Fabian's Valor and the Weight of Royal Duty
The villagers, having witnessed Fabian's valor, completely erased the thought of lunging at Jeanne and Fabian from their minds. Jeanne moved slowly toward the exhausted Fabian.
Fabian asked her, “What would you have us do now?”
Ordinary commoners untrained in combat, even if dozens came swarming, would still be no match for Fabian and Jeanne.
Should he punish those who had tried to sell them out to the enemy? That was what Fabian asked her.
“The deed is done. I cannot undo it, but I must bear the responsibility.”
Jeanne's gaze landed on Heini, who was wiping tears from her eyes while slinging her bow over her shoulder.
“I will help you too. Where has the Rotinzel army taken the villagers?”
“I can handle it alone. I have no desire to receive the aid of a knight.”
“Though I do not know your past and cannot speak rashly, if you truly wish to save the people, you should set aside your pride.”
Heini, struck at her core, turned away with a jerk, refusing to meet Jeanne's eyes.
“Do as you please. Come or not. It is none of my concern.”
Heini strode off at a brisk pace, not once glancing back.
As they moved away from the village in silence, Jeanne finally broke the quiet when the settlement could no longer be seen.
“Fabian.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“What should I blame those who curse the royal palace? What exactly am I supposed to hold accountable?”
“What do you mean by that……”
“Should I blame the enemy that invaded our once-peaceful nation? The corrupt nobles who blinded the king's eyes? The father who failed to prevent such a thing? Or should I blame those I see before me right now?”
Her eyes, filled with words of blame, were instead brimming with sorrow.
“It is so easy to blame others, yet why does it feel as though all of this is my fault?”
“You have done nothing wrong, Princess.”
“Yet I am a royal. All I have enjoyed would not exist if I had not been born into royalty. To them, I must be no different from the king who abandoned them.”
Jeanne ran her fingers through her own hair.
The concept of collective punishment or generational guilt felt unjust, but from the commoner's perspective, it made a certain kind of sense. The people's anger was justified.
Jeanne did not feel bitter about the backlash aimed at her; she simply pitied those who had no choice but to act this way.
“A king exists only because there are subjects.”
“Your Highness.”
“The king abandoned the people first, so it is only natural that the people abandon the king.”
“Do not trouble yourself too much with the foolishness of these people.”
“No. I must truly understand their intent and humbly accept it. So that this never happens again.”
The majesty and authority of the royal family did not come from the crown or the scepter. It was not inherited by blood, nor from the service of subordinates or the loyalty of knights.
It came from the support and respect of the people.
Noblesse oblige.
Highborn individuals carried responsibilities in accordance with their station.
Everything Jeanne had enjoyed until now had been received from the people. Now it was time to give it back.
“I will never forget what happened today. Until the moment I draw my last breath.”
***
Two days earlier, the Rotinzel soldiers had visited the village.
The Rotinzel soldiers who had taken the villagers set up temporary quarters just outside the forest.
From the flags flapping in the wind, it was clear they belonged to a scouting unit led by Aaron.
‘That is some mercy, at least.’
If they had taken the hostages as prisoners, there would be no way to rescue them.
Even if Jeanne's knight order joined the effort, fighting through tens of thousands of soldiers to save a single person would be impossible, even for an old-time hero.
But if they left behind only a small scouting unit for forest exploration, they could still handle that.
The prisoners were crammed together in the temporary holding area like animals. From their perspective, there was no reason to worry about the treatment of low-born civilian prisoners.
Their condition was disheveled and poor, but since they had not yet been forced into labor, their bodies remained surprisingly strong.
“With this number, I will go in first.”
Only two knights were included in the scouting unit. Ordinary soldiers offered no real help against Fabian, so effectively only the two knights were their true strength.
At Fabian's words, Jeanne shook her head.
“Our goal is the rescue of the villagers. We enter not to stir up chaos.”
If Jeanne and Fabian had planned to sneak in and then escape, the small unit could not have caught them.
But safely extracting and escorting the rescued prisoners was another matter entirely.
If the enemy began shooting the villagers with arrows, keeping them safe would become difficult.
“I will draw their attention.”
Heini, who had been keeping her distance, had now moved beside Jeanne. She volunteered without hesitation to take the risky bait.
“Can you handle it?”
“I am much faster than those sluggish knights.”
Moreover, infiltrating the unit to rescue the villagers required her specialty: the bow. If surrounded by soldiers, it would be difficult.
In the end, this approach was efficient for both sides.
All three nodded in agreement at the same time.
Heini moved swiftly, vanishing among the trees. Fabian, watching, exhaled in admiration.
“A talent wasted on nothing but hunting.”
Climbing the trees with the speed of a monkey. Her body was supple and resilient. Even in ragged clothes, her muscles were toned to perfection. It was an ideal condition for learning martial arts.
“We will start as well.”
Jeanne led Fabian to the opposite side.
Heini pulled an oil-soaked arrow from her quiver and nocked it on the bowstring.
Though oil was precious and she only had a few, this was too important to leave behind.
‘Right now, more important than killing those bastards.’
Thinking of Maxwell-ahjussi, she felt it would be a relief to shoot every soldier dead.
But the number of arrows was limited. Even if she killed one with each shot, she could not finish them all.
What needed to be done right now was to draw their attention.
Heini lit the arrow and loosed it.
The target was a tent made of canvas.
Fwoosh.
It took time for the tough canvas to catch fire, but after three shots, one tent erupted in flames.
It was nighttime, so the sleeping soldiers bolted out from everywhere.
Then Heini loosed several more arrows at random.
“Fire!”
“Over there! Half of you extinguish the fire, the rest pursue the enemy!”
“Yes, understood!”
Heini, focused amid the frantic Rotinzel soldiers, reached into her quiver and pulled out an arrow made of obsidian.
She fired at the first soldier who came close.
Because the obsidian tip was brittle, it shattered upon impact, causing far worse bleeding.
As many soldiers were needed to tend to the wounded as to kill, this was a far more reliable way to draw their gaze right now.
The soldier hit by the arrow fell. Heini smirked at the sight.
“If you can catch me, go ahead.”
She vanished from her spot.
Meanwhile, the temporary quarters descended into chaos thanks to Heini's display.
In the meantime, Jeanne and Fabian slipped inside.
The soldiers guarding the prisoner area were beheaded in a single stroke by Jeanne.
The Joyeuse, used for the first time in combat, was so sharp it was hard to believe it had actually cut through flesh.
Fabian raised his aura and shattered the iron padlock, then dragged the prisoners outside.
“Who… who are you…?”
All the prisoners were young men and women in their twenties and thirties. It was only natural; they had been taken for forced labor.
“This way!”
Though confused, they understood they were being rescued and followed Jeanne's lead without question.
From the rear of the fleeing prisoners, Fabian deftly knocked away the occasional arrows flying in their direction.
“Go ahead. I will follow shortly.”
Fabian told Jeanne.
“No. We go together.”
Jeanne shook her head, recalling old memories.
In her previous life, Fabian had sacrificed himself to save her.
It had been similar back then too: a forest, enemies chasing them. Fabian had stayed behind to hold them off, and in the end, he never returned.
“Please trust me.”
Jeanne bit her lip hard, then nodded.
If the unit outside rushed them all at once, it might be a problem. But with Heini causing distraction, the small number that would come running could still be handled.
Jeanne decided to trust her bodyguard and mentor.
“Your life belongs to me, your master. Therefore, do not die without my permission.”
“Understood.”
Jeanne led the villagers onward.
While moving through the forest along the path they had taken, they reunited with Heini.
“What is this? Where is the knight you were dragging along?”
“He stayed behind to buy time and prevent the soldiers from pursuing us.”
“Hah. He simply discarded his subordinate like that? Truly knightly behavior.”
“Fabian would not fall for something like this.”
Seeing Jeanne's trust in him, Heini let out a snort as if she had heard an insult.
And the two, with the villagers in tow, made their way back into the village.
Fortunately, the prisoners, who had survived in the forest for a long time, reached the village in no time.
By the time they arrived, dawn had already passed, and the morning sun was filtering through the trees.
It was only then that the blood-soaked Fabian returned.
“Greetings, Fabian. I have returned after completing my mission.”
“You worked hard.”
Jeanne praised him. If her heart were free, she would have hugged him tightly and said how grateful she was that he was still alive. But she settled for tapping his shoulder.
The returning villagers reunited with their families.
Mothers wept over the suffering their children had endured. Fathers simply held them in silence.
Younger siblings clung to their older brothers and sisters, sobbing. Younger siblings asked, “How was it there?” their older brothers and sisters still too young to fully understand.
Watching these families embrace and rejoice, Jeanne felt a sense of relief.
“It is all right.”
Those who had lost loved ones in the recent raid took a step back and quietly wiped their tears.
Among them was Heini, who was paying respects at a grave marked with an arrow she had shot herself.
Jeanne surveyed her surroundings.
Some of the villagers avoided her eyes. Others lowered their heads.
No one spoke, but Jeanne read their thoughts in their eyes.
The people all feared her and Fabian.
Jeanne turned with a bitter expression. Fabian approached her with concern.
“Shall we leave now, Your Highness?”
“Yes.”
Jeanne summoned the village chief. The chief, who had been soothing the villagers, hurried over at her gesture, guiding his old body along.
“Since we have suffered damage, the enemy will send even more troops.”
When the hunters first arrived, three soldiers had been killed. This time, six had come.
Even after Fabian killed those six and freed the prisoners, the Rotinzel army would surely send more.
“Your village has already been discovered. It would be best if you left here at once.”
She had always treasured her own people.
“If we abandon this place, where should we go?”
A tremor of anxiety was evident in the old chief's voice.
Jeanne let out a small sigh of regret.
“It is regrettable that I have no other words for you. If only I could protect you to the end…”
So many people needed her protection.
The phrase “sacrifice for the greater good” was cliché, but staying here would place the entire nation in danger.
Above all, she must make a rational decision.
“Go north through the forest and head toward Ileon or Lyvelz. It will be safer than here.”
“The common people cannot simply go anywhere. We need permission……”
“I am granting it. In the name of Jeanne Clareme Roisel.”
Jeanne rummaged through her pocket, looking for something to prove the promise.
But she did not usually carry accessories, so nothing came to hand.
After a moment of thought, she removed the guard of the broken sword from her belt.
The royal crest was engraved on it. It would suffice as proof. In the future, she would use the Joyeuse she had obtained from the king's tomb, so it would not matter even if she gave it away.
The chief bowed his head in respect.
Just as Jeanne and Fabian were about to leave the village again,
“U-um…”
A child's voice made Jeanne turn.
“Thank you!”
Jeanne smiled at the child.
That smile became the starting point. The villagers, who had been hesitating out of guilt, began offering thanks one after another.
“Thank you for saving us.”
“We are grateful.”
They had to protect this country to see sights like this.
As the villagers saw them off, a faint smile lingered at Jeanne's lips.