I Pull Out Excalibur

35 – Crimson Eye Mercenaries (3)

“I hope you enjoyed it.”

“Oh, yeah? Sure.”

Lost in thought at the sound of Commander Vargor’s voice, Rozelin nodded her head. She smiled while gently rubbing the wrist she had just been held by the young man.

“Not your typical lad. A snake-eyed one with good vision? Where did you find such a fellow?”

Rozelin pondered the recent situation.

How exceptional does one have to be to stand out?

Approaching the young man with such a carefree attitude, Rozelin soon had to reassess her judgment. Even amidst the pressure that would make green-ranked adventurers bow their heads, the young man lifted his head.

“And not only that…”

Even though she had decided to act on impulse.

Instead of bowing his head, the young man, eyes wide open, caught her wrist. It meant he faced head-on the force emanating from Sword Seiker.

“I don’t know how you did that.”

Rozelin lightly tapped her chin as if intrigued.

Certainly, the amount of mana accumulated in the young man’s body was limited. Not even an expert swordsman, he had only just begun to dabble in mana. And yet, with such a tiny amount of mana, he couldn’t possibly withstand her pressure.

He shouldn’t have, but Rozelin saw it.

In that moment when the young man resisted her pressure, her scattered mana was absorbed into his body. The force the young man displayed at that moment was not inferior to hers, even in comparison.

A mana manipulation technique like none she had ever seen.

Rozelin had encountered many strong individuals, yet none had ever handled mana in such a manner.

“Are you perhaps a discarded child from a noble lineage? I’ve never seen such a technique before. What do you think, Vargor?”

“How would I know? He seems quite spirited.”

“That’s true. The more I think about it, the more I like it.”

Rozelin savored the thought.

As Vargor glanced at her, thoughts swirling, he sighed. Like a snake that never regurgitates what it swallows, the Head of the Band had always found a way to acquire what he once set his sights on.

A snake that swallows coins, Dieta Arbenia.

And the adventurer she marked again, no longer savoring her taste, Rozelin Ascalo with the crimson eyes.

“It might get troublesome.”

Perhaps there was no way to avoid the conflict with the upper echelons of Dieta, Vargor thought.

2.

“There, you.”

As Nahjin took steps towards the forest,

someone called out to Nahjin from behind. Nahjin turned her head to see who was calling her. The person was wearing a green-stained nameplate.

“Yeah, it’s you. Clumsy.”

She gestured to Nahjin.

The attention of the adventurers who were still preparing to leave turned back to Nahjin. They pointed at the adventurer who was facing Nahjin and whispered amongst themselves.

“What’s going on with Marsen?”

“I guess she doesn’t like something.”

“Well, Marsen is supposed to be the one getting the most attention here, after all…”

Adventurer Marsen, of the green grade.

A senior among the veterans who had spent 10 years in Cambria, and the adventurer who had the most achievements among those who participated in the Dochenberg Forest Expedition.

In this expedition, Marsen will come out on top.

The story circulated among the adventurers, so naturally, Marsen was the one who should have been the center of attention for this expedition, not the young man with the black grade.

“Are you kidding me?”

To join the Red-Eyed Mercenaries, Marsen had steadily built up her achievements for years. In her eyes, Nahjin was nothing more than a thorn in her side.

“What do you think you’re doing to a White-Feathered adventurer, and to Lady Roselyn, of all people…”

“You sure talk a lot of nonsense.”

“What?”

Nahjin raised an eyebrow.

As if she couldn’t be bothered, Nahjin brushed away Marsen’s pointing finger with the back of her hand.

“Is that all you have to say? If you’re done, I’d like to leave.”

“What did you say?”

“Why are you holding back someone who’s busy? Catch at least one more before wasting your time like this. Aren’t you interested in the rankings?”

For Nahjin, it was a careless remark.

She didn’t know the name of the adventurer in front of her, nor did she know that this adventurer was a strong contender for first place. She was just annoyed at being stuck in a conversation with no substance, while aiming for first place.

But, to Marsen, who was considered a strong candidate for first place, it was a clear provocation. Marsen’s expression crumpled.

“Heh, this guy is ridiculous.”

Marsen burst into a hollow laughter.

She wagged her finger at Najin.

“Watch yourself. Let’s meet again after it’s done. If you’re lower in rank than me, be prepared for today.”

Najin half-listened to Marcin’s words, letting them go in one ear and out the other. Thinking that the conversation had finally ended, Najin walked towards the forest. The adventurers who were watching Najin and Marcin could only exchange glances among themselves.

Marcin paid attention to their exchange of glances, but Najin had no interest in their voices.

There was only one thing that caught Najin’s interest. It was the scoreboard being guarded by a member of the mercenary group standing on the podium. They heard that the scores were recorded in real-time every time they brought back a monster’s neck.

To have their name at the top.

Najin pondered the goal as he walked to the forest.

—

Najin has hardly hunted monsters before.

He had performed a few simple subjugation requests at the guild, but he had never chased after the traces of monsters. The only experiences he had were hunting confirmed locations such as goblin dens or caves.

“So, this is the first time.”

Chasing after monster traces to hunt them, it was his first time. But he didn’t think it would be a big problem. Najin took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes.

In the end, chasing after monster traces wasn’t much different from chasing after humans.

Although he had never chased after monsters, he had plenty of experience chasing after traces left by humans. Whether it was when he was active as Ivan’s hunting dog or when he was chased by the assassins of the sect, he was sick of experiencing it.

Click.

Najin tightened the grip on the memorization he had tied around his wrist.

-“Did you like it? Seems like you’re fond of it.”

“It’s convenient.”

Throwing techniques stolen from the assassins.

Najin held one memorization in his hand and followed the traces left on the ground. His sharp senses didn’t miss even the slightest sign.

In an instant, a sound of crackling was heard.

Najin quickly turned his head and threw the memorization.

At the same time, the sound of a goblin’s scream echoed. Najin approached the goblin, slit its throat, and put the neck in his pouch.

But then he paused.

Najin stopped walking for a moment.

– “What’s wrong? Why are you stopping?”

“I was just thinking.”

Najin lifted his head and looked at the densely grown trees. Whispering to himself in his mind.

“Do we really need to walk on the path?”

– You’re going to walk on trees? Isn’t that something only elves do? It’s not possible with a normal sense of balance…

Without hesitation, Najin climbed onto the tree.

After tapping the branches a few times with his toes, Najin took a long breath. Then, he stomped on a branch and leaped forward.

The distance of the leap was precise, and the landing was soft.

Najin had been using the narrow gaps on the walls of the alley as stepping stones. For him, a tree branch was a wide and balanced enough foothold.

“Huh…”

Merlin, who was at a loss for words, watched as Najin quickly moved along the trees. Najin’s eye movements were even faster than his fast-paced movements.

“I found it.”

At first glance, it appeared as if Najin was running aimlessly without a destination, but Najin’s eyes had accurately captured the demon. Jumping off the tree, Najin split the demon’s head in one strike.

He placed the severed head in a bag and left the spot.

As Najin repeated the same process, his movements became agile and concise. Watching him jump from the tree and swiftly seize the demon’s neck, Merlin thought it was like watching a falcon’s hunt.

3.

How much time had passed since the announcement of the Dochenberg Raid? As dusk fell, the adventurers gathered at the forest entrance once again.

The deadline was approaching.

One by one, those who had collected demon heads in their bags arrived. They handed over the bags to the supervisor of the Red-Eyed Mercenary Corps stationed at the desk and received their scores. By the time most adventurers had arrived,

They looked at the scoreboard on the desk.

As expected, Marzen took first place. Marzen, who had arrived a little earlier, had a score of 31 points, with a five-point lead over second place.

“Of course Marzen is in first place.”

“I thought so too, but 31 points? That’s no joke. Just traveling around was a job itself…”

Since everyone expected her to be in first place, their attention was focused on the number of demons she had hunted. It was not surprising that she had achieved first place.

“Hey, but what about that guy? Look at the top rankings. He’s in twelfth place.”

“A black-grade adventurer in twelfth place? Wow…”

It was rather the rank of Ivan, a black-grade adventurer, that surprised them.

Twelfth place. Ivan (14 points).

14 points. It was not an easy number for green-grade adventurers either. Hunting the demons hidden in this forest required various senses. They must have been thinking that he had the skill to catch their attention.

“Hey, but that’s a little strange, isn’t it?”

One adventurer spoke up.

He had just returned from the forest. Pointing to Ivan’s name in the top rankings as he calculated his score.

“Didn’t he kill a Hop Goblin and earn 3 points? I saw at least four. And that was more than an hour ago.”

“Are you sure you didn’t miscount?”

“No, I wasn’t. While I was preparing to catch a group of Hop Goblins, suddenly, whoosh! It fell from that tree and snapped its neck.”

In the blink of an eye, four were hunted and vanished.

The adventurers listening to this tale started murmuring.

“Come to think of it…”

“He hasn’t arrived yet?”

Even though the deadline had passed, among the adventurers gathered at the entrance, there was no young man of the black rank. Could it be that he submitted a pouch midway and ventured back into the woods?

It was while they waited like this.

Only after the deadline had passed did the sound of someone treading on the ground in the forest reach their ears. Emerging from the twilight-darkened woods was a young man clad in crimson armor. What stained his body and hair wasn’t his blood.

It was the blood of the azure-hued demons.

Even the eerie atmosphere exuded by the appearance of Najin made the adventurers hesitantly step back. Passing through them, Najin ascended onto the platform and handed the pouch to the supervisor.

Rustle.

As the supervisor rummaged through the pouch, seven Hop Goblin necks spilled out. The gazes of the onlookers widened. They had only hunted the creatures that garnered the highest scores in the forest.

Their eyes turned to the scoreboard.

Originally, Najin’s score was 14 points. But if the additional 21 points from the seven Hop Goblins were added…

“35 points…”

With someone’s murmured words, Marzen, who had been in the first place with a score of 31 points, was erased. In place of that, a name appeared: Ivan.

1st Place: Ivan (35 points).

2nd Place: Marzen (31 points).

Everyone’s gaze turned to Marzen.

Marzen, with wide-open eyes, looked at the scoreboard and then glanced at Najin standing beside it. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the black-ranked adventurer had claimed the first position.

Just as Marzen hastily gripped the pouch and attempted to head back into the woods, the supervisor rang the bell.

It meant the deadline had arrived. Marzen glared at Najin, but she didn’t even spare a glance and simply descended from the platform. It seemed she hadn’t been interested in him from the start.

Silence.

As Marzen approached Najin, her head suddenly whipped around. The direction she looked towards, from deep within the woods, came the sound of urgent footsteps.

“Ugh!”

Adventurers burst through the bushes, gasping for breath, collapsing at the forest’s edge. Their faces were pale, trembling with fear.

“Inside, inside the woods!”

Before their cries…

Thud, thump.

A heavy footfall resonated. The thunderous footsteps were drawing closer to the forest’s edge. Soon after, with a crack, a tree was uprooted and hurled towards the gathering of adventurers.

Adventurers’ cries echoed through the air.

The sound of footsteps retreating in surprise.

The creaking of weapons being drawn, accompanied by cold sweat.

Amidst such sounds, a monster revealed itself from the dusk-drenched forest.