I Became the Main Character’s Demon Sword

5

Although the location had changed, the morning routine remained largely the same. After comforting Rohan who was nestled in his arms, Arpel would wake him up when the sun outside the window had risen to a certain height.

Despite still feeling sleepy, Rohan got up without any whining. Arpel washed him, went downstairs to order food, and then returned to the room to finish preparing to go out.

“Can I really come with you?”

“Yes.”

Although it wasn’t cold, there was a slight chill in the air. If they headed towards the temple, the weather would certainly improve.

Arpel nodded while tightly wrapping the child’s clothes. Even though Rohan said he wasn’t cold, he might catch a cold. Rohan was small and pale, giving the impression that he might fall ill if not cared for properly. Of course, Rohan himself would probably disagree.

Today’s plan was to visit the mercenary guild. After questioning a hotel employee in the morning, Arpel had obtained some useful information.

He had thought they’d need to go to a larger town to officially register as a mercenary, but it was possible here too. Since this was a village where mercenaries often stayed, there were quite a few people looking to register after seeing them, so a branch had been established recently.

Thanks to a kind shop owner in the previous village who had paid well for herbs and mushrooms out of pity for their situation, they weren’t short on money. However, if they continued to live comfortably and eat well, it was clear that money would soon run out.

For this reason, Arpel planned to take on a job that could earn money as soon as possible. He had considered leaving Rohan behind, but… he wasn’t incapable of protecting him, and he didn’t want to leave the anxious child alone.

After finishing preparations, Arpel took Rohan’s hand and left the inn. The streets were full of people starting their new day, more lively and bustling than yesterday.

Whether it was tension from walking on crowded streets or excitement about being able to move together, the hand holding his was gripping tighter than usual. Arpel couldn’t help but focus all his attention on the child’s small hand.

Seeing how the tiny hand couldn’t fully grasp his own and was just tightly holding onto three fingers, Arpel felt a strange emotion.

Pretty. Adorable?

He wasn’t sure how to explain the swirling emotions. Arpel, not being a ‘person’, could only judge the nature of these emotions by borrowing memories from his past life.

“You’re pretty.”

“Me…?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, A-Arpel is prettier…”

Arpel just nodded silently. He wanted to pinch those reddened cheeks. If it weren’t for the crowded street, he certainly would have.

After just a few minutes, a building that looked larger and more modern than the others came into view, proving that it had indeed been built recently as he’d been told. Being near the mercenary branch, there were more mercenaries here compared to other areas.

Arpel picked up Rohan, who was looking around while tightly holding his hand. The guild’s interior looked chaotic, packed with people, and he wanted to avoid losing grip of the child if they entered holding hands.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“No…”

As Rohan buried his face in Arpel’s shoulder, Arpel patted the brown head. He was glad the child seemed to like it.

Although it was a branch of the mercenary guild, those coming and going weren’t just mercenaries. There were also people coming to directly place requests.

Because of this, the mercenaries didn’t particularly mind ordinary-looking people wandering around inside the guild. Arpel would have been the same, if not for Rohan in his arms.

It seemed rare for someone to bring a child, as the commotion continued but glances checking them out could be felt. Feeling Rohan’s body flinch in his arms, Arpel patted his back and moved to the innermost part. The schedule was too busy to mind the stares.

“Do you have a request?”

“No. I’m here to register.”

“…Pardon?”

“I understand that mercenary registration is possible here.”

The inn employee had looked quite surprised when asked, but said it should be possible. They also mentioned a simple test to determine rank, but Arpel wasn’t worried as he was sure to pass.

“Ah, that. Just a moment…!”

The woman who had been staring blankly for a moment hurriedly went inside and brought back paper and a pen. Arpel looked at what was offered silently for a moment, then immediately began filling in the blank spaces on the paper.

It was fortunate he knew how to write. It could have been a bit troublesome otherwise. On the other hand, it felt somewhat familiar, making him tilt his head. Searching through memories of his past life, there were letters quite similar to these. Alphabet, was it?

He skillfully held Rohan with one arm while writing with the other hand. For the address, he just wrote down the village where Rohan had lived. It wasn’t a bad choice, given that he didn’t know his exact birthplace, year, or date.

“Um, perhaps… you’re not a nobleman, are you?”

“I’m not.”

Unable to understand the intent behind the question, Arpel stared at the woman, who blushed and shook her head.

“It’s just, well. You have a noble-like aura. I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“…It’s fine.”

Is there such a thing as a noble-like aura? While thinking this, Arpel felt Rohan’s grip on his neck tighten slightly. Noticing this action, Arpel, who had been focused on the woman across from him, began patting Rohan again with the hand that was holding him. He must be getting bored.

“We categorize mercenaries into ranks. Until recently, all new registrations were automatically F-rank, but now you can take a separate test to receive a rank matching your skills from the start. Is there a particular rank you’d like to test for?”

“What’s the highest rank?”

“Highest… rank? Well, it’s S-rank, but S-rank has separate requirements… The highest rank you can test for on the day is A-rank.”

A-rank… that didn’t sound bad. After a brief calculation, Arpel made his decision.

“And…”

The woman, scanning the paper she was holding, continued her remaining words.

“You need someone of the desired rank or higher to be present for the test, and the highest available right now is B-rank. For A-rank, you’d have to wait a few days.”

“Then please arrange for B-rank.”

“That… if you don’t mind me saying. Are you sure about this?”

Although he had thought A-rank would be fine, he didn’t want to wait here for days just to raise the rank by one. Unable to understand the intention behind the question, Arpel just stared at the woman and nodded. There was no need to convince her by asking further questions.

Although she seemed to want to dissuade him quite badly, when the person in question didn’t budge, she finally led Arpel upstairs.

As she watched them go up, sighing deeply, someone quickly approached her. Thinking it was either a mercenary coming to receive a request or a customer coming to make one, the woman turned her head leisurely. However, upon seeing the face revealed under the hat, she immediately tensed up.

“Ah, ah. Gil…!”

“Shh.”

The word trying to escape her lips scattered before it could be completed. The man had suddenly covered her mouth and silently put his index finger to his lips.

“It hasn’t started yet, right?”

“No, probably not…”

“Then I’ll observe too.”

“Yes…”

Only after she nodded did his hand move away. She couldn’t hide the confused look in her eyes as she watched his back heading towards the stairs the man had just gone up to take the test.

What on earth is going on?

***

Soon after entering the room they were guided to, a few other people started coming in. Perhaps due to the appearance of unfamiliar people, Rohan tightly grasped Arpel’s hand, and Arpel patted his head. He could see one mercenary approaching with a friendly smile.

“I’m Iol, a B-rank mercenary.”

“…I’m Arpel.”

Before starting, they received a brief explanation.

The assessment usually consists of three rounds. It involves sparring with someone of the rank the challenger hopes to achieve, and unless the results are too poor or overwhelming, they conduct about three tests to judge, considering that people might have different compatibilities.

For this reason, besides the B-rank mercenary who had just introduced himself, there were two more people in the room. One person wearing a hat pulled low to cover their face, and another man anxiously watching the person in the hat.

Arpel looked at them briefly before averting his gaze. There was no need to pay them much attention.

“It’s not dangerous, is it…?”

“It’s not.”

Worried that Rohan might get hurt, Arpel temporarily left him with the mercenaries who were there to conduct the assessment. Seeing the trembling eyes full of worry, he couldn’t just ignore them, so he gently stroked them with his finger.

Walking to the center of the room to face the man who had introduced himself as a B-rank mercenary, the man’s expression changed.

“Don’t you have a sword?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Then how about a practice sword at least…”

“It’s fine.”

At this, the mercenary’s face crumpled. Staring at this change, Arpel lowered his head and rolled up his sleeve.

“…You’ll get hurt if you don’t use a sword.”

“It’s fine.”

“Hah…!”

At the repeated answer, no different from before, the man’s face turned bright red. Even the tip of the sword he was holding started trembling.

Arpel, who had been watching this scene silently, looked beyond. Specifically, towards where the assessors were sitting.

“Begin.”

The man in the hat said. As soon as those words ended, the man who had been biting his lip and trembling his sword tip charged forward with a shout of “Uwaah!”

Even in that instant, Arpel looked back at Rohan sitting behind. Whether he was anxious or not, the sight of his trembling eyes widening seemed to happen in slow motion, as if over a very long time.

“Arpel!”

He’s worried about me. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.

Clang-

Immediately after, a sharp noise filled the room. What followed was silence. It was an ambiguous sound, neither clearly the clash of sword against sword, nor the sound of a blade striking a person.

Yet such a sound occurred. By Arpel casually waving his hand towards the swinging sword.