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Chapter – 01
How a Mercenary Protects Their Charge (1)
Mercenaries. Those who failed to become knights, yet possessed skills equal to them. Unlike knights, they cared little for honor and would do anything for the right price. And because of that, they were looked down upon by others.
“You know, I don’t think imperial knights are all that glamorous. Everyone’s saying the prince leaving the palace this time is basically being abandoned. Maybe that’s why the atmosphere is like this.”
“Quiet down. Most imperial knights are nobles—or at least commoners from powerful families.”
At Regina’s reprimand, Rosie shut her mouth. Still, she couldn’t stop herself from glancing toward the carriage carrying the duke.
Unlike Regina, who had walked the path of a mercenary for years as the daughter of “Gellen Roffman,” the man called the King of Mercenaries, Rosie was still a greenhorn fascinated by everything.
Since the girl had remained bright-eyed and cheerful throughout the entire assignment like an excited puppy, Regina had already decided to train her thoroughly once they returned to Persona.
No matter how unusual the situation was, letting one’s guard down like that was unacceptable.
‘More importantly, how does someone suffering from madness become a lord? And they’re even replacing the prince’s insufficient escort force with mercenaries.’
Today, the prince afflicted with madness was leaving the imperial palace for Valmen.
He had inherited the title of Duke Julius and become little more than a watchdog guarding the barren land of Valmen—a place forsaken by the gods. Rumors claimed he was no different from a rabid beast.
‘Is he really an abandoned prince?’
Persona, the mercenary guild known for accepting any request. With terrifyingly overwhelming skill, they handled not only escorts but even troublesome jobs—provided the client paid enough.
But even Regina, the guild’s true leader, had never before escorted royalty, let alone a member of the imperial family. And now she rode alongside imperial knights wearing magnificent cloaks draped over their right shoulders.
For a fleeting moment, Regina found herself thinking that the lavish carriage looked strangely lonely.
“Stay focused! Eyes forward!”
One imperial knight shouted when the formation loosened. His repeated bellowing only deepened the heavy atmosphere.
‘Normally, I would’ve hesitated before taking a request like this.’
But with the guild’s finances worsening day by day, Regina had been accepting every contract she could find.
No matter how many times she thought about it, the root cause was that damned assailant who had recently ruined several of Persona’s missions in succession. It had been their most lucrative contract in years.
And part of the blame also belonged to her immature father.
As the daughter of Gellen, the so-called King of Mercenaries, Regina had naturally grown up among mercenaries from birth.
She had held a sword since the age of ten and expanded Persona’s influence with her own hands. To her, Persona was a jewel box containing her entire life.
That was why she always gave every mission her all.
“Ambush!”
“Draw your swords! Assassins!”
“Persona mercenaries, weapons out! Protect the target!”
At Regina’s shout, the members of Persona drew their weapons. Assassins emerged from behind trees and hidden pits like bats or moles.
“Gah!”
“The target comes first!”
Regina cut down an assassin sneaking toward the carriage and shouted again. Several imperial knights battling the attackers hurried toward the carriage.
‘Why are these imperial knights so damn slow?!’
Naturally, Regina assumed they were protectors of the royal passenger.
At least until they suddenly drew their weapons and attacked the carriage themselves.
“Move aside while we’re asking nicely, woman mercenary!”
Regina gritted her teeth as she blocked a knight’s spear. Had she let her guard down simply because they wore imperial armor, the sharp spear would have pierced through the carriage wall—and the royal inside it.
“So they were traitors?”
“Heh heh. Does that matter right now? You mercenaries are all going to die anyway.”
This was why suspicious requests should never be accepted.
Pushing aside the wave of regret rising within her, Regina smiled at them confidently.
“…You sure about that?”
Deflecting the spear, Regina slipped swiftly into the large knight’s guard and buried a dagger precisely into his vital point.
Thud.
The massive man collapsed instantly.
The traitors’ blades all turned toward her—the woman who had felled him in a single strike.
“What do you think Persona is? That’s insulting.”
Regina jerked her chin toward the battlefield around them.
The Persona guild members fought like raging bulls. They threw knights aside, hacked enemies down, and rampaged wildly. Compared to the disciplined imperial knights resisting the traitors, their style was chaotic.
But in sheer brutality, there was no comparison.
“Damn it, throw it! Throw that thing!”
Led by one traitor, they hurled black stones at the carriage.
Instinctively, Regina knocked many away with her sword, but several still struck their target.
There was no way one person could stop every projectile thrown by a crowd. It was as impossible as dodging raindrops in a storm.
‘Damn it!’
BOOM!
With a thunderous explosion, the carriage exploded.
“Prince Valentin!!”
“Regina!!”
Through the thick smoke, knights and mercenaries alike cried out desperately.
But the smoke and flames swallowed everything without leaving even a trace behind.
When was it again?
Probably after Regina completed her very first mission and was embraced by Gellen and Maut—who was practically her uncle—while they ruffled her hair and praised her endlessly.
Whenever she was in pain, that memory surfaced first.
Perhaps that was why she had resolved back then to protect the guild Persona and its mercenaries with her life.
And so, when they became entangled in war, and when the mercenaries were gravely injured by that cursed assailant not long ago, Regina suffered deeply.
Especially because she hadn’t managed to wound the bastard who hurt her people before escaping.
The frustration gnawed at her so fiercely she ground her teeth in her sleep.
Just like now.
“Wake up already.”
Regina’s eyes snapped open—first at the hand shaking her, then again at droplets of water falling onto her face.
A man was staring down at her.
Water dripped from his soaking platinum hair onto her cheeks.
“Ugh.”
“We rolled down the mountain together and fell into the valley. Looks like your shoulder bone is cracked.”
As Regina clutched her shoulder while trying to sit up, the man watched her indifferently.
Only then did she slowly examine her surroundings.
She could hear rushing water nearby. Apparently, this man had dragged her beneath the tree.
“Did you pull me out of the water? Thank you.”
“You were the one clinging to me and refusing to let go. We barely crawled out of the river.”
Come to think of it… who was this man?
Regina looked at the man roughly brushing water from his hair.
Tall, with dazzling platinum hair, red lips, a smooth, sharp nose anchoring his striking features, and intense eyes above it all—he looked like one of the gods’ proudest creations.
“…Are you Duke Julius?”
Staring at his face, Regina suddenly remembered everything she had momentarily forgotten from the shock.
The assassins had thrown explosives at the carriage. Multiple blasts had erupted, smoke blocking her vision. During the chaos, Regina had rushed into the carriage and wrapped herself around the target she was meant to protect.
She had protective gear capable of absorbing some impact.
She remembered shielding him through the explosion before they were thrown away and tumbled off a cliff.
“Correct, woman mercenary.”
Woman mercenary.
Regina hated that term. Usually it carried the implication of a woman daring to be a mercenary.
She sensed a strange hostility and familiarity from him, but he was still her client.
Rising to her feet, Regina carefully surveyed the area.
“If we follow the river, we should reunite with the others. Let’s move for now.”
“With that shoulder?”
“Ah, it’s dislocated, not fractured.”
“That means it’ll hurt every time you walk.”
“I’ll set it back.”
Regina tore a strip from her clothing and bit down on it.
She knew the rough mercenary method of forcing a shoulder back into place. It was excruciating, but screaming might attract beasts—or the assassins still searching for them.
“Mmgh!”
Suppressing her scream as much as possible, she shoved the dislocated shoulder back into place.
It was only a temporary fix, but it would hold until she reunited with her comrades.
Spitting out the torn cloth, she wiped the cold sweat from her face.
‘Interesting eye color.’
Valentin stared at her with amethyst-like purple eyes.
“Did I offend your sensibilities somehow?”
The prince afflicted with madness.
Regina wanted to avoid agitating him if possible. He looked sane for now, but appearances could deceive.
Valentin watched her silently for a long moment before shaking his head. As his hair dried, his messy bangs gradually fell across his face.
“No, not really. More than that, you look like you’re wondering when exactly I’ll go insane—or whether I’m truly mad at all.”
“…At the moment, I’m the only person left to protect Your Grace. I merely wish to be prepared, so please don’t take offense.”
Following her to his feet, Valentin pulled an empty glass vial from his pocket and lightly shook it.
“I took my medicine, so I’ll be fine for a while.”
So it could be controlled with medication.
Relieved, Regina started walking.
Waiting around for rescue was worse than moving downstream along the riverbank. There was no guarantee the assassins’ attack had ended.
‘We need to reunite with the others first.’
It wasn’t long before Regina realized something odd about the footsteps behind her.
In her haste, she had forgotten an important detail: her charge limped on his left leg.
Valentin leaned against a tree trunk as he followed, finally speaking once she turned back.
“Let’s walk a little slower.”
Feeling awkward, Regina searched for something that could serve as a cane. But there were no branches sturdy enough to support his tall frame and broad shoulders.
‘Come to think of it, when I held him earlier, he was surprisingly solid. He limps, but he must still train regularly. That couldn’t have been easy.’
Regina removed the sword at her waist, still sheathed, and offered it to him.
She still had a dagger hidden on her person, so lending him the sword temporarily wasn’t a problem.
“Please take this.”
“You’re giving me a sword?”
“To lean on.”
“And what if I suddenly go mad and start swinging it around? Medicine isn’t perfect.”
“Then I’ll subdue you. Surely you won’t call that insulting royalty after I rolled off a cliff and nearly drowned trying to save you.”
After handing him the sword without hesitation, Regina resumed walking.
And without realizing it, she had already shortened her stride.
