Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 235

There exists a type of soldier known as a “double pay soldier.”

As the name implies, they are soldiers who receive double the salary, hence the term “double pay soldiers.”

In the group called the Landsknecht, these soldiers are tasked with leading the charge, wielding their two-handed swords (Zweihänder) to pierce holes in the enemy’s pike walls.

They were reckless fools.

And one of those fools now had an erotic newspaper in hand.

It seemed to be a newspaper bearing the seal of Valiere von Anhalt.

The reason I say “seemed” is because I lack the knowledge to read that seal.

“No way. That horny councilor’s keeping three boys for herself?”

A dry laugh echoed around.

It was a lifeless, empty laugh that I heard from all around me.

Ah, so that’s what this erotic newspaper is about, I thought.

Frankly, it wasn’t unusual for a councilor to indulge in such pleasures, and besides, it didn’t matter to me at all.

Nor did it matter that the emperor was paying the Landsknecht the bare minimum salary.

Or that the Citizen Council was hiring some Landsknecht as tools of violence for times of crisis.

Nor did it matter that both the emperor and the Citizen Council were my employers.

It’s true that the emperor was indeed paying us the bare minimum.

It’s true that I was being paid by the council.

But that didn’t mean I felt a shred of loyalty towards either of my employers.

I had no fear of death.

I had no homeland.

I abandoned it.

I had no family.

I left them behind.

I didn’t care about any of it.

I was just one of the third or fourth daughters who had no choice but to become a soldier.

Since I had nothing to lose from the start, I responded to the draft of the Landsknecht.

There was nothing for me anywhere.

If I had ever had anything, it was only a fleeting sense of loyalty I once had—and lost.

Ah, I would’ve died for her if I had to.

“So, what happens next?”

I’m not smart.

I never received an education.

I can’t write.

At best, I can appreciate the pictures in this erotic newspaper.

So, I asked my companion, who had more knowledge.

She had a rank akin to a non-commissioned officer in the Landsknecht.

I’d heard she once held the title of knight, so she could read and explain things well.

“Nothing will happen for a while.”

She answered clearly, as if speaking to a child.

“This newspaper will be widely accepted by the vulgar public. It’s packed with scandalous stories and erotic content about the councilor’s misdeeds. People will be drawn to it, hungry for more.”

Then, she spoke more obscurely, as if not caring whether I understood or not.

“The poison will spread slowly. The council isn’t stupid. They’ll act before it’s too late.”

“Who are they going after?”

“Valiere von Anhalt.”

The non-commissioned officer pointed at the seal on the newspaper.

I couldn’t read it.

After all, I can’t even write or read my own name.

Hearing her words, my question was simple.

“So, we don’t need to do anything?”

“We don’t need to do anything.”

Her conclusion was that nothing needed to be done.

It wasn’t her decision, but a sentiment shared among the Landsknecht as a whole.

Honestly, I didn’t care.

“What if we stop getting paid by the council?”

“What else would we do with more money? I don’t plan on returning anything we’ve already been given. I’d like to work just enough to earn my pay, but do we really need to send in the best soldiers?”

I see. Indeed, it didn’t matter.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, like someone patting me with their sword.

Only one person had ever done that to me, and only once.

The non-commissioned officer smiled, as if to say, Isn’t that obvious?

“We’re still getting enough to survive. We can drink, eat, even buy men if we want. The emperor is paying the bare minimum. Sure, there are times when I’d like a little luxury. Our pants and armor require money. The more money, the better, but that’s all.”

“True.”

I used to want more money.

But now, it’s just that.

I used to be starving.

We’d bang our swords, swing our spears, and stab each other with forks in taverns over scraps of meat.

Some fools nearly lost fingers fighting over it.

Greedy bastards nearly had their fingers cut off with knives.

We’d all laugh hysterically at the sight.

But those days are over.

“Nothing’s fun anymore.”

I don’t feel that way now.

I get by on the bare minimum, drinking, eating, lounging in taverns.

That’s all.

That’s my everyday life now.

When was it, I wonder?

When was the last time I had real fun?

When was the last time I felt a rush of exhilaration?

Maybe when I walked the path of swords, formed by hundreds of swords clashing together, raised high in the air.

That only happened once.

It was when I responded to the draft of the Landsknecht.

My teeth chattered uncontrollably from fear and excitement as I left my homeland and family behind to join the Landsknecht.

At that moment, I threw away the little I had.

I lost the meager life I had barely held onto.

I lost the small savings I had accumulated.

I sold my skin, my body, every part of me.

And yet, I wanted more.

I wanted to seize my life, even if it meant risking everything.

The only way to do that was to become a soldier, to enter the mercenary life of the Landsknecht.

At the end of that path of swords, I found her.

The woman who gathered the Landsknecht mercenaries—Claudia von Reckenber.

She was a dazzling woman.

Tall, with a distant look in her eyes, yet always surveying everyone at once.

Her body was wrapped in muscle, her eyes narrowed like threads.

She was like a winter rose, exuding a mysterious fragrance.

With my poor way of expressing things, that’s the best I can describe her.

The only time she ever patted me on the shoulder with her sword was when we made our blood pact.

Just once.

I repeat, just once.

I’ve only sworn loyalty once.

Even for us, with no loyalty to the emperor or the Citizen Council, there was one person I swore allegiance to.

That woman, who’s no longer here.

I swore all my loyalty to that dazzling woman.

I had nowhere else to go, so I followed her shadow, clumsily trailing behind.

That’s all I could do.

But even then, I had pride.

I wanted to be somewhere she could see me.

That’s why I became a double pay soldier.

“…”

A man of courage, valor, daring, and adventurous spirit.

Such values of a warrior, we did not possess.

But pride alone remained.

How about it? Am I not reckless?

My teeth rattled with fear, and I could barely wield my two-handed sword, letting it control me more often than not.

With little more than a beginner’s skill, the only thing I had going for me was sheer nerve.

Even so, I always stood at the front lines.

I wanted her to notice me.

I never had the glory of finding the enemy general who claimed to be the emperor and cutting him into seven pieces, but if it were Reckenber…

A clever woman like her would surely have noticed the brave double pay soldier and remembered my name.

The name of someone who couldn’t even read or write would be etched in her memory.

That alone would have been enough.

But she is no longer here.

“…It’s all so boring.”

The world had become utterly dull.

There used to be a legend among the Landsknecht.

Not a tale of knights traversing foreign lands in search of adventure.

That was a knight’s story.

Knights had their own legends, just as mercenaries had theirs.

For us Landsknecht, it was the legend of the “Ride of Reckenber.”

She led us, a group of pitiful, uneducated farmers with neither land nor wealth.

She gave dignity and hope to those whose rights had been trampled.

She showed us the sweet fruits of overwhelming victory and plunder in battle for the first time.

Even the withered Rose of Hanagara could bloom again, she made us believe.

She showed us such achievements that we thought only Reckenber was worthy of being emperor.

We dreamed of marching into the imperial city.

If we succeeded in the invasion of Windbona, Claudia von Reckenber would become the emperor.

That was the dream we had.

But reality turned out differently.

Reckenber did not become emperor. Instead, she returned to her homeland.

After securing the promise of minimum wages from the emperor and distributing the spoils of war, she returned to Virendorf.

Even then, we believed she would return one day.

That one day she would come back to the imperial city and take us somewhere again.

But what actually happened was unthinkable—she died in a duel with a male knight.

A woman who should never have died, no matter what, was now dead.

The Landsknecht‘s legend was lost forever.

And since then, everything has become meaningless.

I’m sure I’m not the only one.

The Landsknecht had become utterly boring.

Frankly, they had grown weak.

Just the other day, I heard we were bested by the “Mad Boar Knights” of Duke Temeraire.

Most of our skilled fighters were too drunk in taverns to even participate.

If it were in the days when we still believed in our legend, such disgrace would never have happened.

Ah.

Yes.

Why have we fallen so low, why has everything become so meaningless?

Why have we become such a pitiful existence?

“Let’s kill him.”

I muttered softly.

“Kill who?”

The non-commissioned officer asked.

“Faust von Polydoro.”

I said it clearly.

The man who killed Reckenber.

The man who destroyed our legend. I wanted to kill him.

Ah, yes, perhaps it was nothing more than a pathetic grudge.

If it had been the result of a fair duel, then revenge wouldn’t be the right word.

But still…

“…Even if you kill him, there won’t be any money in it. You could call it an attack by the Valiere faction, but the council probably won’t approve of such actions.”

The non-commissioned officer muttered.

I didn’t care.

I’d do it because I wanted to.

I’d kill him because I wanted him dead.

If we lost our legend, then he should lose his life in return.

“Besides, not all Landsknecht are as reckless as you. Many would turn for the sake of money.”

“That’s because they don’t know the legend. Because they’ve forgotten the legend.”

I mumbled like a broken record.

“We became weak because we forgot the thrill. We forgot the battlefield where the drumbeats echoed, where Reckenber would shout in desperation and everyone’s blood would boil, their hearts racing with excitement. We were left behind by Reckenber. Our pride cooled, and now it’s completely gone.”

The non-commissioned officer’s hand twitched away from the newspaper.

The paper rolled across the table.

“Now is the time to regain our pride. Let’s kill Polydoro.”

“I heard he once deflected a cannonball.”

“What does it matter if he deflected a cannonball? If you chop off his head, he’ll die like anyone else. If you surround him and strike, he’ll fall. Even if it costs the lives of dozens, if we swarm him like ants, the chance will come.”

It was a mercenary’s assessment.

If a man is cut into seven pieces, he’ll die no matter how hard he struggles.

It’s something we tried once on that so-called emperor.

After saying that, several people stood up, slowly gathering around our table like specters.

There were no objections.

“Let’s decide who will face death.”

“We can all go. It’s not like any of us are skilled enough to kill him. The only thing we can offer is our lives. If, after we’re dead, our blood and flesh stick to Polydoro and slow him down even a little, it’ll be enough.”

Those words floated through the air.

What mattered wasn’t who would die.

What mattered was who could kill Polydoro.

“Who will do it?”

All eyes turned to the corner of the tavern.

There lay a woman, sleeping.

Her name was Baumann.

She was wrapped in a military flag embroidered with the Rose of Hanagara, using it like a blanket as she slept drunkenly.

“We’ll leave it to her.”

Among the few superhumans in the Landsknecht, she was by far the strongest.

Standing 2.2 meters tall and weighing 140 kg, even Reckenber admitted she was her equal in strength.

Among the Landsknecht, only this giant of a woman had the strength to cleave Polydoro‘s head from his shoulders in a single strike.