he wasn't the kind of guy to make a mistake like this.
But… he's not here.
Why?
The question grew quickly.
A closer look around revealed no sign of Taigan.
We were supposed to talk in the morning about exterminating the demons in the village.
Where had they gone?
"Brother."
Nox's voice was cold.
"Why don't you sit down, I'm sure you have a lot of questions."
* * *
It was a day ago that a letter arrived at House Reinhafer.
The sender was Mr. Nox.
He reported that there were some troubles in the province of the Chasers, not only with the marshals, but with the men of the guard, and that they were caused by Mr. Taigan, the captain of the guard, and his men.
They had embezzled the town's public treasury and municipal funds from the Empire.
This was a serious matter.
A felony punishable by death, depending on the circumstances. Thanks to this, the following was passed on directly to Theo.
"…So, Master Nox has said that he will monitor the situation, and if things accelerate, he will deal with them himself."
"I see."
Theo closed his eyes for a moment at Rodwell's report, then opened them.
In truth, he had expected that.
Chasers was a place of many crimes.
Gambling, prostitution, and all manner of illicit activities that left many dead. It is one of the worst places in the Ackheim Empire to find a young man alive, as the strictly enforced recruitment of boys is done in secret.
The Chasers are a forgotten region, unarable and infested with demons.
Because of this, the Ackheim Empire has done much to support them. It's a neutral zone, but what if the Chasers' barriers are breached?
It could spill over elsewhere, damaging the Ackheim Empire as well. So the Empire has to be concerned about the Chasers, no matter how neutral they are.
They're also secretly hoping for the best.
They'd rather see them incorporated into other provinces, which would reduce their astronomical support costs.
But alas, that hasn't happened so far.
So the Imperial Family is still supporting the Chasers.
This hasn't worked out too well, and the funding has only increased each year.
Except for one, the House of Reinhafer, which was quite close to the Chasers.
Theo questioned this.
The amount of money from the Archheim Empire is certainly a lot of money.
But.
They receive that much money every year and still request missions from the Imperial Family?
In the end, there was only one answer.
'There's a force in the middle that's stealing all that gold.'
However, he didn't see any reason to invest in the Chasers region, so he left it alone.
If the Imperials are paying for it, why should House Reinhafer be responsible for it?
But for once, he realized he might have to change his mind.
The reason was a letter from Nox.
[…So, if I can pull this off, why don't you transfer the Chasers to the Reinhafers and give me the power to run it?
If I don't perform, I will give up all my rights as the youngest member of the Reinhafer Family].
"You sound like you have your sights set on something very big."
Rodwell said dryly. His gaze was inwardly worried.
No matter what he said about testing him, Nox is Theo's youngest son.
To give him that responsibility?
That would be too cruel, too harsh.
Even more so for the man himself.
"To be so sure… to be so certain… to say this so soon after receiving the sword from me. You're sure. Nox is confident that he can turn the Chasers into a golden land."
"…But you're still young. You've only just come of age, and you haven't studied for nobility as hard as some of the others."
Rodwell was arguing in favor of turning down Nox's offer.
Theo chuckled at that.
"If what he says is true, do you think he will live to return to the family?"
Rodwell's eyes widened.
The words were definitely hitting home.
What if, as Nox had said, there was an embezzler there and he knew it?
There would be people watching Nox, too, and there was a good chance he'd be taken out.
In other words, after they told him he'd been taken out. All they had to do was kill him and it would be over.
But… why would they choose to bother?
Theo stood up from his seat.
"No. The chances are he'll be dead by the time he gets back with Grine. If they really have committed a crime, and they've found out about it."
Rodwell immediately understood what Theo was saying.
He was asking for a chance.
If Nox made it out of the Chasers alive, surrounded by enemies on all sides, it would be worth the investment.
That's what he was saying in reverse.
In the end, Rodwell had to agree with Theo.
It would be difficult to convince the vassals, but if Nox and Grine came back to the House with such accomplishments, no one would be able to ignore them.
Besides, investing in the Chasers wouldn't be too much of a stretch for House Reinhafer.
After all, the Reinhafers are known for their wealth in the first place.
"I don't know why," Theo said with a weak smile as he summarized the case.
"I don't know why, but I have a feeling he'll pull it off."
"And that's why you're allowing Master Knox to travel along for the ride."
"Yes. I saw something in his eyes, this desperate need to be strong. It's like the eye of the beast, the need to survive.
It's not something you learn, especially when you're the youngest, the sickly one, the one who's been locked away from the family forever."
Theo draws his sword and grasps the hilt.
His gaze lingers on the tip of the blade.
"But he did it, and that's what makes him worthy, from what I've seen."
Rodwell couldn't help but agree with him.
He felt it, too.
That Theo was more excited about the possibility of Nox than any of the other sucessors.
* * *
"…So. What do you want us to do?"
I asked, summarizing everything that had happened so far.
Grine's face crumpled in real time with each word I spoke. It was no secret that his power was diminished.
His biggest problem was fulfilling his mission. And then there was the presence of Nox.
'Is he friend or foe?'
Grine asked, weighing the options.
"What are you going to do?"
"I think it's right to finish the mission, there's quite a bit to be gained here."
"I see."
Even as he said that, Grine knew he had no choice but to go along with it.
The men he has brought with him are only ten at most.
I've killed more than twice that number in one night.
Truly, a splendid record for a Reinhafer scoundrel.
He must fear that he'll be purged along with them.
I did not speak back.
"Are you afraid of me?"
"...That's an interesting question."
Grine seemed surprisingly unoffended.
He was a very resourceful man, and he used his skills to see into the minds of others. Even if his skills don't work on me, he knows instinctively.
That I wanted something from him.
"You haven't killed me yet to use me, either."
"Yes, but depending on how you answer now."
I said mockingly.
"That answer might change."
"…Good. Tell me what you will do. Captain of the Guard, the Knights of Ron… no. No bandits. We have absolutely no troops. But now the villagers are talking about seeing griffins. Is there anything we can do here?"
"I can stop the monster wave. But I need you to hand over one thing to me."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to hand over the command of your private army to me, so that not only will you return home alive, but you'll have the accomplishment of fulfilling your mission here."
"…Indeed. An interesting proposition."
Grine fiddled with his teacup and met my gaze.
He must be weighing it now.
How much of what I say is true and how much is false.
And what he stands to gain by doing as I say.
The risks of handing over his men to me.
You're weighing them.
But there's no point.
The scales were already tipped from the start.
Since I killed Ron and Taigan, he has no choice but to listen to me.
If he wants to stay alive.
"Very well. I will delegate that authority to you to handle my men. But I want to make sure you give me a track record of doing what we talked about, and I want to make sure you spare my life. Two things I'll make sure of."
I stared at him, not bothering to respond to Grine's words.
Scratching his head as if he couldn't do it, he added.
"Very well. For fuck's sake, I'll hand over my massive mining claims and artifacts. It's not like I'm going to waste them when my life is on the line anyway."
"That's a wise decision, brother."
He is indeed my brother.
I smirked to myself at the thought.
Then I made one more thing clear.
"In addition, please be careful not to be disrespectful to my people. Whether it's you or the soldiers below you."
"…I will be careful."
There will be no incidents like what happened to Zitri before.
At least until the [Misfortune] trait is removed, she'll continue to struggle… but hopefully, this will ease the burden even a little.
Well, at least things are sorted out.
Now, it's time to begin the final part of the Chasers Hidden strategy.
Naturally, it begins with a fight with the griffin and the defense of the eastern wall.
I head out of the inn and meet up with Zitri and Carl. I'm joined by my new allies, Elena and Mei.
"So…hiccup, what am I, hiccup, supposed to do…?"
"Zitri."
I cleared my throat and glared at Zitri, who quickly averted her gaze.
"I'm sorry… I thought for sure it was water… and before I knew it, I was on my third bottle."
I wiped my face dry with both hands.
Elena… we're supposed to be catching griffins.
I saved your friend's life, and this is what you do?
You're still drinking here?
"Wake her up, now."
"Okay. Don't worry. I have a hangover cure I picked up from Elena yesterday."
Zitri said with a proud look on his face.
I couldn't keep the desperate look off my face.
"I can't believe... what kind of person drinks alcohol and then takes a hangover cure she made herself, every day. Are you crazy, or are you a freak?"
"...."
Zitri shut his mouth for a rare moment and looked at me.
Yeah, I got it. That stare.
I'm the asshole, right?
"That was a bit much. You think so too, don't you?"
"I'm sorry."
Zitri said, not looking the least bit sorry.
Elena, meanwhile, had returned to her drunken ramblings, still holding on to my scruff.
"Young Master Knox… go save Mei… thank you ahhhh...!"
Mei is looking at me with an alarmed expression.
I think she's trying to figure out what's going on.
I let out a deep sigh and said.
"I'm sorry if I don't thank you. You reek of alcohol."
"Yep, ...! Hiccup!"
Ha, crazy lady.
I'm in a time crunch.
Now that I've got Elena, you might ask if there's anything more to be gained in this town… but Chasers is a gold mine.
There are still two more things I need to get.
The first is the town itself.
The Chasers will be a gold mine for me later in the game.
The second is the griffin. His feathers, his hide, his meat.
Now here's where some people might question.
No, I thought you said at the beginning of this quest that griffins are unkillable monsters!
Yes.
But that's only for the newbies.
The old-timers have their ways.
'I'll kill the griffin here, and then I'll give the whole thing to Grine and run off.'
I smiled lightly, satisfied with the plan.
Meanwhile, Elena is still suffering from a hangover.
"Doryunniiiim...."
I clench my fists and shake my head.
Ha, this asshole really needs to wake up.