‘Hah. Came here to collect my payment, and this is what I get. Do I even know what this place is before barging in?’

Though she couldn’t read well, Sel wasn’t completely clueless about these things. After years of odd jobs like working at the forge and doing night cleaning, she’d learned a thing or two.

Sel let out a bitter laugh. At best, she could fire a few shots, but even that wasn’t much of a selling point as a mercenary. Did they want her as cannon fodder? Or maybe for menial tasks? Or was this some human trafficking ring?

Unable to figure out the man’s true intentions, Sel blinked her large eyes.

“Sorry, but I’ll have to decline—”

“You. You were taking jobs from Ken’s forge, right?”

“…!”

“I’m originally from the capital. Been here for about three years now. Right after I settled down here, I brought a broken weapon over, and the blacksmith had real skill. Fixed up all the new magic machines from the capital without a problem.”

Sel looked down at the floor, her gaze heavy. Only now did she realize the weapons she’d been fixing were for this mercenary group. No wonder those magic machines looked unusually high-end—they were straight from the capital.

“This place looks like just any other quiet village. There’s no war here, and the weapons development is crude.”

With a look of disbelief, Lavi clicked his tongue and perched himself on the arm of the chair, folding his arms.

“The weapons they make are pretty pathetic, but the repair work is top-notch. I always wondered about that. Didn’t expect you were the one doing it.”

His tone was filled with certainty.

Sel nearly nodded but stopped herself. She wasn’t about to reveal her movements to someone she couldn’t trust yet.

“We’ve been paying ten rubles per piece. How much did you get?”

But that resolve crumbled instantly. Ten rubles each? She’d been repairing over twenty items every month, and all she’d received was ten rubles in total.

Anger rose up in her, reddening the tips of her ears.

“I can tell from the way you live—you didn’t get even a tenth of that.”

“Damn.”

“Oh, you curse well. Accepted.”

“What?”

“A mercenary’s gonna face some rough clients now and then. Gotta have some grit. Some collateral, you know?”

“I don’t intend to join a mercenary group….”

“How about a salary of… two hundred rubles?”

Lavi cut her off, casually throwing out a salary amount.

Not annually—monthly.

Sel barely managed to pick her jaw up off the floor, trying to contain her shock. Her trust in this mercenary group shot through the roof.

‘No, stay calm. Don’t let the money sway you. Getting involved with people won’t lead to anything good.’

Even in desperation, she reminded herself not to give in. Her current life in hiding wasn’t without reason; she could never come out in the open like this—

“Lavi, the contract lists the salary at five hundred rubles. What should we do?”

Almost as if they could sense her hesitation, Eric’s voice from the back introduced the figure of five hundred rubles, hitting Sel’s eardrums like a bolt of lightning.

Wide-eyed, Sel turned around. Leaning against the doorframe with a contract in hand, Eric waved it lightly, his relaxed gesture almost seductive, like a devil offering temptation.

“I’ll do it! Five hundred rubles!”

Sel shouted boldly, the instinct to grab hold of the five hundred rubles kicking in before Eric could even finish.

All of Sel’s usual caution shattered in the face of that amount.

“Ah, man. Bit of a bleed in the salary negotiations, huh.”

Lavi’s face took on a troubled expression, though Sel could tell he was enjoying himself.

Sel had long learned to read people’s faces and intentions after years of being subjected to raw emotions, especially negative ones. Even if she couldn’t understand the depths of their minds, she could at least discern the honesty in their expressions. That, in itself, was a skill.

Five hundred rubles. Per month.

She’d barely gotten by on a hundred twenty rubles a year; five hundred could last her four years.

Her quick-witted mind did the calculations instantly. Half a year of closing her eyes and working here would set her up for the next twenty-five years.

Even if this place was a dump, she didn’t care. As long as they paid her, she’d work like a dog.

No hesitation in her decision.

—

Sel signed the contract, her handwriting wobbly, like that of a five-year-old, as she scrawled her name.

Her hands trembled with nerves, already picturing the five hundred rubles she hadn’t even received yet.

“So, should I start coming here from tomorrow?”

Sel asked Eric, who was in charge of personnel management.

Eric glanced at Sel’s age on the contract and just observed the young boy silently, leaving Lavi to answer from his side.

“No, we have a dormitory here. You’ll be living here. Room and board are included….”

“I can’t live in the dormitory.”

Sel cut in without hesitation.

Lavi leaned forward, shifting from his relaxed position.

“Sorry, Sel. Dormitory living is a requirement; it’s even in the contract. Right here.”

He pointed to a clause, his tone matter-of-fact.

Sel bit her lip.

The section Lavi pointed at was filled with characters that were difficult to read.

The empire’s script had two main types: the Common Script, easy for ordinary people to use, and the High Script, reserved for royalty, nobility, and the educated class.

This contract was a mix of Common and High Script.

Sel, who barely knew a few Common Script characters, couldn’t have fully understood the contract’s terms.

A mistake. She’d been careless. Sel bit her lip inwardly.

Blinded by the allure of money, she had signed a document without understanding it.

It was her first contract, and she’d handled it poorly.

All her life, she had prided herself on never trusting anyone easily. Yet, here she was, scribbling her name on a document that reeked of temptation.

“If you insist on commuting, I won’t stop you, but we’ll have to redo the contract. As I initially proposed, the monthly salary will be 200 rubles.”

Two hundred rubles. Certainly, that was still a significant sum for her.

But having experienced the substantial amount of 500 rubles, she had to weigh her options carefully.

When calculated over six months, the difference was a hefty 1,800 rubles—a matter that could cover 15 years of living expenses.

If she endured the training for six months, she would gain living expenses for 15 years.

Her blue eyes, which seemed to hold the color of the sky, darted around restlessly.

Lavi, who had lowered his eyebrows, tapped the armrest of the sofa, waiting for Sel’s response.

Lavi’s expression was filled with a sense of ease, as if he already anticipated Sel’s answer.

“I-I’ll do it.”

Though her throat was tight, her decision was firm. She only had to endure for six months.

Sel plunged into this contract for the sake of a comfortable old age.

“Good.”

Clap. Lavi clapped his hands and tapped Eric, who had been staring intently at the goblin mask.

Only then did Eric come to his senses, nodding as he stood up.

Even without Lavi explicitly saying so, Eric knew what he had to do.

“Follow me, rookie.”

Eric spoke, but Sel, instead of moving, looked at Lavi.

Sel extended both hands toward Lavi.

“I’m due for my payment.”

“For what?”

“For the sword loan. Excluding meal costs, it’s 80 rubles. You said you’d give it to me.”

It would be inconvenient if she tried to withhold payment using the contract as an excuse. Sel eyed Lavi coldly, showing her meticulous nature.

“Haha, I forgot about that.”

Laughing heartily, Lavi pulled a 100-ruble bill from his pocket and placed it in Sel’s hand. The bill was light, but Sel’s hands trembled as if she was holding a chunk of metal.

“Only 80 rubles would be enough.”

“Use the extra to buy supplies for the training. Consider it an early bonus.”

A bonus. With that, there was no need to refuse. Sel carefully stowed the bill in her inner pocket, bowed to Lavi, and followed behind Eric.

The laughter from Lavi tickled her back, but Sel ignored the sensation and walked forward.

***

Outside the room, Eric descended to the first floor.

Perhaps because it was evening, the first floor was empty.

Taking out a notebook from his pocket, Eric muttered, “Just a moment…” and started jotting down something feverishly.

After writing, Eric tore out the page, folded it thinly, and opened the window.

When he whistled, a large crow landed gently on the windowsill.

Eric attached the note to the crow’s leg.

Then, he glanced around and pulled out a dagger.

What’s that?

Sel tensed, her hand slowly reaching for her waist.

Her fingers brushed the handle of a manual pistol at her right side.

Suddenly, Eric emitted a chilling aura and threw the dagger toward the area behind the counter.

A shrill, screeching sound followed. There, a rat, about the size of a forearm, lay dead from the dagger wound.

Wearing white gloves, Eric picked up the rat and walked to the window, tossing it to the crow.

As the crow opened its beak, its mouth stretched past its beak and into its throat.

That wasn’t a crow.

“A…monster?”

“It’s a half-breed.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s a half-breed between a crow and a monster.”

Eric stroked the crow’s chin with his finger.

The crow’s throat, engorged from swallowing the large rat in one go, bulged dramatically.

Even though she lived close to the Black Forest, Sel had never seen or heard of a half-breed like that.

She stared at Eric with a shocked expression.

“I like such things, rookie. Unique ones. The unusual.”

Eric took deliberate steps toward Sel.

He even proudly mentioned that he had modified the half-breed himself.

Eric held his finger below his nose, stopping at a certain distance from Sel.

Feeling a chill up her spine, Sel took a deep breath.

“And I enjoy observing such things. It’s a hobby of mine.”

If Lavi exuded intimidation, Eric radiated an unsettling vibe. To put it bluntly, he was an eccentric, and the label suited him perfectly.

“I feel a certain pleasure watching Commander Lavi, and you, Sel, seem interesting as well.”

His delicate yet decadent face bore a bright smile.

His previously dry eyes now sparkled with life.

He extended his arm, tapping Sel’s mask.

His fingers traced the area around the eyes and nose of the mask before dropping away.

“It’s quite a unique mask. But is it washable?”

“I’ve never washed it, so I don’t know.”

For the first time, a wrinkle appeared on Eric’s face, which had previously held its composure.

Hurriedly, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and scrubbed his fingers.

Sel looked at Eric with a bewildered expression.

***

“The first floor has the counter and office rooms. The second floor holds the armory, gym, library, and dining room. And the third floor has the dormitories, which are shared rooms for two people…”

“Um… I’d prefer a vacant room. I’ve lived alone for a long time and cover my body due to scars. I don’t want to share a room with anyone.”

Sel tried to secure a vacant room with various excuses. She couldn’t bear sharing a room with another person.

“There are no vacant rooms.”

“If there aren’t any vacant rooms, I’ll sleep alone in the library.”

“You’re a rather picky rookie.”

Eric abruptly stopped, turned around, and looked down at Sel coldly, tilting his head. Sel once again met those emotionless eyes.

“Do you think this place is easy? Or me?”

“…No, sir.”

Though his earlier reaction to touching the dirty mask had made Eric seem oddly human, he was not someone to be taken lightly.

“We respected your request to renew the contract in six months.”

“Thank you for that.”

“We even calculated the salary generously. I’d say we’ve been quite accommodating. The library. Fine. Do as you wish. But if anything terrifying happens, our mercenary group won’t take responsibility.”

“Terrifying…?”

“Oh, you mentioned living in seclusion. I suppose you wouldn’t have heard the rumor, then.”

“What rumor?”

“About Commander Lavi.”