Recruitment
['Baruel Hejit' has temporarily joined your party.]
[He will remain in the party until the end of this event.]
"A mage who can't hear… seriously?"
When I brought Baruel over, Tyrbaen's expression was pure bewilderment.
Apparently, not even among the witches of history had there ever been someone with such a disability.
"Hm."
As her cool, piercing gaze flashed toward him, Baruel shrank back slightly.
But her intent was simply to gauge his level as a mage.
"You're at the early stage of 4-star, aren't you?"
"...!"
Baruel's hands moved in surprise.
—How did you know that?
"There's a way to tell."
—Teach me too!
"It's a secret."
Perhaps the inherited memories of her predecessors included knowledge of sign language—Tyrbaen understood Baruel's gestures perfectly.
Better than I did, in fact.
"Hm."
After studying him for a while, the witch shook her head.
"With conditions that disadvantageous, it's a miracle you made it this far."
That made me curious.
"How disadvantageous is it, exactly?"
Tyrbaen thought for a moment, then raised one pale, slender index finger.
I tilted my head, unsure of her meaning.
"Others live with all five fingers," she said, "but this one's living with only one. That's how bad it is."
"...!"
"If you can't use your voice, you can't have proper dialogue with a teacher.
You can't study phonetic aspects of magic.
And any spell that depends solely on verbal activation—you might as well throw all that away."
She shrugged.
"If it were me, I could never do it. Not in a million years."
"I see."
But Baruel would one day become the greatest mage in the entire Revolutionary Army...
It made me see the kid in a completely new light.
'When I met him in the game, I just thought, "Wow, impressive," and moved on.'
Seeing him in person like this—it was different.
'Damn… he's the definition of human triumph.'
That's exactly how I felt.
When I played the original game, Kals Reut was my vanguard—
and Baruel Hejit was my artilleryman.
'He was the one who melted enemies with explosive damage from afar.'
So of course, he held a special place in my heart.
He hadn't officially joined the party yet,
but I planned to invite him to continue traveling with us after this quest was over.
Just as I always did.
"Let's do our best."
—Yes, thank you. Then you're the leader, Shan?"
"That's right."
—But I've never seen you in Aurax before. Are you from another region?"
"..."
That was not a question you asked a player character.
A subtle difference caused by the fact that I was Gilroshan.
'I can't reveal everything here.'
Once the event and quest were over, I could tell him the truth.
"You'll find out soon enough. For now, we need one more person, so let's talk later."
I smoothly changed the subject and looked toward Kals.
"Any word from that side?"
Kals quietly shook his head.
"I see."
My own voice sounded too gloomy, and that irritated me.
'Damn it.'
When I said "that side," of course I meant Eve.
Eve Rot Wyler.
Like me, a player trapped inside an NPC's body.
'And yet, she never came to find me.'
Even though she'd set her subordinates to watch us.
Even though she knew I'd joined the camp late.
She still didn't reach out first.
...The meaning was obvious.
"She has no intention of cooperating, huh."
It meant she didn't plan to share her quest strategy.
At my words, Kals hesitated before speaking.
"Maybe she has her own reasons. We could try going to her first."
I nodded.
"Yeah. We should."
Even if I couldn't work with Eve, I at least needed to see what kind of expression she was wearing.
'And I need to prepare for the worst.'
But before that—there was one more thing to do.
'If things completely fall apart with Eve, we'll still need to fill that last slot.'
I needed insurance.
And that insurance was nearby.
"En, could you find out where Hexter Walt is?"
"Hexter?"
Just hearing the name made Tyrbaen's face twist in disgust.
"Why him all of a sudden?"
Kals didn't look thrilled either.
But I smiled faintly.
"Don't provoke him. Among his group, there's a guy named Shark Lobren, right?"
"...Shark? What does he look like?"
"Shaved head, big build, probably carrying a longbow."
"Hmm, I think I saw him among the lumber workers."
"Don't tell him to join us yet. Just ask him casually if he happens to need an Orc Warrior's Soulstone."
"Orc Warrior's Soulstone? That's pretty useless to humans, isn't it?"
"Exactly. Just drop the hint."
"...?"
"He'll react."
"...Ah!"
Tyrbaen finally caught on, nodding confidently.
Then she disappeared into the crowd of children.
'There. That's my insurance taken care of.'
But as I watched her leave, I noticed Kals's eyes trembling uneasily.
It wasn't hard to guess why.
I spoke softly to the lovestruck knight.
"What's wrong? Worried?"
Kals awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"What if something happens to her?"
"...Yeah."
Cute guy.
But there's something he needed to know.
I crossed my arms and smiled.
"You're underestimating her."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Think about the difference in power here."
Even though she'd been demoted to my teacher, Tyrbaen was still a 7-star witch recognized by the imperial court of the Magic Empire.
And these kids here...?
'Sure, they're prodigies.'
They were the future of the Revolutionary Army.
But still—
"At the end of the day, they're just rookies going through their coming-of-age ritual. Even if En wanted to lose on purpose, it wouldn't be easy."
"Ah..."
When you thought about it, it was obvious.
Given the right conditions, Tyrbaen could wipe out an entire company in seconds.
Even Kals, compared to her, was nowhere close in raw achievement.
I gave him a gentle grin.
"So don't worry too much. It's almost disrespectful."
"...You're right. I wasn't thinking."
"Not that you weren't thinking—just that your love got the better of you."
"Th-that's not…! It's not like that!"
"What do you mean it's not? What's wrong with loving your sister?"
I snickered and teased the blushing Kals mercilessly.
But there was something I didn't tell him.
'Once we leave this camp and enter the forest, things will be different.'
Because out there, "harm" might no longer count as harm.
As I'd said before — in the hunting grounds, no one could be held accountable for what happened.
Even a Sword Master could fall victim to a dagger in the dark.
That's why trustworthy companions were essential.
Baruel Hejit. Shark Lobren.
Those two would be reliable allies.
"Well then," I said with a grin, "how about we go meet someone we can't trust?"
I turned to Kals.
"Kals, you know where Eve is, right?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Let's go. Baruel, you too."
It was finally time to meet the mysterious woman herself.
Hekster Walt sat quietly inside his tent, eyes closed.
The noisy chatter of children outside didn't matter to him now.
The words of that bastard he'd met earlier kept circling in his mind.
'He said he knows what I did last summer?'
...How could that be?
It made no sense.
He had secretly slipped out of Aulrax under the pretense of a training journey to contact the necromancers — something done in absolute secrecy.
So how the hell could that guy know?
A lucky guess?
'No. Impossible. The way he specifically mentioned I drank the "Black Water"... he definitely knows.'
That left Hekster no choice but to think carefully.
"Shan Aledro..."
He had to decide what to do about that man.
The simplest solution was to enter the hunting grounds and silently slit his throat, leaving no witnesses.
Cruel, yes — but not unheard of.
It wasn't rare for children of rival houses to slaughter each other during the ritual.
'Or... I could grab some leverage on him.'
In truth, Hekster preferred the latter.
He wanted to make that arrogant bastard who dared threaten him suffer —
to twist a leash around his weakness and make him taste a pain worse than death.
Yes... that was the plan.
'What could I use as his weakness?'
From what he'd heard, they weren't even from this region, so there was nothing obvious to dig up.
As Hekster pondered, a shout came from outside his tent.
"Boss, you need to come out for a sec!"
He frowned.
"You little bastard, since when do you order me around? Want to die today?"
"S-sorry! But, uh, Boss, En Aledro's trying to take one of our teammates—!"
"En Aledro?"
At that name, Hekster shot up to his feet.
Brutal ideas filled his mind, and a twisted grin spread across his lips.
"Heh… well, isn't this my lucky day?"
If he could get his hands on that girl, the tables would turn instantly.
Would Shan Aledro dare to bring up last summer after losing his dear sister?
And she'd come all the way here on her own, too...
"I'll make sure she's deliciously sorry! Heh heh heh!"
Laughing to himself, Hekster threw open the tent flap and stormed outside, shoving through the crowd of children.
And there she stood.
En Aledro.
He'd seen her in passing before — a stunning girl, truly.
Crimson hair spilling like a waterfall over pale cheeks,
and refined, mysterious features that could make anyone turn for a second look.
But beside her stood a huge figure—
"Shark Lobren?"
Recognizing his subordinate, Hekster's face contorted.
"You—planning to betray me?"
Shark scratched his bald head.
"I just heard an interesting offer, Boss. Haven't decided yet."
"You crazy bastard… I feed you, I train you, and you say that? Interesting offer? Haven't decided?
Ungrateful son of a bitch's lost his mind."
Shark Lobren had been raised and sponsored by House Walt since childhood — a 4-star archer, one of Hekster's men.
His ownership was, of course, supposed to belong to Hekster.
Just as he was about to assert that—
"Hey, watch your mouth," a sharp voice cut in.
The red-haired witch tilted her head with a smirk.
"What?"
"You didn't feed and raise him — you chained him like a dog, didn't you?"
Hekster hesitated for a moment.
There was a strange, palpable pressure radiating from that small figure — an eerie aura he couldn't identify.
'What the hell... is this?'
But then he laughed.
He was a 5-star assassin. He didn't back down that easily.
"Heh. Let's save the fun for later, sweetheart. This is family business, you know?"
But Tyrbaen didn't wait.
She already knew exactly what kind of filth was running through his mind.
"The conclusion's already decided."
[Binding Magic: Stage of Nightmares]
Shaaaaa!
From the red witch's eyes poured gray mist—
and in an instant, it seeped into the minds of everyone present.
The unprepared children froze on the spot.
Even Hekster, confident in his own level, was no exception.
"Ghh… gghhhk…!"
He trembled like a frozen log, unable to utter a sound.
"They're… they're not all going to die, right?"
"Of course not."
Tyrbaen chuckled at the worried look on Shark's face.
"It's nothing serious. Just a brief nightmare."
"Well, that's a relief… but they all look terrified."
"It's a pretty bad nightmare."
Anyway—
The red witch gave him a calm but pointed warning.
"Think carefully, Quarter-Orc."
"..."
"You know as well as I do — those little stabilizers he gives you won't cure your madness.
Only the Orc Warrior's Soulstone can."
With that, Tyrbaen turned on her heel and walked away.
"..."
After a brief silence, Shark Lobren too disappeared into the distance.
Moments later—
"Haah!"
"W-what the hell?!"
"What happened just now?!"
Hekster finally snapped out of the spell, his face blank with disbelief.
"En Aledro! Shark Lobren! Where are they?!"
"Uh... they're gone?"
"Damn it! Those cursed bastards!!"
The fury of the gang leader who gained nothing and lost everything roared into the sky.