Chapter 274
- It’s best to start by drawing bigger picture (7)
Guarantee.
When a debtor does not repay their debt to a creditor in a transaction, it refers to a third party who has provided a guarantee having to take on the debt.
In short, they have to repay someone else’s debt instead.
How foolish is this?
Let’s say I provide a guarantee.
If the person I guaranteed succeeds in business thanks to my guarantee, will anything come back to me? Even if something does come back, how much will come back?
It could be repaid with a single meal, or I could receive a stake in the company.
Before providing the guarantee, I could draw up some kind of contract and get something in return that fits that contract.
To be honest, I don’t know. Since I’ve never provided a guarantee.
In my past life I was told a few times that a guarantee would be necessary but ignored them all.
While I don’t know about guarantees, there is one thing that is clear.
The chance for me to fail must at the very least be decided by my own hand. There is nothing more foolish than me failing in place of someone else who should be the one failing.
That’s why I hate guarantees so much.
So,
“Gu-Guarantee?”
I could understand why the hero was making such an ugly face.
“Yes. A guarantee,”
“What kind of guarantee are you talking about?”
“A guarantee to borrow money.”
“What?”
The hero still seemed not to understand.
In times like these, rather than a curveball, a straight pitch is needed.
“Let’s borrow some money under your name.”
“Uh….”
Avoiding my gaze and being as terse as possible in his speech, he seemed to know well the dangers of providing guarantees.
Even though he has the foolish job of being a hero, he was still reluctant to provide a debt guarantee.
I wonder if guarantees were actually more foolish than being a hero? So much so that even the pinnacle of fool jobs, a hero, would refuse?
“I am not someone suited to provide guarantees.”
It’s a fair point. While the hero’s job has honor, it is far removed from wealth.
Even if they receive donations, it is the temple of that hero that receives it, not the hero themselves receiving money.
The more I think about it the more it seems like a truly foolish job.
“I know. The job of a hero does not earn much money.”
Even the support funds from the temple disappear quickly after meals, lodging, and repairing equipment.
“But guarantees are possible.”
It’s not because his family is the Raina Grand Duke of the Karan Empire.
This guy is a hero. That in and of itself made guarantees possible in some places.
“Huh? Where….”
“The Temple of Nature.”
“What?”
“If we take the Temple of Nature as collateral, the guarantee will work.”
“Uh….”
He had an expression like ‘what kind of nonsense is this now’.
“You mean take the temple as collateral?”
“Yes. Temples have a lot of money.”
I know this well from the Temple of evil god.
Temples have a lot of money. Even giving heroes 100 times more financial support would have no impact.
“I know that but….”
If you know then you can provide a guarantee, why do you keep dragging this out.
“Then it will work.”
“Will that really be okay?”
The gods could bring down punishment, but I won’t be the one receiving it.
-What about the hero?
-Talent is hard to find these days, there’s no way they’d kill him right?
-What if he dies?
-Uh, hmm…. Should I pray for his happiness in the next life?
-Your personality is lacking.
Ugh!
Comparing me who would pray for happiness in the next life and the god who might kill their own follower.
It clearly looks like the gods have worse personality, no, divinity!
-No way. Even if the divinity is garbage, master is an even bigger piece of garbage.
-Ugh!
To call me garbage when I’m making an effort to save the world. What a malicious god as expected.
“It will work.”
And the answer to dealing with evil gods is to ignore them.
I ignored the chattering metal bat and explained the guarantee details to the hero.
“We will buy mercenaries.”
“What?”
“Expensive mercenaries at that.”
“Why, why all of a sudden….”
Why, to fight of course.
“Is our enemy the Demon King?”
It was a fundamental question.
Who is the enemy we have to face right now?
“It’s the Demon King, isn’t it?”
“Yes. But we’re not in a situation where we can only face the Demon King.”
This was also true historically.
Even when heroes were harming the Demon King, soldiers who came to support them from other kingdoms were desperately blocking the troops of evil god.
“The Demon King does not stand alone. Our enemy is the army of evil god itself.”
“Are you saying that we need soldiers to fight the army of evil god?”
“That’s right.”
“Can’t we get support from other kingdoms for that?”
We could.
But,
“What if the Empire comes then?”
“Oh….”
“Would you be able to handle it if a princess pops up?”
“We’ll just use mercenaries.”
The hero who had been slow to move up till now responded quickly.
“Right?”
“Yes.”
It seemed the hero had some experience being caught by a princess in the past, as he understood well when it came to things like this.
“The Temple of Nature has a lot of money. It won’t collapse just because some money was borrowed to save the world.”
“That’s true.”
And that’s how I got the hero’s consent and had the Temple of Nature provide a guarantee under its name.
And that’s how the Temple of Nature ended up almost bankrupt trying to save the world.
#6 Their Situation: The Situation of Certain Mercenary
“Gahaha!”
Drinking alcohol. And getting drunk.
I became a mercenary and have been living quite satisfactorily in order to repeat that.
Compared to times in the past when I worked like a dog, my life now was extremely satisfactory.
“Boss, we made a lot this time didn’t we?”
“Of course. High risk, high return. There aren’t many crazy guys who work as mercenaries in a world where the Demon King roams around.”
“So we can earn a thick stack.”
Swearing at the chattering idiots while they cackled and drank alcohol.
“We need to recruit some pretty female mercenaries.”
“Why are you saying that while looking at us?”
“Good point. It’s not like we haven’t had female mercenaries before right? They all got chased off because the boss assaulted them.”
“That’s right. Is that not why we’ve become such a dull group of mercenaries?”
“Tch….”
While their attitude towards the boss left something to be desired, everything they said was correct so I couldn’t refute it.
“It wasn’t assault, I was just expressing my affection.”
“It’s because you’re piling things up.”
“That’s right. Continuous attack when the other party is disgusted.”
“With that face.”
“That’s right.”
“I admit it.”
“Hey, wait a minute. What’s wrong with my face? I used to be quite popular back in the day!”
“Yes. Since you’ve mentioned your past glory so much I’m tired of hearing it, please stop, Captain.”
“So what if you were handsome in the past?”
“You don’t have a girlfriend now.”
“I heard that even when you were handsome you were terribly rejected by your one-sided love?”
“Didn’t you say you’ve been too scared to date ever since?”
“Loser.”
“What a loser.”
“Now you’re just an old loser uncle.”
“These guys….”
Ugh!
Their words made my teeth grit.
I doubted if they really saw me as their captain, that’s how bad it was.
If they were just random thugs I would have beaten them up and kicked them out.
But I couldn’t say anything because I needed these warriors, as annoying as they were, because no one else could match their skills.
Judging by their abilities alone, they were on par with knights.
Some of them used to be knights in the kingdom but got kicked out for not putting up with the attitudes of noble knights.
It’s the nature of being a mercenary to sometimes have to do dirty work for money, where else could I find warriors like them?
So all I could do was,
“You guys don’t have girlfriends either!”
“Uh!”
“Cough cough!”
“Captain….”
Fight fire with fire.
“Don’t make fun of me when you guys don’t have any either.”
I gulped down the bar’s drinks to soothe my irritated mind.
“Damn it! To be picked on by my own men.”
“You’re right, I went too far with the ex-girlfriend story.”
“Yeah. Actually she wasn’t even my girlfriend, I was just delusional.”
“It’s impolite to bring up such an embarrassing past.”
They were saying this on purpose even though they knew I was listening. If I fought back, they would certainly counterattack, so I had no choice but to endure it.
“Damn it! How did I end up like this?”
I used to be everyone’s idol, but now I was the butt of my subordinate’s jokes.
“You’re the only one who comforts me, huh.”
I start chugging down the quite expensive liquor by the bottle.
That’s right, why am I working as a mercenary? To make money, to buy this liquor.
“The liquor has become my lover now.”
“Poor captain.”
“They understand that among humans, no one is a match for the captain.”
“Don’t be rude to other species. Call them intelligent beings, not non-humans.”
“In the end, you married an object.”
“These guys….”
One wrong word and I became the laughing stock again. To quell my anger, I started drinking again.
It was a typical day that started with a mission and ended with liquor.
However, someone came to disturb that peaceful time.
“Weeden! Weeden, where are you?!”
It was the urgent call of the mercenary guild master.
“Did you get in trouble, Captain?”
“I told you not to make passes at the guild female employees….”
“You finally got caught, huh.”
“Captain, you weren’t good but you weren’t terrible either, Captain.”
“I’ll add side dishes on your birthday.”
They all assumed I was some kind of criminal.
“I’m innocent! I just asked one of the guild ladies out for a meal!”
“It’s because of your face.”
“That’s right. His face is the problem.”
“You already have a criminal’s face.”
Ignoring the jeers coming from all sides, I scowled and left the bar.
“What is it?”
I looked down at the guild master with slight sweat on his forehead.
He used to be one of the best mercenaries in the kingdom, but now he was just a pot-bellied uncle.
It was doubtful whether he could even lift a sword with that body, dripping sweat just from running around the village a bit.
“I told you to exercise more.”
“Why don’t you try being the guild master? If you’re overwhelmed with work, this is what happens.”
When I first became a mercenary, the guild master had a sharp aura about him. Now he glared at me with droopy eyes.
“Fine, you’ve worked hard. So why did you call me?”
Sometimes individuals make contracts directly with mercenaries, but most jobs are assigned by the mercenary guild.
The guild sets standards for mercenaries and determines reasonable pricing. So for clients making requests for the first time and mercenaries taking on their first job, it’s convenient. Having the guild as a safety net also decreases fraud.
“We got a request.”
“Huh? We just finished a job and got back and a new one is available?”
For mercenaries, our bodies are our greatest asset. So after completing one mission, we rest for at least three days minimum.
The guild master should know this. Why is he telling us to take on another mission?
“The payment is different.”
“How much?”
It must be a significantly higher amount.
“Over 10 times the usual.”
“What?”
Good news for rookies, but very bad news for veteran mercenaries like me.
“For what?”
“Full frontal battle against the evil god army.”
“Crazy….”
For mercenaries, payment equals risk level.
The less the payment, the simpler and safer the job. The more pay, the more difficult and dangerous.
“We refuse.”
Even though our team loves high risk, high return jobs, the evil god army is too much.
Knight armies are losing against them, what help could mercenaries like us provide?
I know the potential of heroes better than anyone. Without the missing Nature’s hero appearing, the heroes have no chance of defeating the Demon King.
“The client said they’re Nature’s hero?”
“What?”
Unbelievable words.
“Nature’s hero? You sure?”
“The Sage, Hil Shuttle was with them too. It’s for sure.”
This required some thought.
“10 times…10 times pay….”
“10 times is the average. For your team, it could be even more.”
“That’s true.”
A hero hiring mercenaries.
I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing.
It showed how desperate the world’s situation was, and was an opportunity to charge even higher prices.
“The guarantor is none other than the Nature Order. I could negotiate up to double for your team.”
We’re the most expensive mercenary team in the kingdom.
But to offer 10, no 20 times more.
It was tempting bait, even if lives were at risk.
“First we’ll meet this hero.”
Bad memories about the Nature Religion, but there was still a connection.
I could sever that bad tie with money from this chance.
Right, no need to remain chained to the past.
This is an opportunity. A chance to cut ties with the bad past!
“Oh…I think I entered the wrong place.”
…I want to resent my past self for thinking that.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Eek!”
As a result, I ended up going straight into my worst past.
