The Female Knight of Doom - TFKOD 37: A Piece of Paper

Alice’s dagger was indeed gone when she felt around her waist.

That boy named Gil must have taken it when he pretended to woo her earlier.

Because she was so furious, she was unaware that his true goal was to steal the dagger. Her purposeful seduction of the Earl Rachel in order to locate the crown most likely resulted in this punishment.

In order to steal her dagger, Gil was now acting like a seductress.

She got up right away and got ready to chase after it, but her horse was still grumpy and wouldn’t move. It remained motionless when she gave it a little kick. All she could do was get off.

It will be challenging to deal with, even if she manages to catch up to him, because she is now without a weapon. She had a mission to complete, and she shouldn’t have stayed in this hazardous location.

Despite her intense guilt at Lina for giving her the dagger, she made the decision to head back to the royal capital first.

Alice eventually persuaded the erratic horse to take her to a village where she could spend the night after feeding it some carrots.

Many travelers spent the night here because it was the only route from the royal capital to the north. There are no inns, but if you give a couple of silver coins to the local farmers, they will prepare tasty farm meals, clean the guest rooms, and take good care of the visitors.

As usual, she prayed to Cecilion before bed despite the long day.

He had arrived and given her a forehead kiss without her realizing it, “Good night.”

With his blessing, Alice had a good night’s sleep before heading early the following morning to purchase weapons from the local blacksmith.

In small villages like this one, blacksmiths typically don’t sell actual weapons; they only make farm tools.

She purchased a small knife that was more of a carrying tool for shepherds than a weapon. Though useless in actual combat, it was still preferable to nothing.

There was no platform for the knife to play because, fortunately, the second part of her journey went much more smoothly and she was not bothered by other bandits or unfamiliar individuals.

She retrieved her greatsword from Rom and made it safely back to the royal capital.

She let out a sigh of relief as she slung the greatsword over her back, and even her body’s muscles relaxed.

Having never carried a weapon before, she had been a little anxious the entire time. The burden on her back was heavy now, and she felt especially secure.

Although Alice was secretly contemplating this, she also resolved that she would never again be parted from her greatsword, regardless of the future. She had also made the decision to never again conceal who she was.

Although this choice is more in keeping with her temperament, it may cause her problems down the road.

It has been nearly two months since she left for the Northern Lands.

Theoretically, not much in the royal capital should have changed. However, when she returned, it seemed like a long time had gone by, as though she had returned from a different time and place rather than just the north.

There was a subtle change in everything she saw.

Perhaps this feeling isn’t totally incorrect, given the story she had during this trip.

As was customary, Alice remained at Rom’s farm, and since it was now the off-season, a number of the servants had left.

Although he was more than willing to let her stay with him for a little while longer, she was unable to do so to expedite the delivery of the crown to Duchess Felix. The duchess had already gone back to West Felix by now, and she needed to leave right away.

She first visited the royal capital’s Mercenary Union headquarters before traveling to West Felix.

All of the Mercenary Union members recognized her, and they gave her a piece of paper without her uttering a word.

The Alice of the Greatsword was no longer a contracted mercenary with the Mercenary Union, according to a certificate that Earl Rachel issued. The Mercenary Union no longer has any authority over her, she is no longer associated with the union, and she is unable to accept missions as a Special Grade Mercenary of the union.

This certificate’s authenticity can be confirmed by looking at its unchangeable magical seal.

Alice’s possession of this document signifies her freedom, but it also signifies that she no longer has a source of income. Duchess Felix will be put in a very tough position if she breaks the agreement.

But Alice is also unable to back out now that the situation has reached this stage.

She has worked hard and earned bloodstains on her hands during her more than three years as a mercenary, moving up from a regular second-level mercenary to a top-level one.

As a result, her mercenary reputation and efforts were destroyed, all for this piece of paper.

Alice stuffed the document into her pocket with care, despite her conflicted feelings.

After completing the necessary tasks, she rested briefly in the royal capital before mounting her horse and riding off to West Felix.

She gave the horse a lot of carrots right before departure, which at last helped it become a little more obedient.

Finally, she named the horse “Grumpy.” Although it doesn’t sound like a horse’s name, this is the ideal choice for him.

The tsundere horse stomped its hoofs in frustration and lifted its head high when she called it by that name.

She’ll call it that going forward since it seems to really like this name.

Traveling to the west is more comfortable and takes a lot less time than traveling to the north.

The West Felix domain seems extraordinarily successful in contrast to the harsh Northern Lands and the war-torn southern regions. The farmers here primarily raise sheep, and the pastures are incredibly large.

Under the duchess’ leadership, it feels somewhat like paradise.

When Duchess Felix travels to and from the royal capital every year, she stays at a number of especially good inns along this route. Every inn offers the duchess a sumptuous room that has been especially prepared for her. It is made available to other distinguished guests when the duchess is not using it.

Even if they wanted to stay, ordinary tourists couldn’t afford it; they could only afford to pay for a tour.

Normally Alice would only select a second-class room at the inn, but to sate her curiosity, she paid a small fee and, with the innkeeper’s help, toured the room that the duchess often used.

With thick carpets on the floor and tapestries hanging on the walls to block out hotel noise, the room was roughly twice as large as a standard inn suite.

The room’s furnishings are also incredibly beautiful, plush, and cozy.

The duchess receives half of the room’s earnings because, according to the innkeeper, she paid for its decoration.

When Alice finally made it to Ferren, the capital of the West Felix territory, she learned that the duchess actually lived in Cloudmist Castle for the majority of the year.

The trip to Cloudmist Castle from Ferren takes roughly a day. She arrived in the evening after leaving Ferren in the morning. She finally made it to the castle before it closed, and she gave the castle soldier the painting scroll that Lady Meredith had given her as a token while she was working on the union assignment.

The soldier led her to the nearby village’s inn and tavern and recommended that she stay there.

Only a shabby guest room was available in the village tavern, and Alice didn’t mind much because she had been used to all kinds of odd lodgings for a long time.

However, she was really worried about what to wear to the duchess’ meeting.

When she first met the duchess, she wore a dress that the duchess had given her. This time, Olivia’s servant brought a dress for her to wear while she was in the underground temple.

Wearing this dress to meet the duchess might seem more appropriate for a woman in general, but since she is neither a lady nor a miss, wearing a dress might actually seem a little odd.

“I suggest you wear your usual clothes. What the duchess needs is a knight, not a young lady in a lady’s dress,” Cecillion told her.

Since his suggestion was so sensible, Alice was forced to spend the night cleaning the dust off her travel clothes in an effort to make her tattered clothing appear somewhat presentable.

When the castle soldiers arrived at the tavern the following day, they located her, led her inside Cloudmist Castle, and allowed her to have her second encounter with the duchess.

The duchess’ clothing and hairstyle had been changed in accordance with West Felix customs, so that she appeared completely different from her previous appearance—almost like a different person—on the land of West Felix.

Her eyes were almost identical to Olivia’s, and Alice could almost identify her by them alone.

The duchess’ face lit up with nostalgia as Alice showed her the box with the crown inside.

“This was crafted by my craftsman, Hoyle, who put a lot of thought into it to ensure the crown was well protected.”

Speaking, the duchess opened the box by manipulating its mechanism and removed the crown. The entire reception area shone brightly as the crown glistened.

However, her face abruptly changed.

This caused a constriction in Alice’s chest, who had been listening intently to her, and hurried forward to inquire, “What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

The duchess gave a headshake, “No, you did a great job with your task… This crown has no issues. Simply put, I once asked a very talented magician to use the natural magic of the crown’s gems to add an enchantment that would only help the owner repel one attack when this crown was finished back then. Today, this crown’s brilliance has somewhat faded, a glaring sign that the magic has vanished… Olivia was murdered, so maybe my suspicion is not unjustified.”

Alice pressed her lips together, hesitant to speak for fear of accidentally telling Olivia’s predicament.

Perhaps Olivia herself was unaware that the crown had once been enchanted, but no one had ever told her about it while she was in the north. Had she expended the enchantment on the crown in her battle with the earl? Or was the magic on the crown broken by the potion she drank?

Maybe no one knows the answer to this question.

The duchess, fortunately, did not dwell on this matter. She checked the crown carefully, from the inside out, and it was just as it had been.

After putting it back in the box, she turned around and questioned Alice, “How did you get it?”

Alice hesitated to tell the truth because she had promised Olivia, “The process is indeed a bit complicated, but this matter has far-reaching implications and involves more than just me and Lord Rachel. I told the people who needed to know not to share this story, so…”

The duchess gestured impatiently with her hand, “Did you see the earl?”

“I did indeed meet with Lord Rachel, and he asked me to send his regards to you.”

The duchess huffed and curled her lip, showing her contempt. She was obviously not happy with her ex-brother-in-law.

Alice was relieved that she stopped questioning the procedure for getting the crown.

“I’ll have someone look for lodging for you in the castle. In the West Felix territory, you can learn about the situation, acquaint yourself with the surroundings, and get ready. I’ll knight you before the castle in half a month.”