He possessed an upright character and trained every day. He participated in countless subjugations to build experience, and several times even met Superhuman-level opponents and narrowly escaped death.
Even so, he could not cross the wall.
The crude Mana Heart he had formed in childhood was the problem. If it had been at least as good as those formed by ordinary knights, crossing the wall would not have been impossible.
The heart Mark had formed was so crude that reaching 3-Star at all seemed miraculous.
The Mana Heart was not his only deficiency.
His years as a mercenary had worn down his joints and muscles to the point that, without reinforcing himself with Mana, he could not even swing a sword properly.
[I keep telling you, become a knight instead of a mercenary.]
His considerable age was also a burden for doing rough mercenary work.
[If you make a suitable name for yourself as a knight, you will earn more than you do as a mercenary. There is a reason people who live by the sword are so eager to become knights.]
I sincerely advised the partner who could not see the wider world because of the deprivation of his childhood.
“Adamas, people each have work that suits them. Being a knight does not suit me.”
If he could set aside the desire for practical gain, there was no occupation as free as that of a mercenary.
“I am satisfied merely to have gained a friend and mentor at an age when others retire.”
[You really do not listen.]
“Hehehehe. I am no longer a young man, after all.”
[A partner who cannot reach even 7-Star, let alone 8-Star. I will not be able to break the seal in this life either.]
“I am sorry. But since you live forever, you will surely meet a partner who suits your heart someday.”
Mark was a man who knew how to be satisfied with what he had gained through his own effort.
Even though he attained success at a late age, he did not forget his essence.
He was a stubborn man who did not easily bend his convictions, yet he also possessed the sensitivity to consider another person’s thoughts.
That was why he was always at peace.
Unlike the other close friends who had passed through my life, I thought I would have no need to push Mark too hard, nor would Mark meet a miserable end.
I had been mistaken.
When Mark’s own paradise collapsed, he was consumed by immense rage.
His rage was so great that it devoured the accomplishments and rank he had built up until then, allowing him to cross the wall he had never crossed before.
My heart was troubled.
I had wanted my simple-hearted friend to end his life in peace, but the Mana Heart that had begun to burn with rage as fuel would have nothing left once that fuel was gone.
Knowing that the end of it would not be good, I watched my friend, who had reached Superhuman status, with complicated feelings.
The Empire’s knights who had incurred Mark’s wrath were dead, but there was nowhere suitable to entrust the many children.
In the end, Mark borrowed money in his own name and entrusted the children to others along with enormous support funds.
There were so many that one hundred temples scattered across the continent promised to divide the children among themselves and take them in.
In return, Mark promised enormous monthly contributions.
The man who had wiped out an Imperial knight order could not possibly live as he had before.
An enormous bounty was placed on Mark’s head.
Being a Superhuman did not mean that one did not need to sleep. It did not mean that one’s stamina was limitless.
Those seeking the Mercenary King’s head came for him day and night.
Not many realized that he survived assassination attempts spanning many years because of the Magic Sword at his side.
Mark had to endure the danger of assassination at every moment and earn the vast sums of money he needed to send to the temples.
Fortunately, there were missions equal to that task.
The kingdoms resisting the Empire paid a high price to hire him.
“Mercenary King. Deal with the Stork Knight Order, the pride of the Vassal State.”
“Pay one bag of gold coins and one chest of gold, and I will take the mission.”
“They say you annihilated the Stork Knight Order, which had two Superhumans. Stay in our kingdom for a month and deal with the Imperial knights who attack at all hours.”
“Pay two bags of gold coins and two chests of gold.”
“A prince crazed by the competition for the throne has led his private army and declared war. Please accept this request.”
“Can you pay three bags of gold coins and three chests of gold?”
As the Empire’s tyranny increased, so did the number of people seeking the Mercenary King.
He won battle after battle, but his notoriety for demanding enormous sums also grew.
“A mercenary will always be a mercenary.”
“He acted as if he were some knight, but I have never seen such a money-grubber.”
“They say the money he earns alone rivals that of a decent-sized merchant guild.”
“I heard he deliberately made an enemy of the Empire to raise his value. He certainly has an incredible nose for money.”
“Shh. Do you not know how many of the Empire’s Superhumans he has already cut down? Watch your tongue.”
More and more people watched Mark with reverent eyes wherever he walked.
[Do not take it to heart.]
“I know.”
[Does someone who knows wear an expression like that?]
“You do not even have eyes, yet you see well enough. Is that an Authority?”
[Yes. It is the Authority of Observation.]
I told Mark that it was one of the few Authorities I had become able to use after my partner reached Superhuman status.
“I am sorry. My ability is lacking, so I cannot draw out your power properly.”
[I never thought it was a power you could use with your Mana Heart. You should be grateful that you can use it even a few times at such a late age.]
I returned the words Mark had once said to me exactly as they were.
“I was foolish, Adamas.”
[No, you were not wrong.]
He was merely an upright man with convictions of his own.
If anyone was at fault, it was the Empire, which exploited turbulent times to spill the blood of countless races.
“How much time do I have left?”
[At most, two years.]
He had burned his accumulated accomplishments and resentment to raise his rank.
The power he emitted was at the level of a 7-Star Master, and with Adamas’s aid, he could temporarily reach 8-Star.
But his body could not endure it.
“Two years...... That will be enough to lay the groundwork for one big score.”
[......]
Amid the turbulent political situation, ten kingdoms opposing the Empire joined forces to form the Kingdom Alliance.
Under the Emperor’s proclamation, the Empire sent out a subjugation force made up of ten legions. The disparity in military strength was like a lamp before the wind, but the Kingdom Alliance had also finished preparing to resist by mobilizing its nations’ heroes, dozens of knight orders, and mage orders.
Naturally, they hired the Mercenary King whose name struck fear into the Empire.
“Pay one hundred bags of gold coins and one hundred chests of gold.”
It was a sum not easily paid even by ten allied kingdoms.
“I will pay half in advance. But if you fail the mission, I will not pay the remaining half.”
“It does not matter. What you desire will be accomplished anyway.”
“They say the enemy force of ten legions numbers five hundred thousand. I know well how unreasonable it is to ask you to hold back one legion alongside five thousand hired mercenaries.”
“Holding back one legion is what you asked of me. You will keep your promise.”
He firmly stated that, even if he died on the battlefield, the one hundred temples would act as proxies for his rights.
“I promise as the leader of the Alliance. Even if it is merely formal, it would be good to have a token.”
He mentioned a safeguard that would bind not only himself, but the other kings of the Alliance as well, so they could not change their minds by staking their honor.
“Even if it is merely formal, I will appoint you a knight.”
“......”
“Will you lend me your sword?”
After hesitating for a moment, Mark unfastened me from his waist and handed me to the Alliance’s king.
“In the name of Rudic Eurasia, august King of Eurasia and member of the Kingdom Alliance, I command this: I grant the mercenary Mark a knighthood and bestow upon him the name Bismarck.”
Rudic Eurasia picked me up and tapped Mark’s shoulders and head.
It was a knighting ceremony conducted in abbreviated form.
“Mercenary King Bismarck. I hope you survive to see the promise fulfilled.”
“......”
Mark merely bowed his head and left.
The day of the decisive battle.
Mark’s face looked more flushed than ever.
[What is so good about a man who has lived past eighty ending his life before he reaches seventy?]
“......”
[You said you had no intention of becoming a knight. Are you not very pleased with yourself?]
“It was not something I said I would do. It was simply something my employer decided on his own.”
Mark answered as if it were nothing.
However, I was not so sealed that I failed to notice the smile on his lips.
As his partner burned the last flame of his life, a considerable number of the seals on his unusable Authorities had broken as well.
[Eurasia. Their swordsmanship looked dreadful, but they are quite honorable people.]
“Excellent knights gather around a king who understands honor.”
[Why not call yourself the Knight King instead of merely the Mercenary King?]
“Instead of wasting time with wordplay, let us make sure we are in sync. If it is one legion, it will include at least five Superhumans.”
[You sure got to that quickly.]
There was a problem with the plan.
Three legions, rather than one, advanced toward the place where the mercenaries had been stationed.
Their intention to break through here with a diversionary operation was obvious.
That did not mean the situation on the other fronts was comfortable.
They represented thirty percent of the enemy’s forces.
If they won here, it would establish the foundation for a great victory.
“All I desire is gold!”
Seeing the mercenaries retreating backward, Mark shouted with Mana in his voice.
“I am Mercenary King Mark, and Bismarck, the knight appointed by Rudic Eurasia!”
My true body and Mark’s Mana Heart, which had surpassed 7-Star, resonated.
“I am the one who will overturn the world with gold!!”
For an instant, my close friend’s rank reached 8-Star.
The realm he reached by burning the little life he had left.
“Carpe Illusion.”
The first and last technique unfolded by the man who had lived as a mercenary for so long.
“Golden Knight.”
Fwoooosh.
Golden Mana swept through the area.
Gold coins poured over the heads of countless people, mercenaries and knights, enemies and allies alike.
Enemies and allies alike were thrown into confusion by the large-scale Formula he had unfolded using the Magic Sword Adamas.
“Thank you, Adamas.”
With a relieved smile, the Mercenary King swung his sword once.
***
Killian blinked.
The memories of the old Mercenary King, who had held out for a week against three Imperial legions with five thousand mercenaries.
Perhaps those memories had surfaced because the man before him also bore a similar epithet.
Their purposes differed, but the public’s view of them was the same.
Accordingly, the color of Mana he awakened and the name of his Carpe Illusion were not greatly different either.
If the technique Babato used had reached the ‘Knight’ rather than the ‘Warrior,’ even Killian would not have been able to handle it while Polymorphed.
But not now.
“Carpe Illusion.”
Golden Mana layered itself over golden Mana.
“I am the close friend of Mercenary King Mark.”
The gold coins pouring down everywhere turned into Mana and took complete control of the space.
“I am the descendant of Rudic Eurasia, who appointed him a knight.”
As his close friend had done.
“Golden Knight.”
With a relieved smile, Killian sent out a single slash.
Chapter 229: Chapter 229
10 min read