If a Mad Dog Bites a Club

Not everyone knew that Adrian had been imprisoned since her triumph and was turned away by the king.

It was a well-known fact that the mistress of the Du family tried so hard to meet her but failed.

As such, King Acela did not grant Adrian Du all the rights she had as a criminal. Only Kayley Du could meet with Adrian Du, but everyone knew it wasn’t for Adrian’s benefit.

Even the servants were so sick of the king’s attitude, and even Prince Ethan whispered about whether he should abandon Adrian Du.

But now, the king was treating Adrian as a knight. The king’s old eyes narrowed.

“Do you know why you stand here as a criminal?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me why.”

“I carelessly pledged to use the Illakian slaves of Acela as soldiers, freeing them from slavery.”

The crowd fell silent.

Yes. Adrian Du lured the slaves into the Rocky Plains with promises that she would make them civilians. And she won.

It was to overturn the proverb of the heavenly god Apelard and the status system of Acela from the very beginning. Illakians can never be of the same status as the Acelains.

For the sake of fairness, Count Reise served as Adrian Du’s defense, who was not a member of the Du family. Count Reise stood before the nobles and the king to defend Adrian Du’s conduct. Adrian received only two-thousand soldiers to dispatch to the Rocky Plains.

Among them, she could only handle five hundred soldiers on the battlefield. Because the original commander, who had taken camp on the White Rocky Plains before Adrian arrived, did not give her the remaining one thousand five hundred.

“You can’t use ordinary methods to lead a war to victory when one-third of the soldiers are untrained!”

Count Reise defended her with all his might. The king was always expressionless, but Count Reise hoped that the king would treat Adrian as a knight.

Soon, the king spoke.

“Adrian Du has overthrown the order of Acela and the rules of the Temple of Apelard. If the slaves have contributed, it is in my authority to reward them.”

Everyone held their breath.

However, someone had vitality shining in their eyes. It was Kayley. In the meantime, Adrian barely suppressed her laughter at the sight of her puny brother giggling, his eyes twinkling. Her brother used to laugh like that when she was punished for causing trouble as a child. Humans truly didn’t seem to change.

Either way, the king continued.

“According to the words of Apelard, the Ilak people are inferior to the Acelains. Those who treat them as commoners and not slaves should also be put to death.”

Kayley’s smile grew even wider. But in the words that followed, the face of the Du family’s eldest son crumpled.

“But we cannot ignore Adrian Du’s influence. The Knight of the Du family achieved a victory worthy of her reputation. In addition, Adrian Du has won honorable victories as a loyal knight of Acela since the first battle of Yogyakarta up until now. The barbarians of the White Rocky Plains were parasites that corroded Acela, so we must take into account Adrian Du’s merit.”

“We are extremely grateful.”

Count Reise bowed his head. Adrian waited quietly for the disposal. King Acela turned to Barbate Du, who was standing on one side. He was also the Prime Minister of Acela, so he deserved to be present.

Barbate Du’s green eyes held no sympathy for his daughter.

Her father was so cold, and her brother was so happy, so how can it be said that Adrian Du’s situation was a pity? Some of the lords whispered. The king asked,

“What do you propose I do with Adrian Du, Prime Minister?”

“Pardon me, Your Majesty.”

It was Princess Della who interjected. Princess Della, who had thick eyebrows and a perfect forehead, was greatly liked by the lords for her usual lavish appearance. Her glittering red hair and blue eyes were enough to call her a beauty, and she appeared harder and stronger than vulnerable.

Her voice was also powerful and easily captivated the audience. It was not unreasonable to call her the Saintess of Acela in the Temple of Apelard. Once people saw her, they were immediately fascinated by her.

“The Prime Minister is the father of the culprit, in this case, at her disposal…”

“Della. I did not allow you to speak.”

But the king was cold. The princess’s face turned bright red. It was not common for the king to openly humiliate the princess like this. No matter if she were the “Saintess of Acela,” the nobles were shaken by the fact that they could not say anything in front of the king.

Princess Della clenched her teeth and stepped back. Barbate Du, who was waiting calmly, proceeded.

“Although Adrian Du is a member of my family, I have no intention of defending her felony in the war. However, my only concern is that the barbarians of the Rocky Plains have yet to be completely conquered.”

“That is correct.”

“At a time when there is a desperate need for a famous knight in the kingdom, I dare say that sentencing such a talented knight to execution would be unfortunate. So why not send that strength to a place where it can be fully utilized?”

“A place where we can use that strength.”

Adrian stared at her father with unwavering eyes. Although the head of the Du family—famous for its lack of calmness—Barbate has always been a fair and reasonable giver of love to Adrian. So even in this situation, Adrian awaited Barbate’s answer.

“There are a few things we can do for Adrian Du in this situation. One, she may be stripped of her position and return as an ordinary soldier to perform her military duties from scratch. We would turn her reputation into nothing and boost the momentum of the soldiers she will serve with.”

“Hmm.”

That didn’t seem very satisfactory to King Asela. Barbate Du continued without raising his head.

“Second, the pursuit of Martha, a currently wanted criminal. However, pursuing Martha holds no promise, as she’s been gone for a decade, along with the Holy Relic, so we will not achieve much-expected results.”

“Continue.”

Barbate Du took a light breath and proceeded.

“Third, we send her as regent of Yogyakarta, the permanent terrain we conquered the previous year.”

“…Regent.”

“The climate in Yogyakarta is hot and humid. Hence no one desires to be regent. So she will act as deputy regent for the House of Teterborough.”

King Acela propped his chin in his hands.

“There’s not much to choose from anyway. Martha is out of the question.”

The king beckoned for Sir Alffein, the commander of the Acela Knights.

“What are the advantages and disadvantages of having Adrian Du serve as an ordinary soldier?”

Adrian wore a blatantly bored expression. Sir Alffein was probably one of Adrian Du’s biggest haters in Acela.

Sir Alffein glanced at Adrian and replied with force in his eyes.

“It is encouraging as we can expect to improve the strength of ordinary soldiers.”

“And?” 

“It is unacceptable as she is certain to bring lack of discipline upon the ordinary soldiers.”

Light laughter broke out among the high lords but died down at Sir Alffein’s menacing glare. That’s because Sir Alffein being troubled over Adrian Du was such a famous story.

At the end of every sentence, Adrian Du chants, “I’m sorry,” like it’s a song, but then chooses to act terribly.

Rumors spread that more than half of the gray hairs on the Knight Commander’s head were her doing.

“Expectations and certainty.”

But the king’s wrinkled face held no smile. The princess and the prince waited nervously for the king’s decision. Kayley Du was also biting his lip. The high lords were also wary of the king.

“Adrian Du.”

“Yes.” 

The king opened his mouth, and Adrian straightened her posture.

“I order you to be sent to the South.”

“The South is…”

Count Reise anxiously began. Raising his eyebrows, the king affirmed,

“She is to be sent to Yogyakarta.”

Adrian steeled her eyes.

Acela was the largest kingdom on the continent, being passed down for hundreds of years. Now, King Acela has worked hard to expand his territory since ascending the throne. Thus, many diverse countries became vassal states of Acela. Following the doctrine of the heavenly god was only a pretense, and in fact, it was all for the sake of King Acela to declare himself king, but everyone remained clueless.

And Yogyakarta.

A newly conquered southern kingdom in Acela. A kingdom of thirteen clans, and like Acela, their black water can summon fire. The land of eternal summer. Above all, it was a country with black water, so Acela was also sought-after constantly.

But it was far south, distant from the capital of Acela. As it took more than a full month to reach the region on horseback, Acela continued to fail in its complete conquest.

If the white-skinned Acelains, represented by Acela, lived in the northern and central parts of the rich continent, then people completely different from Acelains lived in the south, including Yogyakarta. People had brown skin due to the hot weather that lasted all year. Among them, the royal family—the Viral Clan—was described to have wings.

At first, they appeared similar to Acelains, but they were the most neglected race in Acela. Almost completely annihilated because it was believed that they harmed Apelard, their winged god. The present king was the first to present the Yogyakarta conquest after he ascended the throne, and after a long period, he succeeded.

The king spoke again.

“Go to Yogyakarta as deputy regent and help Celeste Lou Yogyakarta, whom I have appointed as heir to the throne. After a regent is assigned, work as a lieutenant for 5 years to complete the conquest of Yogyakarta. After that, I will no longer charge the daughter of the Du family. “

Everyone quickly exchanged glances.

Celeste Lou Yogyakarta.

He was directly appointed heir to the throne by King Acela shortly after conquering Yogyakarta. Originally, Princess Elmira was considered the heir to the throne of Yogyakarta. However, King Acela demanded that Elmira be taken hostage immediately after the conquest of Yogyakarta. Then, he ordered Prince Celeste to be crowned king of Yogyakarta and appointed an Acelain as regent.

‘Not a regent, but a deputy regent.’

Adrian could barely hold in her laughter. Yogyakarta was a long way off, and the road to it could be considered asceticism. Dispatching troops to Yogyakarta was also possible by forcibly recruiting soldiers from neighboring countries.

So no one wanted to be the regent of Yogyakarta. People were reluctant to the Viral Clan in the first place. Dark-skinned, red-winged species. The Southerners who had to rule with them were also bizarre. There were stories of cannibalism and using magic.

The climate also played a part in deeply distressing the Acelains of the north. Teterborough Eloy, the regent of Teterborough who remained there after conquering Yogyakarta in Acela, claimed that he was seriously damaging his health even though he was in his mid-twenties. The hot and humid climate all year round was not suitable for him.

It seemed good at first. Regent. A territory that King Acela cared about for a long time and in some ways had the power to rule over larger territories than the great lords, but Yogyakarta was not a peaceful place. This is because the rebellion of the Viral Clan continues. Even deputy regent.

In fact, this means that they will not even grant her proper authority.

Her exploits on the Rocky Plains remain to punish her even more. Furthermore, they cannot help but consider the influence of the Du family, the famous family of Acela. However, King Acela’s slyness stood out, as he did not want to appoint her as regent.

Then, Count Reise raised his hand. The king raised his white eyebrows to permit his statement. Count Reise asked cautiously,

“I apologize, Your Majesty. Then, when will a regent be assigned?”

The crowd roared in unison. Adrian also blinked and almost uttered an exclamation.

‘Oh, no. I see how it’s going to be.’

This shows how the famous playboy son of Count Reise succeeded the count by overtaking the righteous position of the firstborn. Count Reise found a loophole in the king’s judgment.

Adrian will return 5 years after a regent is appointed. However, no one has yet been assigned regent of Yogyakarta, even though a year has passed since its conquest. Who’d want to travel to a remote mountainous area that’s infested with different races?

If a regent is not assigned to Yogyakarta as it is, Adrian Du’s return may be forever impossible.