Chapter 65.1

The Mercenary Queen Carpe (2)

On the Arcadia Continent, warhorses are divided into two main categories.

Standard Warhorses — Used in battles between humans.

Special-Grade Warhorses — Used in battles against monsters.

Unlike ordinary warhorses, special-grade warhorses are incredibly rare. They are capable of withstanding the fearsome aura of monsters. In modern terms, they’re as valuable as fighter jets.

To be able to ride one, you had to be at least a knight with noble rank or the child of a wealthy family, and you needed sufficient skill to control the horse.

And this was the Eastern Wastelands, a land swarming with orcs and monsters.

If you saw someone on horseback here, whether they were noble or commoner, it meant they were likely the second or third son of a wealthy household.

“…….”

“…….”

Those once-proud men were now silently trudging through the wilds of the Eastern Wastelands.

Their prized special-grade warhorses were nowhere to be seen.

Groan… groan…

Sob… sob…

If you listened closely, you could hear whimpering and sobbing among them.

“Bl-black magic… black magic for sure…!”

At the front of the group, Senior Knight Allen muttered incoherently, his face battered and bruised beyond recognition.

His lips quivered, and his fingers clenched tightly around a pendant bearing the symbol of the Imperial Church.

‘It has to be black magic! It has to be! Carpe — that Northern wench — she must be an evil witch!’

Allen’s trembling body oozed pure paranoia and delusion.

However, not a single one of his subordinates cared.

They neither pitied him nor respected him.

They just ignored him.

‘Is this guy really a senior knight?’

‘He can channel mana into his sword, so he’s technically a senior knight… but he sure didn’t look like one.’

The image of him being beaten like a dog by Carpe was seared into their memories.

“What? Who said the Mercenary Queen was only as strong as a senior knight? Who said that!?”

“You did, idiot.”

“You… you idiot…? I challenge you to a duel!”

“Sure. Do it after we survive this hell first, yeah?”

“…….”

Even now, they trembled, remembering the scene where Carpe single-handedly wrecked them.

“Fine, the Mercenary Queen is strong, but what about the Red Wolves?!”

“Yeah, what’s with those mercenaries?!”

“We should’ve known when they killed 20 fully-armored Mongar Orcs without taking any serious injuries…”

“Don’t act like that was some big revelation. We’ve killed 20 orcs before.”

Even the Red Wolves’ combat prowess was unforgettable.

“What a disaster…”

“We should’ve at least watched how they fought before trying anything.”

Their biggest mistake was underestimating their enemy.

They’d only ever heard rumors of the Mercenary Queen and the Red Wolves. They’d never seen them fight.

But they hadn’t thought it necessary to see for themselves.

They’d fought orcs before and come out victorious.

That inflated their confidence, filling their heads with foolish pride.

“They’re overpaying those mercenaries! It’s ridiculous how much they’re getting paid, and they still take the loot too!”

“Mercenary Queen and Red Wolves? Big deal. Let’s teach them a lesson one of these days.”

“It’s just like those soft Westerners giving out fancy titles to nobodies. Let’s show them what real Eastern men are made of!”

Fueled by this kind of groupthink, they convinced themselves it would be easy.

And now, here they were — stripped of their pride, their horses, and their dignity.

“Haaah…”

“Ugh…”

Groans of regret and exhaustion echoed through the ranks.

“Getting beaten by a mercenary was humiliating, but I could live with that…”

“But losing our special-grade warhorses… how do we explain that?!”

Being beaten by the strongest mercenary company on the continent could be rationalized.

“It’s not like we lost to just anyone. We fought the Mercenary Queen Carpe and her Red Wolves. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

This was the kind of delusional self-comfort they clung to.

“I’m done for. My family’s definitely going to disown me.”

“Forget about your family! Worry about being executed under military law!”

“What if we just apologize? Maybe they’ll give the horses back.”

“How? You know where they went?”

“We just follow their tracks!”

“You want to follow tracks through monster territory with our current state?”

“No choice. Let’s just head for the Great Wall first.”

“…We’re so dead.”

At this point, they only had one thing on their minds:

“Our special-grade warhorses…”

*

Dark Grand Duke Doom sat with a blank expression, his pale complexion making him look like a vampire.

His 2-meter tall frame and the massive greatsword strapped to his back made his presence utterly overwhelming.

“The Mercenary Queen Carpe and the Red Wolves staged a rebellion?”

The report had been so absurd that his face remained expressionless for several moments.

His pure-white skin only made his scowl more terrifying.

“Y-yes, Your Grace! They… they violated the military order… and… they… they beat us all up and stole our horses!”

Senior Knight Allen, his face battered and bruised, sat before him.

The gap where his missing teeth used to be was fully exposed as he spoke with misplaced confidence.

“That woman — Carpe! She’s a witch! A witch who’s mastered the most wicked form of black magic!”

Doom’s brows furrowed.

“Why do you think she’s a witch?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking why you think Carpe is a witch.”

“W-well, because… she’s a Northener, isn’t she?”

“……”

Despite Allen’s claims of “rebellion,” Dark Grand Duke Doom did not believe a word of it.

“Three.”

“Huh?”

“You made three mistakes.”

“Wh-what…?”