Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 158

First, let’s assess the current situation.

Under my command are over a hundred mercenaries, and our subordinate officers are fully functional.

Until now, our lives have been a blur, uncertain whether we were a mercenary band or a band of bandits.

There were times when we ruthlessly killed villains attacking villages, and times when we attacked villages that failed to pay us properly, slaughtering the peasants.

All I remember are the scum who underestimated me.

I understand the subtleties of war better than any frail knight, and if I quietly, very carefully corner them, I can wipe out a measly band of thieves without any casualties.

However, we don’t have the luxury to engage in prolonged warfare.

This time, there are rivals seeking to snatch our military exploits, and it’s more important not to lose to them than to the enemy.

“Kill them! Take all their heads! Don’t let other mercenary bands, who might catch up at any moment, steal our future!”

The enemy is merely thirty weak soldiers who would flee if left alone.

Since they don’t carry significant money, we would usually ignore them if it weren’t for a request to eliminate bandits.

Normally, we would just wait for them to avoid eye contact and pass by.

But this time, things are different.

In a city we recently visited, Lady Sabine and I meticulously gathered rumors about the bandit group.

A member of the Second Princess’s personal guard used binoculars to scout and finally spotted the bandit group.

I must behead every member of this bandit group and present their heads to Lady Valiere.

With blood-soaked hands, I will present the heads of the bandits, utterly terrified of death.

It is a sacrifice for the blood-thirsty Fairy Princess.

I don’t know if such an opportunity will come again on this journey to the imperial capital.

“If you show your military exploits, Lady Valiere has a special matter for you,” whispered Lady Sabine, the captain of the Second Princess’s personal guard, and that is why we are here.

No matter what, my mercenary band must seize the military exploits of this encounter.

“Commander, you go first!”

A swift subordinate roared, chasing the fleeing bandits.

While running, she aimed and braced a matchlock musket on her shoulder.

There’s no time to prepare a rest.

“I’m taking aim!”

The subordinate was fleet-footed, but the accuracy of her gun was known to be poor.

However, the bullet flew true, hitting the shoulder of a bandit 50 meters away, at the very edge of effective range.

“A fluke hit!”

“As long as it hits, that’s all that matters!”

As the bandits rolled on the ground, my troops ran at full speed.

The fallen bandit screamed, perhaps begging for her life.

“Don’t kill me! I’ll give you all my money!”

“Too bad. We don’t want your measly money; we want your head!”

I coldly cut her down.

It wasn’t the bandit’s petty wallet we wanted.

What we desire is the future.

“Behead them!”

One of my men pinned the bandit to the ground, and another beheaded her with an axe.

It’s still not enough.

We must secure at least the majority of heads before other mercenary bands catch up.

“Show no mercy, kill them all! Lady Valiere desires a relentless massacre! Stain all the ground the Fairy Princess walks upon with a carpet of blood!”

We don’t need prisoners.

They are a hindrance to our march, and the Fairy Princess does not wish us to engage in petty acts like selling surrendered enemies as slaves.

We must completely annihilate any bandits blocking our march, sending them all to hell.

Lady Valiere obliterated her enemies in her first battle, leaving none alive.

“Do not forget that meaning,” I’ve been repeatedly told by Lady Sabine.

She is merciless towards enemies.

Make no mistake.

This might be my last chance.

Recognized by the Fairy Princess with fortunate red hair, I might be appointed as a knight, my last chance in life.

“Commander! We’ve already killed about eight, but other mercenary bands are catching up.”

“—Commander, huh.”

It might be the last time I’m called that.

Yes, I might soon have to abandon that title.

“Kill them, don’t worry about the lead bullets or gunpowder, just chase the bandits and shoot incessantly. If they roll on the ground, stop their breathing, quickly behead them. Don’t let other bands snatch them. You can discard the corpses, but make sure to collect the heads. Don’t waste time rummaging for pennies in their pockets! We cannot afford to throw away our future for a mere copper coin! You all understand that, don’t you!!”

If we can harvest the majority of the bandit heads, the one with the most military exploits will be granted an audience during the report to the princess.

Then, maybe.

I can abandon the name of commander and become a knight.

Even obtain a position commanding the current soldiers.

“Kill them, just kill. Shoot them in the back, kick their bodies, behead the miserable ones and collect the heads.”

That’s all the orders I, as a commander, can give now.

And the subordinate, as trained, moved without delay.

As a result, we managed to secure the heads of 18 out of the 30 bandits first.

Ah, finally.

I quietly let out a sigh of admiration from the bottom of my throat.

――――――――――

People surrounded me.

From the personal guards of Her Highness to mercenaries, from merchants who gathered poor horse borrowers to the priests of the Cologne Sect whom I ostensibly worship for gunpowder and guns.

Over a thousand people are watching the audience between Lady Valiere and me.

Other mercenary leaders look at me with envy, granted an audience with Her Highness for being first in military exploits.

Their frustration and jealousy affirm my worth.

Ah, it felt exhilarating.

Reflecting on my life, it was terrible—truly terrible.

I was born as the fourth daughter of a noble family.

As a child, I would beat up merchants’ children under the guise of a feud and steal their valuables or food.

I was just typical scum you’d find anywhere.

As a girl, I had a mistaken belief.

Violence makes everything possible.

With violence alone, everything becomes possible.

Someday, if I could gather enough soldiers, if I could gather enough force to subjugate people, I could have a fiefdom, a castle, even a vassalage contract with a titled noble.

I thought that by meeting the demands of those seeking violence, someone would give me what I wanted.

Now that my dream seems within reach, though it wasn’t exactly a lie, the path was difficult.

When I turned 14, the age of maturity for knights, and my mother retired, my sister was set to inherit the family home.

That day, I stole my family’s money and left home, gathering with friends I’d always hung out with, and tried to make a name for ourselves as a mercenary band.

Yes, that was the mistake.

If I could go back, I wouldn’t do it again.

Not that I feel guilty about stealing the money.

“I was deceived by my family.”

Looking back, it was odd that I had access to the money.

It was a generous severance from my family.

Safely securing the eldest daughter as the heir, the unwanted fourth daughter was to be exiled—a trap set by my mother.

If I could go back, I would have left home after negotiating a financial agreement that included threats to the family honor.

Ah, that’s still fine.

After stealing the money and leaving home, I was disowned by the city guard, unable to live in the same city as my parents and siblings.

It’s unsettling to be without identification, but with some money for the guards, I could enter another city.

But then, things went poorly.

“There are always predecessors.”

I still don’t know if it was a mercenary band or a band of bandits.

Since I don’t know either, it was probably both.

Let’s just say it was a mercenary band.

My friends and I, while moving to a nearby city, came across another mercenary band.

Of course, we stepped aside, but what the mercenaries wanted wasn’t the right of way.

“Pay or die.”

A straightforward demand.

They targeted the scant funds of our newly formed mercenary band, and we resisted desperately.

Though imperfect, I had received knight training.

I was more confident in violence than the common folk, and without the funds, we couldn’t even enter a city; we would die.

But it was no use.

I couldn’t match the real combat experience and the sheer number of the other side.

No, even in a one-on-one fight, I couldn’t have beaten the commander of that mercenary band at that time.

Probably a predecessor.

Like us, probably a fallen one who had fled from a noble family.

And someone who had already experienced many hardships, as I was harshly beaten by the commander of the mercenary band with a spear.

Injured to unconsciousness, all my valuables stripped except for my clothes, I was stunned amidst the bodies of my dead comrades.

Ah, a past I don’t want to remember.

Though undoubtedly scum, some of my comrades were just weak-willed, dragged along.

They were good people.

That’s why I hope you can forgive the surviving me for stripping the clothes from my dead comrades and forcibly selling them in a rural village to survive the journey.

After all, I had no money, which should justify everything.

“Ah.”

Nostalgic.

Yet I survived.

I joined another mercenary band as a replaceable soldier, demonstrated the violence of a former noble, and was put in charge of subordinates, becoming the leader of a group, unclear whether it was a band of mercenaries or bandits.

I’ve lived a drifting life.

Sometimes, I have conversations with other mercenary leaders and subordinates about what kind of background led us to fall this far.

Everyone had similar backgrounds, everyone had experienced similar hardships, and scum smeared each other’s blood to survive.

Everyone says this.

“After all, it would have been better to just live honestly.”

They mutter that.

Indeed, that path was available.

Being of noble origin, I could have managed somehow if I had given up my blue blood.

Swearing to live as a retainer under my sister, not as siblings but as lord and servant.

If that was too distasteful, I could have swapped places with another family’s child.

Being taken to the battlefield, knights didn’t treat retainers too harshly.

I could have lived a normal life.

Or rather, a better life than ordinary commoners.

“If being a retainer is distasteful, there were other paths.”

As a child, I could have pleaded with my parents to join a craft guild and become an apprentice in a craftsmen’s union.

Even if I couldn’t become a master, I might have become a craftsman.

As long as I wasn’t too slow to learn, I could have made a living.

Yes, no matter what, no mother would willingly raise scum like me.

Just live honestly.

That alone would have been enough.

Really, just that would have sufficed to make a living.

Everyone occasionally regrets and complains.

Even someone like me understands that, such an obvious thing that everyone says.

I hated that.

“Is that enough for a once-in-a-lifetime?”

It seems, like me, many people who are neither bandits nor mercenaries exist in the world.

And like me, they foolishly think that simple violence can achieve everything, and they perform foolish tales and die.

This world, a feudal society cemented by law and kinship, the strongest violence rules, yet they don’t accept it.

From the right to drink river water to the right to hunt animals in the forest, the powerful own it all.

The powerful are nobles, clergy, and sometimes merchants.

I understood that much, having received a knight’s education.

Yet, despite understanding, I dreamed.

“I want to be a knight.”

The fourth daughter with no talent but violence, I remember one original scene.

The figure of a knight.

Riding a noble horse, wearing well-polished armor, and a cloak embroidered with an impressive family crest fluttering.

A retainer holding a spear stood by his side, and passing commoners looked on with awe and a bit of admiration.

That was all.

I didn’t want to be a powerholder, but surely, probably, I was strongly drawn to the figure of that knight.

So even as a leader commanding over a hundred, even as I got a bit older.

I led a group, unclear whether it was a band of mercenaries or bandits.

If I had great violence, if a great battle occurred, if I could achieve great military exploits.

I believed in receiving special favor from the powerful.

And now.

“Lady Valiere von Anhalt. This is the leader of the mercenary band that was first in military exploits in the recent bandit elimination. Name—”

Now, before the second princess of the Anhalt royal family.

Leading the brigade to the imperial capital, a clear powerholder, Lady Valiere, I kneeled and prostrated myself.

Everything as Lady Sabine promised, she made my dream a reality.

Special favor from a powerholder was within reach.

“Introduce yourself.”

A melting voice was heard.

Whether the voice of Lady Valiere, known as the Fairy Princess, was noble or if my head was messed up, I couldn’t even tell.

Her voice was crisp, yet sweet, as if from a girl.

I introduced myself, worrying only whether my voice trembled, informing the powerholder before me.

“Very well. You have achieved a special military feat this time. You have splendidly eliminated the bandits tormenting good men and women and brought peace to this land. The lord of this land will be pleased.”

Lady Valiere, raise your face.

She murmured, but I hesitated on what to do.

Raising my face at the first call might be unwise.

But hesitating and being prompted again might be disrespectful.

Ah, something is wrong.

It’s as if some strange juice is dripping from my brain.

An abnormal excitement speeds my heartbeat.

“…I want to see your face. Raise your face.”

Sensing my trouble, Lady Valiere prompted again.

I looked up.

The face of a girl looking at me kindly, her royal lineage giving her beauty.

Even if she were clad in rags, her status could not be hidden.

“As the commander of this brigade, representing the Anhalt royal family, I have the duty to grant rewards.”

Ah…

Finally.

“Let me ask. Do you wish to serve as a knight of Anhalt? If you desire, I will conduct the knighthood ceremony right here today, and I will strike your shoulder with a sword.”

The tarnished blue-blood has grasped the original scene of a knight.

I feel a happiness so profound I could die.

The answer is decided.

“It is the highest honor, my queen. My lord.”

This ceremony is not a contract to establish a lord-servant relationship with Lady Valiere, even though it is a knighthood ceremony for the Anhalt royal family.

But still.

Now, receiving the favor of the powerholder before me, I felt a loyalty melting my heart.

Lady Valiere kept all promises and paid all rewards.

If it’s Lady Valiere’s command, I would do anything.

I had received such special favor from her.

“Today, I become a knight.”

Muttering just that before the ceremony began.

I finally obtained the price I had bet my entire life on.