Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World

The fourth duel was terrible.

It was just terrible.

We, the “Mad Boar Knights,” were left with only three knights.

Loyalist who understood the situation to some extent desperately challenged it, The Shadowed One who knew nothing of the circumstances challenged it to death, and I, who understood it was all a farce, almost got killed.

Not once did the Reckenber people hold back.

They promised to ensure our lives, yet no care was shown.

I believe they lack conscience and morality.

“Kah kah kah!!”

A harsh, demonic laugh.

Laughing alone like a monster on a deserted island—like a minotaur, a beast with a human face and a beastly heart, it’s impossible to discern the color of her eyes from the slits, a barbarian crystal named Virendorf.

Claudia von Reckenber could only inflict several armor wounds and was defeated again.

I knew there was no chance of winning from the beginning.

I knew it, but my subordinates were taken hostage.

I had no choice but to challenge.

During the escape, Loyalist was captured.

As for me, I was desperately grasped by The Shadowed One who knew nothing of the situation—and somehow managed to escape from Reckenber.

“We even lost the loyalist.”

What to do?

I can do nothing.

Because, fundamentally, I delegate tasks to my subordinates.

I’ve received higher education, so I can handle internal affairs to some extent, and on the battlefield, I can grasp the atmosphere and the situation from an overview.

But, when it comes to detailed tasks, it becomes bureaucratic, and all the civil officials who handle internal affairs were left in my territory.

And on the battlefield, the detailed chain of command was basically left to the loyalist.

If it came to commanding a vast army, managing various military branches isn’t something that can be entrusted to just anyone.

This is one of the flaws of my Temeraire army.

“But, I cannot move.”

My whole body is battered, and it’s almost a wonder no critical disabilities have emerged that would affect the rest of my life.

The armor, crafted from the wealth I’ve accrued—enough to buy a territory including a country castle—has protected me.

“The only one left is The Shadowed One, but she’s useless beyond the battlefield.”

The Shadowed One—descendant of a dynasty from a certain country—has received some education, but not that of a commander or nobility.

After all, she’s a foreigner.

I have no intention of disparaging my lifesaver, but she’s not fit to act in my stead.

Therefore, my blanket is covered with letters caused by communication failures.

These aren’t letters concerned about my well-being.

Otherwise, they would just communicate via crystal ball; these are one-sided messages relying on the convenient form of letters.

I opened a few.

“I will escape from Reckenber. I can’t hold on any longer. Sorry. From the frontline commander.”

“The advance payment is fine. No need for the rest, I’m going back. I can’t do this anymore. From the mercenary group.”

“The contracted service days for military duty have passed, I’m returning to my territory. Please forgive me. From a regional lord.”

All are reports that they have already retreated—or will retreat—from this battlefield.

This battle is clearly a losing battle in anyone’s eyes.

We lost in strategy, tactics, and morale, and above all, having lost four duels between the supreme commanders, there’s nothing else to be done.

There was no chance of winning left.

To all who have experienced this war, this Temeraire will be seen as the foolish knight of the boar.

I want to say it’s different, I want to stop it but they won’t let me.

It was a mistake to challenge not knowing that the opponent was not human, but a demon beyond superhuman.

Indeed, this Temeraire is all to blame.

If apologizing would help, I would throw away my noble pride.

“I want to go home.”

I wanted to return to Temeraire territory.

But, I can’t.

I can’t abandon my subordinates and troops and return home.

I covered my face with both hands.

Tears seemed likely to flow, but I held them back.

To fully grasp the situation, I reached for the pile of letters again.

The letter was sealed with Virendorf’s wax seal.

The sender was known.

—Claudia von Reckenber.

The format of the letter was not official, but rather like a private message to a close friend.

I read it aloud.

“How have you been recently? I hope you haven’t been injured? I have been worried since I haven’t seen you on the battlefield.”

You almost killed me, so I’ve been bedridden.

“Let the greetings end here, and I will speak of personal matters. As you are known as the wise Lord Temeraire, you might already understand this. Looking at the current situation, I only feel shame for my inadequacy. As I had been considering before, the “Landsknecht Project,” a local conscription strategy, has been successful. By making it voluntary, not forced, we’ve managed to improve morale and training. Employing the third and fourth daughters of farmers who have no prospects elsewhere to prevent troubles. I believe we have brought a new era’s wind that breaks existing concepts. Up to here, it was good. But, we have won too much.”

Yes, you have won too much.

From Virendorf to the imperial capital, now every seven steps, you burned all the castles that stood with the pretender dead Empress, beat down knights, and looted their treasures.

That’s how you equipped the Landsknecht, enriched the sutlers by selling the loot, and skimmed a portion from some sutlers to fund your campaign.

Nothing stands in your way, and no one is your enemy.

“Reckenber’s Cavalry,” which will be spoken of later, I challenged knowing it, yet I did.

“Reflecting upon it, I truly pity the Landsknecht. They were those to whom I handed the ‘rose of flowers.’ They believed in the value of a flower already withered and worthless. Mere uneducated peasants without land or wealth. It’s only logical that none can stop those whose dignity and rights were trampled, who were then given the sweet fruit of overwhelming victory and plunder in every battle for the first time.”

I too was foolish, but Reckenber was just as much.

Reckenber was indeed the strongest superhuman in the Holy Gusten Empire, invincible on the battlefield.

She was intelligent, cultured, and charismatic enough to fully capture people’s hearts.

And because of that…

“They now seek more gold coins, a guarantee for their future lives, the rights to be called citizens, and some commanders even aspire to noble status. I did not completely neglect their future either. I planned to request that Her Majesty, who has regained the throne, and the future Princess Maxine continue to employ the Landsknecht and generate wages as a reward for their victory. However, they desire more than such a future. They cling to the ‘rose of flowers’ I gave them, dreaming of making it bloom. They harbor the absurd, baseless dream that if they successfully invade and conquer the imperial capital Windbona, Claudia von Reckenber could become the Empress. They can no longer be stopped by me.”

I truly couldn’t understand the hearts of these pitiable people.

I heard Claudia von Reckenber personally spoke kindly to each Landsknecht she recruited, welcoming them.

To you, they may just be one among thousands of soldiers, but to the soldiers, you are the only one in the world they can cling to.

They don’t even know the name of the current Empress.

It’s clear what will happen.

–But it’s merely hindsight.

“I propose a fifth duel. This will be the last. Your subordinates are all alive, protected by the knights of Virendorf, trusted to secure ransom. Duchess Temeraire, I beg your pardon. To resolve everything smoothly, to prevent the massacre of the citizens of the imperial capital, I wish for the final duel. If we get through this, the captive Princess Maxine will take care of the rest.”

Reckenber does not want to become Empress, and even if she could pull off a last-minute usurpation, the outcome is clear.

She can no longer return to her homeland of Virendorf, nor can she guarantee the position of Princess Katarina, whom she is raising.

Even I want to return to Temeraire’s domain!

Have I ever longed so much to set foot in my homeland in my life!!

“Duchess Temeraire, help me!”

I want to ignore this letter, but I’m afraid of Reckenber.

If I ignore this letter, she might very well execute my subordinates one by one by the Landsknecht to buy time.

No matter how proud a knight may be, to prevent the impending ruin before her eyes, Reckenber could resort to such ruthless measures.

“Shadowed One! Prepare my armor!!”

I stood up, my entire body in tatters.

This is the final battle.

The fifth duel, where everyone points and laughs, and most people don’t even understand the background.

There, I would show the pinnacle of martial arts I had reached, wagering my entire life, realizing I had reached a realm beyond that of any other superhuman.

–At the same time, I also understood that I was not the protagonist of a knightly tale.

I was just a fool who had mistaken herself for a hero while being a villain standing in the way of Reckenber, the protagonist.

After exchanging dozens of blows, I was defeated by Reckenber, who showed no mercy, and was captured.

The Shadowed One tried to take me away as she always had, but failed.

The innocent, ignorant Landsknecht pointed and laughed.

None of it mattered anymore.

I was defeated.

Thoroughly defeated.

I even stopped caring about becoming Empress.

However, my life as Charlotte Le Temeraire was not over.

Now, I am captured in the mansion of the Elector of Virendorf.

Several parts of my body are broken, and I am lying on a bed when a voice calls out to me.

“Hello, friend. How are you? The aftermath of the political drama has finally been settled.”

The devil with the narrow eyes, Reckenber, stood there, smiling.

Uttering terribly insincere words.

You’re no friend of mine, you idiot, die.

What kind of twisted thought process do you have to say such words?

Die, you devil.

I almost shouted out a curse, but it was pointless resistance.

Having been completely defeated, I had no choice but to obey.

“I am a loser. My spirit is already broken. Do whatever you want with me, whether it’s taking ransom or killing me. But please, could you at least free my subordinates? I must have done enough to deserve that much, right?”

Even a fool of a villain had enough compassion to pity her subordinates.

I didn’t care anymore, but I wanted to save them.

“No, I feel I owe you a debt. I will release both you and all your subordinates. I’m sorry for the trouble I caused.”

Reckenber’s eyes were still inscrutable, and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

But if I could return to my territory, that was enough.

“How should I put it, I truly feel sorry for what I’ve done to Duchess Temeraire. But since you attacked first, it’s strange for me to apologize unilaterally. In the end, I asked Her Majesty to secure sustenance for the Landsknecht as well, so from any perspective, I’m not in the wrong, right? I’ve achieved something that will make me revered as a saint after death, haven’t I?”

After causing such chaos, even on the battlefield, this lunatic never slacked off.

She would either go to Valhalla or return as a demon in her homeland hell.

You’re right because you’re crazily strong.

And strength is an irreplaceable proof of righteousness.

Defeat is the ultimate evil.

Thus, Reckenber is right, and Temeraire is wrong.

That’s how it turns out.

I don’t want to talk anymore.

But Reckenber always says things that make you want to retort.

“Can I write about this in my diary?”

“Are you an idiot? Don’t leave any records.”

If such a thing is left in history, future generations will ridicule it as a time when the empire was full of powerful fools and pitiable weaklings.

My name would be cursed and mocked in every knightly tale.

“Just write, ‘I saw Duchess Temeraire five times! Came five times! Won five times!'”

That would suffice.

The fact that I was defeated is the truth, after all.

So, what should I do for a while, since I can’t move?

Reckenber was already writing my words in a book titled ‘Diary for My Beloved Katarina.’

Watching this truly insane woman, I thought.

That’s when our quiet exchanges began.

For those five years, until two years ago, my friendship with her quietly continued.

The Queen Katarina, who knew nothing, seemed to misunderstand that I promised to provide lifetime information to Reckenber in exchange for my release.

If we exchanged hundreds of letters a year, such a misunderstanding might arise.

Well, whatever.

Misunderstandings or misinterpretations don’t matter.

Reckenber is no longer here.

That’s why I have to do it.’

There’s no one left but me.

Even though the protagonist of the knightly tale is dead, the foolish villain’s story continues separately.

My story goes on.

Because you didn’t properly kill me, my story continues!!

But sometimes I wonder.

“Is she really dead? Isn’t she lying? Knowing Reckenber, she must be scheming something again. Trying to deceive me.”

There’s no way she’s dead.