<h4>Chapter 24</h4>


    Count Mondo was serving free food and drinks to the people of his territory. It was his way of consoling those who had been affected by the war as well as celebrating their victory.


    “Honestly, that’s a pretty nice lord,” Bachman said as he looked at Count Mondo. The festivities had been going on for two straight days.


    “Really? That’s a good lord?” Urich retorted. He didn’t understand the noble society. To him, it was strange that people were letting that weak Count Mondo reign over them. In his world, the chief of the tribe had to be the most respected warrior of the tribe.


    “At least Mondo doesn’t take more than he needs to. Did I ever tell you why I left my hometown? It’s because I was on the brink of starving to death. These high-and-mighty bastards were taxing the fishermen even during the winter when ships couldn’t set sail,” Bachman spat on the ground. He made the career change from a fisherman to a diator. It was a change that came with a much higherpensation, but it was rare for diators to retire in one piece. More often than not, their retirement was death.


    “Cheers to the mercenaries who brought us victory!”


    “Here, here!”


    Count Mondo quite liked Urich and his mercenaries. This victory wouldn’t have been even remotely possible without their help. Anyone with eyes and a brain could see that.


    “Haha!” Urichughed as he received pints after pints. He still reeked of filth, but no one seemed to mind, never mind mock him for it. Urich gave his best effort and did a nasty job that no one would have done for their victory even though he was only a mercenary. In Mondo’s eyes, Urich was a man with the virtue of a mercenary—integrity.


    <i>‘How many civilized men betray and lie? Compared to them, Urich is...’</i>


    The party was in full swing.


    “Garcio the Silver Lion is going to be the new Count of the Daggleton family.”


    “Are the Silver Lion Mercenaries going to serve as their army, then? I doubt that small territory can match theirpensation demands.”


    “He’ll probably split up thend and give them out to the mercenaries along with tax exemptions.”


    “Eh, our peace treaty is valid for ten years, so whatever it is, we’ll worry about itter.”


    An agreement that is documented on paper served as crucial evidence. If either side broke that agreement and invaded the other territory, they would be banished from the noble society. Nobles had the obligation to follow their treaties and respect each other’s honor.


    “Now, now, enough of that! That’s all done, now,” Mondo settled his lieges down. He sneaked away from the festivities to have a chat with Urich alone.


    “Urich, don’t you want to settle down and have a stable life?”


    “What do you mean, Count?” Urich asked as he pulled his pants up after urinating on a wall. He wiped his fingers on his pants with little care.


    “I’ll give you a share of thend here and exempt you from any taxes. Meet a nice woman here and start a family on mynd. All you have to do is fight for me.”


    It was an offer for his allegiance, and it even came with his very ownnd.


    “You want to give mend?”


    Mondo’s offer was sobering. The beautiful golden wheat fields that Urich talked about with Horus were shing in front of his eyes. He could almost smell the golden sun.


    <i>‘I can have my ownnd? Here?’</i>


    It was and where all you had to do to have a sessful crop was just sow the seeds. There were no concerns about starving to death without spending days out on a hunting trip. With the tax exemption, he wouldn’t even have to give any of it away to the lord.


    “That is a giant offer,” Urich smiled as he could sense that he was in the Count’s favor.


    “What about my other mercenaries?”


    “My territory is notrge enough to give a piece of it to all of your mercenaries. I only have enough for you and two, maybe three others.”


    “Then, my answer is no. Actually, it was never going to be a yes. I apologize,” Urich shook his head as he politely declined the offer.


    “I see, can I ask why? Don’t all mercenaries dream of a stable settled life?”


    Mondo couldn’t understand why Urich declined his offer. Maybe he would have if it was out of loyalty to his fellow mercenaries.


    Urich looked up at the clear night sky. The moon and the stars were shining bright. Why did they sparkle? Why did the moon change its shape ever so often? This world was full of things that he didn’t know.


    “...well, that dream is not mine.”


    * * *


    “Ho! Ha! Ho!”


    The bards that Mondo had hired were singing away at the feast. As befits thest day of a feast, there was no shortage of women, wine, or meat.


    “The Mondo territory in danger! Mighty enemies!”


    “Ho!”


    “Twenty-four brave mercenaries out of nowhere!”


    The bard sang in rhyme.


    “Since when did we have twenty-four? We only have twenty-two, don’t we?”


    “Just leave it, dumbass, the bards always exaggerate things, anyway.”


    The mercenaries drained their beers down, spilling practically half of it. The servants kept the refills flowing, and their pints were never empty.


    “They marched fearlessly forward against the mighty hundred-strong Silver Lion Mercenaries.”


    The bard banged his drum and lifted his foot off-beat. The apprentice bard behind him chimed in with a chorus of ‘Ho! Ha!’


    “If that’s really how it went down, we’d all be dead by now, huh?” The mercenaries chuckled as a few lieges coughed in embarrassment.


    “That’s how a reputation is formed,” Count Mondo said as he sat down with his drink. He had paid the bards toe up with a catchy tune about the mercenaries.


    “Haha, this is fun,” Urichughed as he pped his own knee. He grabbed the stringed instrument from the bard.


    “U-uh that’s...”


    “I just want to try! Is this how you y this?”


    Urich plucked the string, and it snapped helplessly to Urich’s rough finger.


    “Aw...”


    The bard who was practically robbed of his instrument frowned. Urich grinned apologetically and returned the broken instrument to its owner.


    “Sorry, sorry. The string was weaker than I thought. Here, take it back and keep singing your song!”


    Urich returned to his seat and grabbed his pint. The mercenariesughed at their mishap.


    “Twenty-four brave warriors stood against the Silver Lion Mercenaries without hesitation, and in their momentum, the evil noble lost his grip on the horse and fell to his death, and the Silver Lion turned into a feeble gray mouse and scurried away!”


    “Ho!”


    “Urich and his warriors!”


    “Ha!”


    “Urich and his brothers! Their leader Urich, the barbarian warrior from a mysteriousnd!”


    “Ho! Ha!”


    “The bona fides mercenaries who protected the Mondo territory!”


    The mercenaries couldn’t contain themselves and broke out inughter, mming their pints on the tables and their own knees.


    “Bahahaha!”


    “What a masterpiece, a masterpiece!”


    “Bona fides? Us?”


    War tales traveled throughout thends like a living creature. As it did so, it became altered and mutated. The bards were artists, wanderers, and also, news sources. The bards exchanged theirtest songs with each other, and at times formted reputations for people who paid them. But fame without any evidence was rare.


    <i>‘It’s ultimately true that these mercenaries saved me and my territory, regardless of how these bards are spinning it.’</i>


    Their tale was a gift from Count Mondo to Urich and his diators. He was vouching for the reputation of the mercenaries that he had hired to protect hisnd.


    “Those bards are going to go from city to city singing your song. I paid them enough.”


    “You’re too kind, Count,” Urich said as he picked up his pint and staggered to his feet, standing beside Count Mondo.


    “Don’t mention it. It’s nothingpared to what you did for us. But, I can’t pay you any more than what we discussed earlier. This war drove me to the brink of bankruptcy.”


    “Well, that is more than enough. I’m satisfied, hmph!”


    Urich drew his axe and flung it at the floor. An unfortunate rat that was scurrying into the wood was split in half. A maiden passing by let out a little yelp.


    <i>‘He still throws the axe urately even after all that drinking. What a monster.’</i>


    Urich pulled the axe out of the floor.


    “Our squad needs a name.”


    He couldn’t let his mercenaries carry on without a name. A reputation needed a title to attach itself to.


    Urich thought of Garcio, the man who cowardly killed his own brother to take his countship. It disgusted him.


    “Since I’m the leader, for now, I’ll call us ‘Urich’s Brotherhood.’ As long as I’m the leader, there is only one rule that must never be broken: brothers never, ever betray one another. I don’t care about anything else, but if someone breaks this rule, I will chase them down to the ends of this continent and split their skull open with my own hands. All in favor, tap your sses.”


    Urich lifted his head and slowly looked around his drunken mercenaries.


    <i>Thump! Thump! Thump!</i>


    The mercenaries lifted their pints and mmed them down on the tables. The shaking beer bounced high in the air.


    The feaststed until dawn. In the shaded areas, men and women intertwined and let out animalistic moans, and the ones who were more dignified spent time with their women in their private rooms. The center of the room reeked of vomit, and the men slept carelessly on top of it. Urich, too, was curled up in an odd position against a table, fast asleep.


    Urich was in a dream. In that dream, he was running through the ins. He looked at his palms and saw that they were slender because he was not yet fully grown, and without the firm calluses, his hands were scratched up. The young Urich stared into the vast ins and the forest. The gust of wind that swept through Urich’s hair soared all the way up to the Sky Mountains.


    <i>‘The Sky Mountains.’</i>


    He had always longed for the Sky Mountains. Climbing over the mountains was forbidden. The shamans and the elders told him that the living must not peek into the world of the dead.


    <i>‘The oldies were wrong. This is the world of the living.’</i>


    The young Urich’s body grew asrge as it was now. He had seen the truth of the world on the other side of the mountains. He saw it with his very own eyes.


    <i>‘One day, I’m going to go back and tell all of this to my tribe. They won’t even be able to imagine the things I saw—they’ll never believe me. They’ll never believe that there’s a whole new world on the other side of the Sky Mountains.’</i>


    The little desire inside Urich’s heart squirmed.


    <i>‘And... I...’</i>


    The ins suddenly burst into mes. He saw a ck army. There was a strong metallic smell of blood, and smelted metal was flowing everywhere. Standing in the center of it all was Urich. He was standing in the melting pot of blood and metal of the war. Just as the shaman received their prophecies, Urich saw the remnants of his disheveled desire.


    “Excuse... Ahhh!”


    The maid woke up Urich, who was drenched in cold sweat. It was already morning.


    <i>Thump!</i>


    Urich grabbed the maid by the nape of her neck and mmed her into a wooden post. His eyes were glowing yellow as urine dripped down the frightened maid’s legs.


    “A-ah,” aftering to his senses, Urich let go of the maid. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.


    “I have a terrible sleeping habit, I apologize.”


    Urich patted the maid’s behind and sent her away with a gold coin.


    <i>‘Another dream.’</i>


    His memory of the dream once again disappeared into the fog.


    “Stop sleeping and get up already, youzy pigs,” Urich went around the room, kicking his mercenaries to wake them up. Some of the mercenaries vomited on the spot as soon as they opened their eyes.


    “We’ve had our fun. Now, let’s get back to work. Life is short, my brothers,” Urich said to the disgruntled mercenaries.


    That afternoon, Urich and his mercenaries left the Mondo territory. ‘Urich’s Brotherhood,’ the song that praised their achievement, spread throughout the Empire as the bards wandered around the continent.