The Kingdom of Shardena, the mercenary guild headquarters located in the northeast.
It is the central hub for mercenary guilds across the continent, a place where more requests pile up than any other mercenary guild.
At the same time, at the mercenary guild headquarters, where the guild master himself exists, countless mercenaries were bustling, seeking to take on jobs to earn money.
“Isn’t this job pretty good?”
“Hmm………… isn’t the reward too small?”
“Hey, if you picked a request in front of you, don’t block the path and move!”
“Ah, you little… my ears are going to fall off. Stop shouting!”
Copper Badge, Silver Badge, Gold Badge.
As the badge rank increased, the number of people decreased, but as expected of the headquarters with the largest number of mercenaries, mercenaries of all three badge ranks filled the guild, loudly chatting away.
Of course, the highest rank, the Platinum Badge, did not exist, but those who held that rank were so rare that only six of them existed across the continent.
Seeing them in person was like picking stars from the sky, and just the fact that more than twenty Gold Badge mercenaries were visible within the guild was proof of the size of the headquarters.
And in contrast to the chaotic first floor of the guild, the Guild Master’s office on the third floor was incredibly quiet.
There, the Guild Master of the mercenary guild headquarters, also known by his alias as the Silver-Emblem Mercenary, Martin Valle, sat.
With a towering muscular frame over 190 cm, a fierce brown beard, similarly dark brown hair, and striking gray eyes, he sat in a giant chair that matched his build, reading reports.
Creak, creak─
Every time Martin’s body swayed back and forth, the old chair creaked with its aging joints.
“Heh… this is something. It’s only been a year since I bought it, but I guess I’ll need to order a new chair.”
At that sound, Martin, after stamping the report he had just finished reading, decided he would order a new chair soon and moved his gaze to the next report.
Flap, turning the page to the next report.
And just after turning the page, Martin furrowed his brow as he quickly scanned the contents of the report, and couldn’t help but voice his concern.
“Eh? What’s this?”
The report was about the recent clashes between underground organizations happening in various places across the city.
If it was just that, it would be a routine matter reported two or three times a day.
However, the place where these clashes had taken place was unusual, which prompted Martin to call for the vice guild master, who was handling reports next to him.
“Hey, Diona. Is this report for real? Did these underground guys really clash in the kingdom?”
“Ah, yes. Guild Master. It’s true. After checking, there was a clash in the southwest alley, where three civilian houses were partially destroyed.”
“These bastards… I didn’t respond harshly because they never caused chaos in the kingdom before, and now they’ve gone and stirred things up.”
“It seems that there is definitely some issue in the underground world recently. It’s rare for these guys, who are usually so tight-knit, to start fighting like this.”
Hearing Diona’s words, Martin nodded.
Although underground organizations occasionally had clashes, they mostly didn’t infringe upon each other’s territories, and when they did, they often cooperated with one another like cockroaches.
Because of that, even as recently as three or four years ago, there were only about ten instances of clashes between underground groups in a year.
But recently, there had been two or three, sometimes even four, a day. Something was clearly happening.
Then, what exactly was happening?
Martin had a rough idea about what was going on.
“Perhaps… someone is trying to dominate the underground world.”
“Really? Is that true?”
“Yeah, it wouldn’t make sense otherwise. The fact that there are so many clashes means there’s a common differentiating factor across the underground world. And the most likely scenario is that someone is trying to seize control, and it’s a matter of whether people supported or opposed him.”
“Uh… but what kind of crazy person would try to dominate the underground world?”
The underground world was a place where criminals, whose evil nature was openly visible, roamed freely.
And those who displayed their evil nature were no different than beasts, where normal reasoning didn’t apply.
So, what kind of madman would try to control them?
In response to Diona’s question, which seemed to express disbelief, Martin nonchalantly scratched his ear and replied.
“How would I know about that, huh? I’ve never met that bastard. And as for why they want to dominate the underground world… how am I supposed to know what goes through the mind of a lunatic?”
“Ah, that’s certainly true…”
Since three years ago, there had been signs of underground organizations converging in one place, so it seemed almost certain that someone was trying to dominate the underground world.
However, who that person was, what kind of person they were, remained unknown.
The only thing they could be sure of was that whoever it was, that person was definitely someone seriously crazy.
But that wasn’t the issue right now. What mattered was that the clashes caused by that someone had now reached the kingdom.
And while the nobles of the territories had been handling clashes in their cities, since they were happening in the kingdom now, Martin wasn’t going to sit idly by.
“First of all, if these underground guys have started fighting in the kingdom without knowing what they’re doing… we need to make it clear who’s in charge.”
“So, what method will we use…”
“Diona, issue a request to the mercenaries. Make it a guild request that remains active indefinitely. If they kill the underground guys fighting in the kingdom and bring back their heads, give them 1 silver coin; if they subdue them and bring them back alive, give them 10 silver coins.”
“Ah, that way, mercenaries will voluntarily start monitoring the kingdom. Understood. I’ll announce the request today.”
Some mercenaries might not be like that, but for the majority of mercenaries, the most important value was money.
Those who were confident in their martial skills and sought to make a fortune would become mercenaries by the hundreds or thousands each year, and just as many would disappear as mercenaries.
Because of this, nothing could move mercenaries as easily as money, and having money meant it was easier than anything else to mobilize the numerous mercenaries operating in the kingdom.
If eliminating a single underworld operative causing trouble in the kingdom was worth one to ten silver coins, it was certainly a price worth paying.
And for the mercenaries, it was money worth investing their time in.
If that particular request were to be posted today, even if trouble arose in a place unseen, numerous mercenaries would voluntarily capture the operatives.
There was no doubt about it.
“Alright, then if we handle it this way, there won’t be any problems.”
With the method figured out, a report that was resolved more easily than expected.
Thud.
Martin stamped the resolved report and immediately shifted his gaze to the next one.
It was still only morning, and there were many reports left to process, so there was no time to rest.
“Let’s finish before evening and go have a beer.”
“Sounds good, Guild Master.”
Before the sun set today, they would finish all the reports and drink cold beer to their heart’s content.
With that motivation burning within him, Martin turned the page to the next report.
Beep.
Before he could even read the first line of the next report—
With the sound of an incoming transmission and the blinking of the communication orb, Martin had no choice but to look up.
“Damn…Who’s calling me when I’m this busy?”
Who in the world would be contacting him at this hour?
It was still morning, just before the time when everyone got busy in the afternoon.
Who had the luxury to call him now?
And of all people, him—the Guild Master.
If it was a pointless call, he would ignore it and cut it off immediately.
Thinking that, Martin turned his gaze to the loudly ringing communication orb.
[Zenre Hyde]
“Huh? Zenre? What’s this guy calling for?”
Seeing the unexpected name floating in the air, Martin widened his eyes in surprise.
Zenre, the commander of the Shardena Knights.
Like himself, Zenre should also be busy with paperwork at this time, making this an entirely unexpected call.
And precisely because it was so unexpected, Martin chuckled and infused his mana into the communication orb.
Beep.
“Hello? Hey, what’s the occasion, Commander?”
[It’s been a while since I heard your voice, Martin. How have you been?]
As soon as he answered and greeted him, a familiar voice responded from the other side.
Hearing that voice for the first time in a while, Martin couldn’t help but laugh as he replied.
“Ha! I’ve been doing great. Things are so good these days, it’s almost a problem! Even those troublesome mercenaries have barely been causing issues lately.”
[Is that so? That’s a bit unfortunate.]
“Huh? You’re still the same with your words, huh? Ha ha!”
Unfortunate? What was that supposed to mean?
Was she implying she wanted Martin to be drowning in work?
The absurdity of the statement made Martin laugh again, but Zenre’s voice came back, filled with denial and even a hint of sympathy.
[It’s not that I wish you were busier. It’s just that those peaceful days might soon come to an end.]
“Huh? What do you mean? Why would my peaceful days disappear?”
[Because I’ll be heading to the capital with Master the day after tomorrow.]
“…What?”
Hearing those words, Martin instinctively responded with a question.
His hearing couldn’t have deteriorated already, but did he mishear something?
Of course, his reaction wasn’t because he didn’t want to see Zenre’s master, Kael.
Martin himself had also learned swordsmanship from Kael and respected him as a teacher.
So if Kael were coming to the capital, Martin would actually welcome it.
He was confident he could treat him well.
However, if the reason Zenre called it unfortunate was because Kael was coming, then it likely meant something negative for Martin.
And if Kael was causing trouble, the scale of that trouble would undoubtedly be massive.
Martin instinctively knew this without needing to calculate anything.
And sure enough—
[Master said he wants to work as a mercenary.]
At Zenre’s next words, Martin froze on the spot.
10 seconds, 20 seconds… His mouth hung open, dazed for so long that even drool threatened to drip.
And when he finally broke the silence, the words that came out summed up his situation in the crudest way possible.
“…I’m screwed.”