How a Mercenary Handles a Mad Husband and a Mad Request - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: How a Mercenary Protects Their Charge (2)

“Damn it, Regina!”

“Your Grace!”

As the smoke cleared with the wind and the traitors had all been dealt with, those remaining shouted at the top of their lungs for the two missing people. But all they heard in return was the echo spreading through the dense forest.

“Damn it! Regina…”

“Hey! Are you looking for a mercenary before your charge?!”

“I’m looking for both! We have to find our comrade too, don’t we?!”

“Ha! This is why mercenaries—”

“Then what about you? So noble and skilled, yet you got betrayed? From what I saw earlier, our mercenaries were better than your knights.”

“What did you say?! Are you insulting imperial knights?!”

Gail of the Persona Guild and Thomas, an imperial knight, drew their swords at each other. Their misdirected rage, born from the fear of losing someone dear, was now turned on one another.

That one spark led both the mercenaries and the knights to unsheathe their blades.

Even a single misstep now would lead to bloodshed.

“Stop! All of you, stop it! This isn’t the time for us to be fighting each other!”

Rosie the mercenary bravely stepped between the two. Her rabbit-like eyes were already brimming with tears from worry over Regina.

“We didn’t find Lady Regina or the Duke’s body. There’s a river flowing at the bottom of the cliff. And Lady Regina was wearing a protective device strong enough to withstand the explosion!”

“So you’re saying that woman mercenary shielded the duke and jumped into the water?”

At Thomas’s words, Gail raised an eyebrow.

He had disliked the knight from the start, who arrogantly looked down on them simply because they were mercenaries. To belittle Regina, daughter of the King of Mercenaries and a member of Persona, was unacceptable.

He felt like cutting him down right then and there. Honestly, it even seemed doable.

“Yes, if it’s Lady Regina, she would’ve done that.”

The pride of a mercenary. Even calling someone ‘lady’ when she wasn’t a noblewoman seemed ridiculous. Thomas snorted, but he couldn’t completely discard hope, so he reluctantly sheathed his sword.

“Mr. Gail, if it’s Lady Regina, she’ll survive and be heading downstream. We should go too.”

“…Right, first we need to select the members who can depart immediately.”

Looking around, Gail spotted some injured mercenaries and approached them. The injuries didn’t seem severe, but continuing the mountain trek could burden them.

“You lot should head back for now. We’ll take care of the rest.”

“But we’re still under contract.”

“After that last ambush, Regina’s been especially sensitive about mercenaries getting hurt. Can you afford to make her angry? I sure can’t.”

“…Neither can we.”

Imagining Regina’s furious face, the mercenaries quickly shook their heads. It was terrifying even to imagine the punishment that might come if she found out the mission had failed because of their injuries.

“Even if you step back, we still have enough people to carry out the request. Once you get past this ridge, there’s a village—get treated there and wait at Persona.”

“Yes, please rescue Lady Regina. I’m sure she’s alive, just like Rosie said.”

The limping mercenaries bowed their heads. Gail forced a smile, but anxiety gnawed at him. There had clearly been assassins who escaped amid the thick smoke. And Regina, who had taken the explosion and fallen off a cliff, couldn’t possibly be in normal condition.

“Let’s move out!”

At Gail’s urging, the mercenaries took up their weapons once more.

***

Walking behind Regina, Valentin watched her closely.

The back of the woman, with her sun-ripened wheat-colored hair tied up, didn’t look that large. But the strength with which she had held him during the explosion had been considerable.

‘Can I trust this woman?’

Even the imperial knights who had betrayed him to kill him had been among those swarming them. A mercenary, who did her job for money, wasn’t exactly safe either—especially in this forest where even cold, stiff corpses would be hard to find.

“My mission is to guard you, Your Grace. That’s all.”

Regina suddenly spoke, as if reading his thoughts like a mind reader.

“I figured you might be feeling uneasy. Since you have to rely solely on me, I thought I’d let you know.”

Just pointless consideration, he thought. Caught off guard, he tensed, but then let the tension go from his shoulders.

She was peculiar in many ways. Even the fact that she had rushed into the carriage to shield him during the explosions was far from ordinary.

“Also, I don’t usually boast about this, but for reference—my mercenary rank is gold. Among the ranks of copper, silver, gold, and platinum. So I’m at least better than the average mercenary.”

“Or maybe you’re just worried I’ll go mad from anxiety and lose control.”

“…Well, I can’t say that’s entirely untrue.”

Valentin unintentionally let out a faint smile that seemed like it could scatter with the breeze. This oddly honest woman was quite amusing. That was why he suddenly grew curious about what rumors she might have heard.

“What kind of rumors have you heard?”

He was surely referring to the rumors about himself. Regina hesitated. He didn’t seem like the type who puffed up with imperial arrogance, but that didn’t mean she could speak recklessly.

“I just want to know. Think of it as something to pass the time on our journey.”

“Then you want me to be honest?”

He found it amusing again, how the woman who had been honest all this time was now suddenly putting on a show of consideration. Valentin knew his silence would be taken as a yes by the mercenary woman.

“…Well, I heard that when you get anxious, you have fits and throw things. That there were several people injured because of it. And most of all, that you see things others can’t. That you’re sensitive because of it.”

“People say mercenaries are rough-spoken and rude, but it seems that’s not always true.”

He hadn’t expected her to describe his delusions and violent outbursts in such gentle terms. She had always looked blunt and stoic.

“Have you met mercenaries before?”

“By chance.”

“Shall we take a short break?”

She even noticed how he was out of breath from limping and pretended to wipe sweat from her face first.

Her breath was calm, and no sweat had formed. Just drops of water falling from her still-damp hair.

‘Good thing the water’s clean.’

Regina reached out toward the flowing stream. The terrain, with its jutting roots, was harsh enough that she needed to consider dehydration from fatigue.

“Would you like some water?”

She cupped her hands and offered the water to Valentin, who was having difficulty moving. He sat down nearby and, after a brief pause, nodded.

“Let me know if you need more.”

Valentin drank from the water in her cupped hands as Regina quietly looked down at him.

Honestly, she had never seen someone with looks as striking as Gail’s before, but this man was on another level. Even covered in dirt and dust, he still seemed to shine—it was a ridiculous yet instinctive thought.

Even more absurd were the soft lips that touched her palm, and the tongue that gently licked the falling droplets—it was unusually red. Wait, his tongue?

“Hey.”

Startled, Regina quickly pulled her hand away. Valentin glared at her in displeasure. Regina was dumbfounded. Normally, someone would recoil in surprise if they licked a hand and it was pulled away.

But Valentin just stared up at her blankly, as if he didn’t see the problem.

His eyes, tinged with a hint of petulance, also carried a certain innocence. To Regina, he felt like a chick freshly hatched from its egg.

Though he was far too big and strong for that, and his arrogance seemed almost instinctive.

“Sorry, I was just surprised… We should keep walking now.”

Valentin sighed and pushed himself up with the sword’s scabbard. The water was growing shallower. A bit further, and they’d reach the lower stream.

Regina naturally took the lead and guided him along paths easier for his limping steps.

She sensed something suspicious when they reached an area especially dense with trees.

“Your Grace, may I suggest we trade weapons now?”

Drawing a dagger from her clothes, Regina took the longsword back from Valentin.

How many were licking their lips like hyenas at that very moment? Her cat-like eyes sharpened.

A fight where one had someone to protect was always harder than one where they fought only for themselves. Especially when the enemy might be numerous, and her charge couldn’t even flee alone.

But she was a mercenary who didn’t know how to give up.

“Come out!”

At her shout, the assassins hiding behind the trees appeared, as if they had been waiting.

Valentin let out a short laugh at the sight of the assassins dropping like rain. The mastermind behind this was obvious.

‘It seems even a mad prince is a thorn in the Empress Dowager’s side. She actually went out of her way to send assassins after a limping prince who left the palace willingly.’

He traced the edge of the worn dagger she’d handed him with his fingertip and wondered. How long could that mercenary woman hold out against these assassins?

Should he stay? Was it worth it?

In the middle of fierce combat, Regina glanced at him. She didn’t look frightened or surprised in the least.

“Keurgh!”

“If you want what you came for, you’ll have to kill me first!”

Then, seeing her fighting so fiercely right before his eyes, Valentin set aside his doubts.

For some reason, he wanted to keep watching her fight. Her style was violent yet precise—a rare and entertaining sight.