The Strange Forest!

In the northern reaches of the Lusiana Kingdom, a small village existed that borders the great forest of Luris. A place created by a former warrior named Garland Arlet, who achieved minor fame in the previous war against the Kingdom of Avaria to the far south.

Arlet village, with over fifty years of existence, now the grandson of the hero, rules as the lord with his family. Once a village for young adventurers to grow and train themselves, becoming nothing but an old farming village.

However, after many years... the news of a goblin threat brought fresh blood to this dreary and fading place. 

As the northern dungeon grew stronger... so did their notoriety.

The young maidens fluttering their gazes at the muscular and powerful mercenaries and adventurers here to fight the goblins. Young merchants and men wishing to join them and travel the world to avoid being trapped here for life.

Inside the damp, gloomy wooden house with two stories, a muscular male stood over six feet tall, a massive axe on his back, gazing down at the young village lord. 

Behind the village lord were three women, his wife and two daughters, and with the mercenary leader was his vice-captain, Gale.

"So, you spoke of goblins." A deep, reverberating voice filled the room, causing the lord's wife to tremble, yet their daughter's eyes lit up. 

This man was the mercenary leader, Axel. He led the Crimson Hawks, a medium-sized mercenary group with a silver grade.

"A-Ah... Sir Axel... that is..." The lord stuttered, with his pupils dilating in terror.

Bang—!

"Don't call me sir, hurry up and tell me the number and reward!" The bandit leader smashed the cheap, self-made table, cracking the dry, poor-quality wood.

'These damned idiots, calling people out and making vague requests...' 

Normally, a goblin village would make a decent training ground. Especially for the younger members of a mercenary group—thus, Axel, who had just hired ten new warriors, wanted to test them.

"We.... here! This money is all we could gather... this year's harvest was poor... and—"

"I see." 

Axel didn't hate the poor or the weak. But he hated wasting time. With a single look at the bag, his extensive years of training taught him the reward would be less than ten silver.

'Such a small reward might be just enough for those newbies to train.'

"Gale, round up the fresh blood and have them prepare to attack!"

"Boss? Is it another cheap mission..." 

The reason Gale only complained in passing was that the two came from a poor village.

But in their case, nobody stopped to help them. Thus, the pair struggled to escape and survive those hellish days.

'I know you're upset... from that damn look.'

"Don't give me that crap Gale—we cannot always earn coin when there are no wars to fight."

"Tsk, understood, boss."

.

.

.

Outside the village, a small gathering of thirty men stood together around an enormous pot of boiling porridge. 

"Oh! Are these the new idiots who joined?" A male with short brown hair patted another mercenary on the back, his neck covered by a red scarf with a hawk badly stitched onto it.

"Hm? Jeri, what are you doing back... how was scouting?" The brown-haired male spooned the thin, watery porridge into a bowl and passed it along.

"Damn, this crap tastes like a cheap whores arse!" Jeri complained before chuckling with the rest of the mercenaries, who agreed. 

"The enemy is quite strong, but nothing dangerous... around twenty green skins and one leader." 

Jeri continued to grimace while eating the porridge, while his gaze turned to the young males sitting across from him with eager eyes.

Most of them looked dirty, a little weak or malnourished, but they all carried a flame in their eyes.

'Hmmm? Did we snag a runaway noble?' 

He couldn't help but find himself drawn to a strangely clean and handsome fresh blood. Long, sleek black hair, vibrant ruby eyes and a black suit covered in a royal blue cloak.

"Yo Kid! Are you a noble?" Jeri called out to the handsome male, and then he noticed his slightly pointed ears, and everything made sense. 

"Yes, sir! I am Leon!" The male answered with a sharp, deep voice with an elegant and clear accent, something a poor commoner couldn't imitate. 

'An illegitimate child... probably the son of a slave and some perverted noble who captured an elf.'

"Despite being a noble, where's your damn weapon?"

"Ahaha, I forgot!" 

'This kid?!' 

"Tsk... I'll keep my eye on you, use one of the reserve items."

In reality, this wasn't a group of horrible criminals. But they accepted a dangerous contract, which caused them to lose half of their elite group. They tried to hunt an ogre who fled into a dungeon and lost twenty vigorous men.

Now, they needed to nurture some new fighters.

"Understood!" 

'This kid will probably die first... look, those poor and starving commoners are already eyeing him like an eyesore.'

'Poor lad...'

Jeri closed his eyes and wondered how many of these kids would survive. The group bought many of them with a few coppers, saved from death, and the ones like Leon came willingly.

A healthy noble was better than a starving commoner.

Leon didn't seem aware, but the other recruits gazed at him with a seething anger—some grit their teeth, others clenched their fists. 

'A fight will happen... as always.'

"Matt I am gonna head out again! Tell Joyce to cook more slop for me." 

"Hahaha!" The brown-haired male guffawed to himself, waving the male named Jeri away. 

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.

.

The moment Jeri left, the happy-go-lucky smile faded from Leon's face as he slowly stood from the crappy wooden chair that made his buttocks ache.

'Damn... is this the life of a low-class mercenary?'

'I thought it might be fun to sneak into their group after killing that dumb noble who got angry and called me a slave because of my ears...'

Leonhardt's eyes narrowed, looking at the humans beside him. He couldn't help but cover his nose. Unlike them, he didn't need to eat, and his natural scent was like honey and vanilla... so smelling humans for the first time, he felt nauseous.

'They stink like pigs...'

"Where do you think you're going?" One of the recruits spoke with a bad accent and short black hair. 

"Hmm, are you speaking to me, insect?" 

Somehow, Leon felt irritated by this human's gaze. 

His fingertips, hidden by the cloak, crackled with flames as he almost cast a firebolt and killed him on the spot. 

However, he held back. 

"Where are you going? They told us to stand by!"

'An aggressive tone...'

"I am going to get a weapon, like that old man told me."

"Tsk, this is why I hate nobles!"

"He doesn't understand—leave it, Max."

Leonhardt stopped his steps, looking back at the nine other recruits. 

There were five who turned away with fearful gazes, but the other four looked at him with anger, hatred and dirt. 

"Why are you angry, I am doing as he told me." Leon's clear and calm voice seemed to irritate the male further, his forehead bulging with anger.

"Kid... there's no such thing as reserve weapons, hahaha!" The brown-haired male from behind them laughed while calling out. "Jeri was just yanking your chain."

'...'

'Humans, why are they so confusing?'

Leon sat on the wooden stool and let out a sigh.

He couldn't access the dungeon from here, so there was nothing to do but meditate and absorb more mana into his body.

'Should I just kill them all now?'