Mercenaries

There was a lot to do. They had to handle things in order.

First, she freed the slaves from the wagons they were confined in. Since searching for the key would have been a pain, she cut through the wooden frames with her katana.

She checked if anyone was in poor health, gave them food, let them use the restroom, and had them lie down to rest.

Most were young adults, though there were children as well. The majority were male, but all of the women had reasonably good looks.

After confirming, forty-eight were from the same village, and four were herders who had been staying in the village from nearby. The majority were beastkin, the rest human.

"It's a relief that there are people who can handle the wagons."

Ria nodded at Carlos' words. If there weren't, Carlos and Ria would have had to dismount and drive them themselves.

When she asked about the circumstances of how they were enslaved, it was absolutely infuriating.

An army had suddenly attacked at dawn, unilaterally declaring they would conscript people into military service. They also rounded up women, claiming they would attend to their needs.

Some who resisted had been killed, they said.

She had confirmed it, and there was no doubt they were Cordova's soldiers. The village didn't belong to Cordova; it was an independent village. It hadn't belonged to any nation since long ago.

Being free from the yoke of nations also meant they couldn't be protected by military force.

"Couldn't they get the country of Casalia to protect them? They might have to pay taxes, but I think that's much better than being made slaves."

Both Ria and Carlos shook their heads at Serge's opinion.

First of all, this area was far too distant from Casalia, and there were independent tribal nations in between. They couldn't dispatch troops just to protect a single village.

"It would be nice if the Ogre King made a country. Then they could belong to it."

Ria muttered this, but she knew it wasn't realistic. The ogre race had never formed a nation to begin with. At best, they formed tribal alliances, and even those were only among ogre villages.

The other major power in this area would be Labyrinth City, but they probably wouldn't take the lead in forming a territorial nation either. They were doing fine as a city-state as things stood. The surrounding villages apparently belonged to it in a sense, but they were food suppliers; the city didn't levy taxes on them.

However, thinking about the future, if a large nation wasn't established in this area, it would likely be swallowed up by Cordova eventually.

"When I return home, I'll need to discuss this area with Father."

She had set out on this journey as warrior training, but there was much to think about.

It was Carlos who woke the unconscious knight and interrogated him.

At first he was shouting things like "Do you think you'll get away with this?!", but he became docile the moment he saw Gig's massive frame before him.

What they learned was that this slave hunting wasn't being carried out as national policy. The battalion commander of the regional army had been trying to sell slaves to Labyrinth City to line his own pockets.

They were honestly relieved to learn they didn't need to take on an entire nation. However, a battalion by Cordova's military organization meant one thousand infantry and two hundred cavalry. In the worst case, they might have to face that force.

"Well, if he carried out slave hunting without permission and suffered losses like this, he'll probably be executed."

Carlos tried to comfort her, but there was no telling what would really happen.

"For now, let's head to the village. It's the middle of the night, but staying here is a bad idea."

The knight who had obediently talked was released with only his weapon. Killing an enemy who couldn't resist went against Ria's sense of aesthetics. As long as they didn't give him a horse, it would take time for him to rejoin his main force.

With Rudolph at the front and Ria guarding the rear, the group headed toward the village.

The village was on a small rise. It was surrounded by a fence, protecting against damage from beasts. But it wouldn't be very effective against ferocious monsters.

The village apparently existed with the understanding that some villagers would become casualties, yet they were still grateful when the enslaved villagers were brought back. There were about one hundred houses. Judging from the size of the houses, it was a settlement of around five hundred people.

(They only took young adults in their prime, children, and attractive women.)

That had been an unacceptable loss. Yet they couldn't resist against the army.

Borrowing a house that had lost its occupants, the group rested.

Only Carlos was called to the village chief's house to explain what developments might be possible going forward.

Would the army come again, or wouldn't they? If they came, how would they respond? It wasn't the place for a child like Ria to speak. Normally.

And so Ria, who actually held the decision-making power for the group, was in the garden sharpening her katana.

"What a beautiful color…"

She murmured dreamily as she gazed at Kotetsu.

The color of the ji-tetsu was calm with a moist luster, the blade's edge shining but not excessively. Despite having cut down so many people, there wasn't a single chip in the blade.

After carefully wiping away the moisture, she sheathed it. Then she looked at the dagger.

She only looked at this one. She hadn't used it, after all.

Masamune had been designated a national treasure in her previous life. She didn't think it was a perfect reproduction, but its form was beautiful.

Eventually she would need to show it to a blacksmith to confirm things like its durability, but that would be quite a ways off.

Serge was trembling in the shadow of the building as he watched Ria gaze at her katanas in rapture.

"I already knew it, but Nee-chan is scary."

"Ria has always been like that. She prefers weapons over dresses or jewelry."

Lulu was lying down. She had taken a comfortable position to recover her magical power even a little faster.

According to the story Lulu knew, Ria, having been recognized as the king's daughter, received various gifts from her father and from nobles.

But while she would admire skillfully crafted jewelry, her eyes never sparkled at it. She would immediately give them away to the ladies-in-waiting who served her or to friends she had made.

Then one time, when she was gifted a dagger forged by the kingdom's master blacksmith for self-defense, her entire face broke into a smile upon seeing the blade's gleam.

After she started participating in the knights' training, almost half the gifts she received became weapons or armor of some kind.

Even now, concentrating her mind, she was trying to create a new katana from her memories.

A katana created from an image. It was a Japanese sword with splendid fittings.

As she smoothly drew it from the scabbard, a blade that matched her image appeared.

On the surface, at least.

"Gig, hold this again."

"Sure."

Gig held the newly created katana horizontally. Against it, Ria raised Kotetsu and swung it down without putting in much force.

With a clear ringing sound, the katana Gig was holding broke and flew apart.

"Ah, another failure."

She sighed. There wasn't a single chip on Kotetsu's blade.

"Nee-chan, why don't you give up already? I mean, isn't the original katana only that good to begin with?"

Serge, who knew the source material, said this, but Ria, who knew the legend, wouldn't compromise.

If she could make the real thing, it should equal or surpass Kotetsu.

"Is it that the image won't solidify without actually swinging or cutting with it? Or is the problem that I don't know the manufacturing method…"

She was muttering to herself and trying to create the katana again, but Carlos returned with the village chief, so she stopped creating katanas for now.

"Ojou, he says he has something to discuss."

According to their established cover, she was a noble girl with guards, so it was natural for Carlos to seek Ria's opinion.

The man who stood before Ria was an elderly man with a rustic, honest impression.

Once they entered the house, the village chief began making his request.

"Defend the village… is it."

"Yes, according to what we've heard it wasn't regular military activity, but after something like that…"

The village chief spoke in a weak tone. He was asking them to serve as mercenaries in charge of defense, and to also teach the villagers how to fight.

In the short term at least, Ria and her group couldn't stay here forever. In that case, for the village's defense afterward, he wanted them to teach those who could fight how to use weapons.

Protect yourself with your own body. It was natural in this world, but having a proper resolve for it was admirable.

However, there was a problem—the duration of their commitment.

"If half a month is acceptable, we'll take the job. But as for compensation…"

The village was basically self-sufficient and didn't have much currency in stock. Considering that they had rescued villagers from the slave hunters and were taking the horses and wagons off their hands, the village couldn't possibly afford to pay much.

Honestly, Ria would have been fine doing it for free, but if she kept doing that, she wasn't Mito Komon—she'd end up having to resolve every incident that came up along the way.

"For now, if nothing happens, we'll just take meals. If fighting becomes necessary, pay us with the village's money and enough food for the road ahead."

The village chief was surprised by conditions so favorable to them, but they weren't short on money to begin with, and they had plenty of food.

If there was anything they would gain as compensation, it would be experience. If Cordova's soldiers attacked with a battalion, repelling them would practically be war.

The Gift she possessed: Divine Protection of the War God. This Gift that specialized in war might finally see the light of day.

That day, Ria made a massive quantity of long spears with genesis magic.

Katanas were not weapons commonly used on battlefields to begin with. Even Ria would use spears more often when conditions allowed.

In this case, for villagers unaccustomed to fighting, spears that kept more distance from enemies made it easier to suppress fear and had the advantage of being easy to handle.

Bows would really be better for that, but considering how long training would take, she chose spears in the end.

For now, she made about a hundred spears of decent quality, then created a bath in the garden of their assigned house.

A bath was a cleansing of the soul. Since they were planning to stay for several days, she made a larger bath than usual as a special treat.

Dragging in the reluctant Lulu, the three girls entered the bath.

"Mmm, Lulu's boobs really do have a nice shape!"

"W-why are you saying that so loudly!"

After dealing mental damage to Carlos, the night grew late.