“My apologies. You were a great help.”

After defeating the monsters, the soldiers thanked me. I replied, “It’s only natural.” Then they left to check inside the town.

Meanwhile, Nogu and Kyarun looked at us and then started consulting again… In the game, they would offer to cooperate after seeing the combat… I wonder if that will happen.

“I see, you seem to be quite skilled users.”

Nogu said, looking at me with a face that was half surprise, half interest.

“Both of you seem quite capable… By the way, you mentioned you are traveling, what is your purpose?”

“I’ll just say it’s to oppose the Demon Race…”

“I see. Where were you heading now?”

“East, to the Spirit Contract.”

“That would be the Gnomes, then… I see.”

Nogu observed Sofia and me alternately. Kyarun was also observing us in the same way, but I felt her gaze was a bit sharper.

There was silence for a while, but then Nogu spoke.

“Regarding the cooperation, may I speak with you for a moment?”

“Please do.”

And so, we began our discussion right there. As a result, Sofia and I decided to cooperate with them.

Nogu returned to the Book base first to explain to the leader, while Sofia and I slowly headed to the designated location with Kyarun. In terms of direction, it was northeast from Post Town. Their headquarters was a small fortress in the Mountainous Region.

“Apparently, it was originally built for exercises in the Mountainous Region. It doesn’t seem to be in use now, so we got permission to use it.”

Kyarun explained. Despite her purse being stolen, Sofia was listening intently to her story. I don’t know if it’s because she’s a mercenary, or if there’s something else, but since we’re fighting together, I’m grateful for it, so I refrained from commenting to avoid any awkwardness.

Eventually, we arrived at the headquarters. At this point, it was almost noon.

“Alright, we’ve arrived.”

Kyarun greeted the male gatekeeper, and we followed behind them. We went straight inside and reached the innermost door. Kyarun didn’t seem to be entering, so she opened the door and let us in. There, we saw—

“We’ve been waiting.”

The first person I saw was Nogu, who had spoken. Next, I saw a person sitting in a chair beside him.

A man with gray hair and a gentle smile. He didn’t seem like a soft-spoken gentleman, but he wasn’t intimidating either… he felt like a friendly older brother. He was probably a little over twenty years old.

His features were quite ordinary, and if there was a distinctive feature, it was his beautiful double eyelids. However, his skin was so clear that he didn’t look like someone who would be a leader in a fortress like this… he was a rather unbalanced person.

Come to think of it, the fact that his skin was clear was mentioned in the Strategy Guide’s setting documents or something… I’m surprised that even such trivial settings are reflected.

“Welcome, guests. I’ve heard the story.”

He said with a beaming smile. It was probably to put us at ease a little… this man in front of me was Theol Ojen, one of the ally characters.

Unlike Kyarun, he doesn’t have skills like Steal, but all of his unique techniques are combo attacks, making him a type that relies on sheer numbers. Due to this characteristic, he’s relatively easy to use in the early stages. His stats are decent, and he’s good enough to be a core member until around the mid-game. In fact, many people do this series of events to recruit him, not Kyarun.

However, his stats start to look a bit inferior after the mid-game, and his combo attacks also become lacking in firepower. If you equip powerful weapons and utilize辅助 magic, there are many situations where you can win with sheer numbers, so he can still be active in the latter half of the story… but the problem is that his main focus is combo attacks.

I don’t know how it is now that it’s the real world, but in the game, there were allies called ‘Three Powers’ who were systemically favored and possessed extraordinary strength. One of them had an unfairly high attack power with combo attacks… and also possessed other powerful unique techniques, so many players would remove Theol and recruit that character after the mid-game. Even if not, allies who are almost direct upgrades join in the latter half for any protagonist, further reducing the possibility of using him.

I don’t know if those characteristics are the same in the real world now… but in any case, in the game, he’s definitely an easy-to-use Warrior-type who joins early on.

“By the way, I’m sorry to ask this so suddenly, but… if it’s alright with both of you, I’d like you to join the bandit group attack immediately.”

“Starting now?”

Sofia asked again. Theol nodded slightly and said,

“I know it’s a big ask. Actually, while Nogu and the others were in town, there was a battle with the bandit group, and it led to a final battle.”

This was the same as the game’s progression, so I wasn’t surprised… but Sofia was surprised, and Nogu looked somewhat apologetic.

“Currently, the forces are evenly matched… but if you, who easily defeated the Needle Wolf pack, join us, we will have a significant advantage.”

“Understood. The discussion is quick, so I don’t mind.”

I readily agreed. I looked at Sofia, and she nodded slightly, seeming to be willing to follow me.

“Then, we’ll start preparations immediately. There are merchants inside the fortress, so please get anything you need there.”

Theol stood up. Sofia and I exited and began walking through the fortress interior.

“That was sudden.”

“Yeah. But it seems like it’ll be resolved quickly, and it doesn’t look like it’ll affect our journey, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”

As I replied, I recalled the game’s progression from memory. After leaving the fortress, the scene would change, and we would arrive at the enemy’s headquarters. The bandit hideout was a cave, and Theol and his elite guard would storm it. The protagonist’s role was to secure enemies trying to escape at the cave entrance with a small number of mercenaries… but while Theol and the others attacked, demons would appear.

The bandits had allied with the Demon Race, and this battle was a trap to use the demons to wipe out Theol and his group. The protagonist’s role was to prevent the demons from entering the cave… that was the battle this time.

When I say demons, I don’t mean the Crimson Demon I encountered in Wind Valley. I believe they were blue Lesser Demons, the weakest kind. They had human forms, but their heads had no mouths, ears, or noses, only eerie crimson eyes. Some used their claws as weapons, while others used weapons like swords or spears. The most troublesome ones were those with bows. If left unchecked, they would target the backline, so in the game, I prioritized defeating them.

Even though their abilities were low, they were strong compared to early-game enemies. However, with Sofia now, she should be able to defeat them in a one-on-one fight.

We exited the building and observed our surroundings. The mercenaries were making preparations, and Kyarun was among them.

She noticed us there and rushed over.

“So, you’re coming with us?”

“Yeah, nice to meet you.”

When I greeted her, Kyarun replied, “Same here,” and went back to prepare. Looking at the mercenaries, their movements were surprisingly organized for former bandits. It wasn’t quite an army, but they seemed to be disciplined.

At the edge, there was also someone who looked like the merchant Theol mentioned. When I casually brought it up to Sofia, she replied, “No need.” I agreed, so we decided to ignore the merchant.

Eventually, the mercenaries finished their preparations and lined up in front of the gate. Then Theol came over and first addressed us.

“Are you ready?”

“We’re fine.”

When we replied, he nodded and said,

“Everyone, advance! In this battle, we’ll send them to their doom!”

The mercenaries roared. Feeling their high morale firsthand… Sofia and I began to move with the mercenaries.