“Everything’s going quite smoothly, isn’t it? It looks like we won’t have to step in.”
The man walking slowly at the front of the carriage muttered.
The refreshing air tickled his nose as it filtered through the leafy underbrush that sheltered them from the warm sunlight.
The horses moved steadily forward, matching the pace of the people, and there were no obstacles in sight.
As the gentle breeze brushed against his cheek, it felt as if they were enjoying a leisurely break.
“Don’t get too relaxed, Kim. We’re now Silver.”
“Must you really ruin the mood like that?”
As a woman with red hair, who was close to him, lightly scolded him and made eye contact, the man named Kim turned away with a tsk.
At that moment, the silver plate hanging around his neck glimmered.
The plates that served as proof of being a mercenary were divided into five categories: wood, copper, silver, gold, and platinum.
Wood represented the newly minted mercenaries—those who had never even harmed a person before.
They were mostly individuals whose lives were tough and hard, beginning mercenary work in hopes of a little reversal, and despite becoming mercenaries, they still had to lead a harsh life.
Tasks involving risking their lives to slay monstrous creatures for payment were often beyond their reach.
Most of their work consisted of running errands for the territory or gathering herbs, and those who came to wield sharp swords for money and fame still engaged in trivial jobs, unable even to afford an inn, spending each day sleeping in stables to survive.
Yet paradoxically, their survival rate was even higher than that of gold and platinum ranked mercenaries.
This was because their jobs were simple and safe, and as long as they completed a certain number of requests, they could quickly advance to the copper rank.
As they struggled to save every penny for food, clothing, and washing, when they finally upgraded to copper rank wearing the cheap short swords sold at the blacksmith’s or ill-fitted leather armor, they realized something:
They would not become heroes.
The survival rate, which had been quite high just before that level, plummeted sharply from the copper rank, falling into a downward spiral.
Tasks involving sea monsters or magical beasts.
It was now far too common for those who had never even swung a sword to head towards a village invaded by goblins and return with nothing but copper plates, having failed to take a single head or finger.
Even if they managed to catch goblins, the fees for the requests, the cost of damaged equipment, and the healing potions added up strangely, leaving them in a constant state of stagnation.
Only when they could turn the money earned from there into a profit could they finally become a true mercenary—Silver rank.
Kim whistled as he received his first request after attaining Silver rank, which was quite simple.
Just escorting a traveling merchant moving to another territory would net him four silver coins.
One silver coin was about 1 million won.
“By the way… do you really think it’s true? That rumor…?”
A brown-haired man, who squeezed in between Kim and the woman reprimanding him, murmured.
“Zenki, do you believe that? If a dragon saw your fearsome mace, it would probably run away in shock.”
Kim, who knew from rumors why they were paying so much for a simple escort request, smiled lightly in response to the worried man.
A dragon had appeared.
This rumor had spread in the Evergarden territory, but no one believed it.
Is it even possible? A dragon!
“Honestly, I hope it does appear. Even if I die, I’d want to see the magic of the great dragon, the source of all magic…!”
As soon as the mention of the dragon came up, Hincel, who had been walking at the back of the carriage and tapping the ground with his staff, approached them with sparkling eyes, clenching his hands tightly.
“They say magicians must be a little off in the head, and looking at you, that seems to be the case.”
“Be quiet. This is why those who don’t understand magic… tsk.”
Hincel, who was muttering to himself with his tongue clicking in response to Kim’s jibe, was the first to approach Kim while he was gathering temporary team members for this request.
Although he seemed like a madman whose eyes had spun at the mere mention of a dragon, when he mentioned having studied magic at the academy, Kim eagerly invited him to join the party.
Of course, later on, he found out that Hincel had dropped out midway through his studies at the academy, but when Hincel argued, ‘Didn’t I learn magic at the academy, after all?’ Kim fell silent.
“Hey, you guys! Aren’t you getting too relaxed?!”
As the party members chatted while walking in front of the carriage, the merchant—who had boarded in front—called out, pointing out their behavior.
“Don’t worry. Though we may look like this, this friend here is remarkable when it comes to perception; I can see clearly all the way to that distant tree.”
“In the end, it’s just me who’ll suffer, right?! Of course, I won’t let my guard down, so rest assured, I’ll keep an eye on the surroundings.”
“In that case… I believe you’ll do well.”
With the merchant’s shout, Kim reassured Hannah by patting her shoulder, and although the rogue who had been vigilant all along yelled out, Hannah added a word to ease the employer’s anxiety, finally getting the merchant to nod.
“By the way, merchant, are you really saying a dragon is coming? Isn’t that just nonsense?”
As Kim casually approached the merchant, he asked while scratching the back of his head.
“Hmm, the rumor about a dragon is probably complete nonsense. But the merchants who fled and claimed to be victims are all rambling about dragons, so everyone thinks something’s up.”
“Could it be mind-control magic or something? Old man?”
“Don’t talk nonsense, rookie. There can’t be a magician capable of that level of magic in a rural area like this. If there were, they wouldn’t be doing something as pointless as revealing their location.”
“Is that so?”
Kim nodded at Hincel’s interruption regarding magic.
“Well, that’s what they say. Especially among the merchants who claim to have been victimized, none lost their lives. The only injured were those who tripped while running away.”
“What? So someone using strange magic or tricks didn’t actually harm anyone? Then what are they doing?”
“The only peculiar point is that… they fled, leaving all their carts behind. And according to the people who crawled back the next day to retrieve their belongings, both the carts and the tied-up horses were intact. The only oddity is… that only the food supplies disappeared.”
“What does that even mean? Aren’t they just bandits?”
“If they were bandits, they would’ve taken everything. Would they really go through the trouble of just taking the food?”
“Exactly, what could it be? What is their true identity?”
“Ah… or maybe… the dragon is actually just enjoying itself, doing this for fun… oh, could it be…?”
“If that’s true, it’s a dragon with way too much free time on its hands.”
“Anyway, whatever comes, I’ll just slice it with this sword!”
Merchants claiming they saw a dragon; all that was lost was food inside the cart.
It was a perplexing and difficult-to-understand situation, and while Kim racked his brain, he soon gave up and tapped the scabbard of his bastard sword hanging at his waist, flashing a grin.
Just then, their peaceful and smooth escort mission continued.
“Anyway, don’t get too cocky just because you’ve become Silver rank….”
“…Hannah?”
“Shh.”
Hannah, who had been prattling on, suddenly stopped and raised her hand.
“What is it? Why did you stop so suddenly?”
“…Merchant, I think we’ve hit the jackpot?”
“Hoo, huh…”
Unlike the merchant, who tilted his head and continued speaking at Hannah’s sudden signal, Kim and the party members had already adeptly prepared for battle.
“Everyone, we need to halt for a moment.”
Swish—
Kim drew the long bastard sword from his scabbard at his waist, and Zenki, holding a heavy shield and a fearsome mace in both hands, took a deep breath and steadied his shield.
Then, at the back of the procession, the magician, Hincel, raised his staff and drew upon his magical power.
This was Hannah’s signal.
Unlike Zenki, who was lured in by Hincel, who needed a solid tank for this mission, Kim had been part of the same team with Hannah since their time in the copper rank.
And Kim could be sure of one thing:
Hannah’s signal must be trusted.
In fact, during their time as copper rank mercenaries, Kim had experienced several life-saving moments thanks to Hannah’s perception abilities, and now he moved naturally at her signal without even a hint of doubt.
“Hannah, where are you?”
“Hannah?”
As Kim cautiously asked Hannah while establishing a perimeter for vigilance, he sensed that something was off in the atmosphere.
“I-I don’t know…! There’s definitely something… something enormous and overwhelming nearby, but… I can’t gauge its location…!”
“What? What do you mean?!”
Hannah, who had never missed spotting anything that entered her domain until now, was frantically shouting with her forehead covered in cold sweat—a sight Kim had never seen during their past missions together.
“It’s as if… everything around us is shrouded in fog… This can’t be…! We need to run!”
Kim and Zenki exchanged glances in confusion, their grip on their weapons tightening at the scene unfolding in front of them.
Rattle!
Then, as the earth suddenly trembled, it sent a chill down Kim’s spine, and he instinctively twisted his head around.
This was the first moment when they all realized that what Hannah sensed was something extraordinarily powerful.
“That can’t be…”
Suddenly, as if bursting through the underbrush, a large figure appeared from the forest, leaving the party members breathless.
A creature over ten times larger than a man stood before them.
Its body was a gleaming azure, while its wings resembled crystal, radiating in shades of light.
They could only see the reflection in its eyes.
Its majestic form stood unmoving like a dragon, surrounded by an unapproachable aura.
A dragon.
A dragon unlike any that had existed before.
“C-Calm down! Hannah!”
Finally, Kim shouted as he watched Hannah, who usually maintained her composure and always resolved her assignments neatly, hesitate and step back.
But even he couldn’t help but notice that the tip of his bastard sword was visibly trembling in his hand.
“H-Hannah! Kim! Something’s wrong with Old Man Hincel!!!”
“What?”
Kim turned his head towards Zenki, who was shouting in bewilderment at the sudden situation, glancing back to where Hincel was.
Then, Hincel muttered, “Ah. It’s all over. He is coming…”
Thud, thud…
Hincel dropped the staff he had been holding he had always claimed that a staff was an inseparable object for a magician and blankly stared at the sky while mumbling something.
“Old man! What are you talking about?! What’s over? What’s coming?!”
“Don’t resist, accept it. What a midday human can block is nothing, we are merely insignificant creatures in front of him… the black flame that brings destruction is coming.”
“Destruction… black flame… wait, no way? Old man, are you losing it? Get a grip… damn it, get a grip, you old fool!!!!!!!!!”
“Don’t resist.”
“Insignificant creatures.”
“The black flame that brings destruction.”
Kim understood that there was only one being encompassing all of this.
Thud—thud—
The ground shook.
“Heeheehee!!!”
“Eek…!”
The two horses at the front of the carriage were frothing at the mouth and going wild, but their legs had given way, and they collapsed.
The birds that had been holding their breath in the forest, preening their feathers, were now flying around to the extent that they covered the sky.
As the rumbling of the earth grew louder from afar, it became hard to even stand still.
“Ahhhhh…!!!”
“We’re all going to die! We’re all going to die! We’re all going to die! We’re all going to die! We’re all going to die! We’re all going to die! We’re all going to die! We’re all going to die!”
Zenki, who had been gripping his shield and mace so tightly that his palms were sweating, threw them aside and landed on his backside, his pants getting damp.
Hannah, who was bowing her head to the ground with tears streaming down her face, was muttering crazily.
“What is happening…! Hey! This can’t be… no way?”
The merchant, who had simply felt bewildered and was looking around, had his hands shaking uncontrollably, and the reins he had been gripping had already fallen to the ground.
While everyone was in a state of madness, Kim, who was alone holding the bastard sword, began to feel a tingling in his legs.
The rumbling of the earth stopped.
And Kim realized that the sunlight that had been shining down on them just moments ago had vanished.
“It’s here.”
With Hincel’s single remark, Kim slowly lifted his head to look at the sky.
“Ah.”
Clang—
The bastard sword slipped from Kim’s hand and rolled across the ground.
At first, he thought it was just a dark void.
It didn’t take long for him to realize it was simply an ‘eye.’
Insignificant mortal… I, the harbinger of death.
The one who maintains the eternal night of darkness.
Tenebrix Nox.
From a massive mouth that seemed ready to spew forth an eternally burning black flame, words flowed out.
If you wish to cling to that bug-like life, leave!! You insignificant creatures who look up to the god that annihilates you, in the territory of Tenebrix Nox that breathes this black flame!!!!!!!!!!
Kaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!
At the same time, a scream that seemed ready to tear their eardrums apart engulfed them, and Kim, who had been standing on his two legs, felt his legs give way beneath him.
This is death.
If death were to manifest and appear before you, this is how it would feel.
“E-Everyone… run for your lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
But even as Kim trembled with his legs giving way, he squeezed out the last drop of courage he had left and shouted.
“Gah?!”
“Huuh?!”
“Eek?!”
At that moment, those who had just been blankly staring at Tenebrix Nox, the Black Dragon, gasped and inhaled sharply, and they started to run away in a panic.
And the Black Dragon simply watched them without giving chase.
No, in fact, as the mercenaries wept and wet themselves while running, they soon felt the dragon’s presence dissipating.
It was then that the number of lunatics claiming to have seen the Black Dragon had increased to five.
Of course, no one believed them.
The idea of a Black Dragon was far too ridiculous to take seriously.