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Chapter – 06
How a Mercenary Takes on a New Request (2)
“What’s with that worried look on your face? Is it because of the penalty fee?”
“I’m telling you, the clause about paying triple the penalty fee is the real problem.”
“Come to think of it, miss, you fought that bastard for quite a while, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. That damned bastard. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be dealing with this headache.”
The black-clad attacker who had burned all the goods belonging to the Kor Merchant Company—the very cargo Persona had been hired to escort—and then escaped.
Just talking about him while standing among the mercenaries he had beaten badly enough to leave bedridden made Regina grind her teeth.
The man had been tall, agile, and terrifyingly skilled with a sword. But what enraged her most was the way he simply fled as if his business with her had ended mid-fight.
The disrespect of it all.
“How are we supposed to find that guy?”
“We won’t. We won’t. How are we supposed to find some bastard wrapped head to toe in black? Calm down for now. We can always earn the money back. Worst case, we can head north and join the war.”
“Yeah. It’d be nice to smell blood again after so long.”
The words had been tossed out casually, almost jokingly.
But to Regina, it touched a nerve she would never tolerate—sending Persona’s guild members off to war.
Mercenaries in war were little more than disposable shields pushed to the front lines first. That was why they were paid with life-money before battle even began.
One of the mercenaries joking along would soon be getting married.
“So you’re telling me to quietly run the guild using the blood my members spilled?”
Regina’s face twisted in fury, and only then did Shanro realize how careless his words had been. He scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“Ah… sorry. I won’t say things like that again.”
“Don’t ever say it again. I’m leaving.”
Angry at her own helplessness for even being driven to consider such an option, Regina stormed out of the infirmary.
Silence lingered after she left, and the mercenaries each let out deep sighs.
They had clearly seen the corners of her mouth trembling as she struggled to hold back tears.
“The miss really should just use us more freely. Why’d she have to grow up so dependable?”
“That’s because of that damned captain who causes trouble every day. When he comes back, we ought to stomp him flat.”
Everyone grew heated while badmouthing Gellen, and the healer, who had gathered the courage to enter the room again, ultimately failed to step inside.
After leaving the clinic, Regina tried to shake off her gloom.
‘I wonder if they received the remaining payment properly.’
Thinking about the money that should have arrived, she quickened her pace toward the Persona Guild.
If only she had known beforehand that the message waiting for her would be the absurd demand to come collect the payment in person, she would have hidden poisoned needles in the soles of her boots just to stab someone with them.
“This is ridiculous.”
“Right?”
Gaile agreed with Regina’s disbelief. Even Rosy, who was usually all smiles, looked openly irritated.
“They’re telling us to come all the way to Valmen to receive the payment in person. They even specifically came to Persona asking for me by name.”
“Miss, let me go instead. I’ll make sure we squeeze every last coin out of them.”
Every time Rosy breathed heavily, her braided pigtails bounced wildly.
“No, I should go myself. Delaying the remainder wasn’t enough for them—they told me to come personally. I don’t think I’ll calm down unless I get extra compensation.”
“I’m coming too.”
“You already have another assignment.”
At Regina’s sharp reply, Gaile’s enthusiastically raised hand drooped.
More than anything, Regina had no intention of dragging a crowd along just to collect money.
“Rosy, come with me.”
“Yes! I’ll get ready right away!”
At seventeen, Rosy still had little field experience, so whenever Regina called on her, she moved excitedly.
“Then I guess I should get moving too.”
“Regina, don’t let them intimidate you. Those bastards look down on people just because they’re mercenaries.”
Regina smiled faintly at Gaile’s worried advice.
Being treated poorly for being a mercenary was hardly anything new.
“When have you ever seen me intimidated? Besides, the only people I treat with respect are customers who use our guild.”
Running a hand through her curly reddish hair as if messing it up on purpose, Regina stretched.
She would have to ride nonstop to Valmen. Persona’s finances were full of holes right now, so she needed to return quickly and take care of things.
Leaving behind Gaile, who stood with his head lowered while fiddling with his hair, Regina headed for the stables.
Regina and Rosy rode their horses like mad after leaving Persona.
Unlike escort missions burdened with wagons and luggage, the two of them moved as freely as salmon swimming upstream.
Because of that, they managed to cross in half a day what had previously taken a day and a half.
“Valmen hasn’t changed at all since the last time I came.”
Looking down from the mountainside at Valmen, territory of Duke Julius, Regina muttered quietly.
“No. It’s a land that already collapsed once.”
Valmen, a barren land seemingly abandoned by the gods, had once belonged to a count’s family.
But sixty years ago, the entire house had been exterminated for treason.
The imperial family had managed the territory afterward, but without a true lord, decline had been inevitable.
Valmen also lacked any important geographical advantage.
‘Honestly, if even one large merchant company moved into the area, this place could become somewhat useful.’
Regina looked over Valmen, still becoming more of an abandoned city just as it had been three years ago, before tugging the reins again.
It wasn’t her territory anyway. Worrying about it was pointless.
As far as Regina knew, it had already been well over a week since Duke Julius took control of the ducal castle.
Yet from the ruined front gate that looked ownerless to the thick layers of dust piled along the corridors, the castle welcomed Regina and Rosy in utter disrepair.
“Is this really a ducal castle? It’s worse than that tiny count’s mansion I once visited for an errand. It’s so shabby.”
“Shh, Rosy.”
The number of servants was so small compared to the castle’s size that even Rosy’s whisper echoed loudly.
Startled, Rosy quickly covered her mouth.
The maid guiding them, Pinet, suppressed her discomfort before forcing out a faint smile.
A shabby castle simply meant there were more opportunities for someone like her to skim profits unnoticed.
‘More importantly, why were commoners like these invited as guests to the castle?’
Pinet examined the two young women, who clearly looked disheveled after riding for nearly half a day.
Mud—or perhaps filth of some kind—stained their leather pants and boots.
The contrast between their otherwise neat and confident appearance and those long dirty boots bothered her even more.
They reminded her too much of her father’s shoes when he used to shovel horse manure in the stables during her childhood.
The wrinkles around her eyes deepened into a frown.
Because of Head Butler Confe, who hated treating filthy, foul-smelling commoners like guests, she had lost precious rest time.
Worse still, Pinet had heard that these two were lowly mercenaries willing to do anything for money.
The kind of people she normally wouldn’t even glance at on the street.
“So, what business do you have in this castle?”
At some point, Pinet’s tone had turned openly condescending as she questioned them.
Any unusual occurrence within the castle was something she needed to report to the House of Count Renzier.
“We’ll discuss that with the Duke himself. It’s difficult to explain it to someone who isn’t directly involved.”
Regina casually glanced at Pinet, who had now folded her arms across her chest.
She’d met this type before whenever dealing with nobles.
People with empty pride and fragile egos—always troublesome.
“I am the head maid of this castle. I serve the Duke directly.”
“But you’re still not the person involved in the matter between us.”
That familiar look of disdain toward mercenaries.
As a female mercenary, Regina had endured those looks more than enough throughout her life.
She knew them so well she was sick of them.
Quietly, she moved Rosy behind her, thankful that the girl was a head shorter than herself.
“The Duke does not converse easily with outsiders. So tell me instead. I’ll help you.”
Was that supposed to be help?
Or a threat?
Regina narrowed her eyes.
Most importantly, the Valentin she had met before had no trouble communicating as long as he took his medicine.
‘Is she seriously lying just because she looks down on me?’
After sacrificing her back by riding half a day to Valmen just to collect unpaid money, Regina’s irritation finally began to rise.
“Do you simply not want to guide me to the Duke?”
“I said I’d help you.”
“And I said we don’t need your help. Should I have been even more direct?”
“How dare you! Do you think this is some filthy back alley where mercenaries like you wander around?! This is the ducal castle, and I am the head maid!”
At last, Pinet raised her voice.
She had spent her life serving noblewomen of prestigious families. No servant had ever dared talk back to her before.
Especially not some lowly mercenary.
Feeling Rosy flinch behind her, Regina let out a long sigh.
From the beginning, Persona Guild rules clearly stated that mission details could not be disclosed to unrelated parties.
‘Endure it. She’s just an ordinary civilian who can’t even fight. Think of it as a noisy dog barking.’
This kind of thing happened often enough.
Regina could still suppress her anger.
“Perhaps lowborn mercenaries simply can’t understand proper speech…”
Until Pinet finally crossed the line.
“Lowborn mercenaries?”
“That’s right. What kind of woman becomes a mercenary anyway? And barging into a ducal castle insisting on secretly speaking only with the Duke himself makes you look even more vulgar. Or maybe you’re mercenaries only on the outside and prostitutes underneath. Even a madman is still a man, after all.”
Her contemptuous gaze swept over both Regina and Rosy.
It finally settled on Regina’s curvy figure faintly visible through the gap in her robe.
Just as I thought.
Seeing Regina remain silent, Pinet snorted mockingly.
Regina slowly pushed back the hood she had pulled low and stepped toward Pinet.
Regina was fairly tall for a woman.
Tall enough to physically dominate most smaller women.
And more importantly, she knew how to fill her gaze with fury and killing intent.
‘Uh-oh. The miss is really angry now.’
Standing behind her, Rosy peeked out and looked at the startled Pinet.
Pinet was neither a hardened mercenary nor a powerful knight.
Soon enough, she would experience true intimidation and fear for the first time.
“Say that again. I’ll personally show you whether I’m a prostitute or a mercenary.”
