Direwolf (Dire Wolf).
An individual twice the size of an ordinary wolf.
It was classified as a magical beast rather than an ordinary animal.
There was a theory that they had been contaminated by demon blood—
But that sort of thing was not important right now.
CRUNCH!
“Aaaaaagh!!”
The shoulder of the mercenary standing at the very front was torn clean off. Blood spurted like a fountain. It was already too late.
The Silver Dove Corps had around thirty members.
Right, one of them had just fallen.
‘The habit of counting lives as numbers has returned….’
I sighed inwardly.
“Hey! Did you know what that wolf bastard was when you shouted just now?”
Was that important right now?
“Ah, I think I saw it in a book.”
I roughly said whatever came to mind.
“What?”
Wait— I swept my eyes over the terrain.
A steep slope on the right, underbrush on the left.
The road was narrow, and behind us, the wagon procession continued.
In front of us were ten direwolves and twenty ordinary wolves. One stood out as the one commanding the pack.
“That wolf over there seems to be the leader!”
“What? You want us to trust some brat's words?”
Curses flew among the confused mercenary corps.
Even if I stepped forward, no one would believe me. Fortunately, the escort captain came to his senses and gave an order.
“Three-rank formation! Front rank, five shields forward!”
Thud, thud, thud. Clack—!
Iron plates collided, and a massive wall was raised.
“Middle rank, draw your bows! Flank caravan guards, watch the protruding areas!”
SPLURT—!
No more screams came from the soldier whose shoulder had been torn off. His head was chewed away along with his helmet.
Droplets of blood splattered across the front rank's shields.
‘……A head-on collision with direwolves is suicide.’
Damn it, should I step in?
But there were too many eyes here.
The moment I used mana, I might be dragged off by the military.
I had to find a way….
Then the one in the lead stopped.
Behind it, the wolves and direwolves approached us, ready to leap in at any moment.
The escort captain came to my side.
“What you said earlier… are you certain? Is that one the leader?”
“Yes. I read that among direwolves, the one with a black spot on its neck is the leader.”
“How do I trust you?”
It was so obvious to me that, for a moment, I was at a loss for words. How was I supposed to explain this?
“Y-You can tell just by the way the pack moves. They are all following that one!”
At my words, his gaze chased after the leader.
“You are right……. Rear rank! Aim for the one with the black spot on its neck!”
“Yes, Captain!”
Creeeeeak—
Along with the sound of bowstrings being drawn, arrows rained down.
A few of the arrowheads flying toward the black spot on its neck struck their mark precisely, but its hide was too thick, and most bounced off.
Ah, this would only provoke it instead.
“Uh, uh! Captain! They are moving!”
It happened in an instant.
The tremor of the ground traveled up through my feet.
Gray shadows burst forward all at once.
“Do not waver! Raise your shields and hold!”
“Aaagh! This side is being breached!”
THUD—!
A massive direwolf charged in with its entire body. It crashed into the soldiers and knocked them down along with their shields.
“Middle rank! Block it quickly!”
With those words, the escort captain charged forward himself.
But the moment the front rank was breached, efficient combat was already over.
Blood sprayed, and shields clashed against fangs.
Wolf howls and human screams tangled together.
In an instant, it turned into a field of slaughter.
Three dead. Six wounded.
The state of the battlefield entered my mind rapidly.
‘This will not do.’
If I left it like this, it would really be over.
My thoughts were still chaotic, but my fingertips had already gripped the dagger instinctively.
A way to subdue them while hiding my mana as much as possible….
Whoooosh.
A faint blue light bloomed at the tip of the dagger's blade.
It was then.
“……!”
A powerful presence surged from the rear.
The air twisted, and one point within the pack pulsed red.
The leader. The black spot.
Its movements were imprinted in my mind.
It kicked off the ground and ran. Soon, it crouched down—
Thud.
The ground shook.
The next moment, it tore through the pack and shot forward. Like a bullet whose chain had been snapped.
A massive shadow surged into the air.
Everyone's gaze turned to the wolf.
‘Damn it, what is it aiming for?’
The merchant company head.
Beyond him, the rear where the merchants were.
My eyes immediately read its trajectory.
It absolutely could not be allowed to land in the rear.
Whoosh—!
The dagger shot from my hand.
You wolf bastard, you’re finished.
THUNK!
It struck precisely into the black spot on the back of its neck.
“Kweeeeek!”
The creature's scream burst out.
Ah, it did not go deep enough.
Dark-red blood burst from the back of its neck and stained the ground in an instant, but even so, it was still alive.
At that moment.
CRUNCH—!
The escort captain charged in with the sound of steel and drove his sword into it. The creature's black spot scattered as if bursting apart.
‘Done.’
After that, the tide of battle turned in an instant.
The wolves, having lost their leader, scattered in all directions like soldiers who had lost their commander, or fell beneath the mercenary corps' blades.
Before long, the cleanup was over.
On one side, they gathered the dead, and on the other, they dismantled the magical beasts' corpses.
Blood and steam rose together from the bodies.
“Leave the hides and extract the hearts first.”
“Yes, Captain!”
“Be careful of the fangs….”
Under the escort captain's command, the battlefield was quickly put in order. The stench of meat, blood, and iron mixed together.
Step. Step.
The merchant company head approached, cutting through the blood-soaked air.
“What did you say your name was?”
“……?”
Ah, he was calling me.
“I am Mikael.”
“Right, Mikael. Where are you from?”
“I am from Heindel Village.”
“Heindel…… Then you are a southerner.”
He looked at my hand, then slowly smiled.
“Your skill at throwing a knife was no ordinary thing. Do they teach that out in the countryside?”
“No, it was just…… luck.”
“Luck, is it? Ha ha ha ha.”
The merchant company head laughed heartily.
And when that laughter ended, he quietly bowed his head.
“Luck or whatever it was, I survived thanks to you. Thank you.”
He clasped my hand. From someone in the position of a medium-sized merchant company head, it was an attitude hard to imagine.
“N-No, not at all. It really was luck.”
“Even so, a debt is a debt. I must repay you somehow.”
He raised his head and looked at me.
“Is there anything you want? Say anything.”
Contrary to the warm atmosphere, I was quickly flicking an abacus in my head.
I was still his lifesaver….
Surely I could ask for something, right?
Money? Jewels? Transportation?
All kinds of thoughts came to mind, but what I eventually thought of was truly insane.
“May I ask for a certificate of credit?”
“…A certificate of credit? Of course. For how much?”
That was the thing….
I hesitated briefly.
“I would like you to leave the amount blank.”
“A blank certificate of credit…… Ha ha ha, you are an amusing fellow.”
In contrast to his words that it was amusing, deep wrinkles formed on the merchant company head's forehead.
The brief silence felt far too long.
He looked back.
“Accountant, bring parchment and the seal.”
Then he wrote something on the parchment.
∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿
「Certificate of Credit」
Issuer : Arise Merchant Company
Recipient : Mikael (Heindel)
Amount : ___________
Purpose : One-time-only monetary and trade guarantee
〈Official Seal of the Arise Merchant Company ❂〉
∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿
“Very well. But this is for one use only.”
“…….”
“You can only use it once. The amount will be decided then. It is not unlimited, but I will guarantee it within a reasonable range.”
I had gone for it thinking of ten gold coins at most….
He actually gave it to me.
It was almost burdensome instead.
“Thank you.”
“Please do not think I have valued my life too cheaply. We are merchants too, are we not?”
“Ha ha, of course not. I will use it when I truly need it. And naturally, I will repay it.”
The fact that I had obtained a certificate of credit was certainly a great achievement, but a large crack had already formed in our group's plan.
The mercenary corps had half collapsed from the battle, and the sun would soon go down beyond the ridge.
If one direwolf had done this much—
When night came, and a lycanthrope appeared… would the mercenary corps be able to hold?
The escort captain's voice spread with rough breaths.
“We go a little farther! We will camp beyond that ridge!”
One of the mercenaries asked in return.
“Would it not be dangerous to move at night?”
“Whether we sleep here or keep walking, there is no difference! It is just as dangerous either way. At this rate, we may have to camp twice anyway!”
And so, the forced march began.
The sun went down completely.
The mountain path quickly grew pitch-black.
Even the moonlight was hidden by clouds, and we could barely see beneath our feet.
“Father, are you all right?”
“Of course…… Huff, huff. I am not even fifty yet, you know.”
He forced out a joke, but I could hear how breathless he was.
My situation was similar. The sweat running down my back soaked my collar, and my field of vision gradually narrowed.
Neigh….
The two mules breathed heavily.
They would collapse soon.
Just when I truly thought we had reached our limit, the escort captain's half-hoarse voice rang out.
“We will camp here! Light the fires quickly!”
“Yes, Captain!”
We were forced to camp halfway up the pass.
Campfires rose, but no one put down their weapons.
“We will rotate watches every two hours.”
Perhaps out of consideration for my young age, I took the first watch.
I sat beside the campfire and looked into the forest.
In truth, rather than looking, I half-closed my eyes and tried to read the flow of energy.
‘Lycanthrope…….’
Strange. Why can I not feel it?
Instead… I can feel a clear, pure energy, not a murky one. But it is extremely powerful.
Is there someone else here besides us?
That cannot be.
Thinking that, I closed my eyes again.
***
Morning came.
Birds cried in the dawn fog.
Relieved that nothing had happened overnight, we hurriedly set out.
In order to arrive before tonight, we had to reduce our sleep, so I felt as if I had only closed my eyes for less than five hours.
As we continued the forced march, the escort captain stopped.
He crouched down and examined the tracks.
“They are lycan tracks.”
His fingertip followed the marks in the dirt.
“But…… there is blood mixed in.”
Faintly dried blood had seeped into the mud. One side of the mark was deep, and the other looked awkwardly dragged.
“It is wounded.”
Various reactions burst out from the mercenaries.
“No, what in the world did that?”
“Captain! Then is the danger over for now?”
“……Let us hurry.”
The escort captain could not say anything.
If it was a skilled fighter or a magical beast capable of taking down a lycanthrope, that meant it was dangerous in itself.
…Late afternoon on the second day.
At the end of the long march, the outline of a rocky mountain finally appeared beyond the pass.
“There it is!”
Someone shouted.
The summit of Oxhorn Pass.
Through thick smoke and stone lamps, the dwarves' outpost revealed itself.
“We made it…….”
A small figure could be seen atop the stone wall.
“I am Walter, head of the Arise Merchant Company.”
“To think you broke through these rough mountains and made it all the way here… Hah, not bad! Kha ha ha ha!”
He turned the pulley with force.
Dudududuk…… Kuuuuung.
The old stone gate slowly pushed open, and dust scattered as if exploding.
A fellow who seemed to be the village gatekeeper came down.
He was small and solid.
His gray beard, hanging down to his shoulders, was full of burn marks, and at his waist hung a hammer instead of a dagger.
“Oho… You brought the promised processed meat, did you not? Dried beast legs, I mean.”
“As you can see. We chose only the good ones. Go in and check for yourself.”
The gatekeeper stroked his beard and snorted.
“Good. Follow me, human. If you have been bluffing for nothing, you will be cut off before those beast legs are.”
He cackled and led the way.
Thinking this was my chance, I added from behind.
“We brought alcohol to go with it too!”
“What……?!”
At my childlike voice, the gatekeeper's eyebrows twitched. Being young was useful at times like this.
At the end of the long journey.
Now it was time to begin the real deal.