Ch#10
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Veil blinked with a bewildered face.
“So that means Uncle and Veil oppa are gonna form a mercenary corps~”
The kid’s head bobbed up and down right in front of his nose.
“The mercenary exam’s just sprouting a small Mana Stone! It’s scary alone, so we need two more people~”
The big burly man who’d just come home looked just as flustered.
The man called Basto had been grabbed by the kid who’d toddled over the moment he walked in.
And now he was listening to her endless chatter.
“Uncle’s Hammer Uncle, so you’re super strong!”
Basto glanced at Veil.
Veil narrowed his eyes and met the gaze head-on.
“Tiye has a legend Puppetmon too, so she’s strong! If we team up with you and Veil oppa for a mercenary corps, we can smash the small Mana Stone and get your ID back!”
She’d spoken so fast that the kid was now huffing and puffing.
Basto, who’d been staring at her, finally spoke.
“……So.”
He eyed Veil carefully as he summarized the kid’s words.
“This Veil guy’s forming a mercenary corps and needs two more people besides himself, right?”
“Yep!”
“And you want me and you to fill those spots.”
“Yep!”
Silence fell over the first floor of the inn.
Unable to take it anymore, Veil stood from his seat.
“Hey, kid. Who said you’re coming along?”
Tiye jumped in surprise and turned toward Veil.
“You think a small Mana Stone’s a joke? If I did, I’d have done it alone.”
A small Mana Stone was still a Mana Stone.
It created cracks and summoned pesky mana beasts.
True, the siege difficulty was lower than medium or large ones, but that didn’t make it safe.
“When I said I’d recruit two more, I meant skilled people—not some hammer or what? Puppet, Puppetmon? What’re you gonna do with that……”
He swallowed the rest: *A hairy brute and a kid with unhealed scrapes on her head aren’t gonna be much help.*
The kid might be easy prey, but that hulking muscle pig was genuinely intimidating.
But the response that followed was unexpected.
“A small Mana Stone’s something I can handle alone.”
Basto, who’d scooped Tiye up at the door, strode inside.
He draped his outer garment over the table and plopped down in front of Veil.
“You serious? About forming a mercenary corps.”
He felt the kid’s sparkling eyes on him from Basto’s lap.
Veil coughed awkwardly, pretending not to be flustered.
“Yeah.”
“And recruiting companions for the mercenary exam?”
“Yeah, already told you!”
These days, the mercenary exam involved sieging a small Mana Stone.
Gather all the mana beasts’ cores and bring them to the mercenary registry to get an ID number, and with that ID, you could officially work as a mercenary.
Then enter the Capital freely, collect rewards for every Mana Stone sieged.
If luck was on your side and your corps ranked, you’d be rolling in money in no time.
So this mattered a lot to Veil.
“One more time: I want skilled people as companions. You saying you can siege a small one solo—that true?”
Basto nodded heavily.
“Yeah. Did one six days ago. Briowood’s small Mana Stone.”
Veil’s brows furrowed.
He suddenly recalled the commotion near the gate a few days back.
‘Look here, everyone! Death Hound’s Karl Warben returns with a gift for His Imperial Majesty!’
The guy with his long hair tied messily had a nasty look about him at first glance.
‘What’re you lot doing! It’s rank 12—no less than the immortal Death Hound!’
He seemed chummy with the guarding Holy Knights, drinking at the checkpoint for ages.
And he’d bragged forever about sieging Briowood’s small Mana Stone.
‘A flying mana beast popped up outta nowhere and threw me off, but who do you think I am! Took ‘em down solo without my men……’
Come to think of it, that guy claimed he’d sieged a small Mana Stone too?
As far as Veil knew, Briowood had only one small Mana Stone.
Veil’s eyes narrowed.
“You. If you’re lying to me……”
“He’s not lying! You dummy!”
At that moment, the kid shot up from Basto’s lap.
She scrunched her brows as much as possible and started railing at Veil.
“Hammer Uncle did it originally! Evil Karl stole the credit with lies! Karl made Hammer Uncle’s ID disappear too—how don’t you get it, oppa!”
Veil’s eyebrow twitched at the nonstop barrage.
He did have suspicions, but the kid’s words made sense.
*Common enough among mercenaries. Stealing credit leads to murder sometimes.*
Veil had lingered at the gate for two months recruiting companions for his corps.
He’d wanted to find teammates fast and take the exam, but circumstances weren’t ideal.
*One wrong move and you die.*
Recruit the wrong people, slip up even once during the exam.
No second chances—your life’s gone.
Then his siblings back home, waiting desperately for news……
Veil ruffled his hair roughly.
It tangled, but his mind was even messier.
*This muscle pig got his credit stolen by some other guy.*
He’d even seen this man and the kid denied entry at the gate yesterday.
*Death Hound probably erased his ID out of fear of retaliation.*
With the situation clear, deciding was easier.
Veil let out a breath and looked at Basto.
“You. Sure you can handle at least 1.5 shares? That’s the minimum.”
He meant ignoring the kid entirely, but she didn’t seem to get it.
Basto nodded.
“Obviously. Just don’t be baggage.”
And so, the next day.
“Chew chew well~ No picky eating~”
Tiye hummed the picky eater song she rarely sang.
Basto Uncle on her right.
Holding pretty oppa’s hand on her left—she was thrilled to be heading to become mercenaries as a team.
*Team!*
Less than a week in this world, and she already had a team.
Kkamangi would surely praise her when he woke.
*Kkamangi’s a legend Puppetmon, so he’s gotta be super strong even without magic, right?*
He could transform freely too.
And Tiye was confident she could help the team.
*Quail Class’s fastest was Tiye!*
Hide-and-seek, tag, cops and robbers!
When Tiye was it, Quail Class kids were done for.
“Oppa, don’t worry too much!”
She’d just patted his tense-looking hand, but Veil recoiled with a frown.
Tiye shrugged and looked at Basto this time.
“Uncle! Don’t worry. Tiye’s super strong.”
But for some reason, Basto stopped in place.
Then he crouched down to meet baffled Tiye’s eyes.
“Tiye. You’re not going.”
“Huh?”
“I hired someone. You wait for us at an outpost not far from the Mana Stone.”
Her big eyes shook at the bolt-from-the-blue news.
“Why, but why……?”
“Fighting mana beasts isn’t child’s play, Tiye.”
Her head spun, but Basto asked in a low voice.
“What’re you most scared of?”
Tiye clamped her mouth, then rolled her eyes.
“T-Rex……?”
“Dunno what that is, but imagine mana beasts are ten times scarier.”
The twig in Tiye’s hand dropped with a thud.
