“Yes.. it might be.. he did ask for Mr. Lawrence’s help.. it’s quite possible..”
Myuri kept getting angrier as he blustered, then shot his eyes up at Lawrence.
“Mr. Lawrence.”
His sharp glare made Lawrence flinch and sit up straight. It felt like being eyed by a beast.
“You’re the one who carried him here. Damn.. just as I was thinking that we’d left all of it behind.”
Myuri was staring right through Lawrence, as if he had divined his thoughts.
“His final request was for your aid, so out with it.. what exactly did he ask for?”
Lawrence’s mind was on the letter, and how hard Hildir had struggled to deliver it to him even though he was dying. There were two letters seeking help from the barons in Sovereign, so he could guess at the contents of the letter Hildir was talking about. If he was writing to the enemies of Diva, then what else could it be? After all, he had come to the back door of an elite band of mercenaries. His pursuers would probably be assuming that he’d come to them for help in the first place.
Lawrence swallowed hard. He felt the sting of utter defeat.
“All I know is that he handed me these letters seeking aid from those who are allied against the Diva company.”
He fetched the letters from his pack and handed them over. He wasn’t sure if he ought to have lied and tried to burn the letters, but he was pretty much caught. He wasn’t about to burn all of his possessions, and it made sense for Hildir to intentionally leave behind a letter. Surely he must have known how unlikely it was that Lawrence would accept the task, and understood that he himself was dying. He must have known that he might be smuggled out of town against his wishes, and anticipated all of this.
Having fled his company, it would be quite challenging to get anyone to rise up against them. If that was the case, he would probably do one thing: make them chase him. For instance, by leaving a letter somewhere obvious that sought the aid of the Myuri Mercenaries. Perhaps even one as bold as to thank them for help they hadn’t even given yet. The moment such a letter was found they would all be chased, regardless of whether it was to prevent them from making any moves or just to punish them.
In fact, Lawrence could practically read the letter in his mind: “My thanks to you, captain Myuri Ruward of the Myuri Mercenary band, for your promising of aid; together we shall retake the Diva company by force!”
“What a rabbit..”
Myuri was grumbling out loud, knowing full well that he couldn’t go back to Lesco and plead entrapment. He might as well say that the Devil made him do it, for all the good that would do. Hildir wanted them to go to Sovereign, and now they had to go there. Going south was no longer an option; it was nothing but flat plains all the way to Lesco, and Diva had a lot of men at their disposal. Even a group as strong as the Myuri Mercenaries couldn’t hope to win in these conditions.
If there was any high ground to take, or a decent place to dig in for an ambush, they might at least have a momentary advantage. But they couldn’t take a chance that Hildir was lying. If he wasn’t, their esteemed band was soon to meet its end on their way to the south. Lawrence might not know much about warfare, but he knew that they had no chance without at least some kind of cover. A weaker force needed something to help them, like a hole for a rabbit to scoot into.
“Sovereign.. Sovereign..”
Myuri kept repeating himself, and each time he said so made Lawrence feel even stupider for them having not realized this from the start. It wasn’t their fault, of course, Hildir was just that good. With a few simple words he had ruined everything. Even Holo would have flashed him an approving smile. He had leveraged what little power he had left masterfully, and trapped the captain of a mercenary band. He was fit to be the right-hand man of Diva’s owner. It made Lawrence jealous to consider how pathetic a merchant he was by comparison.
“We can’t head south now. We’d be sitting ducks.”
Moid determinedly spoke up.
“But we can’t go east or west either. There’ll either be no water, or it’ll be the same lowlands. So should we try rushing to Lenos regardless? No.. they’ve got boats, so they’ll catch up to us for sure. We can’t get caught up in a fight. We just can’t.”
“I know that.”
Myuri didn’t say anything else, so Moid nodded and continued.
“So we’re only left with going north. We’ll have the cover of the long and narrow roads to the mountains, and the closest one would take us to..“
Moid was quite an excellent right-hand man himself, able to calmly talk about this situation without any trace of spite.
“..Sovereign. It’s the most important place up there, so we’ll hit it no matter which fast road we take.”
“Then this rabbit’s forced us to go down its hole no matter what.”
They were indeed stuck. Despite his experience, all Moid could do was nod in the affirmative without wearing a look of hopelessness or wrath. It seemed that Hildir had won his respect.
“If a single arrow can turn the tables in a battle, so can one sentence from a merchant.”
Myuri readjusted his coat and looked skyward.
“All I can do now is make sure I keep up with the pace of his dance.”
He hopped off the wagon and gathered his forces before issuing his orders. Moid then followed it up with more detailed instructions. Only Lawrence and Hildir were left out of it on the wagon. Hildir had impressed the two mercenaries, and made Lawrence his clown.
It was clear why he was was the number two in a big mining firm while Lawrence was just a traveling peddler. Lawrence could only blame his lack of ability and shoot Hildir an envious glare. But he quickly turned back. If a merchant as talented as Hildir was useless right now, what good was a stupid one like him? His spirit was crushed.
* * *
Loss was unavoidable in commercial activities, no matter how hard one tried to prevent it. All merchants could do was try to minimize that loss, so that it would be easier to recover from it.
Mercenaries had similar problems. They had to fight to work, and had little in the way of job security. Severe injury was not uncommon, especially when it came to defending one’s flag.
This time they had to take a huge risk to stay alive. Going south would likely doom them, all because of Hildir. The Myuri Mercenaries were forced to turn around and head to Sovereign.
They had to cover a lot of ground that night, because once Diva company declared them their enemy they would have no room for error. Of course, traveling on snowy roads at night was no small feat.
Slipping down a slope might mean becoming lost, and so the mercenaries’ leadership had sent ahead a few scouts to verify how bad the road ahead was. Torches were used to signal their positions.
Lawrence would have been impressed by their organization, but this wasn’t the time to marvel at such things. An attack could come at any second and Lawrence was already enough of a burden on them.
Hildir, with his sharp mind, had been given extra care and attention. He was moved to the wagon the mercenaries used to cart their goods. Lawrence, on the other hand, wasn’t cut out to be a look-out and was even having trouble just keeping up with them.
His wagon wasn’t the right type to be taken over such terrain, especially not in the snow. The wheels had been caught several times in the snow, and despite the mercenaries’ wagon having the same problem, at least it was full of their own belongings.
Myuri and Moid seemed upbeat, but the others were not. Lawrence felt downright awful to ask for their help. The frown on his face was proof of just how pessimistic he was right now; from his glances at Myuri and Moid’s map things didn’t look good.
He still had enough hope to think he was worrying too much, but his mind was already trying to choose whether he would inevitably have to say, “well, at least we made it this far” or, “damn, if only we could make it past that.”
Eventually, his fears began to come true about the time th
at everyone should have been eating breakfast. The slope had become too steep, the road was now too narrow. There was no way for a wagon to continue.
Moid instructed his men to unload their wagon and turn it over. They skillfully removed the wheels and converted it into a sled. That was the right kind of equipment for the northlands, after all, but Lawrence’s wagon wasn’t that fancy.
However, his wagon wasn’t cheap either. He climbed down and trudged on in the snow beside it, pulling his horse’s reins behind him. He only noticed how much he was sweating when he paused, and the cold sent a chill through him.
No, that wasn’t why his spine was tingling. It was because Moid was running back to him, and Lawrence knew what he was going to say.
“Mr. Lawrence.”
It was normal to see such a pained look on the face of a traveling mercenary, but merchants like Lawrence were too good at reading the expression: it was all too obvious that Moid was coming to persuade him.
“Let me guess: my wagon?”
Lawrence cut to the chase, and Moid stared at him sincerely before nodding.
“I know it’s tough, as a merchant.”
Please let the wagon go. He couldn’t say it plainly. Lawrence had purchased this wagon to achieve his dream of becoming a merchant capable of selling anything but his own life. For years now, it had carried his life.
By all rights he should have lost it years ago, when a wheel got stuck so deep in the mud that he almost had to abandon it. He didn’t allow that to happen though. And now, even though he had taken extra good care of his wagon, that time had finally come.
“I’ve already prepared myself for that.”
He put on the toughest smile he could manage, but the fact was that this was far more painful to him than having to give up that shop in Lesco after paying the processing fees.
Moid was a mercenary who lived a life of cruelty compared to merchants. He had to know how sore a blow this was to Lawrence, but didn’t offer any comfort or pity. He only gave another serious nod and asked his men to help load Lawrence’s goods onto his horse or their own cart.
“Time to go.”
It was all over in an instant. Time was precious, and traveling took a lot of time. The mercenaries had to press on without resting. Still, the snow reflected the torchlight far enough for Lawrence to see his abandoned wagon when he finally looked back.
He didn’t blame anyone; he just felt like he’d lost a part of himself. He wished Holo was there with him, but there was no telling when he’d see her again. For now he had to keep up so he wouldn’t be left behind too.
If a fight broke out that was very possible. The sight of his cart receding into darkness felt like an omen of doom and shook him to his core. He had to keep up with them to stay safe.
Before long, they arrived at a safehouse for travelers and took turns to rest. The sun rose as they did so, but Myuri didn’t get to see his beloved sunrise; there was just enough cloud cover to obscure it this time.
They were still three or four days from Sovereign. They could cover the distance, but it took time for such a large party to move together. Thankfully, their adversaries would have the same problem, so Myuri and Moid didn’t see this as an issue. They had to figure out what to do when they arrived at their destination.
“Sovereign’s supposed to be a vital hub in the north.”
The moment they left the safehouse - a common sight in snowy lands - they prepared for the next leg of their journey and Moid began their heated discussion.
“I doubt there will be many who’ll fight up there.”
“Meaning they won’t be able to turn the tides?”
Moid stayed silent, but not because he was unsure of himself. Just from the look in Myuri’s eyes it was clear that what he was saying was trustworthy.
“This is the letter Mr.Lawrence got.”
Myuri read that letter next to the map, starting from the Diva company stamp that Hildir had personally placed on it. It was a simple letter, and to the point. It evoked an image of wisdom.
That is, it would have had Hildir’s handwriting not made it clear that he was nervous. He hadn’t even had the time to wait for the ink to dry, and despite its important contents, he hadn’t managed to seal it with wax.
“He’s requested the help of the barons north of Sovereign too.. why?”
“Kristoph von Hebrasche the Third? Wasn’t he the baron that steers clear of Diva, but never makes a move against them either?”
“What the heck’s Hildir thinking?”
Moid went silent again after Myuri said that. He was still stroking his beard when he replied.
“I’ve heard nothing about that baron that instills any confidence, but he has a lot of land and controls many of the roads north of the mountains. If we’re gonna travel north of Sovereign then we’ll have to take those. Anyone wanting to do business that far north has to cut across his land. Even Diva would have to, I suspect.”
“Ah, so he’s the type that just sits back and enjoys living off of tariffs?”
“I think so. He’s made it so far only because he has a choice piece of land. I don’t know how bright he is, but I do know that some of his predecessors were pretty good men.”
“I can see why he doesn’t instill any confidence.”
Myuri was barely able to murmur that reply. The sky was clearing, but the same wind doing that was shifting the snow drifts before them. The clouds forbade a shorter day than usual, but they couldn’t get hung up on that right now.
“So our only choice is to head to Sovereign, but..”
Myuri sighed in mid-sentence.
“We can’t go any further, can we?”
“Nope. Not enough food. Beyond Sovereign there’s nothing but scattered villages. Even if they’re willing to help us, they won’t have enough to keep us all supplied.”
Even if they lived up to the mercenaries’ reputation and passed through the villages like a swarm of locusts, there just wasn’t enough to sustain them. Especially during winter. Their food was running out, and all that was left was either dry or already nibbled by mice. No matter where they went in the winter their lives were at risk.
Lawrence’s first customers were villages like that; the kind that even other traveling peddlers wouldn’t bother visiting. He knew just how bad it would be this time of year for a village like that. If the mercenaries “paid them a visit” right now, they wouldn’t survive.
“A flawless plan, huh? Lead us to our doom right in the nest of our enemies.”
Despite saying so, Myuri seemed more relaxed now. He wasn’t giving up, of course, not when Hildir’s plan was so outstanding it covered so many bases. There was a reason that he trapped Lawrence in this plan as well.
“So, will we be able to meet up with Holo?”
Myuri stopped staring at the map and asked about that very reason. Holo was effectively their wildcard, the only card in their hand that could win this round.
“If things went smoothly, she should be in Lesco today or tomorrow.”
Of course they wouldn’t have gone that smoothly.
“What’ll she do when she sees that Diva’s been over-run? Will she come looking for us?”
Lawrence was impressed that Hildir had considered all of this beforehand.
“When he handed me the letters, Hildir told me that if anything should happen we should head to Sovereign. Apparently he told his friend the same thing, the guy he sent with Holo.”
“Ah.”
Myuri took a deep breath. Somehow, he seemed as confident as a bear now, like he was breathing in the cold air to shock himself into calming down.
“I feel a bit pathetic about it, but it’ll be good to have her power with us.”
Neither Myuri nor his mercenaries had ever seen Holo’s true form, but they still knew much more of her legend than Lawrence did.
“Throw a man into battle unarmed, and he’ll flee. But throw him in with a weapon, even if it’s just a knife, he’ll surprise y
ou with his courage. Greenhorns will even tie their spears to their hands for their first fight.. I still remember doing that myself.”
“Do you.. really have that much faith in Holo?”
The leader of a mercenary band should never say ‘yes’ to something like that. And yet, Myuri still closed one eye, raised his hand to his chin, and replied.
“Since you’re this calm, I know she must be great.”
It wasn’t an affirmation of his appreciation, but it was close enough.
“..yeah. If she meets up with us, she’ll be a great asset, but..”
Lawrence didn’t want Holo to fight. He was going to say so, but Myuri stopped him.
“Let’s just stick to the most important details for now.”
His meaning was clear: don’t say it. Lawrence couldn’t get angry about it, though. As a merchant, he was just happy he wasn’t being ignored right now.
“Then we’re still heading to Sovereign for now?”
They were going straight to the rebels that had caused Diva to start this war. The very war that Myuri wanted Yoitsu to not get swept into. It was almost comical to consider that they were heading to the rebels now. Thankfully, Myuri wasn’t some limp-wristed kid that had been bested by a rabbit, but a man who could gaze at his map and talk so confidently while having a drink.
“If things look too bad, we’ll just take all their food and run.”
It was a horrible thing to hear, but mercenaries were mercenaries.
“Alright.. let’s go!”
They were capable men, but they lived in a world that was completely different from Lawrence’s. Without the Wisewolf there with him, he couldn’t even hear those laughs, let alone smile at that joke.
* * *
Hildir woke up after lunch, but since they were on the move again neither Moid nor Myuri had any time to care for the rabbit. On top of that, none of the other mercenaries knew his true identity, so responsibility for him fell onto Lawrence again.
“Feed him well!”
The men laughed at Lawrence. Since Moid and Myuri were quiet about things, they all knew it was a merchant that had forced them on this trip to Sovereign. Who else could that mean except Lawrence?