# Chapter 37
—
You can tell at a glance, you lunatic.
Muttering those words inwardly, Jeannie let out a sigh.
“I do take assassination requests, but if it doesn’t come through officially, I don’t do that kind of work.”
“……”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything about this, so ask someone else. And for the record, I’m on vacation right now.”
Arthur scratched his head.
“No matter how much money I offer?”
“Yes.”
“Even if I pay you 100 gold?”
“…I won’t do it.”
Arthur rolled his eyes as though troubled.
*‘Hmph… I didn’t expect Jeannie-ssi to refuse.’*
To be honest, taking on Ares along with four other mages by himself was uncertain at best.
*‘If I had lightning blood, it might be different… but as things stand, I can’t confidently say I’d suppress them for sure.’*
But with Jeannie’s help, it would be far easier.
Snipers were natural enemies of mages, and if Jeannie, a sniper, marked those four, then killing Ares would not fail.
*‘Even if I do end up stealing the lightning blood, having Jeannie-ssi on my side would still be better… Hm.’*
After some thought, Arthur decided to try the straightforward approach.
The biggest reason mercenaries refuse requests is that the pay doesn’t match the risk.
In that case, if he raised the pay to the point where refusal was impossible, that would settle it.
“200 gold?”
“Not doing it.”
“What about 300 gold?”
“……”
“Jeannie-ssi, how about 300 gold?”
Jeannie, who had been silent, twisted her expression.
“Are you kidding me? 300 gold is the kind of money B-rank mercenaries get during wartime as the price of their lives, and you’re saying you’ll pay that?”
Arthur nodded.
“Yes. I’ll give it to you.”
“Ha… Seriously… I still won’t do it.”
“400 gold.”
“……”
“Still no? Then how about 500 gold?”
Jeannie’s ears perked up.
Catching that subtle reaction, Arthur smirked.
“500 gold, with 250 upfront.”
“……”
“And the remaining gold will be paid immediately once the job is done. What do you say?”
Arthur snapped her head back toward him.
Her pretty face was flushed red.
“N-no, you’re joking, right? You’re saying you’ll actually pay 500 gold?”
“I don’t joke about things like this.”
As he answered, Arthur lowered his head.
At that moment, the smile vanished from his lips.
“Do I still look like I’m joking?”
“……”
Jeannie couldn’t answer.
Arthur’s face had gone completely expressionless.
And that face—was truly terrifying.
Yet, somewhere in her heart, another thought welled up.
*‘500 gold…?’*
A dream she had thought was out of reach.
Perhaps this was her chance to grasp it in one stroke.
—
—
That hazy face, its blurred features, its twisted grin—just recalling it made her chest tighten.
That surreal, suffocating face lingered in her head.
But ahead of her fear came greed.
If she finished this job, she could retire.
Buy the home she had only dreamed of, and live without worrying about money.
Of course, it was a madman who had offered that money, but when it came to things like this, he was strangely honest.
*‘Even back then, with President Tartan… he could’ve run, but he didn’t. That says something.’*
And so Jeannie wavered.
Her heart told her to accept. Her head warned her to refuse.
In the end, unable to decide, she decided to test Arthur a little more.
“If I accept, we’re comrades, right?”
“…Pardon?”
“Since we’re comrades, you’re not going to stab or shoot me, right?”
Arthur burst into laughter.
“Of course not. Why would I do that to Jeannie, someone I’m paying so much money to hire?”
“……”
“But if you betray me, then yes, I’ll stab and shoot you. As long as you don’t, I’ll never attack you.”
At that firm answer, Jeannie relaxed her clenched fists.
At the same time, a bead of cold sweat rolled down her cheek.
She had been so tense her jaw was throbbing.
*‘Yeah, damn it. Staying in this line of work, I’ll keep getting tangled up with people like him anyway. Might as well close my eyes and… just think of it as one big haul… one haul and out…’*
Just then, Arthur held out a pouch of coins.
Even at a glance, the heavy bulge made it clear it was full of gold.
Jeannie ended her hesitation and snatched it.
“From this moment, I am C-rank mercenary Jeannie, hired by Donn-nim.”
“……”
“I’ll carry out any order except one to die. I won’t betray you either.”
Arthur curved his lips into a grin.
“So, anything except an order to die is fine, right?”
“…?”
“That’s good. Truthfully, I hadn’t planned to give you much of a role… Hm. I’ll have to reconsider that.”
Not understanding his words, Jeannie blinked.
At that moment, the train came to a halt.
Rising from his seat, Arthur looked outside.
**Poooh—!**
Boris Village.
One of Arcane’s greatest resort towns—they had finally arrived.
—
—
**500 gold.**
To be honest, even for Arthur, it was an enormous sum.
*‘It’s the equivalent of saving up my entire allowance for a year.’*
But looking at it another way, it was only a year’s allowance.
For the purpose of killing Ares Arekis, a mage—he did not consider it a waste.
And so Arthur had hired Jeannie, and so far, that decision seemed right.
“Those guys are acting suspicious.”
“……”
“You see, Boris Village isn’t all that developed outside the central district. Even if they were going to a villa, this isn’t the way.”
Sticking close by, Jeannie chattered, constantly feeding him information with that keen eye for observation and judgment he had once seen.
It wasn’t particularly crucial information, but on the flip side, it meant she considered even the smallest details.
*‘Seeing this, hiring Jeannie-ssi was definitely the right choice. But still… why was lightning bloodline mentioned in what I overheard?’*
The conversation he had eavesdropped on had been fragmented, but he was certain lightning bloodline had been brought up.
Bloodline carrying the unique ability to command lightning, even without being a mage.
The bloodline of the mad killer who would one day destroy Boris Village.
There couldn’t be many such bloodlines—so chances were high that the lightning bloodline Ares mentioned was the very one Arthur sought.
*‘Judging by what I saw, they must’ve conducted experiments on that bloodline… Hm. I wonder. Just like before—what exactly are they so intent on researching?’*
With that question, Arthur felt the need to resolve this case, even if it meant overextending.
Ares’s head—and the lightning bloodline.
Opportunities to seize both at once would be rare.
His musings ended when—
Ares, leading the way out of Boris Village into the deep mountains, suddenly stopped.
**Boom—!**
A heavy reverberation spread across the mountainside.
Watching from the side, Jeannie gasped.
“A barrier? Huh… Not many mages can cast something like that.”
Arthur nodded.
Indeed, barriers that could alter the very terrain were uncommon.
But that meant they were hiding something important within.
Soon, Ares and the four mages accompanying him entered the barrier.
As Jeannie rose to follow, Arthur suddenly seized her wrist.
“…O-oi, why! Why are you grabbing me all of a sudden!”
“…? Were you really about to walk into that barrier, Jeannie?”
“Weren’t we tailing them?”
“Yes, but if you enter the barrier, there’s a high chance you’ll be detected.”
Jeannie blinked.
“Then… you’re just going to wait here? Until they come out?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“We have to draw them out. I’ve got business inside too.”
“…How?”
Arthur smirked.
“Like this.”
With those words, he raised his pistol and fired.
**Bang—!**
The gunshot roared, shaking the barrier.
Jeannie’s jaw dropped in shock.
“Y-you’re going to confront them head-on? Against five mages!?”
“….”
“Wouldn’t it be safer to lie in wait, ambush them instead—huh? Donn-nim, you just changed from -nim to -ssi in my speech!”
She turned her head.
But Arthur, who had been beside her only a moment ago, was gone.
Her eyes narrowed, just as voices rang out from within the barrier.
“…Was it you who fired, you deaf brat?”
At the question, Jeannie’s lips trembled.
“If I say no, will you believe me?”
“Not a chance.”
Flames erupted from the mages’ hands.
Cold sweat dripping, Jeannie’s eyes welled with tears as she watched.
“I really must be insane. I was crazy to trust that lunatic…”
With those words, a massive explosion shook the forest.
**Boom!**
Mages and a sniper.
Two natural enemies—now clashing.
—
—
The original plan had been to fight the mages together with Jeannie.
But upon discovering the laboratory beyond the barrier, Arthur changed his mind.
*‘Curious… What could they be doing out here in the middle of the mountains that they built something like this?’*
Unable to hold back, he had fired his pistol and used Frakil’s Ring to infiltrate the facility.
*‘Sorry, Jeannie-ssi. I’ll repay you later, I swear.’*
Passing through a dark corridor, he entered the lab.
And his eyes widened.
“……”
The stench of blood pricked at his nose.
A few corpses, so mangled their forms were unrecognizable, littered the place.
Judging by their size, they had hardly been adults.
“As I feared… they actually did it. On children.”
Muttering, Arthur’s gaze sank coldly.
He turned, looking around further.
Strange, advanced equipment lined the walls—things not often seen.
Among them were capsules, inside which several children floated in yellow fluid, breathing through respirators.
For a moment, Arthur considered smashing them open to rescue the children—but shook his head.
*‘Trying to save them now might put them in more danger.’*
Cautious, he pressed deeper.
Soon he found more children on white sheets.
Roughly thirty of them. Most were already dead.
Even the survivors were in such dire states that not even Undine’s healing might save them.
After some thought, Arthur approached one child who seemed to have the best chance.
The boy turned his gaze, fed by a suspicious fluid through an IV drip.
*‘Please kill me.’*
The boy didn’t speak, but his eyes said it clearly.
Arthur hesitated, then gently closed the boy’s eyes.
“I can’t speak for the others, but you—can live.”
“……”
“So just hold on a little longer. I’ll finish this quickly and come back.”
At those words, the boy drifted to sleep.
Arthur turned and continued onward.
At the end of the long corridor, he found what looked like an office.
When he opened the door, he saw a wider laboratory than before.
And scattered across the floor—dozens of papers.
Arthur picked one up and read.
**\[Project L: Bloodline Replication]**
The words were complicated, but the gist wasn’t hard to understand.
Just then, a strange voice spoke.
“Who are you?”
Arthur lifted his head.
Inside a capsule, a child was staring at him.
His eyes widened.
“Who are you? And you are?”
The child greeted him—her face oddly familiar.
After a moment’s thought, Arthur remembered where he had seen her before.
“Well… this is unexpected.”
The mad killer who would one day attack Boris Village.
The owner of the lightning bloodline—Julie Prosky.
She was there before him, a little girl, gazing at him from within the capsule.
—
