Riser
patreon
25-17
🕑 Added 2025-03-29 05:40:42 +0000 UTCEP.17 [The Red Fox Mercenary Group Has Many Beauties]
"Have Sister Charlotte and Grand Duchess Marianne actually seen an elf before?"
After puberty, Charlotte would often hold young Eugene in her arms and read books from the family collection.
Today, the two are reading an encyclopedia detailing the different races of the Pedon continent.
While enjoying this pleasant time together, Eugene, who was very curious about the mysterious elf race,
Looked up at Charlotte's beautiful face with a curious expression and asked a question.
"Your sister still has many restrictions on Holy See activities, Eugene. So I haven't seen one. But mother was already a bishop nun by the age of 20. So she has seen elves."
15-year-old Charlotte kindly satisfied her beloved younger brother's curiosity.
As Charlotte had a high possibility of becoming a saint,
She had attended numerous projects with the Holy See's consideration even before entering the convent.
Despite this, she had not met an elf up to that point.
Among the different races of the Pedon continent, elves not only have the smallest population,
But are also shrouded in mystery and possess a lofty self-awareness as children of the World Tree,
So the high-class elves rarely face humans except in special circumstances.
"Mother says that when you actually see them, their aura is truly different. She says their lofty attitude is immediately understood. This sister also wants to see them once, my brother."
"That's impossible! There's no one with a more magnificent aura than the Grand Duchess and Sister Charlotte!"
"Hehe! Do you really think so, my brother? Wow~ I'm so happy! It makes me feel so good that Eugene says that!"
Hug!
"Of course!"
However, young Eugene couldn't agree with Sister Charlotte's statement that elves emit an aura of unapproachable levels.
From his perspective, having grown up in the Orléans Grand Duke's family for several years,
The thought that he was living with the most beautiful, noble, and elegant women in the world was in full bloom.
'Still, I'd like to see an elf once... What would it feel like? To see one in person...'
But deep in his heart, curiosity had formed.
The elf described in the encyclopedia of different races was that impressive.
But since he hadn't even experienced an elf's footprint afterward,
That curiosity remained only as a forgotten subconscious.
'An elf!! It really looks mysterious!!!'
Finally facing the mysterious elf race of the Pedon continent after 10 years,
That mysterious being, about 150cm tall, was looking up at Eugene Schneider with a haughty expression.
'Even with everything covered up, I can feel the aura! It's like someone cut out just the elf's face and pasted it onto this ordinary mercenary tavern scene!'
Elf Priscilla overflowed with mysterious charm.
Her eyes went beyond simply being emerald-colored, giving the impression of emitting light,
And her skin was full of brightness and moisture, making the word "mercenary" seem out of place.
Moreover, despite Pedon being a place where people with various hair colors coexist,
The beauty of Priscilla's emerald-colored hair, which even emitted a subtle aura of light, created an overwhelming sensation in its uniqueness.
And the most decisive element that stole attention from Priscilla,
Was the elongated ears that could be called the very symbol of elves.
Priscilla's elf ears, which evoked a sense of sublimity and mystery rather than strangeness,
Made Eugene clearly feel that this life form was of a different species than himself.
Such beauty and charm possessed by Elf Priscilla,
But soon from the prim mouth of the mysterious and cute Priscilla,
"Pathetic, he's making a stupid expression."
A comment that completely shattered that image burst forth.
'....?'
It was a comment from Priscilla that strongly smelled of a mischievous kid.
As a result, Eugene's expression froze in the same state as when he was appreciating her appearance with a sense of wonder.
"Mari, did you order my vegetable juice?"
Hop!
"I ordered it just now, so it should be out soon, Miss Priscilla!"
Whether Eugene made such an expression or not,
Priscilla asked Mari about the order status
And with a quite nimble jump, sat down in her original seat inside the sofa.
Since alcohol doesn't suit elves very well, Priscilla usually drinks vegetable juice.
"Still, I don't think you should say such things to a new comrade, Miss Priscilla!"
"You would have said the same thing if you had seen that friend's face from this position."
Mari, a proper young lady with upright manners,
Pointed out Priscilla's previous statement toward Eugene in a reproachful tone.
In response, Priscilla rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window with a chic expression, refusing to yield.
"Even so, Miss Priscilla is a very nice person, brother. Please sit here."
"Ah, sure."
The one taking care of Eugene, who had suffered an unexpected blow, was Thomas behind him.
'If Thomas and Mari attach such titles, is she indeed older despite her appearance? I heard elves typically live more than five times longer than humans.'
But Eugene was indeed a formidable character.
Quickly regaining his mental composure, Eugene began to sort out information about Priscilla, his object of curiosity.
Even humans can slow down aging and live longer when their mana awakening reaches a certain level.
However, elves, classified as spirits who manifest mana from birth, are on a different dimension.
Therefore, attempting to estimate their age based on human appearance is foolish.
'Elves have Walker-level mana awakening abilities as a baseline. That jump just now, though it looked annoyed and cute, was not ordinary.'
Elves are a race far removed from effort, training, and such.
A race that lives by innate talent.
This is possible because
Just by being born an elf, awakening is basic from the time they start walking,
And they produce Walker-level abilities.
Of course, that's just the minimum,
Priscilla's abilities would far exceed that.
"Oh! Becoming a Sword Runner at nineteen? This friend has tremendous talent!"
Eventually, the conversation of the Red Fox Mercenary Group ripened like their increasingly abundant table.
The topic was naturally about Eugene, the newcomer,
And Ivan, who heard about Eugene's awakening level, was greatly surprised.
"Wow, no wonder the captain is giving such a grand initiation ceremony! It's really difficult to find a swordsman above Sword Runner level! By the way, Mari and I are Sword Walkers, Brother Eugene."
Thomas, who already knew that Eugene was a noble,
Deliberately exaggerated and put on airs.
"When did I become an Axe Runner? I think it was when I was twenty-one. And I became an Axe User at thirty-three. In terms of when I rose to Runner, I was also much faster than average. So I trained hard afterward. But when I felt the period to become a User was taking longer than expected, I realized my talent only goes this far. Hahaha!"
Ivan crossed his arms and compared his situation with Eugene's, sticking out his tongue.
Commoners usually start mercenary life around 16-19 years old.
Among those who achieve mana awakening, the average time to breakthrough as Runner awakeners is roughly the late twenties.
And most end at this Runner awakener stage.
Still, Ivan achieved an Axe Runner breakthrough at a timing fast enough to be called a genius among commoners.
As a result, he pursued mercenary life with considerable enthusiasm.
But even he eventually hit a ceiling at Axe User,
While Eugene became a Sword Runner around December, as his 19th year was ending, the year he started the pilgrim's path.
"Our captain needs to work hard. You can't be overtaken by your hometown junior, hahaha!"
"With specs approaching this level, even our Captain, who became a Sword User at 23, would feel threatened by our Eugene~ At this rate, he's almost approaching a historic level among common mercenaries?"
Ivan and Sophia greatly encouraged the competition between Jeanne and Eugene, who were playing the hometown senior-junior concept, as a joke.
There might be several reasons why Jeanne inflated her age by about three years,
But the most crucial one was because of her awakening level.
Becoming a Sword User at 20 is a level that can't be explained unless one is a historical-level genius by noble or commoner standards.
The Maginot Line to avoid unnecessary suspicion was 23 years old.
'Hmm, so there are three User-level awakeners in the Red Fox Mercenary Group? Excluding the elf Priscilla, that is.'
As he listened to his comrades' awakening level coming out, Eugene showed an interested expression.
By common mercenary standards, a User awakener is a leader-level figure in any size mercenary group.
There are as many as three such User awakeners in the Red Fox Mercenary Group, a small mercenary group of about 30 members.
Sword User Jeanne,
Axe User Ivan Igor,
And adding Sophia, who was from a mid-level nun background but reached high-level nun status this year, makes three.
It could be seen as a somewhat disorganized but substantially high-level mercenary group.
"Hmm~ Some troublesome guys have arrived~"
At that moment, Secular Nun Sophia, who had poured another bottle of alcohol,
Looked toward the entrance of the mercenary tavern and raised the corner of her mouth subtly.
"Who is it, Sophia?"
Thomas responded by turning his head toward where Sophia was looking.
"Huh? What are those bastards doing here?"
Thomas's expression, which had been consistently genial, slightly soured as soon as he saw that place.
"I thought the White Wolf Mercenary Group guys were restricted from entering the mercenary residential district for a few months after getting a warning from the Management Knights? They wouldn't appear like that breaking the rules, so has it already been lifted??"
At the counter of the tavern, six mercenaries were splitting their faces with expressions.
The White Wolf Mercenary Group,
A group with excellent skills but hooligan-like conduct, causing constant noise in the Athens mercenary residential district.
Since there had been trouble with Jeanne's Red Fox Mercenary Group as well, Thomas was showing such a reaction.
"Kekeke! How's it been, madam, defending your sales while we were gone? Must have been tough?"
"With our madam's firm breasts, men can't help but keep coming, boss!"
Five men and one woman dressed in thief class attire.
They flaunted their presence by harassing the mercenary tavern madam with their full hooligan aura.
"I hear rumors that the White Wolf Mercenary Group is aiming for promotion to Black Stone level by merging with another mercenary group. But it seems there was someone with connections to the Management Knights in that target mercenary group."
Even Ivan, with his benevolent expression, became disgruntled
And shared the inside story he knew.
The mercenary residential area is called a semi-lawless zone where laws are looser compared to other places.
The empire simply controls it by placing a dedicated public force called the Management Knights and granting them considerable discretion.
With such discretion granted, there was much room for lobbying and many loopholes,
So the White Wolf Mercenary Group used that to free themselves from their shackles.
"Black Stone means a mercenary group of 100-250 people, right Thomas?"
"That's right, brother. If they achieve that, they can take on more profitable requests or be called to more prestigious battlefields."
Eugene confirmed the concept of Black Stone level mentioned in Ivan's words with Thomas.
If a mercenary group has fewer than 10 members, it's a Unit,
10-100 members is White Stone,
100-250 members is Black Stone,
250-1000 members is Bronze,
1000-2500 members is Brass,
And more than 2500 members is Platinum.
Originally derived from knight order classification criteria,
It settled like transplantation as the mercenary society grew in size due to imperial encouragement.
"These White Wolf Mercenary Group friends give off a strong hooligan vibe, was there a dispute with our mercenary group too?"
"Well, about that..."
Eugene carefully examined the six members of the White Wolf Mercenary Group harassing the madam.
He also gathered his comrades' reactions to the White Wolf Mercenary Group.
As a result, it seemed like more than just the unpleasantness of seeing well-known hooligans.
That is, since it appeared the two mercenary groups were deeply entangled, Eugene immediately threw a confirming question to Thomas.
However, Eugene Schneider's curiosity
Seemed likely to be answered directly by the other side.
"Hey~ Red Hair Mercenary Group! It is the Red Hair Mercenary Group, right? Looks like you're having a good time today? The table is quite abundant?"
Step! Step! Step!
The man who appeared to be the leader of the six White Wolf Mercenary Group members
Began walking toward the Red Fox Mercenary Group's table with his subordinates, raising the corners of his mouth with a sneer.
"Did you all fare well while we were gone?"
Smirk!
The leader man, upon arriving at the Red Fox Mercenary Group's table, raised the corners of his mouth even more.
With short white hair, he was about 184cm tall and seemed to weigh around 100kg.
His subordinates who followed behind him also took their positions one by one.
"Red Hair Mercenary Group, really, Kyle! Maintain at least minimal courtesy between mercenary groups! Even though we have one foot in this lawless world, it's ultimately a world where people interact."
The white-haired man's name was Kyle,
Ivan looked at Kyle's arrogant face with heavy eyes and offered advice.
Kyle is not only the younger brother of Kasim, the leader of the White Wolf Mercenary Group,
But also serves as the deputy leader of that mercenary group, which is aiming for Black Stone scale.
"Oh, Advisor Ivan! I apologize. I'm uneducated and didn't know such etiquette. Now that I've realized it, I'm bowing my head like this..."
Bow!
Kyle, with a face full of apology, politely bowed his waist toward Ivan.
"...as if! Just because you rolled in a Brass level mercenary group, you've become such an old fart!"
Thud!!
It was fake.
Kyle immediately raised his chin,
Then struck down on the Red Fox Mercenary Group's table with his right Walker foot as if pressing it down.
