Chapter 53

Zen frowned and struggled to open his eyes in the sunlight that came straight down his face.

His whole body was cramped. He’s feeling tired from overusing his body. 

‘Hmm, I still have to wake up. I don’t know when the landlord will be back… What?’ 

Zen sensed something strange belatedly.

It wasn’t because his body was tired, it was tied up.

Zen hurriedly lifted his eyelids. Then he saw a man of great size. The man’s face was hairy, he looked like someone who hasn’t shaved in a while. A sloppy but strangely intimidating appearance. Zen felt powerless in front of the man.

“You slept comfortably. How dare you come into a house without the owner?”

At the sound of his annoyed voice, Zen swallowed his dry saliva.

Is he the mercenary, Demalo? He couldn’t check his face properly as he is covered by shaggy bangs and a beard.

“Are you the owner of this house?”

“Then who do you think I am?” When asked by the man, Zen put a name in his mouth with a look of anticipation.

“…Demalo.”

Zen called the man by his name, and the man’s murderous intent came out.

“Are you an assassin who came to kill me?”

Zen shook his head hastily and denied.

“No way!”

“Hmm, of course, an assassin won’t confess, ‘I’m the assassin!’“

“No, I’m really not”

“Oh, I don’t believe you.”

The man pulled a shabby dagger out of his pocket. On the surface, it was so old that you would wonder if it could cut fruits. However, Zen noticed at once. That the blade of that seemingly shabby dagger is very sleekly trimmed.

“I don’t really want to hear your last words. Let’s just go easy.”

The man’s dagger flew into Zen’s neck. Zen cried desperately, closing his eyes tightly.

“It’s Adelia Sorne!”

The movement of the dagger, which was moving without hesitation, stopped for a moment. Demalo asked with a stiff face.

“Did that kid send you?”

“That kid?”

“Oh, she’s not a kid anymore. The young lady of Marquis Sorne, Adelia.”

Demalo, who had been muttering for a while at Zen’s question, asked again, directly mentioning her name.

Zen nodded and shouted.

“Yes, yes! The Young lady of the Marquis, Adelia Sorne! Oh, she doesn’t belong to the marquis now, but you know her anyway. Has she ever commissioned you before–”

Demalo laughed at Zen, who started talking freely. He warned, sticking a dagger right next to Zen’s face.

“Hey, I didn’t tell you to ask questions. Answering my question comes first. And she’s not Marquis Young lady anymore. What does that mean? Did she send you?”

Zen looked at Demalo with a pale, sickening face.

“Answer.”

“I, it’s — it’s not her who sent me.”

“Then why did you come?”

“I have one thing to confirm. Have you ever been employed by Adelia Sorne 12 years ago?”

“Why are you asking that?”

Zen answered Demalo’s question with a serious look.

“To repay you.”

“Repay…?” 

Demalo fumbled his memory. When he was hired by that feisty little girl from the Marquis of Sorne…. Demalo, who had been walking in the forest of memories for a while, looked at Zen with a face that he remembered.

“Those kiddies who were kidnapped then!”

Zen nodded strongly and affirmed.

“That’s right! The kids! I’m one of the kids!”

“What? You’re alive and well Oh, now that I see it. Are you the one who ran into the carriage?”

Zen shouted loudly, looking alive.

“That’s right!”

“Hahaha. Yeah. I thought you were a hobo who came to take care of me again.”

“Take care of you? … Does anyone have a grudge against you?”

“Well… if you work as a mercenary there will be a lot of people who will hold grudges against you. By the way, how’s the girl? What do you mean she’s no longer a Marquis of Sorne’s lady?” 

Zen pondered for a moment.

How far should I explain to him?

As if reading Zen’s mind, Demalo grind his teeth and warned,

“Don’t hide it and tell me everything. Or you’ll be tied up and locked up for a month.”

Zen breathed a sigh and solved the information about Adelia Sorne that he knew.

Starting with Hestine Valkyr, who is now a saint and suffered from Adelia’s evil deeds, eventually she was abandoned and proclaimed to be dead by her family, and now living in the principality.

Demalo listened silently and without a word while Zen’s story continued.

“So, that’s what happened…”

Demalo whispered quietly. Zen saw a hint of guilt in his face.

As he wondered why Demalo had that kind of look on his face, Demalo started talking.

“Let me ask you a question. Do you want to repay the grace of your savior who was raised as a wicked woman?”

When asked the unexpected question, Zen pondered seriously.

The benefactor is a wicked woman.

The answer is no. 

Even though she’s his benefactor he didn’t want to repay her kindness to him, as she had lost her humanity. 

However, the benefactor he saw himself was a person who was completely different from the rumors.

“The Adelia I saw is totally different from the evil girl in the rumor. If she is the same as the rumor, I would even doubt that she is our benefactor.”

“… Is that so?”

Demalo smiled as if he felt relieved at Zen’s answer.

“You. Were you hired by the young lady of Sorne back then?”

“Yes. Like you said I was hired by Adelia Sorne 12 years ago.” 

“I see…”

Zen’s face glowed with certainty.

Demalo said with a grin.

“I’ll make it a little clearer. I’ll see for myself if the woman who you said was staying in your castle was that little girl.”

Zen couldn’t understand what Demalo was saying for a moment.

“No, that’s not…?”

“I’m going to the Principality, too.”

Zen was bewildered at the situation that was flowing differently than he thought.

“That’s a little…”

“Oh, I’m telling you in advance, there’s no option to refuse.”

Zen stared at Demalo in amazement.

Of course, such a gaze had no effect on Demalo.

Eventually, Zen was headed to the principality with Demalo.

“…the distance to the teleport hall is considerable, so we have to travel by carriage or foot for about five days. Is that okay?”

“Teleport hall? Wow. The world is much better. I used that expensive teleport hall when I was young. Using teleport was so expensive that I had to walk without sleeping properly for a month.”

Zen shook his head with a fed-up look. He was forced to accompany him because he said he wouldn’t say anything if he didn’t take him with him. 

Demalo, who had a clean haircut and shaved beard before leaving, looked quite middle-aged.

He looked like he had made quite a few women cry in his youth.

‘Of course, it’s normal compared to the Grand Duke.’ 

Zen glanced at Demalo.

He still kept his body firm, not letting go of his sword.

Suddenly, Zen wondered why he retired early even though he was a first-class mercenary.

“What are you looking at?”

“…I’m just curious.”

“What?”

“Why did you retire?” 

At Zen’s question, Demalo looked up at the sky with a smirk.

It was a really clear day without a speck of cloud. The wind whistling around their body was moderately cool.

‘It’s a good day for a picnic.’

He could hear an auditory hallucination of his daughter, who had left first, calling him in an excited voice.

“You don’t have to know. You have a lot of questions.”

He could hear Zen rumbling, but Demalo ignored it neatly and closed his eyes quietly.

***

A deadly epidemic spread around the periphery of a small country.

The king said it was a harbinger of disaster, and that he could not solve it himself.

The benevolence of the temple did not reach the powerless kingdom.

Only a few numbers of priests helped the epidemic in a small country.

However, they only took care of the center of the kingdom, and they did not come to the periphery.

“Dad… Let’s go on a picnic again….”

The dying voice piteously asked.

Demalo prayed, holding his daughter’s hands, which were getting thinner.

I will pay whatever the price is, so please cure my daughter’s illness.

“Okay, let’s go on a picnic with my dad. Let’s go when Lia gets a little healthier.”

“Yes… I promise….”

Having lost his wife early, who had weakened after giving birth, all he was left with was a daughter.

Due to the nature of his job as a mercenary, he was proud and sorry for her daughter who had never said anything unpleasant even though he had to leave home often.

There was still a lot he wanted to do for his daughter. He couldn’t even let his daughter go like this.

Demalo, who made such a decision, took his daughter to the capital. To go see the priest who can heal her.

“Please treat my daughter!”

“Ack! Priests don’t have enough time to care about things like you! Get back!”

The king’s servant hurled Demalo out. He was taken by the hands of the soldiers.

In the end, his precious and tender daughter, who had not yet lived properly, died without even receiving proper treatment. Demalo started to break down. He began to get addicted to alcohol that he had never touched in his life. Whenever he opens his eyes, he feels like the days are being repeated. 

Then one day, an opportunity for revenge came to him. A request from the rebels to recruit troops.The reward was really simple, but Demalo accepted the request without hesitation.

In its own way, the rebels showed a victory. The royal family with a weak military force became weaker due to the epidemic. Other countries tied up in the guise of allies have also turned a blind eye to a kingdom that no longer stands a chance.

The day of the final battle. The rebels and the people attacked the city, and Demalo cut the king’s throat in a fierce battle.

‘…is it over?’

His emptiness and anger did not disappear even though he cut off the head of the man he hated so much. He became a first-degree mercenary after that day, and began to undertake dirty and dangerous commissions.

He survived somehow, even though he wanted to die.

It’s contradictory

Killing himself was an easy task compared to the requests he had received. But each time he hears his daughter’s voice. Her daughter’s voice asking to go on a picnic with him. But he can’t hear that voice anymore. It’s just a memory.

He wandered off. Only wandering aimlessly made him forget his daughter’s voice for a moment. One of his colleagues asked him for a request.

“Hey, it’s time to settle down. I have a request that’s very expensive and easy to make. Will you take a look?”

Escorting a noble with a high status. Maybe it’s fate, the client’s age was the same as his dead daughter.

Of course, his daughter would be older than the noble if she were alive, but unfortunately, the age of the dead remains unchanged. The fact broke Demalo’s heart.

“I’ll take it.”