Miserable Reincarnation

57 – Aetks (3)

“I think it’s not a bad idea.”

The moment they boarded Rekon, Riley uttered those words. She continued, reading through the technological monopoly contract.

“If they were part of the Leciere Sorcery, their skills are guaranteed. Besides, using the term ‘business’ from someone who has become a professor implies they have enough financial means.”

“What about major corporations?”

“Major corporations are not great. Initially, due to their elitist attitude, they don’t hire mercenaries well. And, if a major corporation meddles, it’s hard to handle alone, unless you have support.”

“….”

Blunt.

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“But isn’t that the same for small and medium-sized enterprises?”

“It is, but if a major corporation manipulates, it’s hard to handle without support.”

“….”

Every time this happens, Lian wonders if she’s really dealing with an 11-year-old.

A moment of silence passed.

Lian raised her gaze, staring at Riley. Although the contract must have concluded satisfactorily, there was an inexplicable distress engraved on her face.

“It seems like it won’t work after all.”

Riley set the contract aside.

Thump-.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned towards Lian. His gaze, fixed on her, was unexpectedly serious.

“Lian.”

“Speak.”

“Let’s shake hands.”

In response to the sudden sentence, Lian unconsciously replied with a bewildered expression.

“…What?”

“I said let’s shake hands.”

As Lian struggled to respond, Riley stared at him intently and spoke.

“It’s a sign of parting on good terms with someone you want to feel good about.”

“…Did your grandfather teach you that?”

“No, it’s a rule I made for myself.”

Just now.

Riley swallowed her words. There was no need to mention that.

“….”

Lian looked at the outstretched, small hand in front of him. He wasn’t trembling. Clearly, it wasn’t the same as when they first met.

“They say kids grow up so fast.”

There was no doubt in that old saying.

Riley stared at Lianne, who looked as if she had just eaten a meal. A smile automatically crept up on her lips, but this time, she didn’t hide it. After all, concluding business should end with laughter.

It would be good to leave a positive impression now so that they could meet later with smiles, whenever that might be.

‘I don’t know when that will be.’

She said, considering she would be quite busy in the future.

Of course, Riley’s smile contained sincerity beyond merely calling it a business matter, but Riley herself was unaware of this fact.

“You’ve worked hard for a month.”

Riley said with a confident voice. As if revealing such feelings, her eyes were filled with a sparkling light.

Lianne chuckled and shook hands with Riley.

*****

Lianne saved the contact given by Michela on her phone. Naturally, she had no intention of contacting her right away. Regardless of Michela being a trustworthy person, it was necessary to know in advance who the person was, what kind of business they were involved in.

‘It’s not good to be too conspicuous.’

Anything in moderation is good. Even if immediate benefits might seem substantial once real skills are recognized, there was a high risk of long-term losses.

“So, what’s the matter?”

“If there’s a good request, I thought we could work together.”

Muller.

The mercenary who had previously performed the Pocalos extermination request with Lianne was sitting right in front of her.

He was sitting in a cafe near the mercenary group with his colleagues, and Lianne discreetly joined them.

Muller casually introduced Lianne to those around him.

“Chen and Miller, you remember, right? This is Tina, a supplementary magic user, and here’s Lianne. She’s a skilled swordsman.”

“…The talented kid Chen always talked about?”

“That’s him.”

The woman, stirring her coffee with a teaspoon, widened her eyes at Chen’s words.

Tina stared at Lian for a while and whispered to Mueller.

“He’s younger than I thought. Will that be a problem?”

“It’ll be fine. If he were a problem, we would have been done for by now.”

“…Is it really that serious?”

She seemed incredulous. It was natural in a way. As someone who had never worked with Lian before, she could only see him as a neighborhood kid.

But Tina reached out her hand towards Lian, hiding her disbelief.

“Nice to meet you. My specialty is auxiliary magic, and like the guys here, I’m from the Western Front.”

“I’ve only been here for a year.”

“I told you not to mention that!”

“Ah, oops…!”

Tina stretched out her hand and twisted Chen’s ear.

Lian, watching the familiar sight, turned to Mueller and asked a question.

“Why wasn’t Tina here for the previous request?”

“She was in an intensive training period. She’s actually quite skilled as a mage, despite appearances.”

Intensive training period.

A training conducted once every half or quarter to assess the abilities of the members.

Since even officers had to participate in the training without exception, Lian was no exception.

“The start of the physical training for ability users is next week, right?”

It seemed that the meeting with the shamans took place every three months.

“By the way, why did you come to see me instead of going to the desk? It would have been more convenient.”

“Well, it’s been a while since we last met… and I thought it would be easier to work with someone I know rather than a stranger.”

“And is the pay good?”

“It does have a significant impact on the choices I make.”

Muller smiled. He seemed pleased with the answer.

Of course, Lian didn’t just say those words to flatter him. It was because she genuinely respected Muller as a leader and admired his ability to secure contracts.

“So, what is this job about?”

“It’s a request from the military.”

Lian narrowed her eyes.

“…From the military?”

“More specifically, it’s related to the Western Front. You know that it’s been deadlocked, right?”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.”

“It’s been about five years since you finished your military service, right? Anyway, this request is from the officer we worked with back then.”

I don’t want to get involved with the military.

Lian muttered sincerely in her heart. Even in her previous life, she had spent a third of her life as a soldier, but she didn’t want to do the same in this life.

“If I had ever thought of doing that, I would have visited the military department when I went to the academy.”

Without a doubt, Lian hadn’t even glanced at the military department building during the month she spent there with Riley.

And above all else…

“I don’t know what might happen on the front lines.”

It could have easily led to encountering civilians as enemies. He was once a human before becoming a mercenary, and that’s why he wanted to maintain at least a minimum level of decency.

Whether he noticed the perplexed expression on Lian’s face or not, Muller quickly added,

“I’m not going to the battlefield. I never had any intention of going to the front lines in the first place. And my colleagues feel the same way.”

“Is that so?”

“That place is hell. Blood, flesh… When you see the heads of little kids like you getting blown off right in front of your eyes, even guys like me lose their minds.”

“….”

Of course, in this world, there seemed to be no such thing as the Geneva Convention.

“Anyway, the direction we’re going is ‘near’ the Western Front, not the Western Front itself. And the task we have is closer to hunting and surveillance than actual combat.”

“Are hunting and surveillance words that can coexist?”

“At least on the front lines, they can.”

Muller said so and spread out the map. His finger was pointing somewhere in the west of the city.

“It’s a temporary storage site located west of Toulouse. That’s where we’ll be dispatched.”

From the word “temporary,” Lian could easily infer who might be buried there.

“…Are you saying that someone is looting the bodies of soldiers?”

“Black mages, doctors, bio-parts manufacturers… and many others. As long as the bodies are intact, this city will pay a good price for them.”

“….”

It’s not surprising anymore.

Lian cleared his thoughts and stared at the map.

Preventing someone else from stealing the bodies. If that’s “surveillance,” then what about “hunting”?

Leaning in thought for a moment, Lian slowly opened his mouth.

“There might be resurrection.”

“Similar. More precisely, ‘being born,’ to be exact.”

Lian finally realized how these two words could coexist.

‘Returning to life as a corpse.’

Words like zombies or ghouls, he had heard them familiarly even in his past life.

Of course, he had never actually encountered them.

“It might not be a bad experience. Those who deal with death energy or dark sorcerers rarely get the chance to meet unless it’s a situation like this.”

“How much is the reward?”

“Thirty million cells and choose one weapon.”

“You chose a weapon.”

“That’s right.”

Muller’s mouth curled up.

“They say you can choose one from the latest weapons used by officers.”

No one would give up thirty million cells for a simple weapon, so it must be something extraordinary.

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‘An artifact?’

The likelihood seemed high.

An artifact. Of course, Lian had one too. The leather gauntlet he had received from Harang was precisely that.

‘Just borrowed for a while.’

Until now, he hadn’t had the chance to return it, but he planned to return it before the intensive training period began.

This opportunity seemed worth trying at least once. Artifacts aren’t something you can simply acquire with money.

Lian raised her head, locking eyes with Muller.

“When?”

“We’re departing tomorrow morning at 7, from the west gate of Turas.”

“Understood.”

*****