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The knight commanding the tax collector’s guards, Raymond Gamlin, stepped forward confidently and spoke.

“My name is Raymond Gamlin! I serve as a knight under the rightful ruler of Breumat, Lord Louis Bergson de Breumat! I wish to hear your name!”

Sophia, the nun knight, responded to Raymond Gamlin’s words with a tone of annoyance.

“You’re not worthy of hearing my name yet. Prove your worth if you want to know.”

*Crunch.* That sound came from Raymond Gamlin’s teeth as he gritted them in frustration. Sophia’s reply had clearly struck a nerve, deeply wounding his pride.

But so what? Sophia had no intention of sparing the feelings of someone who couldn’t even grasp their own place, let alone show basic human decency. She had no patience for such thick-skinned fools.

“Enough talk. Come at me.”

Still holding a glass of wine in one hand, she extended her palm upward and wiggled her fingers, a classic gesture of mockery. With a seductive smile, she provoked her opponent, and Raymond Gamlin finally snapped.

“Charge!”

At his command, the guards, seemingly well-trained, quickly formed ranks and advanced toward Sophia. Five spearmen took the front, four swordsmen drew their blades and stood ready in between, and crossbowmen aimed at Sophia from behind. It was a formation fit for facing a man-eating beast.

Villagers watching from the sidelines cursed at the scene.

“Those heartless bastards! What kind of duel involves pointing crossbows at someone?!”

The soldiers, hearing the villagers’ curses, had their own thoughts.

‘They don’t understand! Honestly, challenging a Paladin knight with just us is already nonsensical…’

‘Did anyone see that nun knight move earlier? I didn’t.’

They were honestly frustrated, dragged into this mess due to poor leadership, and now facing the prospect of bloodshed. But as mere wage-earners, they had no choice but to follow orders. Such was their sad lot in life.

Sophia, observing the guards’ response, lit up with interest and even complimented them.

“Not bad for guards. You’ve trained hard.”

“Ugh, such undeserved praise!”

The senior guard, Jacques, responded with utmost respect, his admiration for the Paladin evident. Hearing this, Raymond Gamlin’s expression soured, but he said nothing, retreating to the back of the formation and issuing orders.

“Soldiers, do your best to hold her down! I’ll deliver the final blow!”

His blatant cowardice, treating his men as disposable, left both the guards and villagers speechless. Sophia, however, laughed cheerfully and gave Gamlin some credit.

“Haha, good! At least you know you can’t take me one-on-one, so you avoid a failing grade! But that last part was disappointing. Do you really think you can land a hit on me?”

“What?!”

Gamlin was furious but chose not to respond, knowing that reacting would only play into her provocation.

Despite the spears and crossbows aimed at her, Sophia stood her ground, spinning gracefully and deflecting every attack with one hand. She looked as if she were on a leisurely stroll, enjoying the breeze. Conra, who had come out to see the commotion, swallowed hard.

‘Tremendous skill and physical ability.’

Only someone with perfect harmony of mind, body, and spirit could display such flawless technique. In the blink of an eye, she parried the spears and deflected the crossbow bolts with her cloak, all while the wine in her glass remained undisturbed.

Seeing this, Raymond realized things weren’t going well and barked another order.

“Attack more aggressively! She might slip up!”

The guards, already struggling against Sophia’s skill, grimaced at the command, muttering under their breath.

‘Why don’t you try it yourself?’

‘We can’t even match her strength. Are we really supposed to hold her down?’

Despite their training in the Reverse Muscle Technique, which gave them physical abilities far beyond the average person, they felt utterly outmatched by Sophia.

With no answer to the overwhelming skill gap and physical disparity, they could do nothing but press on.

Sophia, tired of Raymond’s pathetic commands, finally spoke up.

“I’m getting bored. Did you think hiding behind your men would keep me from dealing with you? Did you really think I couldn’t handle you all this time?”

She made her disdain clear, lowering her tone when referring to Raymond.

“What? What are you talking about?”

In an instant, Sophia, who had been standing still, suddenly darted forward. Her movement was so fluid and silent that only the trail of her veil and cloak remained. The dense forest of spear tips and the swordsmen’s blades couldn’t hinder her. In the next moment, she was right in front of Raymond.

“This kind of talk.”

*Thud.* With a heavy impact, Raymond’s body was sent flying. In his place stood Sophia, her shoulder cloaked in moonlight. It was a technique known as a shoulder check or Iron Mountain Strike.

Raymond, flung like a ragdoll, crashed through the wagon’s doors and lay motionless, trembling briefly before falling still.

“Hmph. Not getting up? What a spineless fellow.”

Sophia, genuinely bored, placed one hand on her hip, still holding the wine glass. Her figure, illuminated by the moonlight, might have seemed alluring to some, but those who had just witnessed her overwhelming presence couldn’t see her that way.

“Now then, soldiers? The duel’s outcome is clear, as the challenger is unconscious. Do you accept the result?”

Of course, the answer was obvious.

+++++

The previous day’s festival resumed as if nothing had happened. The unconscious tax collector and knight were tied up and stuffed into the damaged wagon, and Sophia encouraged the villagers to continue the feast.

The villagers happily drank, using the spectacle of the coachman, tax collector, and knight’s humiliation as a topic of conversation. The taste of the wine that night was particularly memorable, sticking to their tongues like never before.

The soldiers, initially hesitant, cautiously joined the festivities at Sophia’s invitation and the villagers’ hospitality. The villagers, noticing the difference in how Sophia treated the soldiers compared to the humiliated trio, were a bit awkward but not unwelcoming.

The next day, Sophia and Conra left the village with the soldiers and the damaged wagon, which now carried the bound tax collector and knight like cargo.

The coachman, who had been humiliated the previous day, was now driving the wagon. Sophia had left him paralyzed until the morning, leaving him stiff and frozen in a prostrate position all night.

For the coachman, that long and short time was filled with pain, fear, sorrow, and torment. How often does a person find themselves stiff and frozen, exposed to the cold night air? And not in a proper position, but face down on the ground.

Perhaps because of this, when Sophia finally released him from the paralysis, the coachman was extremely compliant, adopting a posture of utmost respect.

“Now then, let’s go hold the lord accountable as per the duel’s terms!”

“Yes, Master!”

Sophia spoke cheerfully, and Conra responded with equal enthusiasm. Conra, having practiced riding, now sat comfortably on the horse that Raymond Gamlin had ridden.

The soldiers, feeling awkward and burdened by the strange turn of events, realized they had no choice but to hold on tight to the reins of the Paladin nun knight they had been forced to follow.

And so, the peculiar group set off toward Yoseim, where the lord of Breumat had fled to escape the plague.

 

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