"He says he won’t go. He doesn’t have time."

Having said that, Tesetan sharply flicked his right hand.

Thick blood from the magical beast splattered in a long streak across the dry fallen leaves, and Allerik stepped forward, suppressing a groan.

"Squad leader. You can’t do this."

Tesetan, who had been wiping the magical beast’s blood from his body, stopped.

When his gaze settled on him, Allerik involuntarily swallowed.

"You can’t? If I do this?"

The voice in which he asked the question was gentle.

There was even a faint smile on his lips.

But Allerik knew.

At that moment, Tesetan’s eyes were not smiling at all.

"Squad leader. What I meant was..."

Allerik nervously lowered his gaze.

Where he was looking was Tesetan’s sword, around which a strange aura swirled like a vortex.

The air around the blade trembled almost imperceptibly.

Bluish magical power raging like a living thing, and opposite it a golden energy.

Both forces seemed on the verge of colliding, yet maintained perfect balance, wavering side by side.

Allerik quietly exhaled.

‘He’s tired. Extremely tired.’

Tesetan’s sword aura was always like that.

The more exhausted he became, the more violently it flared.

That was why Allerik also wanted to let him rest.

But—

"It’s about Berugon. The man trapped inside Krazar’s subspace."

Even though everyone was exhausted from the continuous sieges, this muster order could not be ignored.

Because—

"What will you do if Berugon dies because you refused?"

Right now Berugon’s life was literally in their hands.

But Tesetan’s expression did not even change.

"So what? I’ll go to the funeral. That’s all."

"Squad leader!"

Allerik turned back desperately toward the companions behind him.

But they all merely shook their heads.

Allerik inhaled quietly and deeply.

Then he stepped closer to Tesetan.

"This isn’t such a simple problem, squad leader."

"Then what is it? You know better than anyone what I’ve been doing these last three days."

Allerik silently closed his mouth.

Tesetan continued coldly.

"If there’s a problem, it’s not me. It’s that damned Frost Mercenary Union. They accepted me—more precisely, Tregava—into their organization and still haven’t given us a single state commission, Allerik."

"......"

"And whenever something happens—muster order. Come here, do that. Am I a mercenary or their lapdog? Since when?"

Allerik clenched his fist and slowly released it.

Then he spoke.

"Squad leader. Of course I understand as well. The association really is irritating."

When they first joined it, Allerik had not expected things to turn out like this.

‘I thought the association would at least meet us halfway.’

If the Frost Mercenary Union at that time was like a newly built aquarium, then Tregava was a huge fish swimming inside it.

When such a fish willingly enters the aquarium—

He thought they would at least occasionally throw them some food.

‘But they never once gave us the right to carry out a state commission.’

Of course, even without state commissions, Tregava lived quite comfortably.

Every member of the squad was outstanding, and their reputation was already enormous.

Even without state commissions, there were more than enough people seeking their help.

But even for Tregava the situation had changed when their participation rate in state commissions had remained at zero for several years.

"I understand that it damages our reputation."

After adding that, Allerik looked at Tesetan almost pleadingly.

"But this is not simply about pride."

One of Tesetan’s eyebrows rose slightly.

"All the armor and weapons used by the Holy Knight Order pass through Berugon’s workshop. If he dies and the workshop stops operating, no one will be able to repair their broken swords."

The swords of the Holy Knights were originally meant to be forged in a way that allowed holy power to be infused into them.

And one of the very few people capable of performing that complex process systematically was Berugon.

"Squad leader. If Berugon dies, all the blame will fall on us. The church, the imperial court, and the Holy Knight Order."

Only after hearing those words did Tesetan slightly tilt his head.

"We don’t exactly have a good relationship with them already. You want to make it even worse?"

"......"

"And why have we tolerated staying in that association until now? To see when they would finally give us the right to take a commission. Before leaving, we wanted to obtain it at least once."

"......"

"And if we refuse the muster order now, everything we endured for so long will be for nothing."

"Ha."

Tesetan lowered his head as if the entire situation was giving him a headache.

He roughly ran a hand through his black hair and looked at Allerik with irritation.

"Want me to be honest?"

"About what?"

"I’m a little on edge right now because I’m tired. Just keep that in mind."

Tesetan lifted his chin and looked down.

"Right now I simply don’t care. About the imperial court or the church."

"What?"

"If they don’t like it, what will they do? Do you think I’ve been idle? Sorry, but I’ve been busy too. Dealing with large magic stones that suddenly appeared along the Empire’s border."

Tesetan’s words were true.

During the past few months Tregava’s schedule had been packed to the limit.

And despite that, they still were not given the right to take state commissions, while the imperial court continued using Tregava in strange ways.

And that was not all.

A few days ago another absurd situation had occurred.

‘I thought I would finally get some rest. But suddenly several large magic stones appeared along the Empire’s border.’

The Holy Knights immediately refused to conduct the siege.

They said that no imperial subjects lived in that region, so there was no need to launch an assault.

Of course, that decision had likely come from the higher authorities rather than the order itself.

‘But leaving several large magic stones alone wasn’t an option either.’

The problem was that there were very few mercenary squads in the Empire capable of handling sieges on that scale.

And right at that moment, the emperor of a neighboring country bordering that region offered a large payment.

In the end, Tregava took on the siege.

And because of that, Tesetan’s temperament had grown even sharper.

‘The ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ squad leader is tired—it’s no wonder.’

Tesetan especially hated besieging several large magic stones at once.

He even said that just looking at them made him nauseous.

But despite that, the battle had proceeded smoothly, and it seemed the siege would end successfully.

However, today, the moment the long siege ended, a muster order arrived from the association.

The reason — Berugon, trapped in subspace, had to be rescued.

"I want to wash this filth off."

Tesetan casually lifted the sword leaning against the tree.

"I’m going to sleep for two days. Don’t wake me."

"But still...!"

Allerik helplessly watched Tesetan’s back as he walked toward the tent.

If Tregava angered the higher powers, obtaining state commissions would become even more difficult.

Moreover, other mercenary squads waiting for the chance to take first place would surely celebrate.

"...It won’t work."

As he muttered that, a companion who had been watching from the side approached.

"Allerik, what are you going to wear to the blacksmith master’s funeral?"

It was Ribia.

Allerik sighed heavily and shot her an irritated look.

"Just leave me alone right now, Ribia. My head hurts."

Ribia’s eyes widened. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Eh? Our strategist already gave up? That’s bad. We need to start thinking now about how to recruit Basto Paerix."

"What?"

"I just overheard the people from Scream of Silvar. They say someone else is trapped in the subspace with Berugon."

"What are you talking about?"

"The leader of Agavert. That weirdo who pretends to be a four year old child."

Ribia burst out laughing.

"Isn’t it funny? I thought some kind of monster was there, but he disappeared himself. When the King of the Dead dies, we absolutely have to bring Basto Paerix over to our side. Alright?"

"What are you even talking about?"

At that moment a strange voice came from behind.

When they turned around, they saw Tesetan.

He stood a little distance away, looking at them.

"Berugon isn’t the only one trapped in the subspace?"