Chapter 51

Harvald sprinkled the black powder into the campfire over and over again as the powder burned with a popping sound. The black powder reacted with the heat to create colorful flames that rose for a moment and swayed beautifully.

‘What was that?’

Urich’s eyes widened. His heart was beating hard like the time he crossed the Sky Mountains. He had never seen such a thing before.

“We call this the flame powder. Anyone can do this as long as they have this powder; it’s not magic at all.”

Harvald said calmly, but the mercenaries didn’t seem too convinced. Even Pahell, who had more knowledge than anyone else there, could only stare at the warrior with his jaw on the floor.

“Give me that, I want to try.”

Urich broke the silence and demanded the powder. He grabbed a handful from Harvald and chucked it into the fire.

Woosh! Kwahh!

The fire roared to life. Urich felt the searing heat and grinned in ecstasy.

“Haha, I’m the sorcerer, you bastards!” Urich said with immense excitement. The hair above his forehead was well-torched by the fire, but he couldn’t care less.

‘Their leader is a converted barbarian,’ Harvald thought as he looked at Urich’s sun pendant. His actions were quite silly.

“Anyway, what made you travel with a bunch of mercenaries, Sir Phillion? The wound in your hand seems rather fresh as well...”

“I can’t tell you that, not even to a Sun Warrior.”

Phillion was very cautious about who he talked to about their goal, and Harvald respected that and refrained from any further questions. The warrior then looked around the group.

‘Those men are northerners, and haven’t converted yet, I see.’

Harvald locked his eyes on the northerners after glancing around at the gathered mercenaries. A sense of mission surged in his heart, so he recited a short prayer and got up from his seat.

“The people of my mother, convert. The sun god is always waiting for his prodigal sons to return to him,” Harvald said to Sven. His words finally pushed Sven’s patience over the edge.

Creak.

Sven picked up his double-handed axe and walked toward Harvald. The warrior flinched and drew his sword. It seemed like a fight was imminent.

“Stop it, both of you.”

Harvald felt a sudden coldness against his neck. Before he knew it, Urich had come up behind him and pressed the blade of his axe against his throat.

‘When did he come behind me and pull out his weapon?’

Harvald tried to retaliate by taking out a dagger from his waist.

Slap.

Urich quickly grabbed his hand and stopped him from drawing his dagger. Harvald, who had the northern blood flowing through him, was quite a strong man, but he couldn’t escape Urich’s grip.

‘What an incredible grip; it feels like my fingers are going to snap.’

After completely disarming Harvald, Urich turned his head to Sven.

“Sven, I am the leader of this squad. You dare to draw your weapon without my permission? Do you want to die, old man?” Urich growled. Sven frowned for a moment, then nodded.

“My bad, Leader.”

Sven backed off without a fuss as he respected Urich’s authority.

“And Harvald. I don’t care who or what you are, and I don’t even care that you’re that ‘Sun Warrior’ thing. Do not tell my brother what to do. I may be a Solarist, but if you ever humiliate Sven again, you will be the one to die. Let’s not cross any lines here. As long as you do that, we can all be friends.”

Harvald sheathed his sword with a nod. Urich did the same.

‘What an impressive control over his men. He’s a natural,’ Phillion thought to himself with relief. For a second, he was worried that something might go wrong.

“I apologize, Mercenary Leader Urich, and to him, as well.”

Harvald showed his apology to Sven, who merely tilted his head to show the smallest acknowledgement.

The tension eased, and the mercenaries resumed their chatter back in their seats. Urich grinned and patted Harvald on the shoulder.

“Alright, where were we? Brother Harvald, you got any more of that powder?” Urich asked with his eyes sparkling. Harvald handed the rest of the powder over to Urich. There wasn’t much left, anyway.

‘I thought he was just a simple man, but I guess that wasn’t all...’ Harvald muttered as he looked at Urich’s back that was in front of the repeatedly exploding campfire.

* * *

The mercenaries made it out of the forest on the second day. The dense forest ended in a plain that led to the large main road.

“The Northern God is the true god of warriors,” Sven said as he walked alongside Urich. He wasn’t too happy that the Sun Warriors were accompanying them.

“Okay, okay, I get it, so just relax, old man.”

“The Sun God Lou does not like battles and wars. He treats farmers and warriors the same. But Ulgaro, the Northern God, has a field prepared for warriors and warriors only. If you’re a warrior, you must believe in Ulgaro. There’s no doubt about it,” Sven said as he splattered his saliva on his beard. Urich shrugged.

“But I believe in Lou, too.”

“That’s because you’re not a northerner.”

Sven rolled his eyes and looked at Urich. The two men locked eyes.

‘Man from beyond the mountains.’

Urich never said it himself, but Sven had an idea of where Urich was from.

Clunk.

Sven slung his double-handed axe over his shoulder and pressed his rusty helmet down. His eyes underneath the helmet shone ferociously. With his every movement, his chainmail shook with a metallic ring.

“You’d better get yourself an armor,” Sven said to Urich as he scanned him up and down.

All Urich had on him was a fur coat. It didn’t cover his whole body, and it lacked protection for the parts that it did cover.

“It makes me dull, I don’t like it.”

“It’s not that people don’t know that. It’s that the benefit of wearing armor far exceeds the discomfort that comes with it. Even the greatest warriors are bound to get hit sooner or later. You can’t block or dodge every attack that comes your way,” Sven said as he banged on the circular shield that was on his back. His usual weapon was his large double-handed axe, but he often used a single-handed axe along with his circular shield. He adapted his equipment to the situation at hand.

The number of mercenaries armed with heavy armory increased by the day. Equipment that protects their life was their top priority purchase for those who earned enough money to afford it. The cloth and leather armor were gradually turning into the chainmail.

“There’s nothing better than a good set of chainmail armor for mercenaries like us. The only better option is the full plate armor.”

The full plate armor was reserved for the Imperial knights and nobles since it was only forged in the Imperial forges. Imperial steel weapons were occasionally available in the public market, but the full plate armor was nearly impossible to find in a market.

“The flesh and blood of man are weaker than metal. Remember that, Urich,” Sven said as he stepped back after seeing the Sun Warrior Harvald approaching Urich.

“Mercenary Leader Urich, I apologize for not recognizing you and your squad earlier. I too have heard the famous tales of the Silver Lion Mercenaries,” Harvald said. He had heard bits and pieces of the journey of Urich’s Brotherhood from the other mercenaries.

‘The mercenary squad that fought against the Silver Lion Mercenaries and their leader defeated seven cavalries all by himself... and this is probably inflated but he lifted a whole horse.’

Urich stared at Harvald.

“Well, there’s no need to apologize. Anyway, now that we’re out of the forest, I’m assuming we’re going our separate ways? We’re going to continue going up this way.”

Urich wanted to get rid of the Sun Warriors as soon as possible.

‘The presence of the Sun Warriors alone triggers Sven and the other northerners. Nothing good will come out of keeping them around.’

But Harvald had different thoughts. He wanted to go forward with the mercenaries.

“We lost all of our horses to the traps that the sorcerer had set up. Wouldn’t it be alright if we traveled together until we could find a town where we could buy some horses? Furthermore, this area isn’t safe. That’s part of the reason why we, the Sun Warriors, had to be sent out to handle a single sorcerer. The noble who got buried in debt from all his luxurious spending disbanded his private army, so there was no one to keep the bandits and criminals away. He’ll be stripped of his title and territories soon enough.”

It didn’t take long for Urich and the mercenaries to understand exactly what Harvald meant by the area being unsafe.

About half a day of traveling after getting out of the forest, they spotted smoke rising in the distance.

“That smoke can’t be from baking.”

“Let’s just go around, no need to get caught up in it.”

The mercenaries came upon a burning farm village. Grey smoke rose into the sky.

“Looks like they got hit by a group of bandits. Oh, another one died just now. I can’t see exactly how many they have because a bunch of them are in the houses, but it looks like they have around twenty,” Urich said as he squinted. He told the mercenaries about the situation that he was seeing around the farm village.

“You can see that from here?” Harvald’s eyes widened. To him, everything looked like small dots.

The mercenaries were used to Urich’s exceptional vision, but it was a shock to Harvald the Sun Warrior. Even in the Sun Warriors, where everyone was of barbarian blood, no one had such good vision.

“Urich, let’s go save them! Let’s go, Sun Warriors!” Harvald shouted as he drew his sword. The Sun Warriors looked like they were prepared to charge at any moment.

“Huh? Why should we go?”

“Those bandits are stealing from the poor helpless farmers! Us Solarists cannot turn a blind eye to this!” Harvald yelled as he bounced around anxiously. With the mercenaries’ help, the outcome would have been obvious.

“The farmers harvest their crops from the grounds for the amount of sweat that they put forth, and bandits steal their possessions for the amount of blood they spill. Who’s to say what’s good and what’s bad? It’s not like they’re my family,” Urich shrugged, making Harvald frown.

“The Sun God Lou will remember your words! We’ll save the farmers on our own!”

Harvald despised Urich. He led the Sun Warriors and ran down the hill.

“For the Sun!!!!”

“For the Sun!”

“Oh, Lou!”

The Sun Warriors made their way to the burning farm village as they made all the noises they possibly could. The sight of the five of them running because they had lost their horses was quite entertaining.

“We have no time to think about others right now. It’s unfortunate, but as Urich said, we can’t afford to help them, my prince,” Phillion said to the prince. Pahell looked down at Phillion as he stroked Kylios.

“Sir Phillion, who am I?” Pahell pondered, then asked.

“You are the sole rightful heir to the Porcana Kingdom,” Phillion answered.

Pahell closed his eyes and drew the sword from his waist belt.

“That’s right. I am Varca Aneu Porcana. If even I, the soon-to-be king, turns a blind eye, then who is going to look after my helpless people?”

“They are not of our kingdom, my prince. The one who should be ashamed is the lord, who cannot protect his own people. It’s none of our business.

Phillion too was a knight. But his values lay in loyalty. He wasn’t afraid to do anything for the sake of his master’s safety, regardless of how immoral that action may have been. To him, even the moral code of god came second.

“What brings more shame than thinking only of your own safety when you have the power to help? Urich! I am your employer, not Sir Phillion. Now, look, Urich’s Brotherhood! The shiny jewels await your victorious return!”

Pahell exclaimed as he circled the mercenaries on the back of Kylios. The mercenaries clashed their weapons and shields in their response.

“Yes, Young Master!”

“So, how much are you paying us, Mr. Royalty?”

The mercenaries shouted. Pahell took out a pouch full of pearls from his pocket and tossed it to Urich.

“Haha! What are you doing, we just got paid! Get to work already!”

After confirming the fine pearls, Urich shouted to his mercenaries. The mercenaries roared their battle cries as they ran after the Sun Warriors.