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EP.81 [Mina's Naked Body, Stained with Whip Scars.]
"Eugene must be a noble."
Mina stood naked before a large full-length mirror, contemplating her feelings from watching Eugene leave at sunset.
"I've been a blacksmith in the mercenary district for so long that I forgot that feeling. But knowing Eugene became an expert at 21 brought back the feeling of nobility."
After escaping the underground city, Mina wandered through various cities. During that time, she even experienced being captured by slave traders, giving her occasional glimpses of nobles from afar. They seemed like people from a completely different world. She had forgotten that feeling for nearly ten years, but seeing Eugene revived it. Unlike Jeanne, Eugene hadn't managed to erase the traces of his nobility.
"Do I like Eugene, who is a noble...?"
Of course, Mina couldn't know the extent of Eugene's nobility. But whether he was a grand duke's son or a baron's son, it didn't matter. To Mina, from the underground city, he was like a star in the sky.
Perhaps because she now perceived Eugene Schneider as such a distant star, Mina's reflection in the dark room seemed more self-deprecating than hopeful. Eugene Schneider, whom she thought was just an ordinary commoner mercenary, stood in a position she could never reach.
"I didn't realize my scarred body looked so shabby and worthless..."
A deep sense of inferiority was blossoming in Mina's heart. Fueling these feelings was the reflection of her own naked body in the mirror. Her body was covered in scars, large and small – scars from her time in the underground city, scars from wandering afterwards, scars from working as a blacksmith.
After earning money, Mina could have sought treatment from a capable nun to heal those scars. But she deliberately chose not to. They were traces of her hard-lived life, and they motivated her to keep her head down and live on silently. Until now, those scars had felt precious to Mina.
But now, having looked up at the brilliant sky, those scars began to pierce Mina's heart. The countless scars in the mirror seemed to represent the vast distance between Eugene and herself.
"The smooth, lustrous skin of noblewomen... Compared to that, my body..."
When Mina first arrived in the Pangea mercenary district, dreaming of inheriting a blacksmith shop, she took on evening side jobs to save money. Those jobs mostly involved serving noblewomen. Unlike her, they had flawless skin, smooth as silk, and they smelled of perfume, not sweat. Just standing beside them and witnessing their appearance felt enchanting; they were not only noble but overflowing with beauty.
"My body smells of iron and is so rough..."
Noble Eugene would eventually marry and spend his life with women like them. As Mina realized Eugene's nobility and these thoughts filled her mind, she felt an unprecedented sense of misery and inferiority.
*Swish...!*
With a cold wind whipping through her heart, Mina finally turned around. It seemed she intended to look at her back.
"A woman with a back like this. I'm not suitable for Eugene as a woman."
And on that back were whip scars. They were symbols of the class difference. Scars made by being tied to a tree and whipped, along with knife wounds from escaping slave traders. As helplessness seeped in and her focus blurred, the scars on her back reflected in her eyes seemed like fresh whip marks being carved into her heart at that very moment.
---
"By the way, Mina seems to fit Eugene's ideal type quite well, doesn't she? Feminine and full of maternal love. I haven't seen many women like Mina lately. As commerce grows, even commoner women are losing that quality."
However, Sophia, addicted to dopamine, was diligently fueling the strange atmosphere between Eugene and Mina.
"Hmm... Sophia's other words might be whatever, but this part is true. Of course, knowing the Grand Duchess and Lady Charlotte, I can't say Mina is the 'most', but her feminine power is undeniably attractive and immense. That's a true fact."
Eugene, who had been deflecting Sophia's prodding, couldn't deny that Mina matched his ideal type.
While Marianne and Charlotte possessed a sacred and warm femininity and motherliness, Mina held the rustic and affectionate charm of a pure country mother. Eugene, who didn't discriminate when it came to maternal qualities, found it meaningless to compare them.
"I agree that Sister Mina is feminine and has great maternal love."
At that moment, Thomas also chimed in, agreeing with Sophia.
"It's an uncomfortable truth, but people from disadvantaged places often oppress those from similar backgrounds. Slave management methods are based on this. But seeing Sister Mina being kind to slum children and doing volunteer work makes even me, who tries to maintain ties with hometown friends, feel ashamed. Sister Mina is truly genuine."
To Thomas, who came from the slums, Mina was an inspiration. Her efforts to help others avoid the pain she experienced, without hiding her origins, made her seem like a saint of the underground city.
"That's right! Even though she's so busy, she goes volunteering once a month and does relief work. She's an amazing sister! She already gave me the payment to get relief supplies for next month."
Marie joined in as well. Mina procured relief supplies for the slums through Marie, partly to give Marie, who also came from a poor background, some extra money.
The praise for Mina from the Red Fox Mercenary members poured out.
"..."
However, Jeanne, who usually thought well of Mina and praised her, remained silent, just listening.
"Ah... why am I so jealous?"
She was jealous.
"This feeling is so childish. I can't accept this feeling. Mina is a good person I'm planning to work with on bigger projects. And... I even had sex with Eugene just a few hours ago."
She was jealous, but accepting that feeling was incredibly difficult.
"Ha... Should I just reveal that Eugene and I are dating? No, then the rules of our mercenary group... And I already told Eugene we're not dating..."
The fundamental reason for this turmoil was the shackles she had placed on herself. It was a necessary measure for Eugene's safety and the group's management. However, from the perspective of Jeanne the woman, this situation left her vulnerable. Jeanne the female felt like she was going crazy.
Then, something happened that truly rubbed salt in the wound.
"Volunteer work next month? I decided to go too. I got close to Margaret and the other slum kids while visiting the Blacksmith's Forge a few times. So I promised to go."
When Marie mentioned the specific details of the volunteer work, Eugene naturally brought up the promise he had made to Margaret a few hours earlier. His intention was to use this timing to inform his colleagues of his schedule in advance.
"Captain Eugene, you're so cool! People avoid going there because of strange rumors about an epidemic! You really don't have any prejudice!"
"Wow! That's our assault captain! I respect you even more now!"
Marie and Thomas responded with enthusiasm, deeply moved. In the mercenary society, where origins were often an unspoken taboo, Eugene's sincerity towards them, both from poor backgrounds, was palpable.
"Well... I was half-joking before, but they seem quite close?"
Sophia was surprised too. She had approached the situation merely for her own dopamine fix, focusing on the physical aspect of their relationship, but Eugene's actions seemed genuinely pure, making her own teasing feel awkward.
As the bond between Eugene and Mina seemed to deepen, even making Sophia reconsider her stance...
"Damn it, I don't know, I'm just so jealous."
The tense tug-of-war between Jeanne the mercenary leader and Jeanne the female began to rapidly tilt towards the victory of Jeanne the female.
---
"Hmm... Did I fall asleep for a moment?"
Due to the Blacksmith's Forge incident, the bond within the Red Fox Mercenary Group deepened, and the drinking continued for quite some time. Eugene, slightly drunk, had dozed off and was awakened by Ivan's hearty laughter.
"Huh? Jeanne's not here. Where did she go?"
Upon waking, Eugene's first target was, of course, his beloved Jeanne. He looked for her, but she wasn't in the commander's seat in the middle of the sofa, nor did she seem to be in the restroom.
"Thomas, I just woke up. Do you know where the commander went?"
"I think she went out about 20 minutes ago and hasn't come back yet? She drank quite a bit, so maybe she's getting some air nearby to sober up."
Eugene immediately asked Thomas about Jeanne's whereabouts.
"She didn't seem like she was planning to drink much. Did she start chugging while I was asleep?"
Eugene went outside the D'Gol Mercenary Pub and slowly started looking for Jeanne nearby. Knowing that Jeanne usually drank a lot when she was excited, Eugene tilted his head, puzzled by the news that she was drunk.
"Ah, there she is!"
Soon enough, Eugene found Jeanne. She was getting some air near the rum boxes stacked by the stables next to the pub.
"What are you doing, Jeanne? Getting some air?"
Eugene approached her casually and spoke.
*Swish...*
Jeanne, leaning against the wooden wall of the stable, looked at Eugene with a stoic expression.
"Huh? She doesn't seem very drunk. Jeanne looks fine."
Thanks to that, Eugene could clearly see Jeanne's face under the moonlight.
"Getting some air, yes. Because some guy set my heart on fire."
As expected of Jeanne, who was far from being foxy, she immediately showed her thorns upon seeing Eugene's face.
"Huh? Is she talking about me?"
Eugene caught the implication of her prickly words immediately.
"Go inside. I'll go in after getting some more air."
Jeanne turned her gaze forward again and spoke with a slight sigh.
*Grin...!*
At that moment, Eugene's lips curled up subtly.
"Are you perhaps jealous, Jeanne?"
He immediately poked Jeanne's sore spot.
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