A Merc's Belief

Rain didn't know how he got there.

A few days ago, he decided to approach the master of the heroes, Coin, with the idea that would benefit both of them in the long run: acting as the intermediary between her and the outside world with their "business" of commissioning heroes. At first, he thought that Coin must have planned that all along. Why else would they divulge important information to them so willingly.

But he was immediately shot down as soon as he brought it up.

"None of those are secrets, though?" was Coin's response.

She said none of the wonderful things they've seen or heard were confidential. Instead, they were simply common knowledge that had been forgotten. A good example was the cave that contained the well. Practically everybody knew what those places were in the past, as the demon lord of that time was an eccentric person who traveled the continent as an adventurer. And in every place where the demon lord fought a hard battle, deep holes in the ground were left as an aftermath. However, the later generations have entirely forgotten about it for some reason.

As to why, even Coin had no idea.

On top of that, there was another problem with his suggestion.

"Without these coins I can make, the heroes are just normal people. Kinda sad, but I can only make a few of these every month. That's why we rely on rumors instead of a public listing or announcement like mercenaries do. There's no way we can catch up with all the commissions if everybody knew we were real."

With just a few lines, Rain and Snow's big plan to become rich crumbled into pieces. But their suggestion gave Coin another idea.

********************

"What's the difference between that and your previous bright idea?"

Hornet watched as the same hero with a witch's hat asked, perhaps not defiantly, but her voice still had a tone of obstinacy. Everybody tensed up and listened. It was an important question. After all, the only reason why Coin would put Rain up there would be because it was a decision that would affect all of them.

"It's different because… I'm not looking to hire you as heroes but as fellow mercenaries. This means there won't be any Binding Tokens to be rationed."

Another round of silence came over the audience.

No tokens? But that was the only thing that allowed the heroes to use their abilities when they weren't underground. Without them, they could only choose to be ordinary people or… suffer the same things Hornet did. And nobody wanted that. Hero or not, some things were avoided for a reason.

"You… do know we're not different from you without those, right?" the witch asked. "Why don't you just hire others? I'm sure you won't have any problems getting people with the money you have."

"Because I believe in heroes now."

Rain's answer was immediate and short, almost as if he had thoroughly convinced himself of that fact. And it hit Hornet hard. Her lips dragged themselves towards her ears in a big smile.

"But. Real heroes don't exist outside anymore. The word just gets tossed around by anyone now."

As Rain recounted their experiences, Hornet felt her intoxicated heart beat fiercely. Her brows knitted together, and her hands curled into painful fists. How dare they sully the word, she thought. Unfortunately, she was only one of a handful of heroes who cared about it. But the one thing that tied everybody together was their desire to help needy people. That was evident from the rising tension and anger from the crowd.

Of course, none of them weren't aware of the situation. Some were public figures like Rex, who had witnessed them firsthand. Yet, hearing it from somebody from the outside was different. Having experienced working with those people themselves, their stories were more vivid and, thus, more agitating.

"That's why I want everybody to believe in heroes, too. Even if you can't use your abilities, I don't think you people consider yourselves heroes just because of that."

He was right. It wasn't their powers that made them heroes; it was their actions. Bunny, who stood beside Coin in the distance, also looked quite impressed.

Overall, it was a great offer. Aside from the opportunity, it would allow them to go outside the cave, even for mundane reasons. The reason why most of them couldn't without any business outside was that they were often unruly. Only the disciplined ones were let out to work on their own projects. Otherwise, Coin worried they would just use their abilities without a token and…

Anyway, at least with Rain's offer, they will finally be able to go out and help others as much as they like with supervision that their master approves of. Hornet felt quite optimistic about it.

But then, the witch raised her hand again.

"I have one more question. While what you said does sound appealing… who will be at the head of all this?"

Rain opened his mouth to answer, but Coin walked up to his side and shook her head just as he did. She then turned to the crowd and said:

"This will have nothing to do with me. You can think of this as a hobby or a part-time job. I mean, a side job. These two will manage everything. They will be your bosses."

She didn't stop to let the information sink in. The crowd's subsequent clamoring was quickly silenced by Coin's voice.

"The mercenary company will also serve as Twilight Dusk's front. Only commissions that can't be handled normally will pass through to me. That's basically it. Of course, everybody's free to come and go here, and I can pull you out for a commission anytime I want to. But, if you join these two, you'll also have to take orders from them."

Even with a concession like that, Hornet knew, for sure, that they would all refuse to join after hearing the punchline. Coin was their master and leader for a reason. They all swore loyalty to her as heroes because it was the only way for them to achieve their goals… which were, unfortunately, much higher in their priorities than helping the public. That was why it shook them as a group to realize that she was essentially advocating a way for them to detach themselves from her. In addition, even though she said she could take them away when she needed them, when would that be? They weren't getting many clients then, and there were enough of them that Coin could take on dozens of commissions simultaneously.

On top of that, there was the matter of trust.

"Those interested in joining them, there will be a form to fill out at the lobby here. That is all."

********************

"How do you think it went?"

Rain and Snow were summoned several days later to the main mansion for a meeting. Coin snacked on a cookie as she sat in her office with her feet on her desk. Compared to her leisurely disposition, the mercenaries sat, shrunken in their place in anxiety.

"You two don't seem so confident."

Coin stood up and fetched a kettle from the fireplace. With it, she served the nervous couple a cup of tea each before she sat back in her seat.

"Don't worry. There were some volunteers, so you won't have to personally solicit people."

She pulled a thin stack of papers from a drawer and dropped them unceremoniously on the desk. The one on top was a registration form for the mercenary company.

After the incident that led to the dissolution of the Adventurers Guild several decades ago, their successors, the mercenary companies, were all required to tie themselves down to a country. While this severely limited their freedom and allowed them to be used as war potential, it at least prevented them, who possessed a collective ability and experience that surpassed that of any knightage, from gathering and rebelling like the adventurers did.

Sure enough, a state's seal was already pressed with bright red ink on the paper.

"Your mercenary company will be tied to Solycis. Unfortunately, we have few connections with your kingdom, so we can't file it where you're comfortable."

Since the state handled the registration procedures, it tended to get bogged down by the usual issues. When Rain and Snow registered for themselves, two weeks passed before they could get the papers. Taking only a week must have meant that Rex pulled some strings, which shouldn't have been challenging given her position.

"Since you'll be serving as the facade, we registered with the name "Twilight Dusk," same as us. Bunny had suggested that we take the name "Red Demon" instead, but it was too conspicuous."

Coin shook her head, exasperated. Rain and Snow merely listened as she talked about how her direct subordinates suggested fancy, vague, weird, or obscene names. It continued for a few minutes until she realized she'd gone on for too long.

"... Anyway. As for the volunteers…."

Finally, Coin approached the topic that they were most concerned about. Rain and Coin took a deep breath as Coin read their names off the last page of the pile.

"Hornet, the Dragon Hero.

Stain, the Alchemist."

That was a relief. Hearing two familiar names made them well with optimism. As for the third, Rain and Snow fully expected it to be Rex, considering that she must have taken care of their registration. But when Coin paused before naming the third person and frowned, the two mercenaries suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Huh. Strange," Coin murmured and looked up, her eyes uncertain.

"The third volunteer is Nail, the Impaler."

Who? And what an ominous-sounding name, Rain thought.

Hearing that Rex did not volunteer was quite disappointing. He wanted to think that the time he agreed to save the villagers meant something to her. But perhaps that was just wishful thinking. Indeed, someone of her standing must have had more important things to do than accompany two mercenaries on their reckless endeavors.

"Well, whatever. That's it. We've also finished digging out the cavern near the entrance. The first buildings will be completed within a week.

Congratulations on your new job, merc leader.

Happy hunting."