Rattleheart
Farmers Who Ask for Help

"How do you understand?"

Alz stood up straight, his chest slightly raised, his hands cross-legged while looking at me haughtily. I understand maybe this is a habit that will be very familiar if you see the various kinds of behavior earlier. But I did not expect the level of optimism can move high in the near future like this.

I need to admit, the way he taught something was very effective, so I can't complain too much about it. Many of the actual material that I have understood and know first before meeting him, especially chi control. However, on the other hand I began to understand the concept of the movement of energy belonging to other magicians besides the wizard, not much time I got on the battlefield to learn about it, he said, and it is rare that I have met a witch other than a wizard. There were, but only counted fingers, if you think the Sorcerer, Witch, and Warlock population in this world was indeed that collarbone.

Alz turned off his gaze, he stared straight at the mountains behind me. While saying something important that he seemed to want me to know.

"The world is about to change"

His eyes were cold, a sign that he was very serious about his words. Her expression that changed like this made me curious and wanted to ask her.

"Change how?" my many.

Without taking his eyes off Alz then continued his sentence.

"A lot of new Sorcerer has risen, I can feel it when I first came to this plain".

I have always considered Sorcerer to be a unique magician, but I do not consider them to be a problem. But after hearing Alz's statement in the first material, I began to understand the reason why he said that.

As it is known, Sorcerer is a magician who has special magic as the basis of his techniques. No one knew what magic they would use, and no one knew also how to deal directly with them due to his unusual fighting style. The presence of Sorcerer is always persecuted by the community, a sign that there will be a lot of rejection of their existence. Sorcerers generally have unusual magic, but in some cases their magic can be very dangerous to society.

Sorcerer's guardian magic from the Astrafar Kingdom for example, that magic can be categorized as a disaster for people who underestimate Sorcerer. As the name suggests, guard magic is a self-defense mechanism, if briefly thought of it might just be an ordinary magic that does not threaten anyone. But the magic really became a frightening specter for his enemies.

Because of Sorcerer's guard magic, the people who tried to attack him could not hurt him, they were even attacked by a guard figure in the form of an iron chain that came from nowhere.

This continued to happen, to the extent that it aroused the arrogance of the Sorcerer from the west. The climax began when he managed to destroy the royal army. After doing a lot of damage in various places, then the Sorcerer can be killed with the help of a coalition of magic academies in Western Clayrien.

If that's what he's worried about, I can't think about what's coming next. Whatever it is, it shouldn't interfere too much with my life as a traveler.

Alz continued his sentence, still with the same look he said again, full of worry but seemed a little calm despite his mind full of burden.

"Me and the teacher predicted all this in the north first. There will be a massive war on the Clayrien Continent, therefore I was sent by the teacher to study in the Eastern Empire in order to strengthen the control over my magic. But actually I have another reason to migrate from my own country here"

"What is that reason?" ask again.

"You'll find out soon enough"

Alz turned his face towards me, smiling strongly, grinning? I don't know, his smile was different from other smiles. Like a full moon, Alz looked like he was very satisfied. It was clear, but on the other hand I felt like there was a message hidden behind his smile.

"Alright after getting to know the kinds of witches we will-"

"Hey you guys over there!"

Alz seemed to be pouting, as his sentence was cut off by the screams of people running from far away. He looked like someone dressed in shabbiness, and carried a hoe in his hand. He ran, heading towards us who were no longer facing each other. Focusing his gaze towards her, seeing and confusion over the person's behavior. He kept running, while yelling at us many times. So intense, he even dropped the hoe that he had brought it.

With a slight gasp he arrived in front of us, paused for a moment to rest and then said something.

Ah, a mercenary has a special logo on his back. The logo was red, like a circular dragon, and was accompanied by a small logo beside it. There were no clear rules binding the mercenaries, but 15 years ago the higher-ups of the mercenaries gathered together and agreed to put the logo of the mercenary behind his back as an obligation.

This logo can be an emblem, a tattoo or a large pattern on the back of the shirt. In certain groups there is another logo in the bottom corner that indicates which mercenary group one is from.

The person explained the situation slowly, saying that there was a very big problem in the village near here. He explained that there was a very mysterious person walking around the kingdom and destroying the villages. The man was tall, with a robe and a black hood on his head. There was a horn sticking out over his head.

No one knows who that person is, man? the devil? evil spirits? Anyone who tries to get close to him to find out, will die or turn into his followers. He calls himself The Preacher or the Preacher.

Alz who had been watching the explanation of the man continuously looked me in the eye stealthily. I realized it, and started to take a look at him, it seemed like he wanted to say something but felt bad about the person who was talking to me.

Judging from his appearance, this person seemed to be a farmer from a village near here. His body looked shabby, as if it had been chased by a savage beast. His body could not stop shivering, he had rested since then, but until now his breath was still panting not stop. Signs that something is really frightening in his head.

"Please help us, bring anyone or anything, but I beg you to help us"

Afterward, he held my hand many times until he bowed, offering 30 pieces of gold as his promise if he could solve this problem. In general, mercenaries only receive four gold pieces for each person. Offering so many gold pieces to one person is a very rare thing, but I don't know maybe he could have wished I could have brought a group of other people to help in solving the problem, so maybe this is not gold for individuals.

Alz who had seemed to hold himself back then held onto the shoulder of the poor man. Calm him down and tell him he doesn't have to worry, because we'll help him. Alz smiled at the old man sincerely,. Looking at Alz's smile, the person actually looked like he was happy, holding Alz's hand carefully while putting high hopes and gratitude towards him.

I looked at Alz from afar, a little coldly feeling betrayed as he decided something on his own without speaking to me first. There was generally a complex set of processes for a mercenary to accept a job offer. But maybe this time, I'll accept the offer.

I sighed and approached Alz slowly. The farmer who looked very happy then invited us to follow him. He said, we just walk 5km from the ruins of this Milten village.

On the way I knocked Alz's head once, the shocked one spontaneously said "oh" while looking at me guiltily. In a whisper, I said something to Alz.

"Why did you accept the offer? We don't even know who we're fighting?" I said with a flat expression like holding back disappointment.

Alz, who noticed my discomfort at his decision, then tried to explain his actions for various reasons while whispering.

"You hear that Arslan? 30 Gold pieces, when else would a mercenary like you earn that kind of money in such a short period of time? Even though half of it will be shared with me anyway, of course yes."

"30 pieces of gold is a lot, no, 15 gold yes if you really talk about my profits. Indeed, the value is quite a lot, but do you know how strong the opponent we will face? Don't you understand that the most important ethic a mercenary does is survive?".

Alz who heard my sentence then stopped his steps suddenly. Quietly, doing nothing, spontaneously after walking a little in front of him I also began to stop, he said, until finally when we heard all of us stop stepping finally the farmer who was in front of me also stopped his steps while looking back.

Why did Alz stop? Did he realize his mistake and want to abort this mission? Or have I hurt her feelings? Sometimes, I really don't understand the way other people think.

In his sudden silence he then looked at me and said firmly while putting both his hands behind his back.

"You don't have to worry about anything, because...

I am a very powerful witch".

He smiled again, looked at me and then walked forward. Leaving me, then talking to the farmer who seemed confused by our behavior earlier.

Huh, I really don't know what's going to happen next.