Fantasy Body Swap

Mallow Kingdom's military power was divided into two huge factions; "Soldiers," whose primary job was to defend Mallow Kingdom from outside threats, and "Guards," whose primary job was to ensure the safety of Mallow Kingdom's citizen from crimes that were caused by bandits, small rebel groups, or fellow citizen. Sometimes these two factions worked together suppose an emergency situation arose, but they usually worked separately.

Your name is Claire Rayleigh, a 25 years old knight registered as the captain of the 9th division of the Mallow Kingdom's Guard, "The Valkyrie." As your name suggested, you came from one of the noble houses in Mallow Kingdom, Rayleigh, who were famously known for their contribution to Mallow Kingdom's military power through generations, whether as a soldier, guard, or strategy advisor. You were also a friend of Mallow Kingdom's princess, though you rarely meet her after you became a guard.

It was your and your subordinate's job to prevent and solve crimes that happened in various cities and villages of Mallow Kingdom, especially those related to women and children. The members of Valkyrie were top ranked females that graduated from Mallow Kingdom's Military School. You yourself graduated from the school as #1 student 3 years ago before applied to the 9th Division. You exceeded not only at knowledge and logical thinking wise, but also at swordsmanship. Through hard work and your good attitude & charming personality, in such a short time compared to the others, just a few months ago you were appointed as the new captain of the Valkyrie, becoming the youngest person ever appointed to become a division's captain in Mallow Kingdom's history after the previous 9th division's captain was badly injured in a skirmish against bandits and was forced to retire early from her position and as a knight.

People might think that the members of the Valkyrie would not just easily accept that one of their newest members was appointed as their captain, especially those who had been in the division for more than a dozen years. The relationship between you and the princess strengthen the argument that you got the position from "connection". However, your subordinates personally saw what you had been doing during your short membership of the division and what you were capable of doing. Jealous, maybe, but deep down they all realized that you'd make a good captain. That's why there were no objections at all when you were promoted. You even got blessing from the previous captain.

*****

It was late at night, and you were patrolling in the dark alleys of Falion city. This city, which was located at the edge of Mallow Kingdom's border, was recently terrorized from anonymous killing in the middle of the night. The victims were mostly young ladies and children. The local guards couldn’t solve the murders while the number of victims had accumulated to more than a dozen, so they requested assistance to the central. The 9th division was instructed to investigate the case.

Falion became the trading point of various merchants from all over Mallow Kingdom and its neighboring countries. Although it was located on the edge of Mallow Kingdom, it is the third largest and richest city in the entire kingdom, fallen short just below Mor (a city built near a rich gold mine) and the capital city. But this condition also brought problems. A lot of people from other cities and villages migrated to find jobs, but most failed to do so and ended up being beggars and homeless. Others from the outside of Mallow Kingdom, who sometimes succeeded in illegally crossing the border, also ended up to be trouble makers, petty thieves, and more beggars. This created the city’s slum, a place where most of these immigrants resided.

This slum was also where those murders happened. Most uptown residents didn’t really care that those people were murdered, though they still felt afraid to go outside at night. But, seeing the gravity of the situation and a possibility that this murder was an attempt from outsiders to shake the peace of Mallow Kingdom, you decided to go there yourself along with a dozen members of the 9th division. That day was your 3rd night patrolling around the slum. It was difficult to stay on guard all night long, even for trained knights such as yourselves, so you took turns with local guards to increase the effectiveness of your patrol. Moreover, because the slum was quite huge, since the first night, you volunteered to patrol on your own while your subordinates were paired, not knowing something bad would happen to you that night.

In the middle of your patrol...