Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 72

The Second Princess’s Royal Guard is impoverished.

I ponder this in the small communal dining room of the dormitory, which is provided to the members of the Second Princess’s Royal Guard.

We were promoted to one rank thanks to Valiere-sama’s accomplishments in her first battle.

It’s hardly our merit, but we should rise to another rank with the achievements expected from the Virendorf peace negotiations next year.

Our financial situation has improved.

But we are still far from becoming hereditary knights.

Moreover, the salary for our Second Princess’s Royal Guard positions is lower than that of the First Princess’s Royal Guard.

It can’t be helped since Valiere-sama’s stipend is embarrassingly low.

In any case, we’re always short on money.

Prioritizing equipment inevitably leads to expenses.

We weren’t sent off with a complete set of knight’s equipment from our families, but rather, it was as if we were exiled with nothing at all.

Well, complaining could go on forever, so I’ll stop here.

And yet, we’re always out of money.

“Won’t you eat some duck?”

For some reason, our squad leader, Sabine, returned with several ducks hanging from her waist.

We three are in the midst of breakfast.

After thinking a bit while softening our hard bread in milk porridge and stuffing our mouths.

I, a member of the Royal Guard, blurted out.

“Which church did you steal these from?”

“I didn’t steal them! What do you take me for!?”

After all, Sabine could later be known as the most insane woman from Anhalt to Virendorf.

I’m hungry → I want meat → Went to some church and stole ducks being fattened there.

That’s a plausible scenario.

“Don’t you guys want some meat?”

“Well, we want to eat, but first, we need to know where you stole them from.”

If it’s not from a dangerous place, let’s eat.

If it is, the three of us, including myself, will beat up Sabine and apologize.

Now that Valiere-sama, our stopper, is not around, we three must properly keep Sabine in check.

“I actually took them from ducks being fattened at home, so it’s fine!”

“…”

We’re cut off from our families, so we can’t go home.

Moreover, we don’t want to return to our families.

This dormitory is our home.

Valiere-sama is our only lord.

That’s something even Sabine would never betray as a comrade.

Sabine, why did you go back home?

And you say you “took” them…

“You disappeared early in the morning without eating and returned home to steal ducks? Why the hell was your family fattening ducks anyway?”

“No, I barged in there shouting, went to extort some money, and just took the ducks, which were being fattened for guests.”

Money? What money?

As we finished our meager breakfast, making skeptical faces, we cleared our wooden tableware.

Sabine, for some reason very proud, kept flaunting the ducks in front of us.

We want to eat duck.

Sabine, cunning as she is, must understand our thoughts.

With a smirk, she threw a bag onto the dining table.

From that bag, gold coins clinked and spilled out.

They were coins issued by the Anhalt royal family, who hold the right to mint elector’s money.

“…”

“See? Isn’t it amazing?”

“Hey, how many are there?”

Gold coins worth my annual salary spilled onto the floor.

It was not just dazzling; honestly, it was alarming.

The contents of the bag were, at the least, far more than a lifetime’s salary for me.

What did you do?

A chilling premonition ran down my spine.

She definitely did something terrible.

Absolutely something dangerous.

“For now, let’s beat her up.”

“Why!?”

We three decided to catch Sabine, our squad leader, and give her a thrashing.

※

We are at our usual haunt, a small and cheap tavern. Sabine and I are here, and it’s not rented out just for us this time.

While sipping cheap wine at a corner table, we wait for the duck soup to be prepared.

We like this tavern because you can bring your ingredients, and they will cook them for you.

“I just wanted to eat some duck!”

“Thinking that, I went and killed the ducks at home and brought them back, so why do I have to be beaten up?”

Sabine is in a terrible mood.

No, it’s because of your usual behavior.

I think she did something reckless.

She spilled an insane amount of gold coins on the dining table, which I had never seen before.

It’s not our fault.

We want to eat the duck.

We want to fill our mouths with its juicy meat.

“So, I heard the story. That mountain of gold coins was a mediation fee to settle things with Lord Polydoro, right?”

“That’s right. It was a joint operation between me and Lord Polydoro.”

What kind of joint operation is that?

And it was an incredible amount.

The Wesperman family must have been saving up a lot.

“Was that really okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, seriously…”

Taking that amount of money is something else.

And on top of that, to say, ‘I was hungry, so I killed some ducks on the way back,’ is something not even bandits would think of.

What kind of thought process does Sabine have?

“It’s no longer my home, so it’s not my concern anymore. I might call myself Sabine von Wesperman, but that’s all it is. I’m a stranger to the Wesperman family now that I’m not their intelligence chief anymore.”

“…”

Sabine mutters this nonchalantly while sipping her cheap wine.

The tone of her voice is cold.

It sends a chill down my spine.

There’s no need to be scared as a family, but I’ve seen Sabine’s ruthlessness.

It’s not the ruthlessness taught in noble education or knight education.

Sabine von Wesperman, as a person, was probably born this way.

Come to think of it, Sabine was the first to kill an enemy in her first battle.

Without hesitation, as if it were the most natural thing, she killed with a calm face.

Afterwards, without being swept up in the frenzy of war, she moved to the rear and took command of the battle detachedly.

Honestly, at that time, the instructions from behind were profoundly appreciated.

I thought it was good that Sabine was our squad leader.

That said.

You’re honestly scary.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

Sabine mutters with a deeply hurt expression.

It’s not her face when being scolded by Valiere-sama, but a genuinely hurt face.

I instinctively covered my eyes, regretting that I looked at her with eyes filled with fear.

“I’m sorry.”

I apologize sincerely.

Sabine is our squad leader; more importantly, she’s our comrade.

I shouldn’t look at her with such eyes.

Have I forgotten when Hanna died protecting Valiere-sama, and Sabine was crying madly?

“I’m really sorry.”

I apologize from the bottom of my heart.

While seated, I bow my head sincerely.

The other two members do the same.

“It’s okay now. But about how to use that money…”

Sabine casually utters words of forgiveness.

Then, she shifts the conversation to how to use the money.

“About the money, maybe Sabine, you should buy armor or a horse?”

“Well, I’ll use it. I will use it, but more than that, I want soldiers.”

“Soldiers?”

Sabine’s comments were perplexing.

Having only partially received knightly education, we were always a step behind the well-cultured Sabine.

Unlike Sabine, who was educated adequately as a knight but was exiled for being somewhat deranged.

“Servants, yes, servants. Knights need attendants, don’t they?”

“We don’t even have horses, and you think we need servants?”

“Of course we do. I thought about getting horses, too, but first, we need soldiers. We need numbers. We aren’t superhumans capable of taking on a thousand enemies alone like Lord Polydoro. Numbers become power. Frankly, I don’t want to die.”

She bluntly spoke her mind.

I could die smiling for Valiere-sama, but I don’t wish to die willingly.

Hanna’s death had a significant impact.

It would be better for Valiere-sama to reduce the number of knights further.

Especially since Valiere-sama still refuses to fill the position left by Hanna’s death.

We are now in a position where dying quickly is not permitted.

“I don’t expect the same level of skill and loyalty as the peasants from Polydoro’s domain we fought alongside in our first battle. But at the very least, I want people who won’t run away.”

“Meaning?”

“People who have nowhere to go, no place to return to, just like us—a spare. I’m considering hiring the third or fourth daughters of commoners as attendants.”

With that much gold, it would indeed be possible.

And the phrase “just like us—a spare” sounded harsh but apt.

Indeed, women expelled from their homes like us, despite the barriers between noble blood and commoners.

“Let’s get along with each other, the discarded ones, eh? With that much money, we can afford equipment. Let’s emulate Lord Polydoro. Prepare long pikes for cavalry countermeasures. Muskets or crossbows would be nice too.”

“Can we actually get guns? Isn’t that something money can’t just buy?”

“I had Lord Polydoro write me a letter of recommendation to a priest, and I converted to the Cologne Sect recently. Since I’ve been expelled from home, my personal conversion doesn’t bother anyone.”

When had all this happened?

And she’s too well-prepared for everything.

Since when had Sabine been planning all this?

Plans like these couldn’t possibly be realized on the stipend provided by Valiere-sama.

As clever as Sabine is, suddenly acquiring a large sum of money couldn’t have been anticipated.

If she had anticipated it, that would be terrifying.

Even if she hadn’t, Sabine’s rapid thinking is purely frightening.

“The Cologne Sect has great benefits. The Cologne Sect worships firepower. They invest the congregation’s money in developing firearms. The Cologne Sect mass-produces muskets at their stronghold. They sell muskets cheaply to their followers. How wonderful is that, the Cologne Sect.”

It’s a crazy sect.

It’s definitely a crazy sect.

If you see a mercenary with a musket in this world, they’re definitely from the Cologne Sect.

As for Lord Polydoro, his domain has been following the Cologne Sect for ages, so there’s nothing that can be done about that.

“By the way, you guys should also convert to the Cologne Sect. The commoners who become attendants will all receive the conversion. If we gather numbers, they’ll sell us muskets even cheaper. It’s starting to get fun.”

Sabine, you’re becoming terrifying.

Why couldn’t she, the eldest daughter, inherit the family estate?

No decorum, no sanity—understandable why she didn’t inherit.

After four years with this fool in the Second Princess’s Royal Guard and serving Valiere-sama, I’ve understood more than enough.

Even so, the Wesperman family must have struggled immensely with the decision until the very end.

I once saw the former head of the Wesperman family who had climbed the castle walls.

She looked far older than her years.

It must have been all Sabine’s fault.

Was Marina, who took over the family estate by pushing Sabine aside, that capable?

“Hey, Sabine. Is your sister capable?”

“What’s this all of a sudden? Yeah, she’s capable.”

More capable than you?

Imagining a Sabine with sanity and decorum makes me feel nauseous.

“She’s capable enough to manage as head, but she doesn’t really read the room well.”

“Doesn’t read the room?”

“Yeah. Well, she lacks experience. She hasn’t been through the harsh realities I’ve faced—she’s never had to think about how to protect Valiere-sama or how to avoid death for everyone like I did after Hanna’s death. She’s never been pushed to the brink, never felt like dying would have been better, so it’s understandable she’s a bit soft. But yeah, she’s soft.”

Sabine had been thinking about all this.

The ideas she spoke of couldn’t just pop up without deep thought.

Was she still concerned about Hanna’s death?

—She must be.

Hanna, who has gone to Valhalla, wouldn’t hold any grudge against Sabine.

Sabine’s intelligence has grotesquely developed as a result of Hanna’s death.

Though devoid of grace and reason.

“In short, she’s a bit lax. Everything about her is soft. I’m not saying the head of the Wesperman family, a civil overseer, should literally go to the battlefield and risk their life. But maybe it would be good for her to experience hardship. She’ll face it soon enough.”

“Huh?”

Something odd in what she just said.

Sabine, covering her mouth, mutters thoughtfully.

“Let me ask you guys. Suppose you successfully invite a man you like to a secluded date in a rose garden. And I, Sabine, suddenly show up to disrupt it. What would you do?”

“I’d kill you.”

The answer is simple.

I’d definitely kill you.

“Yeah, I’d kill too. If someone disrupted my date with Lord Polydoro, I’d kill them. Well, that’s what I mean.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s what I mean.”

Sabine alone speaks of incomprehensible things.

“I once heard from a minstrel that lions, out of love, push their young off cliffs to teach them. Is that true? I hated my family’s business enough to be sick, but well, I didn’t hate my sister.”

Sabine runs her fingers through her long blonde hair, her beautiful face looking as if she’s forgotten everything and anything, muttering with a mix of love and hate in her voice.

But I don’t understand Sabine’s heart.

Would Valiere-sama agree with Sabine using her own funds to strengthen the Second Princess’s Royal Guard?

I feel like she might oppose it, thinking the roles are reversed.

And Sabine, for her part, saying she would use her own funds to protect us.

It feels somewhat ticklish.

“Here’s your duck soup.”

The tavern owner brings the dish to our table.

Now, let’s just be grateful to Sabine and enjoy the meat.