Chapter 44 : To a House with Nothing (1)

The battle between the Jackal and Allen was being watched by all the knights of the kingdom.

At first, they all mocked the Jackal’s movements and predicted Allen’s victory.

However, that momentum did not last long.

The duel was not merely about determining a winner or loser.

It was about teaching and learning from each other.

That was the kind of training the kingdom’s knights had always done, and it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

However, what Wolfgang and the Vendetta Legion had experienced was not a mere fight, but hell itself.

In that place, where losing did not mean death but being eaten alive, such mild words had no meaning.

“It’s over,” Wolfgang muttered.

“That one won’t be getting up.”

Jeanne, who had been watching the fight from a safe distance, almost sighed.

From the very beginning, Jeanne knew that the Jackal was no ordinary person.

She had even warned Allen in advance.

But whether it was carelessness or arrogance, Allen underestimated the Jackal at first and lost his momentum.

Ultimately, he couldn’t recover and was defeated.

“Foolish,” Jeanne thought.

Even if he fought with all his strength from the start, his chances of winning were slim.

But she only thought that inwardly; Jeanne did not show her feelings outwardly.

The position of the saint was a matter of image.

People believed the saint to be noble, and that belief gave her power.

She was not foolish enough to let personal emotions destroy what she had carefully built.

And, as of now, the royal knights had not been defeated by the Vendetta Legion.

Allen had only been recruited into the royal guard for his brilliant talent.

That talent had not fully bloomed yet, and he was lacking in real-world combat experience.

But even Jeanne couldn’t deny the fact that the first clash between the Empire and the Kingdom ended in an Empire victory.

If it had been just Allen who lost, there might have been room for excuses.

But the Kingdom’s strongest asset, White, had been defeated by Wolfgang Leonhardt with a single blow.

That was a shock so severe that even Jeanne struggled to hide her astonishment.

“I never thought White would lose. This is a turn of events I never expected.”

White was, at least at this point, the undisputed strongest force in the kingdom.

Of course, Theodore was also called the strongest sword, but that was from a human standpoint.

At this moment, Theodore still couldn’t compare to White.

But for White to lose in one blow—it was unbelievable.

If it had been a proper fight, there might have been hope, but this was not the case.

As a result, Jeanne had to quickly revise her original plan.

The knights, who had been full of pride for the kingdom, had now suffered a crushing defeat.

Their pride had been wounded, and their morale was shattered.

This was a very bad situation for Jeanne.

Simply letting things go was a bad move, but retaliating recklessly was an even worse one.

Since they had already taken a fatal blow from the start, Jeanne’s only option now was to retreat and minimize further damage.

Her golden eyes turned toward Wolfgang.

A satisfied smile was painted on Wolfgang’s lips.

Seeing that, Jeanne felt a sudden surge of irritation.

“Are you satisfied now?” she asked.

“Quite,” Wolfgang replied.

“In that case, how about leaving this place?” Jeanne suggested.

“Don’t you have something to discuss with me? Why not resolve it right here?”

Jeanne didn’t think that a saint like herself had come here to stop a fight.

There must have been another reason.

Perhaps she had come to arrest the traitor Theodore.

Or, perhaps she knew that Wolfgang Leonhardt was here and had come personally.

If neither of those reasons applied, why else would she have brought the Kingdom’s guardian dragon along?

As expected, Jeanne had come here with a clear purpose—to arrest the traitor Theodore.

Attempting to arrest Theodore in front of Wolfgang was meant as a warning.

At the same time, securing Theodore’s safety would prevent Wolfgang from acting freely.

However, the dragon she brought was swiftly defeated by Wolfgang, and Allen, a member of the royal guard, was also defeated by the Jackal, flipping the situation completely.

“There’s no way normal suppression is going to work now,” Jeanne thought.

She didn’t underestimate the knights here, but their strength was not enough to defeat the two who had already bested the guardian dragon and Allen.

The only solution available now was one.

“Allen is badly injured. Let’s postpone this conversation for now.”

“…If you say so. I hope he recovers quickly.”

Even Wolfgang, despite her strength, couldn’t press the issue when Jeanne mentioned a seriously injured ally.

Thus, the first clash ended with an Empire victory.

At this point, attempting to capture Theodore would only lead to defeat.

The situation required that they conserve their strength as much as possible.

For now, Jeanne chose to retreat. Wolfgang, too, did not prevent her from leaving.

“A cornered rat will bite a cat,” Wolfgang mused.

He was no stranger to letting loose in the past, but that had not ended well.

The Winter War had shaped him into a strong soldier.

Though she would never thank the Winter itself.

As she watched Jeanne and the royal knights retreat, she clicked his tongue.

“This isn’t the end,” she said.

“Right, the saint will surely return,” someone agreed.

“Most likely,” another voice chimed in.

Theodore, who had been watching from the carriage, offered Wolfgang some advice, which Wolfgang agreed with.

People like Jeanne were tenacious, and it was certain she would come back prepared.

Wolfgang turned to Theodore. “Do you have a good plan?”

Theodore nodded. “We’re heading home for now.”

The Frost Duchy.

A place mixed with love and resentment.

The Frost Duchy.

A family with the bloodline of one of the four heroes who defeated the Demon King.

Although they began their journey by taking up arms for peace, that resolve had long since faded.

Though the influence of the Frost Duchy weakened when Lana Frost was exiled ten years ago, the name still held power.

The future Duke, who was also known as the strongest sword in the kingdom, had abandoned his position as heir and even joined the Empire.

Theodore was unaware of the Duchy’s internal affairs, but he knew that the Duchy had been struggling ever since Lana’s exile.

And with the current situation, things could get even worse.

But that was as far as his concern went.

Theodore had no positive feelings for the Duchy.

“Are you not worried?” Wolfgang asked.

“What do you mean?” Theodore replied.

“Well, haven’t you been branded a traitor?”

“That’s true,” Theodore said calmly, nodding.

Theodore probably expected Prince Jaiha to return to the Kingdom and openly confess his actions.

But he had already resigned himself to that outcome.

“They were never family to me. All they wanted was power,” Theodore said.

After his mother died, Lana had been the only family he had.

Theodore worked tirelessly to become strong, practicing swordsmanship alone and studying late into the night by sneaking into the library.

His only inheritance from the Frost Duchy had been the education they provided, and Theodore had used it to its fullest.

Theodore had fought hard to protect his family, and eventually, he became the next Duke of Frost.

But without Lana, the Duchy no longer mattered to him.

“I don’t care what happens to the Duchy,” he said.

Since ten years ago, he had lived a life of survival, holding on to a faint hope that Lana was still alive.

When that hope was shattered, Theodore had no regrets about dying.

But, with his dying breath, he still could not help his only remaining family, his sister Lana.

“Certainly, the Duchy will hate us as soon as we arrive. At first, they may not be able to control their anger and draw their swords.”

“Why choose such a place then?” Wolfgang asked.

“They’re foxes, not wolves. They’ll quickly realize the only way to survive is by joining us,” Theodore replied.

The Frost Duchy had no choice but to decide.

Would they cling to the Kingdom for whatever power they had left, or would they join a new banner?

Wolfgang nodded in agreement. The Duchy’s position was indeed tenuous, and he thought it would be wise to negotiate.

But that was before a blonde-haired girl with a massive axe charged at them.

“Die, traitor!” she screamed.

At least, the arrival of the Frost Duchy would have been less troublesome without this interruption.