"It seems you underestimate me," Uno said with a theatrical shake of his head. He looked like such a clown that Asura started laughing out loud with the rest of Moon Blossom following suit. "Wh-What's so funny?! I'll kill you!"
At Uno's yell, the three hooligans all unsheathed their swords. Following their lead, the three members of the military police also raised their weapons.
"My oh my, this is truly a riot," Asura said, her voice still tinged with mirth. "It's quite the opposite. You are the ones underestimating us. Underestimating Moon Blossom, of all groups. Let me give it to you straight: if you don't pick up the coin, we're going to kill every single one of you. So pick it up."
"Oh, cut the crap! As soon as you attack, a whole army of military police will swarm in and... Huh?"
The three members of the military police fell to the ground without a sound, each sporting a dagger embedded in their forehead.
"What was that you said about the military police?" Asura giggled.
Jyrki, Iina, and Marx had all thrown their daggers to take out the military police first, to prevent them from blowing their whistles and calling for reinforcements. All three of them had known exactly what they needed to do, even without Asura's orders.
"Amazing..." Reko whispered.
"Moon Blossom doesn't need any fools who'd miss a target at this distance," Asura said. "You'll be able to do this in the future. Well, I'll make you practice until you can, anyway."
"They...they were real military police. You do realize that?" Uno said, his eyes and mouth twitching.
"That might've worked on your previous victims, but such a threat is useless against us. We solve all of our problems with force. If the military police try to arrest us, then we'll destroy them. If the royal army decides to target us, then we'll exterminate them. If the king orders us dead, then we'll cut off his head. Unlike hooligans like you, we're a true military group capable of such rampant violence."
The scene fell quiet at Asura's words.
"I-I'm outta here!" one of the hooligans exclaimed. He dropped his weapon and ran towards the entrance of the bar. Then a dagger sank into his leg and he fell to the ground with a strangled scream.
"Where do you think you're going?" Lumia asked. "Didn't you hear what our leader said? She'll kill every single one of you if you don't pick up that dora." She remained seated, with no intention of standing up. The men before her were so weak that she could beat them all without even getting up on her feet.
"Pick it up, Mister Uno," Lumia said with a smile. "You don't want to die, do you? Your wanton cruelty angers me, but it would be best for all parties if I didn't have to kill you."
"Th-The one who's wantonly cruel here is—!"
"Is who?" Lumia interrupted, tilting her head slightly to the side. The bright smile on her face sent Uno scrambling towards the coin.
"I-I'll pick it up! I'll pick it up!"
But before Uno's fingers could touch the dora, Salume reached down and grabbed it. Unable to comprehend why she would do such a thing, he stood there, rooted to the spot.
"I won't let you pick it up," she said with a look of cold determination in her eyes. "Die."
No matter what she had to do, she'd make sure he perished here in this bar. That was the only way he could ever make up for the abuse she'd received at his hands.
"Good going, Salume!" Asura cheered. "Oh, how wonderful! The moment you return that dora to me will be the moment you become a free woman!"
"Wh-What do you think you're doing, you idiot?! Give that thing to me!"
Uno ran forward, reaching out for the coin. But Salume dodged his hand and ran to Asura's side.
"Now then, everyone, it's about time to close the curtains on this party. The heroine of the show is ours now. So I'm going to have to ask the villains to exit stage left."
At Asura's dramatics, Lumia commented, "I never knew that you were a fan of the theater."
"They're villains, but...we're even more villainous..."
"Duh. The dude probably thought of himself as a monstrous villain around town, then ended up pickin' a fight with a group of real monsters. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes."
"I suppose...that everyone here except for the vice captain and myself do count as monsters."
"All right, enough. Hurry up and finish the job."
***
In the end, it was one kill per person. Lumia, Iina, and Jyrki each killed one of the three hooligans with a dagger throw. As for Uno, he was sent to his death by Marx's Water Prison, as a show of consideration for Salume to watch her tormentor drown slowly and painfully.
"Now then, Salume, if you return that dora to me, you'll be free," Asura said. She held out her right hand in a wordless invitation for Salume to place the coin upon her palm.
It took a moment for Salume to answer, and when she finally did, it was in a reedy voice. "No."
"What was that?" Asura asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Please let me work as a mercenary!" Salume exclaimed, leaning forward in a low bow.
"Oh, come on," Asura said with a wry smile. "That's what I planned to do, but you've gained your freedom. And yet you'd discard it of your own will? Unlike Reko, you're not broken. You can still return to society and live as a normal person."
Salume raised her head with a clear expression on her face. It was then that Asura realized that she had not made this decision lightly.
"I want to become stronger," she said. "So that I will never... So that no one will ever again be able to..." Her words trailed off and her breathing hitched.
"Enough. You don't have to say any more. I know what you went through, so I know what you want to say." Asura sighed and continued, "But—and this is a big 'but'—we are a group of murderers. We're incapable of making anybody happy. The only endings awaiting us are being sliced to death or dying as we roll in pain. The best alternative would be a vivacious death. Either way, only dead ends lie in the road ahead of us. Do you understand that?"
"Even so!" Salume yelled, her voice shrill as a scream. "Even so, I wish to become stronger!"
"Very well. Then I shall raise you into the strongest soldier-mage in my group. From today, you are no longer Salume, a slave. You are Salume, a mercenary of Moon Blossom. Welcome to hell."
"C'mere, wear this." Jyrki shrugged off his robes and draped them over Salume's naked body.
"Th-Thank you so much..."
"Don't worry about it. We're teammates now." Jyrki smiled back. Then he walked towards the kitchen. "So, which one of you squealed to the pig? Was it you, pops? Or you, Mister Waiter?"
Both the bar owner and the waiter shook their heads frantically before pointing an accusing finger at the other.
At that, Jyrki heaved a sigh and then looked back at Asura. "Boss, what should we do? Back in my bandit days, we woulda killed both of them. But since this is a mercenary group, I'd like some orders, pleeeease."
"Before I give them, I must say that I'm impressed, Jyrki. I didn't expect you to figure out that they were the ones who leaked our location." Asura covered her mouth with her right hand in mock surprise. It was clear from both her tone and her action that she was mocking him.
"Uh, ain't it obvious?! Just how stupid do you think I am?!"
"I knew it too..." Iina said. "Are you proud of me?"
"Not really. Considering the timing of their entry, those two are the only suspects," Marx said. "They must've stationed either the hooligans or the military police at the back entrance."
"Most likely," Lumia said with a small shrug.
All of them, barring Reko, had come to the same conclusion Asura had. It made Asura a little happy to see that, since it would save her the time and effort of having to explain how the information had escaped from the group.
"If you're honest, then I promise that I'll spare your life," she said, looking in the direction of the kitchen.
"R-Really?" the waiter replied. He was the only one between the two who gave a reaction.
"I see. So it was you." Asura grinned.
Too late the waiter realized his mistake. His face was slack with shock for a second before he fell to his knees, rubbing his forehead desperately upon the ground as he begged, "Please! Just don't kill me!"
"All right. But you have to promise to keep quiet about what happened today."
At Asura's words, the waiter raised his head. "Of course."
Asura glanced in the owner's direction, and he nodded his assent as well. "Jyrki, clean up the corpses. Have the waiter and the owner help you. Just in case, we'll make them our accomplices in disposing of the bodies."
"'Kay. By the way, Boss, this fat merchant's got a whole lot of jewels, so would it be chill if I took some?"
"Knock yourself out," Asura replied with a nonchalant wave. Jyrki raised his arms above his head in celebration.
"I want...jewels too..."
"Hey, Reko, help me out here. I'll let you keep the pocket change you earn."
At Jyrki's orders, Reko looked in Asura's direction. She silently waved her right hand once more, signaling that he could do what he wanted. Reko correctly interpreted the gesture and, along with Ina, walked towards Jyrki.
"Now then, let's make our way back to the inn. Lumia, once we arrive, I want you to use your healing magic on Salume."
"Oh? You don't want me to use it on that left arm of yours?"
"I can hold out till tomorrow."
Since Lumia's healing magic took time to work, she couldn't use it to heal two people in a single night.
"You really are a softie underneath it all." Lumia laughed with a joyful tone.
"Shut up. Salume, Marx, let's go." Asura stood up from the chair and started to walk towards the entrance.
"I'll participate in the cleanup," Marx said. "I'm not entirely comfortable leaving it all up to Jyrki and the others."
"Hmm." Asura pondered on that for a bit and then nodded. "You have a point. Make sure you erase all evidence of our presence. I'm counting on you."
"Understood."
***
Warm. That was Salume's opinion of Lumia's healing magic as it soaked through her body. It's warm and it feels so good.They were sitting in the room that Asura booked for herself in the inn. When Moon Blossom checked in, they had each gotten their own room, so it stood to reason that Salume didn't have one. For today, she would sleep in Asura's room with her.
"Now then," Asura said as she stripped off her robes. "Do you mind if we chat a little?"
She neatly folded her robes and placed them on top of a long dresser. Underneath the robes, she wore brown pants and a white blouse embroidered with the Moon Blossom symbol. Her belt looked fairly bizarre. It had several leather sheaths for her daggers, but a few were empty. Asura must have used and discarded a number of them.
"Ah, no," Salume finally replied. Unlike Asura, she kept Jyrki's robes on since she was still naked underneath.
"We're going to teach you and Reko quite a few things," Asura said as she sat down on a chair.
Salume and Lumia were sitting on Asura's bed. It wasn't a very good one, but it was much better than anything that Salume had ever experienced. The room itself wasn't very fancy either. Its only notable feature was its sheer commonality. But it was still preferable to when she was a courtesan and living in poverty. Back then, she and all of the other courtesans had needed to squish together into a single house that was old and reeked of mold. The idea of never having to return there ever again was enough to put a smile on Salume's face.
"First, I'll check how well the two of you can follow orders. After that, we'll do some physical training to build up your strength. Once we have a solid enough foundation, I'll start teaching you magic and combat techniques, and for this time around, I'll add in lessons about common knowledge. Once I believe you're ready, we'll move you on to the basic training regime of a soldier-mage. Do you understand what I'm saying so far?" Upon seeing Salume nod, Asura continued, "It takes a while to learn magic, so at the earliest, you'll see real combat in a year or so. At most, you'll play a support role."
"I don't really know much about magic," Salume admitted.
"I see. I'll give you a rundown of the basics, then. Magic uses the magical energy inside your body. I call this energy 'MP.'"
"Empy?"
"It's an acronym for 'magical power.' To use magic, you must first materialize your MP, change its element, and then alter its properties. Your starting point is learning how to materialize your MP."
"What that means is recognizing the MP inside your body, and then learning how to take it out at will," Lumia added coolly.
"Once you take out your MP, you have to alter its element. Everyone has their own unique element, and it's impossible to know what yours is until you actually channel your MP."
"Short of attaining a Fixed Element, it's impossible to change the element you're born with," Lumia said. "Once you're able to use a Fixed Element, then you'll be able to call yourself a grand mage."
"No, you won't. We're soldier-mages—warriors that use magic as a weapon. We're not the same as normal mages. Are you following along with what we're saying?"
"Yes."
The words made sense to Salume in a vague sort of way. But she knew that if they ordered her to call out her MP at this very moment and channel her element through it, she wouldn't even know where to start.
"Then the last thing you'll need to do is change its property. There are only four properties that magic can have: attack, healing, support, and manifestation. You choose one of those properties and alter your magic to align with them. Once you're more experienced, you'll be able to assign two properties to a single spell with a technique called dual affix."
"That's an impossible task for a beginner, so pretend Asura didn't say anything," Lumia sighed.
"I suppose it's true that it takes years of practice to reach that skill level," Asura admitted. "You start off learning how to use magic in your first few years. Then it takes another few years to obtain a Fixed Element. Learning how to dual affix would be a few more years after that."
"That's one of the reasons why there aren't a lot of mages," Lumia added. "By the way, there's no particular order to earning a Fixed Element and learning dual affix. It really depends on the one who..." Lumia trailed off in the middle of her sentence and turned her gaze to the door.
Asura slowly got up from her chair and pulled a dagger from her belt. Salume was a little confused as to why they were acting this way. Then, someone knocked on the door.
"Asura Lyona, I wish to speak with you in private."
Oh, I see. Salume nodded to herself. The two of them had sensed the presence of another human. She was impressed by their perception and wondered whether she'd ever be able to pull off the same thing.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding." Asura chuckled humorlessly as she sheathed her dagger. The door slowly opened, revealing a man who looked to be in his twenties. There was nothing special about the clothes he wore, and yet he naturally exuded a distinguished aura. "Did you come alone?"
"Yes. It's a highly confidential topic that I wish to discuss, and I didn't even bring a guard with me. I visit the towns in disguises like this from time to time, so I'm used to it."
"Ah, I see. Come in, come in, King Arnia. So long as this isn't an attempt to hook up, you're welcome here."
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