IBTCETEC 04

~Chapter 4~

My Name is Lena from the Madarin Baron Family

“Stop talking nonsense and think about how to finish this monster hunt.”

Conrad spoke roughly to the knights who kept arguing and turned away.

For almost four years, it was always the same problem with the knights fighting over it, and he could only sigh.

Holding back his sigh, Conrad took just his sword and left the camp. He wanted to move his body to relieve some stress.

Crash—

After confirming that the heavy monster Ezel had fallen, Conrad shook his sword. The pieces of flesh stuck to the blade wouldn’t come off easily.

If a sword touched monster blood, it could rust or rot, so he had to clean it quickly. Thinking this, Conrad checked how far the lake was.

As he killed each Ezel charging at him and moved toward the lake, Conrad saw a strange scene.

Ezels, who never grouped together, were all gathering under one tree.

‘There’s nothing under the tree, so why…’

Looking up a bit more, he saw someone hidden behind the tree branches.

He couldn’t see the person’s face well, but the moonlight made the long, red hair stand out beautifully.

‘That’s an incredibly beautiful color.’

It was such a deep red that anyone would be drawn to it.

Watching the person on the tree closely, Conrad saw her ragged clothes and acted quickly.

After swinging his sword once—

Conrad caught the woman as she slid down from the tree.

He couldn’t forget the look in the eyes of the injured woman before she fainted.

For just a moment, he saw her strong will to survive, and he gripped her hand more firmly.

‘She must be a magician, seeing how the monsters went wild.’

He didn’t know why a valuable magician, who should only exist in Permang, was wandering in the monster zone on Fredericks’ side…

If he left her, her magician’s blood would keep attracting monsters and make hunting harder.

“If she’s a spy, I’ll just deal with her right away.”

With that, Conrad picked up Regina without any special care and headed for the camp.

When Regina opened her eyes, she was in a tent she didn’t know.

It was the kind of tent used for monster hunting, but its style was different from the ones in the Permang Empire.

While looking up at the tent’s pointed ceiling, Regina sensed someone coming close and quickly sat up.

“Are you awake?”

A polite man she had never seen before spoke to her.

Regina stayed alert and formed a magic sign with her hand, but no magic moved.

‘Oh, right.’

Her magic had been sealed.

It had already been days since her punishment, but she still couldn’t get used to this helpless feeling.

Staring at the man and moving as far back as she could, Regina bit her lip.

The man spoke first, seeing she was nervous.

“You seem confused because this is a new place. This is an imperial army camp.”

“Imperial army?”

Looking around, Regina saw the flag of the Fredericks Empire and her eyes widened.

“The commander rescued you from the monsters.”

The man kept being polite.

Regina finally noticed the man’s white gown. It meant he was an army doctor.

In Permang, healing magic was used so doctors weren’t needed. But in Fredericks, there were very few magicians.

So regular medicine developed, and army doctors always worked in the military camps.

That meant she was right in the middle of the enemy’s camp.

Realizing this, Regina swallowed hard.

‘But… they’re treating me surprisingly well for someone they don’t know.’

It was odd. Army doctors were usually nobles, so there was no reason for him to be so polite to a stranger.

Regina watched the doctor carefully and remembered what he had said before.

‘He definitely said “the commander,” right?’

Whoever rescued her must be important, and that’s probably why the doctor was so careful.

Thinking this, Regina sighed inside. She remembered her complicated past with Fredericks.

The doctor asked her, seeing she was still tense.

“I treated all your wounds, but if anything else hurts, please tell me.”

“I’m fine.”

Even if something hurt, she couldn’t take off her clothes.

Regina quietly put her hand on the mark above her collarbone. The brand of a banished magician—Fredericks people might know what it meant.

She didn’t know what would happen if they found out she was a high criminal from Permang.

“How did you get here?”

The doctor looked her up and down, as if trying to figure her out. Regina swallowed hard at his careful stare.

If they found out she was the captain of the Permang magician corps, she could be killed right away.

Regina took a moment to think, then answered calmly.

“I lost consciousness while traveling for family matters.”

“Family?”

“My name is Lena from the Madarin Baron family.”

Regina put her hand on her chest and bowed her head gently.

The Madarin Baron family was a fake noble house she made up when she spied in Fredericks ten years ago.

If everything went well, it would have stayed as a small, poor local family.

Regina hoped her subordinates had covered her story well. In front of her, the doctor seemed to remember something.

“The Madarin family…”

“It’s such a small place, you probably wouldn’t know it.”

“Ah… the one where only one lady remains.”

Unfortunately, the doctor did know about the Madarin family.

‘How does he know?’

She had made sure the family would never stand out—barely any money, fake debts, barely surviving.

Out of so many baron families, she made Madarin the least interesting.

But the doctor knew about it.

Regina kept her smile and slowly spoke.

“Yes. I am Lena Madarin.”

She purposely introduced herself again, a gentle rebuke for the doctor not saying his own name.

The doctor noticed this and quickly spoke.

“Oh, Lady Madarin. Forgive my rudeness. I am…”

The doctor was about to say his name when—

The tent flap suddenly burst open.

Two heavy footsteps came quickly, and the doctor bowed at once.

“Commander, sir!”

“Stand up.”

The man who came in waved his hand without care. When he nodded, the doctor left the tent quickly.

Regina couldn’t look away from the man who pulled up a chair roughly and sat down in front of her.

His big, strong body made Regina’s hair stand on end. The pressure was so strong, she felt tense all over.

He was definitely a knight who knew how to use aura.

‘He looks familiar…’

Blinking slowly, Regina felt like she had seen his face before.

As she tried to remember, the man’s icy blue eyes stared straight at her.

“You’re resting comfortably. Thanks to you stirring up the monsters, we’ve had quite a bit of trouble here.”

His sharp words made Regina sit up straight. The man wasted no time.

“Since you were chased by Ezels, you must be a magician. Why was a magician in the Fredericks monster zone?”

He asked straight to the point. Regina held her breath.

She tried to stay calm, took a breath, and answered.

“I am Lena from the Madarin family.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“The Madarin family comes from Permang, and our bloodline has magic. I think the Ezels were drawn to my magic blood by accident.”

“That’s hard to believe.”

The man leaned his chin on his hand, unconvinced. Regina pretended to look pitiful.

“But I don’t remember why I was in the monster zone.”

“You don’t remember?”

“That’s right.”

“How dare you!”

Another man who had been standing behind the commander suddenly shouted.

“A citizen of Fredericks not answering His Majesty the Emperor’s question properly!”

‘Emperor of Fredericks, Conrad Fredericks?’

Regina’s eyes opened wide in shock.