Quit being a knight and become a mercenary

34 – Victory and Reward (1)

The next day, we attended a banquet prepared by the count, and everyone’s eyes went wide when they saw the food prepared.

“Can we really enjoy all of this? I don’t think you’re going to ask me to pay later or be punished, damn it.”

“Aww, those idiots from the country. Do you ask because you don’t know that Count Salzheim has prepared for us to eat?”

A whole pig being grilled, steak grilled on the spot by the chefs, a variety of rare dishes, soft freshly baked bread, and an oak barrel full of beer and wine.

Although it was surprising that our favorite foods were piled up like a mountain.

Aside from that, perhaps they were prepared to entertain the Whitebeard Mercenary Corps, the village girls were busily going back and forth with drinks.

Although it’s not something you can do with them, as long as you agree, you can enjoy it…

This place was like a paradise where mercenaries could not buy alcohol, meat, and women.

I don’t pay much attention to other girls except for Karin and Lucia, but we teenagers have already gone blind when they see the skirts of the village girls.

“Whoops, those s*x-crazed, horny bastards.”

After a while a cute girl came up and put her arms around mine.

In an instant, the soft touch that I felt when my soft breasts touched through my clothes was transmitted to her arm.

“Are you Captain Martin Mayer?”

I was taken aback when he suddenly showed me his favor.

“Yes, by the way.”

“The Count asked me to attend specially. Come this way.”

With that said, he took me by the arm and smiled as he took me to our specially prepared table.

If the other tensor seats were just plain wooden chairs, our seats had fairly soft cushions.

The guys below me saw it and asked excitedly.

“Chief of the Ten, are we really allowed to sit here like this?”

If the girl came and guided me to sit down, I could just sit down.

A feeling that can’t be expressed in words passed by as the hairy boys looked at me with bright eyes and said things like that.

Perhaps it’s because it’s awkward because I’ve never been treated like this by anyone in my life, as I’ve been to and from the bottom of my life, you idiots.

I slapped the baker next to me on the back and said.

“If it weren’t for our mercenaries, especially the Martin Ten, the family of the Counts of Salzheim would have been robbed. Thank you for doing this much, but it’s also natural. What are you doing? You guys are the protagonists of this feast today.”

Then they hurriedly sat down with their eyes shining, and began devouring the food in front of them.

Boys are eating and drinking like crazy people, but it doesn’t look foolish, it looks kind of cute for some reason.

My subordinate, to put it mildly, it must be because he is my son.

As I watch them eat, the baker looks at me scratching his head.

“What are you staring at? Did you ask anything on my face?”

“It’s not like that, it’s because I’m really grateful to be able to enjoy all these luxuries thanks to Captain Ten.”

…… It’s not that the guy’s guy isn’t gay, and it’s not that I’m in a bad mood as my nose gets a bit tingly when he says things like that, but it feels like time and space are shrinking.

So I put a momentary aura on my embarrassment and punched Baker in the head.

“f*ck, what the hell is the guy’s bastard to do with such a cheesy horse? Who is it?”

“I mean it, Captain Ten.”

“Just shut up and eat. Thank you for following me to the end of my f*cking training, and thank you for following me when I ran amok like a wild boar. If you guys couldn’t follow me, I would have died yesterday too. Thank you, kids.”

This is true.

When I ran amok on the first day of battle, honestly, I didn’t trust our recruits, so I did it to the point where I was able to escape by myself even if things went wrong.

But more than I expected, Baker and other new recruits somehow followed me well despite panting, so I was able to fight more aggressively as the days went by.

Yesterday was a judge’s match anyway, so I could have left my back to them to some extent and jumped in.

‘They are worthwhile to roll.’

As I was praising the guys, Karin looked at me and lifted the corners of her mouth and sent her a smile.

Then he whispered in a low voice that only I could hear.

“We, Captain Martin, are weak against things like this.”

“Anyway, it’s a bit embarrassing, senpai.”

“You should get used to it from now on, Captain of the Ten Commandments. Otherwise, every time I hear a word of thanks from my subordinates, I will shrink.”

Certainly, the more I succeed in the future, the more I will hear stories like this, so I have to force myself to get used to it, right?

But for now, I want to share this embarrassing feeling with Karin.

“I wanted to say thank you to Karin sunbaenim. When the new recruits were shoveling, thanks to saving a few by assisting with arrows from behind, Baker and the other guys over there are all stuck to their necks. After all, I only have seniors.”

Let’s say something that would sound like a confession if misunderstood in the mood.

Karin made her face red enough to be recognized under her candlelight, and she quietly lowered her head.

‘Can I confess now?’

To the extent that I can think of this for a moment.

But if she confesses over and over and fails here, the opportunity to make her mine may disappear far, far beyond the sky.

‘Let’s take a deep breath and calm down… calm down. The time will soon come when you can’t even push and pull.’

Then I quickly looked around to calm my excitement.

From her seat far away, Lucia could see that she was glancing at me, like a child who wants to show off her treasure.

She looked at me for about a second and turned her head over and over again, all the while wagging her ears and tail.

The facial expression is very cute and shows honest thoughts, but the tail and ears are asking for praise from me more clearly than saying ‘praise me’ with words.

Is this why people are obsessed with tails and ears?

“Lucia.”

She wagged her ears and tail quickly when I called her name.

“Yes?”

“Thank you for being nice to me. Without you, we could all have died.”

“No, it’s all because the captain of the Ten Commandments is good…”

Strictly speaking, of course, I was the one who played the most in our teens.

Right now, the number of people I cut down will be at least 30 to 40, and I also blew off two high-ranking knights who act as commanders.

However, it is natural for me to be the most active in this group of teenagers. ‘Cause I’m a loaf

Still, if it wasn’t for Lucia’s active performance, I would have had a lot of trouble when I first clashed with the enemy with a long spear, and many newcomers might have been killed.

‘Because the most people are thrown away the first time the enemy maintains a solid defense.’

“I did well when I did well, and you did well when you did well, Lucia. And if you didn’t fire your magic in time as I directed, it wouldn’t have been easy to break into enemy lines.”

“Is that so?”

Although it seemed hesitant, Lucia expressed her emotions through her gaze, interest, and tail asking me to continue to praise her.

‘Because it’s easy to understand, it’s so cute. Karin and I have a different charm.’

“I have the magician do hard ritual training to train his physical strength, and he also trains his body. Still, I am truly grateful for following along. And thanks to that, we were able to provide the support we needed.”

“Captain of the Ten…”

She shed tears profusely, as if she was feeling the sadness of not being properly recognized by someone.

As someone who has at least some understanding of her life in her story, she felt a little sorry for her appearance, so I put her hand on her head and gently stroked it.

“We just have to do what we do now. You are the best.”

And when she turned her attention to the guys around her, the others, including Baker, scrambled to praise Lucia.

“Fireball was amazing, Senior Lucia!”

“Thanks to the thumps you shot, we gave up all the guys hired by the f*cking Count Philo and we threw them in and lived safely!”

“I look forward to it in the future!”

Although I ordered it, Lucia heard it and gradually stopped her tears and smiled gently wagging her tail.

“It’s embarrassing to praise like that…”

Her tail wiggles in a way that keeps asking for compliments.

So I praised Lucia over a long period of time, pointing out the things she did well so far.

‘I can’t do without you.’

‘As expected, Lucia is the best, so she will be able to become a better wizard in the future.’

‘I believe and look forward to it in the future.’

To the extent that she doesn’t get tired of these words.

Just as Lucia was slowly opening her heart, Captain Dalton, who had been drinking with real nobles unlike us, appeared and grabbed her by the back of my head and pulled her out.

I was nervous at the moment that something had gone wrong…

“Bastard, high-ranking people want to see your face. Let’s get some water on our faces and go in together.”

Anyway, high-ranking people seem to have a lot of interest in me.