Death Can’t Sleep - Chapter 94
Victor Morte waited.
He was short-tempered and drew his sword first, but Amarion always kept him waiting. And his wait was always worth it. Even if he followed her to an unfamiliar land, made an arduous journey, and encountered wizards.
All his joy came from Amarion. So he waited without saying a word, like a docile dog.
“Dog, aren’t you worried? Your lover ran out like that!”
Asked Mirage, who had been ripping out his hair.
“…Lover?”
“Why are you pretending to be surprised? I have that much sense.”
To be honest, this mercenary was a bit too quick-witted, but Victor didn’t point that out.
Mirage stated.
“You two are lovers.”
“…”
“You’ve run away together, haven’t you? You’re a young noble, and Wildcat was your escort knight or something. Didn’t you run away because your father, her master, was against it?”
‘He’s quick-witted… But how did he make such a dramatic guess?’
The Grand Duke looked at the door, thinking that he must tell Amarion about this interesting misunderstanding.
It was almost time for her to return. If he truly knew her, then surely…
That instant, the inn door swung open.
“D*mn!”
A waiter carrying plates screamed.
His eyes softened in an instant. Victor looked at the person who appeared in the door.
Amarion, who returned, was still wearing her hood, with her beloved white hair tied up and hidden.
But blood dripped from the sword in her hand. Ignoring his gaze, she trudged over and threw a blood-soaked pouch at the bettor.
“Orc’s eyes. I won the bet.”
The bettor looked pale and opened the pouch. Then, soon after, they began to berate her.
“Hey, how do we know you caught this by yourself?”
“Yes! There are still hunters out there trying to catch Orcs, and they might have gotten them-”
“Yes, I don’t know. The important thing is that I have the skills to kill an Orc and come back alive.”
“…”
Amarion asked with a low voice.
“Would you like to duel with me over it?”
The bettors froze. It was funny to see such big men freeze.
She sighed deeply and held up her bloody sword. Then she whispered quietly.
“Don’t ever do something like this again, and give back all the money you stole from here.”
“What? Who do you think you are…?”
“Do you really want to have your fingers cut off?”
The bettors kept their mouths shut. The men didn’t seem to want to open their money pouches. Amarion cracked her neck, preparing for a fight.
Then, a faint light flickered across the table.
“Ahhh! What is this, my hand!”
The bettors began to scream.
“My, my hands! I’m sorry, please forgive me!”
“I’ll give you the money back, ah!”
Grasping their intact hands, they hurriedly threw their purses at her and ran.
Amarion turned her head blankly. Mirage was raising his eyebrows.
“It sounded like they were arguing, so I cut it short for you.”
“…Thank you.”
“What?”
The wizard shrugged.
Victor glanced at him, then turned back to Amarion.
She picked up one of the pouches and handed it to the crying boy.
“Don’t ever think about doing anything like this in the future. Money is never easy to make.”
“Yes… thank you.”
“Did anyone else suffer from it?”
“He’s probably the first one here.”
The innkeeper, who had been observing the situation, intervened. He crossed his arms and clicked his tongue.
“I said it was a scam, but he rushed at them saying he was in a hurry… If it wasn’t for her, you would have starved, young man!”
“…Is the situation in the village that bad?”
“Thanks to her highness it’s gotten a lot better, but we still have a long way to go.”
Amarion bit her lip. Even though she could only see half of his shadowed face, he looked strangely bitter as he said the village was alright.
She spoke in earnest.
“Everything will be fine. For sure.”
It was true.
Victor smiled brightly as he greeted his wife, who was returning home.
***
Dinner ended with drinks. There were bronze and silver coins in the pouches the bettors left behind, so she exchanged them for some of her gold coins.
She planned to give all the money to the village chief and have it be used to rebuild the village. She bought alcohol for Mirage and a few other mercenaries with the leftover change.
As the drinks circulated, the atmosphere relaxed. The rest of the mercenaries had a drinking party, so the whole restaurant was noisy.
Mirage, slightly drunk, asked.
“But did you really kill an Orc by yourself? There are few on this continent that can do such a thing.”
Amarion lowered her eyes in embarrassment.
Was it noticeable?
They were weaker than the Knights of Morte, so it would be quite surprising to hear that she had captured Orc alone. Though it would be an exaggeration to say that there were only a few on the continent.
She lied.
“I was lucky. I met the hunters.”
“Right? Well, I really thought you would surpass the Grand Duchess!”
Gasp.
She quickly bowed her head so they couldn’t hear her. Victor patted her on the back.
The other mercenaries chuckled.
“Is that possible? I heard rumors that the Grand Duchess is the embodiment of chivalry. She would never threaten to cut off fingers.”
“I was a little…”
“No, it’s perfect. You have to have that kind of temper to make it in the wasteland.”
Mirage laughed and encouraged Amarion.
Victor asked.
“What kind of place is the wasteland?”
“Don’t you know? Well, Dog is a young man.”
The mercenaries smiled softly and refilled their empty glasses. There was nostalgia in their eyes.
“It’s like home to us.”
“…”
“Knights make their master’s land their home, but mercenaries regard the barren desert as their home.”
Amarion nodded her head.
Mercenaries had no homeland. They hid their names and lived by fighting others’ fights. So, from a certain moment, they started calling the land without an owner their own.
“…Originally, it was just a metaphor, but Yaji, the mercenary king, united the mercenary corps of the continent and built a village there. That’s how it became the home of mercenaries.”
“Awesome.”
Victor replied bluntly.
Mirage said excitedly.
“If Dog visits, will he fall in love with it? Didn’t you say you were going there?”
“Right.”
“There’s a bar we go to often…”
Amarion hid her smile behind her glass.
Seeing Victor talking to Mirage put her mind at ease. He always kept his mouth shut around wizards, but strangely, he seemed to want to talk today.
‘Are you getting better little by little?’
She quietly emptied her glass.
Before long, Victor and the mercenaries were silent. They would have to leave early tomorrow, too. After helping Victor out of his seat, she said goodbye to the mercenaries and headed to the second floor.
Victor muttered as he climbed the stairs.
“They… They thought you were my escort knight.”
“What?”
“I am a noble master, and I fell in love with you and ran away…”
Amarion realized the meaning one beat later and blushed. It was the greatest disgrace for a knight to run away with their master!
‘Do I look like that kind of person…?’
Seeing her trembling eyes, Victor smiled.
“My sweet wife.”
He leaned over and kissed her. His lips tasted like sweet wine. It turned the tip of her ears red and she pushed him away.
“Not here.”
The kiss was sweet, but they were standing in a very public hallway. Victor blinked slowly and smiled.
“Yes, well, I’ve decided to listen carefully.”
He leaned heavily on her shoulder. The big man rubbed his cheek on her like a puppy.
‘Really, so cute!’
Amarion blushed and headed into the room with him.
＊ ＊ ＊
Even though she was tired and had a hangover, morning came.
Amarion and Victor were fine, but the mercenaries didn’t get up until late in the morning. In the meantime, they went to the village chief with the money pouches and had breakfast with wine. When the sun came up, Mirage crawled down, and looked at her with a glare that gave her goosebumps.
“You drank so much yesterday, yet you want to drink again?”
“The innkeeper gave it to me for free.”
“Is that important? Why does this knight go out more than our mercenaries?”
The young wizard touched his forehead. Amarion put her glass down shyly.
In the North, whenever the weather was chilly, they drank alcohol to warm themselves up, but the people of the Empire didn’t seem to like to drink again after a night of drinking. Was this some kind of etiquette? Maybe it was, because Victor refused too.
She finished her meal without touching her wine glass.
It was not until the sun rose in the sky that the mercenaries were finally ready to depart. She put the saddle on her horse after nursing her hangover with hot soup.
The innkeeper and waiters gave them lots of dried fruit and snacks. Their eyes were filled with gratitude. The owner whispered to her.
“Have a nice trip, your highness.”
Amarion opened her eyes wide in surprise, then smiled, nodded, and departed with the mercenaries.
***
