Two types of people

"Why did dad need to work hard against those monsters?"

The question came from Nishino's mouth when she was still a child. She, being a child, couldn't understand why her father insisted on doing dangerous work as a mercenary when he could do other jobs.

Young Nishino also witnessed her parents arguing about this. Her mother shared Nishino's opinion, hoping her husband would change his job. However, Nishino's father remained firm in his work.

"I do all this to protect the city! To protect you and our child!"

"Why does it have to be you? Even if you change jobs now, there will be someone to replace you!"

"To achieve a brighter future for humanity, we must work hard with our own hands!"

The argument between her parents was still vivid in Nishino's memory. Every sentence, every expression, all remained in Nishino's mind. A bright future for humanity? Why did her father care about such a thing? If he chose to change jobs, maybe he wouldn't die.

However, foolishly, her father continued his work until one day they received news that he died trying to save his comrade. On that day, her mother cried sorrowfully, cursing her father's foolishness. Until now, the comrade saved by her father never visited them at all.

After that incident, her mother worked hard to support them. Unable to bear seeing this, Nishino also began to look for another job. At first, she thought about working in a bar or brothel, but she still hesitated and tried to find other work.

Whether by fate or whatnot, Nishino eventually met Chairman Sasaki Enjiro accidentally, reluctantly applying for a job at Sasaki's company and eventually ending up as a member of the Z army mercenaries after a year of training.

Until now, her mother didn't approve of Nishino's job, and they even argued after Nishino told her the news. Eventually, Nishino left home, but she still sent some of her salary to her mother.

Nishino herself had a complicated attitude towards mercenaries. On one hand, she hated this job because her father died because of it, but on the other hand, she was curious about it. Why didn't her father want to change jobs? What was so special about this job?

It should be noted that her father's situation was different from Nishino's. For Nishino, there weren't many jobs she could do, so becoming a mercenary was normal, but her father was quite popular and had many connections; it was easy for him to switch jobs and find a better one.

After joining the Z army, Nishino was still curious about why her father continued to stick to his job. She eventually trained seriously, and thanks to her talent and training, she excelled among her fellow trainees. Nishino was especially talented in parkour, running through obstacles, jumping, weapon mastery, and so on.

It wasn't until her first mission that Nishino understood the true nature of this job.

Dangerous. One word was enough to describe her first mission. She saw her fellow trainees and even seniors die. This made Nishino scared, but she also became more curious about her father's thoughts.

Nishino then asked Akihisa about this issue.

"So, you want to know why your father is so determined to lead this dangerous life?"

"That's right, captain."

Nishino asked this question after her first mission was completed.

"Nishino, there are only two types of people who join mercenaries, those desperate for money or those with lofty dreams."

"I understand the first one because I'm included in it too, but what do you mean by people with lofty dreams?"

"People like that either have high ambitions, like trying to become a genomancer by gathering money and connections as mercenaries. Or perhaps they're people who want to contribute to society by trying to kill as many monsters as possible.

You might not know, but some mercenaries often boast about fighting for humanity or something like that. Basically, there are some who consider this job honorable and beneficial to the city."

Akihisa's explanation made Nishino think. Her father did indeed belong to this type of people.

The truth made Nishino conflicted. After hearing the truth about her father, Nishino respected his choice. After completing her first mission, she knew that this job was very dangerous and it was hard to maintain a positive attitude like her father's.

But on the other hand, she still considered it foolish. Individual strength was very small, no matter how hard her father worked, his contribution would be smaller than even the weakest genomancer.

Since then, she respected her father's choice but still considered it a foolish decision.

Nishino opened her eyes, waking up from her dream, she looked left and right to find herself still in the lodging rented by the fourth squad. Nishino's gaze briefly fell on the figure of Ren still sleeping.

It was the sixth day since their arrival at Naraki Fortress. For several nights now, Ren and Nishino had been sleeping in the same room. Of course, nothing happened between them.

However, their relationship was now better than before.

Although it was their first official assignment, Ren handled it well. Nishino could see that Ren was not only skilled in using a sniper but also had a strong mentality even when facing difficult situations.

Nishino got up from her bed. She went to the bathroom, washed her face, and brushed her teeth. After that, she returned to her room, spread the curtains on her bed, and changed her clothes behind the curtains. When finished, she went to the dining area.

Although it was still early morning, many members of the fourth squad had already woken up. The habit of waking up early had been developed for those who had been on duty long enough. She ordered breakfast and sat in one of the empty chairs while waiting for the food to arrive.

"The wave of monsters seems to be continuing. It doesn't look like it's going to end before we leave."

"I don't know what the genomancers are doing, they should have hunted down the newly born King of Hell Hound, shouldn't they?"

"I heard that a group of genomancers died after encountering the King of Hell Hound, it seems this monster can't be underestimated."

Those conversations accidentally entered Nishino's ears. The situation at Naraki Fortress was indeed starting to worry. Although initially the human side could handle the wave of monsters easily, gradually the wave of monsters increased. Not only genomancers, even mercenaries needed to work harder.