I Became a 6★ Gacha Character-Chapter 514: Pickup Fight 4

With Katie finally receiving her magical armor delivery, our companions' and viewers' curiosity turned to the combat abilities of the two men driving our carriage.

5★ 'Blue Beast of the Archipelago' Jacob

5★ 'Binding Avenger' Mills

Jacob practically advertised "I'm a fighter!" just from looks alone. His 2m muscular frame, scarred forearms, and stone-like fists with calluses like brass knuckles suggested he could demolish most things with his bare hands.

...Plus his title was similar to a certain character from that ninja manga about eye battles.

While Jacob was one thing, I couldn't get a read on Mills the mercenary. Except for his heavily calloused large hands, he looked just like an ordinary neighborhood uncle from his slight belly to his build and muscles.

But Mills' record in the documents was far from ordinary. True to his "Avenger" name, he'd handled many jobs dealing with humans, and quite impressively at that.

Bandits who raided pioneer villages during monster waves. Mercenaries who betrayed their employers and plundered merchant groups. Human traffickers trying to kidnap children, possibly dealing with witches or dark mages... Seems the Empire's vast territory and weak law enforcement led to more violent criminals than the Kingdom.

"This mercenary Mills uses rather unique weapons. Rather than sticking to one weapon... he uses things like ropes."

"Not ropes exactly, but rope-like things?"

"Yes. He uses ropes, chains, thin silver wire... that sort of weapon depending on the situation."

Ah, so that's why his title was 'Binding.'

While Jacob was a frontline fighter just as he appeared, Mills was more like a scout and assassin. Living up to his 'Binding Avenger' title, he seemed specialized in secretly tracking and picking off marked targets one by one.

They'd chosen well for tracking a witch. A scout modeled after special forces would be more helpful than the sword instructor or squinting priest. Han Se-ah and her viewers seemed to agree, praising it as a good choice.

In this atmosphere, Katie's eyes sparkled as she suddenly turned to me.

"Roland! Have you seen anyone else who uses strange, unique weapons like Mills? What's it like fighting with chains?"

"Hmm, never seen someone fight with chains before. Though there were plenty of guys who used unusual weapons in the mercenary business."

The unique weapons of chains and silver wire had apparently stimulated Katie's - our kid's - chuunibyou sensibilities. As she asked her question with sparkling eyes, everyone's attention naturally turned my way.

Small heads one, two, three, four, five-- plus the camera made it hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions. Pretty creepy when you thought about it that way.

With gazes pouring in from front and sides, memories quickly surfaced. Like novice adventurers who died wearing capes, most mercenaries who used unique weapons were idiots, so I could recall them easily.

"Both adventurers and mercenaries are desperate to make names for themselves. So some choose unique weapons... but most aren't choosing weapons because they're skilled - they're using weird weapons just to get famous."

"Oh, so?"

"Many died stupidly trying to build reputation with unusual weapons."

Take the sword breaker for example, which shows up decently often in fantasy. Despite the name, it's not 'break' as in destroy, but 'break' as in interrupt and stop.

It literally uses jagged saw teeth on the back to catch and interrupt enemy sword blades, but the problem is it can only 'interrupt.' In other words, since it can only interfere, you need another weapon to actually kill the enemy after interrupting them.

This means becoming a dual-wielder... and splitting your focus is often a symbol of certain defeat.

"Most knights wouldn't try wielding weapons in both hands."

"It's tough. No reason to take another weapon over a good shield. If you're going to block swords, just use a shield."

"Ah, so even in Heroes Chronicle, splitting focus means certain death?"

-For some reason I'm reminded of the King in the Storm, sob... if only he hadn't split his greatsword

-Stop acting like dual-wielding is cool... you baby...

-That's why Teacher Roland uses a shield, git gud and be born 6★ if you're jealous lol

-Dagger going swoosh swoosh vs shield bonking

-Shield is just way stronger lol getting hit by one makes your soul leave instantly

The chat filled with dual-wielding hate and rogue hate, showing these attitudes were common in this world too. I sympathized with the viewers, being someone who'd rather use a heavy two-handed weapon than dual-wield in both my past and current life.

After all, my weapons were a warhammer and shield.

There were plenty of other examples too - like the guy who used a whip as his main weapon but died getting tangled in tree branches because he hadn't considered a backup weapon, or the one who died in cave levels using a military-style pike that wasn't meant for individual combat.

As I rambled on with stories to ease the boring carriage journey, there was a knock on the wall.

"What is it?"

"Village ahead! Sun's setting, think we should stop for the night!"

Before we knew it, day was ending as we chatted.

※

The small village in the Empire's east had the typical countryside appearance.

And I mean that in the bad way - truly medieval.

"An inn? Well, we have empty rooms but the facilities aren't very good."

A tiny village surrounded by shabby wooden fences that could barely stop a starving, weak orc. Seeing an obviously luxurious carriage approach and a 2m muscular giant ask about rooms, they couldn't help but be scared.

People with dirty appearances from lack of magitech benefits tried hiding their children just in case, while those same children peeked out from alleys to observe our massive carriage and beautiful companions.

Even among the grimy children and women, those with cute or beautiful looks seemed to be 2-3★.

"The poor conditions don't matter, but you have two separate rooms for men and women, right?"

"We have that much. The ladies can stay at the chief's house, and the men at the shepherd couple's place... Um, about the lodging fee..."

"Who do you think we are! We won't skip out on payment."

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While I was looking around, Jacob pulled out a pouch and pressed a handful of silver coins into the chief's hands. The chief, who'd been trembling in fear of not just going unpaid but having to hand over money or women, started trembling for a different reason.

For Jacob, head of the archipelago's Adventurer's Guild branch, it wasn't much since mid-rank adventurers earned silver coins daily.

But in a tiny rural village, this was what a shepherd might earn over years herding livestock, and only then if they had enough basic assets in animals. For rural farmers barely growing enough grain for the village, silver coins were worth their weight in gold, to exaggerate slightly.

"Um, er, no, would you like ale? We have some grain alcohol stored!"

"Listen here, old man."

Knowing too much money could be a curse rather than a blessing, the chief frantically tried to offer something in return, but Jacob glanced my way before whispering something in his ear.

Though I could hear it clearly anyway.

"You can tell from the carriage we're escorting important people. We don't want any ale, women, or tribute - got it?"

"Yes, yes yes."

"We'll handle our own meals too, so just keep the rooms empty, don't worry about us, and don't approach. Understand?"

"Yes, of course, I'll spread the word."

Jacob lowered his head to whisper to the bent-backed chief. His whispers came out more like growls, making him seem truly beast-like, matching his title.

But the chief nodded gratefully. Whether because he clearly understood what the silver coins in his hand were for, his color actually improved despite trembling at Jacob's growls.

What concerned me more wasn't Jacob's negotiation-or-threat conversation with the chief, but Mills who had vanished and was now circling the village perimeter. A 5★ character wouldn't act like this without reason - was it professional habit, or had he already found some clues?

I wasn't the only one with such excited expectations - Han Se-ah had already attached her camera to him and was anxiously watching his movements.

Enjoy the chappy!