Became the Imperial-Certified Mad Dog

Becoming a Bodyguard for My Enemy

The Lung Duchy was one of only five ducal houses in the Rupa Empire, a massive nation with the largest territory and longest history on the continent.

As befitting a ducal house, the territory of House Lung was vast enough to rival small nations on the empire’s periphery.

Just as light casts shadows, the vast territory of the Lung Duchy had its underworld, and among the numerous organizations in that underworld, the mafia called Serpe stood at the apex.

‘Hey, did you hear about that?’

‘How would I know what you’re talking about if you just ask out of nowhere? If you have something to say, just say it.’

‘You know those guys who were selling slaves across the street? When our guys went to check this morning, the place was completely wrecked.’

‘By the peacekeepers?’

‘Have you ever seen them do any work? Apparently some madman went in there with a sword and wiped them all out.’

‘Again? I heard the slave markets have been getting hit a lot lately. Could it be the same person?’

While the guards at Serpe’s headquarters main gate were gossiping about underground news to pass the time, they spotted someone staggering towards them.

‘Huh?’

‘Who’s there… whoa.’

The gatekeeper tried to block the approach by pointing his sword as he was taught by his superior, but he was struck speechless at the sight of a blood-covered child who looked like they might collapse at any moment.

‘It’s… it’s just a kid? In that condition…’

‘Looks not even 15 years old… what’s he doing here…’

‘Where are they…?’

‘What?’

The gatekeepers tilted their heads as they heard Gul’s mumbling, which sounded like that of a ghost or a lost soul.

‘Where are my mom and dad…?’

‘Mom and dad…?’

‘I’m sorry, but why are you looking for your parents here… more importantly, you…’

‘Don’t play dumb…! I found out everything, you gangster bastards!’

At that moment, the boy who had been clearly out of breath grabbed the gatekeeper’s shoulder with incredible strength that seemed impossible for a child, pulling him down and stabbing him in the back.

‘Wh-what!?’

‘Bring back my parents, you sons of bitches!’

*

‘So you’re saying this kid maimed several of our men and turned those slave market guys into a sea of blood?’

‘Additionally, it seems all those sword incidents in other territories we’ve been hearing about were also his doing.’

‘…’

Naturally, Gul’s attack, which might have been uncertain even with perfect preparation, was quickly suppressed.

As Gul had expected, while he was fighting the kidnappers who tried to take Peri, news of his attack on the slave market had already spread throughout the territory’s underworld, and Serpe was prepared for a possible attack.

‘Hah… this kid… is really the murderer who’s been going around cutting off people’s limbs?’

Gul’s journey of interrogating everyone he met by cutting off their limbs in search of his parents had become an urban legend known as the Limb Cutter throughout the empire.

Karma, the boss of Serpe, was speechless as he looked down at Gul, who had been subdued quickly and was now lying face down on the floor, realizing that the infamous rumor’s protagonist was a child whose voice hadn’t even broken yet.

‘Is this… is he even 10 years old… ugh.’

He repeatedly tried to speak but kept closing his mouth, then pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, and his right-hand man immediately lit it with a match he was carrying.

‘So… why did he come here? Why did he attack the slave traders, and why did he attack us?’

After taking a deep drag from his cigarette to calm himself, Karma pressed for an answer from Galling, his trusted aide who had personally subdued Gul while he was swinging his sword at Serpe’s members.

‘Something about demanding we return his mom and dad, seems they think we have his parents…’

‘Parents? Mom and dad? Why would he look for them here?’

Karma’s eyebrows furrowed at the mention of parents.

‘You know those slave couples we bought about two weeks ago? Maybe it’s them? Coincidentally, the slave market he wiped out today is the same place we bought them from.’

‘Ah, them! So he really came looking for his parents…!’

Though the mystery was solved, Karma’s unease only grew worse, and he stopped speaking to take another drag from his cigarette.

‘So what should we do with this kid…’

As a father himself, Karma felt sympathy for Gul who had bloodied his hands trying to find his parents.

However, having been so openly challenged, he needed to take action that wouldn’t damage his face as an underworld leader.

Miraculously there were no deaths, but five organization members had either lost body parts or fallen into comas from that seemingly fragile boy’s blade, so Karma pondered what punishment to give.

‘Killing him seems too much, maybe just cut off one finger… and send him back…’

While he was conflicted between sympathy and reason, an organization member came running with an urgent expression.

‘Boss, it’s terrible! The young miss!’

‘What?!’

At the mention of ‘young miss,’ Karma’s eyes, which had been clouded with worry, sharpened instantly, and he rushed to grab the subordinate’s collar.

‘What about Peri?!’

‘Some bastards attacked the young miss!’

Hearing that his only daughter from his deceased wife had been attacked, Karma’s head spun, and he nearly collapsed.

‘Wh-what happened, how’s Peri!? Is my daughter safe!?’

‘W-well, she’s safe for now! All the guards assigned to her were killed, but somehow she managed to escape here!’

‘…’

‘Boss!’

Thud. Upon hearing his daughter was safe, Karma’s legs finally gave out from the tension, and this time he really did collapse to the ground.

‘Fucking hypocrite, your daughter is precious but other people’s parents don’t matter?’

‘If you want to leave with your body intact, keep your mouth shut.’

Gul felt disgust at Karma’s duality, acting as a caring father worried about his daughter’s safety while leading criminals.

Hearing this sarcasm, Galling sighed silently and made him shut up so Karma wouldn’t hear.

‘Daddy…’

At that moment, a young and beautiful voice unsuited to Serpe’s headquarters full of rough-looking criminals came from beyond the room, and a girl even younger than Gul, the youngest in the room, peeked her head in.

‘Daddy…’

‘Peri! Oh my dear daughter! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere!?’

Seeing his daughter, who was more precious to him than any money or power, Karma immediately swallowed the cigarette in his mouth and ran to check if she had any injuries.

‘Yes, I’m fine, some brother saved… ah, it’s the brother who saved me!’

Peri, surprisingly calm even to herself, was trying to tell her father about being helped by a passing boy when she realized the person collapsed in the room was him.

‘…What?’

Karma’s thoughts froze at the revelation that the brazen intruder who attacked them was also his daughter’s savior.

‘This kid… saved you from kidnappers? He wasn’t trying to kidnap you himself?’

It would have made more sense if he had targeted Peri out of a grudge against himself, so Karma asked again, but Peri shook her head.

‘No, that brother saved me. When some strange men were fighting with our men… and chasing after me, that brother threw knives from behind and fought those men while bleeding to save me.’

‘Ah, I… I see…’

The dizziness was so severe he would have immediately lit another cigarette if his daughter wasn’t present.

‘But daddy… is that brother hurt?’

‘Huh? Ah, well… that is…’

‘Are you trying to hurt him? Why would you hurt the brother who saved me…?’

‘Ah, no, that’s…’

Faced with his daughter’s pure eyes looking up at him with concern for Gul’s condition, Karma could neither advance nor retreat, and turned his head back with a grimace, seeking help from Galling.

‘Ahem, first, young miss, we should take you to the hospital just in case.’

‘Y-yes! That’s right! You might be hurt somewhere, so let’s go to the hospital first!’

‘Daddy, what about brother? He looks hurt too…’

‘We have some things to discuss with him, so he’ll go a bit later. Don’t worry, young miss.’

Since the cunning and ruthless mafia boss became like an honest sheep in front of his daughter, unable to tell even a single lie, Galling stepped in to persuade Peri.

‘Phew…’

After sending Peri to the hospital with his subordinates, Karma sat in a chair and looked down at Gul, who was still glaring at him.

‘I’m grateful, but why did you save my daughter? Did you know who she was?’

‘Would I have saved her if I knew she was your daughter? If I had known, I would have killed her myself.’

‘Such bravado… So, you want to find your parents? But what can you do, your parents aren’t here.’

‘…What the fuck?’

Gul’s expression, which had been scowling, crumbled instantly at the words that his parents weren’t here.

‘We sent them to some facilities we operate. So, you want to get your parents back?’

‘Why? Feeling generous because I saved your daughter?’

Gul asked with hidden hope, but Karma shook his head.

‘If you hadn’t caused all this trouble, maybe.’

‘…’

‘Even if I returned your parents now, do you think that would really solve the problem? How many people have you killed? Do you know how powerful the slave traders you’ve messed with are?’

Karma explained that the organizations Gul had targeted were powerful enough to influence the entire empire, and they had only failed to respond so far because they had too little information about him.

‘Even if you rescue your parents now, once they figure out who you are, you’ll have to spend the rest of your life running from them. You might be good at fighting, but what about your parents?’

‘…’

Though mature for his age, Gul was still too young to understand the ways of the world and couldn’t refute Karma’s realistic points.

After carefully observing his reaction, Karma made him a proposal.

‘It seems you don’t care about your own life but do care about your parents’ lives. Want to work with me?’

‘…?’

‘I’ll protect your mom and dad.’

‘…Really?! …No, there must be conditions, what are they?’

Gul, who quickly got excited at the mention of protecting his parents.

‘That daughter you saw earlier, protect her like you did today. She’s more precious to me than anything, protect her with your life, prioritize her above even yourself.’

Karma’s proposal to Gul was essentially to become a dog wearing a collar to protect Peri.

‘…How long?’

‘I’m not asking for a lifetime commitment, my daughter is 10 now, so… 6 years. Just protect her until she enters the academy at 16. Got it?’

‘…Deal.’

And so the first wave that would determine young Gul’s life calmed as he became the guard of a girl he had saved by chance.

However, unknown to him, the second wave was already slowly creeping in from a place invisible to the eye.