“What, what?”

“Get out before I scream and call for help.”

With eyes wide open, I threatened him, and the robber hesitated.

It would have been nice if he had just left.

“…Ha, that’s not going to happen.”

As expected of someone trying to rob a weak woman like me with no conscience.

“Hand over the bag!”

He quickly turned malicious and lunged at me.

“Ugh—!”

While trying to avoid him, I tripped and dropped the wooden stick.

‘Damn.’

As I crawled backward, something hard touched my back.

It was the leg of a chair placed in the room for decoration.

“You should have just stayed asleep. Don’t blame me too much; you brought this on yourself.”

Crack. The robber cracked his knuckles and approached menacingly.

This was bad.

Desperately thinking of how to get out of this situation, I suddenly thrust my backpack forward.

“Wait a minute!”

“What is it?”

“There are some valuables like jewels in here. If I give them to you, will you let me go?”

I changed my posture to kneel and pleaded with my hands together.

The robber’s eyes gleamed greedily at the mention of jewels.

He glanced at his companion, still lying on the floor unconscious, and spoke generously.

“Let’s have a look.”

“Yes, take your time.”

As the robber bent down to pick up the backpack.

I gripped the chair leg tightly, planted my feet, and sprang up.

“Hiyaah—!”

And with all my strength, I swung the chair at the robber’s head.

Whoosh.

“Ouch!”

As the robber screamed and collapsed, the door burst open.

“Shailyn!”

“…Carl?”

I looked at Carl, who suddenly appeared by breaking down the door, with surprised eyes.

Why are you here?

While I was momentarily distracted by him, the robber, who hadn’t lost consciousness, charged at me in anger.

“You b*tch—!”

This time, I was ready to take a hit since there was no way to dodge.

Thud!

Carl rushed in like he was flying and kicked the man away.

Wow, like some kind of Pokémon.

Crash!

The man rolled away pathetically, tumbling across the narrow room.

Ignoring him, Carl turned to me and spun me around.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, yes. I’m fine. But how did you know to come here?”

“I followed because the blond guy you went with seemed suspicious.”

“My blond puppy?”

No way, the blond puppy looked too innocent to be involved in something dirty like this!

…Or maybe he just looked vague?

While I packed my backpack, Carl tied up the two robbers with a blanket.

As he dragged them downstairs, he explained the situation in more detail.

Tommy, who was loitering in the lobby, visibly turned pale when we appeared.

“Hey, blondie.”

“Eek!”

“If you run, you’re dead. Come here.”

As Carl beckoned with his finger, Tommy, with a grim face, reluctantly approached us.

With a little more intimidation, he soon tearfully confessed everything.

It turned out he was in debt. So he conspired with friends who were also in debt to rob the inn’s guests.

And they cowardly targeted only women.

‘Turns out he wasn’t a puppy but just a bastard.’

What made me angrier was.

“You, you’re a fake blond?!”

Tommy’s bright blond hair wasn’t natural but the result of magical hair dye.

Since the effect only lasted 12 hours, the roots had already turned a deep brown.

“If you weren’t blond, I wouldn’t have followed you here, you bastard!”

“Sob, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

As I grabbed and shook his collar, Tommy cried and begged for forgiveness.

I laughed bitterly and leaned my head back.

Yeah, there was no way I could find the male lead so easily.

‘The male lead is usually in the north or the capital, according to romance fantasy rules…’

After handing the three over to the guards with Carl, I trudged out of the inn.

Carl held onto my shoulder as I walked dejectedly.

“Where are you going?”

He took something out of his pocket and handed it to me.

It was the ruby earrings and necklace I had given him.

“Huh? Why are you giving these back?”

“You said you’re going to the capital, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then hire me as your escort knight.”

His unexpected proposal made my eyes widen.

“…But wouldn’t it be better for you to find your family or acquaintances?”

He pointed to himself with his chin and chuckled.

“Don’t I look like someone without a family?”

“…….”

Surprisingly, I couldn’t deny it.

Carl was dressed in black clothes as dark as his hair, with a similarly black cloak, worn and frayed enough for even me to notice.

He was the typical wandering swordsman with no home or family, carrying only a single sword.

“And you’re a bit clueless, so if I leave you alone, you’ll probably get into trouble again. I can’t let the life I saved go to waste.”

“Uhm…”

Carl continued as I couldn’t deny and just cleared my throat.

“I have nowhere to go anyway, and if you hire me, at least I can protect you. You need me, don’t you?”

He looked at me with eyes darker than the night sky.

Honestly, if I was with Carl, I’d be safe anywhere, anytime.

Considering he lost his memory because of me, there was no special reason to refuse his offer… but.

The unfortunate reality stood in our way.

Which was,

“I have no money to pay you.”

The fact that I’m broke.

I had something important to use my mom’s keepsakes for, so I couldn’t sell them, and Shailyn’s jewelry was too few to fetch a lot of money.

I didn’t have the financial capability to consistently pay someone a salary, even if it was just for a short time.

“Then hire me as a porter.”

Unaware of my situation, Carl didn’t give up and tried to get employed again.

“I don’t have money for that either….”

“Ha.”

Carl sighed, brushing back his hair, seemingly frustrated by my inability to even afford a cheap porter.

I’m sorry, for contributing to you losing your memory and not having any money…

Meanwhile, as his messy black hair was pushed back, his neat face became even more prominent.

How can he have such a striking appearance even on a dark night like this?

He looks more like a walking piece of art than a wandering swordsman.

He narrowed his handsome brows and said.

“Just take me in, whatever it is.”

“Uh-huh.”

If he wants to be taken in by me that much…

I opened my mouth solemnly after much consideration.

“You might end up suffering with me. Are you okay with that?”

“I don’t care.”

“We might be chased by people, or be miserably abandoned. We might even end up homeless on the streets.”

Carl looked at me with a face that seemed to ask what’s the point. My warnings seemed to mean nothing to him.

Are wandering swordsmen always this open-minded?

Anyway, after confirming his firm resolve, I made my decision.

“Then, I’ll take you as my bondservant¹T/N: the word is 머슴 which is a servant but similar to slave in chosun dynasty.“

“What is that?”

“It’s something between a slave and a servant. Can I pay you when I make money or get money later?”

Somehow, being Korean, the term ‘bondservant’ felt more familiar and comfortable than ‘slave’ or ‘servant.’

Fortunately, Carl nodded with a rather satisfied face.

“Alright, bondservant. I look forward to working with you.”

“Yeah, master.”

And so, we became master and servant.

Having lost my place to stay, I moved to Carl’s lodging.

As we entered the cleanly maintained inn, the old lady at the counter spoke to us.

“What’s this, bringing your wife?”

“No, I’m this man’s owner. His master.”

“Oh, really? A slave? I thought he was a young master from a rich family hidden like a pearl in the mud. Turns out he was just a stone in the mud!”

The old lady laughed heartily.

So that’s how she says he looks dirty without washing…

It seems it would be better to just hear some nagging to wash up.

After greeting the old lady, we went up to Carl’s room. He immediately took off his robe and strode to the bathroom.

“I’m going to wash up.”

“Okay.”

I guess the old lady’s words were a bit shocking for him.

While Carl was taking a diligent shower, I looked around the room.

It was much cleaner and more organized than the inn I had been deceived into going to.

‘It’s not like I went to a valley pension during vacation season, but I got ripped off in a game…’

Even thinking about it made me grumble as I picked up Carl’s robe to hang it on the hanger.

Then the sword he left behind was revealed.

“Hmm, it’s a bit dirty?”

I took out a handkerchief and wiped the dusty scabbard.

Then my eyes were drawn to the handle, wrapped in old, worn cloth.

‘I have bandages, should I replace it with those…?’

I couldn’t stand the sight of it being so dirty and tattered.

I took out a bandage from my backpack and unwrapped the cloth. Then the part of the handle that had been hidden was revealed.

“Huh? There’s a hawk here too…?”

Near the sword, there was a small, round hawk pattern engraved.

Does he really like hawks that much?

I was curiously touching the hawk with a red ruby in its eye when…