AN: Just want to say that I have little problems with “Satou” (of DeathMarch, the inspiration for this work) himself, he is definitely not the worst of the Web-/Light-Novel style characters, even if he never gets down and dirty with any of his harem-members.

One large difference I found between my story and the 'original' is that I always get the urge to flesh out the details, probably more than necessary, but I really want to have a plausible game system in which all the characters' actions make sense. My writing style is probably more 'regular novel' than the manga-inspired style of DeathMarch, not saying that my style is any better, or good in the first place.

Thats just my own feeling right now on what I have so far. On a more practical note, including this chapter I have only released about a third of what I have written. I will go for a binge release at some time in the next few weeks, when the story has reached a point were it is standing on a solid mechanical basis.

I want this novel to have a few follow up arcs (more like sequels), and if I mess up here it will hamper any future development. Novels with lots of numbers and such are really hard to write for an idiot like me, if they are supposed to still make sense a few tens or hundreds of thousands words later on.

TL/DR: slow release speed right now, maybe wait for binge release in a few weeks. Have fun with the new chapter!

Chapter 6:

The group coming back consisted of the soldiers in Lieutenant Clement’s group, the first rescue group on horseback and four soldiers on foot from the second rescue group who had taken over the task of carrying the makeshift stretchers. The two wounded soldiers were still being carried, but both were in a significantly better condition.

Guthrie had woken up and was at 85% HP, while Wynn, who was still pale and splattered in her own blood, was back to 60%. The arrow had also been removed already.

They were greeted by a surprisingly happy looking Lieutenant Wynn, who, after a brief exchange with Clement, followed the soldiers carrying the young Cora Wynn into the main building.

Clement gave the soldiers in his group the rest of the day off, then turned towards Markus.

“I was hoping that you were still around when we got here. I have to thank you, without your support Private Wynn wouldn’t have made it. Please follow me to my office, there is something I want to talk to you about.”

Markus wanted to say that he wasn’t given a choice about staying or leaving, but doing so wouldn’t change the fact. He had intended to wait for them to return either way.

While following the Lieutenant inside, he was told that the healer who treated Wynn nearly fainted from magic depletion and still had to give her a health potion before getting her into a stable condition.

The office was in a room on the first floor of the main building. It had a plain wooden floor and was lacking any unnecessary decorations, apart from a large cloth banner on the wall sporting the same three-towered castle as the tabards the soldiers were wearing. A large desk on one end of the room occupied a large amount of the space. Apart from an abundance of letters and documents, a small chest and a fist sized crystal were placed on it. The lieutenant took out a similar crystal from his pocket and placed it on the desk after entering the room.

He then sat down on a couch and signalled Markus to take a seat on the similar couch facing it.

“Well, let me get straight to the point. Have you ever thought about joining the armed forces? I know that our reputation is not the very best among the general population, but most of that is based on unfounded rumours. My men were quite impressed with the endurance you had shown and coming up with practical ideas when they are needed can bring you far in the army.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I don’t want to become a soldier. I was just glad I could help.” Markus declined politely.

“I want to offer you a reward fitting your support. Unfortunately, this post here is not doing very well currently. You should already know that this area is within the domain of the Great Dragon since a few years ago. Apart from our main task, which is patrolling the border and give reports on the dragon’s activity, this area is of little interest to the rest of Soba. If you officially joined the ranks of armed forces, I could offer some support at the very least.”

“Thank you again, but joining the army is not something I want to do.”

The man sighed, “Hmmm, I am not happy to hear that, but I can’t force you.” Clement said so, stood up and went towards the desk. He opened the small chest and took out a few coins from a pouch. “Then take this. I want to give at least give you a token reward.” He handed Markus the coins. “I think it would also be good if you stayed for a bit, you can use the barracks tonight and also get some food from the kitchen.”

He found the last part a little strange, and had the feeling that the man had some suspicion about him but didn’t want to voice it. But his approach was certainly more pleasant than Second Lieutenant Wynn’s blunt approach.

Looking at the coins in his hand, Markus counted one large silver coin and 5 smaller ones. One side of the coins showed a shield surrounded by 5 runes, the other side had a large crown in the middle of three different, smaller crowns. The large coin was huge in comparison to the tiny, small ones.

A quick search through his inventory later he found that he had 95 of the large silver coins. He also had a little over 300 gold coins with a similar crown design.

While Markus was looking at the coins, there was a knock on the door and Lieutenant Wynn entered the room.

Looking at Markus, she made a complicated face but didn’t say anything to him. “Private Wynn and Corporal Guthrie are resting in the infirmary. Both of them should make a full recovery.”

“That is good to hear. I assume you have already talked to our helper, Markus?” Clement sat down on the couch again and signalled the woman to join him.

Lieutenant Wynn sat down next to him. “Yes. We have talked. I have confirmed that he has no prior convictions, but haven’t gotten any other information.”

“Ahh… I see.” Clement was making an apologetic face towards Markus. “I don’t get the feeling that this young man is suspicious in any way.” Markus looked at him with a little surprise, the statement was exactly contrary to what he thought earlier. The man continued, “In fact, his actions so far have been anything but selfless.”

Clement then recounted the events so far, from Markus helping in the fight against the bandit group to his actions that ultimately saved the younger Wynn. He didn’t embellish anything, but Markus did have a significant impact, so the accurate account already made him look quite heroic.

“It seems I have to thank you for saving the life of my niece. I still think that your behaviour is… unusual, but I am ready to deem you as an ally for now. So, thank you for your help.” She didn’t apologize for her rude behaviour, but if she left him alone, Markus could live with that. Hearing that the wounded soldier was a close relative made Markus feel a bit more sympathy towards her. Getting irritated in that situation was understandable.

As the situation seemed to be resolved, Markus decided to ask for a different, more practical reward for his help. He wasn’t sure if Clement or Wynn would agree, but he felt like the situation right now was as best as it could be. If Clement really wanted to keep him close to observe him, it would play right into Markus’ hands.

“I want to decline the money you have offered me and ask for something else in exchange.” Markus placed the coins on the low table between the two couches. “As I have been travelling, I have been thinking about what I should do in the future. I already said that I don’t want to become a soldier right now, but I would like to get some experience in different fields to find out what suits me.

If possible, I want hands on experience with as many professions as I can.”

“I don’t really understand what you mean.” Clement made a questioning face, while Wynn’s expression hardened.

“I mean, I want to do some things in various professions to get an idea what it is like to work in that field. Cook a meal in the kitchen, spar with a sword and shield, forge something. That kind of thing. Not a real training, just an hour or two of work with a professional. If possible, not only in the keep but also in the village.” Addressing Lieutenant Wynn’s likely concerns, he added “I don’t want find out any secrets. Just the very basics.”

“Hmm… that’s a very unusual request.” Lieutenant Clement was saying so while thinking about the proposal.

“I was planning to pay for some training along the way, but seeing that your base has a variety of opportunities, I couldn’t help but ask.” Markus added.

“Let me talk it over with Lieutenant Wynn. I don’t see why it would be a problem though. Come back shortly before sunset, I will have made a decision by then. Feel free to leave the base and go to the village until then.”

Clement then ordered a guard to escort Markus to the gate. He wasn’t thrown out, in fact he had already been offered a sleeping spot in the barracks for the night and free repairs at the workshop.

The guard was to inform the gatekeepers that Markus was free to come and go for the day.

Markus decided to follow the suggestion and take a look at the village. Apparently there was a tavern at the village. One of the locals was producing leather products and had a small shop that also offered some other basic items.

He asked a woman for directions and then headed towards the house of the man dealing in leather goods.

The house was fairly large compared to the others and the lower floor was divided into a workshop and a sales area with a counter. Stepping inside, Markus was greeted by a heavy smell of leather. The owner, a man in his thirties who was currently cutting a large hide into shapes, greeted Markus and then stepped behind the counter.

The first thing Markus decided to buy was a bag. He did not actually want to carry heavy stuff around, but he could just put his hand into the bag and then pull out things from his inventory, making it possible to do so in public.

Markus asked the price of several of the items on display. A hammer cost 2 silver coins, a water bladder could be bought at 1 silver and 10 copper coins. A small metal pot, only a little larger than a cup was 1 silver. The rope was sold at 6 copper coins per meter. A messenger bag with a strap cost two silver coins.

Buying the bag, the hammer and 6 meters of rope would cost 4 silver and 16 copper. That meant one silver equals 20 copper coins.

After getting a baseline of the pricing, Markus made some estimations for the remaining items on display, asking the storeowner for the correct values. Of course, those values were subjective and might differ dependent on the region, but after some time, a message appeared in the log.

[Skill: Value Estimation] gained.

Thinking that this was a good skill to have, Markus maxed it out. Focussing on an item now showed a window with the name and the value was displayed underneath. Those values differed from the price the merchant had asked for though. The rope and hammer and other general items were significantly overpriced according to the interface information. The leather items were somewhat pricier than what the description said, but already close.

Markus told the man that he had been offered a hammer and rope for less before. Hearing this, the man visibly flinched slightly and explained that he had to buy them himself, so he couldn’t offer them at lower prices. Considering that his leather items were reasonably priced, the argument seemed to be valid.

Markus offered to buy the backpack, rope, hammer and pot for 5 silver if the merchant threw in the water bladder for free. The shopkeeper countered with a price of 7 silver coins, but offered a bar of soap on top. Markus wasn’t sure if that was meant as an insult because he looked dirty, but now he really wanted that soap and possibly a brush as well.

The price for a palm-sized brush was 1 silver, so Markus offered to pay 7 silver and 10 copper. When the man agreed on the deal, a message popped up again.

[Skill: Haggling] gained.

Markus maxed it out, although the negotiation was over by now.

He gave the man one of the large silver coins and got 2 small silver coins and 10 copper coins as change. Out of curiosity, he asked the shopkeeper how much a gold coin was worth.

Apparently the values of the currency were like this: 1 gold coin = 10 large silver coins = 100 small silver coins = 2000 copper coins.

Markus’ current funds in Soba currency were therefore worth more than 30000 small silver coins. That much should last him for a while. He also had a lot of gems and metals that should be easy to sell, so he won’t have to work for money anytime soon, if ever.

Stashing the items in the bag and equipping it, Markus left the store. Outside, he put his hand into the bag and put all the items in it into his inventory, to reduce the weight. The bag was made from soft leather, so it looked empty from the outside. Markus put the rope back into it, to give it some volume.

He could now just hold his hand into it and make items appear or disappear, which would be useful when in front of other people.

It was still afternoon and the sun was up high. There would be at least an hour, likely more, before he was to return to the lieutenant. Idling for some time at the tavern seemed ok, but he had already idled at the keep and wanted to explore for a bit.

He started walking north along the main road. The next region was not that far away, with just a stretch of forest between the village and the border of the map. Even walking normally, it should take no more than an hour to get there.

As soon as he was out of view from the village, Markus started running through the woods at full speed. He reached the map border 5 minutes afterwards. When he passed into the next area, the map on display changed.