Chapter 149

Duke Valencius stepped out onto the balcony with the Jester, overlooking his province.

Between the young, white-haired, golden-eyed Bandit Duke and the middle-aged, red-eyed, stubborn knight, it was difficult to find any commonality. Yet, their presence somehow created an ambiance that harmonized within a single frame.

It wasn’t just the bond that Tenitia represented that connected them.

The Jester nodded as he heard the phrase about the pitfalls of meritocracy.

“Your Excellency. Although this place may seem insignificant compared to the capital, Silentalouon, it is still land that our family has governed for one thousand years.”

“There’s no need to belittle it. It’s a beautiful place.”

“Thank you. Yes, it is. It’s not something we could split in half to share… Passing it down to the firstborn isn’t due to my foolishness.”

Duke Valencius acknowledged this with a somber nod.

“Yes. You must know that metaphor? The firstborn skilled in swordsmanship and the second-born excelling in administration.”

When talking about the firstborn who is skilled in swordsmanship and the second who excels in administration, who should become the heir?

This is a matter of value judgment, and the answer changes depending on the age and circumstances.

Judgment is subjective, and when the claims of the nobility clash, that’s when wars start.

However, who the firstborn is really becomes a matter of fact.

Thus, the nobility set the conditions for succession based on this factual judgment.

To leave no room for discord.

The Jester treated Duke Valencius with utmost respect.

He was a knight among knights, loyal to his rank.

The fact that Duke Valencius was of the same generation as his own children posed no issue at all.

“Yes. I am well aware. Of course, both my children were exceptional in swordsmanship.”

Duke Valencius muttered with a hint of regret.

“I imagined it made things more ambiguous. Lady Trentia is a genius, but I think Lord Rentia was no less remarkable.”

“Yes. I had conflicts in my heart. If Tenitia inherits the family name, she would certainly elevate it even further, but there’s no reason for Rentia not to inherit as well.”

He was the eldest, and an outstanding knight.

“It’s my greed. A desire to give them one more thing.”

“And it is always that greed that spoils our plans.”

Duke Valencius laughed bitterly, and the Jester nodded in agreement.

Both were discussing matters arising from experience.

“One day, I realized that if I kept the two children together, I might end up doing something I shouldn’t. I might witness those two fighting over this land.”

His wrinkled face was filled with a sense of duty and stubbornness.

“Is there any way around it? One must be sent away. There was no reason for Rentia to leave. However, Tenitia had her reasons for departing. She’s the secondborn.”

Duke Valencius quietly nodded.

It was a sign of understanding, but the Jester mistook it for a rebuke.

“I couldn’t possibly send that fine child away to marry. I had to send her off to the Academy as if I was pushing her away.”

“Yes. That was meant as understanding. But did it have to be done as though chasing her away?”

Duke Valencius thought that it was a foolish question even as he asked it himself.

In that moment, he sensed an oddly mutual understanding with the Jester.

It was because he himself was committing acts like that every day as if merely breathing.

“I cannot blame my brother.”

Indeed.

“If he were to start thinking, ‘I am being sent away because of Rentia,’ that would be unacceptable. That child lived diligently and is an exceptional knight. Why should he bear such resentment? That doesn’t make sense.”

“I agree.”

“Yet, I cannot let him fall into self-reproach. ‘It’s my fault for being a secondborn, and my father and brother are suffering because of me.’ What kind of nonsense is that?”

No one was at fault, but someone had to leave the family.

Thus.

“Someone must draw the sword and bear the resentment. I hoped he would live fiercely. Damn this wretched family. I will graduate at the top of the Academy, become the Emperor’s knight, and come back to this cursed hometown to smile at my father’s face! Just like that.”

The Jester declared passionately, and Duke Valencius smiled with satisfaction.

“Didn’t that come true? Lady Trentia graduated at the top of the Academy and joined the Silver Knight Order, becoming an outstanding combatant capable of facing multiple knights, including those from the Northern Duke.”

“Isn’t the resentment a bit weak? You still have attachments to this wretched family. Why is your affection for an old country bumpkin so deep?”

Duke Valencius smirked, glancing up and down at the Jester.

“You seem a bit too strong to be merely an old country bumpkin. He must have been a father like the heavens.”

“It’s a warped memory from childhood. It’s akin to the way a master looms larger than life in one’s heart. Now, if I were to compete with that child, I wonder if I could manage even five rounds.”

So, the Jester continued.

“Please let that child resent me as much as she pleases, Your Excellency. That way, won’t I be able to leave this countryside and become someone significant?”

“You value the reality you can hold in your hands over emotions. That’s the mindset of a great ruler. Still, I would prefer to discourage you from heading into battle. A cavalry charge on those legs would be a stretch.”

Duke Valencius contemplated kicking his shins once more to break them.

Aside from Lady Trentia, it was not the time for an injured knight to head into combat.

However, the Jester spoke with a valiant flash in his red eyes.

“I have taught my children to fulfill their duties, and now I have been called.”

Those eyes resembled Tenitia so closely that Duke Valencius could not refute him.

“To be diligent in their duties… seems to run in the family.”

“Hahaha. That’s a relief. I was worried it might go awry.”

“Don’t speak so lightly. You are diligent enough to pester me for it.”

The Jester concluded his remarks with a youthful smile.

“Then. Please take good care of that child.”

* * *

In the barley fields after the harvest, one could usually spot children gleaning, but not today.

The goblins poised in the forest were about to burst forth, and the plains were expected to be stained with blood.

“Prepare the troops!”

Helena pulled back her blonde hair tightly and raised her red eyes, brandishing her command staff.

From atop the hill, goblin scouts were seen emerging one by one from the forest boundary.

The distance to the forest was about 1 km.

It was a flawless distance for a cavalry charge to sweep them away.

On the command desk lay a broad map and war game pieces, with variables recorded from several days of simulations.

It was understandable that one might feel tired, but Helena’s eyes sparkled brightly.

The moment she had dreamed of was right before her.

“It’s real, it’s real. It’s a real battle. I’m the commander.”

Contrary to her prickly and cold demeanor, her heart was pounding furiously.

“Victory and glory, blood and revenge! The friendships that blossom upon the battlefield where lives are at stake!”

How many novels had she read, and how many war games had she played until now?

“It’s about time I experienced it.”

“When the wind shifts at noon, Duke Valencius will fill the forest with flame and smoke. When the green-skins can’t take it anymore and rush out, the knights will charge to crush them.”

“Yes! Commander!”

Three barons and twenty knights, along with eighty trainees and heavy cavalry they brought, responded boisterously.

“Anyone trying to escape will be subdued by the spear soldiers and archers. The archers will target the wild boar riders and ork riders as their main focus!”

“Yes! Commander!”

Three hundred archers and one thousand spear soldiers replied.

If one were to view them from the sky as they moved as a cohesive unit, it might look like a dark blue line upon a tawny background.

In the distance, gray smoke began to rise from the far edge of the forest.

In an instant, flames erupted, and thick smoke enveloped the forest like fog.

Some soldiers started to cough despite the wet cloths they had, indicating the smoke was already too much.

“Oooh.”

“Truly a member of the royal family.”

“Indeed, a remarkable mage, as rumored.”

Exclamations erupted from both soldiers and knights alike.

Amid these exclamations, anxious cries could also be heard.

“What?!”

“Shiiing!?”

The forest trembled, and the green-skins came rushing out, crying tears and snot.

In their haste to escape, many didn’t even carry weapons.

Helena smiled like a predator as she mounted her horse.

“My first battle will surely be an overwhelming victory!”

It felt as though she would enjoy a dazzling debut and an exquisite steel dance.

“Do you all desire revenge? Do you want to reclaim the crops and livestock stolen by the goblins and the blood of your parents and siblings injured by the orks?”

Her voice echoed fiercely.

“Yes, Your Excellency!”

“Then let’s go right now and reclaim it.”

She laughed charmingly, spurring her horse onward and shouted.

Perhaps it was because blood was rushing to her head, but the laughter wouldn’t stop.

“Follow me!”

The fiery shout echoed among the knights, and over a hundred knights and cavalry began to charge forward.

Among them were Rentia and the Jester.

* * *

After igniting the fire, Duke Valencius began to return to the command post, escorted by Tenitia.

While he occasionally encountered a few orks, the exhausted ones coughing from inhaling smoke posed no threat against the knight donning a purified helmet.

As goblin wolf riders or ork boar riders occasionally lunged out, they too could not escape the edge of Tenitia’s sword.

“Remarkable as always, my lady.”

“You flatter me.”

“Let’s hurry back. You seem anxious.”

“Do I appear so?”

“Is it not?”

Tenitia affirmed once again that while she might not be good at direct confrontations, she could never outsmart Duke Valencius in a battle of wits.

The golden-eyed royal, with an upbeat demeanor, suddenly stumbled as if something had caught at his toes.

Was he hastening his steps out of worry for the injured Jester? It seemed that way.

Tenitia was taken aback at how someone could pose a question in such a manner, while Duke Valencius thought the slip might be seriously insulting, and he hurriedly cleared his throat to change the subject.

“It’s a misunderstanding! I too wanted to experience a cavalry charge. Let’s hurry and prepare.”

“If you go now, it may already be too late.”

“Then I should at least participate in the hippo battle, right? That’s what I was more worried about.”

That struck a chord.

On horseback, all he had to do was sit still, but in a hippo battle, he would need to run and roll.

“…Thank you.”

Tenitia feigned submission, and Duke Valencius changed the subject once more.

“This time, it seems there’s hardly any talk of cowardliness or the righteousness of battles. I thought you would be aghast when I slapped the faces of the barons.”

Tenitia responded, feeling an ominous premonition that she might get caught up in some fallacious argument.

“They know that they can only rally their subordinate knights if they take their hits and go back. If they expect that, what could I possibly say?”

“How about setting the forest on fire?”

“It’s all alright against green-skins.”

“And against the enemy?”

“If the enemy comes out seeking a rotation and I set the fire, that would be cowardly. If I ignite the fire while they are merely withholding, that is a permissible tactic.”

Tenitia replied effortlessly, and Duke Valencius nodded.

“Then I would prefer to fight monsters or infiltrators. No matter what I do, I’d receive accolades for an effective strategy.”

His tone blurred the line between sincerity and jest.

Tenitia decided to think of it as both.

“That’s correct.”

Their conversation did not continue further.

They had just reached the edge of the forest and witnessed the scene where knights were overwhelmingly slaughtering the green-skins.

It was a battle between the unarmed green-skins who fled and the knights, heavily armed and emboldened.

If it weren’t overwhelming, it would have been strange.

Worrying about the wolf riders or boar riders escaping would be ludicrous.

The archers gazed on as the rotation ended, without even getting a chance to draw their bows.

Helena shouted excitedly.

The sunlight shattered upon her bronze armor, which hugged her figure tautly.

“Commence the extermination! Charge into the hippos and the forest! Slowly, calmly, let the knights and soldiers mix as they advance! Make sure you don’t get hurt when it’s all over!”

One thousand soldiers, switching to axes or spears, descended the hill, and knights drew their swords as they dismounted.

Tenitia, alongside Duke Valencius, moved toward the forefront of that procession, saying:

“Your Excellency. Being a knight can sometimes feel overwhelming and frustrating.”

Duke Valencius widened his eyes, surprised.

“I didn’t expect you to say that.”

“I think I may have misjudged things. I should show you something grand first to capture your interest.”

Once she shared the romance of knighthood, the accompanying duty would seem sweet as well.

She still refused to give up.

Her determination to elevate Duke Valencius into the world of light remained steadfast.

With a confident smile, Tenitia raised her visor.

“I will show you glory first, Your Excellency.”