The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary

Proofreader: Xemul

The voice of the Evil Gods made Loren and Lapis quicken their steps. When they returned, they saw the two Evil Gods squaring off against a man standing opposite them.

The man, whose body was well-defined enough for others to identify his gender even with a coat that hung down to his feet, looked at the newly-arrived Loren and Lapis while ignoring the two Evil Gods standing in front of him.

The man had loosely wavy gray hair and a white mask covering his entire face. His sharp eyes made it hard to believe that he was an ordinary person, but what made Loren wary was the fact that he did not hesitate to look in the direction of them in the almost unlit cave, and that the color of his eyes was purple.

“Is that the thing that can counter Wrath? Well, it’s certainly a good item, but it’s not that special.”

The man said while gesturing at the falchion in Loren’s hand with his chin. Loren did not reply to him, but instead called out to Gula, who was bracing herself.

“Do you know him?”

“This presence and that mask… He is the Evil God of Pride, Superbia.”

Gula answered without taking her eyes off the man, and Loren groaned softly at her words.

Given the circumstances of their arrival, Loren was not too sure about the location of the cave they were currently in, but as far as he knew, it was within the Empire territory, so he did not think much about possible interference from the Kingdom side. It was beyond Loren’s imagination that they would be so blatant that they would send one of the Evil Gods to intervene.

“Give it to me, and I’ll let you go.”

“Do you think I’m going to just say ‘Yes Sir’ when you ask me to give it to you?”

Loren replied, holding out his right hand. Superbia let out a soft sigh as if he were a teacher dealing with a naughty student.

“I don’t have time for you. Don’t make it harder for me.”

“Can’t you see the situation? We’ve got two of your comrades over here.”

“My comrades? What are you talking about?”

Loren was thinking that since they were all Evil Gods, the greater the number, the better. But after saying it, he remembered that when they were dealing with Wrath, they could barely escape even though she was by herself.

Loren wondered if he had chosen the wrong word, but Superbia sounded as if he had heard something very unexpected.

“I don’t have any comrades. I’m not comfortable being lumped in with them.”

Loren swallowed the words ‘But aren’t you all Evil Gods’ just in time. The reason was, even though Gula and Luxuria looked annoyed at his words, they didn’t say a word in rebuttal.

Even though Loren was aware that the situation was apparently unfavourable, he made an effort to speak to Superbia in a light tone of voice.

“I’m sorry about that. For us, it’s hard to tell the difference because you are all Evil Gods.”

“Ignorance is a sin, but I forgive you for once. You should be thankful that you have the opportunity to know.”

“He looks down on me too high, that it almost makes my ears ring.”

Lapis muttered in a low voice. Loren gestured for her to keep silent and held up the falchion he was holding in his hand.

“I’m supposed to give you this, but I’m here on business too. I’d be doing my employer a disservice if I went back empty-handed.”

“That’s none of my business.”

“Don’t be so tough on me. How did you get here in the first place? I heard you’re the Evil God of Pride, but you’re also a hound of the Kingdom? Hey, Lapis, would you look after this for a minute?”

Loren’s face lit up with a dumb smile. He was so different from the usual Loren that Lapis looked up at him with a startled expression on her face. Loren gently handed her the falchion in his hand and continued speaking, scratching his head.

“You may not be able to relate to this, arrogant as you are, but adventurers like me make our living from this. If the commission fails, my credibility will be at stake. My life is precious to me, but money is too.”

“Money? If I give you some money, will you give it to me?”

“That depends on the sum. After all, I might be out of work for a while.”

“Would you forfeit your life for a few pennies?”

“If you think it’s just some pennies, then be generous, Sir.”

Superbia looked a bit taken aback by Loren’s banter. It was also the same for Gula and Luxuria, who were listening to their conversation. Both of them looked at Loren with dumbfounded faces.

Under the gaze of these three Evil Gods, Loren continued to speak in a tone that, to those who knew him, was different from the usual.

“If you’re working for the kingdom, you must have deep pockets, right? Wouldn’t you let me have some crumbs?”

“I’m not working under any orders. There is no one in the world who can order me around.”

“Then why are you so obsessed with this sword again?”

“I owe a debt to a man named Magna in the Kingdom. I’m just helping him until I pay it back.”

Superbia looked away as if he was not convinced even though he himself said it. Loren gave him an amicable smile as he quickly glanced at Lapis.  

Lapis, who had received the sword from Loren, was staring at its blade, but when he noticed Loren’s gaze, she gave a small nod.

“It’s amazing that the Evil God of Pride owes someone a debt. What did he do for you?”

“He just helped me break my seal. I would have been able to break it sooner or later without his help, but he should be rewarded for helping to speed up the process somewhat.”

Loren was surprised to see that he was rather righteous for someone who called Pride. Superbia gave him a rather stern look.

“Magna told me about you. He said your name is Loren. You look a little different from what I’ve heard, but you’ve got Gula and Luxuria with you, so I’m sure of it.”

“I’d love to hear what you’ve heard about me, but, well, I’m Loren.”

“I’m not interested in your feud with Magna. I’m just here to ask you to give me what you’ve got. If you give it to me obediently, I’ll pay you some money for it. But if you refuse, I’ll take it slowly after I’ve dealt with you and your friends.”

Loren slowly shifted his gaze to Gula and Luxuria.

Luxuria remained poised against Superbia, but Gula, who seemed to have given up on her resistance and released her posture, gently shook her head at Loren.

This gesture made Loren realise that even with two of these Evil Gods working together, it would be difficult for them to fight against Superbia.

“I don’t have a choice then. Lapis, is it alright if we give it to him?”

“It’s the second-best choice, but it’s a little problematic. So let’s do it this way.”

Lapis replied by turning the sword in her hands over and stabbing it into the ground at her feet with all her might. She then removed her hand from the hilt of the sword, which now stood with the tip of the blade buried into the ground, and told Superbia as she lightly dusted her hands. 

“We’ll leave this here. When we leave the cave, it will be yours. Let’s make that a pact, shall we?”

As Loren and Lapis seemed to have given up on the sword too easily, Gula and Luxuria seemed to want to say something about it, but Loren stopped them with a gesture.

“You are the Evil God of Pride. You wouldn’t do something cheap like a surprise attack from behind, would you?”

“If you don’t take too much time, then it’s fine. I’ll wait at least as long as it takes you to escape.”

“Thanks. Hey, let’s get the hell out of here.”

After seeing Superbia nod, Loren patted Gula and Luxuria, who looked somewhat stunned, on the shoulder and urged them to quickly leave the place.

Gula and Luxuria, wondering if this was really the right thing to do, were pushed by Loren and moved toward the exit, passing by Superbia, who was standing still. Lapis followed them, and Loren, who was still somewhat wary, was the last to pass by the Evil God of Pride in a half jog.

“Don’t be so alarmed. I wouldn’t take you guys by surprise.”

“I can’t help but be careful. I’m not as fearless as you are.”

“A small fry like you just can’t help it. Here, your reward.”

As they passed each other, Superbia spoke, to which Loren replied in a dignified manner. The Evil God then tossed him a coin, which Loren received, and after confirming that it was a gold coin, he quietly tucked it into his pocket.

“Thank you.”

“Being so happy just because of such a meager sum of money… You really have no future.”

After returning an ingratiating smile to Superbia’s mocking, Loren waved to Gula and Luxuria, who were running ahead of him, as if to ask them to increase their speed. He then sped up himself and asked in a small voice when he caught up with Lapis.

“How’s everything?”

“It’s all good. All that’s left is timing.”

He nodded in response to Lapis’ thumbs-up, then urged Gula and Luxuria, who was running ahead of him, forward by a push for the former and a kick in the buttocks for the latter. When they reached the wagon parked near the entrance of the cave, he put Lapis on the driver’s bench, crammed Gula and Luxuria into the carriage, undid the rope tying the wagon to the cave wall, then patted the horse’s rump and quickly climbed onto the driver’s bench himself.

“Let’s get out of here.”

“It’ll come as soon as we leave.”

At Loren’s instruction, Lapis picked up the reins and started the wagon.

Ignoring the cries of complaints from Gula, who fell into the luggage due to the sudden start, Lapis raised her voice as she concentrated on driving.

>

“Lapis-chan?”

“We’re flying, hold on tight! Answer my call!”

At the moment Lapis, who had called for attention without answering Gula’s question, said those words as if making a declaration, Gula and Luxuria turned around with a startled expression on their faces when they felt the presence of magic power swelling up behind them.

It was definitely coming from the direction which they had just run through, and where Superbia was probably still at.

Before they could even wonder what had happened, they were hit by a chillingly cold wind, and if they looked deeper into the cave, they could see a tremendous amount of ice sprouting up at an incredible rate, as if the atmosphere itself had turned to ice.

“What?!”

“I’ll tell you later! Now, if we don’t break away from this place as soon as possible, we’ll get caught up and finished too!”

Gula’s surprise shout was answered by Lapis, who gave a whip to the horse pulling the wagon.

Clinging desperately to the bench, which was rocking violently due to the increased speed, Loren looked behind them and prayed that they would come out all right as he watched the mass of ice explosively expand its range.