Chapter 1: Grit

“Raise your spears!”

I heard shouting and raised my arms up instinctively.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

I heard battle cries.

I had no choice but to run forward because a strong force was pushing me from behind.

There was no time to think.

Ratatatatatata.

It sounded as if there was an earthquake. I felt the ground rumbling, and it felt like the world was being split into half.

I think I’ve seen this before.

No, I hadn’t, but I did get this feeling it had happened before. I felt a strong sense of déjà vu. I tightly gripped my spear out of instinct. My right arm was there.

But, why? Why is my right arm there?

I was starting to feel dizzy. Then I heard a bursting, splashing noise. There was a sound of something bursting within my body, and blood started dripping from my nose. I gripped my spear as tightly as I could.

Then I remembered. The 39-year-old Chris was dead.

* * *

“Give me all you have.”

That would be difficult.

The merchant that I promised to safeguard glanced at me.

“Hmm.”

I was going to shake my head. But before I could do so, the merchant opened his mouth.

“I’ll pay you just enough, so why don’t you just be on your way?”

His voice was twinged with a certain shamelessness.

If it was me, I would just clear out of there without asking further questions.

“What the heck are you talking about?”

Three mercenaries and seven bandits. Fat chance that they would go away.

I was assigned to this guarding mission after pretending to be an experienced mercenary.

“Do we have to fight? After all, you’ll get some damage too.”

One of our mercenaries stepped forward. His name was Royce. In the past, he could have been a knight loved by everyone. However, he had become disabled after suffering from tuberculosis.

The same went for me. I only had one arm after losing the other one in my first battle.

I clenched the hilt of my short sword with my left hand.

“I am Royce. If you step back, I’ll reward you handsomely.”

There was a reason he was being so brave. He was a mercenary known for his loyalty, and had great skills, too. It was just that he was nicknamed the Infertile Swordsman due to the aftereffects of tuberculosis.

“Huh? Take a look between your legs!” The bandit jeered and laughed.

It wasn’t funny at all, but the ones behind him laughed.

Those bastards.

One of our other mercenaries stepped up. He had a clean-cut look and looked like he wouldn’t hurt a soul. Our third mercenary. I ran into him one day. He always had a pleasant attitude. But, was he a good swordsman?

He suddenly walked into the empty space. It was a space created between the mercenaries and the bandits on an unspoken promise.

“How have you been?” he said hello to the bandits as if nothing had happened.

One of them gave him a high-five. Clap.

“Good job.”

“Damn it.”

Royce understood what was going on and scowled fiercely.

It was a trap. It was him who brought us all here. He even volunteered to lead the way.

I stared at the one responsible for tasking us with the mission.

“What is the meaning of this?”

It was a short question, but clear enough for them.

“I had no idea as well. He had the mercenary’s medal, and was competent.”

“Whoa! Don’t be so gloomy. I am a mercenary.”

He dangled his bronze medal. I could clearly see a shield engraved on it.

“This is the third time we’re doing this. But, so far no one had suspicions on me. That’s why looks are important.”

I’ll give him that. It’s true that good looks often give you free tickets in life.

“Royce,” I called out my only comrade left.

This was an emergency. Well, there would always be emergencies in life. After all, we were swordsmen, prepared to fight in battles.

“Get back.”

He followed me without question.

He had saved himself multiple times thanks to me. Of course, he had saved my life many more times than that. I love his loyalty. No wonder he was the loyal mercenary. The infertile swordsman, Royce.

“What do you want?” I interrupted.

The one with the chiseled jawline answered. It was so obvious that he was the leader. “I don’t know either. But, the one who has it will know.”

As I faced him, the five merchants that I was guarding were on my right side. I could see their faces in real time.

“So, you won’t hand it over?”

To my question, the bandit leader crossed his arms and waited.

What was he thinking? He was probably thinking that things would run smoothly. Good.

“Let’s get this over with. What’s more important than life?” As I spoke, I naturally swinged my body to the back. This way, I would turn my back on the bandits and look at the merchants.

“So, who has it? Make it quick.” I pretended to wait for them and moved my lips silently.

They had been waiting for us the whole time, and even flawlessly surrounded us. They would never let this one slide. Believing in that would be a foolish decision.

“Leave behind everything heavy and run.” I mouthed.

The few merchants who understood my mouth movement turned pale.

“Come on. I can’t wait any longer.” As I muttered out, I clasped the hilt of my short sword with my left hand. I spread out my three fingers.

If you weren’t careful, you’d have to bear the consequences. Our opponents were well-prepared and waited patiently. So, it was now time for them to be sloppy.

I folded my fingers one by one.

“Now, I’ll count to five, and if you fail to give me a clear answer, I won’t forgive you.”

As I spoke, all of my fingers had gripped my sword tightly.

“Aaaagh!”

The merchants began running away.

As I turned my body, I took out my short sword and threw it. Just looking at them, I didn’t have the courage to fight back.

Swish! Clash!

One of them knocked out my short sword while holding his sword at an angle. After twirling in the air, my sword dug deep into the ground.

“Catch them!”

“Run for your lives!”

The leader of the bandits and I yelled at the same time. Royce came next to me, then he fell down.

It was good to escape after being scattered. Anyhow, they needed more choices on who to go after first.

As I skedaddled, I took out a wire from my clothes.

I wasn’t a great fighter. However, I was not only a mercenary, but also a path-finder, a treasure hunter, a chef, and an herbalist. I had indulged in a lot of things just for survival.

I hung the wire at a tree and ran sideways.

Bang bang!

As I hit the ground with my feet, I could hear the bandits chasing after us.

Creeeak.

The metal wire hung at the second tree.

Just keep running in a 90-degree angle.

“Ugh!”

The guy who was right behind me had his neck stuck in the wire. What a fool.

I saw him collapse with his neck cut in half.

Alright, let’s get out of here.

* * *

“You bastard.”

I didn’t expect any of this. I had no more tricks to pull.

One of them passed out from a severed neck. Another one passed out by stepping on my poisoned tacks.

“Hey, you, try some more.”

And this one who chased me till the end. Hmph… What a pesky fellow.

“Just give it up, will you?”

“In your dreams!”

He was enraged, I could see that. He held out his sword and swung it in the air.

But, I had used all of my wires.

That wasn’t enough for him, so he swept the floor with his feet as he was running. How cautious.

I regretted that I’d used all of my tacks, too. There was one thing left.

“You’re dead meat,” the bandit said triumphantly.

I rolled out a piece of leather from my clothes.

If you learned how to use herbs, you’d have the knowledge to use the poisonous ones as well. That’s how I became used to dealing with poison.

I licked my finger and held it out in the air.

“Nice wind.”

The bandit’s eyes widened out.

“No way.”

Well, it is what you think it is.

As I rolled out my leather, the powder inside blew in the wind. The pistachio-colored powder was beautiful when you looked at it. However, it wouldn’t be so beautiful if you had to breathe it in.

I held my breath, covered my mouth, and just kept running. Behind me was a cliff. I moved backwards just until I wouldn’t fall off. I could see the bandit rapidly turning his body. Still, the wind would always catch up on you.

“Uffffff!”

I heard a scream. He fell as he bled from his eyes and nostrils.

“Phew.”

I couldn’t see their leader. He must have gone after Royce.

Like his nickname implied, Royce showed his combat skills only for a short time. Five minutes at best. But he was the best swordsman there was during those five minutes. I’d never seen a mercenary who could still stand on his feet after two of his attacks.

Until today.

“Is everyone dead?”

That was the leader. With a calm voice, he approached with a cool attitude. He nudged his dead henchman with his foot.

“He knows how to use poison.”

I was pretty sure that it was still in the air. But, he was still alive.

I’d heard of tales of a monster that had surpassed the limits of humankind. Epic poems of a great soldier who was immune to poisons. He was that soldier.

I saw his right hand. Two heads were dangling from it. He had cut out the heads from the corpses. What a peculiar habit to have.

“One of them made you suffer, and I’m sure you’re familiar with the other one.”

Royce, you bastard. How could you die at this moment?

I glared at the bandit leader. He looked into my eyes.

Plop. Roll.

He tossed the head in front of me.

“It was a good fight. Short… but good,” he said as he widened the gap with his thumb and index finger.

“You bastard!” I muttered out.

“Yeah. I get that a lot.”

I’d never expected this to happen. He showcased some of the most extraordinary skills that I had never seen before. But, why would such a monster come just to capture some merchants who were travelling between the cities?

He skimmed through his dead henchmen.

“Good. They were going to die anyway.” He looked relieved. “You know, I’m in a good mood right now.”

Whoosh.

The wind blew up from under the cliff.

“Guess what I earned today?”

“What?”

I started to think as if my life depended on it. How could I survive from this situation?

“An Artifact.”

My heart was beating like a drum.

As he spoke, he took out a small pouch.

An Artifact. Once sold, at least three generations would be set for life. Expensive, rare, and coveted by everyone.

One of the merchants had it. No wonder they acted strange.

I saw heads tumbling on the ground. Rumor had it that if you had an Artifact, you wouldn’t die peacefully.

If you didn’t have the skills, death would befall you. If you didn’t have a proper background, you had to bow down. And if you didn’t have money as well, you had to go down on your knees.

I thought I was beginning to see the light of the day.

“Perhaps you could spare me since you’re in a good mood.”

“I’ll make it quick for you.”

Dying quickly or slowly, they were all just the same in the end.

“I’m a merciful man. Consider this a reward for taking care of my henchmen. Otherwise, I would have had to kill them myself.”

Huff... Even an inhuman monster was after this treasure. But, why would he only bring a few mercenaries to obtain that? Was he out of his mind? He must have played tricks. He had way too little guards for keeping an Artifact safe. So, who would ever doubt him? In other words, he was a very persistent guy.

What effects would that Artifact have? All Artifacts have a unique way of being activated. Some look like a weapon, while some others might look like an armor or a piece of metal. From what I’ve heard, an Artifact that’s not activated yet could have dangerous side effects when polluted. That’s why everyone is so careful when moving them around.

Okay. Fine. But, was that really necessary?

“Hey.”

He gazed at me.

“Did you have to kill Royce?”

He had nothing to do with this. He was just a mercenary guarding the merchants.

“I had to make sure no one knew I was taking this.”

“Ahhhh.”

I held out my breath for a long time.

So, this was a revenge for Royce, and for the dead merchants as well. Though, I wasn’t not sure it would work. I was standing on a cliff, both physically and mentally.

He began to approach me.

I raised my hand and brushed my mouth. It was only what someone who had given up their life would do, with a face that told the same tale. I was always a good actor.

“Good bye.” He must be so happy to even bid me farewell.

Sure. Good bye to you, too.

Poof!

What I had in my mouth was not a toxic powder. My throat prickled. If poison wouldn’t work, there were other ways. I puffed out powdered glass.

“Argh!”

The glass that I puffed out at a short distance stuck into his eyeballs. Die, you worthless scum!

At that precise moment, a strong silver light flashed from his waist. He drew out his sword so quickly that I couldn’t see the blade.

Swish!

A strong thermal pain went through my shoulder. My only remaining arm fell off. What a joke. I butted into him with my head.

Bam!

His body was really stiff. As soon as I bumped into him, my head landed on his body. He pushed me with his foot. My body flung out backwards. And half of my body hung from the cliff from my waist.

“You must be out of your mind.”

“Hahaha.”

I laughed as I bled from my mouth. And when he opened his eyes, I wanted to laugh even harder, but I couldn’t. It was all because of the leather pouch in my mouth. I couldn’t even open it because I’d lost both of my hands. I just swallowed it whole.

“No!” He screamed.

No? So what?

Before he could approach me, I pushed the ground with my feet. I could see his face as I fell down the cliff.

A gentle sense of relief caressed my body. Although my throat was torn from the glass shards, and my body was a mess from swallowing a leather pouch. It was worth it when I could see the look on his face.

Would a king who lost his kingdom make that face? Go ahead and search for that Artifact in my corpse. But before that, I was sure he would need to dig into my shit to find it.

Suddenly, I was drifting in the air. It was impossible for me to flounder. And I heard a voice filled my ears.

[Searching for Grit.]

Grit? What’s that?

[A will to grow up, a desire to learn, a diligent greed, passion and tenacity, perseverance without talent, and a regression of instinct.]

These words were whispered into my ears.