With Raven’s silent approval, the mercenary gagged the bandit leader and hid him nearby. Then, thinking he might earn some extra money, he dragged him off toward the bandits’ hideout.
Although Raven—who was used to funding things by selling monster magic stones or simply using his looks—questioned him with disbelief.
[Was that really necessary?]
[We had to eliminate the stragglers anyway to prevent civilian casualties, so we might as well make some cash!]
[…]
[The request included clearing out the stragglers, but… it’s not just that. It’s not like we can’t do it—and if we can, better to act and minimize harm to innocents, right?]
[…You’re right.]
Touching on his sense of duty, Raven closed his mouth and followed.
They soon arrived at the bandit hideout.
“Who’s…?! Ghk!”
“Die quietly!”
“What the hell, you crazy bastard?!”
“Ha ha ha!”
Watching him charge into battle so excitedly still reminded Raven of a rabid dog. A lunatic.
Judging by the situation, he’d wrap it up quickly. No help needed. Raven decided to leave him to it, covered Didi’s eyes, and began moving through the hideout. Some fools dared to attack him along the way, but they were no threat.
“If you’d run instead of fighting, you’d still be alive, idiot.”
“You bastard…! You’re gonna regret this! We’ve got… powerful backers… Ghk!”
“Hmm… so you’ve got support, huh?”
Though, it doesn’t concern me.
Who could possibly catch a ghost that leaves no trace? He kicked the corpse aside and kept walking.
His destination was a warehouse.
He wondered what treasure they’d been trying so hard to protect. With a crooked smile, he opened the heavily guarded warehouse door… and froze when he saw what was inside.
“That’s…”
“Did you find something interesting?”
The mercenary had apparently already finished everything off. Faster than expected? Raven cast a blank look at the mercenary, who didn’t catch it, and instead followed his gaze… and his eyes immediately widened.
“Well… shit…” he muttered with a sigh of awe.
And no wonder. The warehouse was filled with sacks overflowing with white powder.
“So this is why they gave me such a measly job.”
At a glance, it wasn’t flour, sugar, or salt. The mercenary’s eyes darted quickly. Just to be sure, he tiptoed closer, scooped up a bit of the spilled powder, and tasted it. Any fragile hope vanished instantly.
“If these bandits are trafficking drugs, then they’ve definitely got backing… I’m screwed, huh?”
“They probably didn’t want to dirty their hands directly, so they dumped it on you…”
Yes, you’re screwed. Raven almost said it, but held back when he saw his expression. After thinking a bit, he let out a sigh.
“It depends on who’s behind it.”
“Hmm…”
“And you? Is it okay to go around tasting that?”
“Ah, we Lofty heirs are immune to most poisons. We’ve been taking special tonics since childhood. I could show you the recipe if you joined the squad…”
“Not interested.”
“Tsk.”
Though he grumbled, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the cursed drugs. Scratching his head, he let out a heavy sigh.
“Anyway… we should report this, right?”
“We can’t take this with us, so better to report it.”
“Ugh, I feel like I got myself into something big…”
Still grumbling, he pulled a communicator from his clothes.
***
“When I return, I’m going to eat a big piece of meat. It might be my last meal, so I’ll order the best. The best of the best. Maybe I’ll go to a fancy restaurant.”
“…….”
After filing the report, the mercenary descended the mountain, grumbling. Raven, following behind, suddenly stopped, turned around, and went back to the warehouse where the sacks were stored.
“Mr. Raven?”
“Shhh.”
Silencing the confused Didi, Raven nudged a sack of drugs with his foot. As he moved it, a hidden trapdoor was revealed.
He opened it just enough to peek inside.
[…]
He saw accounting books piled up inside. Raven glanced at the mercenary, who was walking away.
Noticing that no one was following him, the mercenary turned around, his perplexed voice echoing.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“Enjoy your best meal.”
“Huh?”
“I’m talking about your last supper.”
“Ah—?!”
Are they really going to kill me!?
***
The mercenary Eckart, once again carrying the bandit leader he had hidden,—
“Aren’t you going to remove the gag?”
“Not necessary, right? He just makes noise.”
“You’re right.”
He naturally joined Raven’s group, as if he had been with them from the start, and began chatting.
Although most of his words were mere idle talk and Raven had already started ignoring him as if he didn’t exist, Eckart continued to chatter cheerfully until he suddenly made a different comment.
“By the way, your eyes are quite unique.”
“Unique?”
Raven, who was about to ignore him thinking it was another foolish remark, ended up responding with a slight delay.
“Yes. They’re pretty.”
“You have peculiar tastes.”
“If it was disrespectful, I take it back.”
“That’s not it…”
Touching the corner of his eye, Raven curved his lips into a mischievous smile.
“To say they’re pretty after seeing ghost eyes, that’s truly rare.”
“Huh?”
“Are you afraid of ghosts?”
“N-no! B-but… by any chance, were you a ghost, boss?”
“By any chance”? His trembling pupils betrayed him.
Raven’s green eyes, watching him without blinking as the mercenary slowly backed away, curved with amusement.
“What do you think?”
“Ah, boss… please…”
His fear was evident. It would be better if he just ran away.
That’s why Raven, without giving a clear answer, simply started walking. His light steps showed that his mood had improved with that little prank.
.
.
.
Normally, when someone is scared, they talk less… but Eckart, on the contrary, wouldn’t stop complaining. Didi ended up covering his ears, and Raven, unable to bear it any longer, told him to shut up and that he would explain everything.
After finally receiving a response, the mercenary, who stopped whining, asked for an explanation about the “ghost eyes.”
[Damn nuisance.]
[I feel like you’re insulting me more often now! But hey, that means we have more trust, so I’m happy─]
[…Haa.]
Already tired of the mercenary’s insistence and noise, Raven began to explain everything with an annoyed face about his useless eye, his identity as a shaman, the existence of the guardian spirit, and his relationship with it.
When he finished, Eckart could only open his mouth, stunned.
“Wow…”
“And that reaction?”
“No, it’s just… it was more detailed than I expected…”
“Ah, well…”
After all, when they part ways, he’ll forget everything. Since he didn’t need to measure how much to say, he had opened up more than usual. Raven looked away indifferently.
It seemed Eckart had no intention of continuing to ask questions either. He simply seemed relieved to know that Raven wasn’t a ghost and marveled at the guardian spirit’s special abilities, suddenly looking up at the sky.
“Boss, when do we rest?! This place seems perfect for a break…”
“If you want to rest, do it without asking.”
“That’s very cold! If I stop alone, you’ll surely leave me behind.”
“That’s right.”
“Boss…!”
Another nonsense?
Raven was going to ignore him as usual, but the mercenary, sensing his indifference, quickly raised his voice, this time for a valid reason.
“Besides, you have to take care of the child!”
“I’m holding him, no need to…”
“No, I mean feeding him!”
Eckart pointed to the sky.
“It’s time to eat! Are you going to let him go hungry?”
“Ah…”
I forgot again.
It wasn’t anything new. Since traveling with Didi, he had already skipped several meals. But Didi never mentioned it either… What a tough kid, for someone who still needed to eat regularly.
Raven looked down at the little one in his arms.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Surprised by the sudden question, Didi blinked several times before responding.
“I’m already receiving enough help… I didn’t want to cause more trouble…”
“I told you it’s not a bother. And if I forget, you should remind me.”
Everyone should take care of their own plate. Expecting others to do it only leads to hunger. Maybe, coming from a noble family, Didi didn’t fully understand that.
The mercenary, fearing that Raven would scold the child, intervened hastily.
“Boss, how mean! You almost let the child starve!”
“What─”
“So let’s rest and eat something! Food is important!”
Raven wanted to reply, but Eckart didn’t give him the chance.
“I’ll take care of hunting something! Wait here!”
“…….”
“Oh, I’ll leave the bandit leader here, please take care of him!”
And saying that, he quickly escaped using the excuse of going hunting.
Raven, looking at the bandit leader who had been dropped off, opened his mouth several times without making a sound, until he finally muttered:
“Seriously… what is he supposed to be doing?”
***
“Huh…”
“You’re back.”
“Huh… what?”
After fleeing to hunt, some time passed.
Eckart, carrying a boar on his shoulder and some branches for the fire on his side, stopped, perplexed by the scene in front of him.
A young man, almost a child, was trying to stab Raven in a vital spot. Raven, half-reclined, resisted by grabbing his wrist.
“Excuse me, but…”
“Speak.”
“Are you being attacked right now?”
“Yes.”
“What the hell…”
With a push, Raven shoved the boy, grabbed his arm, and in an instant changed position to be on top of him, immobilizing him by pressing his wrists against his back with his knee.
Raven, now with some time, gave him a look as if saying “if you have questions, go ahead.”
Eckart looked at the completely subdued boy with a strange expression and asked.
“I’ve always been curious… who is that? At first, I thought he was a companion, but since he came separately, I doubted. And now I see he’s attacking you… but he also seems to know you, boss…”
“A stalker.”
“A stalker?”
“And also an aspiring assassin.”
“Don’t use such a pure word as ‘aspiring’ to describe something so rotten! He looks dark and gloomy, beyond salvation.”
“Don’t be so harsh.”
After struggling for a while, the boy gave up. Only then did Raven move away, laughing slightly, and, crossing his arms, completed his sentence as if talking about the weather.
“It’s just that I killed his family.”
“What kind of enemy do you have to be for him to want to kill you like that!? You killed his family?”
“That’s right.”
“…Really?”
“Prepare the meat.”
Instead of continuing to explain, Raven preferred to evade it blatantly.
After a brief silence, Eckart sighed and placed the boar on the ground, starting to prepare the fire.
“You could have at least lit the fire, right?”
“I haven’t done that in ten years.”
“Wow! Surely it’s because you’re someone very important, boss!”
“I can already imagine where your absurd logic is going… and everything you say is wrong, so I don’t even feel like correcting you…”
Better cook.
Ignoring him, Raven sat on top of the bandit leader and, while glancing sideways, saw how the boy, Dan, sneaked behind a tree.
Now that he thought about it… When he fled leaving him at the inn, his instinct warned him that if they caught him, it would be almost impossible to get rid of him.
‘And so it was.’
Since then, Dan hadn’t stopped watching him for a second. Although he had disappeared from his sight, the raven watching him from the tree was still there, relentless.
Raven looked up at the sky.
Whoosh!
“!”
Suddenly, a blaze erupted beside his field of vision.
The scarlet glow struck his eyes, and, startled, Raven stepped back abruptly. No, rather, he flew backward.
In the process, he accidentally crushed the bandit leader, who writhed in protest, but Raven didn’t even notice.
“…….”
“…….”
His green eyes, trembling violently, showed a hint of fear.