I was what you called a sellsword. I only offered my loyalty to the gold. Honor, fidelity, and chivalry were foreign concepts to me. The weak obey the strong. I would obey you if you were stronger than me, or else gold would be the only thing that could move me. I had been living like that for as long as I could remember. It wasn't until that day, the day that my conviction was utterly destroyed. When I turned 15, it was when I came the closest to death. We were overrun by the monster horde. I should not have accepted that request. The frontline had collapsed. We were abandoned and treated as nothing more than scrap goats. Thus, we had no choice but to fight hard and try to escape. As we escaped, we found a noble entourage. Without hesitation, my leader decided to use them as bait. It was proved to be the worst mistake. That noble was the Duke Ellon, the strongest Swordmaster in the empire—no, in the world. He flawlessly massacred both us and the monsters, saving only me. It was how I came under him. Yet, he was not a benevolent man. Far from benevolent, he was the cruelest man. However, the gold he offered was too sweet to decline. Later, I came to learn that the monster horde that day was his doing. He was trying to get rid of his rivals. Because of that, two Marquises, seven Counts, fourteen Viscounts, and twenty-two Barons came under his influence. He became the undisputed master of the whole west of the empire. His power became equal to, if not stronger than, the emperor's. Moreover, the reason he spared me was that he saw my potential to become a Swordmaster. Since he was much stronger than me and he paid well, I decided to offer my services to him. I worked under him for years. Then, on that day, my life took another turn. It was when he sent his only daughter to be the saintess candidate. I was assigned to be her bodyguard and “watchman.” My first impression of Aria, no, Lady Aria, was “na?ve.” She was a na?ve girl. She had nothing but a flower field in her head. Salvation, my a*s; kindness, my foot; self-sacrifice, bullsh*t. What was this 8-year-old girl preaching on her first day as a saintess candidate? Was she already thinking she was the saintess? What has she been experiencing? A girl who never knew the world preaching to others? She could not even ride the horse. It was nothing but a mountain of bullshit. That was what I thought. However, my mission was to guard her and report her activity to my employer. I kept reporting every action of hers from then on. Then, a day came when my impression of Lady Aria shifted slightly. It was after Lady Aria turned nine years old, one year after I was assigned to her, that she began to go on pilgrimage after perfecting her study in divine art. I was told by Cardinal Peter that it was too early for Lady Aria to go on pilgrimage. In all recorded history, no saintess candidate or saintess went on pilgrimage before turning ten years old. Typically, they would go after they turned 15 years old and were ‘mature enough.’ The most exceptional among them would wait until they turned 13. Yet, Lady Aria kept insisting on it, talking about her resolve or something. “I know it is a bit early. I won’t deny being immature. However, it is something that I must do before I make up on my resolve.” The eyes she showed me when she said those words were so resolute that I could not help but elevate my rating for her a little. I thought that it would be good if Lady Aria learned about the real world by going out early on so that she could push the flower field out of her brain as early as possible. Thus, I decided to report to Duke Ellon, asking for his permission. Then, Lady Aria was summoned to him. After that, we obtained his permission. I still could not forget Lady Aria’s face when she exited his office. It was when I realized she was not some innocent girl. She was not the na?ve girl I made her out to be. That was the eye of the warrior bravely facing death. I choked. She said she wanted to go on this pilgrimage to make up her resolve. Yet, I knew she had already made her resolve, the resolve to shoulder everything, even if it meant her demise, even if it would tear her apart. I still keep reminiscing about that day to this day. I wish I could have stopped her that day; however, I could not disregard her resolve, as it would have been the greatest disrespect to her. At that time, I only thought to see how far she could make it. Yet, she made it far beyond my expectations. I said I am only loyal to the gold. It is still true to this day. I am pretty sure that will stay true even beyond my death. I am loyal only to the gold, for she is my gold, the golden bird. I offer my loyalty to you, only you, my golden bird.

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