Apex 005 (Patreon)

Morning had come to him quickly, too quickly. The blankets wrapped around him had made him a sheep that had never met shears, the warmth in his body basking away to cook him like a fine bit of mince.

The lambent lantern remained a stalwart guardian above him, providing him with even more warmth, more than he required really, and enough light to wake him up, but not to blind. Richard tossed the blanket off of himself and stood, stretching tall.

He stepped into the bath and the daggers of cold shook him to his core as he gasped for air and leapt out of the ice cold bath. He should have expected such since he had spent so long in bed, but the thought of it had been gone from him due to his weariness, but now his weariness had been gone from him, replaced with the thought of it.

It was freezing.

He wrapped himself in a towel before tossing it aside and changing into a fresh pair of clothes. His wife had always admonished him about such matters, returning home after such matters that perhaps had taken a few days or weeks and then he would come home with all but the pigs and the sty.

With fresh clothes and fresh bread he was ready to face the day. He stepped out of his tent, revealing his fresh form to the mercenaries, whose eyes gazed at him like wolves on a gazelle, intrigued by what they saw, a great wonder falling across the party.

"Morning," said Richard as he bit into his pillowy warm bread. His eyes fell across the sky and then the trees, following the trail of the sun's rays. It was a beautiful crisp morning, with birds tweeting in the distance, the warmth of dawn embracing the mercenaries, and a hot pit of fire to make a morning meal.

There were still several sacks of vegetables left for the mercenaries to use, and they were cooking up another soup. They made sure there were a large number of potatoes that were roasted over the flames where they lay beside the bottom of the pot.

Richard offered a few of his rations, smoked meat of some kind. When he bit into one he gathered it had been pork, but another revealed black bunny, and then a third revealed a hearty boar from the southern regions, evident by the chewiness and the sweet flavour.

The mercenaries accepted joyfully, for such meat had no doubt cost Richard a pretty penny, though the price of being in good standing with the mercenaries was more than worth it. So Richard remained off guard, checking over the pot as the cook tended to it, before he then offered his little pouch of salt.

"Every adventurer should carry some salt with him," Richard said. "Don't you agree?"

"That's right, Richard wasn't it?" the red haired man asked as he stirred the pot. "Jonas."

"It's a pleasure, Jonas."

"You as well."

Richard threw out these large pinches of salt as Jonas tasted it and then nodded his head. "That's good cooking that is," he said with great pride at his work before then plating the food for the various mercenaries and the merchant.

His ears twitched as he heard a twig snap deep in the forest. Richard dipped a bit of his head into his soup and then popped it into his mouth.

"Seems as though we have some company," he said, chewing his bread as he spoke.

"Company?" Jonas asked, his eyes darting around.

"Uninvited guests." Richard nodded in the general direction of the noise. He concentrated for a moment. "I count a dozen of them."

Jonas and the others grabbed onto their blades, readying themselves. One of them stepped out a short way before returning.

"He's right," he said.

Then they were surrounded. There were a score of men, mostly heavily armoured in chain, though there were a few wearing thick furs. A single one of them was wearing breastplate, though she was no man.

"Let's keep this simple," she said. "Give us your coin and we'll let you on your way."

Richard threw them a cursory glance, noting that each of them wore a blue sash around their arm. It was an easy identifier in case they came across members of their own group, or if they saw another group approach their territory they could signify the threat they posed.

"We have no business with the Scourge," Richard said politely. "Leave us be, and we'll leave you be."

The mercenaries shot Richard a look, keeping their grips tight on the hilts of their weapons.

"If you know who we are, you should just give us your coin," the woman said. "There's no need for any bloodshed."

"No one was mentioning bloodshed," Richard said as he sipped the last of his bowl and then placed it down onto the floor. He stood and faced the woman. "You should leave before an issue arises."

"Don't you understand your place?" The woman drew her sword. It was a minor magical blade of fine craftsmanship. "We've outnumbered you two to one, you should have just handed over the gold."

"If we had done that, then you would have continued your ways." Richard placed a hand on the hilt of his blade. "Completely incidental to the topic at hand, but… how much is your head worth?"

The woman found herself unable to respond, aghast by his question and by his blade. Their blades met in a flurry of steel as fighting broke out around them.

The noise around them faded as Richard pressed her backwards. He had fallen into the flow of fighting, catching her blade effortlessly, and even cutting down a man here and there.

He caught the glint in her through her helmet, and there he saw it. He recognised the look from his years of adventuring. She had realised all too late that she was not facing a man, but a monster.

Richard sank his blade into her gut and pulled it out, and then swiftly returned to the fray. He had been silent, like a ghost, cutting down a total of seven men before either party noticed.

"What the hell!" exclaimed a bandit, retreating from Richard's path. They scattered away, leaving the group behind.

The mercenaries turned to look at the massacre in front of them. Richard had slain a handful of bandits in the span of a few moments, no one else had sustained a major injury otherwise.

"Are you done eating?" Richard asked.

The others stripped down the bandits of their gear and offered Richard the spoils. He refused them, allowing everyone else to take from them. Once they were done packing up, they continued their way.

"I didn't expect you to be so powerful," Jonas said. "With your abilities, I could see you easily becoming a B or A rank adventurer."

Richard smiled. "My adventuring days are over. I'm in my semi-retirement."

"Did you adventure much when you were younger?"

"Quite a bit," Richard said.

"How did you become so powerful?"

Richard thought back to his past. "I trained as hard as I could in my youth."

"Why? I can only imagine how difficult your training was, so why did you put yourself through it."

"I lost my family to a demonic raid when I was young. My little brother and I were saved by some soldiers, and then I decided to become strong in order to protect him."

"How is he?"

"He's well. He has a noble profession, though he is trapped in his duty. As long as he's happy and healthy, I don't particularly mind."

"Is he as strong as you?"

"I would say so," Richard replied, smiling wide.

"Do you get to see him often?" Jonas asked.

"No, not as much as I'd like to. We have our lives now. Me with my wife, he with his country."

"Is he a knight?"

"Yes," Richard said. It was technically the truth.

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"A few  years ago. We passed by one another near one of the eastern cities. This was when I had recently retired, and so we were all able to meet one another. Myself with my party, and he with his."

They continued to journey along, stepping ever closer to the next city.

"What rank were you before you retired?"

"I was an S rank adventurer," Richard replied after a moment of hesitation. He hadn't been sure whether to tell the truth to Jonas, but Jonas seemed like a fine enough chap.

"An S rank? Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not kidding you, I was an S rank adventurer for a long while. My entire party held the rank for some time, ever since we faced the demon lord."

"You faced the demon lord?" Jonas asked in alarm. "Who-who are you?"

"I'm Richard," he said, smiling wider.

"You don't mean… you're Richard Leonne?"

"The very same."