Chapter 25

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After their tents were securely packed away, she mounted a horse.

Last night, a few knights received minor injuries while killing the orc, so she decided to let them use her carriage. The knights refused, saying ‘how could we ride in the lady’s carriage’, but when she showed them the large interior and soft satin seats, they hesitantly accepted.

So now, she was riding alongside Sir Carlz.

“So, in Madame’s eyes, his highness is like a dog.”

“Please, I said puppy.”

“It’s the same thing.”

She frowned at Carlz. She felt like he heard something he shouldn’t have.

She blushed and gazed over the boring landscape as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. She had told him what they talked about that morning, but after she said it out loud, she felt a little embarrassed.

Carlz asked Raoul sternly.

“What are the nicknames of our great master, the Grand Duke?”

“The Continent’s Nightmare, the Disaster of the Eastern Kingdom, the Black Scaled Dragon, Walking Death…”

“But in our madame’s eyes, he’s a dog.”

“Puppy.”

She protested, but the two of them weren’t listening.

Raoul stroked his chin in an exaggerated manner.

“What a wonderful expression. You summarized all of his nicknames into one word.”

Leonard coughed desperately to contain his laughter.

Raoul added.

“Besides, it’s significant because his wife gave it to him. Aren’t most husbands jerks?”

In the end, Carlz, who couldn’t hold it in any longer, burst into laughter. The knights around them shook their shoulders and giggled.

She glared at them with a reddened face.

Really, she couldn’t beat these people.

***

After chatting and bantering for a while, they arrived at the next village.

Carlz steered his horse over to her and apologized.

“Sorry for teasing you, Madame. Your words were just so shocking.”

She squinted her eyes and glared at the red-haired knight. Carlz hated it, saying she ‘looked like his highness’, and entered the stable holding the reins of their horses.

‘How could you tease Victor when he’s in this state?’

She shook her head and looked around the village.

The streets were lively.

The market was large and there were several inns, so it seemed like a fairly well-equipped village.

They planned to unpack and rest early today. She was exhausted from yesterday’s work, and they had already camped for two days in a row. She missed soft beds very much.

Diederick rented the cleanest inn and drove the knights towards it, like a shepherd herding sheep.

While they were fussing about who got to take a bath first, she snuck out of the with her sword.

They would find out soon, but she was so nervous that she couldn’t stand it.

***

As expected, the cheapest pub in the village had a harsh atmosphere. The dark hall had a musty smell, and was full of rough-looking people. As she entered, everyone inside looked at her in unison.

‘Should I have worn a cloak as well?’

She looked around with a cold expression on her face.

In the corner, two elderly people were drinking, and next to them, foreign travelers puffed out cigarette smoke. Low-ranking soldiers, who occupied the wide table in the center, were already drunk.

Her eyes were drawn back to the two elderly people sitting near the door. They were a stocky man with an axe, and a tall woman in leather armor.

She walked over to them.

“I’ll buy you both a drink.”

Two pairs of eyes glared at her suspiciously.

She placed two gold coins on the table and ordered an ale.

The woman smiled and tapped the gold coins.

“You know how to talk to a mercenary. I thought you were a rich wife from somewhere. Are you a business partner?”

“I got married and quit the business.”

She sat down in an empty chair.

The man chuckled.

“Why did you come all this way?”

Instead of answering, she pulled out her leather pouch. They looked at the slightly discolored pouch with interest.

She briefly explained.

“Nightmare orc’s glands.”

Their smiles disappeared at once. As if bewildered, they looked at each other, then her, then the pouch.

“Did you catch it yourself?”

She nodded.

Actually, she didn’t kill it, but it wasn’t a complete lie. She was the one who took out the glands after Victor killed it.

The man scowled as he carefully checked the pouch.

“She’s right. Very fresh. How did you get it so fresh?”

“Because I killed it in the plains last night.”

“Don’t lie.”

“I’m not.”

The woman narrowed her eyes.

“I’ve also seen orcs recently. It lives in the mountains, so why did it come all the way down here?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask. Why was an orc in such a place?”

There was silence for a moment.

She looked at them nervously.

Mercenaries knew monsters better than anyone else.

Large mercenary groups wandered all over the continent to prevent monster infestations and devastation, so they quickly grasped the habits of monsters.

The saying ‘ask a merchant for a good neighborhood to live in, and a mercenary for a bad neighborhood’ were not empty words.

After chatting for a while, the two opened up.

“…Actually, there have been rumors of monsters acting strange for some time. Their numbers have also increased.”

“We met several on the way.”

“The defenses along the border are said to have weakened, but we don’t know the details.”

The woman added briefly.

“The mercenary corps are investigating.”

Amarion nodded.

If this was being investigated by a mercenary unit, they would look into the matter thoroughly.

She pushed the poison glands towards them.

“Thank you. You can have them.”

“This is too much.”

“I’m not in need of money.”

“What?”

The woman laughed cheerfully, and toasted her.

She drank her ale after clinking glasses with the two of them.

“What the…! If I had the skills to hunt an orc, I would be rich. You quit because you got married to a f*cking b*stard?”

“It’s just… how…”

She hid her face behind her glass.

She couldn’t say that her husband was the most famous knight in the Empire, and that he was a great lord with a huge territory.

Seeing her blushing over nothing, the man shook his head.

“Yet again, someone quit the mercenary life because of love. That’s something for the mercenary king to lament.”

“No, is it possible to retire forever? Was the income not good enough so you left? Is that it?”

The two of them laughed and joked about mercenaries. She nodded absentmindedly and occasionally sipped her ale.

The frivolous tone of the mercenaries reminded her of home.

She closed her eyes and gulped down the bitter ale.

She had to empty this cup so she could go back to the inn.

Suddenly, a familiar cut through the pub’s lively atmosphere.

“Marion!”

She reflexively turned her head.

Victor was standing there, hands on his knees, catching his breath.

Her eyes widened.

“Uh, what are you doing here?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing. What are you doing here?”

He walked over to her.

Victor had searched for her as soon as he had washed his hair. His bangs covered his forehead, making him look much younger than usual.

He frowned and looked around.

“I panicked because you disappeared. The innkeeper said that you must have come here. What’s going on?”

“There’s something I needed to know…”

As she was talking, she suddenly remembered the mercenaries sitting across from her.

They were giving her a strange look.

“Is that your husband?”

As she nodded awkwardly, they stroked their chins, as if contemplating.

“Really… a face like that…”

“He’s worth giving up a few pockets of gold coins over.”

“Where did you get such a man? You hadn’t even traveled all over the continent.”

Amarion hurriedly got up from her seat, blushing.

Victor had left an impression on them. He whispered under his breath.

“What the hell?”

“Be careful, sister. If he runs out of wealth, you need to run.”

“It’ll be the same if you lose your beauty!”

“Let’s go back, Victor!”

She hurriedly grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

The drunken mercenaries burst out laughing out loud.

Victor narrowed his eyes as if he had something to say, but she forcibly pulled him along, out the door.

The woman shouted after them.

“Hey! We work as much as we get paid. We were paid too much, so I’ll let you know when the investigation is over.”

She looked back.

The woman chuckled.

“Your man is stocky and strong. Where can I find someone like him?”

After a moment, she answered.

“Morte estate!”

***