Adopted Soldier

Chapter 373

Back when there was no Lyner, no Rika, and Arthur Glory was simply a new SS rank merc, there was only one other besides him who was at that level, and she was Tanya Ritter . The SS rank merc that was born in a small country to the north of the Empire . She was considered the most beautiful merc of the time . Not only was she the most gorgeous looking she was also the most vicious .

Her fighting style tended to focus on the use of spears . Her weapon used to only be a stick, but as her fame and power grew so did her weapon . In the end, as she became even more powerful no normal weapon was able to withstand her strength, so she had her weapon forged by the best of the best . Her weapon was forged was not only made by the best but also with the best materials which made it nearly unbreakable but at the same time, it was heavier all other melee weapon created to date . Not many can even lift the spear, much less use it in a fight, but Tanya did and she was devastatingly powerful with it .

As her fame rose as a merc, so did the fame of her beauty . Many suitors have tried to woo her over the years, but none could crack her icy exterior, and those who were too forceful never saw the light of day again .

Yet most of them even after their initial rejection would come back to pester her . It was a neverending cycle, but Tanya just couldn't kill them for no reason, unlike those forceful b*stards which made the whole ordeal even more infuriating . That was when Tanya got an idea .

She told every one of her suitors that she would only wed the person who can beat her in battle . When they heard this, some of them couldn't help but quit on the spot knowing how strong Tanya the ice queen was . Yet most of them continued, believing that with their love they could overcome any obstacles, but in the end, they were proven wrong, they were shown the cruel reality that there was no such thing and got beaten up .

Tanya's idea was good and for some time the suitors seem to decrease, there was a large decrease from what it was initially . Every day was less than before, but even if a thousand turned into five hundred it was still too many that it was irritating . This cycle of being proposed to, rejecting then fighting the suitor, continued day in and day out . It even affected her job as a merc . Not that the current Tanya needed money, she didn't even need to do any merc jobs anymore, but she liked doing them . Yet now she wasn't even able to do that . Day by day the suitors continued to irritate her, until one day, a man came in front of her and same as the others told her he wanted to challenge her to a fight . Tanya thought that this was another new suitor and initiated the fight without warning .

At first, she thought that the other party would fall after her first strike like most of them, but he didn't . Not only that, the aura he was exuding was enormous that it actually made Tanya who had fought numerous battles feel a bit suffocated . Because of her battling with weaklings one after another, she wasn't able to quickly see that this person was a master until it was too late . She then changed her stance and took the fight seriously for once .

The mysterious man kept on dodging all of her attacks which surprised her . He then lifted his hand, Tanya thought that a big move was coming, but then he just signaled her to stop .

"Since you are using a weapon I can use one too, right?" The man asked while looking extremely disinterested and even seem like he was in a hurry . The moment Tanya nodded her head, the man jumped upward and broke a branch of a nearby tree . He then took a stance while still showing the same disinterested face . Tanya thought that the man was mocking her, as she was about to say something the man interrupted her .

"Seeing how strong you are, I need to get a bit serious . I thought I could win with just my bare fists but that doesn't seem to be the case . Be proud that you are one of the few that could get to see me get serious . " The moment he said this, the man disappeared from Tanya's line of sight . She then shifted her head to the left, as a branch passed by from behind her . She then did a backward kick, in which the mysterious man jumped onto her leg . After that, he countered by doing a downward slash using the branch in his right hand . The branch hit Tanya's forehead and she felt a bit dizzy, as she was about to take a defensive stance, she felt the man pointing his finger at her neck .

"Victory is mine, correct?" With a tone that seems to say he could care less, he spoke, but then he suddenly smiled at Tanya . Seeing him do that made Tanya's heart skip a beat .

"That was a good fight . "

"Name . . "

"Huh?"

"Tell me your name!" Tanya who usually had an icy expression on her face was now actually blushing, the merc that was called the ice queen was blushing like a teenage brat in love .

"I guess you deserve to know, seeing how strong you are . Very well, be honored as you are about to hear my name . I am Richter Greyhound . "

"Richter . . . Greyhound . . . Now that you have won the battle, I guess you will be my hu-" Richter then placed his finger onto Tanya's lips which made the girl's face turn redder than before .

"Just a moment . Hey, I know you're watching! I have fulfilled the terms of the contract and defeated the SS rank merc, Tanya Ritter . Come here and give me my commission . "

Once Richter shouted those lines, a cool looking man came out from behind the trees and approach Richter with a wide smile .

"Yes, of course . That was an amazing battle, you were worth every penny I paid . Here's your prize . " The cool, slick-looking man then handed Richter a briefcase full of money . After Richter counted the contents of the money he thanked the client, then looked at the confused Tanya .

"I don't understand why this man wants me to beat you, he even paid me a ton of cash for such an easy job . I don't really understand, but, I did beat you, and it was fun . I'm glad I met someone that wasn't a Greyhound that was as strong as you . You better improve the next time I meet you, so I can have a more satisfying battle . " After he said what he wanted to say, Richter left the confused Tanya with the cool looking man .

"Now that the third wheel is gone, how about you greet your husband to be . " After a few more seconds of looking confused, Tanya was finally able to snap out of it and looked at the man with a bit of irritation .

"Huh? The guy that left was the one who beat me, not you . You did nothing, so why should I marry you?"

Hearing what Tanya said made the man smile . He then started swinging his index finger right to left, right to left and said, "No, no, no . I found a loophole in what you said, my dear . You never said that I can't hire a representative to fight you . All you said is, as long as I beat you in battle I get to marry you . Now that my representative won, you need to be my wifey alright?"

Tanya then looked at the man who was acting so smug . Her expression then went back to her default icy expression . 'This guy must be the most idiotic person I ever met . ' While thinking this, Tanya didn't bother to respond to the guy and started walking away . She was really irritated at the moment . She embarrassed herself moments ago and thought Richter challenged her because he wanted her . Turns out it was just a job .

'Richter Greyhound . . . ' While she was thinking about Richter's smiling face, and was blushing a bit, the man who was shouting claiming to be her husband to be, blocked her path .

"Get out of my way . "

"I won't until yo-" Tanya then flipped the guy down to the ground, she then looked at him full of contempt . "I don't plan to ever marry a weakling like you, so either leave me alone or die!" Feeling Tanya's killing intent the man started running as he peed his pants .

Seeing the man run away like the coward he was made Tanya sigh . 'There really is no good man out there . . . ' She then once again remembered Richter . 'Oh, I guess there is one good man . . . I better get stronger, so the next time I meet him I can surprise him . ' Tanya couldn't help but smile as she skipped towards her training area, daydreaming about meeting Richter again .

That was how the ice queen first met, the deviant of the Greyhounds . The two will meet numerous times afterward, and every time they met Tanya would initiate the fight wanting to show Richter how much she improved . Yet for some reason every time they fought Richter seem to show a pained expression . There was even a time when he looked like he just wanted to die . Tanya at the time couldn't find out more about Richter's feelings as the only way they communicated was through fighting . Then one day out of nowhere Richter proposed to her, of course without any hesitation she said yes .

Because in her mind, since the day he beat her, she was already his .