The six men and one woman who emerged into their hideout were arguing.
âI told you I had a bad feeling about the left side today. See, I was right!â
âShut up, fool.â
The location they arrived at was the sewers.
Sewers, where polluted water flowed and mice lived in.
âYou said that weâll get some money from those ignorant noble bastards who came to the capital, but whatâs this?â
âSo do we only fail? We did succeed a few times. Why are you complaining?â
âThereâs no harvest today! Today!â
There was only one place in Solia where there were sewers.
Bottom Solia.
In Bottom Solia, a place where rejects who were thrown out from Solia gather, there were beggars who decided to get some money from the capitalâs swordsmanship competition.
How do beggars earn money from a noblesâ event?
âI disguise myself as a poor girl surrounded by tough men and enact an unjust scenario! Then! The noble bastards like to step forward saying âwhat are you doing to a lady!?â Then I trick the nobles, darting in and out!â
As a woman, who was the most outstandingly dressed among the beggars due to her role as âbait,â flicked her tongue in and out like a snake; a man who was walking next to her clicked his tongue.
âTut.â
âOh? Why are you clicking your tongue? Todayâs work, if we think about it, didnât we fail because of your acting Hemil?â
âWe failed because of me? No! Thatâs not right!â
The beggar called Hemil by the woman rebutted.
âBeta, what am I supposed to do about your crappy facial expressions?â
âHah?â
At Hemilâs rebuttal Beta, who was the bait in the group, filled her face with killing intent and threatened.
âWonât you shut up? Iâll stitch up your mouth you rat?â
âWhat? Rat? Has this bitch gone crazy?â
Hemil didnât lose and fired back.
The rest of the beggars shook their heads at the two people gritting their teeth.
It seemed that they were used to this sort of thing.
âAnyway, if we keep going like this then we canât fill the quota. If weâre going to use that reject properly then we have to succeed at least twice tomorrow you know?â
A beggar who had just barely calmed the two down pointed at someone who was crouching in the corner of the hideout.
âAh, yeah⌠Itâs a reject from the magic tower that we went through a lot of trouble to get.â
It was a woman who was crouched down sitting.
Her hair was wet with effluent water.
Her facial skin showed signs of damage from chemical substances.
She had hands that were missing around two fingers, as if they were cut offâŚ
The person, who had an appearance so bad that if someone were to look at her they would be cursed with all kinds of bad luck, was the beggarsâ joker card.
âTrash is trash, so we need to quickly use it before the expiration date.â
If the prey that they seduced by âdarting in and outâ was too big to fit into their mouth...
She was a card that allowed them to swallow it forcefully.
The person who was sitting in the corner with a horrendous appearance was a secret weapon that they could use to swallow up the foolish nobles that they tricked.
âChe, that bitch⌠If only she wasnât the trash of the magic tower, we wouldâve used her instead of Beta as bait.â
âWhat? Who would show interest to a bitch who canât even wear a ring due to her missing fingers?â
âHa, thatâs true too!â
The beggars looked at their âtoolâ and laughed.
***
ââŚOh, youâre here?â
The best inn in Left Solia.
Riley, who came back to his room after finishing his tour, saw Ian, who was sitting on his bed drinking black sugar beer, and sent a greeting.
âYoung MasterâŚâ
Ian who was drooping his shoulders turned around and looked at Riley.
There wasnât enough alcohol in the black sugar beer to intoxicate someone.
At Ianâs face which was somehow flushed, Rileyâs shoulders shook.
âWhy are you doing this?â
The men and women were separated
Because they rented two rooms, currently there was only Riley and Ian there.
It was somehow awkward.
ââŚIan?â
Was he going to ask about what happened yesterday evening?
Or was he angry about how they had left him behind for the entire day and went off to play in Left Solia?
âMaybeâŚâ
Riley wished that if it was one of the two, it would be the latter, and asked.
âAre you angry?â
âNo, what do you mean angry? Why would I get angry? Just because of that.â
Next to Ianâs bed there was a clothes hanger.
Riley who went towards it to hang his outer clothes realised that the area near him smelt of alcohol.
âUgh, the smell of alcohol⌠He did drink.â
ââŚâ
Riley discovered the âCapitalâs swordsmanship tournament spectator ticketâ in Ianâs jacket pocket and looked at Ian again.
âReally⌠I wanted to bring the âCompeting ticketâ butâŚÂ Keueug!â
As if he was keeping himself from breaking down, Ian brought the black sugar beer to his mouth again.
Glug! Glug!
As if his throat didnât even sting, Ian swallowed the drink which was still over half full in a single breath and went âpuha!â.
âYou did well.â
Although Riley congratulated Ian, Ianâs expression didnât loosen.
Instead, it was changing as if he was about to cry.
ââŚDo you know what happened at Castle Solia today?â
Castle Solia.
Something mustâve happened to Ian who went there for the spectating tickets.
âListen. In the afternoonâŚ!â
Riley who was tired due to touring Left Solia for half the day was about to lie down in bed but was caught by the shoulder.
ââŚEug.â
At the same time Ianâs breath reached Rileyâs nose.
As if he was reminiscing, he started to talk about what had happened.
âCapitalâs swordsmanship tournament, sp-spectator seats⌠four tickets please.â
âExcuse me, but where are you from?â
âI came from the Iphelleta House.â
âI-Iphelleta? Did you really come from Iphelleta?â
âYesâŚ? Here, itâs the letter from the Count and the familyâs seal.â
âSpectator ticket⌠Are you sure you want the spectator ticket?â
ââŚGive me the spectator ticket.â
âAah, yeah. Well done.â
Riley cut off Ianâs reminiscing and tried to get out.
âYou did good. Now justâŚâ
âReally, I was so embarrassed that it wasnât the competing ticket but the spectator ticket! The problem isâŚthat wasnât the end! Keuheug!â
âGah, just let off me a bitâŚâ
As if he wouldnât let go Ian held onto Rileyâs clothes and started sniffing, then started to talk again.
âOh? Whoâs this? Isnât it Ian?â
ââŚHmm?â
âMercenary hero Ian! Right?! Itâs been a long time huh?â
âHaha! Seeing as how well you are, it seems that itâll be quite a while until you go huh? Wow⌠Itâs like the time when our names were famous as mercenaries was just yesterday!â
âHaha! To you too!How are you doing nowadays? Looking at your outfit and timing⌠Have you come for the swordsmanship tournament too? It doesnât seem like you came because your son had a problem with competingâŚâ
ââŚYeah. I currently work as a butler in the Iphelleta Family. Iâm not a noble.â
âYeah⌠You didnât look like the type to have and raise a kid. You didnât care about commanding either. From the very onset of the Great War you had a one-track mind.â
âIt is regretful but it is also to atone for my sins. Falling in love with someone and raising a kid, I am not suited for such a life.
âWell, letâs stop talking about the past, friend⌠Itâs a waste being sad on a nice day. Anyway⌠The Iphelleta Family huh? I thought that youâd have a spot in Castle Solia being a mercenary hero but a butler⌠Yeah, if youâre a butler of the Iphelleta Family then who are you serving?â
âE-Eh?â
âStrong-sword Ryan? Quick-sword Lloyd?â
ââŚâ
âNo? Ah! Then you must be serving Count Stein?
ââŚâ
âIs something wrong?â
âNo, itâs⌠Sorry. I just remembered something urgent so I need to go.â
âNo way⌠not any of them?â
âKeuheum! When are the spectating tickets coming out? Is it far?â
âSpectatorâŚtickets? Wait! Donât turn around Ian! Now that I think about it I heard some years ago that a third son was born in the Iphelleta Family.â
ââŚ!â
âThe name was⌠Ah, right! Riley! His nickname was⌠What was it?â
âThatâsâŚâ
âLazy Sword? Was it Lazy Sword? Because heâs slothfulâŚââ
âStop.â
âThatâs enough.â
Ianâs reminiscing ended suddenly.
Riley didnât really cut it off.
ââŚHeueoeoeong!!â
It was cut off because Ian started crying loudly.
âYou wouldnât know how embarrassed I was! In front of my old companion! The humiliation! Who would look at a person called the mercenary hero with those pitying eyes! Eoheuheoeong!â
Who said that a old manâs tears were like the ocean?
Rileyâs expression slowly scrunched up as it seemed that Ianâs complaints wasnât going to end.
âBecause my Lady said to keep the secret I couldnât say anything about how great Young Master was and my chagrin⌠My chagrin! Heueoeong!â
ââŚAh.â
Riley sighed as he buried his face in his hands as he didnât know when he could sleep anymore.