When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

In a stable not far from outside the city, over two hundred warhorses were nervously pawing the ground, startled by the intense flashes that lit up the night.

Bloodstains speckled the stable fence, while scorch marks from electric shocks were evident on the ground and walls of the buildings.

Standing on these charred marks, Jeanne leaned on her battle flag and gazed into the distance.

That was exactly the direction of the Refugee Camp, and she could vaguely see flickering flames dancing, as if there were people shouting in unison.

Jeanne squinted with worry, uncertain about the situation on Horn's side.

After leading the refugees, Horn had given her a mission: to raid the armory and stables left behind by Duke Kush's grandfather.

Even though they had over ten thousand people, without enough arms and weapons, they would still be no match for the nearly two thousand troops in the city.

So they had to arm themselves first, and capturing the more than two hundred warhorses at the stables was just the first step; their second step was to take the armory.

The weapons and armor there could at least equip half of the Refugee Army.

Rudilo quickly approached Jeanne after slicing the throat of a guard soldier, "Lady Saintess, I've got all the information."

Jeanne pulled herself out of her worries and asked in a deep voice, "What's the situation?"

According to the interrogation Rudilo conducted on those soldiers, the armory had been neglected for years by Dane, the diligent and devoted grandson, resulting not only in the loss of weapons but also in lax security.

However, that didn't mean it was easy to attack; it was situated on a high riverbank, with its back to the river and facing the plains.

The whole structure resembled a small watchtower fort, with square stone houses and earth-rammed walls that were said to have partially collapsed. Usually, cats, dogs, and even the Duke could wander in and out freely.

Yet Dane could move other things but not the river and moat.

If they pulled up the armory's drawbridge door, it would still be difficult to take the place in a short time.

"How many soldiers are there?"

"They said, six knights from the armory came to take six warhorses for the attendants to ride, leaving them with six knights and twenty-four infantry, considering the typical garrison of thirty infantry and twelve knights."

Just as Jeanne expected, Duke Dane of Joan of Arc Castle had already been alarmed by the large-scale peasants' gathering outside the city.

Considering previous peasant uprisings, it was highly likely that they would draw soldiers from the surrounding area to defend the core of the Duchy of Kush—Joan of Arc Castle.

Given Dane's courage, it was likely that he would only dare to suppress the rebellion at dawn, for fear of being ambushed.

This made the defenses of surrounding facilities slack. Originally, at least twenty soldiers should have been guarding this stable, but two-thirds had been dispatched to Joan of Arc Castle, giving Jeanne and her Child Soldiers and Holy Gunmen an opportunity.

The situation at the armory should be similar.

Jeanne looked behind her, there were 30 Holy Gunmen and 40 refugee soldiers who could ride horses.

Due to the terrain, the Thousand River Valley Region traditionally used horses for plowing, so there were no shortage of people who could ride.

But when it comes to combat riding skills, that's another matter entirely.

This didn't matter, because regardless of their skill levels, they couldn't be any worse than the six Extraordinary Knights guarding the armory.

"Everyone get on your horses, we're heading to the armory, stay close."

In the moonlight, the cloaks of more than seventy black-clad soldiers rose and fell with the horse's hooves; the Holy Gunmen who could ride did so themselves, while those who couldn't rode with refugee riders.

Jeanne led the charge, she bent low and dashed through fields and streams.

It had to be said, today was a fine night for a ride; the moonlight illuminated the path ahead, and almost no soldiers got left behind or fell off their horses.

When they could roughly see the armory through the gaps in the forest and bushes, Jeanne ordered the entire cavalry unit to stop.

Everyone dismounted and used ropes to tie the horses' mouths shut to prevent them from making noise.

Leading the horses into the forest, after a while, the armory under the moonlight was right in front of them.

Interestingly, the armory of Joan of Arc Castle wasn't placed near a noble castle or church as would be typical, but outside the city instead.

This was because, at the establishment of Joan of Arc Castle, the manor here was the Duke's residence.

Under the pale moonlight, the square armory squatted in the delta formed by the moat and river.

It consisted of an outer layer of earth-rammed walls and an inner square stone house. A corner of the three fa (6 meters) high earth wall had collapsed.

Following the drawbridge, on the side of the armory, there were stables, civilian houses, and vegetable fields where the defending soldiers usually lived.

Even though the unusual peasant assembly hadn't alerted these soldiers, they were Armed Farmers who normally lived in a small village outside the armory.

Although they had entered the armory to guard according to contract, the drawbridge remained flat over the moat.

It wasn't that they were lazy; the drawbridge's cable was precarious. If broken from daily lifting, they'd have to pay to replace it.

If they launched an attack now, there was a significant chance the six knights would come out to block them, giving the soldiers inside enough time to raise the drawbridge.

Once the drawbridge was raised, the knights could easily ride away.

This scenario was written in "Knight Sifal," where the character chose to counterattack from inside the fort.

Since "Knight Sifal" was adapted from the accounts of many real knights, the fortress knights were very likely to take a similar action under the same circumstances.

After analyzing, Jeanne realized a frontal assault would probably not succeed.

She could only gamble once and try it.

She turned her gaze to the Holy Gunmen behind her, "I'll say it again, you have only one chance, no one is to move until Dass gives the order!"

"Understood."

"Dass, remember, only shoot when you can see the whites of their eyes."

"Understood, Lady Saintess." Dass, leading the team, nodded emphatically.

"May Miseria bless you all."

A soldier on night watch standing on the city wall suddenly straightened up, for he saw a group of refugees outside the armory.

"What's going on?"

The left-behind Extraordinary Knight Holins placed his dice back into the cup and stuck his head out of the gatehole, witnessing a strange scene.

A group of refugees, coming from who-knows-where, was stumbling toward the armory, dressed in classic black-clad bandit outfits.

Most importantly, they were carrying the classic bandit banner—black and red.

In the Thousand River Valley, the most common way to extort locals was by capturing those wearing black cloaks or black and red clothing.

Holins immediately got excited, was it locals delivering themselves?

Prince Kongdai's decree was due in two or three days; left here, he had missed out on the chance to earn military merit from attacking bandits and suppressing peasants, but who would have thought, the refugees delivered themselves.

"Sir Holins, let's chase them away." A knight, looking out from the armory and seeing the refugees nearing his villa, could no longer hold back.

His three fiancées were there!

Seeing the refugees advance a bit more and then seem to want to leave, Holins turned to fetch his horse.

"Let's go!"