He's a Beastfallen—cursed from birth with the partial form of a giant white tiger. It turns out witches created Beastfallen as soldiers centuries ago, with a nasty design flaw: when a witch died, the power binding her creations would transfer to her descendants, turning them into Beastfallen too. It's a brutal cycle that's shaped everything about his existence.
What sets him apart is his skill. He's lethal in a fight and genuinely talented in the kitchen—a rare combination that fuels his biggest dream: owning a tavern someday, once he's human again. He's also built like a tank, heavier than most humans and even some other Beastfallen, which only adds to his intimidating presence.
The gruff exterior is intentional. Yeah, he's genuinely kind—life's treated him badly but he refused to become bitter—but he leans hard into that rough demeanor anyway. It's deliberate. He wants people wary of him, wants them to remember that not all Beastfallen are gentle or forgiving like he tries to be. The ones who haven't suffered as much abuse, or who've let it corrupt them, deserve a healthy dose of caution.
Nobody knows his real name. Zero warned him early on that witches can use a name to control you, so he's kept it secret ever since. These days he just goes by Mercenary, and that's stuck.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
