The Red Eye Mercenary Company.

Though based in Cambria, their operations were not confined to the City of Opportunity. The high caliber of their mercenaries played a part, but the main reason was the sheer stature of their commander.

One of only five White Horns in Cambria.

A swordswoman who had reached the realm of Sword Seeker.

Red Eye, Roselin Ascalo.

A living legend in the mercenary business, she was a powerhouse among powerhouses, known to possess a masterpiece. Mercenary companies led by a Sword Seeker were few enough to count on one hand across the entire inland region, so the Red Eye Mercenary Company's reputation carried weight even outside Cambria.

They held an exclusive contract with the Garchea Trading Company, one of Cambria's three largest trading companies, and had made a name for themselves both within and beyond the city.

As such, the Red Eye Mercenary Company was the ideal workplace that every adventurer arriving in Cambria, the City of Opportunity, had dreamed of at least once.

[Issued by the Red Eye Mercenary Company.]

[Dochenberg Forest Clearance Operation.]

[Minimum Rank Required: Blue.]

There was one commission the Red Eye Mercenary Company posted regularly: clearing out the monsters that gathered in Dochenberg Forest, which the Garchea Trading Company used as a trade route.

Since the monsters needed to be cleared out periodically, the commission came around once every three or four months. At first glance, it was nothing more than an ordinary job, but...

Among adventurers, the Dochenberg Forest Clearance Operation went by another name.

The Red Eye Mercenary Company's entrance exam.

More than a few people had proved their skills on that commission, caught Roselin Ascalo's eye, and joined the Red Eye Mercenary Company. Varger, the company's current deputy commander, was one such person.

An opportunity to prove their skills and rise higher.

It was a commission that drew countless people's attention. For some, it was a chance to prove themselves. For others, a chance to get ahead.

"Shall we go?"

And for someone else...

"Merlin."

It was a chance to truly begin making his mark.

2.

The Dochenberg Forest monster-clearing operation.

A large number of adventurers had gathered at the forest's edge. Most were Blue-ranked, though some wore green nameplates.

Black, Purple, Blue, Green, Red, White.

Of those six ranks, belonging to Blue or Green meant an adventurer had seen their share of hard knocks in this city. They were veterans who had built up records through countless commissions and proved their skills.

They were also people whose progress had stalled.

Reaching Green rank was difficult enough, but from Red rank onward, an adventurer needed to have something special. Most adventurers who survived in the city for years remained at Blue or Green rank.

That made this commission an opportunity for them.

If they caught the Red Eye Mercenary Company's commander's eye, they could break through their long stagnation and climb higher. Such chances did not come often, and the adventurers gathered at the forest's edge radiated a fierce intensity. Ordinarily, they would have been on edge, keeping one another in check, but...

"..."

Today was different.

Instead of scattering among their rivals, their gazes were all fixed on a single spot. There stood a young man wearing a pitch-black nameplate.

Black rank.

Nicknamed "sooties," they were the most common rank in this City of Opportunity. There was nothing special about them. It was the rank of utter novices who had yet to build either a record or experience.

"... Tsk."

Someone clicked their tongue.

The adventurers muttered among themselves, making sure the young man with the black nameplate could hear. Their words were mocking and accusatory. Naturally, none of them had anything kind to say.

To participate in this commission—to earn the right to accept it—every adventurer gathered here had put themselves through grueling effort. They had completed countless commissions, built their records, and struggled to raise their ranks. Only after all that work had they earned the qualifications, turning their nameplates blue or green.

But what about that young man?

Without building any record or putting in any effort, he had shown up here openly sporting a Black-rank nameplate, solely because the Dieta Trading Company had vouched for him. The black nameplate hanging from his neck was as good as a mockery of every adventurer gathered here.

"This pisses me off."

"What does that make us?"

The situation was more than enough to breed resentment.

The veteran adventurers' hostile stares. The clicking tongues. The mockery and grumbling. There was no way their target could fail to notice.

-This is intense.

'It certainly is.'

Najin felt it—the gazes fixed on him and the veterans' vicious mood. It was not as though he couldn't understand their feelings.

'It's only natural from their perspective.'

Their anger was justified.

They must have worked tirelessly to reach those ranks. They would have climbed steadily from the very bottom, putting themselves through grueling effort to give their nameplates a brighter color.

From the perspective of people who had worked so hard, there was naturally no reason to look kindly on him.

-So what? Are you going to bow your head to them?

'Of course not.'

Najin gave a small chuckle.

'That's one thing. This is another.'

He could understand how they felt, but that gave him no reason to play along.

Najin had no intention of worrying about their opinions, feeling sorry toward them, or—least of all—holding himself back.

He had steeled himself from the moment he made his vow where no stars could be seen, on the day he escaped the underground city.

'To reach the pinnacle...'

Meant trampling countless others. Trampling their efforts, dismissing their entire lives in a single moment, and ascending higher than them.

That was the resolve anyone seeking the pinnacle had to possess.

He had not set out on this path without even that much resolve. Far from bowing his head and shrinking under the veterans' stares, Najin squared his shoulders and held his head high.

As if to say they could glare all they liked.

-Yes, that's it. You do understand.

Merlin laughed in satisfaction at his attitude. Just as her laughter rang in Najin's ears...

THOOM.

The air grew heavy in an instant.

A crushing pressure descended, as though something immense were pressing down from above. Najin was not the only one who felt it. It engulfed every adventurer gathered at the forest's edge.

Some slumped to the ground. Even those who remained standing could not lift their heads, only stare at the earth.

Najin knew what this was: the presence radiated by the powerful. He had felt it from Ivan on occasion, but this presence was incomparably more intense than Ivan's. It meant the person behind this pressure was stronger than Najin.

'But...'

Najin exhaled. Slowly, he raised the head that had begun to dip.

'I've experienced this before.'

Stronger than Ivan's though it was, this pressure was infinitely lighter than that of a certain constellation Najin had encountered recently.

His first meeting with Merlin.

He had endured the overwhelming presence she radiated without any protection, and he had shaken it off. Merlin later insisted she had not been serious, but... whatever the case.

Having shaken off even a Constellation's pressure, there was no way he could fail to shake off this much.

Najin clenched his fist tightly and lifted his head. Just as he was about to see who was behind this pressure...

"Well, that's a nice reaction."

The voice sounded directly in front of him.

When Najin raised his head, he met the gaze of a woman with black hair woven into a single braid. Her red eyes curved into crescents.

"One look tells me you're the one, huh?"

The sooty that snake bitch had vouched for.

She smiled and raised an arm. The pressure crushing the adventurers at the forest's edge vanished in an instant. Now it bore down on Najin alone.

"Wow, you're still keeping your head up? What are you?"

The woman studied him with fascination.

Najin knew her name. He had seen information about her at the guild hall. Black hair, red eyes... a White Horn-ranked mercenary.

Roselin Ascalo, commander of the Red Eye Mercenary Company.

"You don't seem to have stored much mana, and judging by the amount, you're not a Sword Expert either... What's going on? Are you hiding something?"

Interest deepened in her red eyes.

Roselin sensed that the young man before her was hiding something. She reached toward Najin to find out what it was.

CRACKLE!

Sparks flew. They burst from Roselin's mana as it bore down on Najin. In that instant, she saw it: mana from all around being drawn into his body at once.

An incomprehensible flow.

For a split second, it captured her attention.

Najin's hand moved, clamping firmly around the wrist Roselin was reaching toward him. Belatedly realizing what had happened, she widened her eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Najin snapped at her.

He had instinctively judged that he must not let that hand touch his body. He had acted on that instinct. He couldn't know whether it was the best choice, but...

"Wow."

Seeing Roselin's admiration, Najin could tell his action had at least not been the wrong answer.

"Wow!"

Roselin kept exclaiming.

She whipped her head around and raised the wrist Najin was still holding toward Varger, the company's deputy commander standing behind her.

"Varger, do you see this? He grabbed my wrist!"

"I can see it perfectly well. I begged you not to do anything rash, so why..."

"Wow, that's fascinating. What was that you just did?"

Cutting Varger off, Roselin turned sharply back to Najin and asked her question. He did not answer, and she smiled. After shaking her hand lightly to free it from his grip, she stroked her chin.

"Well, that snake bitch wouldn't have vouched for you for no reason. You're an interesting one. I like this..."

Roselin smacked her lips.

She took a coin from inside her clothes and flicked it toward him. Najin caught it reflexively, then looked at the coin in his palm.

It was a platinum coin.

Even Blue-ranked adventurers had to work hard for a month or two to earn one. Having tossed it to Najin as though it were nothing, Roselin smiled at him.

"That was rude of me. Let's call it even with that."

Withdrawing her mana, Roselin patted Najin's shoulder a couple of times and turned away. He watched silently as she headed toward the platform set up at the forest's edge.

It felt as though a storm had passed.

At the same time, Najin felt the change in the adventurers' gazes. They had all seen him resist Roselin under the immense pressure crushing his shoulders.

A White Horn-ranked adventurer. The presence radiated by a Sword Seeker.

Najin had met that presence head-on and even seized Roselin's wrist. The eyes of the adventurers who had watched were now full of shock and questions, rather than their earlier contempt and anger.

A Black-ranked adventurer, the lowest of the low, had resisted a White Horn-ranked adventurer at the city's pinnacle.

The Blue- and Green-ranked adventurers stared at Najin's back in shock at that fact. Meanwhile, the White-ranked Roselin licked her lips as she turned her back on him and climbed onto the platform. Her red eyes gleamed.

As though she had found her prey.

3.

There had been a small disturbance, but no adventurer had the courage to openly protest a commotion caused by a White Horn... and once Roselin promised to increase the commission's pay, there were no complaints.

"Well, that's that."

After briefly explaining the situation, Roselin stepped back and pushed Varger forward from behind her.

"This one will explain the commission."

"... I'm Varger, deputy commander of the Red Eye Mercenary Company."

Pushed to the front, Varger sighed and began speaking.

"The commission is simple. Our Red Eye Mercenary Company will handle the center of the forest, where the high-grade monsters gather. You will patrol the outskirts and hunt the monsters that emerge."

He spoke with a map of the forest hung up for display.

"The minimum kill quota is ten per person. Different monsters count differently toward that total, so consult the payment calculation rules provided in the commission notice. We will pay extra for any monsters hunted beyond the minimum quota."

He went over the precautions, special considerations, and several clauses. When he finished, Varger took a step back, and Roselin came forward.

"It won't be any fun if we leave it at that."

She spread three fingers wide.

"I promise a bonus for the top three, and a special reward for whoever kills the most monsters. I stake my name, Roselin Ascalo, on this: you won't be disappointed by the reward."

Roselin Ascalo smiled.

"Oh, and a word of warning."

She folded her arms.

"I understand keeping your rivals in check to a degree, but don't cross the line. You know what happens if I catch you, right?"

Her red eyes shone ominously.

The adventurers nodded repeatedly. Before stepping down from the platform, Roselin cast one last glance at Najin, then headed toward the center of the forest with Varger.

The commission had begun, and the adventurers started to disperse.

Glancing at them as they scattered, Najin began warming up. He steadied his breathing and tightened his grip on the sword hilt at his waist.

-What's your goal?

Merlin's voice rang in his ears.

Najin shrugged in reply.

"Why ask when it's obvious?"

Najin started walking toward the forest.

"First place, of course."