Occupational Mercenaries

There was a lot to do. They couldn't go without putting things into order.

First, the slaves were released from their confinement in the wagons. Since finding the key would have been troublesome, she slashed the wooden cages open with her katana.

After confirming that everyone was in good condition, they were given meals and let to use the restroom and rest.

Most were youths, but there were children as well. Though they were mostly male, all of the women had good appearances to some extent.

After checking it out, forty-eight people came from the same village and four were livestock breeders staying in the village from nearby. The majority were beastkin, the rest humans.

"Thankfully there're humans that can deal with the wagons."

Ria nodded at Carlos' words. If there weren't any, Carlos and Ria would have had to get off their horses and guide the wagons.

They were asked the details as to how they were enslaved, but they couldn't help being completely resentful.

Suddenly being attacked by an army in the early morning, they were arbitrarily declared to be conscripted into the army. More so, they gathered up women to act as servants.

They said that people who resisted were killed.

They'd already verified it, but the soldiers were definitely from Cordova. They said their village didn't belong to Cordova and that it was an independent village. Also that it hadn't belonged to any nations since a long time ago.

While they were free from other nations, that also meant they couldn't defend against military forces.

"Couldn't the country of Casalia defend them? Though they might have to pay taxes, it's probably better than being slaves instead."

Ria and Carlos both shook their heads from hearing Serge's opinion.

First of all, this area was too far away from Casalia, and it was a problem that there were independent tribal nations on the way. They couldn't afford to dispatch troops to defend a single village.

"It'd be good if the Ogre King made a country though. Then they could belong to it."

Ria muttered it, but knew it wasn't realistic. Ogres never formed countries to begin with. At best they would form tribal alliances, and even so, they were just Ogre villages.

Besides, although Labyrinth City was a major force in the area, they wouldn't assume leadership of the people and form a country. They wanted to remain as a city-state as they have so far. Though it seemed that the surrounding settlements more or less belonged to it, supplying food, they didn't appear to take a tax.

But thinking about things that would happen later, if a big country isn't established in this area, it would very likely be swallowed by Cordova sooner or later.

"When I return, I'll need to talk to father about this area."

Though she went on a journey to improve as a warrior, she took many things into consideration.

Carlos woke the fainted knight to interrogate him.

The first thing he did was scream, but just by seeing Gig in front of him he became obedient.

Then, they found out that the slave hunting wasn't performed as a thing for the country. To get some extra money for himself, their district troops' commander was trying to sell slaves to Labyrinth City.

Knowing that they didn't need to take on a whole country as their opponent, they were honestly relieved. Still, the scale of the battalion from Cordova's military consisted of one thousand infantry and two hundred cavalry. At worst, they may take notice of their movements.

"Well, hunting for slaves without permission, if he got away with these losses he would just get executed."

Though Carlos tried to comfort her, he didn't know what would really happen.

"For now, should we head to the village? It's the middle of the night, but I don't want to stay here."

The knight who obediently gave the information was left with just his weapon and released. As expected killing an enemy who couldn't resist was against Ria's sense of beauty. Since they didn't provide him with a horse, he would also take a while to join up with the main force.

Riding on Rudolph's back in the lead, Ria lead the mass of people to the village.

 

 

The village was on a small hill. Surrounded by a fence, it was protected against damage from beasts. Though if their opponents were the ferocious demons, it wouldn't be very useful.

The villagers were thankful when the ones who had become slaves were returned. There were about one hundred houses. Judging from the sizes of the houses, the village had around five hundred people.

(Other than those in their prime, they only took the women that looked good.)

They couldn't oppose the army.

Borrowing an empty house, the group rested.

Only Carlos was called to the chief's house, conveying what developments might happen in the future.

Would the army come? Would it not? How would they respond if they came? It wasn't for a child like Ria to talk about it. Normally.

And so Ria, who held the power to make decisions for the group, was sharpening her katana in the garden.

"It's a nice color…"

She was muttering absent-mindedly as she looked at Nagasone Kotetsu.

The ferrite's color was a calm brightness, the blade's edge shining, though not too much. Though it had killed people, there weren't any nicks in the blade.

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

She only looked at this one. Because she didn't use it.

Masamune was specified as a national treasure in her past life. Though she didn't think it was reproduced entirely, its appearance was beautiful.

Though she didn't think she had to confirm something like its durability, if she showed it to any master blacksmith, it would be quite a story.

Serge trembled from the shadows as he watched Ria gaze at her katanas.

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

"Ria's been like that for a long time. Rather than dresses and jewelry, she prefers weapons."

Lulu was laying down. To recover her magical power even a little faster, she had taken a comfortable posture.

According to the story Lulu knew, Ria, who was recognized as the country's princess, received various gifts from her father and nobles.

Though even if she admired the skillful work put into the jewelry, they didn't make her eyes sparkle. She immediately gave them away to ladies-in-waiting and friends to improve relations.

On a certain occasion, when she was given a dagger to train with by the royal master blacksmith for self defense, you could see her whole face turn into a smile as she looked at the shine of the blade.

After she joined in with the knights' training, almost half of the gifts she received were some kind of weapon or armor.

Concentrating now, she tried to create a new katana from her mind.

Creating a sword from an image. It was a great Japanese sword.

As she unsheathed it from the long scabbard, the blade she imagined appeared.

That is, on the surface it did.

"Gig, hold this."

" 'Kay."

Gig held the katana that was just created horizontally. Meanwhile, Ria held up Nagasone Kotetsu, swinging it down without much force.

Kiiin… After letting out a high-pitched sound, the katana held by Gig broke apart and flew.

"Ah, it's a failure after all then."

She sighed. Nagasone Kotetsu's blade wasn't damaged at all.

"Nee-chan, you're already giving up? I mean, isn't the katana like its original in the first place?"

Though Serge, who knew the story of the katana, said that, Ria knew the anecdote and didn't give in.

When she can make the real thing, it should be be no worse than Nagasone Kotetsu.

"Is solidifying the image without swinging it or cutting with it no good after all? Or maybe it's an issue that I don't know how it was made…"

Grumbling, though Ria tried to make the katana again, Carlos returned with the chief so she stopped for now.

"Ojou, there's a bit to talk about."

According to their established setting, since she's a noble with guards, Carlos wanted Ria's opinion as a matter of course.

Standing in front of Ria, the man gave a ruggedly honest elderly feeling.

When they entered the house, the village chief started giving his request.

"Defend the village… huh."

"Yes, though according to talk it's not normal army movement, after something like that…"

The village chief spoke in a feeble tone. He hoped that they could be in charge of defense as mercenaries, as well as hoping they'd teach the villagers how to fight.

In the short term at least. Ria couldn't afford to be held up here for long. That being the case, for the sake of the village's defense afterwards, they would teach the villagers that could fight how to use weapons.

Use your own body to protect yourself. Though that was natural in this world, being resolute enough to do so was desirable.

But there was a problem. That was how long it would take.

"If about half a month is fine, we'll do it. However, what of the reward…?"

The village was basically self-sufficient, so it didn't have much money stocked up. And due to rescuing the villagers from the slave hunting, considering that their horses and wagons were claimed, they couldn't pay much.

Honestly, Ria would be fine doing it free of charge, but she wouldn't do it and be Mito Komon, resolving each and every problem that would arise in the future.

"For the time being, how about a meal? If a need to fight comes up, with the money in the village, the first thing necessary is to pay for our meals."

Though the village chief was surprised after hearing such a convenient condition, for them, they weren't lacking for cash in the first place and food was good enough.

If they would obtain something from this, rather than being paid, it was experience. If Cordova's army attacks with a battalion, it would already become a war and they would repel it.

She had the Gift. Divine Protection of the War God. That Gift's specialty in war might finally see the light of day.

On that day, Ria made a massive amount of long spears with genesis magic.

Katanas were things that didn't have much use on the battlefield in the first place. If the conditions were suitable, Ria would use spears a lot.

In this case, for the villagers who were unaccustomed to fighting, though large spears could keep a distance from the opponents, fear was difficult to embrace, so there was an advantage in having easy maneuverability.

Though it was true that bows were better for that, taking into consideration how long it would take to train them, she chose spears in the end.

Making about one hundred spears for the time being, she went to the house's garden and built a bath.

Baths refreshed the spirit. Because they were planning on staying for several days, she built a bigger bath than usual since it was long-awaited.

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

"Hmm~, Lulu's boobs have good shapes after all~!"

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

Giving damage to Carlos mentally, the night grew late.