Abandoned Bastard of the Royal Family Volume 1 Chapter 31 (Patreon)

Chapter 31 – Seeking Fame in a Group Warfare

“However, there’s something I need to say to you before we head into battle!”

Standing in front of the mob, the female knight Carney issued a proclamation.

This “mob” is none other than the monster extermination team composed of only the handpicked elite from the Subjugators Guild.

And now, Schild and Carney are giving a speech in front of them.

“It is forbidden to collect the heads of defeated monsters in this battle! Any monsters defeated on this battlefield that is brought to the guild branch will not be exchanged for cash!”

Murmur……murmur……murmur……All of a sudden, unrest began to spread amongst the Subjugators.

After all, it has become a second nature for subjugators to collect proofs and literally pawn them into gold. If their system of earning is rendered useless, how would they risk their lives in this battle?

“This time, everyone will be paid a flat sum for their participation in the battle! You may take that as your profit for the day!”

The hints of dissatisfaction in Carney’s announcement became even livelier.

This means that even if they tried their best to challenge the strongest monsters, it would only be a waste of effort as the reward will be the same no matter how hard you fight them.

“Also, powerful monsters have been confirmed in the herd. Some of them are even bounty monsters that have their own individual names. But do not worry!”

This time, it was Schild who spoke next to Carney.

The two stood side by side, giving the air of brave couple generals leading their army.

“For I, Schild will defeat them all for you! I will put every one of them in their respective places so that after this, I will then be renowned as the great hero who saved the kingdom!”

At this declaration, all the subjugators, even those that are clamoring out loud, stiffened in unison.

“That way, you won’t need to take the risk. You can use this hero-in-the-making’s help to deal with the big ones, so I can gain more prestige! As long as you listen to Carney’s instructions over here, we promise that you won’t die at the very least! But as for me, I will become the star of this campaign! You can just suck your thumbs at the camp after you felt you have earned your pay!”

Indeed, those who knew the face of Schild being a strong subjugator is not few. However,

“Don’t fuck with us!” “Who the fuck do you think you are!” “What are we, some kind of a maid to you!?”

The crowd of subjugators immediately burst out in anger.

“I will be the star of today’s battle. I will defeat all the powerful monsters and make my name known in the capital. Only those who want to be heroes will follow my footsteps, and even though we’re not counting heads and collecting proofs this time, those who will witness our upcoming victory will have no choice but to recognize our strength!”

“Don’t get cocky, you shit!” “I’m gonna be the hero, and not you!” “Let’s do this and get famous!” “After this, I will confess to my love!”

“Yes! That’s what today’s fight is all about! Instead of getting paid, we’ll now have the chance to be able to sell our names!!”

Essentially seeking personal gain, the subjugators had always been prioritizing the merit they did in battle and were always doing this by trying bring back evidence through monster corpses – either by part or by whole.

However, in doing so, they would hurt the efficiency of this battle, as it will make them prioritize gaining proofs instead of cleaning up the swarm.

To counter that, Schild and the others decided to give them a flat reward this time, and while at it, also stimulate their desire to seek fame to boost up their morale.

“That was an excellent speech, Lord Schild!”

“It was well worth practicing in the tent.”

Little did they know that this speech was later on spread out by the participants of this battle in the future, where it was later recorded in the annals of history as “The Great First Speech of the God and Goddess of War”.

◆

And thus, the battle began – and ended quite easily.

They were the cream of the crops, the elite among the elites of veteran subjugators selected from each guild branch.

Led by Schild as their vanguard and commanded completely by Carney while also playing as their rearguard, the subjugators were able to run around efficiently and kill monsters without a hitch, as if they were a single living creature.

Schild, who was taking the lead, showed his prowess in slaying famous and powerful monsters as he had declared initially and was later praised for his bravery when he saved his fellow subjugators when they got themselves in a pinch.

But even while Schild was hogging the spotlight with his strength, Carney was not forgotten and was even praised for her outstanding commanding ability in battle.

By seeing and predicting the movements of the monster swarms beforehand, she was able to use the best positions to subdue the monsters and reduce casualties to the barest minimum from their side. Even though they are hugely outnumbered, they were still able prevail and even managed to gain a heroic victory.

This performance was why they later became renowned as the God and Goddess of War.

But their fame would only grow from here.

◆

“……the hell.”

“Greetings, Lord Schild.”

After the battle.

Schild had just returned from the front lines, leaving the cleanup of the remaining monsters to the other subjugator groups, but soon as he entered his camping tent, he was greeted by an unexpected guest.

It was none other than Serenea, the second princess of the kingdom.

She had been rescued by Schild and the others when they were told by the other subjugators that they have spotted an encirclement of knights, at least those that still remained, that are still desperately fighting for their lives. Princess Serenea is inside them.

After the battle, they found out that a little over a hundred knights rallied by the Oscars had only managed to survive. The rest were either dead or have already scattered and disappeared onto the wilderness.

“This one is in deep gratitude for your rescue.”

Princess Serenea told Schild in a faint but clear voice.

Princess Serenea is eighteen years old, much younger than the First Princess Cymbium, but also a bit too late to be classified as a wee lass.

She is with a graceful body, and even though she is a bit shorter compared to the rest of the women Schild had in his arms, her stature still befitted her age. What was iconic about her is that she had her silver hair tied up in twin tails, giving her a cute vibe.

Overall, Serenea was a beautiful girl who looked fuller of life than a regular uppity ass noble, at least it was for Schild.

But now, this lively girl is nothing but a shadow of her former self. Even her gorgeous dress that signified her nobility is now covered with the dust of the war, its original beauty already nowhere to be seen.

“If it weren’t for your help, the whole Order would have been wiped out, and I wouldn’t even make it out alive. I thank you again, from the bottom of my heart.”

Unexpectedly, some very humble set of words came out of Serenea, much to the consternation of Schild and Carney, who were the only people present in the scene.

(Princess Serenea has such a personality? If so, isn’t she just a surprisingly nice girl?)

(I don’t know, Lord Schild! I’m from a different faction, so this is actually the first time I’ve spoken to her in person!)

The two both knew from Mulvey that Princess Serenea participated in this battle as an honorary commander of the knight order, some sort of idol for the knights to boost their efficiency.

Even though all of it was probably a political ruse to gain popularity, it was still a clever idea for the Oscars as they can directly link the results of the monster eradication to Princess Serenea as long as they win.

As long if they win, that is.

But they didn’t. Which meant that everything they had done became literally useless.

“Uhm…….”

The second princess Serenea spun her words slowly.

“Am I not allowed to speak in this manner? I-I’m still practicing the language of the royal court, you see. A-and I’m still trying my best in learning it, b-but for now, can I speak in this way, please?”

“O-of course you can!

“You’re welcome to speak freely here, Your Highness!”

Both Schild and Carney went immediately out of tune.

“T-thank you…….Thank you……uuu, uuuuuuu. Because of me……everyone is dead……!”

But what came next of Serenea’s mouth were words of regret and self-reflection.

She must be referring to the knights who followed her and were killed in battle.

“No…… that’s not true, Princess Serenea!”

“I apologize for being frank, Your Highness, but we already know that you were nothing but deco-“

“Lord Schild!”

“I mean, you were not the one leading the troops directly, that someone else was in charge, am I right? In that case, it was the knights’ own fault that they failed and were wiped out.”

But even as Schild pointed out the facts, the eighteen-year-old Princess Serenea just waved her head in return, like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum.

“That’s not true! If I just……if I just pointed out more convincingly, it wouldn’t lead to this result! I had already told them before the battle began that we should let our soldiers rest before fighting……that it would be safer if we wait for the subjugators first and fight together with them……but they still didn’t listen to my request…….”

(So she had already thought of such strategies…… impressive.)

Schild said to himself as he was impressed by the foresight of Serenea.

“B-but because I am not good enough, saying I am still far from maturity to discuss such things, they told me that I should leave the fighting to them instead, and that I just sit back and shut up……Leschungen, Arney, Clanschultes, Mulvey…….”

“Mulvey!?”

Carney couldn’t help but repeat the name of the male knight who took the trouble to provoke her and Schild before they left the royal capital.

“Speaking of which, what happened to Mulvey?”

“I don’t know……as soon as the battle got out of hand, he immediately ran away and disappeared…….”

On a side note, Mulvey was later on found dead at the site of the battle. It was determined that he had not been killed by a monster, but rather from a fall while he was escaping; his legs got tangled, colliding himself with the ground which in turn broke his neck due to the sheer weight of his armor.

“They are the same…… My mother, my uncle, my grandfather…… all of them! They always told me that I’ll be the next queen, but they all completely ignore my wishes. No matter what I say, they don’t listen to me at all!”

It was as if Serenea had no personality, and she was just a pawn for their political games.

That was her treatment in the Oscar family.

Otherwise, would they even send such a young and untrained girl to the front line of battle just to get political results?

“……With that, I have a favor to ask you guys.”

“?”

“Can you be my subordinates? I’m going to make you my direct vassals, so you can always be at my side to follow my orders.”

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