The Princess's Deadly Mercy
The sun blazed down as fiercely as ever, but the atmosphere in the mountain stronghold's training grounds was nothing short of miserable.
“Boss… please… have mercy. I can’t feel my legs anymore. It’s like these legs aren’t even mine…”
Dagan lay sprawled flat on the dirt, tongue lolling out as he panted heavily. Beside him, Gil remained completely motionless, face-down. At first glance, anyone would have mistaken him for a corpse.
The old days of the stronghold had been simple. A quick lap around the forest paths, shaking down the occasional passing merchant caravan for tolls, and planting cabbages in whatever time remained. That was it.
But after swallowing Gareth’s merchant guild whole and transforming into a corporate-style fortress, everything had changed. Toll booth management, guarding the massively expanded logistics warehouses, and providing real-time escort duties for the endless stream of incoming caravans.
“The patrol route is way too long! We’re not bandits anymore, we’re imperial marathon runners! We set out in the morning and still can’t make it back for lunch. Does that make any sense?!”
Gil screamed with his face buried in the ground. Listening to their complaints, Rodin flicked the massive boulder in his hand with a fingertip, looking thoroughly annoyed.
BOOOOM!
The house-sized rock instantly shattered into powder. Rodin brushed the flying dust off indifferently and spoke.
“Hey. You guys are just out of shape, that’s all. This is a hundred times easier than digging furrows in the cabbage fields. What are you whining about?”
“We only dig furrows in one spot! This means sprinting all over the entire mountain like lunatics! Our soles are going to wear completely off at this rate!”
Dagan squeezed out a few tears from the sheer injustice of it. Rodin scratched the back of his head, muttering, “What a pain in the ass.”
“Then just patrol half-heartedly. Who told you to check every single inch? So what if a few rats sneak in? As long as they don’t step on the cabbages, it’s fine.”
“But… Sister-in-law said that if there’s even one security breach, she’s taking away all the meat dishes starting tonight! No broth either!”
Rodin’s eyebrows twitched. The declaration that meat dishes would disappear was a pretty heavy blow even for him. He looked at Dagan and Gil with a slightly pitying gaze for a moment before turning away.
“…That’s actually pretty scary. Hang in there. Don’t die, though. We’re already short on useful guys.”
With Rodin’s utterly irresponsible encouragement behind them, the two bandits crawled back toward their hellish patrol route.
Veronica hid around a corner in the stronghold corridor, watching Rodin’s retreating back. He was walking with his usual vacant expression, but to Veronica, everything about him looked tragic.
Especially the heavy dark circles under his eyes—actually caused by chronic insomnia from battlefield trauma—which tore at her heart.
“Oh no… Rodin’s dark circles are even deeper than yesterday. He must have stayed up all night again thinking about that massive logistics contract and running the stronghold.”
She bit her lip, eyes growing moist. The more she expanded the stronghold and accumulated wealth, the more convinced she became that the heavy burden was eating away at this strong man from the inside.
“He’s rotting away inside, all to protect me and maintain this enormous fortress. How much anguish must he be hiding behind that indifferent face?”
In reality, Rodin was worrying about something like, What if today’s lunch meat pie doesn’t have enough juices? but such truth held no importance to Veronica. Her yandere brain had already completed the scenario of ‘my poor, overburdened beloved.’
“No. I can’t leave things like this. Rodin should just smile while peacefully planting cabbages. Bloody hands are more than enough for me alone.”
Her eyes cooled with chilling resolve. The instinct she had learned in the empire’s ruthless political struggles—the one that refused to choose means or methods—had awakened.
“A way to turn this stronghold into an impenetrable fortress of death without using the outside mercenaries that Rodin hates… Yes. There’s only that.”
Veronica pulled out the ancient magitech blueprints she had confiscated from Gareth.
“I’ll have to keep this a secret from Rodin, won’t I? If he finds out, he’ll definitely worry about me and tell me it’s too much trouble. Hehe, just wait a little longer, Rodin. I’ll protect your sleep perfectly.”
The smile on her lips was beautiful, yet at the same time, terrifyingly obsessive.
In the deepest part of the stronghold, inside a secret underground warehouse filled with damp air, Dagan and Gil had been summoned. The two men swallowed hard as they faced Veronica’s piercing gaze in the darkness lit by only a single candle.
“Starting today, this special construction project will be kept in absolute secrecy from Rodin. If even one word leaks… you understand, don’t you?”
Veronica waved her hand elegantly. Dozens of metal crates stacked behind her sprang open, emitting eerie magical light.
“Secret construction? Sister-in-law, if the boss finds out, we’ll all really become cabbage fertilizer! The boss hates secrets more than anything!”
Dagan trembled as he asked. Veronica took a step closer and lifted his chin.
“This is all for Rodin’s peace. Can we really just watch while he loses sleep every night worrying about patrols? That’s why we’re going to install the ‘ancient magitech traps’ we found in Gareth’s warehouse throughout the entire forest.”
“Magitech traps? Aren’t those lethal weapons they only install in imperial army fortresses?! I heard they’re extremely difficult and dangerous to handle!”
At Gil’s horrified question, Veronica smiled coldly.
“This is exactly what I learned in the imperial palace. Efficient slaughter and perfect defense. With these devices, you won’t need to patrol until your feet blister anymore. Any intruder will automatically… evaporate.”
Her finger pointed to a spot on the blueprint. There, the terrifying words Wide-Area Instant Death Array were written.
“U-um, Sister-in-law… your eyes look really scary right now… Are you sure this is okay?”
“If it means Rodin can rest, I wouldn’t mind covering this entire mountain in traps of death. No, I must do it. Understand? This is a sacred task for the ‘peace’ of our stronghold.”
Faced with Veronica’s madness-tinged command, the two bandits nodded, feeling the terror that her magical devices might be faster than Rodin’s pickaxe.
The next morning, Rodin stretched a little earlier than usual and stepped outside. But the scene in the stronghold courtyard was strange. At this hour, he should have been hearing the noisy footsteps and cries of “I’m dying!” from Dagan and Gil.
Instead, the two of them were sprawled out beneath the pavilion, snoring away with completely relaxed expressions.
Even the toll booth at the entrance was deathly silent.
“Hey. Have you two gone crazy? The sun’s already high in the sky. Why are you sleeping here? Aren’t you going on patrol?”
Rodin kicked Dagan’s side with a still-sleepy voice. Dagan mumbled without even opening his eyes.
“Mmmnya… Ah, Boss… We don’t need to patrol anymore… Sister-in-law took care of everything… The world sure has gotten better…”
“Took care of it? How exactly? Is the princess out there guarding the forest with a club or something?”
“N-no! It’s just… the power of science, or something like that! Haha!”
Gil, who had woken up beside him, waved his hands with an awkward laugh. Rodin narrowed his eyes and studied them. Their gazes were trembling with clear unease.
“Did these idiots all get heatstroke together? What about the toll booth? Is it quiet? Not even a single rat passing through?”
“Yes! We’ve made it so safe that not even an ant can get through! You can plant cabbages with peace of mind, Boss!”
Rodin couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling. It was too peaceful. No—this wasn’t peace. It felt like the calm before a storm. Even the birdsong in the forest carried a strange, artificial sense of dissonance.
Just in case, Rodin decided to check the outer forest paths he usually enjoyed walking. As he strolled along his favorite trail, he suddenly stopped.
His battlefield instincts were screaming warnings through his spine.
“What the hell is this…”
Delicate strands of mana, nearly invisible between the tree branches, were intricately woven together. At their ends sat precisely crafted magitech crystals. The slightest touch would trigger a barrage of deadly poison arrows and explosive magic from all directions.
At that moment, Veronica appeared from behind, holding a basket and smiling brightly.
“Oh my, I’ve been caught. As expected, I can’t fool Rodin’s eyes.”
“Hey, Princess. What is all this? You’ve turned the entire forest into hell. If someone touches this mana thread, won’t their limbs get blown off?”
“You seemed to be losing sleep every night worrying about patrols, so I took some measures. Now Dagan and the others don’t have to suffer, and you don’t need to worry anymore.”
Veronica smiled shyly, like a girl who had just gifted her beloved a beautiful flower garden. But in the bushes she pointed to, automated launchers gleamed, ready to pulverize any intruder’s body.
“I’m not worried about patrols, I just can’t sleep… If someone touches this, they’ll just die. What if our guys accidentally set it off?”
“If they’re uninvited guests trying to disturb your sweet sleep, isn’t it only right that they die? We’ve trained our people on the safe paths, so don’t worry. Everything else will simply become ‘fertilizer.’”
“Well, that’s true, but… this is still way too much. At this rate, not even a rabbit could survive. This isn’t a forest anymore, it’s a slaughterhouse.”
Rodin pressed a hand to his forehead. Veronica stepped close, linked her arm with his, and whispered.
“For the sake of your rest, I could burn down the entire forest. I’m serious, Rodin. You just need to smile while looking at clean, peaceful cabbages. I’ll take care of everything else.”
The blind affection and madness in her eyes sent a chill down Rodin’s spine.
“…This is so scary I’m going to lose even more sleep, you crazy woman.”
As the evening sky burned red with sunset, Rodin and Veronica were talking atop the watchtower at the stronghold’s main gate.
KWAAAAANG—!
A deafening explosion tore through the forest, followed by screams. Massive flames shot into the sky as birds shrieked and scattered.
Veronica watched the scene with a satisfied smile and clapped her hands.
“See, Rodin? It looks like the first rat has been caught in our house’s mousetrap. The performance is quite reliable.”
“…For a rat, that scream was awfully deep. That didn’t sound like one or two people exploding.”
Rodin frowned and adjusted his grip on his pickaxe. Moments later, Dagan came sprinting up the watchtower, completely out of breath.
“Boss! Sister-in-law! We’ve got a big problem! The ones caught in the traps aren’t ordinary! Their uniforms are no joke. They’re not regular bandits or assassins!”
“What? Are they more of Count Valder’s men again?”
When Rodin asked, Gil, who was looking through a telescope, answered in a trembling voice.
“No! White armor… and that emblem—it’s the Empire’s Holy Knight Order! Shields with the Holy Knight Order’s emblem are scattered everywhere!”
“The Holy Knight Order? Why the hell are they here? Are they saying our cabbages are holy or something?”
At Rodin’s dumbfounded question, Veronica’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“It doesn’t matter who they are. Anyone who disturbs your peace will become fertilizer, even if they’re messengers of God. My traps still have ninety percent left, after all.”
“Ugh, seriously… My cabbage farming is getting more twisted by the day. What peace…”
From within the rising smoke of the explosions, a legion in silver armor began emerging, forcing their way through the destroyed forest path. Rodin’s pickaxe hummed with a low vibration, while sparks of mana flickered at Veronica’s fingertips, ready to activate the next trap.