Death Can’t Sleep - Chapter 102
When Amarion opened her eyes, it was night. Outside the window, people were laughing and chatting and enjoying the night in the desert. She looked over at Victor, who was sleeping next to her.
Handsome…
Firm shoulders, long eyelashes, and tanned skin. She quickly got used to Sir Jane, but she didn’t know why she couldn’t adapt to this face.
She blushed and carefully touched his cheek. It was warm and soft.
“You’re awake.”
At that moment, Victor sighed with his eyes closed.
Startled, Amarion removed her hand.
She thought he was sleeping!
Her face turned red as if she had secretly done something bad. He opened one eye and smiled.
“Do you like my face?”
She hated that brazenness, so she spoke without thinking.
“Maybe it’s because you were hit by a sandstorm, but you are not as good as before.”
“What?”
He opened his eyes wide in shock.
Amarion buried her face in the pillow and trembled. He hurriedly pulled her up as her shoulders shook from laughter.
“Really, really? I thought this was your favorite face…”
“No, Victor. You are always the best. My heart still trembles every time I see you.”
Amarion smiled and reassured him.
At her words, Victor finally smiled broadly as if he was relieved.
“Me too, madame.”
He gently kissed her lips.
Her heart jumped at the warmth. The moment she wrapped her arms around his thick neck and continued to kiss him, a sound rose from his stomach.
Growl~
“…”
“…”
His face turned bright red. He held back his shame and pushed her away.
“Shall we go eat?”
Victor smiled and nodded his head. They left the room together and went down to the first floor.
“Wow…”
And surprisingly, on the first floor of the inn, a literal banquet was taking place.
Countless amounts of food and drinking glasses were strewn about, while musicians played the tambourine and violin. Employees frantically ran around carrying trays. In the meantime, all the mercenaries were sitting at tables and drinking. Mirage called from afar as they stood in shock.
“Hey, here they are!”
The wizard, a bandage wrapped around his shoulder, waved his hand.
Amarion sat down next to him and asked.
“Is it okay if you come down here like this?”
“Yes, why don’t you eat first? Even if my chest is pierced, I have to come down.”
Mirage grumbled.
Was this all free?
Jane, who was sitting at the same table as the wizard, sipped his wine and explained.
“They said that since the long journey is over, they are holding a special banquet with mercenary money. It must have been Tall’s order.”
“Yes. I was against it.”
Mirage spat out curtly.
Certainly, it was a banquet of eye-rolling magnitude from the point of view of the staff. Like a typical mercenary’s banquet, food and alcohol were constantly being brought in, but it seemed that half would be thrown away. It was said mercenaries couldn’t save money, but now she knew why.
“Because I was sick, I took advantage of that time and calculated the bill. Anyway, that’s why the mercenaries-”
“Still, it’s been a while since you’ve eaten like this, hasn’t it? I heard that wizards accumulate mana by eating food.”
Jane smiled.
“Eat well to be strong. Then you will recover, and duel with me.”
“Are all good-looking guys like you really weird?”
“I don’t know because I’ve never seen anyone as handsome as me.”
“What the-”
But it was a very enjoyable place.
Putting aside her worries about Amari for a while, Amarion sat among the mercenaries, laughing and eating a lot of delicious food. The food from other countries she had never eaten was strange and delicious. Surrounding the large tree, drunken mercenaries praised each other for their hard work, clinked glasses and told tales of heroism. They also sang in terrible pitch.
It was rough, but it was a landscape where you could feel the camaraderie of family. It was enough to remind her of her hometown.
The banquet was also ripe with the sound of singing. Mirage, who drank his ale all at once, asked.
“By the way, why did you guys come all the way here?”
“…”
“It’s not an escape for love… Aren’t there a lot of things to do since you’re still young? I heard that the ‘white knight’ just returned from subjugation.”
Amarion put down the fried chicken she was eating.
She was a little hesitant, but she thought it was okay to talk about it with them.
“…I have come to visit my hometown. I heard rumors that the situation in the North is not good.”
“Oh, I’ve heard that too.”
The wizard stroked his chin.
“The kingdom’s northern defense line has collapsed and monsters are descending. But the wasteland seemed alright. Usually, when the North collapses, the wasteland is a mess. Isn’t that nonsense?”
“I don’t know either. I haven’t heard anything from the North since I left.”
“That closed North… Even people from the North seem to have a hard time hearing news.”
Amarion closed her eyes.
“So, I’m thinking of going and seeing for myself.”
“I see…”
The wizard suddenly fell into thought.
Amarion wondered at Mirage, who had suddenly become quiet, and asked Jane a question.
“What will you do when we leave?”
“I intend to stay here for a while.”
The knight closed his beautiful eyes.
“If I go back to Morte right away, it will only be suspicious, and this place is a good place to stay.”
“Yes.”
“In my heart, I want to follow you two, but I think His Grace will be really angry if I do.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed as he drank his ale. It was a menacing gaze.
Jane wasn’t such a bad person. Still, wasn’t he a loyal knight who sincerely appreciated Victor?
Of course, the road to the North would be really dangerous, so she had no intention of taking frail Jane with them.
Amarion was chewing on a crispy, greasy sausage, thinking about it, when Tall and Chubby appeared out of nowhere.
“Are you enjoying your meal?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you drinking when you’re hurt?”
Chubby scolded Mirage. Mirage snapped back.
“I’m pouring all my savings into alcohol, and you don’t think I’m going to drink?”
“Because mercenaries are supposed to live like this! Get used to it, mage man.”
“What are you talking about…?”
Mirage let out a sigh. Tall leaned in toward Victor.
“Sorry to interrupt, but you two will have to follow me.”
“What’s going on?”
Tall suddenly changed her expression and answered seriously.
“Yaji wants to meet you two.”
❖ ❖ ❖
Victor and Amarion left the cluttered banquet and followed the two mercenaries. As soon as they left the inn, the night streets of the beautiful desert city unfolded. The unique smell of spices and the sound of laughter were light.
But somehow Amarion was nervous. Yaji, the mercenary king… wasn’t he a truly legendary man? It was a name that had been heard thousands of times by countless people.
The continent’s best axeman, an overwhelming force who unified all mercenary organizations.
Amarion didn’t know why he was calling them, but she felt like meeting a hero from an old story. Victor looked at her curiously as she was adjusting her clothes.
“What do you care so much about? He doesn’t seem like someone who cares about how you dress.”
“But he is a king, right?”
“He is like a king.”
Victor said sullenly.
He didn’t seem to be very interested in Yaji.
How could that be? He was said to be one of the strongest men on the continent.
Amarion let Victor’s words go in one ear and out the other as she eagerly tucked her tattered shirt into her pants. The few clothes she packed had long since been damaged by the desert, so she decided she would have to buy new ones before they arrived in the North.
“This way.”
In the meantime, an old man led them to a large building.
The residence of the mercenary king, Yaji, was in the middle of the village. It was a tall and conspicuous building, as if it did not think it would be attacked. It wasn’t even properly guarded.
“Sir Yaji doesn’t need security.”
“Now that he is older, it’s not the same as before!”
Tall giggled. Chubby scolded her.
Amarion opened the door and entered with anticipation and nervousness.
The inside was more ordinary than expected. She thought there would be piles of gold and silver treasures or statues. The warm-colored wooden building looked like an ordinary mercenary headquarters, with wooden tables, weapons, and papers.
They followed the guide upstairs. The old man knocked on the door.
“I brought them, Mr. Yaji.”
“Uh, come in.”
Following the voice, the door opened.
“…!”
Amarion opened her eyes wide and looked at the person sitting at the desk.
Yaji was a man of gigantic proportions. His body, which he had trained all his life, was perfectly muscular, but like an old man, his face and arms were full of scars. His short, gray hair was pulled into a ponytail.
Amarion was immediately overwhelmed. Like the first time she saw Victor.
He was a great person, Amarion could tell just by looking at him. His skill was felt even though he wasn’t holding a weapon.
Yaji saw them and stood up from his seat. Then he grinned.
“Welcome to my village, Amarion Amari, Victor Morte.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Yaji.”
Amarion couldn’t stand her pounding heart and said her greetings. Victor still had a somewhat sullen attitude, but he could tell that he was looking into the eyes of a strong man. Yajj looked them up and down and said.
“This is really great. Do you both use swords?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen these guys in my sixty years of life. Hmm…”
In his old eyes, the greed of a mercenary was young. The mercenary king shook his head as if he was truly sorry.
“If he hadn’t been a knight, I would have made him a mercenary leader. Why be born an aristocrat?”
“Let’s stop talking about useless things and get down to business, shall we?”
Tall cut in. Yaji laughed casually. He was quite arrogant.
“Ah, yes. I called you because I have a message. My children have heard some news from the North.”
Amarion opened her eyes wide.
The North.
Did that mean the two had been to the kingdom while they were here?
Chubby explained.
“The mercenaries of the wasteland tame the swift Wyvern and use it as a vehicle. Only one person can ride it, and it takes a long time to learn how to control.”
“It just happened that the two of us knew how to ride, so he took the two of us.”
Tall finished his words.
Yaji smiled.
“We don’t work without being paid… but Amarion, you have a reputation. These guys said they would go with you.”
***
