The Commander's Challenge
The sally port in the castle opened. Jeanne spurred her horse and rode through the side gate.
The sally port slammed shut behind her at once, and the defenders took up their positions.
The soldiers who had been pursuing Jeanne and Nael immediately launched an assault on the main gate.
An unwanted clash had erupted at dawn.
Nicholas would have pressed the attack without hesitation.
While the soldiers prepared for another siege, Jeanne dismounted and spoke to Nael.
“I’m glad you’re alive. Never do anything that reckless again.”
“Pardon?”
“It means you should value your own life.”
Nael was taken aback by Jeanne’s sudden words.
Why would this greenhorn knight commander be so relieved and worried about him?
It was strange enough that royalty would look at an ordinary knight with such earnest eyes.
He still hadn’t accepted her as his superior, yet the thought that she was suited to be a knight commander began to take root in his mind.
While Nael awkwardly clenched and unclenched his fists, people approached them.
“What in the world do you think you’re doing?”
Fabian rushed over and sharply rebuked Jeanne.
“Fabian.”
“How could you leave without saying a word to me?”
“Well…”
Knowing she was at fault, Jeanne trailed off with an awkward expression.
“You don’t have to say it. Of course I would have stopped you, so you kept quiet.”
Fabian scolded her, forgetting even the impropriety of his tone, his voice filled with worry. Though she was being reprimanded, Jeanne felt grateful for the concern behind his words.
Jeanne smiled as she answered.
“I came back safely, so isn’t that enough?”
“But you are still a princess. You must learn to value your own body as well.”
“I’ll try from now on.”
Even so, Fabian could only press her so far.
She had acknowledged her mistake and promised to do better; there was nothing more he could say.
His gaze naturally shifted to Nael, the one who had put Jeanne in danger.
Nael flinched under Fabian’s piercing stare.
He had been too absorbed in battle to retreat in time, and he had only survived thanks to Jeanne. His guilt was overwhelming.
Though he had left the 2nd Knight Order some time ago, Fabian remained a terrifying presence.
“We’ll discuss this matter separately later.”
With those words, Fabian escorted Jeanne away.
Left alone, Nael grabbed his own hair and sank to the ground.
“Damn it. Should I just ask to be transferred to the 1st Knight Order?”
Nael dreaded the day he would have to face Fabian again.
Once inside the building, Jeanne immediately sought out Divine.
“Divine! Divine!”
“You called for me?”
Divine appeared before her with an awkward expression.
Jeanne glared at him, her face twisted with fury, as if she might grab him by the collar.
“You. What exactly did you do?”
“Why are you suddenly like this?”
“You’re the one who sent the knights into enemy territory, aren’t you?”
“They returned safely, so isn’t that enough?”
Divine answered with perfect composure, which only fueled Jeanne’s anger.
“It was dangerous. We could have lost knights if anything had gone wrong!”
“Vice Commander Diego said the survival rate was ninety-nine percent.”
“I won’t take even a one percent risk if it can be avoided.”
“Expecting no one to die in war is absurd. Objectively speaking, with our forces at a disadvantage, do you really think victory without any risk is possible?”
“Even so, I won’t throw my people into danger.”
Their opinions ran parallel and refused to meet.
Jeanne’s desire to protect her people was admirable, but such sentiment alone would not win a war. Divine’s smile vanished.
“You speak like a dreamer.”
Their eyes locked.
Jeanne had no intention of yielding. The deaths of those who followed her had been the greatest source of her regret after regressing.
Her resolve showed in her gaze. Because she was his superior, and because he had resolved to one day place her on the throne, Divine was the first to step back.
“Understood. From now on, I will seek your permission before carrying out any operation. However—”
His tone remained calm, yet his words were cold.
“I hope you will also keep in mind that trying to save everyone may result in saving no one.”
Divine bowed and left.
Watching his retreating figure, Jeanne bit her lip in frustration.
***
Given their overwhelming numerical disadvantage, a direct confrontation was impossible.
Nicholas’s unit’s greatest weakness was their insufficient supplies for a prolonged siege.
There were three main routes from Roire to Illeang. One wound through the forest and was too long to consider, so the 2nd Knight Order was positioned in ambush along the remaining two paths.
It was not a gamble left to a fifty percent chance. The advantage of living a second life lay in moments like this.
Even knights could not display their full strength while defending the walls with bows alone. Small, mobile strike forces were the best way to utilize knights who possessed exceptional individual combat ability.
Jeanne used her knights to completely sever the enemy’s supply lines.
The ambushing knights struck the moment the Rotinzel reinforcements passed, seizing their provisions.
Stealing from the enemy to strengthen their own side was a double victory.
Though Jeanne had scolded Divine, destroying the siege weapons had proven highly effective.
Even with the battering ram still intact, attacking without proper siege equipment made the assault sluggish. With Jeanne’s forces cutting off their supplies on top of that, Nicholas grew increasingly impatient.
In that situation, Gaspar called another meeting.
“What should we do now?”
“If we wait, they will react first. Normally, the defenders should run out of food before the attackers, but now the besiegers are the ones growing anxious. What we’re aiming for is a duel of commanders.”
“A duel of commanders?”
Divine stepped forward, pushing past Gaspar’s adjutant and the other officers as if he were the chief strategist.
“Rotinzel has a custom called single combat.”
Divine explained in detail the practice of single combat, which did not exist in Bluisol.
“If we hold out like this, they will surely challenge us to single combat. Most likely a duel of commanders. Nicholas will definitely do so.”
“What if they don’t issue the challenge?”
“We can request it first. If this stalemate continues, Nicholas will gladly accept our request for a duel of commanders.”
“What’s your basis for that?”
“He has a short temper. In his current state of desperation to achieve merit as quickly as possible, a drawn-out siege does not suit his personality. He will expect someone of equal rank to step forward from Illeang as well, and he will believe that defeating that person will grant him the castle. The more straightforward the personality, the easier it is to predict their actions.”
Several people nodded.
They had all heard of a commander of Nicholas’s caliber.
One of the knights at the meeting asked,
“Let’s say we accept the duel of commanders. What happens if we lose?”
“We are not Rotinzelians, so losing the duel does not require us to surrender. If we simply pretend not to acknowledge it, they may be furious, but they will continue their assault as before.”
“Hmm.”
“At that point, it becomes a battle of time. We endure until one side tires out or runs out of options. However, since the enemy has not completely surrounded Illeang, we can still send messengers for reinforcements. Once His Highness in Equite learns of the situation, he won’t simply ignore it either.”
Divine viewed the situation with considerable optimism. Such a perspective could be dangerous in war, but right now, he needed to give his allies hope. Only then would it be easier to continue the fight.
As Divine had predicted, Nicholas, unable to wait any longer, requested a duel of commanders.
Rotinzel accepted the outcome of a duel between commanders regardless of the overall military strength.
Normally, the side at a disadvantage would request such a duel to minimize losses, but Nicholas, who had faced nothing but setbacks since Roire, was already mentally cornered.
Jeanne rejoiced.
While everyone focused on who Gaspar, the supreme commander, would choose, Jeanne spoke up.
“I will go.”
“That is out of the question.”
Divine cut her off before she could finish.
“I am the only one who can go right now.”
“Are you in your right mind?”
“In my right mind? Divine, what exactly do you think royalty is?”
“You tell me first. Do you even have any awareness that you are royalty? If you do, how can you say you’ll go yourself?”
“I believe I’m the most suitable person here.”
Jeanne was confident that in swordsmanship, she ranked among the very best—third at worst.
Therefore, defeat was not even a consideration.
“Even so, what if you lose? What if you’re injured, or worse, what if they break the rules and try to capture you because you’re royalty?”
“I already told you. I don’t fight battles I can’t win.”
Jeanne had faced nearly every knight during the long war. She knew Nicholas’s swordsmanship and habits inside and out, having crossed blades with him on the battlefield more than once.
“I’m no expert in swordsmanship, so I don’t know the extent of Your Highness’s skill. But I do know that you cannot use aura. Without aura, you cannot defeat someone who wields it.”
“I can.”
“Jeanne!”
Divine called her name without any honorific.
His tone was as if he had returned to the days when he had been her teacher.
Five years before the present, the first assignment given to Divine upon taking office had been to serve as the princess’s tutor.
At first, Divine had not been pleased with the task.
If the princess needed a refined education, they should have summoned a noblewoman from a high-ranking family instead. Teaching a young girl felt far too trivial for someone with his elite pride.
However, when he asked what she wished to learn in their first lesson, Jeanne mentioned military science and the art of war.
“I believe military science is something even a politician should know. I don’t believe power comes from the tip of a sword, but a ruler should not keep the sword at a distance either. History shows that policies made by politicians ignorant of military affairs through armchair theorizing can bring a nation to ruin.”
“Then why the art of war?”
“Because politics is war fought not with swords and spears, but with words.”
The content was dangerous yet captivating coming from a young princess.
Jeanne’s eyes had shone brightly as she spoke. From that moment, Divine taught her with all his heart and soul.
Jeanne, as his student, listened faithfully to his words.
During lessons, he wanted to set aside status and treat her solely as teacher and student, which was why Divine called her by name.
Just like Divine, Jeanne recalled the old memories, her eyes widening before she lowered her gaze.
If he was invoking his role as her teacher, then as his student, she had to fulfill her assignment.
The correct answer was to persuade him logically with valid reasoning.
Jeanne lifted her head and looked Divine straight in the eye.
“Part of what you said is correct. It is of utmost importance that a commander fulfills their role on the battlefield.”
First acknowledge the other’s point, then present your own.
“But more important than that is achieving victory with minimal losses. The fact that Nicholas specifically requested a ‘duel of commanders’ means he intends to step forward himself. If we don’t send someone he finds acceptable, Nicholas will back out as well.”
“That would be true.”
“Through the single combat with Aaron’s unit in Roire, Nicholas already knows that Diego is not the commander. We can’t send Gaspar, who is the supreme commander but comes from a civil official background, either.”
If they sent another knight for ordinary single combat instead of a duel of commanders, Nicholas would also withdraw. What he wanted was to swallow Illeang in one stroke through a duel of commanders.
Otherwise, they would only repeat the same sluggish siege.
“There’s also the issue on our side. What the 2nd Knight Order values most is skill. If I, as their commander, send someone else, what will they think? Moreover, the one who first mentioned the duel of commanders was your man, Divine. If I don’t step forward, they might think I ran away out of fear.”
Jeanne continued, her words clear and deliberate.
“I still have to lead the 2nd Knight Order going forward. Divine, you wouldn’t want me to become a figurehead commander, would you?”
Divine’s tightly pressed lips slowly parted.
“Ha… You truly have an incredible stubborn streak. It hasn’t changed at all, then or now.”
His tone still carried irritation. But—
“Still, I’ll yield to you this time.”
He could have found more points to refute her, but since he would continue working with the 2nd Knight Order, it was also true that earning their trust early would be beneficial.
Divine was the kind of teacher who could acknowledge a student’s words when they were reasonable.
Jeanne’s expression brightened.
Divine’s anger also faded, returning to his usual sly smile.
“Well, if Your Highness’s skill were truly at a level where you would lose to Nicholas, Sir Fabian would have stopped you far more decisively than I.”
Divine knew well of Fabian’s loyalty to Jeanne.
If the fight had been truly hopeless, Fabian would have risked his life to stop her.
“But if you get injured even once, don’t even dream of going into battle yourself again.”
“Of course. Don’t worry. I’ll return after completely overwhelming him.”