The Villainess Is My Cute Daughter

Adrian didn’t really have too many expectations for the guy in actual combat. Even though Thorne had been a dedicated Knight Captain under Viscount Alexander and was genuinely really good at his job regarding logistics and guard duty, his actual combat potential was pretty low.

Thorne had used a low-tier knight training manual his entire life, so his knight rank was permanently stuck at a low level. His mana veins just couldn’t handle any more stress.

Adrian didn’t really have any high hopes for him becoming a powerhouse.

’I should probably put him in a management type role sometime in the near future,’ Adrian thought to himself as he looked at the aging knight.

If he kept Thorne in the main combat vanguard, the man was just going to get his ego completely crushed. Adrian knew that in just a few years time, the young recruits would easily reach Thorne’s level if not completely surpass him. It was better to transition him into a role where his organizational skills could shine.

”Are you ready Thorne?” Adrian asked.

Thorne snapped to attention. ”Yes my lord.”

Adrian nodded and finally turned to look at the two girls who were not going to participate in this fight.

Celeste and Serena were standing near the back of the command tent, looking incredibly nervous. Neither of them were combatants. Celeste was an herbalist and Serena was just a second circle mage and was also too inexperienced to be tossed into a battlefield.

’If something happened to her, I’ll need to answer her dad...’ he thought as he glanced at the tent behind them.

”You guys stay safe back here,” Adrian told them. ”I will be leaving around four of my elite soldiers right here just in case something happens. They should be able to protect you just in case something happens. But apart from that, I will see you guys later this afternoon.”

The two of them nodded.

Serena bit her lip and slowly walked over to Adrian. She reached into her small pouch and pulled something out.

She held her hand out and offered it to him.

”Keep this with you today,” Serena said softly.

Adrian looked at the small object sitting in her palm.

”What is this?” he asked, picking it up. ”It looks pretty good.”

It was a small, intricately carved pendant. It was completely made of solid gold and had a really small, polished amber gemstone set directly into the metal casing connected to the gold chain.

Claire leaned over slightly to inspect it as well.

”It’s just a sort of... you could call it protective charm. Yes.” Serena explained, her cheeks turning slightly pink. ”I got it from the main church back at the capital before I came here. The priest told me it was personally blessed by the God of War to protect whoever holds it.”

Adrian nodded. He looked down at the expensive gold pendant and then looked back up at her.

”Should I actually wear it on my neck?” Adrian asked. ”Or is it fine if I just put it in my pocket under my armor?”

”You can do whatever you want with it,” Serena said quickly, stepping back. ”Just please keep it with you on the battlefield.”

Adrian smiled. ”Will do.”

He slipped the gold pendant into his pocket. But the moment his hand broke line of sight, he instantly sent it directly into his dungeon.

Then, he opened the system screen his mind to check the item’s information.

A small blue system screen popped up in his vision.

[Item: Decorative Gold Pendant.]

[Material: Low-grade gold, common amber.]

[Magical Properties: None.]

[Blessings: None.]

Adrian stared at the floating blue text for a second.

He couldn’t help but shake his head inwardly.

This poor girl had literally gotten scammed by the priests. The church had probably charged her a massive fortune for a chunk of basic gold by slapping a fake blessing label on it. It was just a standard piece of shiny jewelry.

But he didn’t say anything to ruin the moment.

He brought the pendant back out of his dungeon inventory and safely left it right there in his pocket. It was the thought that counted anyway.

He gave Serena a reassuring nod before turning around and walking over to the very front of his army.

Almost an hour later, a loud, deep horn suddenly echoed.

Adrian took a deep breath and looked at Aria who had already conjured up her mana shield which was slightly curved, looking more like a curved monitor that Adrian was used to seeing back on earth but much bigger.

Seeing the spell, he closed his eyes and used the same spell before tweaking it slightly by changing the mana pathways a little. He also switched his intent, the amount of mana he sent to different mana vein inside his body and a few other things.

As someone who was used to modifying his spells, switching up the mana shield was child’s play to him.

A large, curved mana shield appeared right in front of him, resembling Aria’s shield by quite a lot but it was also almost three times larger.

He turned to look at her and smiled, only to see her smile back at him.

’If she didn’t have to hide her strength, I’m pretty sure she’d be able to make her mana shield more than four times bigger than it’s current size.’ he thought as he turned away and looked forward.

The other armies began marching, so Adrian began marching too. His soldiers followed behind while Claire and Thorne walked beside him.

It didn’t take them too long to get close enough for the enemies to start taking action. Adrian silently watched as multiple men began to appear on top of the wall, and soon, arrows began raining down.

The guys at the front, which was none other than Draven’s men, crouched down on the ground and raised their shields up, forming a wall.

Seeing this, Adrian smiled.

’Very good.’

[A/N: Check out the Aux Chapter and tell me what you guys think. Is there anything to add?]