CH 86

“His Excellency the Count of Winslon!”

Feeeehp!

The horn trumpet sounded a long note. A middle-aged man dressed in a royal purple robe decorated with golden threads entered the grounds while riding a white stallion under the escort of numerous nobles and knights. As soon as he made his appearance, everyone in the stadium paid their respects by taking off their hats and bowing their heads.

“I greet the count.”

Count Winslon climbed to the seats reserved for the high-ranking nobles and made his way to the very top while receiving the greetings of many nobles. Eugene observed Count Winslon from afar.

“Wowwwww! Look at how rich he looks! Look at that robe. Is it made of high-quality silk? I remember my seniors talking about such precious materials! Kiek?! How many rings does he have?” Mirian exclaimed in a voice literally dripping with greed. Eugene paid no attention to her ramblings as he calmly observed the count and his company with keen eyes. Although they were quite far away, Eugene could easily count the number of spots on their faces with his heightened sense of sight.

‘Are those all of his children? There are quite a few of them.’

Some of them were only teenagers while others were in their mid to late 20s, but they all had arrogant expressions. All three sons and two daughters were dressed luxuriously, and they exuded a similar atmosphere to Count Winslon. Moreover, all of their eyes were directed at the knights who had been assigned to stay at the main castle.

“Some of the nobles and lords had already established relationships with the holy knights or knights from high-ranking families. In fact, that was one of the reasons why reputable knights were given residences in the main castle,” Lanslo said nonchalantly after noticing where Eugene’s gaze was headed.

“I see. Then why are you here? Your comrades are there, right?” Eugene said while gesturing to a gathering of knights who were from the county’s vassal families.

“Strictly speaking, we aren’t comrades. The Golden Moon Knights and the territorial knights don’t get along very well,” Lanslo answered.

“Is that so?” Eugene asked.

“Yes. Those knights over there are from the vassals of the county. As such, they possess various relationships with His Excellency’s children. However, the Golden Moon Knights are under the count’s direct control, and we only receive the count’s direct orders. Well, I guess request might be a better term than order,” Lanslo explained.

“Hmm.” 

It appeared to be a very unique system.

“Then, are you the only member of the Golden Moon Knights who will participate in the competition?” Eugene asked.

“That’s correct. Three or four of us would have participated if it weren’t for the holy knights, but because of them, it was decided that only I would participate in the mock battles,” Lanslo answered.

“They must be quite dissatisfied,” Eugene replied.

“Indeed, they are quite angry. They were forced to give up a chance to display their skills and make a name for themselves because of the uninvited guests.” 

“And what about you, sir? Do you want to participate in the jousting competition or the swordsmanship competition?” Eugene asked.

“I don’t like to show off my skills in front of others,” Lanslo answered.

Eugene was slightly surprised. From his experience, knights were hell-bent on gaining fame and spreading their name. It was only natural for knights to chase such values.

“I prefer real battles. To be honest, I believe that both the jousting and the swordsmanship competition are no different from jestering around,” Lanslo continued.

“Well, I agree with you as well. However, I will participate this time around because it’s essential,” Eugene answered.

“Of course. I knew that Sir Eugene would understand,” Lanslo answered with a smile. 

Mirian could not hide her admiration after seeing his smile. “Wow. He’s not as handsome as you, but he’s quite the looker as well.”

“...”

Eugene silently agreed since he couldn’t converse with the spirit in front of Lanslo. However, to their surprise, Lanslo spoke with an intrigued smile. “I’ve always wanted to ask this question, but where did you get that talkative spirit, Sir Eugene?”

“Kiek?!”

“...!”

Neither Mirian nor Eugene could hide their shock. But Lanslo continued with his gaze fixated on Eugene’s shoulder. “An undine? How strange.”

“…You can see her?” Eugene asked.

“Hahaha. I would have been disappointed if you tried to lie about it. Yes, I can see the spirit.” Lanslo answered.

“Kiek! Kieeeeeek!” Mirian screamed intensely before quickly hiding behind Eugene.

“Ah, you don’t have to think it strange. My grandfather is an elf, so I can see spirits as well,” Lanslo explained.

“Ah, I see.”

It was understandable. In fact, Lanslo was the most handsome out of all the knights Eugene had met thus far.

“It was one of the reasons why I thought that Sir Eugene was not an ordinary knight from the beginning. As you know, it’s uncommon for humans to become contracted with spirits,” Lanslo added.

“I see.”

“Haha.” Lanslo could not help but chuckle after seeing Eugene’s response. It was only natural for anyone to become wary after having an important secret revealed, but Eugene appeared mostly unaffected.

‘Really, you truly are a man of great depth.’

Lanslo was once again impressed by Eugene. He continued after removing his gaze from Mirian, “It should be starting soon. I wish you the best of luck, Sir Eugene.”

Clack.

Eugene raised his visor and grabbed Silion’s reins before taking a step forward.

“I’ll only be jestering around anyways, but I will do my best,” Eugene said.

“Hahaha…”

Lanslo’s clear laugh rang behind his back.

*** 

The jousting competition was fierce. Two knights had already been seriously injured out of the five matches that had been held so far. To make things even worse, the two injured knights had been poor free knights who had made the decision to participate in the jousting competition despite their circumstances. Since victors could ask the loser for a ransom including the price of their own armor and horse, those without money would lose everything they possessed.

“Polesen! Polesen!”

“Sir Meatren! Over here! Over here!”

“You’re the best, Baylor!”

However, the crowd was uninterested in the sobbing, pathetic losers, and instead only poured out praise and cheers for the winners. It was a harsh reality, but such an outcome was only natural in a competition that attempted to simulate an actual war.

Feeeehp!

“The next match!” A trumpet horn echoed a long note, and the host of the jousting competition raised his voice with exaggerated movements. “The shining holy knight of Borcia!! Sir Setrang of the Daymos family!”

Woaaaaaaahh!

The cheers of the crowd pierced the sky at the appearance of a holy knight. This was the first appearance of a member of the rumored group. It was extremely hard for ordinary people to see holy knights in person.

Daymos made his appearance on horseback. He wore an extra layer of armor on top of his plate armor for the jousting competition, and a black feather representing the holy knights was attached to his helmet. Daymos looked proud and confident, befitting his reputation as a holy knight.

“And Sir Daymos’ opponent is!”

The gazes of spectators headed to the other side of the stadium at the host’s cry. But after seeing Eugene’s appearance, their eyes were quickly filled with shock. Unlike Daymos, Eugene wasn’t wearing any extra armor or even a breastplate according to the standards for jousting competitions. Instead, he was simply equipped in a black armor.

“Huh? The armor looks quite luxurious, but is that going to be enough?”

“Tsk, tsk. It seems like an ignorant rookie is blindly chasing after fame.”

“He’s going to lose his armor if he loses.”

Daymos smiled coldly while listening to the voices of the crowd. “So you’re the one, heretic. I will cripple you in the name of God. And I will dedicate your armor and horse to the church,” Daymos muttered. His colleagues were also carefully scrutinizing Eugene at the same time.

“From how he looks, I can’t feel anything special from him.  But I can see that his armor is very expensive and luxurious,” Iod remarked while greedily looking over Eugene’s armor.

Dircht slowly nodded. “I see. But sometimes, there are knights who possess incredible techniques that are unbeknownst to the world in these types of competitions. I only hope that it’s not the case with that knight.”

“Haha! Don’t you know that Sir Daymos is one of the strongest knights in our branch of brothers? Moreover, his skill with the spear is within the top three. As long as that heretic’s armor isn’t coated with magic, Sir Daymos’ victory is inevitable,” Iod posited.

“Hmm.” Although Dircht nodded as if agreeing with Iod, a fierce light remained in his eyes as he stared at Eugene.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A large drum resounded three times, and the horses of the two knights kicked off the ground. The distance between the two was about fifty meters.

Normally, the distance between two competitors in a jousting match should be about thirty meters, but it had been purposely expanded to enhance the thrill and excitement of the match.

Tudududududududu!

“What!?”

“...!”

Iod and Dirch could not hide their astonishment, and the same was true for the other knights who were watching the match. Eugene’s steed, Silion, was far too swift compared to Daymos’ horse.

Tududududu!

15 meters. 10 meters. 5 meters.

The distance narrowed in an instant, and the wooden lances of the two knights were about to collide as the distance further shortened to about 2.5 meters. 

Neiiigh!

“What?!”

Daymos’ horse suddenly reared on its hind legs, and the tip of his lance was rerouted in an instant. The cause of the sudden event was the momentary exudation of Eugene’s Fear, but unfortunately, no one could ever know the truth except Daymos and his horse.

Thuck!

Eugene’s wooden lance accurately struck the bottom part of Daymos’ helmet, and the weapon shattered into a million pieces upon impact. The weapons had been designed in such a way to minimize shock upon impact.

Ooooh…!

The crowd exclaimed, and Daymos fell from his saddle, or rather, was thrown several meters back before crashing on the ground.

Boom!

Daymos lay unmoving after falling with a loud thud.

“Hurry up!”

“Quickly!”

Servants quickly rushed to Daymos’ side. After a while, the referee shook his head with a solemn expression and crossed his arms into the shape of an ‘X.’

“Huh!”

“T-that means…!”

The nobles were shocked after seeing the referee’s gesture. This was the first time that the gesture was used today, and it represented the death of a participant.

“T-the winner is Sir Jan of the Eugene family!”

Woaaaaahhh!!!

A huge roar engulfed the entire stadium like a storm.

Clop, clop, clop.

Eugene pulled on Silion’s reins before taking off his helmet.

“Sir Eugene!”

“You’re the best!”

“Wow!”

“Sir! Sir Eugene!”

Eugene’s gaze skirted past the cheering crowd and came to a stop at the two holy knights. They were standing frozen with devastated expressions.

“...!”

Even though the holy knights were located quite far from Eugene, Dircht immediately noticed that Eugene was looking his way. His eyes widened with shock after reading Eugene’s lips.

‘You’re next.’

Eugene had mouthed the words before once again pulling on Silion’s rein.

Clop, clop, clop.

“I’ll kill you! You bastard, I will gut you!” Eugene could hear the other holy knight shouting amid the enthusiastic shouts of the crowd, but he simply dismissed it. None of the holy knights were destined to leave the Winslon County alive anyway.

*** 

“That was a great match, Sir Eugene,” Count Winslon commented. He was a noble with a very solemn face, befitting his status as a great noble.

“I am embarrassed that you have complimented me for my meager talents. I am satisfied knowing that you enjoyed watching my bout,” Eugene answered.

“What a humble knight you are. Eida, present Sir Eugene with the coronet,” Count Winslon instructed.

“Yes.”

The youngest-looking girl of Count Winslon’s children stood up and shyly hung a coronet on Eugene’s wooden lance.

“Kiek! This little wench! Even though she’s so young, she dares to look at Sir Eugene with such lewd eyes! Scram! Shoo!” Mirian fussed. However, it wasn’t only Eida. All of Count Winslon’s children were observing Eugene with passionate eyes.

A knight strong enough to defeat a holy knight in a single blow was extremely rare, and nobles couldn’t help but covet such a gem.