Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 12

First, what came to my mind were the words of my elder sister.

“In battle, one cannot foresee what may occur. Information gathered in advance may develop discrepancies, and within mere hours, it could turn out to be false..”

These were the words regarding the mindset to had on the battlefield from my elder sister. Those words were indeed correct. Now, I am painfully aware of that. I, the second princess Valiere, grit my teeth as I accept reality. Then, I listened to the words of my advisor, Faust.

“Your first battle was a failure. With 20 citizens, 15 guards, and including myself and Lady Valiere, totaling 37, it’s impossible to defeat over 100 of Caroline’s blue-blooded brutes. Please, decide to abandon the pursuit.”

The initial engagement was a failure. It was a blunder. You may be unaware of this, Faust, but indeed, it was a misstep. You are being taken away from me, by my sister. If we fail to subdue the bandits, Faust will be dismissed as my advisor and assigned to my sister Anastasia. That’s what Mother has informed me. My heart beats furiously. Is this the end for me? Yes, it’s the end. A fitting end for a mediocre person. Yes, a voice whispers somewhere in my heart. Advisor Faust opposes this. And his opinion is correct. You’re finished here. Once again, a voice whispers somewhere in my heart. Advisor Faust will be taken by my sister, and I will be mocked by the ignorant populace and the nobility for running away from bandits.

Bowing my head, I bite my lip as I imagine myself walking through the palace. But what am I supposed to do? There is no other choice. Should I recklessly scatter the lives of the guards who follow me and oppose Faust? I couldn’t do that. That was my limit. With a self-deprecating smile, I said,

“I understand, Faust.”

I’ve decided to withdraw. To escape from this modest magistrate’s residence to the royal capital. And as the second princess of the Anhalt Kingdom, a useless spare, I’ll seclude myself in a monastery once my sister takes the throne as queen. That’s what I think as I step out from the magistrate’s residence, bringing along Sabine, who looks worried.

As we exit, we are met by the surviving residents of this small village.

“Soldiers, please, please bring back my husband from Caroline, from those demons.”

“No, my son, please. He’s only 10 years old, please.”

“Move, I’m begging you… move aside!”

It was a plea. A plea from the people who had their small happiness taken away from this small village. Men and women alike prostrate before me, begging to bring back their men.

I can’t respond to them. I just can’t. I almost let my cowardly self, covered with a thin layer of fear, show through. It’s impossible. Don’t rely on me. I want to curl up and hide. Someone, stop this. The magistrate and Faust come out from the magistrate’s residence to try and quell the disturbance.

“Stop it, stop, you people…”

The magistrate’s desperate shout.

Silence. Faust looks at the woman with pity.

And finally, Sabine, the captain of my guard who had been following behind me, stepped in front of me and shouted,

“Enough with your clamor! You walking dead!!”

It was a powerful shout that seemed to resonate to the very bottom of people’s hearts. Indeed, it reached mine.

—Dead people.

A word fitting for me. I mock myself in my heart.

“Dead people…? What do you mean by that?”

One of the women who had been clinging to me in tears raised her voice.

“Dead people are dead people. What else is there to say?”

Sabine answered, puzzled.

What is Sabine talking about? I can’t quite understand it myself.

“Why do you continue to feign life? Why aren’t you dead like those corpses over there?”

Sabine pointed at the corpses scattered throughout the village. Those corpses were brutally beaten and beheaded, their pitiful remains exposed.

“That woman—she fought until the end not to let her son be taken.”

“Then why didn’t you resist! Why are you exposing yourself to living shame!!”

Sabine was furious. It was the first time I had seen Sabine this angry.

“Cease your clinging! Do not latch onto my lord!! You dead, who have done nothing, do not grovel at my lord’s feet!!”

Sabine’s scream sounded almost like a shriek, and it seemed to reach the depths of my heart.

“You are dead! Dead people who didn’t resist to the end, don’t cling to my lord!”

“What sin have we committed—doesn’t the military exist to protect us!?”

The women’s voices sounded like screams. Their words were correct. We came here to protect them.

“Protect! Certainly, the men and boys who were taken will be saved by my lord!! No, she wants to save them!!”

Sabine!?

My face almost changed into an expression of shock, but I managed to stop it and grabbed Faust’s hand. Stop Sabine. However, Faust did not respond, instead listening to Sabine’s words.

“But it’s not enough! Truly, it’s embarrassing but our military strength is not sufficient!!”

What is Sabine trying to say? I can no longer judge.

“Ah… if only there were militia willing to lend their strength to our military. If there were those brave enough to want to rescue their husbands, their sons. If they would lend us their strength, perhaps we could have saved them.”

Sabine muttered this while pointing at the corpses scattered throughout the village, brutally beaten and beheaded, their pitiful remains.

“You are not dead! Be like that courageous woman!”

Sabine had said all she wanted to say. With an expression as if she had finished delivering a speech, she took a breath and ended her declaration. The women were enraged.

“We are not dead! But how could we have resisted? We had no weapons or anything…”

This was but an excuse. Sabine scoffed, dismissing it before continuing.

“There are farming tools. A person dies if hit in the head with a hoe. A person dies if stabbed in the belly with a pitchfork. In fact, they must have tried to resist once.”

Sabine pointed at a decapitated corpse that was still clutching a pitchfork. The tip of the pitchfork was stained with the dry blood of the enemy. Those who had become corpses had resisted. Until the very last moment before death, they exerted their strength.

“You are corpses! Losing your husbands and sons here, grow old and die! What difference does it make, you’re already on the way to dying!”

Sabine’s harsh words. The women showed even more anger.

“Don’t mess with us… don’t mess with us!! Why didn’t you save us? Why didn’t you come sooner? If the military had come sooner, by now!!”

“Ah, the words of the deceased fall on deaf ears. I yearn for the speech of the living. The fervent pleas of women longing for their sons and husbands.”

Sabine provoked them further.

Stop it. Please, stop it. That’s what I thought.

Dead.

Having once given up, I was like those women clinging to the deceased, unable to utter a single word. Then, one of the women from the small village, who had been clinging to the deceased until now, murmured with determination.

“I will take action.”

Her eyes held a resolute look.

“If reliance on you proves futile! If reclaiming what is ours rests solely in our hands! Then, without awaiting your command, I shall act!!”

Crying out in a wail, the woman screamed.

“I’ll go right now, chase after that woman, Caroline, those demons, and kill them to take back my son!!”

Sabine responded to her.

“Very good. Extremely good. It seems there was one living person after all. Any others?”

Sabine looked around, her words provoking and stirring the hearts of those around. Voices rose. Screams of the women from the small village, robbed of their small happiness.

“We’ll do it!!”

“We’re not afraid of those blue-blooded brutes! We’ll kill them!!”

“Take me with you! Please take me to Caroline herself!! Soldiers!!”

Sabine, who had been silent until now, addressed Faust.

“Lord Polydoro, I ask you to reconsider. We have gathered militia.”

“Lady Sabine, what is this… I observed to gauge your actions, yet you act with a demon’s guile. Do you propose to march these peace-dwelling commoners to their doom?”

“There is no future for the villagers here anyway, not unless they can take back their husbands and sons.”

Sabine answered coldly. Faust, scratching his head, muttered an acknowledgment.

“Taking all, regardless of age, is unfeasible. Though these militia resemble the dead walking, we can muster about 40 to join our pursuit of Caroline.”

“Even so, 40 dead soldiers who no longer fear death joining us is not a bad addition to our forces. Especially if Lord Polydoro is with us.”

“Lady, you attribute too much to me, the Knight of Wrath.”

Faust answered with a wry smile. Then, he pointed out a problem.

“However, we lack a commander. A commander to lead these 40 dead soldiers.”

“I will lead! My dominant arm is still intact!! Please, give me a chance to redeem myself!”

The magistrate, as if energized by Sabine’s fervor, exclaimed loudly. Faust, with wide eyes, raised the next issue.

“Next, for this battle—the primary cause of this disturbance, the eldest daughter of the local lord, will have to pay us a substantial apology sum as war expenses. It will be so much that it might skin her backside. I despise lords and knights who can’t wipe their own backsides to the point of disgust. I will not show any mercy.”

“I will take care of that with my power.”

The words naturally came out from me, from the position of the second princess. Faust looked at me, his eyes wide in surprise. Perhaps I too was energized by Sabine’s fervor, having spoken impulsively.

“If that’s the case, I have nothing more to say. We don’t have time. Immediately gather whatever food remains in the village, arm the militia with weapons—even farming tools will do. Let’s recommence the march.”

Faust gave a wry smile, abandoning the idea of retreat.

We are to advance—begin our first battle once again.

Our target is Caroline, fleeing to the territory of Virendorf.

※

“Seeking asylum in Virendorf.”

The men and boys to be offered to Virendorf were assembled. There was also wealth, grabbed from the lord’s residence, from what once was my home, as we fled. There was no problem.

“Seeking asylum in Virendorf.”

I muttered again. There was no problem. There was nothing to hinder me, leading a force of 100, from seeking asylum in Virendorf. After all, I am wise and a veteran warrior who has handled numerous military duties on behalf of my sister, commanded by the capital. Virendorf would surely accept me. In Virendorf, strength is everything. There is no problem.

My sole setback lies in my defeat in the familial succession battle.

Inside the carriage, I forcefully hit the floor. Within the tumultuously rocking carriage, such tremors pass unnoticed—my inner turmoil remains unseen by all.

“I thought I could win. Was that a mistake?”

I had carried out military duties along with the retainers in place of my sister. I had governed the citizens with care in place of my sister. Hence, they supported me. Over my incompetent sister, who could hardly manage the governance of the territory or fulfill military duties. But I lost.

The eldest daughter and the second daughter. The barrier in the struggle for family succession was too high. Most of the territory’s retainers sided with my sister, who had never proven her worth.

The retainers wanted to treat my sister as a puppet. And they did not want to set a precedent for the second daughter inheriting the family headship.

As a result, even though we nearly cornered my sister, we were the ones who ended up being cornered and fled the territory as if running away. That’s when we encountered the bandits and had a conversation.

“Why not join us? If you follow me, I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of. You see, there’s a village nearby that’s perfect for attacking. With you guys, it’ll be easy…”

It was an invitation from the bandits.

“You follow me. Don’t get cocky, you bandit scum.”

With one swift halberd strike, I severed the bandit leader’s head. Subsequently, I coerced the bandit troupe into allegiance.

“…Asylum in Virendorf.”

I muttered again, almost like a groan.

I had prepared men and boys to offer to Virendorf by attacking a small village directly ruled by the royal family. There was no turning back now. If caught, we would all be hanged.

There was still plenty of food. There was still wealth taken from the residence. It was enough to make a comeback.

I cannot die here. I must not die in such a place. I have a duty to the retainers and citizens who, without a single complaint, still follow me, even in my fallen state.

To fulfill that duty…

“…Asylum in Virendorf. I will become blue-blooded again. I will become a knight in that land. I will rise. Otherwise…”

I bear a debt to the retainers and citizens in my charge. Caroline’s words spilled forth, tinged with the bitterness of blood, oblivious to the loyal followers shadowing her path.