The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

Leaving a Record. (2)

Bang!

Astion slammed the table hard and growled.

“What? You’re telling us to take the vanguard? Do you think we’ll obediently go just because you said so?”

Astion tried his best to imitate Ghislain.

Their infamy was already sky-high. Rumors that they acted as they pleased were everywhere. So he planned to make the most of that image.

Whether it worked or not, the commanders of the coalition began to clear their throats and make excuses.

“The Julien Mercenary Corps is that strong, after all.”

“In the end, someone has to do it, so wouldn’t it be best if the renowned Julien Mercenary Corps handles it…”

“Still, since the dragons will secure the path at the beginning, it may not be that dangerous…”

But in truth, all of it was just excuses.

To narrow the front line, they would eventually have to abandon the fortress and advance. They had to secure ground and establish a new outpost there.

Even if the Riftspawn were no stronger than ordinary soldiers, there were so many that even the dragons could not catch them all.

The dragons were reducing their numbers closer to the Demonic Abyss. Since they, too, were fighting without rest, it was impossible for them to keep providing constant support.

So, whoever stood at the vanguard would inevitably suffer heavy casualties. The commanders of each nation did not want to commit their regular armies to such a dangerous task.

‘This is exactly when you use mercenaries.’

‘Wasn’t that why we brought them in the first place? As expendables?’

‘Of course, someone has to do it. No doubt about it.’

To them, mercenaries were nothing more than bodies to fill the numbers. Mercenaries were always used as arrow fodder, so they had no qualms about it.

There was no way Astion did not know their true intentions. He sneered cynically and snapped at them.

“Don’t make me laugh. Does it make sense to send untrained mercenaries to the front line? We’ll only provide support from the rear, so keep that in mind.”

At Astion’s threat, the commanders frowned.

It was difficult to suppress the Julien Mercenary Corps by force. Their officers were simply too skilled.

After all, even Deneb, the Saintess herself, had originally been a member of the Julien Mercenary Corps.

But with mercenaries present, it would be foolish to use regular troops for such dangerous work. Somehow, they had to push the mercenaries forward.

For days, they stirred public opinion and kept leading the atmosphere.

“Well, if mercenaries don’t do this kind of work, who else will?”

“Dangerous work is what mercenaries are for, isn’t it?”

“Hah, just because they’re strong doesn’t mean they should go this far.”

Rumors spread subtly among the soldiers, and of course, that only worsened the mood.

The nobles incited conflict between ordinary soldiers and mercenaries, while the mercenaries raged at being driven into a death trap.

At the same time, the nobles worked to persuade the officers of the Julien Mercenary Corps.

“From the start, isn’t your primary duty to guard the Saintess?”

“Rather, leave the mercenaries to us and focus your strength on more important tasks.”

“After all, aren’t you the core of the Julien Mercenary Corps?”

The nobles created several pretexts so the officers of the Julien Mercenary Corps could slip out.

They knew well that only then would things proceed smoothly.

But such tricks did not work on Astion.

“Shut up! We’re going half-and-half no matter what. Otherwise, you’ll see my 8th-circle magic fall on our own allies’ heads.”

No matter what methods the nobles tried, Astion did not budge. He even raised his temper and resorted to threats.

It was subtly different from Ghislain, but fortunately, people just thought he had the same foul temper as usual.

All the other legions had already begun their advance. But the legion that included the Julien Mercenary Corps could not move.

The commanders wanted to spare their own troops, and Astion feared pushing the ragtag mercenaries to the front.

At that moment, after days of deep thought, Julien spoke.

“Let us take the front.”

“What? Are you crazy? Why take it? Don’t you know the mercenaries’ training is a mess?”

“I think this is our only chance.”

“What chance?”

“A chance for the mercenaries to grow stronger. And a chance for us to become one.”

“What… are you talking about?”

“The high priests of the Salvation Church still haven’t shown themselves. Same for the monsters that existed only in the texts. Right now, only the Riftspawn are being unleashed in droves.”

At those words, Astion’s expression suggested he realized something. Julien continued, eyes unwavering.

“If we keep our heads straight, we can handle the Riftspawn well enough.”

“Th-then…”

“Right. It’s a chance to get real combat experience with a little less risk. To prepare for the greater battles ahead. And if it were Ghislain…”

Julien smiled gently.

“He surely would have taken this situation as an opportunity to grow stronger.”

“…”

Astion could not say anything to that.

Julien was right. Ghislain was not someone who acted recklessly for no reason.

Even if others saw him that way, he always had a plan.

He never let anything pass by carelessly and used everything he could.

Ghislain, too, would have turned a situation like this into a means to grow stronger. He was someone who never missed a chance for live combat experience.

The only difference was…

“Aren’t you going to squeeze them for anything?”

“…Forget it. Let’s focus only on our growth.”

In this part, it was a bit of a shame. If it had been Ghislain, he would have wrung a huge concession out of them.

Julien reviewed the operation several times and focused on reinforcing the formation. He raised stability by having the mercenaries who had worked with them before lead the units.

He asked the mercenaries for only one thing.

“Follow control. Then you will surely win and survive.”

And he made one promise.

“I will stand at the very front.”

[……When we decided to take the vanguard, the commanders were delighted. We set out as the vanguard, receiving their false praises. They probably thought we would suffer heavy losses, since the dragons would only support us a few times at the beginning.]

[But Julien’s performance was astonishing. True to his word, he stood at the very front and never held back. To protect Julien, my friends and I also had to risk our lives more than once.]

[Julien’s disregard for his own life soon changed the mercenaries’ attitude. Day by day their edge sharpened, and they came to boast discipline on par with the regular army. It had to be that way. The mercenaries who did not follow control fell into danger and were weeded out.]

[As time went on, we grew stronger. The endlessly surging enemies became good sparring partners instead. In the battles that took place every day, the mercenaries became one, and at last they began to follow Julien from the heart.]

[If Ghislain had seen us…… he would have smiled and praised our choice.]

“Waaaaaah!”

“We won again today!”

“As expected of the Commander!”

Every time they won a battle, the mercenaries shouted with joy.

They no longer feared fighting the Riftspawn. In the beginning, there had been considerable losses due to poor control, but not anymore.

In battles where their lives were on the line, the mercenaries fought as one and grew stronger quickly. And at their center, there was always Julien.

“Julien! Julien!”

Everyone chanted Julien’s name.

Julien truly fought without sparing his body. He stood farther forward than anyone else, and he was always where it was most dangerous.

Thanks to Julien’s exploits, many mercenaries were able to survive perilous moments.

As time passed, Julien earned absolute trust and respect from the mercenaries.

Then, at some point, Julien’s renown resounded more loudly than Astion’s infamy.

[……Perhaps the one who most resembled Ghislain was Julien. When I said that, my friends took it as a joke…… but his leadership in guiding the group and his bold decisiveness reminded me of Ghislain.]

[As Julien’s fame grew, mercenaries from across the continent kept coming. Since it was their fate to fight anyway, they gathered under his banner, saying they would do so with the Julien Mercenary Corps.]

[The power of mercenaries united as one was tremendous. Now, even without Deneb, there was no force that dared to touch us. Then suddenly, the conversation Julien and Tyran had long ago came to mind.]

― Let’s save the world together.

― Do you… think that’s possible? For mercenaries like us? Even if we band together, we’d only be a few hundred at best?

― It’s possible. I…

That day, Julien had declared to everyone with a firm gaze and voice.

― Because I will become the king of mercenaries.

[And now, he truly had become the king of mercenaries, just as he had said back then.]

[Mercenary King Julien—this title was as good as saying that every mercenary on the continent kneeled before Julien. Even so, Julien did not grow arrogant. He kept fighting the Riftspawn and focused only on honing his skills.]

“Are you writing in your diary again?”

At Marika’s question, Astion raised a finger and waved it side to side.

“It’s not a diary. It’s a record to be passed on to people of the future,”

“…Isn’t that the same thing?”

“Hey now, it’s different, okay? This is an important record that will remain as a historical source.”

“…Right.”

“How’s our Mercenary King?”

“He’s training in Spirit Arts with Ereneth.”

“Ruthless, really ruthless. He never rests.”

Astion shook his head.

Since Ghislain left, Julien had driven himself almost to the point of abuse.

It was probably because of the burden that he had to lead the mercenary corps.

Astion was helping, but the weight of responsibility was different. Julien believed he had to become stronger if he wanted to protect everyone.

‘It’s probably… because of what Ghislain said.’

In the end, they would succeed in sealing the Demonic Abyss.

But in the process, it had been said that Julien and Deneb would sacrifice themselves.

To change that fate, Ghislain had done his utmost to make his friends stronger. Yet there was still no guarantee of success.

Julien could not accept such a future. No—more precisely, he could not accept Deneb’s sacrifice.

If he could save Deneb alone, Julien would choose the path of sacrificing himself.

So Julien did not rest and devoted himself solely to becoming stronger than he was now.

Watching him, Astion sensed something a bit strange.

“It’s really curious. Even granting all that, how is he getting stronger faster and faster?”

Julien’s swordsmanship and Spirit Arts grew by the day. The gap between him and the other friends widened.

Kyle, gritting his teeth, trained because he couldn’t accept it, but he could not catch up easily.

“Is he truly… the Hero?”

Ghislain had said Julien was the Hero who would save the world. At first, they had laughed it off, but they no longer could.

Because Deneb truly had awakened as the Saintess.

Hero and Saintess were not titles you could just slap on someone. You needed to have the qualifications—and have those qualifications recognized.

If the Saintess was a being loved by the gods, then the Hero was a being loved by the world.

Deneb proved that she was a Saintess through miracles. And Julien was striving to prove himself.

If Julien truly defeated the Adversary……

No one would be able to object to calling him the Hero.

[……I now believed the words that Julien was the Hero. As though he was loved by the world itself, Julien grew stronger by the day. As Julien grew stronger, the spirits who were with him revealed even greater power.]

[Julien studied the books and teachings Ghislain had left behind without missing a single day. He tried not to forget, and he mulled them over so as not to overlook anything. All those efforts were making Julien stronger.]

[We, too, were spurred on by Julien and devoted ourselves to training without rest. The Riftspawn that appeared in excess became our training partners and our examiners, and they were more than enough for us to put what we learned into practice.]

[We became stronger than when the war began. As Julien had predicted, the mercenaries also grew incomparably stronger than before. Thanks to that, we succeeded in constructing new fortresses and decisively narrowing the front.]

[……And so, a lull of about two years was maintained. The appearance of Riftspawn did not stop, but stopping them was no longer a major problem.]

[However, unease still remained in the hearts of the Human Alliance.]

[The original plan had been to push into the Demonic Abyss after several battles to reduce the number of the Salvation Church’s high priests. But not only the Adversary—none of the high priests appeared at all. There was nothing but an endless war of attrition against the Riftspawn.]

[It was already widely known that the Adversary could open rifts by itself. They could keep pouring out Riftspawn, but the Human Alliance could not. There were too many things required to maintain forces. If things continued like this, we would be the first to tire out.]

[In the end, the Human Alliance decided to march on the Demonic Abyss. They left minimal the troops needed to defend the blocking line, and drew up an operation for the remaining legions to gather and advance in one swift strike.]

[The dragons took the lead to secure the path, and the allied army advanced behind them. At this rate, it seemed we would enter the Demonic Abyss in no time. But it was not long before……]

[The Adversary and the high priests revealed themselves.]

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