Chapter 4

"I believe there's been a misunderstanding."

Kinaine responded calmly to the insulting remark. In fact, he felt no particular emotion about it. He had heard far worse countless times before.

"If you wish, I can show you my badge."

Mercenaries were ranked according to the difficulty and success rate of their requests.

Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Special Class.

Special Class was a rank that could only be obtained by mercenaries who had defeated magical beasts single-handedly.

"Hmm."

Even after confirming the platinum badge that symbolized a Special Class mercenary, the client still couldn't hide his skepticism.

That was understandable since the man before him didn't look strong at all... and was even quite beautiful.

His long neck and slender lines gave him an orchid-like figure, and his almond-shaped eyes had the power to draw people's gazes. If there was a flaw, it was that his skin was as pale as a corpse.

The client cleared his throat after staring at the mercenary before him as if licking him with his eyes.

"Ahem, I paid a lot of money for this request. If you're deceiving me, you'd better be prepared for the consequences."

"You won't regret it."

As Kinaine put the returned badge back in his pocket, he brought up the question about what needed to be done.

"So, who am I supposed to protect?"

This request involved protecting a target and subjugating a magical beast.

The former was easy, but the latter was very difficult. Most mercenaries would run at the mere mention of magical beasts.

Magical beasts were entirely different from monsters like the orcs Kinaine had faced. They were less like living beings and more like natural disasters, like earthquakes or droughts.

"The one to protect is my daughter."

The client turned his head to look out the window. Though it was still bright outside in the middle of the day, the client's face was in stark contrast, very dark.

"At midnight, a magical beast will come here targeting my daughter."

The client then explained the whole story.

One day, his daughter had gone to the mountain behind their house and brought back a crow with an injured wing. Being fond of animals, she had treated it, and with her careful nursing, the crow seemed to recover quickly.

"Looking back now, the speed was suspiciously fast. I'm not even sure if it was really injured in the first place."

Though she had grown attached, his daughter released the crow once its wing had healed. Surprisingly, that same crow returned the next day.

Carrying a small jeweled earring in its beak.

"At first, she thought it was just a coincidence. They say crows collect shiny things."

Intrigued, his daughter playfully told the crow to bring more things like this if it found any.

That crow was certainly no ordinary beast.

As if understanding her words, the crow brought a pearl necklace the next day.

A ruby ring a month later.

A golden hair ornament three months later.

"If only she had been satisfied there."

But human nature is such that when you have one thing, you want two more. This was true even for a young lady raised in a wealthy household. She began to desire bigger and more beautiful jewels.

One deep night, in the crow's beak at the window was a large diamond. His daughter was genuinely delighted at the sight of the brilliantly shining large diamond.

But why? Unlike before, the crow wouldn't readily give up the jewel.

Though she coaxed, threatened, and even threw stones, the crow wouldn't give up the diamond.

His daughter begged to know what she needed to do to get the jewel.

Then the crow 'spoke.' It said it would give her the jewel if she promised to grant its wish.

Blinded by the large diamond, his daughter agreed.

"This is that diamond."

The man showed Kinaine a diamond the size of a baby's fist. Just its sparkling brilliance showed it was no ordinary item. Having seen many precious things during his time as a prince, Kinaine could tell at a glance how valuable this diamond was.

"That thing tried to kidnap my daughter. Though I stopped it when I heard her screams, there was considerable damage. It was a truly horrific magical beast."

The man trembled slightly as if recalling that nightmare.

"The problem is that my daughter began to fall ill after that. That magical beast must have done something. Magical beasts will use any means necessary to harm humans."

The man immediately contacted the guild to hire a Special Class mercenary who could eliminate the magical beast threatening his daughter's safety. That mercenary was Kinaine.

After thinking for a moment, Kinaine asked:

"What exactly did the crow say it wanted?"

"Well..."

The client answered with an expression that suggested he was reluctant to even speak of it.

"It asked her to become its bride."

That was truly strange.

Though ordinary people didn't know this, magical beasts weren't living creatures. Just as sediment accumulates to form rock, magical beasts were formed from accumulated magical energy. Though they might appear alive at first glance, many things were different when you examined their characteristics in detail.

Most notably, magical beasts had no reproductive instincts. Their only purpose for existing was to destroy this world.

So a bride? There was no way a magical beast would want such a thing.

Even if there were magical beasts that imitated humans, they would simply steal a bride rather than peacefully obtaining a promise.

A promise. This method clearly wasn't that of a magical beast but rather...

"A spirit."

"Hm? What did you just say?"

"Nothing."

Though he held his tongue since nothing was certain yet, Kinaine was almost sure.

It was natural for the client to mistake it for a magical beast. Unlike magical beasts which existed in reality, spirits were known only as fictional beings from stories.

But Kinaine knew spirits actually existed from reading classified documents stored in the royal palace during his time as a prince.

'Though I've never seen one myself.'

According to the documents he had read, spirits could take various forms and spoke and acted like humans. Just like the crow in the client's story.

'He said the crow made a promise with his daughter. And after that, she fell ill...'

A covenant was one of the ways spirits used their power.

Spirits could never break their own covenants, but in exchange, these promises were protected by powerful 'magic.'

'In most stories, humans would use naive spirits to obtain treasures.'

A promise that could never be broken. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like perfect conditions for being scammed.

Most stories about spirits were based on true events. Perhaps because they had been taken advantage of by so many humans who were like con artists, it was said spirits hadn't appeared in the human realm for a long time.

But if it really was a spirit, why would it come all the way to the human realm to find a bride?

Though there were many questions, now was the time to focus on the request. The client wanted to hide his daughter in a country villa until the situation was resolved, but Kinaine stopped him.

"Your daughter is ill because she promised to become the crow's bride. It will remain so until either the crow dies or the promise is broken. Running away will only make her condition worse."

"Then what should we do?"

"Until I handle this matter, please have your daughter stay somewhere other than her usual room. A sealed room without windows or a basement would be good."

Despite Kinaine's words, the client couldn't hide his anxiety.

"But if we do that, won't that thing realize Rose isn't in her room and come to get her right away?"

"No."

Kinaine answered firmly to that question.

"It won't know."

A short while later, Kinaine was sitting on the bed wearing a long-haired wig and a dress. His face was covered with an opaque veil that reached his chin.

"This is more uncomfortable than I expected."

Though he had experienced many things in life, cross-dressing was a first.

Since omegas had naturally slender frames regardless of gender, he had barely managed to squeeze into one of the daughter's dresses. However, even so, since it was different from a female body, the discomfort was unavoidable.

To distract himself from the discomfort, Kinaine looked down at his sword. Though he was proficient with all weapons, his favorite was the sword. He had been captivated from the moment he first saw the cool and beautiful silver blade.

There were only two things in his entire life that had captivated him like that.

One was the sword. And the other was...

Kinaine habitually clutched his necklace. He could feel the round metal shape perfectly in his palm.

It was the ring he had personally placed on his lover's finger.

But now the owner of this ring was nowhere to be found.