The next day.

I followed the guild employee who brought Boris's message to the mercenary guild.

When I opened the door and entered, a rather bustling scene came into view.

There were those who looked like clients, and those who looked like mercenaries.

There were also those who were talking to each other, as if negotiating.

It seemed like only yesterday that it was empty, so it was a surprising change.

"I'll go get the branch manager."

"Please do."

Boris had also been promoted repeatedly and had become the branch manager, the real power and the most senior person in the Milestone branch.

He had achieved a super-fast promotion at a young age.

It seemed that his perseverance in staying alone in a place where everyone had left had paid off.

He was also very good at his job.

"But wasn't the branch manager supposed to be someone with a gold tag?"

[There seem to be exceptions.]

"Is that so?"

As I was chatting with the Heavenly Demon for a moment and waiting, our proud Milestone Mercenary Guild's branch manager, Boris, came out from the inside, yawning.

"You're here?"

A simple greeting.

"I'm here."

Boris, who appeared with a file tucked under his arm like his partner, roughly brushed back his messy hair and led me somewhere.

Boris explained as he went up the stairs ahead of me.

"I picked all of them as experienced silver ranks."

"No gold ranks?"

"You said three from Sherwood are going, right? I didn't think a gold rank was necessary."

"That's true."

He was right.

It wasn't a sortie to hunt a strong magical beast, but the safe escort of a merchant group.

In that respect, experience would be the most important, and secondly, the combat ability to protect the merchant group from magical beasts and bandits would be emphasized.

It means that it's not necessary to be strong enough to have a gold tag.

Because magical beasts that are strong enough to require a gold tag, that is, B-rank or higher magical beasts, don't appear that often.

And even if they attack the carriage procession, the three from Sherwood are more than enough to deal with them.

Boris led me to the second floor and handed me the file he had been carrying under his arm.

"This is the personal information of the mercenaries I've gathered. I've roughly organized it."

I didn't take it.

Because I didn't feel the need to look at it.

"You must have picked them well."

Boris smacked his lips and took back the file.

"That's true."

I walked down the hallway, following Boris, who was grumbling that he had organized it for nothing.

It was a place where no one used to come, so he would just sleep at the reception desk, but now so many people were gathering that he could pick out personnel like this.

It was a very pleasant change.

Boris suddenly started a fight.

"What are you grinning about? It's creepy."

"Is there any reason to have a long face?"

"Well. It's a request from the Saluki Merchant Group. It's quite a large scale, right? Congratulations. Is Sherwood finally regaining its former fame?"

"It's still a long way off. Just because one case from the Saluki Merchant Group came in."

"Well, that's true."

"By the way, when is the platinum tag coming?"

"I don't know. The examination results came out today... I think we'll have to wait at least 2 weeks."

"Ah, what? The results came out? Why are you telling me now, you useless bastard."

"Because they just came out, you idiot."

I nodded.

"That makes sense."

"You're going to Milgard, right? Then you can go and get it yourself. That'll be faster."

"Then I'll go and get it."

"Really? Then I'll tell them that."

"Whatever."

As we were talking and walking down the hallway, Boris opened a certain door.

And then the people inside all stood up at once.

I entered the room and looked around at them without a word.

"Hmm."

At a glance, they were experienced veteran mercenaries with many scars from magical beasts or beast-like humans.

I could tell just by looking at their eyes.

As I was checking their sharp and experienced gazes one by one, a man who seemed to know me spoke up.

"Oh, Ashuban!"

"Huh?"

"It's been a while."

The moment I saw him, his name immediately came to mind.

The Heavenly Demon also pretended to know him.

[He's the one who told a rather interesting story.]

And for good reason, because there aren't many men with a black eyepatch over one eye.

"...Camus?"

The hunter, Camus, laughed heartily and came over and patted my shoulder.

"You remember."

I also raised the corners of my mouth and answered.

"I can't forget. Because there aren't many one-eyed mercenaries who tell stories so deliciously."

Camus laughed heartily.

"Do you know him?"

A man who seemed to be his companion asked Camus.

He was a little taller than me, wore a wide-brimmed hat, and looked very serious.

His voice was also very deep.

"Of course I know him."

And then Camus began a lengthy explanation.

"Isn't this guy the protagonist of the recent rumors, Ashuban of the Half-Sword! The new leader of the Sherwood Mercenary Corps."

At those words, the man's eyes widened, and the people in the room began to whisper.

"What? That guy?"

"He's that young?"

"Hmm. No wonder his gaze was unusual."

"I heard he recently defeated the A-rank magical beast Hydra by himself."

"I heard he broke into the Richtiello Count's house and caused a commotion."

"I heard he handled over 150 magical beast requests in a month."

"He's a monster."

"How come his name hasn't been heard until now? Did he come back from a foreign country?"

Hearing my achievements from someone else's mouth was very satisfying and good.

Before it got any more chaotic, Boris stepped in to mediate.

"Alright, alright, since everyone here seems to know each other, I'll just introduce you quickly and move on. This crazy guy here is Ashuban. He's the current leader of the Sherwood Mercenary Corps."

Exclamations flowed out from here and there.

I smiled happily and added a footnote.

"The leader of the New Sherwood, the secret weapon of Sherwood, the man who was called the Red-Eyed Devil in the lower town, the man who defeated the A-rank magical beast Hydra by himself, Ashuban of Sherwood. That's me."

Boris hit my shoulder.

"Control yourself. You crazy bastard. I'm in the middle of an explanation."

"Hmm."

Boris's explanation continued.

"This request is an escort request led by this guy. You saw his personality, right? There will be many hardships and adversities. Since he's the general manager of this request, you can't even beat him up. If you don't want to do it now, you can just leave."

A round of laughter swept through the room.

Of course, no one left.

"No one? Really no one? This is your last chance. You'll regret it."

"You said no one. Stop it."

"Strange. If it were me, I would have kicked the door open and left."

Boris, who was tilting his head, continued.

"This one is a bit big."

Camus asked.

"How big?"

Boris looked at Camus and answered.

"It's quite big. You've roughly heard the cost, right?"

The mercenaries in the room nodded.

"I forgot to mention, but that's the down payment. If you successfully complete the escort, you'll be paid twice that amount."

"...!"

The mercenaries' eyes widened.

Looking at their expressions, they seemed ready to participate even if the destination was hell.

Camus asked with a slightly dazed face.

"Who is the client? Is it a large merchant group?"

There aren't many who have that much capital.

A noble or a large merchant group owner.

Among them, nobles usually hire knights, so they don't use mercenaries much.

That's why he asked if it was a large merchant group.

In the end, it was the right answer.

But you can't reveal the client before you've officially accepted the request.

Boris skillfully avoided the answer and continued.

"I can't tell you that yet. Other than that, I've gathered people you all know, so you roughly know what role you'll be playing, right?"

The experienced mercenaries nodded.

Boris also nodded with satisfaction and finished his speech.

"Then I'll skip the detailed explanation. I don't think it's necessary."

And then he gestured to me with his eyes.

It meant to check if the people he had gathered were okay.

There were a total of ten people in the room.

There would be no one with a bad background.

Boris, who was so clean in his work, must have picked them well.

I trust Boris.

No, I trust his work, which is close to perfect and does not allow for even a single error, as if he were paranoid.

When it comes to work, it's hard to find a guy as reliable as Boris.

Nevertheless, I checked the eyes of the mercenaries in the room one by one and then nodded.

Only then did Boris hand out a document to each person in the room and begin a detailed explanation of this escort request.

"As you all probably guess, there is a confidentiality agreement that must be kept secret until the request is over. I'll give you one each, so sign it... and listen while you sign. The escort we've taken on is the transportation of goods for the Saluki Merchant Group."

"...!"

Everyone's eyes widened at Boris's bombshell announcement.

***

The preparations were finished quickly.

Because I had passed all the troublesome things to Boris.

Instead, I didn't need much money, so I tempted Boris with the condition of giving him a part of my share of the request fee.

Boris, who had a deep grudge against the tax collector, readily accepted my proposal.

After preparing food and necessary items, and meeting the client of the merchant group, the merchant group procession heading to Milgard departed just two days later without any delay.

There were a total of twenty carriages.

There was a reason why they had hired two platinum tags.

If they lost twenty carriages, the loss would be enormous.

Since I was the leader and general manager of this escort, I led the procession from the very front.

A total of ten mercenaries were hired, and one mercenary was assigned to every two carriages.

At the very back, I placed our reliable platinum tag owner, the quiet Schmitt.

And in the center...

"Hehe."

"Hey."

"Huh?"

"I told you to stay in the center, why do you keep coming?"

Linda smiled brightly.

"Because I want to be with the devil."

I pointed to the back and said firmly.

"Go back."

"Okay!"

Linda jumped on the carriage and went back.

The mercenaries who were riding horses next to the carriage watched her movements with fascination.

By the way, that girl's movements have become much more agile.

Although she wasn't ordinary when I first saw her, it seems she was influenced by being with Shushruta.

Of course, she's not as good as Shushruta, but the fact that she's being compared to Shushruta means she's outstanding.

Camus, who was riding a horse next to the carriage, laughed heartily.

"The younger sister seems to follow her older brother a lot."

"What do you mean, follow?"

I sighed only after confirming that Linda had returned to the center of the procession.

"Aigoo. Should I have just brought Shushruta?"

As the third member of Sherwood to participate in the escort request, I had chosen Linda.

The reason was simple.

Because I didn't like seeing her lazing around doing nothing.

She was a girl who would lie down with a hangover after drinking the hornet wine I had brought, while mixing various poisons.

Of course, it wasn't a lie that she had learned medicine from my sister, as she would mix various poisons and recover quickly.

Therefore, Linda's role in this escort request can be seen as my right-hand man and doctor.

Because it's a long journey, it's inevitable that there will be injuries.

I brought her to show off her skills...

"Devil! I'm here again!"

"...."

I was already starting to regret it.

***

Somewhere dark where the sunlight doesn't reach.

A figure moving in the darkness was vaguely visible.

"They have departed."

"Is that so."

The person opposite him received his words.

"Are the preparations ready?"

"Of course."

"I don't need to say more about how important this is."

"Because we can advance the grand plan considerably."

A moment of silence dyed the darkness even deeper.

And then, an eerie slogan echoed in the darkness.

"The Blue Heaven is already dead."

"The Dark Heaven will come."