Miserable Reincarnation

7 – The Laplace Mercenary Group (1)

Jason, having seen the clear sword spirit, was lost for words.

“An illusion…no, it’s real.”

The sword spirit before his eyes was real. The magic circulating fiercely around it was proof. He didn’t know about others, but it couldn’t fool Jason’s eyes.

Jason’s mind was racing. Only few seconds ago, Lian was just an ordinary brat, but everything changed the moment he demonstrated his sword spirit.

His identity was unknown, but one thing was certain.

This was no vagabond.

“What’s your name?”

“Lian.”

“…”

Lian discerned from the depth of Jason’s pupils that his feelings were becoming complex.

‘Indeed, he’s surprised.’

Jason’s reaction allowed him to reaffirm. Magic exists everywhere, but not everyone is allowed it.

Initially, he didn’t expect to standout this much.

The original plan was to sell parts to get initial funds. Then, he was to buy equipment for when he became a mercenary. With 200,000 Cells he could at least have a decent dagger, even if he couldn’t afford armor.

But his mind changed the moment he met Jason.

Even a shoddy prosthetic arm and dirty clothes couldn’t hide certain things.

Unbelievably well-toned muscles for an ordinary person, calm eyes that didn’t tremble even when pulling the trigger aimed at someone, and the strength to withstand the heavy recoil of a shotgun without flinching.

These were things that only those who had been through numerous trials and hardship could possess. Of course, if that was all there was to it, they wouldn’t so openly flaunt their power.

“Terrifying.”

Wooosh!

Others didn’t seem to sense it, but it was clear to Liam.

The power whirling around Jason like a cyclone.

It definitely wasn’t a natural phenomenon. Even though he had opened his eyes to such power for barely a day, he could make the distinction.

So, that’s what it is.

“That must be Jason’s power.”

According to what he heard from Dionne, this world differentiated levels of strength by ‘hierarchy’. The closer to 1 the hierarchy, the weaker; the higher, the stronger.

So, what position would Jason be at? The heads of large clans or magic tower masters ruling over the city skies were at the 8th level, so he’d obviously be lower than that….

“Powerful.”

Thanks to the insight he had gained from his previous life, he could tell instinctively. This man before him didn’t belong in this place.

The reason Liam had revealed his power was due to that.

Even though he awakened his power through intuition alone and pulled out a sword aura within a day with a genius talent, he was still just a 10-year-old boy.

The idiots aiming for overnight wealth would focus on the fact that the opponent was a ‘weak’ boy rather than the sword aura.

So, what was immediately needed was a nest that could protect himself from outside threats.

“What do you want?”

“Excuse me?”

“I assume you did not show off for just a bit more commission.”

As Jason said it, he took out a cigar. He flicked it with his finger, and a blue flame rose from his fingertip.

“If you show me that openly, it means there’s something you want from me.”

Piercing through to the core in one breath, questioning the other’s intention.

This was also not something a common junk dealer would possess.

“……”

Instead of continuing the conversation, Rian lifted his right foot and lightly stomped on the ground.

Boom!

An eerie sound echoed, so bizarre it was unbelievable it came from a normal ground. The sound was enhanced by magic, resonating like a tremendous gong being struck.

If there was no special space underground, this sound couldn’t have possibly occurred.

At that unnerving moment, Jason flinched.

“I suspect that the lobby is unusually spacious for a junk shop.”

Rian, speaking this, reached out to touch the side wall. To the naked eye, there was nothing on the wall, but from Rian’s perspective, that wasn’t the case.

‘Only this side feels incongruous.’

Thanks to the insight from his previous life and his innate magic detection ability, he could discern it.

Synchronized with Rian’s gesture, magic flowed into the wall.

Vrrrm!

Simultaneously with the machine sound from beyond the wall, the wall shone blue and produced a staircase leading underground.

“……!!!”

Taken aback by an unprecedented sight, Diona gaped. She had frequented this place dozens of times but never suspected a secret passage lay there.

“So, there… No, what…?”

Instead of answering Diona’s question, Rian turned his gaze to Jason.

Making a guess was not difficult.

Despite being easy to overlook due to the scatter of scrap metal all over, the location of the junkshop was indeed the center of the outermost sector.

It had a huge floating population, and the possibility of gangs leaving alone a place where millions of cells were coming and going was virtually none.

But the fact that the junk shop remained in this spot implied that Jason was strong enough to stand against the gangs alone….

‘Or he must be part of a group of equivalent stature.’

And, Rian was half sure of the latter. No matter how strong an individual is, there’s a limit to what one can do. The underground space further fortified his conjecture.

Then, what might be the group that is large enough to stand against the gang and worthy for Jason to join?

Perhaps, a mercenary group.

A real, large mercenary group.

“I’ll return this to you.”

Rian said so as he placed his dagger on the counter.

“……”

Silence flowed once again. Instead of pulling out his shotgun, Jeison silently lit a cigar. Obviously, he did it to buy some time to think.

The kid was audacious. It was typical for vagabonds to be gutsy, but this kid was audacious to an excessive degree.

Even Deona was not this bad.

‘It doesn’t appear in the database, either.’

Vagabonds’ identities, even after searching the server, wouldn’t typically appear. But if the vagabond was a expert who demonstrated his sword spirit, it changes the story.

The clothes somewhat looked ‘vagabondish,’ but one cannot hide one’s inherent nature.

That audacity and mental processing speed could not have been obtained from growing up in back alleys. It might have been the result of thorough education from a young age.

At that age, being conscious of magic would earn him the title of a genius. If he has developed a few steps further to demonstrate sword spirit….

Which prestigious family, indeed, does he belong to?

‘…Seems I stepped into a misstep.’

Jeison chuckled within.

He realized that as soon as Rian revealed his sword spirit, he had already handed the initiative over.

The meticulously thorough search.

Who could possibly be behind the boy? Jeison could not even dare to speculate.

The data was too clean, probably for that reason. If he were a rank-and-file soldier, it would have been a different story. If an executive like him investigated any further, he would disappear without any rat or bird knowing.

‘Digging any deeper now would be too much.’

The silver lining was that he could grant what Rian wanted right away.

A mercenary contract.

Originally, he wouldn’t hire a recruit in such a baseless manner, but considering the opponent, he had no choice but to ignore the rules for now.

After mulling it over, Jeison stood up.

With the pull of a lever with his right hand, the shutter closed with a loud noise. Bumbling vagabonds were pushed out, and only Jeison and Rian were left inside.

To be exact, Deona made it three.

Nod, nod.

Diona’s head, which had just been frozen in shock, was now wobbling uncontrollably like someone who had succumbed to sleep.

“Ugh…uh…”

Despite her best efforts to lift her eyelids, that was all. In the end, Diona’s body, unable to overcome gravity, completely tilted forward.

Thud.

Jason spoke as if explaining to the face buried completely in the couch.

“…It’s a sleep spell with no side effects. It’s not something for a kiddo to hear.”

Of course, the reason Lian was surprised was not because Diona had fallen, but because of the magic Jason used.

“Were you a magician?”

“You don’t need to know.”

Jason lifted Diona with both hands and laid her gently on the soft sofa. Lian tactfully fetched a thick pillow and placed it under her head.

It wasn’t out of simple goodwill or compassion. They had a gut feeling that the relationship between Jason and Diona was not merely that of a drifter and a junk shop owner.

They guessed they’d be staying with this mercenary group for quite a while, so it wouldn’t hurt to earn some brownie points.

“…”

Looking at Jason’s slightly surprised face, it seemed like they made the right choice.

“Do we… sign the contract right here?”

“No.”

Jason shot Lian a glance before moving down the stairs.

“Follow me.”