A lot of the particulars in mercenary work were still unknown to me, and I didn’t even realize that they existed until situations happened when these things became relevant. One of the things I did not know was how loot from defeated enemies was to be distributed within the band. I had thought that there would be some kind of honor system where you would hand in part of your spoils to the band so that the leaders could distribute the rest of it among the men evenly, but to my surprise no such system existed. Apparently any enemy you defeated by yourself was your spoils, and any enemy that was defeated in collaboration with other people would have their spoils divided evenly.
I had killed two bandits that night, and that meant that everything those two owned would go to me. Apart from the most evident two arming swords and two shields, both of which had something my own was missing: a leather strap that would allow me to wear it on my back.
I also got a helmet although it was nothing to brag about. The helmet looked like an oversized upside-down cup with leather straps that would secure it around my chin, and it was mainly protected from swinging attacks aimed at the upper part of the head. There was also a piece of armor like a cuirass but a bit larger, although it only covered the upper body down to the hips. Cameron was helpful enough to come around after securing his own loot and told me it was something like a brigandine, although its quality was not that good. Brigandines, he said, would usually provide very good protection all the way down to the thighs, but would limit a person's movement quite a bit, which is why he chose to fight using a mail hauberk.
While there were also some coins in the pockets of the bandits I killed, I only pilfered six coppers for my trouble. I didn’t feel entirely comfortable taking off the dead bandits' clothes, and unlike the soldiers of the Krilos garrison, Gorkas didn’t see fit to order us to bury the dead men.
After making sure that they had taken everything they wanted from the dead men, the mercenaries went back to the camp where Gorkas had already negotiated space for us to carry our loot all the way to Agrow, where they would presumably try and sell it. I was also provided such an opportunity, as the merchant in charge of the caravan seemed pleased with our efforts to defeat the bandits, and as such allowed us some leeway.
While storing the brigandine, swords, and shields in one of the wagons, I noticed that Dorian who was also storing his spoils was bleeding from his right forearm, and asked him when he would be treating his wound. He said that he was just going to leave it as is, perhaps wash it in some water, and wait until we returned to the camp where the helpers with some herbalism knowledge could help him deal with it.
As soon as he said that, an image of Dorian lying in bed with a fever, suffering from an illness appeared in my mind, and I began to insist that I help him treat it sooner rather than later, trying to explain that if he left it untended he had a chance of becoming ill.
He didn’t quite understand why I was so pushy, but seeing a certain conviction in my eyes and trusting my words due to me teaching him the Sylrift forms. I went to Gorkas and asked him if he could persuade the merchants to stop at the first stream or river we saw for a while, as I wanted to treat Dorian's wounds.
Although before last night Gorkas would most certainly decline any request of mine that wasn’t ‘I want to leave your squad’, he no longer had a disdainful look in his eyes when I spoke to him, and said that he’d find out if the merchants were willing to delay their journey slightly. Still feeling indebted to the mercenaries to protect them, and knowing that a small delay would still let them arrive in Agrow before sundown; they agreed.
About an hour and a half into the journey north, a small stream became visible to our left and I pointed it out to Gorkas, who then went and spoke to the caravan leader. This also allowed the horses an opportunity to rest, so everyone busied themselves with something while I went to retrieve some water to boil. After gathering enough firewood, and securing a ‘fire striker’ from the caravan workers, I borrowed a pot as well and began to boil the water with Dorian sitting next to me.
Word had gotten around my squad that the reason for the stop was that I wanted to help Dorian out with his wounds, and Fisk approached me and asked if I would be willing to help him out as well, with a bloody spot visible through his pants on his left thigh. While I wasn’t entirely sure that I would be able to perform first aid on a wound, I had certain advantages to understanding how wounds become infected in order to treat my squadmates.
The first was that it would be necessary to wash out the wound with non-contaminated water, which is why I was boiling some in the pan, ideally if there was some form of alcohol around I could also disinfect it using that but there was none available to me at the moment. The last thing that was needed was to bandage the wound tightly, and allow the body to begin its healing process unobstructed.
Fisk was in a lot more pain than Dorian was, and as such I agreed hoping that I would at least be able to help him heal faster, but I made no promises of any miracle recoveries to either of them. After washing out the wound there was still some time left to kill so I took out my loot from the wagon and began washing it in the stream much like the rest of the mercenaries were doing, there was not a single death on our side from yesterday’s attack, which made both the merchant caravan and us quite happy, and the two groups even interacted more frequently as a result.
When we resumed our march I went back into the wagon with Herman, where sleep overtook me immediately and the very next moment I was already being woken up by Opie who said that it was their turn to rest. I had gotten nowhere near enough sleep, but the upside of having been woken up is that I would be conscious for when the merchant caravan arrived in Agrow.
This city had walls which were of a darker color of stone than almost every other city I had seen, and the security here was quite strong probably due to the chance that nefarious individuals might attempt to enter the city, such as the bandits that had attacked us. After paying the required toll for the goods that they were carrying, the merchant caravan was allowed inside the city and we all went to the building of the guild which would house these goods for the following night.
I also heard some parts of a conversation between Gorkas and the leader of the caravan discussing the possibility of us continuing to escort them all the way to the capital, but in the end the merchant haggled a little too strong and Gorkas resolutely stated that we would not continue on if they didn’t outright match our price. The merchant didn’t value our services that highly, and as such we would part ways here.
There were still a few hours before sundown and Gorkas was eager to return after receiving the payment from the mercenary guild in Agrow, so the group broke up into two with one going to sell all of our spoils which were carried either in our hands or in sacks, while the other went and secured enough provisions for our journey back.
I went with Gorkes, Edmund, Herman, and Dorian to go and secure supplies although our purpose in this endeavor was only to serve as ‘beasts of burden’. Gorkes did all of the haggling, and his appearance combined with his escort of four armed people probably saved us a bit of money in the purchase of bread and some cured meats.
He also purchased a wooden pole on which the sacks of food would be secured, with myself and Herman holding the pole above our right shoulders, and supporting it with our hands as we left the market towards the same gate we came in through.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
I had left all of my spoils except for a shield that was better than my own, and the helmet to Fisk who assured me that he would sell them for a good price to the local shops, and then hand me the money afterwards. When my squadmates did the same I decided to trust him, and when we came to the southern gates of Agrow the other half of our squad was already waiting for us.
Fisk distributed the money among us, with me getting three silvers and some coppers for my trouble, and although this was not as much as I was expecting, Fisk explained it by saying that second-hand goods would usually lose more than half of their value if used as much as the stuff I looted.
I had actually made the most out of all of everyone from loot only, as I killed two bandits quickly while the rest had to deal with many of them at once, and one-on-one fights were much easier to resolve quickly than group combat. After securing our earnings from loot Gorkas ordered us to head out and we made it a few kilometers past where the battle the previous night had occurred before sunset, which was thanks to us not having to slow down to match the speed of a wagon.
There would still be two people on nightwatch as per usual, but since we were a group of armed men with only food and some money as cargo the chances of us being attacked were lesser than last night. Before we went to sleep however, which pulled me towards it enticingly, Gorkas distributed the payment from our six days of work. Each member of the squad earned 6 silvers while Gorkas as the squad-leader earned 9. The rest of it would go to the band, which was money that would be used for our benefit as well with paying the helpers in the camp, and the purchase of supplies when we weren’t out on commission.
This meant that I earned more than eight silvers in total, which was quite a handy sum and I thought would be enough to purchase some better armor for myself when we returned to Verorum. A feeling of accomplishment and security was within me as I went to sleep that night, quite tired from the night watch the day before. Our trip passed quite swiftly and as we made camp a bit earlier on the third day, already well within Targis, Gorkas announced that he would be going to hunt some meat for dinner and ordered me to accompany him.
I was surprised that he singled me out, but perhaps thinking that this was something that was necessary for a ‘newbie’ like me to learn I agreed and followed him out into the woods. We didn’t have anything except for our swords and shields on our back, and I was wondering what exactly we would be hunting without any ranged weapons when squad-leader Gorkas began to speak to me.
“This was all an excuse to get away from the others, so you can stop looking so intently for prey and just listen to what I have to say” Gorkas said, before continuing our ‘hunt’ at a more leisurely pace.
“You have to understand that my goals do not end with me being a squad-leader of a medium-sized mercenary band, and I have worked hard for captain Lydon during the past two years, before finally getting myself my own squad half-a-year ago…Since then I’ve been trying to make it the best in the whole band, which is why in the fight yesterday not a single one of them broke ranks and fled in the face of danger. I also make the squad take on a lot more commissions than the others do, trying to catch the eye of the captain with my achievements…” Gorkas began his monologue, which gave me some insight into the man behind the stern squad-leader who hated me from the start.
“...try to see the situation from my point of view. If with such a goal, a boy who is barely a man is thrown into a group of men who have all already been in the squad for a good while, and if not for the man who you replaced choosing to retire from this line of work, then the strength of the whole squad would be even greater. I mean for Gera’s sake you didn’t even have metal armor! And that weird sword-style of yours is quite effective based on last night’s fight, but it’s not something that can help us become stronger as a group, it makes you stronger on your own!” He went on with his explanations, throwing in some criticism here and there.
His criticisms of me were not baseless as they were before, but were actual genuine critiques of my shortcomings when it came to being a mercenary of Backhand Blow, so I didn’t disregard them outright as I did before and pondered on his words, still looking ahead with a pensive expression on my face. Seeing that I was still paying attention, he continued.
“I don’t see you as a hopeless case anymore, which means that I will actually make an effort to turn you into an effective member of our squad, but for that you need to put in efforts of your own, are you willing?” He asked fiercely, surprising me by being so blunt.
“I am, what do you need me to do?” I responded, hoping to match his challenge.
“First of all, you are to start practicing exclusively in the Warthog style from now on, up until the point when I deem you worthy and you can then continue practicing your dual-wielding style in your free time. Secondly, you must start wearing that helmet you looted at all times, and train your body to feel comfortable with the added weight. The last thing that I will say is that you should spend the money you earned wisely, don’t blow it on whores or drink, buy some mail armor with it, a hauberk that reaches all the way to your knees would be best. If Fisk didn’t have a hauberk then he might not be able to walk for months, only because he was armored did he manage to come off with just a flesh wound, you understand?” He rattled off his advice one by one, before making sure I understood everything.
“I shall do as you have told, I was already thinking about the drawbacks with my style when it came to cooperating with others, and I will spend the money on buying a good set of armor. But since I don’t know the shops in Verorum, could you recommend a place to buy from?” I responded, before asking a pertinent question of my own.
“Just ask Fisk, I’m sure he’ll be happy to show you around given you helped him with his wound” He replied with a smile, happy to see his squad getting along.
Just as he was about to suggest we head back to the place we would sleep around a campfire, a boar appeared out of some bushes in front of us, and became startled seeing us who towered over it in height. Gorkas wasn’t expecting any sort of animal to even make an appearance while we were just walking around talking, but seeing such a boon drop into his lap nowhere he took action immediately.
“I’ll chase it! Leading it to the left, you’re faster than I am so you can kill it when it’s running away from me” He shouted, making his plan clear for me to understand.
I didn’t even bother to nod as I took off through the forest, still keeping my swords sheathed to allow me to use my arms to navigate through the shrubbery. I couldn’t see where the boar was running but I could hear Gorkas’ shouts as he tried to frighten the animal to move in the direction he wished.
Since Gorkas couldn’t see me I allowed myself to use wind sorcery to aid my forward momentum, but since the ground was uneven I restrained myself from doing it too much as it would only result in me tripping or worse smashing into the trunk of a tree.
Gorkas’ voice was coming closer and closer so I hid behind a trunk in what I thought would be the path of the boar, and decided to wait for it to come close enough before jumping out and stabbing it, as if I just stood there in the open then it wouldn’t approach me at all. With my swords unsheathed, something I did out of habit rather than just unsheathing my longsword I stood and waited, until what I considered to be the right moment.
I thought my plan was going to work out fine, but when I jumped out the boar was still still a few paces too far from me, and it had enough time to turn away and begin running to the side, away from both myself and Gorkas who I saw a bit further away. I decided to chance it and leapt from where I stood with both my longsword being what I would use to ‘latch on’ to the boar.
I held it backwards, so that I would be able to stab downwards from my elevated position above the boar, but even though I aimed to stab it in through the back and then even further into the ground to stop it from moving, I only managed to latch on to where its shoulder was, with the boar continuing to run.
My grip was tight, so I was dragged along with it and my sword and weight slowed it down considerably, but as soon as the stab was made the boar began to erratically try and throw me off, which meant that I couldn’t wait until Gorkas came to finish it off. I then moved my shortsword in my left hand closer to its head, and made a precise stab into its eye, aiming for that gap in the mammal’s skull to kill it swiftly.
Whether due to luck or the fact that I was so close to the boar’s head, the finishing blow was successfully dealt, and I stood up to ‘dust off’ the dirt that was now staining my trousers. Gorkas came up to me with a happy expression, which was centered on the now dead boar, and gave me what was a comforting ‘punch’ in the shoulder, which hurt more than he realized.
We dragged the boar back to the camp by its tusks, which were quite long so it must have been an old one. The people at the fireplace were quite surprised to see that we were actually able to catch something without hunting equipment, but now the conundrum was that we had nothing to cook the boar with. Cameron shooed away any concern by saying that he knew how to skin animals, so all we would have to do was to put it on a stick and roast it above our campfire, which worked for everyone.
Since we wouldn’t be carrying the boar with us when we traveled tomorrow, Gorkas told us to finish up the whole animal in one meal, which he explained as a reward for completing the commission successfully without any casualties.
My squadmates and I probably resembled barbarians or competitive eaters in-the-making as we gorged ourselves on the boar which tasted very gamey, and had no seasoning. But meat was a luxury for commoners, so we simply enjoyed our food and left our worries behind at least for the evening.
We arrived at the mercenary camp the following day and settled into our tent which remained in its previous place. It had taken us about three-and-a-half to make our way back, which was relatively fast. There was still some time to kill during the day so my squadmates convinced me to stay true to my word and spend some of my earnings on buying them a round of drinks at the tavern, as we were walking through Verorum we passed by the mercenary building and Cameron suggested we head in to see what kind of commissions were available, just in case Gorkas would choose another soon.
Everyone’s gazes were focused on the commission board, and Fisk was reading them aloud to those in our squad who were illiterate, but I didn’t see anything there that was worth my attention after skimming through it quickly. What had caught my attention was the ‘wanted’ board which was only a few meters to the left, where the name ‘Leon’ was present, standing out since it was written in fresh ink.