Was This Supposed to Be a Romance Fantasy? (2)
The Vendetta Legion was a powder-keg of a unit that would tear itself apart without a firm leash to hold them together. Yet, paradoxically, their hierarchy was one of the few things that actually functioned properly. This was because they respected and obeyed their commander with absolute, ironclad loyalty. Rank was synonymous with the commander’s authority. Therefore, even if they disliked it, they followed it without question.
Naturally, the Vendetta Legion’s ranks were determined purely by strength. Status, bloodline—none of that mattered here. Take Raypen von Bahamut, for example. He held the position of No. 2 and Vice-Commander not because he was the Emperor of the empire or carried imperial blood, but simply because he was the second strongest member of the Vendetta Legion.
That was why, in the commander’s absence, command usually fell to the next in rank. However, there was one exception to this absolute hierarchy. And that exception was none other than No. 4, the Mad Dog, Galina.
Despite her fearsome nickname, she served as Wolfgang’s adjutant, assisting her from the commander’s side. Of course, the role of adjutant was far more than a decorative title. It granted her temporary command authority, allowing her to exercise the commander’s power in the absence of both the commander and the vice-commander. That was the true weight of Galina’s position.
Needless to say, she had never once abused that power. To act in the commander’s name carelessly would only tarnish her beloved commander’s reputation. Still, that didn’t change the fact that Adjutant Galina was deeply displeased with the current situation.
Some useless fly is stirring up the commander’s heart for no good reason.
But she couldn’t stop it. The commander was the one they were meant to follow. How could a mere subordinate interfere with something their leader had decided to do? Her role was to support, not to hold the reins.
That said, Galina wasn’t simply standing by and watching everything unfold. She had no intention of stopping the commander—but she saw no reason to prevent any unfortunate accidents from occurring along the way.
Right now, she was waiting in a secluded forest, cloaked in darkness. She had sensed a very familiar presence approaching from that direction.
“Why are you blocking me?”
“An enemy kingdom’s knight is approaching while fully armed. Is there any reason I shouldn’t stop you?”
“I understand your caution. But I am not your enemy.”
Theodore stared at the woman standing in his path. He could tell at a glance that she possessed formidable strength. Galina smiled and opened her mouth.
“I know that.”
KWAaaaaang!!!
A tremendous roar shattered the quiet forest. The ground where Theodore had been standing was completely obliterated, leaving behind a massive crater. Theodore clicked his tongue as he looked at the destruction.
If I had tried to block that, my body would have been turned to paste.
It was a display of monstrous strength far beyond what any individual should be capable of. Yet Theodore didn’t seem particularly shaken. He already knew quite a bit about the Vendetta Legion.
The legion that had led the horrific Winter War to victory. A group of monsters whose individual power rivaled entire armies. The empire’s undisputed strongest sword and strongest shield. One bard had put it this way: the strongest sword and shield cannot coexist—yet these people had made the impossible possible. Because the two strongest forces would never clash.
“Don’t try to seduce the commander with pointless words.”
“If you thought my words were seduction, why didn’t you stop me back then?”
“Because the commander wished to hear them. I am not the one who holds the commander’s reins. I am merely one who follows.”
“So you’re trying to stop me now? Because the commander isn’t here?”
“I’m not stopping you. This is simply an unfortunate accident.”
The commander was their only home, their only place to return to. The only one who had given them a reason to keep living. And yet this person was trying to take even that away from them.
Just how much more did the world intend to steal from them before it would be satisfied?
She understood the desire to reclaim lost family. Had their positions been reversed, she would have done the same. But let’s be clear. She was on this side, not the other.
It couldn’t be helped. It was unfortunate. If they had to give up everything one by one because of such tragic backstories, then how were they supposed to go on living?
The frustration trapped beneath her human mask began to twist and warp, accompanied by a distorted growl. What appeared before Theodore’s eyes was an enormous wolf.
A beastman? No, not quite. The savage aura radiating from her was far closer to that of a monster than any beastman. Still, Theodore didn’t hide his first question.
“……You seem much more like a wolf than a dog.”
Galina answered immediately.
“No. I am a dog.”
A dog who loved her master more than anyone else in the world.
During the Winter War, in that terrible hell, the few survivors chose their own ways to forget the fear. Some worshipped it. Some fought it by dealing out death. Others relied on an even greater terror to overcome it.
There had been one madwoman. She had watched her husband and child get devoured alive by Wendigos right before her eyes. For some reason, the Wendigos had spared her. Even when the completely insane woman attacked them, screaming for them to eat her, they simply watched her instead of devouring her.
A person whose mind had completely broken could no longer even conceive of taking their own life. And that was exactly her situation. She laughed maniacally as she danced and ran through the forest alone. Was it the only way she could endure? Or had her broken mind already surpassed even the instinct to die?
Thanks to that, she eventually met the being that would grant her death. It took the form of an enormous wolf. At the very least, it was no ordinary beast. It was far closer to a monster. Yet even when faced with such a creature, the woman felt no fear. Instead, she spread her arms wide in welcome, thinking that her painful life would finally come to an end.
But the wolf did not kill her. Instead, it took her to its nest and protected her.
Why would a monster take a human to its nest and protect her? The answer was simple. Reproduction. The winter of the apocalypse was a disaster that even monsters could not escape. As a result, the wolf monster had lost all of its kin. It instinctively realized that its species would go extinct if things continued this way. It had to find some way to continue its bloodline.
That was when the woman appeared before the wolf. The reproductive urge and instinct overwhelmed even the monster’s hunger. The woman who had been taken by the monster was half-forced to accept its seed. The child born from that union was Galina.
A cursed being who should never have been born. A monster that had devoured its own mother.
KRRRRAAAAAANG!!!
As if trying to shake off all the humiliation and rage she had endured until now, Galina let out a tremendous roar and charged at Theodore. In response, Theodore immediately drew his sword.
Her story is undoubtedly tragic, but I cannot die here either.
He had sworn to devote the rest of his life to that child. He had no regrets about his choice. He had already regretted and grieved enough. How many tears had he shed? How much pain had he endured? But not anymore. He would not hesitate. He would not regret. He would simply move forward.
His blade, drawn like a flash of lightning, severed Galina’s right leg in an instant. In her monster form, Galina’s speed placed her among the top ranks of the Vendetta Legion.
To think she could miss a speed like that, even for a moment. This is not an opponent I can let my guard down against.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be defeated. The severed right leg regenerated at a speed even faster than it had been cut off. Seeing this, Theodore became certain.
“You carry the blood of a monster.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“That regeneration speed far surpasses not only beastmen but even trolls, who are practically synonymous with regeneration. There’s no way something with that kind of regenerative power could be an ordinary beastman.”
“Looks like I have one more reason to kill you.”
With a twisted grin, Galina charged at Theodore with her massive body. Theodore gripped his sword with a hardened expression. This was not an opponent he could show mercy to. Regrettable as it was, he would kill her here.
Curiously, both of their wills aligned perfectly in that moment. But just before their murderous intents collided—
A massive flame suddenly flew between them.
It wasn’t particularly fast. It wasn’t particularly strong. Yet, as if they had arranged it in advance, both Theodore and Galina froze in place. Unfortunately, they both knew exactly who the owner of that flame was.
Galina turned her head with trembling eyes. Just as she feared, her master was standing there. Silver-white hair as wild and rough as a beast’s mane, swaying down to her waist. Golden eyes that refused to lose their light even in the darkness. Wolfgang Leonhardt had appeared before them.
Did the commander predict that I would move like this?!
Like a child caught trying to hide a mistake, Galina looked at Wolfgang with a guilty expression. Of course, Wolfgang wasn’t some kind of god. There was no way she could have predicted this. She had simply……
I just wanted to sleep, damn it.
It had been too late to head out the next day, so she had gone to bed. But then came the explosions and the ground shaking like an earthquake. In the end, Wolfgang had no choice but to get up and come check what was happening.