Chapter 7

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Basto’s gaze turned cold.

“A mercenary identification number that was perfectly fine until half a month ago cannot have suddenly been voided.”

“There’s nothing that gets solved by arguing with me. That won’t make a mercenary identification number that doesn’t exist appear.”

The holy knight was flipping through documents with an annoyed look while sitting crookedly on a folding chair.

It was absurd, but Basto did not want to use rough language in front of a small child.

So he quietly stepped forward.

When the giant shadow fell over his head, only then did the holy knight raise his head.

“Do you know where I’m coming from right now.”

At the low, thick voice, the holy knight flinched.

Looking straight at him, Basto continued.

“I am coming back after conquering one of the three magic stones of Briowood, which had been a headache for the imperial household. To make a report.”

At the mention of a magic stone of Briowood, the holy knight narrowed his eyes.

Then he tilted his head as if something was strange.

“If it’s one of the magic stones of Briowood…… a small magic stone?”

Basto nodded.

Then the holy knight let out a hollow laugh.

“So you’re a complete fraud.”

Without even giving him time to respond, the holy knight got up and glared at Basto and Tie.

“Hey. The small magic stone of Briowood has already been reported.”

Basto’s brow furrowed.

Because that was impossible.

It had been Basto who had conquered the small magic stone of Briowood all by himself.

Then who could have reported it first?

Who was it that had closed that rift six days ago while getting drenched in the blood of a flying monster?

“It was a fairly well-known mercenary company, so I remember it. They came to me two evenings ago, made the conquest report, received the reward money, and entered the imperial capital, and now what? You’re saying you conquered that magic stone?”

The thought of no way began to consume his mind.

“The commander of the Death Hound Mercenary Company said so. That there was one runt following after him trying to steal his credit. He said you had once been under him. Is that what he meant when he said you were a low-quality bastard?”

As if they had been waiting for that, other holy knights gathered around from nearby.

“Basto Faerix. Step back at once.”

“Yeah. If you don’t want to be thrown out by force, you’d better leave on your own feet!”

Basto closed his mouth.

Without realizing it, strength went into the arm holding Tie.

If it were up to him, he wanted to plant his fists in a line across their faces right now, but……

The face of Tie, whom she glanced at, was full of fear.

Holding his breath, Basto slowly turned around first.

As he barely moved his feet, he could hear the holy knights muttering.

“He’s completely insane. He says he conquered a small magic stone without even having comrades? Are we really supposed to believe that?”

“He didn’t even have an identification number, did he. It’s obvious his head is not right.”

“Why did the commander of Death Hound keep a guy like that around?”

His heart pounded with rage.

Death Hound.

That was the place he had once belonged to before he became an itinerant mercenary.

Even now, Basto ground his teeth.

Whenever he thought of Karl Warben, the commander there.

Whenever he thought of the family who had died meaninglessly because of him……

“Mister……”

At that moment, something cold touched his cheek, which had gone hot with anger.

When he turned his head, he saw worried green eyes directed at him.

“Mister, are you okay……?”

A small hand carefully wiped the cold sweat gathered on his forehead.

Basto stopped breathing for a moment, then let it out slowly.

Little by little, his head cooled down.

‘We were refused entry into the imperial capital.’

If she had been alone, she might have at least tried to cross the gate at night, but right now she had to take responsibility for Astie.

To do that, understanding what had happened took priority over everything else.

Adjusting Tie in her arms, Basto muttered,

“……We’ll have to find a place to stay first.”

Tie’s eyes went round.

Then the child answered in a spirited voice.

“Yes!”

* * *

“Good grief, just look at all this grime!”

Tie pursed her lips while being forcibly made to wash her face.

“What in the world were you doing, Basto, to let a child end up like this!”

The person wiping Tie’s face was a grandmother she had never seen before.

More precisely, the landlady of the “Gate Inn” that Tie and Basto had entered.

“Child, if you tense up that much, granny gets tired.”

The grandmother said as she rubbed Tie’s lips.

Rolling her big eyes, Tie made a tearful face.

“Pl-please sthop……”

“What nonsense!”

She had made the most pitiful expression she could, but the grandmother paid no attention and now started wiping behind Tie’s ears.

Her body shrank up on its own, but she did not feel bad.

Because it reminded her of Grandma in unit 107, who used to wash Tie when she was in Korea.

Grandmothers always say you’re just being dramatic even when you’re really hurt.

“Goodness, only now is your face clean! You pretty thing.”

And grandmothers, after the washing is over, gently stroke your cheeks with kind faces like this.

Whenever Tie saw that kind of expression, it always made the inside of her heart feel ticklish.

“Thank you, grandma!”

When she bowed deeply, the grandmother chuckled and held out hot chocolate.

Tie sat in a chair in front of the front desk and turned her gaze toward the window.

“Really? They said your identification number was voided?”

“……I think it was Karl’s doing. He probably slipped money to the holy knights and had me expelled.”

At the window-side table, two people were talking.

The grandfather, the other owner of the inn and the grandmother’s husband, and Mister Basto.

“The day I meet that bastard again, I’ll grind him down until not a single bone fragment remains.”

Tie’s shoulders shrank.

Sc-scary.

It was the first time he had seen Mister Basto angry.

Just like how they had been chased away from that place called the gate a little earlier, something bad was definitely happening.

Tie fell into thought.

‘It looks like if you don’t have a mercenary identification number, you can’t enter the imperial capital.’

Now that she thought about it, she remembered Daddy had told her something similar.

According to Daddy, there were a lot of monsters, no, monsters, in this world.

But he had also said the imperial capital was fine because it was the safest city,

‘He said it’s because the king and rich people live in the imperial capital in huge numbers!’

The rule was that the magic stones inside the imperial capital were conquered the moment they appeared.

Was it that they got rid of them even faster because precious people could get hurt?

The problem was that they let only the people of the imperial capital use that safe city.

“Does it even make sense in the first place to seal off the imperial capital and forbid civilians from entering?”

Sure enough, Mister Basto said something similar.

Pretending to drink the chocolate the grandmother had given her, Tie pricked up her ears.

“There are that many refugees outside who have lost their homes. What exactly are those nobles and His Majesty the Emperor……!”

“That’s enough, Basto.”

The owner grandfather, with his white beard sticking out sharply, cut Basto off with an intentionally stern face.

“Things had quieted down for a while, so why are you like this again. Didn’t I tell you over and over that you must know how to control your anger if you want to stay out of trouble.”

Mister Basto let out a deep sigh.

“It’s because it’s suffocating. People are dying outside.”

“……You’re thinking of home, I see. I too regret what happened to Ban-Anra Village.”

Tie, who had been listening, froze.

“More importantly, that fellow Karl is truly a cowardly and insidious man. After reducing an entire village, and your family, to that state……”

“Grandpaaa!”

The next moment, Tie set down her hot chocolate and ran to the grandfather.

Both men turned their eyes toward the child who had run over.

“Banana, that thing!”

“Banana?”

The old man laughed ho ho.

“Are you talking about Ban-Anra Village?”

“Yes! Banana Village!”

For some reason, the child was in an extremely excited state.

“Is Mister Basto’s hometown Banana Village?”

Basto’s brow furrowed without him realizing it.

But soon he nodded.

“Yes.”

Tie’s mouth, covered with chocolate, fell wide open.

Her green eyes began to sparkle.

‘……I finally remember now.’

Why hadn’t she realized it until now!

Hammer Mister from Banana Village.

Tie knew that village, and he knew Basto.

Because Daddy had always talked about him!