The Returner Wants Complete Victory

45 – 045. Uninvited group

3 days since the war ended.

The city was virtually paralyzed.

Most of the people who actually ran the city were killed by the Martial Artist League, and all that remained were idiots who knew nothing but fighting.

“I don’t know where to start… .”

This was what Rick, who had been busy wandering around since dawn, returned to the inn around noon.

“What?”

“It’s a total mess. just.”

While saying that, Rick, who was sitting across from me, took out some beef jerky and chewed it.

A total mess. That’s exactly right.

The streets are still littered with disorganized corpses, and the doors and windows of all buildings are smashed.

The cooks who ran the inn all died.

Instead of importing food ingredients, the merchant association is making profits by charging a premium price for preserved food.

But no one is trying to normalize the city.

Because there were no government officials dispatched to this city.

The remnants of the Martial Artists’ League, who are responsible, are leaving the city little by little every night, and Mad Dog and the Rats are taking the stance that they are the victims of a preemptive attack.

In the end, the current city has been cleaned up only around Rick’s Inn, the territory of Mad Dog and the Rats, and the plaza where freelancers mainly gathered, but other areas remain in a state of ruins.

But that’s not my part-time job.

“Rick.”

“yes.”

When I called his name, Rick seemed to be thinking about something else and blinked his eyes and answered.

“Would you like to join our team?”

“yes?”

“Would you like to join our team?”

“… no.”

Rick chuckled and answered, probably thinking it was a joke.

I also didn’t make the offer thinking Rick would accept.

Of course, I wanted him to come in, but I knew he wasn’t the type of person to do that.

“hey.”

This time it was Noah, who was sitting in the lobby instead of Rick, who called.

Noah just rolled his eyes and looked at me.

“how about you. “Are you interested in joining our team?”

“doesn’t exist.”

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It was an immediate answer.

Still, we had some time together, but I feel like I’m a little hurt.

“Ugh… .”

I really don’t know.

How on earth did the people who created the mercenary group get started in the first place?

Since I always joined an already-completed mercenary group late, I had relatively little knowledge about how the initial mercenary group was created.

I knew that forming a team with like-minded people was the first step, but… .

The cartels were already too strong in this city.

Perhaps because they had a big enemy in common, the Martial Artist League, freelance mercenaries, including Rick’s disciples, had a strong tendency to band together.

During the first episode, I was also Rick’s student and was naturally incorporated into the cartel, so I never imagined it would be this bad.

Should I leave the city now?

I had to go to Estes at least once anyway.

“teacher teacher! “We’re in big trouble!”

At that time, someone burst open the door, came in, and shouted.

It was Ellie.

I was out of breath even though my stamina must have been quite high due to how long I had run.

“what’s the matter?”

Rick approached Ellie with a stern expression.

“There are a ton of people coming from all over the South, South Emur!”

“uh?”

“A lot of knights, priests, laborers, and even people who look like mercenaries like us are coming!”

Rick looked embarrassed at the somewhat unexpected story.

“I was on my way to Emur to run errands, but hundreds of people came here, so I came back. “I think I should let you know.”

“Okay, thank you. First, have a glass of water. “How many minutes do you think we have left before you arrive?”

“About 30 minutes? no. “I had time to get here, now 25 minutes?”

After hearing Ellie’s story, Rick turned to me and said.

“I guess I’ll have to find out what’s going on. “I think I should go pick you up.”

“Let’s go together.”

I was curious about this because it didn’t happen in the first episode.

*

Rick disappeared somewhere again, saying he was gathering people.

Since I didn’t know anyone in particular, I only invited Eunha and Bo-kyung, who were at the training ground.

“Sir, what’s going on?”

I asked if Bo-kyung had washed first, coming down the stairs and shaking off her wet hair like a puppy.

It wasn’t that urgent. I could have just dried my hair slowly.

“I do not know either. “I heard hundreds of people are coming from Emur.”

“… “You really don’t know?”

“huh. “I really don’t know this.”

“There are things you don’t know.”

Bo-kyung said that in a somewhat excited tone.

Just like last time when my magic power was 11, he strangely likes it when I show him that I’m lacking in some way, right?

“But what happened?”

This time Eunha asked as she came down the stairs.

Unlike Bo-kyung, Eun-ha’s hair looked soft, as if it had already been completely dried.

She even tied her hair into pigtails and let it fall in front of her shoulders as usual.

Instead of answering the question, I made eye contact with Bo-kyung and gestured toward Eunha.

Bo-kyung understood the gesture and opened her mouth instead.

“They say hundreds of people are coming from Emur.”

“why?”

“They say they don’t know.”

“I see. “But sister, why didn’t you dry your hair?”

Instead of sitting down, Eunha stood behind Bo-kyung and started shaking Bo-kyung’s hair.

He shook it off so roughly that water almost splashed onto me, who was sitting across from him.

“aaah! what are you doing?!”

“My sister is a baby. “You have to take care of it.”

“Uh, huh?”

“Crybaby sister.”

By now, Eunha had shaken off all the moisture and was tidying Bokyung’s hair.

They say sh*t.

I was looking at the two with those eyes, and I happened to make eye contact with Eunha.

Eunha seemed to have interpreted my look differently and asked, tilting her head.

“why? If you’re jealous, would you do it too? Come wash up. “I will do it.”

“It’s nonsense. go away.”

To be honest, I was curious about what it would feel like, but my pride wouldn’t allow it.

It feels like I’m losing something.

By the way, how long does he plan to talk to me informally?

“But why on earth do you always call Bo-kyung ‘unni’, but only speak informally to me?”

Is he like that too?

Are you showing off your pride for no reason?

Actually, I know that it wouldn’t be a big deal if I told you now, but there are things I’ve been doing since we first met, so I can’t stop anymore due to inertia.

“… .”

In response to my question, Eunha kept her mouth shut, as if it were honey.

“hey. Then, I won’t ask you to be polite, so just tell me this honestly. “How old are you?”

“… .”

“Bogyeong. You tell me. “How old is he?”

“ah… . That’s it, ten—Ahh!”

Bo-kyung, who caught Eunha’s attention to my words and opened her mouth, had no choice but to scream.

“Why, why do you pinch me… okay.”

Bo-kyung tried to glare at Eun-ha with slightly teary eyes, but then curled her tail and lowered her eyes.

Actually, isn’t Eunha your older sister?

At that time, a commotion was detected outside the door.

It seemed like Rick had gathered some people together.

“Let’s get up quickly. “I don’t think there’s anything for us to do, so we can just wait and see how the situation unfolds.”

Knights, priests, mercenaries of the Emur.

These are all words that had nothing to do with Kirnyu during the first round.

It’s only been a month since the regression, but if this has changed from the beginning, isn’t it safe to say that the future events known as the regression have no longer had much meaning?

Fortunately, the location of the historic site has not changed.

Also, it is quite important to know in advance about potential new players who will come in the future through tutorials.

However, in order to take advantage of that, you need to establish a mercenary group and grow large enough to participate in the auction for tutorial agency rights… .

What kind of mercenary group are you in when you can’t find any useful team members right now?

head hurts.

*

The number of people Rick gathered was smaller than expected.

Because it was daytime, everyone was out making money, so there was no one in the square.

Including our group, there were only about twenty people… .

At this point, wouldn’t it be better not to go?

I don’t know if I go there for no reason and end up being ignored.

“uh? Teacher, that… .”

“Let’s wait a moment.”

Ellie, who was walking ahead, noticed something and looked back at Rick, and Rick seemed to have seen the same thing and ordered him to stop.

I couldn’t see clearly because I was following behind, so I stuck my head out to the side.

Then, I was able to find an unexpected person there.

James Miller and Mad Dog members.

Mad Dog also suffered great damage from the war, but there were still more than a hundred members left, as if to prove that it was a fairly powerful organization.

James also came this way as if he had spotted us.

“What’s your business, Rick Brown?”

“What’s going on? “I heard there were guests from Emur, so I came out to meet them.”

Neither of them spoke very favorably.

“We will meet you, so go back.”

“I don’t think I can do that.”

“Are you now greedy for a position in the Martial Artists’ League?”

“I’d rather leave the city to a gangster like you.”

At Rick’s words, James’ expression became murderous.

If the exchange had been a formal one up until now, Rick’s final response was to call for an open fight.

“so. “Are we going to start another war?”

“I killed my former disciples with my own hands, so is there any reason to avoid them now?”

At those words, Rick also took a step forward and spoke.

I couldn’t see their expression because they were behind me, but they were so intense that even I got goosebumps.

In fact, Eunha hid behind me because she was scared, even though it wasn’t aimed at her.

“… “You’ve changed.”

James muttered.

I, too, was a little surprised by Rick’s strong response.

There seemed to be a change in his state of mind after the war with the Martial Artists’ League.

You must have realized that just avoiding it won’t solve anything.

Rick even didn’t like Mad Dog so much that he banned him from entering the inn.

In other words, the stance has changed from ‘I don’t care whether you die or not’ to ‘If you fail, I will kill you.’

James must have felt that and took a step back.

Despite his name, Mad Dog, he was a very discerning man.

“Do what you like. I also had no intention of becoming a neighborhood keeper. However, since we also need to understand the situation here, I will leave one section. “You won’t say no to that, right?”

Rick nodded instead of answering.

“Withdraw! Aaron! “You stay!”

At James’ words, one of the gangsters came forward.

It was a face I remembered.

Aaron Moss.

I think I was introduced as the leader of Mad Dog, but to the extent of leaving him in a position like this, it seemed like he was not just an action leader, but rather James’ right hand man.

James and other Mad Dog members passed us and disappeared into the city, leaving Aaron alone and taking a seat next to me.

“Why are you coming here?”

“They were the only ones who didn’t have any hostility towards me.”

What is this, you bastard?

Contrary to your appearance, are you the type of person who pays a lot of attention to those around you?

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-

At that time, a group of people appeared from beyond the hill, accompanied by the sound of horses’ hooves.

The first thing I saw was a knight standing in the lead and a carriage surrounded by soldiers as if they were protecting him.

And a group of priests was following them, and the mercenaries and workers from Earth that Eli had mentioned could not be seen behind them.

Most of them were unfamiliar faces.

But, only one.

A woman in black priestly clothing riding on a white horse raised her hand and waved it left and right as if she was happy.

I was even more scared because my face was expressionless on such a topic.

Are you crazy?

Rick and others also looked at each other in confusion, as if they had seen the unexpected behavior of the other side.

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When I showed no reaction, the other person slowly lowered his hand, probably embarrassed, and reached for the flail hanging next to the saddle.

Crazy b*tch.

I couldn’t help but wave my hand so small that other people wouldn’t notice.

Then Hyril smiled brightly.

Why is that woman like that again?

I’m going back, really.