Bale blinked, his face stunned.

“So, uncle, Bale oppa is making a mercenary squad, yeah~”

Right in front of his nose, the little head bounced up and down.

“And the mercenary exam is breaking a small Magic Stone! But doing it alone is scaaary, so you need two more peopleee~”

The big man who had just come back to the inn looked just as bewildered.

The man named Basto was immediately caught by the little one, who ran up to him in hops.

And now he was listening to endless chatter.

“And uncle is uncle with a hammer, he’s veeery strong!”

Basto glanced sideways at Bale.

Bale, frowning, did not avert his gaze and met his eyes.

“And Tie also has a legendary Puppetmon, so she’s strong too! If me and Bale oppa make a mercenary squad together, we’ll break the small Magic Stone and get the identification number again, right!”

She spoke so fast that when she finished, she started puffing.

Basto stared at her and opened his mouth.

“......So.”

He carefully looked Bale over and sorted the child’s words one by one.

“This guy named Bale is going to put together a mercenary squad and is looking for two more people besides himself?”

“Yup!”

“And you want you and me to be those people.”

“Yup!”

Silence fell over the first floor of the inn.

Unable to hold it in, Bale stood up from his seat.

“Hey. Kid. Who said I’d take you?”

Tie flinched and turned to Bale.

“You think a small Magic Stone is a joke? If it were that easy, I’d handle it alone.”

A small Magic Stone was still a Magic Stone.

It created a Rift and summoned annoying Magical Beasts.

Yes, compared to a large or medium one the suppression was easier, but that did not mean it was not dangerous.

“I said I’m looking for two more, which means I’m looking for capable people. A hammer, and what was it, Puke, Pupemont? What are you planning to do with that......”

He swallowed the rest about a shaggy brute and a snot nosed kid who still had milk on her lips.

A kid was a kid, but that muscular boar really did look threatening.

But {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the reply came from an unexpected place.

“I can handle a small Magic Stone alone.”

Holding Tie in his arms, Basto strode in from the doorway.

He threw his outerwear onto the table and plopped down across from Bale.

“Is it true? That you’re planning to create a mercenary squad.”

He could feel the shining gaze of the little one sitting on his lap.

Bale looked awkward, but pretended everything was fine and coughed.

“Yeah.”

“And you really are looking for companions to take the mercenary exam?”

“I told you, yes!”

These days, the mercenary exam consisted of suppressing a small Magic Stone.

You had to gather all the Magical Beast cores and take them to the mercenary registration office, after which they issued an identification number.

With a number, you could officially work as a mercenary.

And then freely enter the Capital and receive a reward for every Magic Stone suppression.

If you were lucky and your squad name entered the ranking, sitting on a mountain of money was only a matter of time.

That was why this mattered to Bale.

“I’ll say it again. I need capable companions. What you said, that you can suppress a small stone alone, is that true?”

Basto nodded heavily.

“Yes. Six days ago, I did one alone too. The small Magic Stone in Brioud.”

Bale’s brows drew together.

The commotion from a few days ago at the gate surfaced in his mind.

“Hey, everyone look! Cala Vorben of Des Hound has returned with a gift for His Majesty the Emperor!”

That guy with carelessly tied long hair had looked unpleasant at first glance.

“What are you standing around for! This is twelfth place in the ranking! The Immortal Des Hound has returned!”

He seemed close with the holy knights at the gate and for a while did nothing but drink at the checkpoint.

And he went on and on about how he had suppressed the small Magic Stone in Brioud.

“Yeah, a flying Magical Beast suddenly jumped out, I was startled for a second, but who do you think I am! Even without subordinates, all by myself, I slaughtered them all......”

According to the rumors, he had also suppressed a small Magic Stone.

And Bale knew there was only one small Magic Stone in Brioud.

Bale’s eyes narrowed.

“You. If you’re lying to me......”

“He’s not lying! You idiot!”

At that moment, the little one jumped up on the man’s knees.

With her brows furrowed to the limit, she started huffing at Bale.

“It was actually uncle with the hammer who did it! And bad Cala lied and stole it! Cala even messed with uncle’s identification number so he wouldn’t have one, and oppa doesn’t know anything at all!”

At the nonstop stream of words, Bale’s eyebrow twitched.

There had been suspicions, of course, but there was logic in what the little one said.

“Among mercenaries, that kind of thing happens all the time. There are even killings over stolen credit.”

Bale had been hanging around the gate for a long time looking for companions for a mercenary squad.

Two months already?

He wanted to find people as quickly as possible and go take the exam, but nothing worked out.

“If you misstep, you can die.”

If you picked the wrong people, if you made even the slightest mistake during the exam.

Then, without a second chance, your life would simply end.

And then the younger brothers waiting for news from him back in their hometown......

Bale roughly raked his hair.

The strands tangled, but his head was even worse.

“That muscular boar. It looks like someone really did steal his credit.”

He had actually seen yesterday how this man and the little one were not let through the checkpoint.

“They were afraid of the consequences, so Des Hound erased the mercenary identification number.”

Once the picture came together, deciding became easier.

Bale let out a breath and looked at Basto.

“You. You can definitely carry more than one and a half people, right? That’s the minimum.”

He meant that the little one did not count, but the little one herself did not seem to understand that.

Basto nodded.

“Of course. Just don’t be a burden.”

And so, the next day.

“Bite bite, cheeew~ you can’t be picky~”

Tie sang a food song she usually did not sing.

On the right, Uncle Basto.

On the left, she was holding the hand of a handsome oppa.

She was going to become a mercenary, and she was thrilled.

“Team!”

It had not even been a full week since she came to this world, and she already had a team.

When Kkamani woke up, he would definitely praise her and say she did well.

“Kkamani is a legendary Puppetmon, so even without magic he’s probably very strong, right?”

He could transform however he wanted.

And Tie was also confident that she would be useful to the team.

“In Quail Class, Tie was the fastest!”

Hide and seek, tag, cops and robbers.

When Tie became the chaser, everyone in Quail Class was finished.

“Oppa, don’t worry so much!”

She only touched his hand because he looked tense, but Bale frowned in disgust.

Tie shrugged and this time looked at Basto.

“Uncle! Don’t worry. Tie is very strong.”

But for some reason, Basto stopped.

And for some reason, he lowered himself to eye level with the bewildered Tie.

“Astie. You’re not going.”

“Uh?”

“I hired someone. You’ll wait for us at a support point near the Magic Stone.”

At those words, like thunder out of a clear sky, her big eyes darted from side to side.

“Why, but why......”

“Fighting Magical Beasts is not a child’s game, Astie.”

His head was spinning, but in a low voice Basto asked,

“What are you most afraid of?”

Tie first pressed her lips together, then rolled her eyes.

“Tyrannosaurus......?”

“I don’t know what that is, but imagine Magical Beasts that are ten times scarier.”

The branch Tie had been holding went thud and fell to the ground.