The Path of Ruin

Chapter 36: An Another Test Mission

"The count is correct, your payment is four bronze cali."

Parcia said in her usual monotone, almost bored voice. She had been doing this job for years, working reception at the only mercenary branch in town.

And it was a boring job. All day long, she dealt with the mercenaries who came in, paid them, and... had to endure their disgusting smell.

After paying another mercenary, she let out a deep sigh. The long line in front of her was finally over. It looked like she wouldn't have anyone to deal with for a while.

So she could rest for a short while.

But, then... she saw a dark figure out of the corner of her eye and paused.

Her eyes slowly shifted to the short boy across the counter. She was so used to the mercenaries being adults that she didn't notice him until he came up to the counter.

"Ye-"

Her words were interrupted as she focused on the boy in front of her. She remembered this boy. After all, he had come here only yesterday.

'Huh... did he fail and come to complain or something?'

She had been in this situation a few times. Those who had barely escaped with their lives sometimes complained that the tasks were difficult and whined for a more 'fair' one.

Who would have thought that yesterday's determined, cold-eyed boy was one of them...?

She was about to open her mouth and tell the boy to come back from wherever he came from when he used both hands to pick something up off the floor and put it on the counter.

"Huh?"

Parcia couldn't help her eyes widening involuntarily as she looked at the sack in front of her with a confused expression.

"H- huh...?!"

With trembling hands, she pulled the sack to her, opened its mouth, and began to check its contents.

'Three, seven, twelve...'

She couldn't believe what she saw She looked again at the goblin ears and checked them once again, but... they were still there.

It was no illusion. A scrawny boy who looked not even fourteen had killed twelve goblins... in a single day!

"Did you really kill them...?"

The boy raised his right eyebrow.

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"N- no... wait a moment please."

She quickly turned around, left the boy where he was, and went to the door leading to the back of the building. She entered without a second thought and was met by the puzzled looks of other workers looking in her direction.

But Parcia didn't even look at them. Her eyes were on the person lying on a patched sofa across this rather large space, a giant of a man who looked to be in his forties. Despite his age, his black hair had never grayed. With a height of almost two meters and a well-built body, he was truly a giant compared to Parcia.

"S- sir, I apologize for disturbing you..."

The old man scratched his beard, then spoke curiously.

"Go on."

"A boy came in, he looks about fourteen and has a pretty scrawny body. He said he wanted to be a mercenary. I told him to come back after killing ten goblins in three days, but... he came back after killing twelve in a single day. What should we do?"

Well... it actually wasn't that big of a deal. Goblins were weak creatures. Like... really weak. Anyone with enough training could kill many more than twelve. At least they could as long as they were able to find them.

Parcia reacted the way she did because the person who had done this seemed even weaker than the goblins. His small stature, his scrawny body, his age...

The fact that a boy like him could kill twelve goblins in a monotonous way, without a scratch, made him valuable.

If they nurtured this boy, he might become someone great. He was probably a talent they shouldn't miss out on.

That's why she was here, in front of this giant of a man, whom she was actually quite afraid of.

"Fourteen you say, hmm... Is the boy still here?"

Parcia nodded quickly.

The man's lips curled slightly upwards. He got up from his sofa with a stretch. He stood up, all the joints in his body crunching one by one just by moving.

"Good job, leave the rest to me."

Parcia nodded softly and stepped aside. Then, the man slowly made his way through the path she had cleared to the counter where she had just been working.

Finally, when he stepped outside... everyone inside the building who had been drinking and eating had stopped. All eyes were suddenly locked on him.

And they weren't the only ones.

A young boy, who looked exactly as Parcia had described him, was standing right in front of the counter, looking at him like the others.

"You want to be a mercenary, right?"

The man quickly got to the point. And when the boy nodded without averting his eyes... his lips curled upwards slightly.

"What is your name?"

"Kael."

"Kael! We have a similar name, I'm Laen. Nice to meet you."

Kael didn't say anything again, he simply nodded.

"Don't be so nervous, though... you're joining us after all. At least that's what you want, isn't it?"

The smile on the man's face widened when he saw how serious the boy in front of him was, careful even though he had come to join them.

"I have an offer for you. We are going to the forest tomorrow. We have located a goblin village and we plan to wipe them out. Why don't you come with us on this mission? So that I can see what you're capable of and you can trust us a little more. What do you think?"

Kael thought for a short while. After a few seconds, he nodded his head.

"Sure."

"Good, come back here tomorrow morning. Then we'll go into the forest together."

Thinking he had nothing more to do here, Kael turned around and prepared to leave. But as he did so, the man called to him once again from behind.

"Oh, by the way... I'll register your name in a moment since you've completed the mission, so... welcome to our midst. You can see tomorrow's mission as a gift from me so that you can show yourself better, so that you can rise faster. Then, we'll talk about more important things."

"Thank you."

And with that, Kael left the building as if nothing had happened. He left a lot of people looking after him. Everyone had questions. But... there were a few common ones.

For example...

This boy... had attracted the attention of this man named Laen, whom everyone in this town feared.

What would be this 'Kael's' fate? Would he meet an unfortunate end like the others who worked with Laen, or had he really caught his attention...?

No one knew.

********

Kael spent the night in the forest, as he often did. The guards at the entrance to the town now more or less knew him and didn't care much about his comings and goings. And that suited him, of course. He could enter the town as he pleased.

But, today, he was much more cautious, all his senses more open than usual.

He would be with people again, after all. And no matter how trustworthy they seemed from the outside, no matter how trustworthy they made him feel that they had no bad intentions... Kael was a person who believed in what he directly saw rather than what he heard and felt. He would never trust anyone until he saw for himself that the person was trustworthy.

And so, he arrived in front of the mercenary building. And what he saw... actually surprised him.

He expected there to be quite a number of people. If they were going to wipe out a village of goblins, he guessed there would be twenty people, or at least ten or fifteen.

But... there were only four people besides himself.

He couldn't be sure as he had never seen or heard of a goblin village in his life, but... maybe it wasn't such a big deal?

"Oh, there you are!"

Kael paused as he saw the giant named Laen approaching him. For a moment, he was torn between accepting the hand extended to him or not. However, in the end... even though he might have angered this man, he made no attempt to shake his hand.

He did not want to willingly place his thin hands in the huge palm of this man's palm.

When the man's hand remained in the air, a deep silence fell over the space. Finally, after a short while, the man withdrew his hand, his eyes twitching a little, but he did not give Kael a hostile look.

"Hahaha... you're a bit shy, understandable... Everything slowly."

With that, he turned back towards the other three people waiting for them.

The first was a man in his thirties. He looked strange because he had a big ugly scar on his face, and he was also bald. The second was a fat man with a belly showing through his clothes, he had light brown hair. The last one was... a woman. But she was more... muscular than the delicate, thin, or scrawny women Kael had seen in his life. Her brown hair fell over her shoulders.

"Everyone's finally here,. We're going straight into the forest. Any objections?"

No one made a sound. Instead, they just stared at the boy who had joined them.

It was clear that they were not happy about this particular situation.

"Why are you dragging a child with us?"

Finally, the bald man decided to open his mouth. Laen was quick to respond.

"You don't need to pay any attention to him. If he's someone who needs your protection, someone who can't be more than a nuisance... he shouldn't have accepted my offer in the first place. But I have a feeling he will surprise us. So, as I said, simply ignore him."

There was some relief after these words. None of them wanted to struggle for the survival of a child. They would rather take care of their own tasks.

"Then... if everyone's ready, we are leaving."

And with that, the team of five checked their preparations for the last time.

They looked strange, to be honest. A scrawny child in the midst of four adults, all of whom looked to be well past their thirties... it was certainly an attention-grabbing sight. But after Laen's words, the others didn't care how they looked.

So, the team of five finally started to move... three of them with the simple aim of making money, one with the aim of seeing what an interesting boy could do, and the last one with the aim of becoming a somewhat proper of a mercenary.

Their destination... was the forest itself. More specifically, a hidden goblin village, where they were going to commit a massacre.