Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 34 (Part 2):

Paul smiled slyly, a smile that seemed to drip with coldness.

He, who held the real power in the Tariq Mercenary Corps, was known to be cunning as a snake, a cold-blooded rumor.

Paul never stepped forward unless absolutely necessary. Even during minor conflicts with the Pace Mercenary Corps or when Kelop was plotting something, he just watched the situation with his arms crossed.

Phien thought of him as neutral.

But Paul thought, if a crisis could be used to knock out a competitor, then it was a good opportunity.

“Mr. Miles, you knew the relationship between Tariq and Pace wasn’t good yet hired both. You should know we wouldn’t unilaterally take care of Pace’ problems. You had to have anticipated this situation.”

“I thought you’d cooperate to fulfill the commission. I didn’t expect such indiscrimination.”

“You must not have expected this situation. A dangerous commission with wrong information. If we were to fight monsters like these, you should have hired at least 50 men. How many do we have here?”

Being stingy had brought them to a situation where the mercenary corps could be wiped out, making the caravan infamous.

Miles’ expression twitched. He indeed had estimated the personnel based on the danger of the mission.

But trying to save costs, he ended up estimating a bit too conservatively.

“It’s true that things have gotten difficult because of my mistake. But we agreed to pay for it. The Butan Trading Company intends to pay a fair price for the mercenaries’ hard work!”

“Of course. But that’s if we live to escape this forest. If we die, all those thoughts become meaningless, as you know. The situation is not favorable. This is a battlefield, and there’s no capacity to care for the injured. We might all be annihilated.”

In such a situation, if the caravan fled and abandoned the mission, the Tariq Mercenary Corps’ reputation might suffer, but it would be offset by the fact it was an unreasonable request.

However, going to extremes against a large trading company like Butan was a difficult choice for the mercenary corps.

Paul and Miles were just eyeing each other, and eventually, Miles threw in the towel.

“Just hold out for a few more days, until we get out of the forest. Somehow…”

“The best method is to leave the wagons here and only escape with the people. Since it’s a deserted area, if we’re lucky, when we come back with a lot of mercenaries, everything will still be intact. That way, it’s fine for the Pace Mercenary Corps to just escape with their lives. Will you do that?”

Miles had no other choice. The mission items were not something that could be exchanged for less than ten mercenaries.

If the mission items were lost, he would have to pay a huge compensation, and he would be reprimanded by the caravan leader.

Miles would be in an unbearable situation.

“So, your plan is…”

“When an attack comes from behind, we abandon the back, including the wagons, and escape. Since their numbers are few and the attack will be concentrated there, the monsters won’t pay attention to the front. Meanwhile, we break through the forest.”

“……Move the goods. But what you’re talking about…”

“We’ll see how it goes. Don’t worry.”

Paul smiled. It was a smile like that of a snake showing its fangs.

*

“It was rather quiet last night. That’s a relief.”

“Yeah, there was only one attack, right?”

“It seems like we’ve thinned out the monsters living in this forest.”

The people of the Pace Mercenary Corps talked while having breakfast.

Soon they would all be silent as they set off, but it was the only time they could afford to have a conversation. Phien said.

“Miles said if it’s unavoidable, it’s okay to abandon the last wagon. It seems they changed the cargo last night.”

“Then, mostly food must be in the back wagons, right?”

“Yeah, food can be resupplied once we get out of this cursed forest. Hey, Helmut!”

“Yes.”

“Soon, we might need to see your hunting skills. There are some big eaters here, so you’ll have to run around a lot.”

“Yes.”

Helmut pondered for a moment whether to talk about what he had heard.

He was just about to enter the nearby forest to gather more firewood.

No one had truly recognized his skills yet, but since he had been acknowledged to some extent, Helmut had become free to move around alone.

During this time, he overheard Miles and Paul gathering together and talking.

Helmut instinctively killed his presence. He was more than fifty steps away, so it wasn’t that he was eavesdropping; it just so happened that he heard them. His hearing was exceptionally good.

‘Abandon the Pace Mercenary Corps, use them as shields and escape.’

That was their plan. Helmut knew that this wasn’t a common decision among humans.

‘Is this what betrayal is?’

The betrayal that Darrien had suffered. Probably the first betrayal he witnessed in the human world.

The people of the Pace Mercenary Corps didn’t know anything and were burning with the will to endure just today.

‘If I tell Phien, what would he do?’

He might confront Miles.

But there was no evidence. The evidence was only Helmut’s words. Even if Phien believed Helmut, he wasn’t the type to give up the commission and escape the forest by themselves.

This fact could lower the morale of the Pace Mercenary Corps.

‘They might blatantly abandon us now if they know that we found out.’

Yesterday’s battle had been hard. There were also three injured. Since the Pace Mercenary Corps was tight-knit, they wouldn’t abandon anyone.

Then, knowing their intentions were discovered, the other side might more readily decide to abandon the entire Pace Mercenary Corps.

Helmut quietly sorted out his thoughts.

‘If this goes on, the situation where three second-rank mercenaries collaborate to beat that monkey monster won’t happen. Then, it’s only me who can catch it. I can’t hide my skills. Then, the fewer people who witness my skills, the better.’

It was rather a good opportunity.

Finn, who had realized Helmut was a strong swordsman, didn’t connect Helmut with the Forest of Roots at all.

When prompted to guess about his past, Finn crafted a whole creative novel where Helmut might have lived with a retired swordsman deep in the forest and was chased here by the swordsman’s enemy.

He even added a speculation that Helmut might actually be from a noble family that was annihilated.

Although some parts uncomfortably matched, that allowed Helmut to be confident in revealing his skills.

‘If someone guesses the relationship between the Forest of Roots and me.’

Helmut would have to silence them. Even if it meant killing.

Fortunately, that wasn’t necessary. The scenario Finn provided would be useful later.

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