God's Dynasty

Five days later, Ryan arrived in the city-state of Beret.

The first thing that had greeted him when he arrived was a massive wall which pierced the sky.

The wall was no ordinary wall either, as it could only have been built by protectors who worshiped the god of Earth long ago.

Among many cities which stood the test of time, there are many walls such as these that many mortals would be in awe of.

Joining the line of people who were also entering the city-state, Ryan yawned.

'I am going to die of exhaustion'

The road towards the city-state was not smooth.

Ryan had not prepared very well for the trip, and he had only a handful of dried meat that he got from the villagers.

It was impossible to replenish his food from hunting animals as he had no skill to hunt himself, as he only survived with the food he was given during his time as a mercenary.

In addition to the food issue, at night he had to sleep on trees and small caves to avoid wild animals which wasn't super difficult but due to him only eating dried meat for a few days he could not sleep properly.

The only thing that was worthwhile during the journey was killing a few armed robbers along the road, which gave him a pleasant surprise.

Other than the gold he got which was quite considerable for a few robbers, he also discovered spirits for the first time.

Ethan's Aurora was poured into his body, which stimulated his south to the point which allowed him to see the spirits of those that are dead. It was a ball of light that appeared above those that are dead and a faint hum was heard throughout the quiet road.

"NEXT!"

When Ryan's turn passed to enter the city-state, Ryan held out a coin he had prepared beforehand.

Beret was one of the largest city-states within the coalition, and trade was very active within it.

"Here."

Ryan threw the coin into the guards hands and the guard quickly grabbed with before pocketing it.

"If you get caught with any trouble, I'll make sure you regret it."

"Alright alright…"

It was a common saying among the guards to the new people that entered the city, but Ryan waved his hand as if he was swatting a fly before walking into the city square.

The guard made a displeased face but didn't say anymore.

As Ryan entered the city, he saw old brick buildings lined up in a dense road with countless people selling and buying wares.

The scent of bakeries caused his stomach to rumble, and as he was absorbed in the delicious scent in the air he heard someone calling him.

"Hey, aren't you Ryan?"

"Hm?"

It was a mercenary who called him out, a man with a familiar face but Ryan did not know his name.

"How did you suririve? I thought everyone died due to the Aurora users!"

"What happened after? Did the war end?"

"Of course it ended! A peace treaty was signed and we had won. However, that battle was a big loss for Beret."

"Thanks for letting me know, now I'll be on my way!"

Allen wasn't around to lead the group anymore, and so he felt that there was no need to continue his relationship with the mercenaries. They were faces that he didn't really want to see.

Perhaps embarrassed by Ryan's attitude, the mercenary approached him with an urgent step and quickly shouted.

"WAIT! WAIT! Where are you going? The rest of us are nearby and should make a new group and -"

As he was about to touch Ryan's shoulder, he did not realize until a few moments later but a dagger was touching his chin. He shut his mouth and looked at Ryan with a scared look.

"Don't touch me."

"AH OKAY OKAY! GET THE DAGGER OFF ME!"

After sheathing the dagger, Ryan turned around.

"I am soloing for awhile, don't come near me ever in the future. Looking at all your faces makes me sick."

Among the veterans within the mercenary group, many who abused Ryan remained. Trash that had beaten and tortured a 11 year old boy who had no ability or power to resist.

"Damn bastard, if you want to die alone so be it."

The mercenary rubbed his neck before making a hissing sound.

**

As Ryan left the city hall building, Ryan sighed.

The recruiter who gave the mission to the mercenaries refused to give them the money. But Ryan did not know why he had expected them to give the money anyway, after all isn't postponing and refusing to pay the mercenaries what they do?

After arguing for a long time with the stubborn recruiter who had an arrogant face, Ryan left the city hall due to being threatened by the recruiter.

'Don't want to deal with the guards at all.'

The next place Ryan was heading to was a cheap inn that doubles as both a bar and a restaurant. The inn, known as the Flaming Horse is a place where mercenaries would get requests to complete and so even those who are hired to work in the flaming horse were former mercenaries themselves.

It was the best place for Ryan to make money.

As Ryan moved towards the counter, he saw that the owner was looking at him.

'I've never asked for a quest before'

Ryan felt embarrassed, as when he was part of the Allen's Mercenary Corps, all he had to do was the fighting and that was it.

The quest was received solely by Allen and he was the one who delegated all the tasks.

But now for the first time in his life, Ryan now has to take the lead and ask for a quest.

'Why do people want to be a captain anyway, this is just annoying.'

As he sat down on the chair, the owner looked at him with interest.

"You are that young kid who was with Allen last time, Ryan was it?"

"Any jobs? I need something that isn't far from the citystate and can be handled quickly."

"You doing it solo?"

"Yeah."

The innkeeper didn't ask what had happened to the other mercenaries, and remained silent. He began scanning his few notes that were scattered on the counter before opening his mouth.

"There aren't many things you can solo really, and I do not know your skill level."

"A single sword can kill ten armed robbers with ease, think like that"

"Hmm, you'll have to go quite far to kill monsters there, and hm? What's this?"

The innkeeper who had been reading something took out a piece of paper and handed it towards Ryan.

"Can you read?"

"… No."

Ryan was taught how to read the imperial language by his father however where he is currently at the only language spoken here is eastern.

He had learnt the eastern language over several years as a mercenary but he could not read nor write the characters.

The innkeeper who heard this shook his head before reading it out.

"It's a quest to find things, the client is an imperial and it seems he lost something important due to thieves within the citystate."

"What was it?"

"Handkerchief, they said it was embroidered with blue flowers. Something personal I think to them, the payoff is four imperial silver coins."

Ryan looked at the paper and saw that the numbers were written in imperial and realized that the pay was not a lie.

"Very sketchy to offer this much for a quest like this."

"Yes it is, but its the only job available for you that you requested."

Ryan nodded his head before grabbing the request note from the innkeeper.

'Time to started.'