Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 177 (Part 1)

Most countries strictly forbid meetings between royal women and unrelated men.

In many places, even seeing the face of a royal woman could lead to punishment.

However, the Kingdom of Revain was not so strict.

The queen herself would show her face and stroll through the capital, and there were instances where the princess would roll up her sleeves to help commoners affected by flooding.

Because of that, the people of the Kingdom of Revain held a deep affection for the royal family.

Among all the countries on the Central Continent, only the people of Revain loved their royal family to such an extent.

Queen Regina, too, though she was the king’s wife, was not of a secluded nature. She did not hesitate to allow Scott directly into the carriage.

“Please have a seat, Sir Scott.”

“The title ‘Sir’ is too much. I’m merely a mercenary.”

“But I heard you’re a Fifth-Class swordsman. Isn’t that on par with a high-ranking knight?”

“Skill and status are separate matters. I am a mercenary, not a knight, and I take pride in the profession of a mercenary.”

There is always a reason when someone with the skills to become a knight chooses to remain a mercenary.

High-grade mercenaries did not particularly like being called “knight.” Perhaps they liked the mercenary profession, or perhaps they disliked the knightly one.

Scott was both. He disliked the stifling nature of being a knight and liked the freedom of being a mercenary.

“I see. That was my mistake. Scott, I called you because I had something I wanted to ask.”

“Please feel free to ask. I will answer honestly to the best of my knowledge.”

“The monster that appeared a while ago—was that an orc?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Queen Regina, too, had not a few experiences with monsters.

Especially some years ago, when she abruptly fled the Revain palace westward, she had encountered monsters nearly every three days.

However, this was the first time she had calmly watched a scene of a monster being handled.

Before, she had always been the one fleeing while the knights who escorted her stayed behind to deal with the monster.

“A moment ago, I thought that Mercenary Jena alone could have handled all the orcs. Was I correct?”

“Yes. The mercenary named Jena is by no means inferior to me in skill. She could have easily taken care of all the orcs.”

“Then why did she stop after only taking out half of them? Is there perhaps some kind of quota that requires only that much to be dealt with?”

Queen Regina had taken a strong interest in Jena.

Though they hadn’t even spent two full days together, her affection had grown naturally.

She had always lived with a sense of unease. Especially after fleeing the civil war, there hadn’t been a single moment she could feel at ease.

Yet, during the time she was under Jena’s protection, she had felt an incredible sense of security. For the first time in her life, she felt as though no matter what happened, she would remain completely safe.

“Ah! That was more like consideration among mercenaries. You could say she gave the other mercenaries a chance to earn merit by fighting the monsters as well.”

“A chance, you say? You’re saying battle is an opportunity?”

“There are two reasons for it. One is that it affects their value, and the other is that it impacts their rank promotion.”

“Please explain in more detail. I don’t know much about the world of mercenaries.”

At Queen Regina’s urging, Scott organized his thoughts. Soon after, he began to speak.

“Once a mission is completed, a report is written. That report details how many and what kind of monsters were encountered during the request, and also records what injuries were sustained during the process.”

“I know that. It’s reported to the Mercenary Guild, correct?”

Because of these reports, mercenaries who are illiterate suffer rank disadvantages, no matter how skilled they are. That’s why, among silver-ranked mercenaries and above, you sometimes find mercenaries studying to learn how to write.

“Yes. Based on those reports, the Mercenary Guild assigns a value score to each individual mercenary. It’s not the same as their rank. Depending on the value assigned, the Guild then recommends mercenaries to clients. Your Majesty likely made a request to the Mercenary Guild for protection and, sometime later, received a list of recommended mercenaries.”

“Ah! That’s right. You were recommended by the Guild too, weren’t you, Scott? They said you were a trustworthy mercenary.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. Lientas is a large city, and there are many mercenaries. I imagine hundreds of mercenaries applied to take on your request. But the number of recommended mercenaries must have been much smaller.”

Whom to recommend was the authority of the Mercenary Guild. Because of that, there were times when a mercenary was recommended simply because they were on friendly terms with someone at the Guild.

However, the responsibility also fell on the Mercenary Guild.

If a request failed or if a mercenary turned their blade the wrong way and threatened the client instead, the Mercenary Guild had to bear a portion of the responsibility.

“I see. So, they recommended someone trustworthy based on the contents of the report.”

“Yes. That’s why giving others a chance to shine is called ‘consideration’ among mercenaries.”

Though it was called “consideration,” only high-ranking mercenaries had the luxury to offer such things.

Without being a gold-rank or platinum-rank mercenary, it was impossible to have that kind of leeway.

“You also mentioned rank earlier. Does that relate to this too?”

“For silver-rank mercenaries and below, promotions are based purely on point accumulation. But gold-rank mercenaries can’t be promoted by points alone. The Mercenary Guild must also have the belief that ‘this person can be trusted with major requests’ before one can rise to gold rank.”

“And that trust includes monster handling, right?”

“To be precise, everything that happens during a mission is included in the report. Lighting the campfire, setting up tents, preparing meals, confronting monsters, protecting the client—literally everything.”

The higher a mercenary’s rank, the more credible their report becomes. That’s why lower-ranked mercenaries follow the orders of higher-ranked ones without complaint.
Once this mission ends, Rodin will also have to write a report detailing everything that happened during the assignment. Being a platinum-rank, his report will carry more weight than that of Scott, a gold-rank.

“I understand. So you have to slay more monsters, then.”

“Even a single phrase in the report can be crucial. For example, ‘The high-ranking mercenary stepped forward and took care of all the monsters’ is less beneficial than ‘Engaged in fierce combat with the monster and was injured.’ The latter implies that the mercenary put in sincere effort, even to the point of getting hurt.”

“Thank you. It must’ve been bothersome, but you explained it in great detail.”

“Not at all, Your Majesty. If there’s ever anything else you wish to ask, please don’t hesitate to summon me.”

Scott bowed his head deeply and exited the carriage.

Jena, though she was technically a lower-ranked iron-rank mercenary, was not someone either Queen Regina or Scott regarded as an ordinary iron-rank.

The journey continued without incident. Before long, they crossed the border of the Kingdom of Maven and entered the Kingdom of Sheldon.

“Karis, wear this.”

Rodin handed a black brooch to Karis, who was on the driver’s seat.

Karis, knowing what the brooch was, fastened it near the collar close to her ear.

“We’ll mostly be together, but for the times we aren’t.”

“Yes. I’ll use it when communication is needed.”

The brooch Rodin made contained a communication spell. He had simplified the magic circle by omitting the rune that transmitted images from the original communication spell.

Moreover, he made it use mana instead of magical energy, so even mages who were sensitive to magical energy wouldn’t be able to recognize it as an artifact.

Hyung_Otaku2

•