The Returner Wants Complete Victory

25 – 025. Mad Dog (3)

James Miller, the strongest man in Kirnyu other than Rick.

The Mad Dog mercenaries are a group that is maintained by the power of its leader, James Miller, and the strong charisma based on it.

That’s why they can’t mess with Mad Dog even though he has a significant power advantage in the Martial Artist League.

A being of asymmetrical power named James Miller.

In other words, as soon as a problem arises with this man, the balance of power between the Kirnyu groups collapses.

If you dig deeper, both Mad Dog and the Gutter Rats that make up the third force find themselves in a situation where they are all dependent on this one man.

And the person who knew that fact better than anyone else would be James Miller, who was sitting in front of me right now.

James broke the table in a fit of rage, but didn’t do anything else after that.

I also stared at him calmly.

There was hesitation in his eyes as he glared at me.

If, as I said, the ruins were really a trap aimed at you, and if it was an effective hit, it is obvious that the balance weight would immediately tip to one side.

Just reacting like this right now is the result of a combination of pride, greed, and distrust of myself.

“Do you know what you just said?”

James growled, running his hand through his waxed head.

The muscles exposed outside the clothes wriggled violently.

The tattoos covering just below his chin made him look like a barbarian warrior.

“Why are you so inattentive? “The ruins are bait prepared by the Martial Artists’ League to lure you into a trap.”

“What is the evidence that that statement is true?”

James must have had his doubts, too.

They must have felt strange that they, and not the Alliance, obtained advanced information such as a dungeon first.

But until now, you may have been trying to rationalize it as just being lucky.

It was natural that it was difficult to give up.

Even if there is a danger called a trap, the sweetness of the word dungeon is enough to make him ignore it.

In particular, they will not be able to give up since they are objectively underpowered compared to the Martial Artists’ League.

Secret Imperial facilities, wizard’s laboratories, ancient ruins… .

It is true that any type of dungeon will give you a huge power boost if you have the ability to excavate it.

Even though I said I would make up for the power gap, James didn’t seem to have any intention of giving up.

In any case, I will only cooperate briefly during war, and the artifacts found in the dungeon are semi-permanent.

“There is no evidence right now. But isn’t it enough to just produce evidence? Instead of your subordinates, hire adventurers and send them to that dungeon. “I’m sure he’ll come out with a bunch of curses hanging on him.”

Despite my answer, James still glared at me as if he didn’t like something.

Then, he soon realized the reason for his discomfort and asked me a question.

“Then you can just tell me not to go to the dungeon. Why are you asking me to hand it over to you?”

Why are you telling me to pass it up?

That’s because I’m a regressor.

Because I know what is in those ruins, and I know how to achieve results that the Alliance and you cannot achieve.

Do you think I’m the same as you, you ignorant bastard?

How can you say that… .

If you say it like that, even if it means blowing up the dungeon, you won’t hand it over to me.

Was it a mistake to tell you to pass it up in the first place?

no.

If they had just told me not to go instead of telling them to pass, I would have definitely stabbed them at least once, even though they can’t eat it due to their nature.

Is there some way?

A trick to get what I want and relieve this man’s suspicions.

At that time, a bright idea passed through my mind.

“It is a request from the Magic Tower.”

A lie based on authority.

“what?”

James frowned at my somewhat unexpected words.

I leaned forward as if I had no choice but to say something that I wasn’t supposed to say.

As he frowned and snapped his fingers, James seemed to sense that something was unusual and leaned forward.

I rolled my eyes from side to side for no reason and spoke in a whisper.

“Excavation and investigation of these ruins. This is a request I received from the Magic Tower. If you have eyes and ears, you would know that the White Tower visited Emur not long ago, right?”

“Isn’t that because you fought and won against Yoo Il-jong? “I understand that many people came from places other than the Magic Tower?”

“Like you said, many people came from all over. But what reason would there be for me to come to this neighborhood?”

“… “The information about the dungeon leaked all the way there?”

“I told you. The federation spread information targeting you. They aren’t even idiots, so you think they would just hand it over to you? “I spread it all over the place, and sometimes unexpected people pick it up and stuff like that.”

After hearing my story, James made a sad expression.

It comes over.

I think it will come down to just a little more.

Magic Tower and White Tower are words that I will never have a relationship with this guy in my life.

Even if I say whatever I want, how would I know if this is a lie?

“That dungeon is an ancient temple that worshiped a forgotten old god. The federation has already taken away all valuable items. What’s left is a valuable relic from the Magic Tower’s point of view, but from your point of view, it’s just an empty can. However, there is something dangerous sleeping in those ruins, and if some guys keep wandering around, it could wake up. Then my work will be disrupted. So, I’m telling you to go through the dungeon.”

James had a blank expression, unable to accept the sudden influx of information.

I know it when I see it.

This guy is the same as me.

He knows how to use his head, but he’s not that good at it.

I predict something and come up with a plan, but something goes wrong somewhere.

They simply corrected that discrepancy with overwhelming force.

I don’t know whether I should lament that I am the same type as this idiot, or take comfort in the fact that I am stronger and smarter than this guy.

“You can think of it as employment expenses. Instead of going through that dungeon, I hired a wizard who was needed to fight the Martial Artist League. how is it. “Isn’t that a good offer?”

James nodded as if he had made a reasonable decision.

“… good night. If you say it that way. “But I have a question.”

“say.”

“If ruins are the goal, why bother going against the Federation? “Isn’t it okay to just do your own thing without worrying about each other?”

I smiled to myself at James’ question.

It’s almost over.

Even for this question, thankfully, the Federation bastards gave us a justification.

“When I got here, those bastards attacked first. “I tried to kill him.”

“A war with the entire Federation for just that reason?”

“Would you just leave it alone? “I never left behind the people who tried to kill me.”

The reason was a lie, but the content was the truth.

James seemed to have read my murderous intent and smiled, showing his white teeth.

I could see that this guy was also feeling a sense of kinship with me in a different way.

In the end, it’s all like that.

People easily believe the answer they wanted to hear.

“Then I will assume that it is roughly finished. You have to make gestures as if you are going to attack the ruins. “If some idiots go in and disturb the temple, I will be in trouble.”

After I finished what I wanted to say, I stood up to conclude the conversation.

I will rationalize the missing information in my own way by combining the clues I provided.

The reason why the Magic Tower requested me instead of sending a wizard directly.

The reason why I have never heard of a wizard like me before.

To be honest, you can make up as many excuses as you want, but it is more trustworthy if you let yourself realize it rather than talking about it all.

People have a habit of blindly believing in what they think is a result of their own efforts.

“When will the war start?”

“After investigating the ruins. Personally, I expect it to happen in about a month. “I’ll contact you later for the exact time.”

After speaking, I walked out of the room at a leisurely pace before James could find more questions.

In front of the door, the little dog I had handed over the potion box to was dozing off while sitting on the box.

How dare you sit on a box with that dirty ass.

Even though I knew there was nothing wrong with the contents, I felt bad and hit the man on the back of the head.

Sigh!

“evil!”

“This bastard is crushing me when I tell him to take good care of me. Do you want to search?”

“f*ck… !”

“Take that and follow me, dude.”

I don’t think I’ll give the stuff in the top box to the kids.

I feel uncomfortable for no reason.

*

The distance from the Mad Dog mercenaries office to the demilitarized zone inn was longer than expected.

As I walked along the quiet night road, I felt my complicated head slowly clearing up.

First of all, we prevented the Mad Dog mercenary group from collapsing in vain.

If Mad Dog and the Martial Artists League face off, Gutter Rat will have no choice but to participate.

If the three fight and die together like that, the future in which Rick dies naturally disappears.

Rick died while trying to stop the tyranny of the Martial Artists’ League, which took down Mad Dog and the Rat, as it became more and more severe.

The sketch for achieving the first goal has been roughly completed.

Then the next thing to do is to create a team.

We need to form a team that will become the forerunner of the mercenary group we will create in the future.

I have a member in mind.

During the first round, members who rebelled against the Martial Artists’ League along with Rick.

They are all students who learned something from Rick.

Of course, as he was Rick’s student, his skills were verified to some extent, and above all, he passed because he maintained his loyalty.

The problem is that there is no reason for those people to join my team… .

Because there is still plenty of time.

Isn’t it okay to make it slowly?

“We have arrived.”

The man who was following me holding a potion box said.

When I looked up, I realized that I had already arrived in front of the inn.

I patted the man on the shoulder a couple of times to thank him for his hard work and handed over the potion box.

The man disappeared into the darkness without even looking back, as if he didn’t want to see anything.

When I opened the door to the inn and entered, contrary to expectations, I didn’t see Rick at the counter.

I felt puzzled.

Since he is the person who literally takes care of everything, including eating and sleeping, in the lobby, there’s no way he wouldn’t be able to see it, right?

I thought he was lying on the rocking chair that was used as a bed, but he wasn’t there.

It may not be normal, but he is a man who never leaves the first floor empty when there are guests, almost to the point of compulsion.

For a moment, I was worried that it might have been a trick from the Martial Artists’ League, but there were no traces of battle at all.

Pong─… .

I turned on magic detection to the entire building, just in case.

Honestly, I don’t think it’s a big deal, but you never know.

Mana waves spread out like waves around me.

There is a facility installed in the room to block external mana, but to me it is a device of little significance.

“her.”

Soon, a strange flow was detected in the empty building.

The place is underground.

The number of people is three.

It was obvious without even looking at what that meant.