The Female Knight of Doom - TFKOD 11: Rom the Mercenary

Alice didn’t know how she managed to walk home. Her legs felt like lead, and she flopped onto her bed as soon as she entered.

By the time she woke up from her rest, it was dusk.

Almost everything that had transpired the previous night was buried, but Alice had managed to save the tips she had earned the day before and the gold coins Lord Ettienne had given her before she left for the tavern.

The tavern had returned to its original state after yesterday’s revelry.

She cleaned up the confetti on the floor and tables. Lina had removed the cow’s head and garland made of paper.

Perhaps because yesterday’s revelry was too draining, there were a lot fewer local customers than normal today.

However, with the recent war over at Fort Tenderland, tons of mercenaries took the route to Poztar City, eager to join the fun and earn good salaries at Fort Tenderland. Therefore, today’s customers were no fewer than usual, and the tavern was crowded.

Several of the waitresses lacked enthusiasm, but since there were tons of customers, they braced themselves for the challenge.

The tavern was rapidly filled with mercenaries, who were all outlaws and seemed extraordinarily impolite compared to the regular customers. They were always yelling for wine and meals. When the waitresses delayed, they moaned rather brazenly.

Nearly all of these mercenaries were poorly ranked and terribly ill-equipped. The majority had nothing more than rusty iron swords hanging from their waists. Judging from the size of their baggage, they probably didn’t have much decent defensive gear either. Mercenaries like these could only be cannon fodder on the battlefield.

They seemed to know they were going to perish soon and seized the last opportunity to eat and drink indiscriminately, fearing they would have regrets.

However, not all mercenaries were like this.

Among them, there were some who carried swords and wore gorgeous attires. They looked exceptionally respectable. These were mercenaries who had already won a few battles.

They were fortunate to escape death and had wealth, but they couldn’t get out of the business and still wanted to continue living the bloody life. Perhaps because they were not like the lowly mercenaries, the expression on their faces was less spontaneous.

Among the higher-ranked mercenaries was a man hauling an exceptionally heavy, huge sword.

He appeared older than the others, with a rough, suave look and a long scar. He was towering and stood out among the other mercenaries. Whoever came into the tavern couldn’t help but throw him a second glance.

Alice felt like she shouldn’t have recognized him, yet he looked familiar enough that she must have seen him somewhere before. She couldn’t quit watching him but could never recall who he was.

The group of mercenaries seemed to be preparing to travel to Fort Tenderland together. Considering they might all die there in a couple days, they were drinking extra hard and uttering crude jokes the whole time.

“Hey, Rom! There’s a chick over there who’s been watching you.”

The older mercenary glanced absently at Alice and grinned at the one who had just spoken up, “You’re not picky; that’s still a lass.”

The mercenaries giggled and quickly turned their attention to the other waitresses, disregarding Alice.

However, Alice heard their banter and felt frozen in place.

That name brought back an impression she had cast aside long ago. She stared at his face carefully. Yes, that man was “Immortal Rom,” the man mentioned by the God of the Future.

She had just promised Lord Etienne yesterday that she would never get involved with him, yet here he was in this tavern. This situation couldn’t be called coincidental.

But she wasn’t going to strike up a conversation with him. She had been enjoying herself lately and didn’t want to go with a mercenary to a place where there was going to be a war.

Besides, he wouldn’t notice a little girl like her.

At the moment, he seemed mesmerized by Lina and was pestering her to talk.

Lina had long ago grown accustomed to halfheartedly flirting with mercenaries. When she had time, she would often join them in vulgar jokes. However, she was not someone to be messed with.

When Immortal Rom dishonestly put his hand on her waist, she smirked, pulled out a dart, and pressed it against his cheek, “Do you think I’ll leave a mark on the other side of your face?”

Immortal Rom’s hand moved away, but his expression didn’t falter.

There was neither terror nor animosity; he still smiled, “I should be honored to be marked by a beauty like Lina. But I already have enough decorations on my face. Another one wouldn’t look great, so let’s forget about it.”

Lina withdrew her dart away, raised an eyebrow, and turned to walk away, looking annoyed. However, Alice knew that this mercenary had gotten under her skin.

Not many people had reacted this way after molesting her and being threatened by her. If this man had stayed in Poztar a little longer, maybe she would have let him kiss her.

However, that was highly unlikely. These mercenaries were leaving tomorrow, and Immortal Rom probably wouldn’t come back here regardless of the war’s outcome.

The tavern’s chef produced delicacies that weren’t generally made for the mercenaries who were going to the battlefield to compromise their lives.

They gorged themselves on the dishes and spent all the money in their pockets without feeling any regret.

According to one of the young mercenaries, “If I die on the battlefield tomorrow and there’s still money in my pocket that I haven’t spent, that would be a great loss.”

The mercenaries at this table were in high spirits. They stayed up late toasting with people they had never met before. Some of them seemed certain they would be gone tomorrow. There was always a sense of carelessness in their celebration.

Alice couldn’t help but pay extra attention to the group because the legendary Immortal Rom was among them. She realized that the ones fooling around were all young mercenaries. Immortal Rom just drank quietly, keeping his eyes on Lina.

When closing time came, the crowd managed to send the drunken mercenaries away without any trouble.

Hewlett breathed a sigh of relief, “Tomorrow shouldn’t be so hard.”

Alice nodded without expressing anything.

She didn’t know if it was appropriate to just watch Immortal Rom leave. What Etienne had said to her was supposedly for her own good, but was it really fine to ignore the revelations appointed by the sleeping god?

She returned home jittery but didn’t have the energy to think about anything else. She was simply too tired to do anything but doze. Besides, Immortal Rom was already gone, so there was no reason for her to think about anything else.

The fateful involvement that the God of the Future had spoken of should have ended there.

She didn’t anticipate Immortal Rom to come again when the tavern opened the next day.

He came alone, picked a table close to the bar, and sat down. He ordered light ale, along with fried fish and potatoes.

Lina went over to serve him and asked casually, “Why are you still here if you’re not going to fight in Fort Tenderland?”

“I’ve had several fights this year, and I’ve earned enough. You guys have a nice place. I want to stay here for a few more days.” Although Immortal Rom said the place was nice, his eyes were focused on Lina, and Alice could discern that he only cared about her.

Alice faintly looked over to the bar to see Hewlett’s attitude.

However, she saw that he was absentmindedly looking down and polishing a glass. She wondered what he was thinking, as if he hadn’t caught anything.

Lina was still chatting with Immortal Rom. He had a natural charm that made it easy to attract female attention.

Even someone as condescending as Lina was willing to talk to him more, “Where are your partners?”

“They left this morning. They were always going to go, whether I was there or not. Those pups are still too young. They need to go through a few more battles to sharpen their skills. They should also earn some money before buying equipment. As for an old man like me, I don’t have to work as hard as the youngsters. I’ll just drink some light ale in the back and take on some easy private commissions.”

The tavern had just opened, and there weren’t many customers yet.

Another waitress came over curiously to interject, “Old man? How old are you?”

“Forty,” Immortal Rom replied. “Probably not too old from a normal person’s point of view, but among mercenaries, it’s considered high.”

“I’ve heard of you,” The waitress suddenly declared. “They call you ‘Immortal Rom.’ Is it true that you won’t die?”

Upon hearing such a question, Immortal Rom laughed brightly, “That’s a tough question. I can’t quite say until the Grim Reaper actually comes to my door. But since I’m still alive, that reputation probably isn’t an overstatement.”

Alice didn’t ask Immortal Rom a question; she stood a little further away and surveyed him from a less conspicuous corner.

Immortal Rom’s reappearance was a real dilemma for her. Was this her inevitable fate?

She peered at Immortal Rom, unaware that he had perceived her gaze.

At that moment, the keen mercenary abruptly turned his head and asked her, “Little girl, you’ve been staring at me since yesterday. Is there a flower on my face?”

Alice didn’t expect him to speak to her suddenly and recoiled in alarm, hesitant of what to say.

Of course, she couldn’t tell him the real reason she was looking at him: the God of the Future had once made a prophecy that her destiny would intertwine with his.

Seeing how nervous she was, Immortal Rom assumed that his appearance had frightened her and purposely softened his tone, “Do you have something to entrust me with? It’s okay. Just say it. I also accept private commissions as long as the price is right.”

It would be fine if Alice had something to entrust to him, but right now, she could only shake her head. She was unable to say a word and didn’t know how to end the situation.

She was practically on the verge of crying out.

Although Immortal Rom has a big scar on his face and can look a bit crude, he has never made a little girl cry.

Looking at Alice’s delicate appearance at that moment, he couldn’t help but feel restless. He inspected the little girl in front of him and realized she was only twelve or thirteen years old.

Immortal Rom pondered about his own youth and had an obnoxious thought, “Ah, could you actually be my daughter?”