It was easy money. It was essentially a step down from baby-sitting. All she had to do was make sure he stayed alive and he had no visible scars. It was a better way of gaining money than she could have ever imagined. Plus the cabin in the woods wasn't all that bad either. It was sure as hell better than that dingy slum she lived in.

But it soon took its toll on her.

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His father had come to visit and started beating his son without so much as saying hello. He'd have his maids hold up the boy and deliver blows a child shouldn't have to take. The child had gotten tired of screaming months ago and simply took the punches with little or no qualms.

"Lord Bradley, is this really necessary so early?" Avis asked while yawning as she watched them.

"It is Avis. This little bastard's mother dared to humiliate me and you think I can just let that slide? I don't know which bastard she laid with but if I can't get my hands on him, or the boy's mother, then he will have to serve as a substitute."

He delivered another blow and caused Albus to cough up blood.

"I do hope you'll leave him alive at the end of this." She remarked after seeing his blood flow.

"Oh, trust me, my rage for him cannot be quenched in a lifetime."

The boy was barefoot and the man showed hesitation stomping on his toes with his heavy boots.

That gave the first scream the boy had uttered in months.

("Tsk, I know it's free money but why'd I have to work for a nutcase like him?")

"Come on mercenary, I'm sure you want a few hits of your own, right?"

Avis sighed before getting up. He delivered one blow but it made an audible crack. The boy fell to the ground in tears and rolled around on the floor.

The lord looked almost giddy seeing this and had a good laugh watching him.

"Holy shit, do you not disappoint!" He bent over to grab Albus's head. "Not so tough are ya, ya little shit!?" He shouted in the boy's face before spitting in it.

He got up and tried to steady his breathing. "You know what to do Avis."

He took a coat from one of his maids and put it on. He left the cabin noticeably satisfied.

"THanKs AviS." Albus told her while fighting through the pain.

"For what exactly?"

"Whenever Dad goes too far, you break my rib to get him to leave." He said.

"Shut up, with that magic of yours you don't have to take that beating in the first place. It's disgusting how nobles can get such grand powers with no effort." She responded.

"But then he'd stay here longer right?" He asked.

"Why does that matter?" she asked before crossing her arms.

"You always look annoyed when he comes by."

"...Listen here you little shit, I don't need you trying to read into things that aren't there. The only reason I looked annoyed was because the guy decided to wake me up so early."

"Oh." The boy weakly responded before passing out.

"Tch, already?"

She lifted him up to bring him into his bed. Although her medical knowledge was shoddy at best, with the equipment his father provided her, that knowledge was more than enough to keep Albus alive.

"What annoying kid."

She looked at him as his face was in pain on the bed and couldn't help but feel disgusted.

("Tough shit kid. There are probably tons of kids out there who have to go through worse shit than you every day. Just because I have to watch it doesn't mean that what's happening to you is worse than any of them.")

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

As she looked at him she tried to give herself a reason it was okay to carry on like this. She couldn't have imagined making money for something so simple when she was a mercenary and had decided no matter what, she was going to milk this thing for all it was worth until that fool ended up killing this little boy.

But after watching this for months, she couldn't help but at least wonder why. You've already killed your bitch wife. Why continue to make this child suffer? Why continue to torture him like this?

Those thoughts had been slowly eating away at her during her days here and they were particularly strong today. That's why she decided to do something she normally wouldn't have.

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She waited in the forest waiting for someone. While she was here, she had learnt various secrets about the lord, though the one she found the most troubling (legality-wise) was the fact he killed his wife. While she had no problem with this, she was surprised by how blatant he was with this fact around the boy and her. But she couldn't help but wonder how many people knew this fact.

The lord came down into the forest with two of his guards. She had on a black cloak and hid her face well.

"Is it you!?" The lord shouted. It was obvious at a glance it was a woman. "Are you the bitch that dares threaten me!?" He shouted at her.

One of the guards had a briefcase. He walked in front of the lord to open a briefcase. It was filled with bars of gold.

"There, take it you slut, now make I don't hear a word of this from anyone."

As the guard set down the suitcase and walked back, Avis quickly ran towards him while his back was turned and cut his head off in one motion.

The other guard had already started running towards her and the lord had already begun running away.

("Shit, what the hell!? I didn't think there'd be someone that strong threatening me! Shit, what the hell even was that? How'd she manage to cut his head off in one swipe? Fuck it all, they must have hired some assassin to get the money. Why jokes on them, that gold is fake so they'll be as broke as they-")

Before he could finish his thought he noticed something sticking out of his chest. It was the blade of a sword. He turned around to see the assassin behind him and quickly fell to the floor.

The other guard had been quickly dispatched off.

("I only did this because he was missing me off.") She told herself. ("That's right. Regardless of what he was doing to that boy, the fact he disgusted me was more than enough reason to kill him. The boy had nothing to do with it. I feel if anyone had been forced to watch this useless bastard beat his child and then expect you to nurse back to health, anyone would have done this.")

She told herself all of that yet showed no hesitation in heading back to their cabin.

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She remembered the boy she protected long ago by killing his father which led him down the path he is on now. She would not let him suffer. For as long as she lived she would make sure he didn't have to pay for her mistakes.

She quickly wrapped a wire around the arm that reached out towards her. Elizabeth managed to lodge her sword between her arm and the wire as soon as the wire reached bone. She wore a leather arm guard with metal on its top and if it hadn't been for that her mutilated arm would have been an amputated one. She delivered a punch with said arm and Avis willingly backed away while letting go of the wire.

They were now both parallel to the wall and stared each other down as Avis got back to her feet. They rushed each other with no hesitation. Elizabeth now only had one usable arm with the injury to the other, and Avis was barely holding on due to the pain she was in. Every step she took tested her resolve but she took them without hesitation.

In their struggle, Elizabeth managed to land a sword strike with her non-dominant arm that left blood spraying. She stabbed her abdomen but she could tell by feeling it wasn't anything vital. She had to quickly let go when Avis attempted to throw the wire over her which narrowly dodged. She attempted to throw a punch into the lodged sword but Avis managed to back away fast enough and caused Elizabeth to stumble and land a counter blow of her sending her backwards.

She showed no care for the metal in her torso and showered her in punches seemingly showing no interest in cutting her apart anymore. As Elizabeth took this beating she slugged her with her only good arm every so often with a blow that sounded more like a gunshot but neither woman took a step back. With each punch the other sent they bruised the other more, driving them closer to death. Elizabeth even managed to land a few nasty blows on the sword but the pain of the poison had its upside as Avis could no longer discern the pain not caused by the poison.

There was no parrying, no grace and no skill shown between the two women as they slaughtered each other with their fists. They targeted each other's wounds without mercy and left each other with bruises and a dash of each other's blood on the other, with a large helping of their own staining themselves.

The first one to falter in this bloody stalemate was Elizabeth. After receiving a blow that broke her own nose she was sent back. Even with the pain running through Avis's body, for a brief moment, the relief she was feeling washed it all away as she watched Elizabeth.

("Finally. Don't worry Albus, after the antidote I'll quickly rush to your si-") Her mind froze in awe of what she was seeing before her eyes. Elizabeth had managed to muster enough strength to send a kick towards Avis.

It'd obviously go for her head so she blocked it. Within the next moment, she realised she was mistaken and it was too far away for her head. Then what was it aimed for? It hit the sword in her abdomen and turned the floor, the sword and Elizabeth's leg into a bloody mess. Her stomach and several other viscera were visible and her feet lost all strength...

As she felt herself fading away, she only had one thought on her mind.

("Forgive me, Albus.")

With tears in her eyes, she limply fell to the floor and her heart got its last beat out. It got darker and darker for eyes until she passed out.

Elizabeth roared out when she hit the floor like a lion displaying its dominance.