Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: I Won't Be a Knight (4)
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Karin's face twisted in shock as she heard my words, and she shouted.
"What the hell? It's not my place to say, but if you became the baron's knight... you could have all the pretty girls you want, just like you dreamed!"
The cool-headed Karin, who usually kept her emotions under tight wraps, was not only showing them now but yelling outright.
"Like I told you when we first met, Senior..."
"I'm not asking because I don't know that! But you could do it—you could make it as a knight in the baron's house. Hell, you might even rise to high knight someday! So why throw it away?"
Her sincerity shone through; she really wanted things to go well for me.
It was like she wasn't the calm, collected Karin I knew—like someone else entirely.
I was inwardly flustered, but I shrugged it off casually, playing it cool.
"Didn't I tell you when we first met, Karin? I said I wanted to rise so high everyone would envy me. I can't settle for being a mere baron's knight."
Karin looked dumbfounded, her response even more emotional.
"But going from a lowly mercenary to the baron's knight? You wouldn't get a fief right away, sure, but they'd pay you handsomely. You'd be a noble respected by everyone around you."
"Of course that's part of my goal..."
"Don't talk nonsense. Goals are goals, but reality is reality."
In dramas, this is where you'd get the line: 'With you right here, why would I go anywhere else? As long as I'm with you, I can toss money and honor aside.' Then boom—love confession and straight to the climax.
But Karin and I? We're not even at 'something' stage. We've just started appreciating each other's human sides.
If we were at a company, it'd be like a guy new hire and his decently chill female boss. If I confessed love now, we'd both cringe and drift apart naturally.
So here, better to sell my potential, my skills, my ambition.
'She didn't think much at first, but after the scouting mission, she liked seeing me chase my dreams. This should land.'
"Why would I regret it? A man's not supposed to second-guess his decisions. And if I were the type to fold at an offer like this, I wouldn't have gone all out risking my life in that first battle."
"True. Most mercenaries would call it impressive just to stand after the first fight unscathed. You were on another level."
Even if I took the oath and served under the baron, Granz Kingdom—where Baron Tilen held sway—would soon plunge into civil war over the throne's succession, regardless of my choice.
The baron, greedy as he was, backed a middling royal to jack up his price, only for his house to get wiped out.
Knighthood under him? Best case, a year or two.
Better to stick with the White Beard Mercenaries for now—where game heroines pop in and out—as the long-term play.
Unaware of all that, Karin looked baffled at my words.
But in her eyes, fixed on me, I saw the spark of interest I'd hoped for.
She stared into my eyes for a full minute, like she was dissecting if I was lying or bluffing, then broke into a wide smile for the first time.
"Yeah? That's you all right—the guy who said from the start he wanted to be a mercenary captain or a titled noble. A man should chase big dreams. Stopping at some baron's knight? Too wasteful—you're worth more."
That sun-bright smile stole my gaze in an instant.
Karin stepped closer, one foot, then two, gesturing for me to sit by the campfire.
I settled in, and she sat across from me a short distance away, her face tinged with envy.
"I thought you were impressive from that first battle, but damn, Martin—you really are. Any other guy would've jumped at it without a second thought. But you turn down a golden offer because it blocks your dreams? Incredible."
"It's not that big a deal. I just want to chase my goals head-on, doing what I love."
I could pull this off because this body—Martin Meyer's—had decent fighting prowess, and my head was packed with massive game lore.
But to Karin, oblivious to that, I must look like...
A gutsy, ambitious guy choosing grunt mercenary life—worth less than a fly's—for his dreams.
Karin gazed into the campfire with a wistful look, lost in memory.
"I'll tell you something, Martin, just between us. I became a mercenary because I didn't want to marry the mate the elf village chief picked for me."
In this fantasy game world, from kings on down to serfs at the bottom, arranged marriages were the norm.
So my blonde elf Karin here probably had a fiancé back in the day.
She sighed.
"Everyone else does it, so maybe I should too, I thought. Then by chance—or luck—I met the guy. What a sight. He had money, sure, but ugly as sin and a total womanizer. Even when we first met, he showed up with girls on both arms."
Her face showed genuine disgust.
"That filthy pig groped my thigh, ass, and chest with his dirty hands—right there, our first meeting as fiancés. Then he tells me this."
"What'd he say?"
Karin sighed, equal parts fury and disbelief.
"He's a mid-tier knight in Belmayle Dukedom, he says. Make me his fifth concubine, and he'll keep my parents comfy, let me live rich without money worries. All he wants? Me in bed every night. Made me sick. Better to die than live like that."
When the Carlyle barony tried marrying me off to a 40-something widow tipping 80kg, I considered jumping the walls.
Karin must've felt the same—death over that bastard.
"So I became a mercenary to escape the idiot. But this corps? Total sausage fest. They don't force themselves since I carry a weapon, but when I was green, seniors groped me the second they got booze in them. Then that dog Albert acts like I'm his girl anyway, tells me to stop dragging it out and submit! Pior the squad leader spouts crap like 'You only live once—enjoy the fun or it'll all go to waste.'"
Karin wasn't drinking, but she poured out her pent-up grudges like she was wasted.
"I became a merc to prove myself, earn respect, live free. But my skills still fall short, and..."
She pulled a book from her bosom—the one she always carried.
"Like you said, I wanna date someone I love, hear sweet nothings whispered while we... have sex."
Her confession—that she'd never dated—turned her face beet red.
"I don't want loveless hookups like Pior and those guys."
"Me neither."
True talk. Hugging a woman you don't love? Just physical pleasure. Not building a harem after rising as a merc by risking my neck.
Karin chuckled.
"Living like this, when you told me about ditching the knighthood after scouting... it hit home. Similar situation, same choice to go merc."
I was honestly shocked hearing why she went merc.
No prior info on her—she wasn't in the game—so I never dreamed she'd have a backstory like mine post-reincarnation.
"Made me jealous for no reason. I've busted my ass five years to hit veteran, and your first outing gets you a knighthood offer from Baron Tilen."
"Karin, Senior."
She shook her head at my words and grinned wide.
"But hearing your story... that jealousy feels pointless. You're you, I'm me."
"Karin, Senior."
"So from now on, I'll cheer your goals from the sidelines."
It sounded like she was into me at first—heart skipped.
But reading between the lines? Pure friendly support. No romantic vibes.
'Still, we're this close. Not long till she's really mine.'
"Thanks for the support, Senior."
"Nah, I'm heading to bed. And when it's just us? Call me Karin."
No one's dumb enough to drop a gift like that.
"Yeah, Karin. Night."
Then I headed straight to hand Dalton the letter rejecting Baron Tilen's offer.