Quit being a knight and become a mercenary

17 – Don’t do knights (4)

When Karin heard me, she exclaimed with a shocked expression on her face.

“Why? It’s not my opinion, but if you become the baron’s knight… You’ll be able to hug as many pretty girls as you want, right?”

She usually only shows her cool side, which doesn’t reveal her emotions well, but she only revealed her emotions, and sometimes she even shouted loudly.

“Like I said when I first met you… “

“I’m not asking because I don’t know that! But if you’re commissioned as a knight of the baron’s family, you’ll do just fine. Maybe I’ll get ahead and rise to the rank of a high-ranking knight! But why did you give up?”

It must have been that she wanted me to do well.

She seems to be a different person than the usual calm and cool Karin.

I was very embarrassed inside, but I shrugged my shoulders and answered calmly as if it was nothing.

“Didn’t I tell you when I first met Karin? I want to succeed in the world to the extent that everyone envyes me. But I can’t be satisfied with just one baron’s article.”

Karin responded more emotionally as if she was dumbfounded after hearing me.

“But, from being a mere mercenary, to becoming a knight for the baron. You won’t be able to get the territory from the very beginning, but I’ll give you a lot of money first. You will be able to become a noble who is respected by the people around you.”

“Yes, of course my goal…”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Goals are goals and reality is reality.”

In a drama like this, ‘Where am I going when you’re here? As long as I can be with you, I can throw away any amount of money, honor, and so on.” And then, when he confesses his love, he immediately rises to the climax of love…

Right now, Karin and I are in a relationship where we just acknowledged each other’s human charms, far from being romantic.

Speaking of the company, it’s about a female boss and a male new employee who are quite compatible, but if I say I love you here, both of them will become embarrassed and naturally distance themselves.

So, I think it would be better to appeal to the potential, ability, and ambition of human beings here.

‘I don’t know when I first met her, but after she went on a reconnaissance mission, Karin took good care of me as she pursued her dream, so I’m sure it will work.’

“Why do I regret it? A man doesn’t regret a decision he made once. Also, if I was going to be defeated by this offer, I wouldn’t have risked my life in the first battle.”

“Well, for most mercenaries, just standing still in the first battle is considered great. You are a bit different.”

Even if I choose an appointment and become a baron, regardless of my choice, the Kingdom of Grants, where Baron Tyllen belongs, will soon fall into the mire of civil war due to a dispute over the succession to the throne.

At this time, the baron is a man whose greed is too much and supports the royal family with mediocre abilities in order to raise his ransom, but the family is destroyed as it is.

If you live as a knight under someone like that, it would be good for 1-2 years in the long run.

In that case, in the long run, it’s good that the world’s heroines in this game are the youngest members of the Whitebeard Mercenary Corps, which they stop by once in a while.

Karin, unaware of the situation, made a puzzled expression after hearing my words.

However, in the eyes looking at me, I could see that interest in me was aroused, as I had expected.

As if she was trying to analyze whether I was lying or bluffing, for close to a minute she stared into my eyes and then gave me a big smile for the first time.

“Really? When we first met, you said you wanted to become a mercenary captain or even a nobleman who received a title. You are like you. Men should live with big dreams. It’s too wasteful to stop at just a baron’s knight.”

I was instantly blinded by that smile as bright as the sun.

Karin took a step or two toward me, and she gestured for me to sit in front of her campfire.

As she sat down in front of the campfire, Karin sat facing me at a slight distance from me and gave me a look of envy.

“I thought you were amazing from the first battle, but you are really amazing. If it were the other guys, it would be an offer they would accept with a big bow. To turn down that good offer, saying it would get in the way of running for your dreams. That’s great.”

“Not that great. I just want to do what I want to do and run towards my goal without looking sideways.”

I can do this because Martin Mayer, the original owner of this body, has some pretty good armaments, and he has a ton of information about this game in his head.

But Karin, who doesn’t know the circumstances, must see me like this now.

A persevering and ambitious man who chooses the life of a mercenary like the life of a fly in order to pursue his dream.

Karin looked at the bonfire with a reminiscent look.

“I’m only talking to you, Martin. The reason I became a mercenary was because she didn’t want to marry the mate that the chief of the elven village had chosen.”

In this world in a fantasy game, it is common to marry someone someone decides for you, from the king to the top, and sometimes to the serfs at the bottom of the status pyramid.

So Karin, the blonde elf next to me, could have had a fiance in the past.

Karin sighed.

“Since everyone else gets married like that, I thought about whether I should accept it too. Coincidentally or fortunately, I had the chance to see him in person. It was really ugly. He seems to have a lot of money, but his face is filthy ugly, and he is so revealing about women… Even when he first met me, he came with women on his arms.”

She looked into her expression and felt genuine disgust.

“That filthy bastard rubbed his thighs, buttocks and breasts with his filthy hands when he first met me, his fiancé. Then he told me this.”

“What do you mean?”

Karin let out her sigh as if she was not angry enough.

“She is a mid-ranking knight of the Duchy of Belle Mile, and she said that if she became her 5th concubine, she would make her parents’ life easier and I would make her life richer without worrying about money. The only thing I want is to sleep every night, and it was disgusting. I’d rather die than live like that.”

When Baron Carlisle asked me to marry a widow in her 40s who weighed just over 80kg, I thought about jumping off the wall and dying.

Karin must have thought that she would rather die than marry such a son of a b*tch.

“So he became a mercenary, and got away with that jerk. When I entered the mercenary corps, this was a completely male version, so since I was holding a weapon, I only didn’t attack by force. And Albert, that damn son of a b*tch, is telling me not to waste my time and conform because I’m going to be his woman anyway! Fiord Ten Captain, if you look at me, you have to enjoy entertainment.

Karin didn’t even drink her alcohol, but like a drunk she started pouring out the resentment she had in her heart.

“The reason I became a mercenary was to prove my abilities like you, Martin, and live freely while receiving recognition from everyone. I still lack the ability, and that…”

Karin took out a book of hers that she always carried with her and showed it to her.

“Like you said, I also want to date someone I love, and I want to have s*x while whispering that I like you.”

Karin’s face turned completely red, as if to openly reveal that she had no experience in dating since she was born.

“I don’t like relationships without love, like that fjord captain and those guys do.”

“I think so too.”

This is my sincerity. The only thing you can get from hugging a woman you don’t love is physical pleasure, but I’m not trying to make a harem by becoming a mercenary who risks my life to get that much.

Karin smiled.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve lived like this, I was very sympathetic when I heard the reason why I went out on reconnaissance the other day and got rid of the article Martin you told me about. The story of you who were in a similar environment to me and became a mercenary through similar choices.”

I was honestly surprised when I heard why I became Karin’s mercenary.

Since she was a character that did not appear in her game, I had no prior information about her, so I never dreamed that Karin would have a narrative similar to what I went through after reincarnating in this body.

“That’s why I felt jealous for no reason. I’ve worked hard for five years and now I’m only a senior mercenary, but you were recognized by Baron Tyllen on your first campaign and even offered to become a knight.”

“Senior Karin.”

Karin shook her head at my words and smiled broadly.

“By the way, since I heard about you, Martin. All that jealousy feels futile. You are you, and I am me.”

“Senior Karin.”

“So from now on, I will be by your side to support your goal.”

At first glance, her heart trembled at the words that sounded like she had a crush on me.

However, when I read the feelings hidden inside, it was pure affection toward me, and I didn’t see any feelings like liking for the opposite s*x yet.

‘Still, if you’ve come this far, it seems like there isn’t much left. One day she’ll make her her real mine.’

“Thank you for your support, sir.”

“No, I’ll go in and sleep. And from now on, when the two of us are together, just call me Karin.”

If you can’t pick up what they give you, you’re an idiot.

“Uh, Karin. Good night.”

And then I walked that way and handed Dalton a letter rejecting Baron Tyllen’s offer.