Wandering Mercenary in an Open World
chapter-52

Looking down at the sword that playfully changed the color of its blade… no, Ruin, Ruon let out a faint sigh.

He had ended up talking to the sword.

He had rolled around in this world and shed a lot of his modern values, but he had no confidence in talking to the sword, so he quickly put it back in its sheath.

“Where are the prayer and the bastard?”

Ruon shrugged at Garan’s question.

“Igor is resting and I don’t know about your son. He’s always wandering around.”

The bastard who lost his temper, Garan muttered.

“Get some sleep until everyone gathers. I have something to show you.”

As he watched Garan’s back disappear, Kyle muttered anxiously.

“The man who seemed to be able to stab a monster with his bare hands has become too thin.”

He had been thrown to the ground dozens of times today, and he dusted off the dirt on his back and asked.

“So how’s the new sword?”

“Not bad. Except for the tingling.”

Kyle chuckled as he saw the red glow leaking out of the gap between the top of the sheath and the bottom of the blade.

“Ruin, was it? Nice to meet you. Do you want to be friends with my shield?”

Ruon slapped his chest, which was shamelessly babbling.

With a crack, Kyle flew out and coughed dryly.

“…I’m going to die like this.”

But he still picked up the sword and shield that fell to the ground and got up, as if he was used to this situation.

Ruon said to him.

“Let’s stop until Strabo comes today.”

***

Strabo, who was drunk, returned to the forge the next morning.

Thanks to that, Kyle, who had been beaten by Ruon all night, became a dwarf and caused a commotion, but Igor managed to calm them down with his energy.

“Pathetic bastards…”

Garan frowned as he looked at Kyle and Strabo, who had bruises all over their faces.

He licked his tongue with a displeased expression and asked Ruon.

“So what’s the thing you’re going to show me?”

Garan reached out without a word. He grabbed the thick cloth that covered the workbench and asked.

“I wondered if you were chasing the great demon when I heard the story about the sword, but did you see the power in the sword? Retol said it was Belducius…”

Igor nodded and answered.

“You saw it right.”

“Is there a case where four of you handle such a thing? I usually know that paladins and priests go in groups.”

“That would be the case in normal cases.”

Garan chuckled as he saw Igor’s eyes on Ruon.

“If you succeed in killing the great demon, the name that comes to mind when you think of the warrior of the fire might be Ruon, not Unglim.”

He smiled contentedly and pulled back the cloth.

Kyle opened his mouth at the object that appeared on the workbench.

“What is this?”

“I promised to help you with all my heart.”

Garan shrugged his shoulders with a solemn expression and continued.

“Of course, that’s only for that guy who passed the fire test, but if you guys want to achieve the feat of killing the great demon together, I can give you this much help.”

He handed a one-handed sword of moderate length to Kyle.

“Take it.”

Garan said to Kyle, who took the sword with a nervous expression.

“I prepared a sturdy one because the weapon with the spell engraved on it would be worthless because of your shield. It’s faint, but it’s tempered with iron blessed by Duerumur, so the strength is guaranteed.”

Kyle didn’t seem to hear the explanation and asked with a blank expression.

“Did you know my shield?”

Garan snorted and replied.

“I never forget the equipment I’ve seen once. I’m a genius in this area.”

He casually bragged and continued with a strange expression as if he was rummaging through his memory.

“Before I had a beard, a long time ago. A magician suddenly appeared in Roberduk and asked me to make a thing with ‘magic’ engraved on it that interferes with the magic wave. It was a crazy thing, but it was enough to stimulate the craftsmen’s challenge, so the whole city was noisy.”

He pointed to the shield after saying that.

“That shield is the result of the magician and the craftsmen of Roberduk. It’s also called the paradox shield or the spell destroyer.”

Kyle blinked his eyes and looked at Ruon, who had learned the secret of the shield.

“Did the magician hide the shield in the village’s tombstone?”

Ruon didn’t know anything either, so he answered briefly.

“I don’t know.”

Then Garan answered bluntly.

“I don’t care how it got into your hands. It’s not something our family made. Anyway, next!”

He handed a bracelet to Igor.

“You flimsy guy. It’s good to pray to the goddess, but take care of your body first. It will protect your body once or twice.”

Igor bowed his head as he looked at the bracelet with an unknown pattern engraved on it.

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Not only was he good at metalwork, but he also gave Ruon a well-polished leather armor, and Garan yawned and said.

“Go now. I need to get some sleep.”

He waved his hand as if he was tired and said to Strabo.

“Father, my thing…cough!”

Garan punched Strabo’s chin with a clenched fist as if he had been waiting for that.

Before Strabo could turn his head, the old dwarf’s fist swept his body.

Ruon didn’t stop Garan this time either.

He felt that the brutal beating was a kind of ritual to melt the last lump between the two.

As evidence, Garan and Strabo, who were hitting and being hit, had their eyes red.

“The only gift I can give you is a fist, you stupid son.”

Garan breathed heavily and said to Strabo, who fell to the ground.

“I’m tired of hitting you! So get out of here! I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you can raise your name by following the warrior of the fire.”

He spat out a rough breath and licked his lips slowly.

“…So live as you please.”

Garan turned his body and walked away without looking back.

“Help me.”

Strabo, who got up with Kyle’s hand, smiled bitterly.

“I’m embarrassed.”

He muttered awkwardly and took something shiny out of his pocket.

It was the family ring he had given to the gatekeeper to prove his identity when he entered Roberduk.

Ruon chuckled as he watched Strabo slip the ring onto his finger instead of his beard.

He said, “It’s a bit early, but I don’t think we have any reason to stay here any longer. Let’s get going.”

The others nodded in agreement.

As they left the smithy, the sun was rising, piercing through the blue dawn. It was a fitting scenery for a new journey.

***

Ego Sword, now called Ruin, still had the functions of a holy sword, as Garan had said.

Fortunately, it could also track down the power of Belducius, albeit weakly.

The sword, forged anew by the power of the goddess and the archdemon, conveyed to Ruon the faint traces of the ancient evil that had once devoured him.

Every time, he felt an inexplicable sensation and hastened his steps toward the direction the sword guided him.

After about six days, the group came across a fairly large village.

They didn’t know if it was because of the fertile soil of the yellow land, but at the entrance of the village, there was a wide field of wheat, dyed in gold. The group gasped at the sight of the golden waves swaying with the wind.

Igor muttered, wearing gloves on his hands.

“It’s beautiful.”

Then he frowned and added.

“But such a beautiful place shouldn’t be related to the archdemon.”

Hmph.

Ruon snorted inwardly.

The moment he uttered those words, something was bound to happen.

He hoped nothing would go wrong in that peaceful village and walked toward it. And his hope was dashed.

“No!”

The group was greeted by a terrible scream as they left their horses at the stable. They turned their heads to the direction of the sound and saw a young man crying his eyes out.

He stumbled forward, waving his hands, but some men blocked his way. Their expressions were not very good either.

“Philip, I know you’re hurting, but you have to let go.”

“Yeah, the dead won’t come back no matter what. So calm down first…”

The men’s words made Philip’s neck bulge with veins.

“No! My wife can’t be dead. Sonya! Answer me! You’re joking, right? Huh?”

His wail made the men look awkward. Then an old voice came.

“Philip, stop it. Sonya is dead.”

As the old man opened the door and came out, someone was carried out on a stretcher, covered with a white cloth. Philip sobbed at the sight of the limp, emaciated arm hanging from the cloth.

“Sonya!”

The old man approached him and said.

“She endured for a week while suffering from puerperal fever. She’s finally at peace. So let her go now.”

At the old man’s words, Philip collapsed on the floor.

“No…no…”

He muttered emptily, as if he had no more tears to shed. His appearance was strangely eerie.

Kyle bit his lip as he watched the whole process.

“It was so nice until we saw the wheat field. But someone died as soon as we entered the village. It doesn’t feel good.”

Igor also chimed in.

“If we had arrived a day earlier, I could have prayed for her…”

Ruon answered quietly.

“It doesn’t seem like our problem to interfere. So let’s just stop staring and head to the inn.”

But that was not easy either. The door of the small inn was firmly closed.

“Travelers?”

A middle-aged woman with a bucket on her head looked embarrassed as she met the group’s eyes. She coughed and opened her mouth.

“The young lady who runs the inn is very sick… It’s hard to stay at the inn.”

Ruon asked.

“Is her name Sonya?”

“How do you know that?”

“We heard it on the way into the village. They said she died.”

“What?”

The woman dropped the bucket in surprise. Ruon’s shoes got wet by the water that splashed in a fan shape. She covered her mouth with her palm.

“Oh dear, what do I do.”

The woman’s hand trembled as she saw Ruon’s large stature and the sword at his waist. Igor quickly stepped in.

“Ma’am, it’s okay. He’s not the type to get angry over something like that.”

Who are you?

Ruon smiled faintly, when Strabo nudged his leg with his elbow and said.

“Why don’t you ask her if she can let us stay if we’re sorry?”

He didn’t lower his voice at all, so the woman heard him clearly.

She hesitated for a moment and said.

“I’ll take you in with all my heart if you pay a fair price.”

She looked scared, so Ruon didn’t feel like it, but since the situation was what it was, he nodded.

“I appreciate it.”

As they followed the woman to her house, her husband, who seemed to be, stammered.

“Who are you?”

The woman quickly went to his side and whispered in his ear.

-I made a mistake and I was too scared to let it go, so I brought them home. But I think we can charge them for the lodging-

Ruon heard her words easily with his superhuman hearing.

The man glanced at the group quickly and swallowed his saliva.

“O-oh, today we’ll sleep in the barn… Make yourself at home.”

Before the group could say anything, the man bowed his head and dragged his wife out. Strabo muttered.

“Does anyone know why they’re acting like that?”

It was late at night. The group had a late dinner prepared by the woman and settled near the fireplace. They were asleep.

I should be generous.

Ruon thought of the couple who were spending the night in the barn, scared for no reason, and fiddled with the leather pouch in his bosom.

That’s when it happened.

He felt a strange sensation in his fingertips and lifted his upper body slowly, leaning on the floor.

Yeah, it couldn’t go by quietly.

He looked down at the floor and smiled faintly.

Ruin was humming and crying.