#577 A Jaded Mercenary

My name is Gray Silva, a former mercenary in what once was the Human Kingdom. 

The endless battles between humans and demons were our source of livelihood.

However, this all changed when the war ended with the demons emerging victorious.

There is nothing more miserable than a mercenary who is deprived of battling.

Many people in the same line of work, such as myself, have lost their sole source of income, so they roam about.

Mercenaries are like weeds adrift without a permanent master.

In their time of weakness, they have no one to rely on and will sink unnoticed.

It would’ve been better had the Human Kingdom won the war instead, but being on the losing side, we fell just like the stars.

That said, several years have passed since our nation suffered a decisive defeat.

During this time, mercenaries have become increasingly divided into those who successfully overcame the difficulties and those who sank further into the depths of despair.

After all, your skills and talents are your only allies in this profession, where you answer to no one.

Those who have begun rising to the top took advantage of the turbulence of the current era.

One of the best examples of this is Bull Bilson.

She has now changed her name to Pink Tonton or something.

Pink Tonton walked down the path of adventuring, the most popular career choice for jobless mercenaries, and successfully made it to the top.

From the beginning, she was engaged in both trades simultaneously, but as soon as she stopped being a mercenary and focused solely on being an adventurer, she rose to the rank of S-class.

They say the Adventurers Guild made a political decision to allow her to lead the large influx of new adventurers. Still, even so, it would not have been possible without her abilities.

As a therianthrope, a rarity in this day and age, Pink Tonton boasts unrivaled strength and has fought in several famous battles against the Heavenly Four.

If she had such an impressive record, it was only natural that she’d be promoted to the representative as an adventurer-turned-mercenary.

Her presence has helped many mercenaries to switch to adventuring and become accepted in their new line of work.

Pink Tonton should be called a goddess who saved hundreds of mercenaries from starvation and death.

But not all were saved.

Thousands were clumsy with making a living, had criminal records, or were simply savage and couldn’t transition to adventurers.

These people also had to earn a living, yet the jobs they sought were usually worthless.

These astray mercenaries wield their blades as pawns for underground organizations stirring in the shadows, rebelling against the demon’s regime. 

They have fallen low, becoming scapegoats for crime syndicates that have existed throughout the Human Kingdom from time immemorial.

At the end of the day, it’s a dog-eat-dog world for mercenaries on the battlefield.

The battlefield is, in a sense, too extraordinary a space.

The common sense of ordinary people hardly applies there.

Living on the battlefield for too long can render you unable to recognize the abnormality and adapt this logic to your everyday life.

Such people become thieves, kidnappers, bouncers for shady men, pawns for terrorists, and so on.

I know this story has gone on a bit of a tangent, but I have spent most of my life as a mercenary.

I know I’m not dexterous, and as such, I am incapable of marketing myself like Pink Tonton and starting a new life.

Nevertheless, my dignity is not so shallow that I would turn to crime.

Selfishly tearing up the peace of people living for themselves and their families without distinguishing between the battlefield and everyday life isn’t for me.

I can’t turn a blind eye to it, either.

Fellow mercenaries once my comrades invited me to join them in making a racket by starting a bandit group.

Without exception, I handed them over to the demon occupation.

I cannot allow bandits to spread in this land.

The primary purpose of us mercenaries was to make money, but our reason for fighting was to defend our nation and protect its people.

And yet, now that the war is over, how can we be the ones to threaten this peace?

Out of this impulse, I repeatedly took the initiative to attack and capture fellow mercenaries who had resorted to criminal acts.

Perhaps taking advantage of the situation, the demon occupation commended my actions and gave me a special position to support the hunt for criminal mercenaries.

Ironically, thanks to this, I was able to receive a salary and was able to survive for the time being.

Many of my former colleagues followed my lead and got jobs policing mercenaries-turned-rogues.

We were sometimes ridiculed as “hunting our own kind,” but we took pride in preserving the peace in the old Human Kingdom and living with dignity as we had done since warring times.

However, such a life did not last long.

A year or two has passed since I partnered with the Demon Occupation Office to crack down on my former mercenary friends who have become criminals.

But it seems I’ve attracted too much attention.

While catching criminal mercenaries, I also took down criminal organizations and prevented major terrorist incidents on several occasions.

My name spread far and wide in the underworld, even ending up blacklisted by them.

On one occasion, I was attacked while on leave.

They are dead set on trying to eliminate me as an obstacle to facilitate their criminal activities.

Just as these signs became apparent, I was summoned to the occupation office.

To my surprise, the person who answered the call was Viceroy Malbastos.

It was a pretty grand gesture to have the top executive appear to deal with a humble ex-mercenary.

“Mr. Gray Silva, I am relieving you of your position as commander of the Special Subjugating Squad.”

Oh yeah, I think that was the title they gave me when I started working with the office.

The Special Subjugating Squad is a group of former mercenaries who imitate me and take on the task of capturing our former colleagues.

It’s been a little over a year since it was formed, and we’ve crushed countless criminals in that time.

“You’ve worked hard this past year. Almost too much, even. It’s had some serious repercussions.”

I’ve cracked down on so many crimes that I’ve earned the enmity of criminals, and now my name is at the top of the assassination list.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the viceroy’s name is on there, too.

“Now, it is difficult for us to protect you from assassination, even more so while performing the duties of a commanding officer. You should immediately hand over your current position to your second-in-command and retire. That is the best way to save your life.”

“And I’ll be unemployed again?”

This mess was caused by the mercenaries losing their jobs in the first place.

The criminals and those of us who policed them once both depended on war for our livelihood.

“I don’t mind either way. This job is also a kind of coincidence. I could have been left to my own devices and died in the field, as I should have.”

“Don’t say that. We would like to give you our honest appreciation and thanks for your service. Thanks to your cooperation, the chaos that followed the collapse of the Human Kingdom was resolved faster than anticipated.”

“People started calling us cannibals in exchange, though.”

It’s also vexing to be called ‘traitors’ by the same people.

Although it is a mere title, we mercenaries also participated in the war for the peace of the Human Kingdom.

Those who became criminals post-war and tried to disturb national peace are the true traitors.

“At any rate, I can’t make a living if it doesn’t involve violence. I have earned a lot of resentment for my work as a killer of my peers. If I am thrown out of office, I will only become the prey of those bent on revenge.”

I can only see a future in which I will be tortured to death slowly and painfully.

Well, after coming this far, I’m not so obsessed with life anymore.

“Of course, we will not simply throw you out. My pride won’t allow me to abandon you, who have contributed so much to the occupation and the world as a whole.”

“I respect that you value your pride, sir, but what are you going to do about it? Confine me in an asylum so no one can touch me?”

“I’ve got a new job for you. If you agree to it, I’ll give you a new lease on life there.”

A new job?

I’m sure it will be another bloody, dirty job.

I’m stuck in that line of work for the rest of my life, anyway.

If that’s the case, I’ll just keep mum and walk the path of carnage.

“Okay. Whatever the job is, it will be better than being a sacrifice to the avengers.”

“Good. I have already called your new employer. In a sense, he is the equivalent of His Majesty the Demon King. Best wishes to you.”

Huh? Who?

The Demon King is the king of the demon race and the current ruler of the earth who has subjugated the Human Kingdom, right?

The only person I can think of that is equal to him is a god.

“Hello there, haha. It’s nice to meet you.”

With these words, an ordinary man rattles open the door of the viceroy’s office and comes in.

He’s supposed to be equivalent to the Demon King?

“You must be Gray Silva. I’m sorry to bother you like this, but I was told by the god Velesares that he wants you saved! And you know what? I have a job that’s just right for you. I was hoping you’d accept it!”

Huh?

What do you mean?

Did you just say the god Velesares? Why are you mentioning the god of war’s name here?