the.com/mercenary
A soldier whose loyalty expires the moment your check does.
means Someone who fights, works, or serves purely for money rather than allegiance, cause, or conviction.
from From Latin mercenarius, meaning hired hand, rooted in merces — wages, the same coin that gave us merchant and commerce.
Renaissance ItalyHired condottieri often refused to fight too hard.
Modern labelGeneva Conventions deny them prisoner-of-war protections.
Word driftNow insults anyone too openly motivated by cash.