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

I relinquish my weapon.

Approaching Duchess Temeraire, who now stands only by sheer willpower, I pose a question.

“To Duchess Temeraire, I have come to understand. What you truly desire is not the throne of the Empress; it is but a means to an end if it can save the empire. The method matters not to you.”

“What other means are there if not for me to ascend to the position of Empress? You all are so predictable!”

Indeed.

What Duchess Temeraire is expressing is not prejudice against us but the truth as she sees it.

Princess Anastasia and Duchess Astarte were indeed outmatched by Lord Reckenber in both strategy and tactics.

As for Faust, he possesses no skills other than the brute force of his fists.

I am, indeed, a reincarnate. Yet, undoubtedly, I am born of this world, my values a tapestry woven from past and present lives. Regrettably, my mind falters, unable to harness the knowledge of my former existence, yielding no notable deeds.”

My strength is solely from the body my mother gave birth to.

I have sworn a Geas, and the knights of the Kingdom of Anhalt believed in it.

It was not because of my knowledge of the powerful nation of Mongolia.

Princess Anastasia, Duchess Astarte, and I once achieved a result in our fight with Lord Reckenber, and for that, a knight felt indebted to us.

I alone would not have been able to accomplish anything without them, a fact I understand with my small brain.

I have not reached this point through my strength alone.

Thus, should not Duchess Temeraire also rely on someone?

“Duchess Temeraire, are we then so wholly without merit? Do you propose to undertake all alone? Will you delegate nothing to Elector Princess Anastasia or Queen Katarina? After all is achieved, do you aspire to be a solitary empress, one who has triumphed unaided?”

“I only understand too well. I understand that you will inevitably betray.”

Duchess Temeraire looks pained.

“You will betray. Just like the empress and the pope. After all, you would do anything to preserve your own territories. If told to drink the urine of Toktoa Khan for the sake of your lands, you would gladly do it. ‘Prefer death to dishonor,’ such recklessness is permitted only for the honor of one’s descendants. If one’s own clan is doomed to be defeated, and one is faced with the loss of their lands and people, anyone would do the same.”

You too would do the same.

Duchess Temeraire mutters this with a look of loneliness.

“If we were not to betray and cooperate with you, how about if we swear a Geas to ensure it?”

“Lord Polydoro. I’ve already said. There are those who must not betray and those who may be forgiven for betraying. The empress and the pope are clearly the former, while you are clearly the latter. A frontier knight lord with but 300 subjects, who would blame you for casting aside your honor for the sake of your people and lands?”

Her voice was strangely gentle.

After saying just that, Duchess Temeraire collapsed to her knees.

Lady Yue tries to support her, but she strongly rejects the help.

She insists on standing alone.

“Lord Polydoro. You must deeply believe in Elector Princess Anastasia and Duchess Astarte. You believe they will not betray because you have risked your life and sworn a Geas, and they have believed in you because of that.”

Like I once believed that those in positions like the empress or the pope could not possibly betray.

Such a fool is this Duchess Temeraire.

Don’t end up like that, she mutters softly, as if admonishing a child.

“I do not know how you learned of the nomadic cavalry nation’s invasion, but you wouldn’t know the full extent of it. From the words of the Geas, you said that Mongolia would invade within seven years.”

“That’s correct.”

“My estimate is less than two years.”

How many years did it take for the Jin dynasty to submit and for the Mongol Empire to attack Germany and Poland in my previous life?

My prediction of seven years was derived from that.

But according to Duchess Temeraire’s words, sadly, we don’t have much time left.

“Lord Polydoro, if it were indeed seven years, perhaps that little girl Maxine might have found a winning element. But there is no time left. In just two more years, 158,000 Mongol cavalry will descend upon us, devouring the eastern duchies as mere fodder, even enlisting the soldiers of defeated nations as disposable slave troops, and eventually using the great northern plains of Anhalt-Virendorf as a supply base to plunder everything from the Holy Gusten Empire.”

“Duchess Temeraire, I—”

“Lord Polydoro. A repulsive knight only favored by the likes of Virendorf. Enough. You knew nothing. I once said. You, who do nothing, understand nothing, attempt nothing, even betrayal is different from Reckenber. You fall into the category of ‘knowing nothing’. Because you only partially understood about Mongolia, you failed. That’s what you are.”

I’ve heard that he has sworn a Gesh.

If he does not honor the contract, he will die within seven years.

I have researched you, the one who killed Reckenber, so I know everything.

That’s what Duchess Temeraire stated.

“Run away. If you, at 22, can survive until 29, that would be good. You’ll have time to have children. ‘Don’t think a cavalryman can live past 30,’ they say. A knight might be considered long-lived. Just take your subjects and flee somewhere far away.”

I believe your betrayal is forgivable.

Duchess Temeraire said this, then suddenly made a childlike, bewildered face before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“What am I saying? No, that’s right. I haven’t said anything wrong. Even if you kill me, I won’t admit defeat, but at least in a duel, you’ve proven you’re stronger than someone like me or Reckenber. That deserves some advice at least.”

If you knew everything.

If you knew all the information I have, even Anastasia you believe in would betray.

“So, just run away. Leave this fortress immediately, return to your domain, take your people, and flee somewhere the Mongols can’t reach. Maybe to the homeland of ‘The Shadowed One,’ whom you defeated. They surely won’t attack there.”

Duchess Temeraire, with genuine kindness, told me this.

Understanding that.

Ah, I see.

I am finally beginning to understand.

“Duchess Temeraire, your true feelings have shown through. After all, you claim to want to become the empress, but you don’t see your own victory at the end of it, do you?”

“…”

“You want to be empress, whether it’s a lie or truth I do not know, but you can no longer trust the current empress or pope, can you? But if you think that becoming the empress will lead you to victory, that’s not the case.”

Prepared even to have her head displayed in the streets of Windbona as the last empress of the Holy Gusten Empire, Duchess Temeraire does not believe she has a chance against Mongolia.

She wants to become the empress, not because she stands before me alone, but because it is merely a matter of stubborn pride.

“Until it is over, the outcome remains uncertain. Even the formidable Lord Reckenber, whom you deemed unbeatable, fell to my hand.”

“Duchess Temeraire, enough. It seems you perceive beyond our ken. You claim I know nothing, and truly, I am ignorant of the knowledge you hold. Thus, I demand full disclosure. Enlighten Princess Anastasia, Duchess Astarte, and Queen Katarina about all that pertains to Mongolia and the present conditions in the imperial capital.”

What I am asking for is all the information that Duchess Temeraire still conceals, to be entrusted to us. This is the one thing promised should I win the duel.

“You say you cannot trust.”

This requires me to defeat Duchess Temeraire in a duel. But even if killed, Duchess Temeraire would not admit defeat. Therefore,

“You speak of Reckenber, always whispering about Reckenber, but that’s foolish. You speak thus because you know no greater person.”

I spoke harshly, a provocation directed at Duchess Temeraire.

“What are you saying?”

“Indeed, Lord Reckenber was strong. Compared to her, we are but side characters, as you say. I do not deny any of Duchess Temeraire’s words. I deny nothing.”

I have no intention of insulting Lord Reckenber. Yet,

“Yet, be not mistaken, Duchess Temeraire. Your arrogance is sickening. You presume to understand everything, yet it is impossible to grasp the entirety of this world within one lifetime. The moment you even considered abandoning Princess Anastasia and the other knights of the Kingdom of Anhalt as you suggest, it showed just how shallow you are.”

“Human kindness…”

“Yours is not kindness. It’s as if a decrepit old fool, in his dotage, prattling on about survival being beautiful, as if those words were truth or kindness. Let me say again. What do you think you’ve understood?”

I will betray no one.

And I know that Princess Anastasia and Duchess Astarte will not betray me.

I know that Queen Katarina will not betray me.

I saw her shed tears when I presented her with a rose, moved by a mother’s love that encompasses everything in this world.

They agreed with me, who could show no reason, who had sworn a Geas.

That alone is more than enough for me to trust them until I die!

“Stop acting all-knowing and wise. Stop your deceitful behavior. Stop clinging to Lord Reckenber. There is only one thing you need to do: return to your original purpose of saving the empire. It’s not by becoming the empress, but by revealing all information to me and everyone I trust. Do not cling to the past, you stubborn old fool!”

Blood spurted from Duchess Temeraire’s head.

She was furious.

Blood rushed to her brain, mixing cerebrospinal fluid with dark blood, dripping from her chin.

“If being a foolish young man who just runs ahead relying on his youth is all I can be, then I don’t mind being seen as a stubborn old fool!”

Duchess Temeraire shouted.

In the end, I must be foolish.

Only I, Faust von Polydoro, must be irredeemably foolish as she says.

Even coming to this imperial city was something I intended to refuse because I thought I could do nothing.

What right did I have to call her an old fool?

Yet,

“There is a chance of victory.”

A child who pushed me back said that since I had staked my life on a Geas, I must fulfill every effort towards realization.

She was a mere nine-year-old girl.

“Wait a moment. There is something I want to show you.”

I ask Alexandra to help remove my armor.

Taking off my helmet, I remove the fluted armor and unfasten the gambeson underneath.

I take out a book.

There are two copies of this book in the world, one in the hands of Duchess Astarte.

The other, copied by Martina herself, is in my breast pocket.

“As you see, it’s just a book. Written by a girl.”

“What about the book?”

“The book itself has value. But what I want to discuss is a girl, a nine-year-old girl named Martina von Bösel.”

Duchess Temeraire hesitated for a moment.

Apparently, even she doesn’t know every minor event within the Kingdom of Anhalt.

“I don’t know her. Who is she?”

Even she, who claimed to know everything, proves to be unaware of some things.

“She doesn’t know.”

“She will surpass Lord Reckenber and this Faust.”

“—What nonsense.”

“Duchess Temeraire. The book might get dirty, so first, wipe the blood off your head. Lady Yue, are the silk thread and needle ready? Suture the wound.”

This Faust, with his twisted values, saved a girl whose excellence she does not know.

This girl, who I believe, could surpass even Lord Reckenber with her swordsmanship, might become a perfect superhuman.

I might be wrong in raising her, wishing she had a better environment.

A bright cluster of crystals whose existence she does not know.

“If you read it, you’ll understand. It doesn’t seem like it was written by a nine-year-old girl. I, who lack education and don’t know ancient languages, can’t even read it. But even I, foolish as I am, understand that much.”

Praising a book I cannot read might seem absurd.

But I understand its content, so it should be fine.

I, who have never had children, might be laughed at for saying this, but I feel for Martina, the co-author of this book, as if she were my own daughter.

“The tome is titled ‘Gun, Cannon, Knight.’ While its contents hold significance, I doubt they alone suffice to vanquish Mongolia. Nevertheless…”

There might be a glimmer of hope, a possibility, a calculation of victory.

At the very least, it should be higher than your blindly aiming for the imperial throne.

So I state.

Duchess Temeraire looks at me as if I’ve gone mad.

No wonder.

“You look like you know everything, but you should realize that’s not the case. You must reconsider your thoughts, knowing that a superhuman who will surpass me and Reckenber is about to awaken.”

It seemed that even Duchess Temeraire still had much to learn.

The Cologne Sect is mass-producing saltpeter, possessing numerous breweries, and the development of firearms is much more advanced than she imagines.

There’s a way to mass-produce armies instantly.

The Holy Gusten Empire still has elements of victory dormant within it.

“First, read it.”

It’s crucial to change Duchess Temeraire’s mind.

Talking more might reveal my blunders.

So I say no more.

After all, I lack the cunning of Princess Anastasia, Queen Katarina, Duchess Temeraire, or Martina.

That ugly knight, whose brain might as well be made of muscle, is a common opinion.

If I’ve grasped that the Mongols will come within two years, all I can do is appeal to all I trust about the impending danger.

That’s all.