A Righteous Female Knight Never Compromises!-Chapter 44 : Duke John - Just a Little Bit Evil
{Chapter 44} Duke John: Just a Little Bit Evil
In the forest outside the capital city, a dirt road cuts straight through the woods.
The end of this road leads to the southern mountainous region of the empire, the poorest area, the County of Baggs.
And now, John Burrito, the Duke of Baggs, was sitting in a carriage, escorted by a group of guards and a few knights who were traveling the same way, heading towards the County of Baggs.
Although John Burrito is a man of mediocre ability with ambitions that far exceed his capabilities, he is quite handsome.
Despite being in his forties or fifties, he appears as a mature and dashing uncle to young girls who don't know the truth.
It is said that this Duke of Baggs has left behind many illegitimate children.
After the only son born to his wife passed away, he has regarded several outstanding illegitimate children as his heirs.
Although the County of Baggs is extremely poor and offers little profit, it still holds the title of a dukedom.
These illegitimate children, who previously had no right to inheritance, now naturally strive for the opportunity.
This time, the Duke of Baggs was returning to deal with an incident where one of his illegitimate children assassinated his one-year-old half-brother.
It can only be said that power truly drives people to madness. This Duke of Baggs, in pursuit of greater power, has chosen to align himself with the pure-blood faction.
His illegitimate children, in their quest for inheritance, have begun to assassinate those with inheritance rights, not even sparing an infant.
Even some of the duke's illegitimate children, who have no inheritance rights, are trying to win the favor of the Duke of Baggs's unmarried daughter, their half-sister, through certain loopholes.
And as long as the benefits are sufficient, the Duke of Baggs doesn't care about blood relations.
After all, since he is already aligning himself with the pure-blood faction, he naturally has to do things that the pure-blood faction would do.
Some members of the pure-blood faction even engage in relationships between siblings, or even between parents and children.
Compared to that, the infighting among illegitimate children over their half-sister is just a minor evil.
In fact, his daughter has grown increasingly beautiful, to the point where even he, as her father, feels somewhat...
Ahem, I mustn't think about that anymore. I still have several days of travel ahead before I can return to my fiefdom.
Unlike Anna, who can pass the time on the road with a simulator, this duke has no need for books, nor does he have any beautiful maids by his side who could bear him a few illegitimate children.
Among the knights traveling with him who could serve as guards, there are some who are quite beautiful, but these are knights of royal origin with bright futures.
How could they possibly take a liking to a duke like me, who holds no real power in the kingdom's center of authority and can only lord it over a remote and impoverished region...?
Thinking of this, John Burrito grows increasingly displeased.
After aligning himself with the pure-blood faction, some of the faction's powerful officials have looked down on him, considering him nothing more than an opportunistic turncoat.
But how can I, John Burrito, not see that you people are no different from me!
When the pure-blood faction is on the verge of collapse, these people will surely switch sides immediately, joining the faction that has defeated the pure-blood faction.
The lesson that humans have learned from history is that humans never learn any lessons from history.
That Theodore, though he always wears a kind and benevolent expression, has a heart that is anything but.
Moreover, he wants to use me as a scapegoat... to have me assassinate that woman named Anna Garland...
John Burrito can't understand why this Anna Garland is such a high priority and has such a high bounty within the pure-blood faction. She's just a knight from a fallen noble family...
John Burrito is even more confused about why Anna has gained the affection of two heirs from prominent noble families—especially when he, a duke and a far more suitable match, has been overlooked.
After confirming that the bandits he sent had been wiped out, John realized one thing, it was time to flee.
After finding excuses to decline a multitude of things, John finally set off on his return journey today, planning not to return to the capital for a while.
After all, if those bandits were to reveal his involvement... and if he were still in the capital, Theodore would surely push him out as the scapegoat!
That Theodore is no simple character either...
...
As the Duke of Baggs sat in his carriage, lost in thought, pondering how to catch Theodore's weak points, a group of “bandits” had already hidden themselves in the forest on both sides.
Among these bandits was the very person the Duke of Baggs had just been thinking about, the protagonist of this story, Anna Garland, who was holding an axe, quietly watching the convoy pass by.
That's right, after yesterday's simulation, Anna had decided to take matters into her own hands.
To put it bluntly... Anna didn't want the kingdom to enter a civil war.
It seemed that entering a civil war would mean losing Atala... at least, that's what Anna's intuition told her.
And Anna, who had already decided to become Atala's wings... or rather, to make Atala her wings, would never allow such a thing to happen.
Anna hated tragic stories the most. Although the queen's route in yesterday's simulation couldn't be considered a tragic ending, the romance route with Atala was nothing but a tragedy, wasn't it!?
After some thought, Anna concluded that perhaps she needed to personally lead this ambush to avoid steering the story towards a civil war.
In the previous simulation, she had been discovered because she had caused Gianna's death, and the weapon she used had been left on the battlefield...
This time, Gianna wasn't in this convoy, and Anna had obtained a weapon with no trace of use.
She also wore gloves, so even if the weapon were left on the battlefield, no one could trace it back to her through magical means.
It's just a battle axe, and I've specifically learned how to use a Lunarian axe!
When the duke's carriage, surrounded by guards, appeared, Anna gave a signal to someone beside her.
A piercing whistle rang out across the mountains, and in an instant, the road at both ends of the convoy gave way, an engineered collapse brought about by the mages allied with Anna.
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Protect the duke!”
However, the duke's guards were no pushovers. The royal knights quickly used combat skills and magic to shield the duke's carriage, then formed a protective circle around it.
The mages among the guards also began casting spells, some launching offensive magic at the suddenly emerging bandits, while others used magic to repair the collapsed road.
But the mages on Anna's side were also engaged in a battle of magic over the road's collapse and the enemy mages.
Seeing that the mages were all occupied, Anna took a deep breath, then hurled the long-handled axe in her hands.
The axe flew like a throwing axe, the magic attached to it exploding upon impact, directly hitting the head of a royal knight who hadn't been paying attention.
Now, it's time to test out the new skills I've learned after my promotion!
.
!
Chapter 44 : Duke John - Just a Little Bit Evil
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