“Pardon? You’re saying you’re giving them for free, right?”
At the words of Sera’s older sister—Sena—I flinched.
Beneath her long lashes, a look flashed through her eyes as though she were staring at a strange person.
‘Did I give up too much profit?’
“Yes, that’s right. Priest Sera did say I could sell some of them, but…….”
If I had said I was selling the medicinal herbs, she probably would have paid the proper price. She had asked about the price right away, after all.
“Seeing the wounded soldiers here, I think I’d rather just give them to you.”
It was hard to explain why I was doing this.
To be honest… yes, it was just a whim.
“We’re grateful, of course, but… hmm, all right. If there’s anything I can do for you—”
“It’s fine.”
“Then let’s talk about that a little later. I’ll treat them first.”
“Yes.”
Sena quickly pulled out the piles of medicinal herbs and gave instructions.
“Everyone! Move the herbs first, quickly!”
“Yes!”
The young priests rushed toward my cart. Behind their backs, she raised her voice.
“Blue herbs for severed wounds! Green for internal injuries! Don’t let your hands shake. Focus!”
“Yes, Priest!”
Inside the church, countless prayers continued to echo.
“In the name of light, seal these wounds.”
“Ease their pain and let them walk again.”
“O God, grant peace to their breath.”
A different light bloomed at the fingertips of each priest—
Blue light, green light, golden light.
“——Lux Aeterna.”
It was around the time the treatment of the wounded soldiers was nearing its end.
A scream came from the distance.
“Aaaargh! It hurts too much!”
“Priest! His bones are all shattered… please help!”
One priest hurriedly called for Sena.
“Hold on! I’m coming!”
Before I knew it, I followed her.
The soldier who had screamed was lying on a stretcher, clutching his leg.
His leg was bent at a grotesque angle, and the area below the knee had caved in.
The moment I saw it, one thought flashed through my mind.
‘He was hit by a blunt weapon.’
A young priest was reciting a healing blessing while breaking into a cold sweat.
“Fuck! Are all of you quacks? It hurts even more!”
“I-I’m sorry.”
But the soldier’s shouting only grew louder.
In the end, Sena also placed her hand on him from the side and released light, but the wound did not heal.
‘Ah… you can’t treat it like this.’
There was a reason I thought that.
If I gathered only the comrades whose bones I had set with my own hands, I could probably build an entire village.
“This… the bone is in the wrong position. If you mend it like this, it will only hurt more.”
“What?”
Sena looked at me in surprise.
“Right now, the bone needs to be set first. If you heal it in that state, it will harden at the wrong angle.”
“…Then.”
“I’ll set it. Please use the blessing at that moment.”
She hesitated briefly, then nodded.
“All right. I’ll do it as soon as you set the angle!”
I carefully took hold of the soldier’s leg.
“The angle is… about here.”
CRACK—
“Aaaargh!”
“Now!”
A dazzling light burst from Sena’s hand.
The bone found its proper place and slowly began to knit together.
And after that, fractures became the responsibility of Sena and me.
“This one’s shoulder is dislocated!”
“Wait. I’ll press it in—there. Now!”
Light burst again from her fingertips.
“This time, the ribs are broken.”
“Hold your breath and don’t move… now!”
CRACK— From the soldier’s abdomen came the sound of bone being set.
“Ugh!”
“Good. Seal it!”
Like that, Sena and I, soaked in sweat, helped the last wounded man sit up.
“Haa, haa…. You worked hard.”
“No, Priest, you were the one who worked hard. I only set bones.”
“One moment.”
She moved her hand behind her priestly robe, rummaged around for a moment, and pulled something out.
“No matter what, after receiving this much help, I don’t think free is right.”
Clink, clink—
She took my hand in both of hers, forced my palm open, and placed something in it.
‘Why is this priest so strong?’
A faint golden glint flashed between my fingers.
“N-no. I wasn’t hoping for a reward….”
“Oh, just take it.”
“…….”
“This is my personal token of thanks. And wait a moment. I’ll speak to the bishop too.”
After leaving those words behind, she disappeared.
And she did not return for quite a long time.
‘I should head back and sleep soon.’
I should just go.
I quietly gathered my things and headed toward the church door.
At that moment—Sena came running over.
“Mr. Mikael!”
“Yes?”
“It isn’t anything impressive, but please take this at least.”
She held out a small water bottle.
“What is this?”
“It’s called Tears of the Goddess. It’s holy water the Church uses for treatment. I didn’t have anything proper to give you. Still, it’s precious!”
Tears of the Goddess?
It was a name I had heard somewhere before.
“…Ah.”
An item known to possess an excellent recovery effect on its own, and to cause absurd miracles depending on what it was combined with.
“……?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I’ll use it well.”
“More importantly, how about sleeping here before you go? It’s dangerous to go outside at this hour. You can hear the monsters’ cries, can’t you?”
“It’s all right. I have a companion.”
“Oh, you really are stubborn.”
She laughed and waved her hand.
“Then, let’s meet again if we can. Next time, instead of medicinal herbs, let’s have a cup of tea.”
“Yes.”
I bowed lightly to her and headed for the tent.
GRRRR— AWOOO—
A howl that might have belonged to a demonic race, a magical beast, or a wild animal spread from somewhere far away.
Step, step.
In my hand were Tears of the Goddess and three gold coins. Yes, for today, this was enough.
‘Maybe, if I’m very lucky… I might be able to fix it.’
As I walked lost in such thoughts, I found myself in front of the refugee tent before I knew it.
And, as expected, Garen was waiting.
“Merchant Company Head! You’re back!”
“It must be past midnight. What were you doing awake until this hour?”
“Heh heh, I couldn’t sleep, so I was just getting some night air.”
“I’m tired, so I’ll sleep first.”
Before Garen could even answer.
I crawled into my blanket as though fleeing.
***
The next morning, I came out in front of the promissory note shop.
The 70% merchant was nowhere to be seen, perhaps having finished his business yesterday, and the 60% merchant was walking over from afar with a tired face.
“Young merchant, aren’t you tired?”
“Ha ha, I’m full of energy.”
“I didn’t sleep a wink all night because of the demonic races howling. I need to sell quickly and leave.”
“Then let’s do that.”
Ahem, ahem. I cleared my throat.
“Now! Now! I’m buying all promissory notes.”
Silence flowed.
Several merchants glanced at me.
‘What is this? The atmosphere feels a bit strange.’
I shouted again.
“I’ll buy everything at 50%! Partial purchases are possible too!”
And then—
THUD, THUD, CLACK.
With a sound far too heavy to be human footsteps, a man strode toward us.
“What are you people?”
“……?”
He was from the Imperial Army.
Armor engraved with the Empire’s mark covered his chest.
The smell of oiled iron pressed down on the air.
Compared to Garen, he was somewhat small, but among ordinary soldiers, he was unquestionably a conspicuous build.
“Yes, my name is Mikael. I’m a peddler from Heindel.”
“Who gave you permission to do business on a battlefield?”
Inside, the words, “Why are you meddling when you’re not even with the Commerce Bureau?” surged up, but….
There was nothing good about needlessly getting on the Imperial Army’s bad side.
“Ah, I didn’t know there was such a regulation. There was a misunderstanding. I’ll clean this up.”
“…….”
He did not answer.
Instead, he turned his gaze behind me.
“By any chance, are you the Garen I know?”
“Hey, Ben! Have you been well? It’s been a long time.”
“I heard you retired a few years ago and started doing mercenary work….”
He paused for a moment, looked me up and down, then spoke to Garen again.
“Hmm, I can roughly see what your life is like.”
…He just ignored me, didn’t he?
Just as I was about to start feeling offended—
“Still, for the sake of old comradeship, I’ll let this pass this time.”
“…….”
“More importantly, it would be better for you to leave quickly.”
“Why?”
“There’s intelligence that an Orc Priest appeared in the east. It seems he’s coming around here. We can probably stop him, but if you’re unlucky, you’ll get caught in the flying sparks and die. Otherwise, leave tomorrow morning. The corps is scheduled to arrive tonight.”
An Orc Priest… Could he have destroyed the entire village where the Valorant Family was supposed to be?
A brief regret rose in me.
“Ha ha! Are you worried about me right now?”
“No, not you. I mean the little Merchant Company Head beside you.”
“We’ll take care of ourselves. Still, thanks for the information.”
“Then, I’ll be going.”
As Garen watched Ben leave, emotions that were difficult to describe crossed his face.
Did he want to return to the Imperial Army?
“…….”
Now was not the time to think about that.
I hurried into the tent and shouted.
“You all saw that, didn’t you?! I’m buying promissory notes! No one knows when this might be banned again, so don’t hesitate—come make your deal!”
The moment my words ended, as though afraid of missing the opportunity, merchants swarmed in front of the tent.
“I’ll sell four gold coins’ worth right away!”
“Two gold coins’ worth, immediately, please!”
Pouches opened, and promissory notes piled up in my palm. Soon enough, transactions totaling eight gold coins were completed.
‘With this, the business is finished… and the promissory notes alone must amount to around a hundred gold coins.’
Promotion to a small merchant company was not far off.
As I cleaned up the tent, I spoke to Garen.
“You worked hard. Let’s hurry back to Heindel.”
“Yes! I’ll bring the mule and cart!”
We took to the road toward Heindel.
“…….”
Now that I faced a battlefield again as a merchant, there were things I could finally see.
Rather than stamping out things like promissory notes, it was far better to let merchants trade directly.
After all, if competition arose, prices would fall, and if supplies circulated, the army would be able to hold out longer as well.
For some reason, even after making a large profit in Marcella, my steps felt heavy.
***
That night, after Mikael and Garen had left—
The clouds of war gathered over Marcella once more.
The Imperial Army was hidden in the pitch-black darkness.
Soldiers killed even the sound of their breathing without lighting a single torch.
THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.
The ground began to rumble from far away.
For the movements of orcs with dull minds, it was far too regular and far too orderly.
Everyone had thought the orc pack’s raid was over—
But a village a little over two days from Marcella had turned into ruins in a single day.
No, the time it took for the moon to rise and set had been enough.
And they marched straight toward Marcella without rest.
To those ruins, a dozen or so robed mages arrived. It was around noon.
“Ha… being told to come out as support all of a sudden. What on earth is going on?”
“Stop whining already. You know how important the mission you’ve been given today is.”
“……I know too, whew.”
A woman whose faint blue hair gleamed in the darkness grumbled.
Her name was Hannah.
She belonged to the Imperial Magic Corps Reconnaissance Unit.
She had just been hurriedly deployed to the front line under the corps’ orders.
THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD— THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD—
The vibrations grew faster and faster.
It sounded as though something was running.
And then—BWOOOOOOO!
The blast of a horn rang out, cutting through the deep darkness.
“Grrrrrrr!”
“Gruk, gruk, gruk!”
Beast-like cries burst out from the darkness.
From the front line, a shouted order rang out.
“They’re in range! Crossbowmen, prepare!”
“Yes!”
TWAAAAANG— THUDUDUDUDUK!
The metal strings of crossbows trembled, and bolts flew through the darkness.
CRACK!
An orc charging at the front had its head snap back and fell.
“Good, that was a hit!”
“Don’t relax! Keep shooting!”
Bolts fired one after another, and the screams of orcs also burst out in succession from the darkness.
The Imperial Army’s ambush seemed to be working.
For a very brief moment—
However, beyond those screams, an enormous shadow revealed itself.
A massive body easily twice the height of an ordinary person.
An old brown robe covered its body, but white hair streamed down beneath the hood.
Finely cracked green skin made that face even more grotesque.
The one leading the pack of orcs.
It was the Orc Priest.
“Ugar… Kardum… Hrgrrrrr….”
A bizarre cadence leaked from the bastard’s throat. It was difficult to tell whether it was language or a cry.
The moment the final note broke off, the sky split red.
And then—
A massive fireball rose and fell straight into the middle of the Imperial Army.
BOOOOOOM!
“Aaaargh!”
“Fire! Please put out the fire!”
“Front line collapse! We can’t continue combat!”
Flames blazed, and the lingering embers of the fireball that had fallen from the sky burned the soldiers’ armor.
“Damn it—what are the mages doing?!”
“Deploy support magic! Right now!”
Screams and orders mixed into one, until it was impossible to tell what was a shout and what was a groan.
Even in that chaos, Hannah did not look away.
FWOOOOOOSH.
The mana-charged gun in her hand grew hotter and hotter.
She was pouring every bit of her remaining mana into it.
Her mouth moved without rest, and the chant flowed out mechanically.
“……Freeze. Condense.”
Frozen Ring.
3rd Circle magic.
Within the Imperial Magic Corps, it was an average-level spell.
Originally, it was an area spell that froze the area around the caster, but when channeled through her mana-charged gun, it was a different story.
“Coordinates fixed… Δ43.12, φ7.08. Hannah, now!”
“——Release.”
CRACKLE—!
The cold compressed into a single point, and a ray of blue light shot from the muzzle.
The Priest who led countless orcs, the one called the problem of the western region.
His face froze solid before he even realized he had died.
Crack—
Fine cracks spread across his face.
The fissures ran from his forehead down to his chin.
CRACK!
And with that, he shattered like ice.
The fragments that struck the ground rolled quietly. There were no words, no screams.
“Haa…….”
Breaking that silence—
A single phrase mixed with a short breath cut through the air.
The rising star of the Imperial Magic Corps.
Hannah Varenne slowly lowered the muzzle.
***
Step, step.
The road to Heindel was smooth.
With no cargo, the mules did not tire, and we reduced our rests as we increased our pace.
“Merchant Company Head! We’re almost there!”
“We are. I already miss Mother’s home cooking.”
“She must be a good cook.”
“Uh…… probably. Garen, would you like to eat with us?”
“Oh! May I really?”
“Of course.”
I smiled as I opened my crumpled notebook.
‘Around a hundred gold coins, even the holy water of the Goddess….’
They say some things make you full just by looking at them, and this must be exactly what that means.
Now I could try for promotion to a small merchant company too.
In my previous life, it had taken me a full two years to get this far, but this time, it had been barely over two months.
Suppressing my excitement, I half-ran home.