Chapter 60

After finishing the task, Ian and his companions happily returned to the Talian domain.

In exchange for lending 33% of his magic sword's power, Ian was to receive a certain amount of Fairy silk every month.

He also gets to study the Ancient Fairies' records to properly handle the magic of the magic sword.

"We don't really know how a magic sword like Anor-lsil could have been made."

The magic sword was said to have been possible because the Fairy Queen at the time had access to many rare materials.

It was a masterpiece born from the combination of skilled craftsmen from a talented race and rare materials.

"However, we do have records from that time, and we will organize and provide them to you."

"That would be great."

The Fairy technicians shouted several times to Ian as he was leaving the village.

"Ian! Next time, please make time for a thorough math discussion...!"

Ian was momentarily moved.

Math.

What a wonderful thing to have in common.

Ian, who had lived a life in another world, gladly accepted their proposal.

"Of course!"

To commemorate her meeting with Ian, the Fairy Queen gifted him two bracelets made of Fairy silk.

They were hastily made items, so the quality wasn't high.

They were basically just cloth tied in a circle.

However, the beautiful color of the Fairy silk made them look quite nice.

"I look forward to the day we meet again, Ian."

"Take care, Your Majesty."

Ian fiddled with the purple bracelet for a while, then shoved it into his pocket.

Honestly, Ian didn't feel good about it at all.

The mysterious purple color and the soft touch were nice, but...

After all, it was just a bracelet.

Even the bracelets sold at Daiso had some shape to them.

[A/N: Daiso is a popular Japanese retail store chain!]

This one was like a rolled-up glasses cleaner.

Now that he thought about it, it really did resemble a glasses cleaner.

So, Ian decided to just give the bracelets to the women.

"Is, is this for me?!

"… You're just giving it to me? Without anything in return?"

Lucy and Belenka reacted intensely.

Seeing them excited over the bracelet made him realize they were still girls after all.

"Yeah. It's just a gift. You all have been through a lot lately, right? Think of it as a souvenir from me."

The Fairy Queen probably hoped Ian would wear one on each hand...

Seeing the women's faces turn red with joy, Ian felt the gift was worthwhile.

Right.

A gift is only a gift if the recipient is happy.

What's the use of a bracelet, precious by another world's standards, if it just sits in Ian's pocket?

"Kyaa! Thank you so much, Ian!"

"I don't even know how to express my gratitude. It's my first time receiving such a gift..."

Lucy quickly wore the bracelet on her wrist and spent the entire day looking at it.

Belenka, instead of wearing it on her wrist, used it as a hair tie.

"How does it look, Ian?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, does it suit me?"

"..."

Belenka just looked at Ian with a face full of pure happiness.

If there were an app for analyzing emotions, it would definitely show 100% happiness on her face.

Ian found Belenka's expression fascinating because she had never shown such a face before.

Ah. There was a time she had a similar expression.

Like, when a chunk of her debt is paid off.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No... I just didn't expect you to like it. I thought you would prefer something more practical."

"Practical?"

"Yeah. Like a dagger or oil."

At Ian's words, Belenka made a face as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"A dagger? Where on earth would you find a woman who'd be happy to receive a dagger as a gift? Maybe a Pulcheon, but still."

Pulcheon is a multipurpose kitchen knife... that is, a chef's knife.

It's a useful item that housewives in another world would love.

"No..."

Ian awkwardly scratched his head.

In anime, female knights usually hate things that ordinary women like, right?

They'd say, 'Giving me something that only girls would use!'

That was the limit of Ian's understanding of women, learned from anime.

Contrary to Ian's strange preconceptions, Belenka liked ordinary things that most women would like.

"I've received a precious gift. Thank you so much, Ian."

Belenka said, showing off her ponytailed hair as if bragging.

Look, everyone, check out my awesome hair tie!

Seeing Belenka smiling brightly, Ian shrugged his shoulders.

It was an emotion difficult for Ian, a man, to understand.

Anyway.

Ian was happy to have acquired the magic sword, and Lucy and Belenka were happy to receive such precious gifts.

With the high and mighty in good spirits, the servants and slaves were also in a good mood.

But upon returning to the domain...

A not-so-pleasant guest had arrived.

The visitor to Talian was a scribe named Galadin.

He had traveled all the way from the Barony of Devosi, far to the east of Talian.

It wasn't a distance someone would travel just out of boredom.

The Barony of Devosi had 'absolutely' no connection with the Barony of Talian, to the point where it wasn't an exaggeration to say so.

The reason someone from that distant Barony came visiting...

Was because of a rumor that had started in Talian.

"No, mate. What's that you're being so careful with?"

"Hey! Don't touch it! It's cursed!"

As the territorial war in Talian was nearing its conclusion, mercenaries who had received their wages from Lucy scattered in search of their next battlefield.

Some mercenaries were lucky enough to find their next employer right away, while others continued their journey wherever their feet took them, eventually arriving in the Barony of Devosi.

The mercenaries active in the Barony of Devosi welcomed those who had come from Talian.

It was customary among mercenaries to warmly welcome fellow professionals.

This was to hear rumors from other places and, incidentally, to make acquaintances.

In this medieval fantasy world, networking was almost essential for making a living as a mercenary.

There were hardly any professional soldiers other than mercenaries in the Empire, simply because it couldn't afford them.

So, whenever something happened, mercenaries were inevitably hired.

But the thing is, the opposition would hire mercenaries too.

Since both sides employed mercenaries, it was all too common for them to come face to face.

Naturally, mercenaries don't like losing men.

Who in their right mind would want to die in battle?

So, when mercenaries who knew each other encountered one another on the battlefield...

"Hey? Bro! Ain't that you, bro!"

"Eh? Hemington? You're Hemington's kid?"

"Ah! Bro! Long time no see! How've you been?"

"Well, looking at how dark your face has gotten, seems like you've been doing well!"

...they naturally fell into camaraderie.

Would mercenaries who know each other actually fight?

Of course not.

Pretending to fight, they'd just bash each other's shields a bit and shout before casually slipping away where no one could see them.

People from Village A and Village B who hired the mercenaries would shout from afar, "Kill them! Kill all those bastards!"

But the mercenaries themselves would conspire with their leaders, rigging the outcome.

"Last time you won, bro, so this time, let me win."

"Wow, are you in a hurry these days?"

"There are a lot of lads retiring because they're getting married. Our mercenary group is barely hanging on. Please, go easy on us, bro."

"Alright, this time let's say you win."

"Thank you, bro!"

This is practically medieval professional wrestling.

After finishing their faux battle, the mercenaries head off to have dinner.

Sharp people might suspect, "Those bastards are in cahoots, aren't they?" and give them suspicious looks...

But even if they suspect, what can they do?

Will they pick up weapons and fight themselves?

Mercenaries claim they 'fought hard but lost~', and you're left with no choice but to believe them.

In the end, they pocket the money and keep their forces intact.

It's a sweet deal.

So, to keep enjoying these benefits, mercenaries make an effort to get along and engage in as much networking as possible.

The mixing of mercenaries from Devosi and Talian was a natural occurrence.

However, the mercenaries from Devosi noticed that the mercenaries from Talian were particularly fussy about one thing.

"Come on, I'll just take a quick look and give it back?"

"You keep asking to borrow it, what is it?"

The item that the Talian mercenaries were closely guarding...

Was a leather water bag.

They clutched it so tightly, one might mistake it for a baby wrapped in a swaddle.

"What kind of item is it?"

The Devosi mercenaries were genuinely curious about why the others were making such a fuss over it.

But when they learned the truth about the water bag, their eyes widened.

"It's a magic potion made by Wizard Raven!"

"A magic potion?!"

The Devosi mercenaries were shocked.

A magic potion?

How could a mere mercenary possess something even nobles desperately seek and can hardly obtain?

A wizard's items aren't something you can just buy with money.

First, a wizard has to make the item, and you need to be in good enough standing with them to purchase it.

Even if you tell a wizard, "Hey, make me a potion," would they listen?

The wizards who not even the Emperor of the Empire can ignore?

Since wizards only create when they feel like it, the value of items touched by a wizard's hand is truly immense.

And yet, these lowly humans were in possession of such a treasure...

"You stole it!"

"Not true! The wizard made it right in front of us and handed it out."

Despite the situation calling for camaraderie among mercenaries, the Talian mercenaries absolutely refused to share the wizard's potion with those from Devosi.

This was because there were people who had already experienced the potion's effects.

After fighting the army of the usurper Graham, the exhausted Talian mercenaries drank and applied the wizard's potion.

The effect was astonishing...

True to its name, the Potion of Vigor prevented wounds from worsening and revitalized the body!

Of course, the Potion of Vigor was actually just saltwater made by the charlatan potion-seller Ian.

It didn't contain a hint of magic.

However, whether the potion contained magic was entirely irrelevant.

The mercenaries drank Ian's saltwater and felt revitalized, and there were definitely those whose lives were saved by it.

It helped them escape from situations where they could have lost their lives!

The mercenaries who had their lives saved were ecstatic.

Wow!

This potion is so amazing it feels like it restores 350 health points!

Having proven its effectiveness on the battlefield, where lives hang in the balance, it's clear how valuable Ian's magic potion was.

From that moment, the mercenaries began to praise Wizard Raven.

Raven was hailed as an incredibly great wizard, commanding crows as minions and bringing forth dark shadows...

And so on and so forth.

Listening to the tales spun by the Talian mercenaries...

The Devosi mercenaries grew envious of them.

I mean, those bastards.

They hardly fought properly.

They'd run away at the slightest hint of losing. And they got a f*cking wizard's potion for free?!

They're like idiots who stumbled out of a lucky honey pot!

We should've gone to Talian.

Wasted our time loitering in the worthless land of Devosi for nothing.

There was a reason the mercenaries were loafing around Devosi.

Currently, Baron Devosi was dying of an unknown illness.

Baron Devosi had a legal wife and a second wife.

Unlike the female characters in typical otaku harem stories, the Baron's two wives did not get along at all.

Their relationship was so bad they wanted to eliminate each other.

Baron Devosi wanted to prevent division in his domain by leaving it to his first wife's eldest child.

But from the second wife's perspective, if the first wife's son became the Baron, they would get wiped out immediately.

But whether it was good luck or bad, Baron Devosi was unable to rise from his sickbed...

And in this gap, if one side could quickly eliminate the other, the survivor would become the next Baron.

That was the scenario.

The mercenaries were skulking around Baron Devosi's domain, smelling blood in the water.

They were waiting for a fight to break out.

Little did they know, a free potion event was happening in Talian!

"Anyway. They say Raven has miraculous powers."

"Miraculous powers?"

"I heard that he once hunted a manticore in the domain of Count Catina. That time, believe it or not, Raven saved a dying knight with holy magic!"

"Holy magic! Then he must be extremely devout?"

"It seems so. He's someone who can call forth Heaven's miracles."

It made sense why Wizard Raven could create the Potion of Vigor.

If his faith was that deep, Heaven must have been moved to allow him to create the Potion of Vigor!

The more the Devosi mercenaries heard, the more they envied the guys from Talian.

Sob, sob. I know how to drink potions too!

Anyway.

The rumors about the great dark wizard, 'Ian Eredith Raven', spread rapidly from mouth to mouth among the mercenaries.

And those rumors...

Reached the ears of Galadin, a scribe of Baron Devosi, who was keeping an eye on the mercenaries' movements.

"Holy magic... Heavenly miracles... And the Potion of Vigor..."

Galadin looked at his Lord, who couldn't rise from his sickbed, and thought.

'We've tried every reputed remedy. But nothing has worked.'

The reason for the chaos in Baron Devosi's domain was entirely because the Baron was bedridden.

Medicines were useless.

Prayers from priests had no effect.

But...

Ian Eredith Raven. What about his magic?

"I must meet Wizard Raven!"

Galadin set off to verify the rumors himself, riding directly to the Talian domain.

However, Raven was not in the domain. He had temporarily left with Baron Talian.

So, he waited.

Perhaps heaven intervened, for Ian soon returned.

Galadin blocked Ian's path and shouted in a stern voice.

"You! Wizard Raven! You filthy scammer!"

"...?"

Ian was taken aback by the sudden insults from the man.

Sir, this isn't the right place for this.

However, as Galadin's rebuke continued, Ian felt a sinking feeling in his chest.

"Did you think I wouldn't find out about you deceiving mercenaries, passing off fake potions as magical ones!"

"!!!"

Recalling how he had tricked the mercenaries with saltwater as a Potion of Vigor, Ian broke out in a cold sweat.

How did he know it was a fake potion!