The anger flies, the sound of metal hitting each other flies, the blood splashes flies, and the fledgling arm dances in space.
The town was turned into a battlefield by mercenaries running around to be killed.
About two months had passed since Ardis, who had never been there, had officially joined the Westeria Mercenaries.
Recognized as a mercenary, Ardis, like the rest of the mercenaries, is crossing the battlefield.
The mercenary's job is to fight.
Its role is to fight against enemies who are hired by the lords, lords and sometimes the wealthy and religious groups.
There were small battlefields, there were large battlefields, and there were good and bad jobs.
Honourable battles, such as the recapture of land seized by enemies, are usually carried out by the regular army.
It was a distant thing for mercenaries, but there were naturally exceptions.
For example, if you cannot turn the regular army due to strategic circumstances such as deployment of troops, or if it is not worth turning the regular army due to the small size of the land you simply recapture.
This time the Westeria Mercenaries were appointed to the latter.
In a battle between lords, the town that was attacked by mercenaries hired by the enemy lord was the target of this operation.
Since the allied Lord's army was going to another battlefield to fight the enemy's main force, the Lord, who could not afford to turn, asked the Westeria Mercenaries to defeat the enemy mercenaries.
The noble way of thinking and the treatment of mercenary groups are well manifested in the fact that it is only the defeat of the enemy, not the recapture of the town.
After being ravaged by enemy mercenary groups, it will take a long time for the inhabitants to regain their lives once they have been recaptured.
The stolen town is not a strategically important hub, it is a place where you don't need to rush back.
It is only a matter of the lord's personal face and honor, rather than a pragmatic issue, to send soldiers to recapture.
Mercenaries fight when recaptured using the regular army.
They cannot be caught and ransom claimed, nor can they be looted because they are in their own territory.
Perhaps it was decided that it would be better to destroy the mercenaries rather than destroy the valuable army.
Even where a mercenary ally worked violently in the town, it was left to the mercenary in an unknown place.
The Lord's own reputation has nothing to do with it.
His fellow mercenaries told him of this feeling, and Ardis waved his sword with bitter thoughts.
Now he can only secure his place by fighting.
Whatever your employer's temptations are, the enemy in front of you must be defeated.
Otherwise, it would have been me.
Damn, it's purple!
An enemy mercenary wearing worn gear came looking at Ardis and slashing him.
What fits in his right hand is a heavy, double-edged axe.
Against gravity, the muscles of the right arm lifting the axe burst into pieces.
Late, Aldis jumps into his pocket with an instant judgment.
Compared to our fellow mercenaries, there was one or two wasteful operations.
Not to mention Grace and Victor.
What!?
Amazing enemy mercenaries rush into defense.
The idea was to protect Ardis from a blow with his left arm equipped with a shield.
As he jumped in, he smashed the crust of rock created by Aldis's magic onto the back of his opponent's left foot.
Even with long boots reinforced with metal plates, I'm sorry if the fist-sized rock gets knocked down with momentum.
Guahh!
Ardis didn't miss the loose gap between his left thumb and his foe mercenaries.
He twisted the tip of his sword into the enemy's body, avoiding a reflexively lowered shield.
You little brat!
Another enemy comes from the side with a sword and slashes it.
Aldis quickly pulled out his sword and turned his torso to avoid an attack.
You can swim the blade lightly through the gap.
The tip stroked the hand of the enemy holding the sword, and two fingers fell.
"Yu, my finger! My finger!"
The sword of Ardis, who held his wound by his hand and slashed the throat of an unprotected enemy mercenary, was slit.
The return blood that erupted vigorously changed the colour of Aldis's duo clothes.
I don't have time for Ardis to breathe on my shoulders.
A new enemy immediately stabbed Ardis with a spear.
Reflexively lift the tip from the bottom and shake it down and now cut off one arm.
But at the next moment, Ardis stopped trying to make a stop.
"Child...?"
The enemy Aldis cut off his arm with a single blade still looked young.
He's got a thin body as he grows up and looks at us with his frightened eyes.
Around the age of twelve or so.
It will be even lower than Aldis, who will be treated as a child in the army.
Is it due to pain or fear?
Her eyes were staring at Ardis as she squeezed away her lost arm with her other hand.
Enemy.
Right in front of us are enemy mercenaries.
The opponent is not an irresistible person.
An enemy who has tried to take Ardis's life with a weapon.
That's why no one could blame Ardis for slashing and discarding him here.
However, no matter how young the battlefield was, the child who lost his weapon and lost one arm remembered that Ardis was hesitant.
Reason dictates that Aldis couldn't be ruthless on top of it.
……
After the tour, Ardis finally decided to miss the child.
Turn your eyes away first, then turn your neck away, and finally turn your heel back to leave the scene.
It was then.
"Avoid it, Ardis!"
The voice of a companion sounds a warning.
Without the time to be surprised, Ardis quickly walks away.
Something too hot passed by the side.
No, passing is not something hot.
For a moment, Aldis's eyes were filled with a mass of ice created by magic and fired.
And what I mistook for the fever was the feeling of pain.
Gu
Skin is severely ripped apart by shredded ice.
Aldis looked at the enemy who was attacking while hiding his wounded left arm.
To a child who has lost his weapon, lost one arm and turned his palm toward us with tears in his eyes.
"You?"
It was magic again that was returned to Aldis's inquiry.
A sharp arrow-shaped ice is created in the child's hand, which in turn is shot at Ardis' neck.
It's easy to dodge if you know you're coming.
Now we can afford to avoid it and close the distance.
On three occasions, Aldis's sword pierced his chest before the child's magic triggered.
A nasty feeling carries the sword around Ardis's hand.
"That was rough, Ardis.If you show extra Buddhist hearts on the battlefield, you will perish. "
A familiar man came into Ardis's sight when he turned around.
"... Grace"
"They're desperate.I think it's ten years early to decide whether it's a threat or not and show mercy. "
As Grace walked in, she turned her gaze toward the child and felt pity.
"Even if it's not too old for you, it's easy to lose your life to someone who hasn't lost their game."
Aldis, who was biting his lips at his failure, opened his eyes in response to the words in Grace's mouth.
"... daughter?"
"What, you didn't notice?"
Grace affirms it in a casual wind.
Aldis looked back and stared at a child who had already lost his eye light.
"Girl... why did you put such a child on the battlefield..."
"That's probably because you can use magic.You may have been soaked in it, but even a child can use primitive magic to become a fighter.If you're lucky enough, you can take your ass and your loved ones with you. "
……
"Well, don't get sick. You're a mercenary with a weapon on the battlefield, and you did your part."
Aldis bites his lips.
"If you run away, so will I."
He took his life reflectively to defend himself, but Ardis was leaving the scene in the first place.
The girl would not have died if she hadn't attacked with magic.
I don't suppose there was any personal grudge against Aldis.
Ardis doesn't understand why he went out of his way to risk his life to keep fighting.
Grace said something unexpected to Aldis.
"I don't know, maybe this girl herself was tired of living."
"... were you tired?"
"Um, Ardis. I don't know because you only know us, but kids are disposable consumables in a regular mercenary regiment.They are thrown into battle as flesh walls without proper armor, and even if they survive, they are crushed again on the next battlefield.Besides, it would be hell for her at night. "
"Night...?"
Grace didn't know what she meant, and Ardis asked.
"At this age, it will be ten (...) minutes (...) at night.It must have been bought with that included.If you survive on the battlefield, another hell is waiting for you at night.- You'll want to die in despair. "
Ardis finally caught up with the distant expression of Grace.
As disposable meat walls during the day, and as comforters to mercenaries during the night, the days of hell await girls day and night for as long as they live.That's what Grace says.
Anger rises in Ardis.
And at the next moment, you'll be reminded that you don't deserve to feel that anger.
Because, even if the days of hell lasted for the girl, there was a future ahead of her as long as she lived.
Perhaps there was a chance that she would survive Hell's daily routine and be happy with herself.
But it was Ardis himself who killed her and robbed her of her future.
Ardis, who cut off the future with her hands that might never have been zero, will not be allowed to hold anger or anger on her behalf.
I was stabbed in the back of my chest by a lizard that I had never lost in my life.Ardis has such a feeling.
"In a way, you saved this girl from hell.You can force yourself to think about it. "
Grace comforts Aldis with a convenient logic.
But Ardis couldn't afford to accept it honestly now.
"Such selfish..."
"If you don't get so fat, you can't keep mercenaries.Thank you for your advice.You don't have to understand right now, but keep that in mind. "
……
"If you're not convinced, be strong enough.If you're strong enough to treat them like children, you'll find a way not to kill them.If you don't kill someone as strong as you can overwhelm them, you'll die soon. "
Aldis nodded in silence.
Grace glances at Ardis' arm, which is not moving, and puts his palm on his head.
The bleeding on my cheeks is not as bad as I thought.Stand back and get medical attention. "
"No, we can still fight."
"Don't be ridiculous.If you can get out in front of me like that, it's just the trouble around you.Looks like we've cleared the roughs, and the mercenaries are starting to retreat.Now that the number of people has decreased a little, the match won't flip again. "
Grace is right, the hustle and bustle of battle is coming to an end.
Understanding the disadvantage, the enemy mercenary regiment must be retreating.
"Don't worry, there's still a lot to do.Come back as soon as you get back and calm down.Don't forget to take care of him. "
"... okay."
In response, Ardis approached the girl who had killed herself and pulled out her sword.
The girl's body still spills warm blood.
The sight further accentuated the remorse that arose in Aldis.
Aldis bends down and gently closes his eyelids.
"Grace... put her somewhere..."
I want to bury him so he can sleep in peace at least.
I suppose you read Ardis's thoughts, which were not words.
"No, there's plenty to do before that. I don't have time for that."
Grace said so in a harsh tone, and then she snapped a little with the slug.
"... when it's all over, you can bury it."
"Ahh....."
When Ardis, who had fallen back and been healed, returned, the enemy was no longer there, and only the signs of battle floated around.
The Westeria Mercenaries have been asked to defeat the enemy mercenaries, but that's why we can't just leave the rough town behind.
The defeated mercenaries may not return, and other enemy forces may attack again.
The Westeria Mercenaries will need to wait in this town until new instructions are received from their employers, and it will naturally be problematic for the town to remain disabled in order to stay there.
Unaccustomed to it, the Ardis needed to help the town's residents with the restoration work.
"But this is....."
"They did it on their own for a long time."
Lexie was sick and tired next to Aldis, who once again looked at the town's tragedy and filled it with words.
The towns that fell by enemy mercenaries are in terrible condition.
Aldis, along with Lexie and about twenty of his people, was searching for and rescuing the survivors, but only those who were no longer alive could be found.
Inside the burnt house were the burned bodies that remained abandoned, resisting to protect their families from the mercenaries, and the streets were lined with the remains of men who had been killed and hung in disguise.
"Boy, take a look at that house.I'll take a look inside. "
"Okay."
On Lexie's instructions, there were signs of people in the house.
In the corner of the room, there is a firm blanket that could have been used as a bedding, and on the desk you can see the marks of spilled wine from falling bread and cups.
Perhaps part of the enemy mercenary regiment was wandering around.
They were temporary inhabitants. They're gone.
Already dead or running away and coming back.
"The back room....."
In the meantime, Ardis notices signs of people coming from a room in the back of the house.
"Remnants?"
For a moment, I thought I'd go get my friends, but instead of the battle trend, the enemy fled.
If it was someone who remembered his arms, he would have tried to escape a long time ago.So convincing himself, Ardis pulled the sword out of his sheath and approached the room with his footsteps suppressed.
Stay close to the door to clear your ears.
I don't speak.
Aldis stood beside the door and turned the knob quietly.
But apparently the door remained closed, as if it were locked.
There must be a key to this door somewhere, but it's not a situation where we can look for something casually.
Ardis kicked through the doors when he forcibly destroyed parts of the keyhole with unfamiliar magic.
Hi!
At that moment, I heard several women screaming from inside the room.
Aldis watched as he watched.
I saw a few people in my eyes.
But when he sees it, Ardis is attacked by unspeakable discomfort.
All the young women were there.
Everyone reveals their skin in an uncoordinated appearance, and several new bruises still appear on their body.
The slutty smell that filled the room irritated Ardis' nasal cavity.
When I saw Ardis, I was frightened and ran away to the corner of the room, trying to stay a little bit away from the expression stained with fear.
The house the enemy mercenaries were wandering about.
Naked young women trapped in it.
Understanding what they were being treated like because they were afraid of men, Ardis also felt angry without a place to go.
"We are the Westerian mercenaries who came at the Lord's behest.The enemy mercenary group that occupied the town was defeated.They're gone. "
Unable to find the words to speak to them, Ardis leaves the scene just telling the truth.
The man Aldis will only frighten them.
Ardis went out to call Lexie, forcing her feelings to disperse.