EFWM 12

Chapter 12

She quickly grabbed her bow.

Creeeak— She drew the bowstring back with a long pull of her arm.

With quick glances, she aimed at the wyvern.

‘……’

In her head, she calculated how many arrows were left in her quiver.

After hitting every target—

She would draw the short sword strapped to her thigh and leap into the sky.

If she did that—

‘I can take down more of them.’

Competitive spirit.

A fiery desire for victory burned in her blood.

She had to win. Losing here meant only one thing—death.

* * *

Erika was a mess.

Her clothes, her hair, her mind.

She had missed her landing point and tumbled down a hill after jumping off at the wrong moment.

‘I almost broke my spine.’

She tapped her lower back.

She blamed the pitch-black night sky after sunset for her mistake.

The moment her feet touched the ground properly, exhaustion came flooding in. She hadn’t planned on going this hard from the first day.

She had flown like mad trying to dry out Mr. Rujis Wyvern—she deserved a medal from the lord himself for her efforts.

Of course, there was no drying out Mr. Wyvern.

Way up in the sky, the wyverns were still shrieking and screeching.

There were just too many of them.

Wyvern nests were hidden deep in the mountains, and with no predators nearby, Rujis might be doomed to live with them forever.

Still, in order to prevent damage to the nearby villages, regular subjugation missions were a must.

It was rewarding work in its own way.

Far better than lame escort requests for merchant goods—demon-beast subjugation requests were five hundred times more fulfilling.

So today, she was doing meaningful work—

“Beer. Beeeeer…!”

She needed a drink.

She had to go to the inn right away, wash off, and chug a nice cold beer to get her head straight.

Erika hurried her steps. The sun had set, and it was dark.

Crackle—

In front of the temporary camp of the Rujis Gorge Wyvern Response Team, the fire pit was lit.

This was where the day’s pay was calculated and handed out.

When Erika entered the settlement tent, there was already another mercenary inside getting his payout.

The back of his head was familiar. Deep navy hair like the night sky.

The guy who’d talked about making a bet while in mid-air earlier.

‘What was his name again?’

She walked up, tempted to smack the back of his head and say hi, but she couldn’t remember his name, so she just approached slowly.

“Hmm, maybe thirty?”

She froze at the sound of his voice.

“Oh ho, thirty? You’re saying you took down thirty by yourself? Not just bragging?”

“I got too excited halfway through and lost count. I’m not sure exactly.”

“Alright. When the sun rises tomorrow, we’ll count the bodies. Thirty, huh…”

Thirty? Did he just say thirty?

Heh. I win.

She tried to hide her smirk as she stepped forward. She was in a very good mood now.

“Erika, for payment.”

Thud, she placed her S-class mercenary badge on the table.

Then she glanced at the man beside her.

Their eyes met.

“You’re late.”

“Late? I came as soon as the sun went down.”

“Your name’s Erika? Cute.”

“…What was your name again?”

“Chaud.”

“Right. Your name’s so weird I can never remember it.”

“That’s the first I’ve heard that.”

Chaud chuckled as he brushed his forehead. It was a helpless laugh.

And then he asked naturally:

“How many?”

“More than you.”

Erika crossed her arms and glared at him confidently.

Chaud was tall, and his body was packed with muscle.

To meet his lowered gaze, Erika had to tilt her head way back.

Someone might’ve felt intimidated by the size difference, but not her.

She had taken down more wyverns! That meant she won!

“You caught more wyverns than I did?”

“Yeah! I got a whop—”

“I lost.”

“……”

“Let’s go. Drinks on me.”

“……?”

She hadn’t even said how many she took down yet.

He accepted defeat without even checking?

“……”

Something about this felt oddly annoying. Her eyes narrowed.

“What? You don’t drink?”

“…Who said that?”

She just didn’t have the money.

Who would ever say no to free booze? Not to mention she’d been craving beer anyway.

“…You just made a big mistake.”

Erika smugly clasped her hands behind her back and narrowed her eyes arrogantly.

“You’ll probably end up spending your whole payout today on my drinks.”

Bluffing was second nature to Erika.

Her actual tolerance was about a drop in a bucket, but she loved alcohol so much that she’d convinced herself she could drink like a fish.

“Well, if we run out of money mid-drink, I can help cover.”

“So you do drink a bit?”

“Of course.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Chaud replied in a tone that made it hard to tell whether he was teasing or serious.

With his eyes lowered like that, he didn’t exactly look like he was listening seriously.

“……”

In front of the two, on the table—

Scratch, scratch.

The pen scratched across the paper with mechanical precision.

The bespectacled Rujis administrative officer was too busy working.

He stamped the completed payment documents for the mercenary request.

Then he returned the verified mercenary badges.

Thunk, two badges were placed on the desk.

[Erika]

• Rank: S-Class

• Affiliation: Pessenik Mercenary Corps

• Guild: Southern Guild

• Specialties: Melee combat, ranged combat, reconnaissance, demon beast subjugation, escort, transport, gathering, pursuit, VIP rescue, naval combat

[Chaud]

• Rank: S-Class

• Affiliation: —

• Guild: Eastern Guild, Central Satellite City Guild

• Specialties: Melee combat, ranged combat, reconnaissance, demon beast subjugation, escort, transport, gathering, pursuit, strategic command, anti-personnel combat

The officer assumed the two of them were an established “pair” of mercenaries.

They were both among the top 1% of the continent’s mercs, and their long list of similar specialties made it a natural assumption.

‘…Why do they both have so many specialties?’

Usually, most people only had one to three.

Specialties had to be verified and granted by a governing guild—basically a certificate of skill.

Even for a veteran like the officer, this was the first time seeing two such flashy merc badges at once.

“Loud.”

“It’s Chaud. This is the third time I’ve told you.”

“Right, Chaud. Has anyone ever told you your way of speaking and looking down at people is super annoying?”

“That’s the first I’ve heard.”

“Liar. You’ve probably heard it a hundred times, right? Are you a habitual liar?”

“Habitual liar…? Wow, I’ve seriously never been called that before in my life.”

“How has no one said this to you before? Wait—have you never actually met people? Are you some reclusive shut-in who—”

“No way. I’ve worked as a merc in the East for ages. But seriously, no one’s ever said weird stuff to me like you do.”

“Wait, are you saying I’m weird? Wow, you’re really rude.”

Bicker, bicker.

Like long-time friends, the two argued back and forth—despite only meeting that day.

The administrative officer had no idea.

“……”

He just wanted both of them to grab their merc badges and leave.

* * *

At the village inn—

The first floor served as a tavern and restaurant, while the rooms for rent were upstairs.

A common layout seen almost anywhere.

It was late evening, and the first floor was packed. Drinking parties had long since begun.

At one of the tables along the wall—

“…Hic.”

The table was already stacked with empty bottles.

Roll—another bottle emptied.

“You’re not bad.”

Tipsy, Erika pointed a finger.

Across from her, Chaud rested his chin on his hand and watched her.

“You weren’t bad either.”

They were talking about different things.

Erika was referring to Chaud’s drinking skills.

Chaud was talking about Erika’s amazing form as she took down wyverns in the sky.

For a while, they just sat there, sipping drinks and glancing at each other.