CH 84

“The knight didn’t enter the castle?”

“Yeah. Apparently, he has established a residence in the campground with the free knights outside the castle walls.”

“Hmm.”

Jung Dircht frowned upon hearing the response, and his colleague shrugged.

“Is there really a reason to care about it? He’s going to participate in the competition anyway, right? Whether it’s the jousting or the swordsmanship competition, we just need to take care of him when we have the opportunity.”

“…”

Dircht fell into contemplation after hearing the words of his two colleagues.

“Dircht. The problem is that you are too cautious. Frankly, it’s quite absurd that we had to come all this way just because of a single knight from the countryside,” one of his colleagues said.

“Tsk. What on earth is the cardinal thinking? There’s nothing to be gained by the church even if we win the competition here, right? It would be much better to continue our original mission and track down that black wizard,” Another colleague added.

“That’s not true,” Dircht responded in a cold voice before continuing.

“The prestige of the church will increase if we win the competition. Moreover, it gives us the opportunity to teach lessons to those who aren’t respectful towards the church and us holy knights.”

“Hmm.”

“Think about it. What happened to the attitudes of the nobles of Carls Baggins Peninsula toward the church ever since Bishop Nordic returned? Moreover, what about those cities with Maren at its forefront? They are trying to break the influence of the central church by bribing priests with gold and silver,” Dircht continued.

“How sacrilegious!”

“Those corrupt cities deserve divine punishment!”

The holy knights responded with anger.

Dircht spoke softly, “It’s just as you sirs said. We have been too focused on hunting monsters so far because we wanted to convey God’s mercy and holy words. Sometimes it is necessary to display the church’s status according to worldly standards. This knight competition will provide us the perfect opportunity to do so.”

“So, we should win the jousting competition, the swordsmanship competition, and the mock battle, correct?” One of his colleagues asked.

“Exactly,” Dircht responded.

If the holy knights could win all three competitions, they could firmly imprint the status and dignity of the church, as well as the power of the holy knights, throughout the entire kingdom.

“In addition, we need to condemn the unholy, arrogant, country bumpkin knight for daring to disrespect the church. He has convinced himself that he’s unrivaled just because of a small accomplishment he made in the countryside,” Dircht added.

The other holy knights took on bleak expressions after hearing Dircht’s words.

“Hmph! I hope he gets placed with me in the jousting competition. I will break his head on behalf of God.”

“Sir, you should go easy on him and give me the chance. Would it not be better for me to cut off his hands and feet in the swordsmanship competition?”

“Whatever the case, let’s teach that bumpkin a proper lesson. But before that, we must find out why he chose not to enter the castle. Maybe he’s already planning his escape after hearing about us.”

“From what I hear, he came with a letter of recommendation from Count Winslon’s son-in-law. If that’s the case, he wouldn’t possibly run, right? It would cripple his honor and dignity.”

Dircht nodded after hearing the speculation of a fairly sharp colleague.

“That’s true. However, it bothers me that he took residence in the campground instead of the village. Hmm… Lloyd, Llorente, go find out whatever you can,” Dircht instructed.

“Yes, sir,” the aides answered confidently.

But one of them asked carefully afterward.

“But sir, what if we have to face that knight?”

“Hmm,” Dircht stroked his chin while observing the aides.

Both of them were in their mid to late teens, and although they were still young, they had received thorough training ever since they were seven or eight. If the cheeky, country knight was as good as it said in the letter they received from Maren’s royalists, it would provide the perfect opportunity to test the skills of the two aides.

“Fine. However, you cannot provide him with the justification. You understand what I’m talking about, right?” Dircht said.

“Of course.” The two aides responded before sharing a meaningful gaze. They left the room joyfully, mistakenly thinking that they could suppress an ignorant, arrogant, unskilled knight from the countryside with ease. After all, how could they possibly lose, when they had received the most intensive, high-quality training since they were young?

***

“Ugh! What’s this smell?”

“Even a pig’s pen couldn’t smell worse than this. Even Polyma’s slums are better than this.”

Lloyd and Llorente, the aides of the holy knights, frowned and covered their noses and mouths as soon as they entered the campground. The two were born into a noble family and had grown up in a clean, pristine church their entire lives. As such, it was natural for them to feel averse to the atmosphere and odor of the campground, which was both dirty and messy.

“How could honorable knights stay in such a place?”

“It’s obviously because they’re ignorant and uncultured. Ugh!”

Lloyd and Llorente walked through the campground without bothering to hide their disgust. Some of the free knights and aides, who were standing outside their tents, stole glances at the two. Some knights didn’t even hide their glares.

Even though the two aides were covering their faces and bodies with a brown hood, the clothes embroidered with the church’s symbol was revealed with their every step.

‘Those punks are purposely revealing it.’

‘Why do you even bother wearing a robe? Tsk, just what did I expect from the church bastards.’

It was only natural for the two of them to attract the glares of the knights since they were acting so impudently even though they were only aides. However, Lloyd and Llorente mistook the gazes of the knights as envy and proudly roamed the area.

The two aides walked up to the person with the softest appearance and spoke. “Oi, do you know where Sir Eugene is residing?”

“…?” The man stared back with an uninterested expression.

Lloyd spoke with a frown. “Are you deaf? I’m asking where Sir Eugene is staying.”

“Hmm. He must not know, since there are so many knights here,” Llorente chimed in. 

Lloyd smacked his lips together before nodding, “That makes sense since he’s a nobody with a reputation as big as the rat droppings in the countryside.”

“What did you just say?” The man in front of them suddenly took on a fierce expression.

“I guess you aren’t deaf after all. I asked you where the knight named Sir Eugene is staying,” Lloyd said.

“No, not that. What you said about the countryside. Say it again,” the man spoke. He spoke in the kingdom’s language, but he possessed a unique accent.

“What?” Lloyd responded with contempt, then straightened his shoulders before speaking clearly. “I said, you might not know him because he’s a nobody from the countryside with a reputation as big as rat droppings. Why?”

Whoosh! Thuck!

“Keugh!”

Lloyd fell backward after being struck in the jaw with a lightning-fast fist. His clothes became covered with dirt and mud.

Hahahaha!

The onlookers burst into laughter and shouted.

“Good work, Luke!”

“You punk! You’ve got quite a fist!”

“You might just make them cry! You should be gentle with these soft, sheltered ladies!”

Lloyd immediately jumped up as the knights openly jeered. Both Lloyd and Llorente’s faces were as red as a beet. As aides of noble, elegant holy knights, they had refined their minds and bodies through faith and manners. Experiencing such an embarrassing situation for the first time in their lives was enough to completely shatter their state of mind.

Shing!

“Reveal your name and your master’s name!”

“You dishonorable man! I will bring the crime of ambushing me in such a cowardly way to your master!”

A clear, metallic sound resonated as Lloyd and Llorente unsheathed their longswords. The surroundings, which had been filled with laughter, immediately fell into silence. Many of them had led rough, simple lives like mercenaries after wandering for a long time, but they were still free knights with their aides. Everyone knew the significance of unsheathing one’s blade and disrespecting the opponent’s honor.

Moreover, the action weighed even heavier if the opponent’s master was a knight who was humble, honorable, and respectful despite his incredible reputation.

“These crazy bastards.”

“They dare to draw their swords here?”

“It’s clear that they’re still rookies serving as aides. They must have lost their minds.”

Lloyd and Llorente finally realized their mistake once the murmurs rang in their ears.

‘Ah!’

‘To think I would make such a mistake.’

However, the two were more resentful and angrier towards their opponent for causing this situation rather than being remorseful about their mistake.

“Speak!”

“Who is your master!?”

“Why is it so loud?” The tent’s flap was lifted, and a figure came out wearing only their outer garments.

“Master,” Luke quickly bowed his head.

Lloyd spoke up angrily, “Sir, are you the master of this impudent fellow?”

“What if I am?” Eugene responded.

“That dishonorable man punched me! The aide is a reflection of the knight! Only improper education of the…” Lloyd started to retort.

“He’s not my aide. He’s my slave,” Eugene interrupted.

“Slave…?” Lloyd muttered with a dazed expression. His face distorted and he turned his head before shouting with an even louder voice. “How dare a mere slave punch me!? I will have your head!”

A slave was considered a tool rather than a human being. Still, one could not treat other people’s slaves recklessly. However, nobles could simply give compensation even if they killed slaves belonging to others. As such, Lloyd immediately responded by swinging his longsword towards Luke when he heard of his identity.

Clang!

But Luke’s hand had been resting on the pommel of his weapon. He reacted immediately by unsheathing his shortsword and blocking Lloyd’s attack.

“…!”

Lloyd’s eyes filled with disbelief. Even though he was furious, he had been trained for a long time as the aide of a holy knight, and he could not believe that his attack had been blocked by a mere slave.

Luke didn’t miss the chance.

Krrrrrrrr!

Luke bent his wrist and pulled the opponent’s blade inward while taking a large step and digging into Lloyd’s space.

“You…!” Lloyd flinched before retreating. He attempted to retrieve his sword, but Luke’s sword bounced towards him like a spring.

Crack!

“Kuagh!”

The pommel of Luke’s sword struck Lloyd’s forehead with great force, and Lloyd was flung backward while bleeding from his forehead. Luke continued forward like an enraged beast with a dagger in his hand.

“Lloyd!”

Llorente screamed and attempted to intervene, but a grey shadow flitted by him.

Clang!

Luke’s dagger was blocked by Eugene’s gauntlet.

Uwaaaaah!

“Did you see that? Did you see Sir Eugene’s movement?”

“I barely caught it. Wow!”

“He’s too fast! Just what I would expect from Sir Eugene!” The free knights expressed their awe.

Eugene spoke, “Regardless of the circumstance, it won’t do to just kill them carelessly. They appear to be aides of the holy knights, so what you were about to do could cause quite a bit of trouble in the future.”

“I apologize, master! I overstepped my boundaries.” Luke quickly retracted his weapon and bowed deeply while calming himself down.

“And you,” Eugene’s cold gaze passed Luke and stayed on Llorente. Eugene’s left hand was holding the end of Llorente’s longsword, which had been directed towards Luke. “Who taught you to act so dishonorably? Did the holy knights teach you to stab someone in the back while they are engaged in a one-on-one battle? Hmm?” 

Eugene took a step forward while maintaining his grip on the blade. Llorente attempted to pull back his sword.

“Ugh!” 

But Eugene’s sturdy gloves were made of monster leather, and the blade lay unmoving from Eugene’s iron grip. In the end, Llorente struggled to pull out his sword without any results, finding himself unable to overcome the strength of Eugene’s one hand. Then, Llorente came to face the most humiliating event that could happen to those dreaming of becoming knights.

Whoosh! Ooooohhh!

Eugene took away Llorente’s sword in a series of fluid motions, and the spectators once again expressed their wonder.

“…!”

Llorente’s face filled with devastating shock and shame. Eugene spoke after placing the stolen sword on his shoulder. “If you want it back, go bring your master.”

“Heup!”

“The aide is a reflection of the knight, right? I would like to ask him how he trained and educated you, considering your cowardly actions of attempting to backstab an opponent,” Eugene continued.

“I-I, I only…!” Llorente started to retort, but Eugene simply ignored him and looked around the surroundings. “Stop embarrassing yourself and close your mouth. Look around, everyone around you is a witness. Is that not right, sirs?” 

“Naturally!”

“We’re witnesses!”

“Bring your master! Bring your glorified, holy master!”

Wooooahhh!

Dozens of free knights shouted enthusiastically.

“Kiehehehehe! As expected, you can’t beat silver coins! It’s the best! So exciting and thrilling!”

Eugene fully agreed with Mirian’s passionate words.