Joren looked outside the window of the caravan gazing at nature and its beauty. On their way to Baker's Town, they passed the road that led to the Barony where he was a slave, and the road where he fought wolves before Glenn found him.
'Fuck wolves. I used to think they were cool. Now they just bitches.'
Baker's Town was a two-week journey from Wolf Pine Village. On the way, the group ran into many wild animals and a few mana beasts, but they were easily handled. Joren wanted to show off his skills but Arnold, who was the coachman, punched every creature that bared its fangs at the caravan until they arrived at Bakers Town.
The road was packed with people entering and exiting the town. Many people were lined up on the road. A few looked like merchants as they had many types of goods in the carriages they came in, while others looked like normal people who simply wanted to enter, maybe for vacation, moving to a new place, or anything else. Some people who wore armor and had weapons strapped to them also entered and exited the town.
'Probably mercenaries.' Joren thought. His first guess would have been Adventurers who came from or were going to the Adventurers Guild, the place that all fantasy stories have to hunt monsters for profit, but a while ago, he asked Glenn if Adventurers existed and he told him no such thing existed.
As they approached the entrance, Joren noticed the large wall that circled the entire town. He thought it was a beautiful sight to behold, so beautiful that he couldn't stop staring at it. It was large and white and looked like it was crafted out of marble. There wasn't anything special about the wall, in fact, if you were to ask a resident, they would look at you with a weird expression if you thought the wall was extravagant, even if you were an architect.
So why was Joren infatuated with it? It was because, in his past life, the only times people would see this type of building was if they were looking at ancient structures. In the modern day, everything was made out of metal, bricks, and glass. The structures were made to encompass modern technologies, so looking at something that reminded him of ancient Rome made the history and mythology side of him geek out internally.
"NEXT!" A gatekeeper called.
Joren's group slowly approached the Gatekeeper.
"Identification card and reason for being here please." The gatekeeper walked up to Arnald and Glenn who was now in the front.
"Here you go, sir." Glenn handed the ID cards of everyone to the gatekeeper. Finding no faults with them, he nodded and handed them back to Glenn. But as he did he spoke again.
"The five of you are good," the gatekeeper said pointing at Glenn, Arnald, Lenny, Derry, and Pantera. "But I don't see the kid's ID."
"Ah, well you see he's my nephew and it's his first time leaving our village. I'm taking him to register as a mercenary as he's going to start working with me from now on." Glenn explained
The gatekeeper nodded again understanding the situation. He let them in but after telling Glenn to get Joren registered right away.
Bakers Town was bustling. Merchants in all directions selling their goods, store owners promoting their business and many people roaming the streets for their own personal agenda.
Many people passed by their caravan trying to sell their products or asking them if they were interested in trying their limited-edition super massage. All declined of course. After riding around for ten minutes, they finally arrived at a large building with a sign on it that read "Bakers Mercenaries".
"Now that we've arrived, let's get everything settled. Derry, Pantera, find an inn for us to stay at. Arnald, Lenny, take the caravan to the stables and then go to the alchemy store to see if we need anything to stock up on. Joren and I will go to the Guild to get him registered and meet with our client." Glenn spoke
"Got it, boss."
"Understood."
"Take care."
"Don't miss me too much Joren."
They all parted ways, leaving Joren and Glenn at the Mercenary Guild.
"Come on, let's get going." Glenn extended his hand forward signaling Joren to walk to the Guild.
Upon entering, they were greeted by loud noise, sweaty men and women drinking, and a chair that was thrown across the room which happened to hit an unfortunate fellow who was minding his own business.
"What a rowdy bunch of people. Are they uncivilized or something?" Joren spoke his mind without caring about if other heard him.
Other people did in fact hear and once heard, the entire room became silent with everyone turning to look at the two people who entered the Guild. Angry, annoyed, and disgusted faces were all directed at Joren and Glenn. Some scoffed at their presence while others laughed at the fact that the voice in which the insult came from was just a kid.
"Ha! Look at this kid."
"Go back to your parent's kid."
"You're still young enough to suck on your mother's tits."
"What a cutie, I kinda want him"
Many people threw remarks at them while others continued with their daily scheduled program, drinking and talking absurdly loudly.
"Joren, don't say such things. Yes, they can be rowdy, but that is just the life of a mercenary. They work hard and dangerous jobs and once it's done, they come back to the Guild to relax and let off some steam. You should respect them since they will be your seniors and once you start working, you'll understand how they feel."
"I understand. It won't happen again." Joren acknowledged his mistake and followed Glenn as he started walking over to the receptionist.
"Apologize!" From the far end of the room, a tall muscular burly bald man with a greatsword on his back who had a claw-marked scar on his face stood up. From his expression, it was obvious that he was drunk. He swayed over to Joren and towered over him with a fierce glare, showing his dominance.
Joren looked up at him with indifferent eyes, not intimidated by the drunk man's presence. Glenn was about to step in and tell the guy to back off, but he decided not to, wanting Joren to handle the situation himself. If he thought Joren would get hurt, then he'll step in, but if not, he'll help Joren deal with the consequences regardless of what happens.
"It was a good day today." The big man spoke. "I just finished a C-ranked request and I came here to relax my bones. The food here is shit and the beer taste like piss, but it soothed me and made me feel alive. I was having a good time chatting with my pals recounting our adventure when you walked in and insulted everyone here. It spoiled my mood and ruined my appetite. Apologize for that."
"Don't wanna." Joren grinned
"Hahaha!" The man's laughter sounded like a bear warning you to not enter its territory. "You're young, so you probably don't know how things work about here. It's an unspoken rule that you don't insult mercs and their way of life. Not only did you just insult all of us, but you're also refusing to apologize for your actions. That typically leads to a beating, but since you're a kid, I'll let you off with an apology and licking my feet." He smiled, bearing his crooked yellow and black teeth.
"Do you speak for everyone?" Joren asked
"Huh" The man looked confused
"I don't see anyone else telling me what I did was wrong, so it might not be as big a deal as you're making it out to be. If your pride is so weak that you feel insulted by a passing comment made by a "Kid" then change your profession." Small snickers could be heard throughout the room. At first, they didn't like that Joren called them rowdy, but seeing him stand up to the bald man made them like him a bit.
"Oi! Beryl, leave the boy alone, come back and finish your story." A man shouted from the table Beryl was at previously.
"Yeah, Beryl, be a good boy and go back to your seat. I'm already getting tired of looking at your ugly teeth. Like do you live in the wild or something? How can someone's teeth be so bad?" Joren remarked
"That's what I said? And he had the audacity to hit on me. This is why I don't like men with meat for brains." A woman mercenary spoke as she chugged her beer down.
"B-But you said you'll rock my world tonight." Beryl's angry face went to sadness in the span of a few seconds. He looked at the woman with hurt in his eyes but she didn't even bother to look at him.
"Yeah, and I was going to rob you. Seriously, how stupid do you have to be? Every time you "sleep" with a woman here, you wake up blackout drunk with all your money gone. Put two and two together stupid. I'd rather sleep with that kid than ever share a bed with you." She continued to drink her beer.
Beryl looked as if he just watched his house burn down with his family dying in the process. The once tough-looking guy now appeared to have aged twenty years at the recent revolution. His sad expression however turned into anger as he turned to Joren.
"This is all your fault!" He yelled
"Okay let's be real here. How is it my fault? You didn't have to confront me y'know. If you had kept to yourself, none of this would have happened and you could have continued living the fantasy of getting your dick wet." Laughing Joren shrugged and started walking away.
"You-You little! YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Beryl pulled his sword, his veiny muscular arms gripping the handle with immense force. His eyes were bloodshot and he lost all reason. "I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Swinging with all his strength, he slashed down at Joren attempting to split him in two with a single strike.
Beryl felt his sword make contact with something and once it did, a mighty 'BOOM' was heard sending a shockwave breaking nearby tables and splitting the wooden floor causing a dust cloud to form.
"Beryl are you insane! How could you do that to a kid?"
"Oh my gosh! Is the boy okay?"
"Awl, he was a cutie, so unfortunate."
Awakening from his anger, Beryl realized what he had done. He felt a mix of shock and fear. Shock at what he had just done and fear of what the consequences will be. He looked at Glenn who had an unfazed expression, but one that still sent daggers down his spine.
"S-Sir, I-I'm sor-" A voice interrupted him.
"Interesting. Uncle Glenn, is this a normal occurrence in this line of work?"
"Very normal, so you'll have to get use to it." Glenn smiled as he turned towards the dust cloud.
"Since he attacked me, that means I can attack back in the form of self-defense right? Will there be any consequences? I don't want to get you into trouble."
"As long as you don't kill him, everything will be fine. And don't worry about the aftermath, I'll handle it."
Around the room, people were shocked at the conversation between Glenn and the dust cloud.
"Did that kid call that man Glenn? As in Glenn of the Scorching Flame Mercenaries? "
Everyone looked at Beryl with a "You're fucked now" expression. Even Beryl himself started sweating buckets
As the dust settled, Joren stood in the same spot glaring at Beryl. The sword collided with the air, not reaching him. Joren had used the new trick he learned, the ability to grab mana. He used the mana in the air to make a barrier around him. He wasn't afraid of Beryl at all because he could sense that he didn't have a circle.
He stuck his hand out and pointed his finger at Beryl as mana formed rapidly and condensed into a small ball. "Next time, learn when to shut the fuck up." He released his mana sending a beam straight into Beryl's chest.
Beryl collapsed to the ground, blood coming from his mouth and pooling on the floor from the hole in his chest.
"I heard people can survive from such wounds. Better hurry up, you probably don't have much time left." He walked away leaving everyone stunned at his actions.