In the northern reaches of the Lusiana Kingdom, a small village borders the great forest of Luris. It was created by a former warrior named Garland Arlet, who achieved minor fame in the previous war against the Kingdom of Avaria to the far south.
Arlet village, with over fifty years of existence, now the grandson of the hero, rules as the lord with his family. Once a village for young adventurers to grow and train themselves, becoming nothing but an old farming village.
However, after many years... the news of a goblin threat brought fresh blood to this dreary and fading place.
As the northern dungeon grew stronger... so did their notoriety.
The young maidens flutter their gazes at the muscular and powerful mercenaries and adventurers who are here to fight the goblins. Young merchants and men wish to join them and travel the world to avoid being trapped here for life.
Inside the damp, gloomy wooden house with two stories, a muscular man over six feet tall, a massive axe on his back, gazed down at the young village lord.
Behind the village lord were three women: his wife and two daughters. Opposite him was the mercenary leader, Axel and his vice-captain, Gale.
"So, you spoke of goblins." A deep, reverberating voice filled the room, causing the lord's wife to tremble, yet their daughter's eyes lit up.
This man was the mercenary leader, Axel. He led the Crimson Hawks, a medium-sized mercenary group with a silver grade.
"A-Ah... Sir Axel... that is..." The lord stuttered, with his pupils dilating in terror.
—Bang!
"Don't call me sir, hurry up and tell me the number and reward!" The bandit leader smashed the cheap, self-made table, cracking the dry, poor-quality wood.
『These damn peasants are calling me out for a stupid request!』
Normally, a goblin village would make a decent training ground. Especially for the younger members of a mercenary group—thus, Axel, who had just hired ten new warriors, wanted to test them.
"We.... here! This money is all we could gather... this year's harvest was poor... and—"
"I see."
Axel didn't hate the poor or the weak. But he hated wasting time. With a single look at the bag, his extensive years of training taught him the reward would be less than ten silver.
This level of reward couldn't even pay for the recruits' wages and training costs.
"Gale, round up the fresh blood and have them prepare to attack!"
"Boss? Is it another cheap mission..."
The reason Gale only complained in passing was that the two came from a poor village.
But in their case, nobody stopped to help them. Thus, the pair struggled to escape and survive those hellish days.
『I know you're upset by that damn twisted look on your face.』
"Don't give me that crap Gale—we cannot always earn coin when there are no wars to fight."
"Tsk, understood, boss."
Meanwhile, outside the village, a small gathering of thirty men stood together around an enormous pot of boiling porridge.
"Oh! Are these the new idiots who joined?" A male with short brown hair patted another mercenary on the back, his neck covered by a red scarf with a hawk badly stitched onto it.
"Hm? Jeri, what are you doing back... how was scouting?" The brown-haired male spooned the thin, watery porridge into a bowl and passed it along.
"Damn, this crap tastes like a cheap whores arse!" Jeri complained before chuckling with the rest of the mercenaries, who agreed.
"The enemy is quite strong, but nothing dangerous... around twenty green skins and one leader."
Jeri continued to grimace while eating the porridge, while his gaze turned to the young males sitting across from him with eager eyes.
Most of them looked dirty, a little weak or malnourished, but they all carried a flame in their eyes.
'Hmmm? Did we snag a runaway noble?'
He couldn't help but find himself drawn to a strangely clean and handsome fresh blood. Long, sleek black hair, vibrant ruby eyes and a black suit covered in a royal blue cloak.
"Yo, Kid! Are you a noble?" Jeri called out to the handsome male. Then he noticed his slightly pointed ears, and everything made sense.
"Yes, sir! I am Leon!" The male answered with a sharp, deep voice with an elegant and clear accent, something a poor commoner couldn't imitate.
『An illegitimate child... Maybe he's the bastard of some perverted noble who captured an elf.』
"Despite being a noble, where's your damn weapon?"
"Ahaha, I forgot!"
Jeri's lips twitched, feeling a sudden fire in his chest. This kid!
"Tsk... I'll keep my eye on you, use one of the reserve items."
In reality, this wasn't a group of horrible criminals.
However, they accepted a dangerous contract that caused them to lose half of their elite group. They then tried to hunt an ogre who fled into a dungeon and lost twenty vigorous men.
Now, they needed to nurture some new fighters.
"Understood!"
Jeri closed his eyes and wondered how many of these kids would survive. The commoners glared at him dirty and didn't like the noble.
The group bought many of them with a few coppers, saved from death, and the ones like Leon came willingly.
A healthy noble was better than a starving commoner.
Leon didn't seem aware, but the other recruits gazed at him with a seething anger—some grit their teeth, others clenched their fists.
『A fight will happen... as always.』
"Matt, I am gonna head out again! Tell Joyce to cook more slop for me."
"Hahaha!" The brown-haired male guffawed to himself, waving the male named Jeri away.
Not long after Jeri left, the happy-go-lucky smile faded from Leon's face as he slowly stood from the crappy wooden chair that made his buttocks ache.
『Damn... it stinks. Is this the mercenary life?』
He thought it might be interesting to sneak into their group instead of just killing them and causing the village to become alert. So, when he noticed an arrogant guy wandering in the forest, he killed him.
『Idiot called me a slave...』
Leonhardt's eyes narrowed while rubbing his long ears, looking at the humans beside him.
He couldn't help but cover his nose.
Unlike them, he didn't need to eat, and his natural scent was like honey and vanilla... so smelling humans for the first time, he felt nauseous.
"Where do you think you're going?" One of the recruits spoke with a bad accent and short black hair.
"Hmm, are you speaking to me, insect?"
Somehow, Leon felt irritated by this human's gaze.
His fingertips, hidden by the cloak, crackled with flames as he almost cast a firebolt and killed him on the spot.
However, he held back.
"Where are you going? They told us to stand by!"
Leon didn't like the aggressive and rude tone they spoke to him with, making his hands twitch and crackle with small embers of mana.
"I am going to get a weapon, like that old man told me."
"Tsk, this is why I hate nobles!"
"He doesn't understand—leave it, Max."
Leonhardt stopped his steps, looking back at the nine other recruits.
Five turned away with fearful gazes, but the other four looked at him with anger, hatred and dirt.
"Why are you angry? I am doing as he told me." Leon's clear and calm voice seemed to irritate the male further, and his forehead bulged with anger.
"Kid... there's no such thing as reserve weapons, hahaha!" The brown-haired male from behind them laughed while calling out. "Jeri was just yanking your chain."
'...'
Leon sat on the wooden stool and let out a sigh.
He couldn't understand humans—some made him feel warm, and others irritated him. But right now, Leon couldn't access the dungeon from here, so he could only meditate and observe the mercenaries.
His pupils, shaped like stars, flickered with a purple aura as he switched between the training mercenaries, using his Fae pupils to absorb their knowledge and martial skills.
『Should I just kill them all now?』