Evil Black Maria - Chapter 74. Thus She Became A Mercenary

The Fafnir Mercenaries.

A small band of six mercenaries with the emblem of a serpent entwined in a ring.

The leader of the group is Zack. He is a young swordsman who was born and raised in a remote part of the Kingdom of Si Levant.

And four of the five remaining members of the group are childhood friends who share his hometown.

It was a common story.

Many people, tired of the dull life in the countryside, form mercenary groups with friends from similar backgrounds, or become labyrinth explorers and try to make a fortune.

This is exactly what Zack and his friends did when they left their hometown six years ago.

And fortunately for them, they were talented. They were suited to such a way of life.

They passed the exams for the Mercenary Guild without difficulty and established the Fafnir Mercenaries.

Everything was going well, and they were happy.

–But the real struggle began there.

The guild is merely an organisation that arranges work. They had to negotiate all the details on their own.

Zach and his friends were skilled but young, uneducated, from a remote village and, above all, too ignorant of the world and the people in it.

It was not uncommon for them to be underestimated and underpaid by their clients.

They also had to contend with other mercenary groups and turf wars.

Most of the profitable work was taken away from them and they were forced to do the work that remained.

Working like poor.

That is exactly how the Fafnir mercenaries had been managing for the past year or so since their formation.

There was work to be done. They were busy enough.

However, their wallets never seem to grow. Instead of equipping and staffing up, they were struggling to make ends meet.

All they got were sighs and scars. The reality was so different from the fantasy. Their faces, which used to look forward without hesitation, soon began to droop.

It was at such a time that the Fafnir mercenaries met Izuru.

A girl lay unconscious in a meadow.

She was a beautiful girl, with three black dots under her left eye.

After being rescued by Zack and his friends, Izuru woke up and found that she had lost almost all of her memories except for her name.

The kind group couldn’t leave her alone, and after some discussion they decided to take her in.

It was the collective opinion of all five of them, with no opposition.

And it was this choice that would change the future of the Fafnir Mercenaries.

“Are you kidding me, hiring people for this measly amount of money?”

It was a few weeks later that Izuru intervened in the negotiation of a request.

Before Zack and the others could stop her, she started a verbal battle with the client, and the fee, which was almost half of the market price, was quickly tripled.

“I couldn’t watch any more. You guys are terrible at negotiating.”

She said, looking at Zack and his friends, who were delighted with the large reward that had come their way.

Furthermore, she said that she would be responsible for negotiating all future requests and managing the mercenary group’s funds.

–Although Izuru had lost her memories, her knowledge remained intact.

Apparently, she had received a higher education before she was taken in by Fafnir, and her ability to calculate and read was outstanding.

Her fiery temper made her an ideal negotiator against rowdy mercenaries and greedy merchants.

Once Izuru had taken up the role of negotiator for the Fafnir mercenaries, their business took off.

They were good at what they did. What they lacked in business ability, they made up for with the help of Izuru.

In addition, Izuru had an aptitude for magic.

It’s a talent that only one in a hundred people will ever acquire. For this reason, the holders of magic power are actively recruited by the army and large mercenary groups.

Magic is an existence with such value.

As the reputation of the Fafnir mercenaries grew, so did the reputation of Izuru.

She was an exceptionally talented young woman who had reached a formidable level within a year of having a magic circle engraved on her chest.

Naturally, a number of leading teams came forward to recruit her. Some of them even visited the team in person.

It was impossible not to want a woman who was both capable and good-looking.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”

However, Izuru was not going to accept any offer.

She was indebted to her friends who had taken her in. She could not bring himself to part with them for money.

If she has to walk with someone, she wants to go with Fafnir.

It was not until two years later, after she had met them, that she announced her wish to be with Fafnir.

With that, she had taken up the emblem of the Fafnir Mercenaries.

However, the name she took for herself was not Izuru Mukoda, but simply Izuru ,in case she got into trouble for having a surname that only aristocrats or wealthy people could afford.

Those were her first four years in this world.

[First Person POV]

The past, long since forgotten, has recently come back to haunt me.

After four years, I  don’t know why I am still here. Maybe it’s only recently that I have found time to think about it.

Looking back, I have been running away for the last four years.

I wonder where I was before I lost my memory.

What kind of person was I before I lost my memory?

What kind of people were there with me before I lost my memory?

Nothing.

I can’t remember a single thing.

Zack, who is always reliable, tells me to take my time and remember.

Keith, who is stupid and thoughtless, tells me that my past is not important.

Roa, Clarissa, Hawkeye, they all say I’m one of them.

— and that’s why I want to remember it right now.

I want to shout that I am one of you.

I want to shout without hesitation that I am a member of the group.

So I want to know about my past.

Yet.

“Mother..?”

A little girl saw me walking down the street and called me that.

I thought, almost instinctively, that this girl might be the clue to my memories.

And yet. If my instincts are right, I should be very happy about it.

It’s something I’ve wanted for a long, long time, and it’s something I can’t wait to get my hands on.

I don’t know why, but I could clearly feel the life drain out of me.

I couldn’t even chase after the girl who suddenly ran away like a bullet.