The Rescue in Red Canyon
The sound of metal rang sharp through the night.
Red Canyon, near Arkan Fortress.
The earth here was not red because of its minerals. Years of brutal fighting between the Empire and the Kingdom had soaked the ground in the blood of tens of thousands of soldiers. That blood had frozen, seeped deep, and stained the soil forever.
Now the canyon belonged to the Empire.
Imperial troops had raised their tents around the recaptured Arkan Fortress, sharpening blades and waiting for the right moment to strike again.
“……Hrrrm.”
Inside one of the larger tents, a massive shadow loomed over the disarmed female knight kneeling on the floor. Karik, chieftain of the Empire’s Orc Unit, scratched his thick scalp and snorted.
“I don’t get it. I really don’t.”
He spat a thick glob of phlegm onto the ground and continued.
“Falling for such a flimsy trap. Makes all those sleepless nights our staff officers spent planning feel like a joke. Normally that bastard would’ve already circled around and smashed us from behind.”
Kalis said nothing. She only clenched her teeth, refusing even to groan through her split lips.
“Raul Lentz. That’s who I mean.”
At the mention of his name, Kalis’s shoulders trembled.
“He always read our moves like a ghost. We set an ambush, he went around it. We tried to cut the supply line, he’d already burned the depot. So why the hell is it different this time?”
Karik dropped heavily into a chair and grabbed Kalis by the chin, yanking her face up.
“Tell me, Kalis. Where is Raul Lentz? Why wasn’t he in this fight?”
Instead of answering, Kalis gave him a thin, mocking smile. The arrogant curl of her lips struck a nerve.
Thud—!
Karik’s massive boot slammed into her stomach.
“Ghhk!”
“If you’ve got a mouth, use it. Your surrender was suspicious too. The vice-commander of the Fenrir Unit isn’t the type to beg for her life.”
Kalis spat the blood pooling in her mouth onto the top of his boot. Then, breathing hard, she muttered low.
“Better I die alone…… No point dragging the rest of the unit into a pointless death.”
“Sacrifice, huh? Hah! How touching.”
Karik grinned, yellow tusks flashing in an ugly smile.
“You know why even the other Imperial units avoid our orc battalion?”
Kalis lowered her head without answering. She knew.
Even within the Empire, the orc unit was infamous for its mad cruelty. They operated independently, obsessed with spoils beyond reason, and lived by a brutal hierarchy where strength alone ruled—nothing like human norms.
“We don’t bother hiding our holes. Do you have any idea how many of my kin that bastard Raul has killed?”
Karik seized a fistful of Kalis’s red hair and yanked her head back.
“That debt needs paying.”
Revulsion filled Kalis’s eyes as her neck was forced at an angle.
“Ah, that’s a good look. I’m going to enjoy breaking that face.”
Karik licked his lips.
“You’re going to be my men’s plaything tonight. By the time we hand you over for the prisoner exchange, no one will even recognize you.”
“Just…… kill me, you filthy beast.”
“No.”
The flat refusal made Kalis squeeze her eyes shut.
“Death is the final mercy. Until every last one of my subordinates has had their fun, you’ll stay alive no matter how much you beg to die.”
Karik’s huge hand reached for the front of her tunic.
Riiip—!
Fabric tore away in an instant. Cold night air kissed her skin. Stripped down to her underclothes, Kalis trembled with shame, but her bound hands gave her no way to cover herself or push the monster away.
“Heh heh, skin’s real smooth.”
Karik began to loosen his belt, his rough breathing hot against her ear.
‘To think I’d suffer this humiliation……’
“Just as I thought. It’s real.”
Raul’s voice rang out at the same moment his blade drove upward.
Shunk—!
The sword pierced Karik beneath the chin and reached the brain in one thrust. The orc chieftain never even screamed. His eyes twitched once, locked on Kalis, then he collapsed to the floor with a dull thud.
“Tch. That’s why heroes are supposed to stay away from lust.”
Raul flicked the blood from his sword and clicked his tongue. In the original novel, Karik had been a troublesome opponent for Raul. Yet here he was, dying in a tent with his pants half down. A pathetic end.
Raul glanced at the massive organ still dangling from the corpse and let out a relieved breath. A few seconds later and Kalis would have been broken beyond repair.
“C-Commander!”
Kalis, still on the floor, called out in a shaking voice.
‘Kalis, huh.’
Raul turned to look at her. She looked exactly like the illustration from the novel.
“I leave for a few days and everything goes to hell.”
Kalis’s eyes widened. Whether from shock or something else, she simply stared, mouth agape. The Raul she knew had always spoken in stiff, measured tones. The man before her now felt strangely casual, almost flippant.
Raul strode over and sliced through the ropes binding her wrists with a single stroke.
“……!”
Kalis rubbed the raw marks on her wrists.
“Commander, so it really was a mission after all? Thank you for saving me……”
Raul looked down at her with a blank expression.
“What are you even…… Anyway, details later. We need to move before they notice.”
“Ah, yes! Understood!”
She answered in a crisp military tone. Raul gestured.
“Keep your voice down. Where’s your armor and weapons?”
Kalis scratched her head awkwardly.
“They…… took everything when they captured me.”
Raul clicked his tongue and scanned the tent. Imperial gear was available, but every second counted.
“No time. We’re leaving now.”
“Y-yes.”
Raul stepped out of the tent with Kalis close behind. The cold air hit her bare skin; steam rose from her body as the heat fled.
“This way.”
He retraced the route he had used to infiltrate, moving in reverse. By the time the forest closed in around them, Kalis’s shoulders were visibly shaking.
“Achoo—!”
She sniffled, body trembling. Even an elite knight couldn’t endure subzero night air in nothing but underclothes.
Raul ducked into a small cave hidden between rocks, returned with a thick coat and a bundle he had stashed earlier, and tossed the coat to her.
“Put it on.”
“……Commander.”
Kalis slipped into the heavy garment.
“You can walk, right?”
“Yes! Of course.”
“Just hold on a little longer. There’s a place we can rest a few kilometers from here.”
They walked in silence after that. Kalis swallowed every question burning on her tongue—why he had been there, whether he had truly deserted, why his speech had changed so much. She would ask once they reached the shelter he had mentioned.
“We’re here.”
Deep in the woods, a small vine-covered cabin appeared. It had been left behind by a minority tribe that once lived near Arkan Fortress before the war intensified.
They went inside. Raul built a fire with practiced ease.
Crackle—
Crackle—
Flames danced across their faces. Kalis broke the quiet.
“Commander.”
“What.”
Raul kept his eyes on the fire, answering shortly.
“Why…… did you leave the Kingdom? Or did you have to? What happened with Lady Catherine……?”
“Damn it, if they’re treating you like a sucker, of course you run.”
“……What?”
She had served under him for five years, yet this was the first time she had heard such crude language from Raul’s mouth. He snorted as if the question were absurd.
“That bitch takes all the credit while I clean up every mess. And on top of that, they’re the family that killed my parents. Why the hell would I stay and die there? I’m not running a charity.”
He poked at the logs.
“Even being a sucker has its limits. I’m going to live like a human being from now on.”
Kalis couldn’t close her mouth for a long moment. His tone was rougher, but strangely, this Raul felt far more human than before. The old one had been little more than Catherine’s puppet.
“Then…… what will you do now?”
Raul turned and stared at her.
“You’re the problem. What are you going to do?”
“……Me?”
Kalis’s idiotic question made him frown.
“Who else is here besides you? You see any ghosts sitting around?”
“Ah……”
She bit her lower lip, fell silent for a moment, then asked, “What are your plans, Commander? You’ve turned your back on the Kingdom. Where will you go?”
Raul gazed at the ceiling for a few seconds, organizing his thoughts, then looked back at her.
“Come to think of it, Kalis, you used to be a mercenary, right?”
“Yes. Five years ago, you saved me on the battlefield.”
Raul tossed another log onto the fire without much thought.
“I’m heading to Luan.”
“Luan?”
“Yeah. The holy land of mercenaries.”
His eyes lit up.
“I’m going to build my own mercenary company there. No more doing favors for other people. I want money in my pocket and a life worth living. Whether the Kingdom falls or not isn’t my problem anymore.”
Kalis nodded blankly.
Raul asked again.
“So? What about you? You want to go back to the Kingdom and get pointed at as the subordinate of a deserter? Or……”
“What family do I even have, Commander!”
Kalis cut in and shot to her feet.
“I’m just a bottom-rung mercenary with nothing to lose. If you’re going, of course I’m going too! I’m sick of cleaning up after those arrogant Kingdom bastards!”
The answer pleased him. A bright smile spread across Raul’s face.
“Good! Then you’re coming with me for life?”
“Just say the word!”
Raul laughed heartily, hooked an arm around Kalis’s neck, and pulled her close in a playful headlock, thumping her shoulder. The sudden contact startled her, but what she felt was warmth rather than embarrassment.
‘This…… this is what the real Commander was like!’
It was the reliable older-brother type she had seen plenty of in the mercenary world. Far more comfortable than the Raul of the past.
******
Meanwhile, Catherine was sipping wine she rarely touched.
“Damn it.”
In just a few days she had lost both the commander and vice-commander of the Fenrir Unit. The other generals found it humiliating.
“Raul……”
Should she have stopped him from leaving?
“Did he really leave? No, right?”
If he came back now, she could still forgive him.
At that moment, a subordinate burst into her office with an urgent report.
“Lady Catherine! Urgent news!”
“What is it?”
“The Fenrir Unit has returned!”
“What?! Did Kalis succeed in her mission?!”
“According to scout Letz’s report, they reconnoitered the enemy camp. The orcs say their chieftain Karik was killed by the Mad Dog, and he escaped with the woman.”
The moment she heard the nickname “Mad Dog”—Raul Lentz—Catherine smiled.
‘As expected of Raul. He had a plan all along.’
Clever boy. When he returned, she would treat him like the old days—bathe together, ruffle his hair.
“Thank goodness. So?”
“Well, it appears the vice-commander deserted along with the commander……”
Clang—!
The wine glass slipped from Catherine’s fingers as she had been lifting it.