Chapter 65 – Chapter 7

Around the end of the day, about 20 new recruits entered the Wolf Mercenary Corps.

Refugees who belonged to the village vigilante group or were former hunters, but became beggars in an instant as their village was razed to the ground by the undead.

They cannot live by begging endlessly, so they decided to become mercenaries by taking advantage of their experience using weapons.

In addition, as the number of people increased, a new wagon and horse were purchased, and the size of the mercenary group grew.

“They’re recruits who will join us from now on. I’ve said it before, but don’t be overly territorial.”
“Uha! It’s a recruit!”
“It’s been a while since I’ve had guys who can roll!”

Wearing a helmet, Lillian warned the new recruits not to be too territorial and decided to leave it to the rest of the mercenaries.

“And from now on, we plan to go down to the south, to Zanzeri Kingdom.”
“After purchasing a sufficient amount of food in the Zanzeri Kingdom, I will come back to the Harlot Kingdom and carry out the quest related to the Deadly Wave.”

When Lillian orientated the mercenaries, Frederick added a reason for doing so as a supplementary explanation.

Some of the mercenaries objected, thinking that the food crisis would be so serious, but most of them agreed, as Wolf and Frederick’s judgment had rarely deviated significantly.

“Recruits, use the leisure time created while traveling to and from the Zanzeri Kingdom to adapt to the mercenary corps.”

After that, the mercenaries cleaned up the camp and prepared to go down to the southern kingdom of Zanjeri.

On the other hand, Clint, who was not a new recruit but had been with the Wolf Mercenary Corps for a week, was doing chores to his heart’s content.

“Uh, can we put that over there?”
“Hey, bring that on the way.”
“Yes!”

He was given permission for a week, but he worked hard in his own way, thinking that doing nothing but eating rice would be a betrayal of Kaicent, who took care of him.

On top of that, if you didn’t want to die while being chased by the pursuer, you had to be more alert, so you were quick to notice.

“Are you quick-witted?”
“That’s right. Kai Sent is a good guy, but he was slow at first.”

I’m quick no matter what I do now, but when I first joined the Wolf Mercenary Corps, I was a bit slow-witted.

This is because Kaicent, who grew up in the love of his older sisters who loved him unconditionally in the first place, did not need to notice others.

Still, he had a will to work hard and a brilliant head, though he was able to adapt quickly.

“Do you think you have talent like Kaicent?”
“No way. Kaicent is a child of the Archmage, so he can use magic that well.”

That’s what he said, but since Kaisent had picked it up, there was an expectation among the mercenaries that he might have some talent.

“All together!”
“Come together!”
“Come together in a circle!”
“Huh?”
“What, what? What are you trying to do?”

After finishing the camp, all the mercenaries began to gather in a circle, dragging new recruits.

“What is this?”
“Stay still. This one is faster than you explain.”
“Multi-feather gait.”

When the new recruits panicked, Kaicent cast a feather walk on the mercenaries who were united in a group of feather walkers.

“Huh? Whoa?”
“What? Your steps are light!”

The new recruits, who had been ordinary villagers until a few days ago, experiencing magic for the first time, could not hide their wonder at the experience, which was different from before.

“Hey, recruits. Don’t look down on Kaicent because he’s young.”
“That’s right. It’s practically the same as the 3rd rank in the mercenary corps.”
“It’s the guy I was trying to hire from another mercenary group for 180 gold coins.”
“180 gold coins!!”

When they were being bullied by mercenaries and demolishing the camp, they didn’t do anything, so they quietly rolled their eyes.

When I put on the frame of a wizard, I can feel the mysterious charm of his white hair, eyes, and clean skin without any blemishes.

‘Every time I walk, the impact on the soles of my feet has weakened. Kaicent, you really are a wizard…’

When he saved himself, he didn’t know because his consciousness was faint, but after experiencing the power of magic like this, he realized that he was lucky.

Because she is helped by her friend Edda, who is kind and sympathetic to her.

*                           *

‘Found.’

Clock tower located in the center of the city.

Clint was found by a pursuer disguised as a human, not a Machinaroid, on top of a clock tower high enough for the entire city to see.

Through a camera capable of zooming in at least several times to hundreds of times, all visible humans were checked and they were found with the Wolf Mercenary Corps.

If Wolf’s mercenary group hadn’t shown any abnormal behavior as they gathered in a circle, the pursuers would have missed Clint.

Clint, who was completely at ease thinking that everything was resolved now, did not know.

The pursuer, who thought that Lorenz’s bio-bomb had completely stopped his function, was maneuvering again and following him.

*                           *

Thanks to the mercenary corps’ feather gait, even new recruits who were not accustomed to long-distance movement were able to move smoothly while following the speed of the mercenaries to some extent.

On the way, the undead occupied a corner of the road, but thanks to Ming-Ming, Kaisent was working, he took a little detour and avoided an unnecessary fight.

Even so, if the number of undead was small enough to be worth dealing with, they would participate in battle with veteran mercenaries to gain experience against the undead.

When evening came and they set up camp, the senior mercenaries moderately suppressed the confidence that had swelled while dealing with the sluggish undead in the name of ‘training’.

It was because he did not know what sudden action he would take if he was filled with confidence after facing only a small number of undead.

There is nothing more difficult to handle than a confident recruit.

“By the way.”
“Huh?”
“There might be undead around, but aren’t the guards too low?”
“Ah, that? Don’t worry. Kaicent has placed magic traps around. If the undead are approaching.”

Daughter and daughter and daughter and daughter and daughter!

When a new mercenary was worried that the guards were too low, Kaicent’s magic trap was triggered at just the right time.

However, despite the jingling sound, the mercenaries were slowly raising their bodies.

Frederick, who seemed like an agile soldier, also approached Kaicent in a voice without tension.

“Kaisent, roughly how many?”
“Wait a minute. It’s strange. They’re all caught in a trap…”
“I’ll have to go check it out. I heard you. Hey, recruits! Bring out the oil barrel!”

The new recruits couldn’t hide their wonder at the appearance of the senior mercenaries taking care of the oil drum even though they could hear the sound.

However, when I lit a fire and went to the direction where the sound came from, I could see the undead who had fallen into the hole, reaching out and trying to come out.

“From now on, that’s what you should do too. Spray it evenly. That way it burns quickly.”
“Oh, yes, yes.”

One of the recruits who burned the undead so easily opened his mouth carefully.

“When did you dig this hole? It must have taken a lot of time to work on this.”
“Of course Kaicent did it. He dug a hole with magic and then set an alarm trap. This time, unluckily, the undead fell and lost the weapon.”

The mercenaries reacted by confirming that touching the alarm magic was a weapon.

“Is this a real wizard?”
“Isn’t it different from the drug dealer and wizard who visits our village from time to time?”
“It’s not just different levels, it’s completely different level itself.”

The new recruits who learned the power of magic for the first time could understand how the seniors, who seemed to be rough, did not cross the line and respected Kaicent.

And it could be witnessed by the pursuer who was secretly chasing Wolf’s mercenaries.

‘If that mage were there, it would be difficult to handle the target.’

The power of magic in this world is still incomprehensible, but one thing is certain.

‘Kill before using magic.’

The wizard who was trying to study his body was also easily disposed of by breaking his neck before he could use his magic.
Kai Sent’s physique also looks small, so if he can get close somehow, he can handle it easily.

The pursuer quickly began devising a plan to assassinate their target, Clint.

‘It’s impossible to understand where and how that alarm came from.’

I can’t understand the principle of that alarm magic even if I use thermal image, vibration, sound wave, and all available sensory functions.

If so, they attack on the premise that they will be affected by the alarm magic.
Torches and guards are dealt with by throwing stones, and when there is a commotion, they attack.
After that, improvisation.

As time passed and the mercenaries except for the sentinel fell asleep, the pursuer was about to enter the operation.

The moment the pursuer was about to move, he suddenly stopped moving and looked at one side of the mercenaries while adjusting the magnification of his sight.
There, the wizard who would be the biggest obstacle to the assassination was heading somewhere with a human holding a greatsword.

‘It’s an opportunity.’

If the mage disappears on its own, the difficulty of the assassination is drastically lowered.

If you kill the commander who is the last hope and leader of mankind in the future, and has the strange power to make machines obey, it will be over.

The pursuer, who started moving in the dark for the assassination, tried to confirm the wizard’s location one last time.

‘Has disappeared?’

But when I opened my eyes for a moment, the wizard’s figure completely disappeared.
Even with thermal imaging, it is impossible to confirm.

Woo support!

“!?”

At that time, the pursuer who felt a strong vibration under his feet quickly jumped up and tried to secure his full view.

Puffer Puck!

However, as if he had read her movements, arrows faster than bullets flew and pierced the body of the pursuer.

‘Where is it?’

I checked the direction the arrow flew from, but I couldn’t confirm any existence.

Got the card!

When the pursuer didn’t even know who was ambush, a spinning arrow flew into the back of his head.
The arrow, which failed to pierce the skull, only scratched the surface and then crumbled powerlessly.

‘Found!’

The pursuer, who quickly turned his head to see the arrows flying from behind, was able to identify the fast-moving human through the thermal imaging camera.

Landing on the ground, the pursuer ran at full speed and charged at the assailant.

Woojijikjik!

“!!”

The moment they tried to strike back at the assailant, huge stems protruded from the ground and wrapped around the body of the pursuer.

He struggled desperately to tear off the stem, but before that, the assailant aimed a sword made from mechanical gloves at the pursuer’s head.

“It was you. The machine that came to the past to kill Clint.”

Kaicent, who revealed himself while unlocking the invisible magic item with the magic item to cancel the sound, had a guilty expression on the fact that the machine man he had seen before was an assassin.

If he hadn’t ignored it there, Clint wouldn’t have been left alone.

When Mingming found the pursuer following him, he couldn’t believe it, but that thought returned to its worst form.

“Kaisent. Did you catch it?”
“Yes. Got it.”

Moments later, Lillian emerged and identified the assassin entangled in her trunk.

She, too, is briefly surprised that the mechanical man they saw before is an assassin trying to kill Clint.

“I have a suggestion, organisms.”
“Organism?”
“I mean living creatures. Beings with mechanical intelligence express humans in that way.”
“Looks familiar to someone like me.”

The pursuer made an interesting expression toward Kaicent, who knew his identity and understood even the words of the machine’s intelligence.

“I’ll say it again. I have a suggestion.”
“What.”

Except for Clint and his enemies, who were similar in age, Kaicent, who used honorifics most of the time, replied bluntly.

“First of all, we exchange names. My individual name is AT-900.”
“My name is Jean Leslie Kaisent. You can call me Kaisent. What would you like to suggest?”
“Yes, Kaicent. All I would suggest is that Clint Garfield, give me his life.”
“…”
“If you accept this offer, I will serve you until the day I cease to function. How do you like it?”
“You talk well about machines trying to annihilate humans.”
“You misunderstand, Kaicent. My mission is to obliterate Clint Garfield, not humanity.

In other words, as long as you kill Clint, the next thing doesn’t matter.

“How is it? Clint’s world doesn’t matter to you in the first place? It doesn’t care about the affairs of the other world. Isn’t that the rule of this world?”
“I will refuse.”
“Hmm. That’s an interesting refusal. Why? For Clint’s world?”
“No. I don’t care about the world or anything. Because Clint is my friend.”
“It’s like a Japanese-style boyish cartoon character from the world I was in. Then I’ll answer like this. Fuck you idiot.”

Woo support!

In an instant, the pursuer, who had transformed from a human to a machinaroid, tore off the stem and swung his arm.

While negotiating, he pretended to be caught in order to induce the other party to misjudge that he had overpowered him.

The moment he raised his blade and tried to stab him in the face, Lillian’s greatsword, ready to wield at any moment, cut down on the arm of the AT-900.

“Then I will answer like this.”

Pachijijijijijijik!!

“Do you think I didn’t expect this too?”

Kaicent, who grabbed AT-900’s head with Lillian’s arc, intensely poured his energy into the grip of electricity, a magic for self-defense.

An ordinary machine would have problems with such an electric shock, but the nano-particle-reinforced ceramic of the AT-900 was able to withstand a strong electric shock.

Killing a single human at close range isn’t a job, though the circuitry suffers a bit.

Stand tall!

“…Uh?”

The moment it was about to attack Kaisent again, the AT-900 suddenly stiffened.

‘Why did the stop order come down?’

“Why was the stop order issued? You must be thinking that.”
“What have you done, Kaicent?”
“What are you doing? I analyzed your system, manipulated the command with an electric shock, and issued a stop order.”
“Nonsense! Without any hacking tools, it is impossible for a naked human to hack such a high level of difficulty!”

For the first time, AT-900 refuted Kaisent’s words, feeling surprise and denial.

“Hacking tools? Have they been around since the beginning?”

While talking to AT-900, Kaicent read AT-900’s system data with a bio device that only he could see.

It would be impossible with an ordinary bio device, but the special bio device made by the family contained the technological essence of Skynet.

The ability to remotely hack and analyze data from any kind of program.

Skynet is an artificial intelligence created in a world much more future than the world of AT-900, and it was a technology that was possible because it chose to live with humans.