CH 85

“What did you say!?”

“I apologize, master! I have defiled the honor of the holy knights… I have defiled the noble faith! Keugh!” Llorente bowed his head while shedding tears.

“This…” The holy knight Daymos gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. The most shameful thing for a knight was to have their weapon taken away by the enemy. The sword of a holy knight represented not only an individual knight’s honor but the status and the faith of the church as well.

But even though they knew of this fact, the opponent still took Llorente’s weapon away.

“Ugh! That blasphemous man truly harbors hatred for the church. The letter we received from Maren’s royalists was really true. I won’t let him off!” Daymos shouted before banging on the table and standing up.

“Sir Daymos. I will be coming with you.” Another holy knight, Iod, stepped up in a flurry. Daymos had already lost his reasoning after witnessing his favorite aide returning on a stretcher with head injuries.

“Wait a minute, sirs. We must maintain our cool, especially at times like these,” Dircht interrupted.

“What are you talking about, Dircht?!”

“My aide was humiliated like this, but you expect us to stay still?!” The two holy knights shouted in anger. 

Dircht responded in a low, cold voice, “Then what will you do once you get there? Are you going to ask him for a duel? And what next? Are you going to cut him down? Do you think the free knights of the campground will praise you for your actions?”

“...!” The two knights flinched, and Dircht spoke in a slightly softer voice.

“I understand that you are furious, sirs. If I could, I would send that heretic back into the arms of the Lord right now. But we must endure it for now.” 

“Hmm!”

“We will be participating in the competition soon, right? We will have our chance to condemn that man during the competition. Nothing good will come out of confronting him right now,” Dircht continued.

“That may be true, but what about the honor of the church?”

“They are simple and ignorant, no different from thugs who roam the back alleys. Would they truly know of honor?” Dircht responded.

“...”

“Sirs, honor is a responsibility given to those who are noble and possess pure blood. Right now, only those who are in the main castle possess the purest of blood. They are the judges of honor. What about those knights staying at the annex or the village inns? Moreover, what about those who couldn’t even afford to enter the village and have made their residence in shabby tents outside the castle? Is it necessary to pay attention to the mumblings of those weak, simple creatures?” Dircht continued.

“Hmm…” The two holy knights nodded with somber expressions. All of them were direct descendants of high-ranking noble families. They were born different from those shabby, unknown knights without names. The purest and most noble blood flowed through their veins.

And honor was a right they possessed.

“Sirs. Let us not fall for the provocations of those who are beneath us. Our honor isn’t so cheap, is it?” Dircht said.

“Phew! I would have made a huge mistake today if it weren’t for Sir Dircht.” 

“Hmm! I also realized that I am still lacking in training. I have put on a shameful appearance today in front of the Lord.”

The two knights were quite religious and deep in their faith. As such, they quickly calmed down and expressed their gratitude.

“Llorente,” Daymos called out.

“Yes, master,” Llorente answered. His face was full of tear marks.

“You will have your sword returned to you in three days, at the jousting competition,” Daymos said solemnly. “

“M-master.”

Shing!

Daymos unsheathed his longsword and straightened it right in front of his chest. The weapon was Evil Destroyer, a blade only bequeathed to official holy knights.

“Wait until then. I swear on my honor and my faith. On that day, the blood of the wicked unbeliever will spill under my blade,” Daymos declared.

*** 

More people gathered in Winslon in these two days, including various lords, nobles, merchants, knights, mercenaries, musical bands, minstrels, bards, and jesters. Winslon overflowed with vitality and energy as it eagerly awaited the beginning of the competition.

Fights were commonplace, and more than ten knights had already perished in duels even though the competition had yet to begin. Winslon’s atmosphere was fiery and was engulfed in a strange madness.

During the next couple of days, Eugene continued to stay in the campground and focused all his efforts on building up a relationship with the free knights. He was equally polite to all knights, and he did not spare any money and effort in treating everyone as if they were a guest in his territory.

Eugene’s incredible generosity even caused some knights who were staying in the inns at the village to move their residence to the campground. They heard that a feast happened every day in the campground.

‘Dammit. I’ve already spent more than 200 silver coins.’

Of course, he still had plenty of money left, but Eugene could not help but feel regret at wasting so much money.

‘But I will gain so much more.’

He was certain that he would benefit if he won the competition. The prize money was enormous in itself, and Eugene would be satisfied if the equipment bestowed to the winner was similar to Wolfslaughter in value.

‘And if I annihilate the opposing troops in the mock battle, he would surely allow me to participate in a subjugation, right?’

He would surely come across a red mana stone among the three evil lands located in the county. If he was lucky, he might even come across two or more red mana stones.

“Sir Eugene! Let’s get going!” The free knights shouted while flocking towards him.

“Let us go,” Eugene responded. They had decided to travel together to the venue of the knight competition. As such, Eugene climbed onto Silion’s back before moving with the other knights.

“Will Sir Eugene be participating in the jousting competition?”

“Naturally. What about all of you?” Eugene responded.

“I’ve given up. I only have one set of armor, and if I lose, I do not have enough money to pay my ransom.”

“Same with me.”

“Tsk! It seems everyone’s in the same boat.”

The jousting competition was the most popular event in the knight competition, and it attracted the most spectators. The charm of the jousting competition lay in the fact that two heavily armed knights would clash head-first while galloping on their horses. The excitement of jousting was unparalleled. 

It was said that knights battled each other with maces and longswords in the past. But only wooden lances were allowed in competitions, due to the dangers of using real weapons. Still, the jousting competition was dangerous, and quite a few knights had been injured and killed during each competition.

But this wasn’t the only problem either.

The loser of each of the events had to pay ransom to the victors. However, the losers of the swordsmanship competition only had to pay about fifty silver coins, while the losers of the jousting competition had to bear the costs related to their horses as well as the victors’ horses. As such, it was incredibly rare for poor free knights to participate in jousting competitions.

“Many nobles would be willing to hire those who display their skills at the swordsmanship competition.”

“Isn’t it the same with the mock battles? The lords pay more attention to mock battles than the jousting competition.”

“That’s right. The losers have to pay their ransom for all the events, but there’s still a possibility that an ally will come to your rescue in the mock battle.”

The free knights stemmed from shabby, lesser families, and they had traveled from place to place while living frugally. They were practically betting their entire lives on the swordsmanship competition and the mock battle.

“Am I the only one who will participate in the jousting competition here?” Eugene said.

The knights’ responded with enthusiastic expressions.

“Don’t lose to those rich, snobby people, Sir Eugene!”

“Don’t lose heart, even if they may be from a barony or a viscounty. Technically, you also have your own territory in the Carls Baggins Peninsula, right?”

“Show them the spirit of the campground, Sir Eugene!”

Over the past few days, the free knights came to regard Eugene as an object of admiration. But they also felt a strange sense of kinship towards him as well. He was their role model – a knight who had carved his path with a single blade! In addition, he was also a generous person who knew the difficulties of being a wanderer and took care of free knights like themselves.

Therefore, the free knight sincerely hoped for Eugene to defeat the rich knights who came from high-ranking noble families and win the competition. Since they could not participate anyways, they wanted to feel vicarious satisfaction through Eugene’s victory.

“Well, since all of you are cheering me on, I must perform well. And if…” Eugene paused before looking around at the dozens of free knights around him, then raised his voice. “If I do not suffer any major injuries and have a chance to participate in the mock battle, I would like to fight honorably by all of your sides. All of us here have practiced true chivalry while wandering in the wilderness, so wouldn’t you agree that we are peers to share comradeship with?” 

Wooaahhhh…!

The free knights responded with a fierce cheer. Although Eugene’s ability to be a leader was still developing, his generosity had drawn enthusiastic responses from the knights.

“Kyah~ You’re even good at speaking now, sir. Where did you learn such cool words?” Mirian asked.

Where else could he have learned apart from Galfredik? But Eugene remained silent as he continued on his journey. Soon, a large, oval-shaped stadium came into view.

“Ohhh!”

“The knights are here!”

The spectators shouted excitedly when they saw Eugene and the free knights. They had been sitting around since early in the morning, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the knights. The other knights from the village and the castle hadn’t arrived just yet, so the appearance of these shabby free knights was enough to arouse the crowd.

“Wow! Look at that black knight!”

“It’s plate armor! He couldn’t be a free knight, right?”

“Ah! He’s taking off his helmet!”

“Woaaaaaah!”

A timely gust of wind gently scattered Eugene’s black hair. His pale skin and perfectly proportioned features were more than enough to garner the people’s attention.

Moreover…

“Kiehehehe! It’s time for me to work my magic!” Mirian shouted with an evil laugh before taking her place near Eugene’s face. Once she shook her body, Eugene’s skin became moist and his beauty became even more noticeable. 

“Kiehehehe! This is the glow-up effect of water!” Mirian’s shouted. But her arrogant voice was buried by the shouts of the spectators.

“Isn’t he too handsome!?”

“Is he a half-elf by chance!?”

“Kiyaaaahk! Sir! Over here! Please look over here!”

Most of the cheers were for Eugene. The other free knights had consumed nutritious meals for the past few days thanks to Eugene, and perhaps due to the ‘glow-up,’ they received some attention as well.

“Ehem!”

“Now, now! Move aside! The knights are coming through!”

The knights and aides walked proudly with their heads held high. 

Someone called out from afar with a brilliant smile while coming towards Eugene.

“Sir Eugene!”

It was Lanslo Drak.

“You arrived early,” Eugene said.

“Haha! You’re early as well, Sir Eugene,” Lanslo responded.

“Did you come alone? What about the other knights?” Eugene asked.

“They will be escorting the count. Anyways…” Lanslo said before looking around. Then, he inched closer to Eugene before whispering. “I heard. You taught a harsh lesson to the aides of the holy knights?” 

“That wasn’t me. It was my slave,” Eugene replied.

“Hooh.” Lanslo turned his eyes to Luke with an inquisitive expression. Luke was well-armed in a high-end plate coat crafted by inserting a thin iron plate inside monster leather. He bowed towards Lanslo, “Sir Drak. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Yes. So you were responsible for pummeling Sir Daymos’ aide?” Lanslo asked.

“Yes. I only fulfilled my responsibility as a slave after he insulted my master,” Luke responded.

“Hahaha! That’s right. A slave should not stand still and let their master be insulted,” Lanslo said in agreement.

In principle, it was true. Slaves were properties of their owners, and they were required to move according to their owners’ will. There were even cases when slaves would die to maintain their master’s dignity when the latter lost an unexpected duel. But slaves would seldomly start a fight against the aide of other knights. Of course, there were very few slaves who were skilled enough to do so in the first place.

“You must have been trained as a knight,” Lanslo said.

“Yes, sir.”

“It has not been very long since you learned our language, has it? Judging from your accent… Brantia?” Lanslo said.

“Ah, that’s correct,” Luke responded. Both Luke and Eugene were surprised by Lanslo’s perceptiveness. Although Lanslo appeared quite young and seemed to be in his mid-20s, he seemed to possess a plethora of experience.

“It makes sense that you were able to pummel the aide of a holy knight. You must have participated in the crusade, right?” Lanslo asked.

“Crusade?” Luke responded while tilting his head. 

Lanslo answered with a smile. “Well, you would have responded to your lord’s call without knowing the details. Anyways, Sir Eugene.”

“...?”

“The master of the aide whom your slave pummeled, Sir Daymos, will participate in the jousting competition. I’m sure he’ll target you, so be careful,” Lanslo warned.

“That will be beneficial for me,” Eugene responded.

“…What?” Lanslo asked.

“The holy knights will organize an army in the mock battle, right? Wouldn’t it be beneficial if I can reduce their numbers before the mock battle?” Eugene answered.

“...!”

Lanslo could not hide his surprise. Eugene had casually declared that he would defeat one of the holy knights, those who were known as the sword of the church and the constellations of blood.