THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

"Ahahaha! Like hell, I would! You know how fast a gnoll's swing is?!"

I found a rapid way to get along with the mercenaries thanks to Selene's stories. She was always about her mercenary's time since it was when she met Excafol. I always found her stories annoying because she was giving too much details, especially when she was talking about battles. And just like her, those guys have brought drinks from wherever they were stocking them and are drinking already.

But now, I grateful. Thanks to you, Selene, I am able to socialize with hard-to-get people.

'You don't have to thank me, you punk!' Is what she would surely say at a moment like this.

"Hey, man. Do you remember me now?" The guy I wounded earlier is actually the one who fought against Cordel that one time.

"The mangradora's tongue, right? I do remember you saying we will meet again.."

"It's fate, man. Though I never thought you would become so strong meanwhile. I can't compete with you anymore, I guess."

This guy, I thought he was a lot crazier. He did look like part of his brain had melted when I met him the first time. Still, I should stay on my guard. I read his mind just in case and I immediately hear that he is about to stab me with a poisoned knife. Though it is just to test whether I am truly stronger than him.

The guy is leaning on me with his left arm then just like he is thinking, bring out a knife from his pocket as fast as he can. Before he can do anything else, I greet his ribs with my elbow and as he staggers, I grab his neck with one hand.

"Mister Dragonroad?!"

Eduard who was sitting on a chair stands up in a hurry. His panicked face looks funny. The other mercenaries start laughing even harder though.

"Ahaha!! He got you good, Willhem!!" One of them even strikes my leg while laughing. In any case, this guy is called Willhem.

"Will this be enough for a test?" His face changes when he hears that.

"Fufufu. So you knew." I release his neck and backs off a bit. Willhem grabs the back of his neck with his hand and rotates it a bit. The cracking sound produces could be threatening to a novice.

"Well, I had a hunch."

"Willhem. Willhem Duval."

"Kevin Dragonroad. Or the Star of mercuria. Whichever you like."

"None of my friends calls me by my warrior's name."

"None of mine does either."

"Good."

"But what is a named warrior doing here?"

"I could return the question."

"I have my reasons."

"So do I."

"I see." Is he here to accomplish something as well? This is a bit suspicious but I won't pry into it. For now.

"In any case. Those guys are my trusted and real comrades. We have been through shit and blood together so I can assure you that they will have your back should anything happen."

"They will have my back? Or yours?"

"A friend of Willhem is a friend of ours." One of the guys answers in his stead.

"I see. I will have you guys' backs as well. Let's do a great job together."

The same guy stands up and comes to us with two mugs of beer.

"This is the best way to seal the deal." He hands me one mug and gives Willhem the other.

"To the great work we are about to accomplish." Willhem raises his mug then looks at me.

"To the end of the war." I raise my mug as well and they then all do the same. On contrary to what I thought, beer doesn't taste so good. Why was Selene drinking it like nothing?

***

The next morning, I am the first to wake up. Everybody else is sleeping. I go upstairs but K'nor isn't here. Why? How?

I rush outside and find my guy sleeping with a bone in his mouth. So he went hunting yesterday. It's true that I didn't feed him because of the little party which was organized.

I go to him and pat his head as a sign of apology. But he just continues sleeping. I hope he is not too angry. Since it is the early morning, I should train a bit.

"Raizen." I materialize my raizen and starts swinging it around. I didn't notice before but when I swing it around, it makes a nice sound.

While I am training, I hear a heartbeat coming from inside the hut. Willhem appears soon afterward, with a mug in his hand.

"You are still drinking after yesterday's night?"

"There is nothing better than a fresh beer after a long night of drinking."

"Is that so."

"It is. By the way, what do you think about this war?"

"What do I think?"

"Yeah. Like the stakes at hand, the reasons for all this, and so on."

I read Willhem's mind but he doesn't seem to have any ulterior motive by asking that.

"Well, as far as the stakes are concerned, I can only guess that in Floras's case, Demether wants to control the world."

"The king of Floras…Yeah, he seems to be the type to have ideas like that. But what about Titanium?"

"Weren't they asking for freedom?" I still remember that conversation with Anriette about Titanium's freedom from Syldavie.

"Yeah, we all know that but is that all? Why did they not start a war earlier then? Their treatment was much worse before the actual king of Syldavie took the throne and he even set them free officially as soon as he did."

"Well, you did say officially."

"What I am trying to say is that this whole thing smells bad, man. And adding Longinus to all this only creates an explosive cocktail."

"Are you afr…" Seeing Willhem's smiling face, I don't think I need to finish my question. This guy is definitively crazy.

"In any case, do you want to spar a little?"

"With weapons?"

"No, bare hands. If you use that thing on me, I will end up as a filet before long."

"Okay, why not?"

I release my script and take a stance. Willhem immediately launches himself at me without any kind of sign or anything and grabs my wrist as I try to block his punch. That's a quick and very impressive feint. I remove my hand but he is already in a position to give me a serious and well-aimed punch.

"You are full of openings!" I throw his punch and but sadly for him, I have already use Disperse and land at his dead angle.

I throw my foot as well to kick him but to my surprise, he blocks it with his other hand. Does he have eyes behind his back?

"Impressive. But you have let your murderous intent out too soon."

He pushes my foot back and uses the momentum from it to launch a kick as well. I dodge it and this time; I am the one to grab his ankle. I raise his leg up high then kick the other one, breaking his balance. Or so I thought. Twisting his body weirdly, almost like a snake, he lands on the ground almost without any sounds or damage.

Using his hands, he raises his body and unleashes a flurry of kicks. That's a really funny thing to see. And at the same time, it is odd so difficult to predict and counter. Still, I block all of his attacks and manage to land a solid hit on his stomach.

Willhem falls to the ground but just like earlier, by weirdly moving his body around, he falls then stands back up as if I never hit him.

"That's a really intriguing technique you have there."

"Years of training under my master. He was a master assassin renown for having assassinated the king of Nivaneilhm. Some stories even say that it is because of him that Nivalneilhm no longer has a king but uses a council of nobles instead."

"And what do you say?"

"It's a load of bullshit, of course. The guy was the personal assassin of the king and it was actually the king himself who asked him to end his life because he got poisoned."

"Then how come the truth was never known?"

"He disappeared after that, of course. He would have been killed if he didn't. He polished his skills for years while hiding from continuous other assassins sent for his head and when I met him, he was already a senile old man."

"Still, he transmitted the best he could to you. I think it's admirable."

"He just didn't want everything he was to be forgotten."

"So you have inherited his memories and soul. Fufu…Who would have thought?"

"Nah, man. His soul is too much. That old man was too much to handle. He was either complaining or torturing me with death-like exercises. I am surprised that I managed to survive every time I think about those hellish times."

"I do as well." I really wonder how I managed to survive Excafol's exploding bullets and Selene's overhead strike. Those hellish and yet so good times.

"What? He trained you as well?"

"No, it's nothing."

"Damn, you guys are up already?" The others seem to finally be up.