To The Battlefield (12)

There were not many good swords in Amari. Buying fine steel or a proper blade cost enough money to purchase several sacks of flour. Even swords bought at such expense were often lost when monsters swallowed them along with the wielder’s arm.

As a result, I naturally grew into a swordswoman who was not particular about her weapons. I gave sharp, easily maintained blades to those who lacked skill and trained myself to survive even with a dull sword in hand. That was how I had always trained.

Compared to the swords I had used back then, this one from the grand ducal family’s armory was truly excellent. But the iron had completely corroded, so it probably could not even be reforged.

I planted the sword, sheath and all, in front of the swamp and silently thanked it. I did not believe in gods, but a sword was my only true friend and the companion that would remain with me until the day I died. Leaving it at the site of its final battle was my own way of mourning it.

You protected many people and saved my life.

When I murmured those words and returned, Mary widened her eyes.

“You’re leaving the sword behind? What will you do if another monster appears?”

“It’s fine. I have this.”

I took an old chimera tooth from my bag and showed it to her. With its blunt root and sharp edge, the tooth was roughly the size of a dagger.

Raul stared at me as though I were an extremely strange person. Feeling inexplicably flustered, I began making excuses.

“Chimera teeth never break, and they absorb fire. I thought they were better than most swords, so I used one from time to time…….”

“Ordinarily, people attach them to poles and use them as spears……. You swung this around like a dagger?”

“Sometimes, when I lacked a sword.”

Raul looked horrified and shook his head.

“We should stop by a village before the day ends. I do not want to lose confidence again after witnessing another one of your astonishing sword techniques.”

“It’s not that extraordinary…….”

The people of my hometown and the mercenaries had also been horrified, but once one became accustomed to it, chimera-tooth dagger techniques were genuinely effective. I muttered this only inwardly as I put the tooth away again.

It was the moment my modest dream of teaching the knights chimera-tooth dagger techniques was shattered.

That afternoon, we finally arrived at a proper village.

Until then, we had eaten the supplies brought from Norvant and food purchased whenever necessary from nearby villages, but we intended to fully replenish our provisions here.

The lord of the territory was a thin old man called Baron Yulvalt. According to Leonard’s information, he was a stubborn loner who lived without any family.

The baron greeted us before the lord’s castle with an openly displeased expression.

“Did you fall into a cesspit somewhere? You all look dreadful.”

“We ended up this way during the subjugation.”

Leonard answered politely even then. The baron spoke to Leonard with dissatisfaction.

“Aren’t you the second son of House Odo? Are you still wandering around without getting married?”

“……That is how things turned out. In any case, we would be grateful if you allowed us to stay for just one night.”

After clicking his tongue at Leonard, the baron abruptly turned toward me. His expression grew even more displeased as he looked me up and down.

My face reddened automatically when I imagined how filthy I must have looked, covered in mud and sweat. How unsightly must a grand duchess look in such a state?

He crookedly bowed his head.

“I greet the Grand Duchess.”

Then he muttered loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“I heard she was a woman like a wild dog, and indeed…….”

Leonard frowned. But before he could speak, the baron gestured.

“Come inside and wash yourselves.”

I lowered my head deeply and hurriedly jumped down from my horse. Mary muttered something resentfully beside me, but I could not hear it. I quickly passed through the castle gate and headed toward the room.

The room the baron gave me was exceedingly ordinary. It was the kind of lodging knights on expedition might use, with two hard bunk beds and blankets. Still, perhaps I should have been grateful that it felt spacious because only Mary and I were using it.

But Mary looked deeply dissatisfied.

“How could they refuse to give a guest room to a noblewoman? What kind of discourtesy is this?”

“It’s all right, Mary. I came here as a knight, didn’t I?”

“Even so! Every castle keeps at least one or two private rooms for high-ranking knights. Yet they deliberately gave you a room meant for several people…….”

Mary openly fumed. I smiled awkwardly and scratched my cheek.

This seemed comfortable enough to me.

But I felt that saying so would only make Mary angrier, so I removed my dirty cloak and leather gloves.

At that moment, a maid poked her head through the doorway.

“You are the Grand Duchess, correct?”

The maid, whose hair was loosely tied and whose apron was filthy, asked crookedly.

When I nodded, she looked me up and down just like her master had.

“As for clothes…… should I bring you a dress?”

“A shirt and trousers will be enough for me. Bring a skirt for this child.”

The maid glanced at Mary and abruptly left. I scratched my head.

This was unmistakably poor treatment. Well, servants paid more attention to their master’s moods than anyone else. Perhaps they thought it was acceptable because their master openly disregarded me.

When I awkwardly turned my head, I was startled to find Mary’s face turning red and blue with fury.

The girl rolled up her sleeves and shouted.

“I’ll tear every last hair from that woman’s head!”

“Y-you can’t do that, Mary!”

I hurriedly grabbed Mary’s wrist.

Recently, I had learned many things about her that I had never known, but this side of Mary was truly unfamiliar. No matter how difficult the situation, Mary had always maintained a composure worthy of any noble lady.

But the girl looked utterly furious. The loyal maid said,

“No one has ever treated even me that rudely in my life. How could she possibly behave that way toward the Grand Duchess?”

Ah, I understood.

This young maid had probably never received treatment like this even in her own home. If she had entered service as a maid of the grand ducal household, she must have been a cherished young lady in her own family. Unlike the professional maids in the capital, many came from houses of sufficiently high status that they did not even need wages, so she must have been even more furious.

I patiently tried to calm the girl, whose face had turned bright red from experiencing such mistreatment for the first time.

“Those people don’t know me. It is only natural that earning their respect would be difficult.”

“My lady, you are the Grand Duchess. You are the mistress of this territory!”

“Yes. But what is the point of demanding respect based on status alone? I did not earn my rank through my own strength. I was merely born with it.”

Mary stared at me with wide eyes. I quickly averted my gaze.

Most nobles would not understand such words, but this was something I had always believed.

I was the daughter of a lord, but where I had lived, that had meant nothing. The northern cold was cruel and the monsters were savage, making all people suffer equally. I had laughed and cried with the people of the territory and spent winter nights huddled together with them.

They respected me because I was someone capable of keeping them alive. No one ever said that my noble but incompetent mother was more valuable than the common-born commander of the knights. Nobles were not a different species or beings born with something inherently special. We were all simply people.

However, differences in status undeniably existed, and they were not something I could change immediately.

So I had decided that, at the very least, I should respect everyone equally. When I first came to the Empire, where distinctions of rank were much stricter than in my homeland, I had struggled to adapt. But treating everyone around me kindly made the discomfort considerably easier to bear.

The same applied outside the castle. I had not shown these people anything worthy of respect, so it was natural that they did not respect me. I did not want to force them by invoking my title.

I deliberately spoke brightly.

“Of course, it is a little upsetting……. But that isn’t what matters right now, is it? We should be grateful that they are allowing us to stay.”

But Mary still looked extremely serious.

Was she angry? Fortunately, she did not seem to be. She had merely fallen deep into thought.

Before long, Mary grumbled.

“……Even so, His Grace would never have let this pass if he knew.”

Her puffed cheeks made me laugh automatically.

I was certain this child had disliked Victor.

But the girl’s sulking face was so adorable that I did not feel like teasing her. I smiled at Mary and headed toward the bathroom attached to the room.

The baron’s maid practically threw the clothes down before leaving. Mary still looked extremely angry, but surprisingly, she said nothing.

I picked up the trousers and shirt, put them on, and instructed Mary.

“Rest here. I’ll be back shortly.”

With my long hair hanging loose, I stepped out of the room.

I headed straight for the guard post. Minor lords usually did not have knights serving them directly, and the captain of the guards who protected the lord’s castle was responsible for maintaining order throughout the territory. If I found the guard post, I would probably be able to meet the person in charge here.

Fortunately, the guard post was nearby. I strode toward it.

The soldiers were in the middle of training in the drill yard before the post. Their spear techniques were somewhat clumsy, but sweat beaded across their cheeks.

They were working hard.

Feeling pleased, I looked for the person leading the training, who was presumably the captain of the guards.

“Are you the officer responsible for guarding this castle?”

A bearded middle-aged man raised his head. When he noticed me, he answered with a suspicious look.

“I am. And who might you be?”

“Ah, I am…….”

I closed and opened my eyes as embarrassment washed over me once again.

When would I finally become accustomed to this burdensome title?

I hesitantly answered.

“I am Amarion Mort, a knight of the subjugation force and the Grand Duchess.”

“Mort?”

The man’s eyes suddenly widened tremendously. It was almost astonishing that a person’s eyes could open so wide.

He hurriedly threw down his spear and dropped to his knees on the sandy ground. Before I could say anything, the captain shouted.

“I greet the exalted, exalted mistress of the Black Lion Castle!”

“No, no……! Please stand!”

Why were the people of this castle so extreme?