Fierce Tiger Ross trudged through the inn's front door with a long face. His mood had been excellent earlier that day — he'd won nine consecutive bouts that afternoon, taking home four sets of knight equipment, four horses, and over two hundred gold Forde coins. He'd then sold them to resellers outside the tournament grounds for nearly two hundred more gold coins. So he'd decided to treat a few wandering knight friends he'd just met in the tent area of the plaza to a night of heavy drinking. They'd told him that a few alluring dancing girls had arrived at the Rose Tavern near the plaza these past few days — enchantingly seductive, but priced so high that all one could do was feast one's eyes…
Ross hefted the coin purse in his hand and let a lecherous grin spread across his face. Tonight he could really relax and unwind. The second round of mounted duels wouldn't start for another few days, so there was no fear of drinking himself into a state where he couldn't fight. Just as these pleasant thoughts were running through his mind, he spotted Tager standing before him with a stern expression. It was over, Ross groaned. Earlier, when he'd been haggling with that reseller, he hadn't lowered his face guard, and now it was too late.
Watching Ross hastily duck his head and try to slip past under his gaze, Tager smiled: "Lord Ross, no use hiding. When His Lordship saw you displaying your prowess on the field this afternoon, he recognized you immediately. He wants you to appear before him before dinner. You know the place. Good luck."
Now Ross stood hunched before
"My lord, the unit is fine. Knight
"So you just dumped the legion and ran off by yourself to enter the knight tournament?"
"My lord, originally Yuri was supposed to come too, but he lost the coin toss, so I was the one who came…" Ross looked thoroughly aggrieved.
"You two… you're going to make my head explode." Lorist was momentarily at a loss for how to scold them.
Ross was saved by Baron
Without waiting for Ross to reply, he grabbed Lorist: "Locke, come on, come on, come on. I want to introduce you to someone. Hehehe, I'm so happy today, you know? Bonava has finally agreed to become my family knight. Let me tell you, Bonava, he's…"
Lorist was pulled right out the door by Baron Filim before he could even get a word in to Ross. Schwart hurried to follow.
"Uh…" El said: "I need to assemble the guards to accompany His Lordship."
Ross looked at the remaining people in the room: "So I should be in the clear now, right?"
Jost said: "That depends on whether His Lordship has any free time in the coming days, or whether he even remembers you haven't been punished yet."
Reidi said: "I'm going to get some rest. I have to face challengers on the ring tomorrow."
Tager said: "I think you need to behave yourself for the next couple of days. Don't let His Lordship get angry, and maybe he'll let you off."
Ross rolled his eyes: "Whatever. I won a lot today. I'm treating everyone to drinks tonight. Apparently there are a few devastatingly charming dancing girls at that tavern — real heart-stoppers."
Jost said: "No thanks. I've got another round of competition tomorrow morning."
Tager said: "I'll come along with you. The drinking is fine, but the women aren't necessary."
…
The person Baron Filim wanted to introduce to Lorist was Knight Bonava, whom they had encountered on the road to the Wendebury royal capital. According to Baron Filim, after he had pledged his service to the
Knight Bonava was a different type of military commander. He was much like those traditional generals of the old Krisen Empire, emphasizing discipline, combat efficiency, and minimizing soldier casualties. He was the most popular commander under the Second Prince. Two of the three campaigns that secured the establishment of the Iblia Kingdom were won under Bonava's command.
One was the elimination of the coalition of eight southern province nobles who had defected to the First Prince. Bonava led ten thousand ragtag soldiers against the nobles' eighteen thousand private troops. Three months later, the noble coalition collapsed, and eight noble families were uprooted entirely. Had this battle been lost, the southern province would have fallen under the First Prince's sphere of influence, threatening the safety of Winston Province.
Bonava turned defeat into victory in one stroke, destroying over eight thousand enemies and forcing Grand Duke Meleyn to flee back to his duchy with only a few dozen riders.
Yet such an outstanding military commander, despite his numerous merits and his habit of speaking frankly, had long been resented and suppressed by the Second Prince, unable to receive proper appointment. Even after the founding of the Iblia Kingdom, when titles were awarded for merit, Bonava — whose military accomplishments warranted at least an actual barony — was instead demanded to hand over a massive sum of money as a "subsidy" for the kingdom's impoverished treasury before receiving any title or land. Bonava flew into a rage and departed, retreating to his estate to live in seclusion.
The day Baron Filim spotted Bonava's family crest and banner on the road, he had spent the entire time since searching for the knight's whereabouts in the royal capital, and finally tracked him down. Upon asking about his situation, he discovered that Knight Bonava was in dire straits. Strictly speaking, the Filim and Bonava families were fellow provincials — the Filim family's traditional domain was in the southern province, and Bonava's ancestor had also been a baron, later implicated in the Wendebury city riots and stripped of his title and lands, left with only a knight's estate in the southern province.
Like Baron Filim, Knight Bonava was fighting for his family's restoration, but he lacked Filim's martial prowess. Although he was also a one-star Golden Rank knight, his progress in martial energy cultivation did not reflect superior technique. In other words, Knight Bonava was more of a strategic mind, a master of military planning.
His coming to the knight tournament hosted by the Fisablen family was out of desperation — more precisely, he had come to sell his services, hoping to find a patron for his family. The Bonava family's knight estate was in the southern province, which had long been devastated by the war between Grand Duke Meleyn and the Second Prince, reducing it to a wasteland. The area was sparsely populated and rife with bandits, horse raiders, deserters, and mountain outlaws. The Bonava estate was not large — less than fifty able-bodied men in total, enough for defense but not for offense. Even though Knight Bonava was a strategic genius, facing hundreds or thousands of bandits left him powerless, and he also had to worry about the safety of the women, children, and elderly in the estate.
So Bonava had considered relocating, but where to go and how to ensure safe passage were enormous problems. When he heard about the tournament, he decided to try his luck. He knew his martial skills alone were unlikely to shine at the tournament, but he wanted to see if anyone still remembered his former reputation and would come to recruit him.
Unfortunately, on the first day, Knight Bonava's attempt to meet the Queen was turned away — the Queen had no time for a mere knight. The second day, his audience with Grand Duke Fisablen also came to nothing — the Grand Duke was too busy. The third day, Bonava learned his lesson and visited the southern province nobles he was acquainted with, only to be disappointed again. Those nobles knew of his talent, but so what? The Iblia Kingdom's current state could only be described as "better to barely survive than to die well" — no money, no troops, no room for Bonava to apply his abilities.
Just then, Baron Filim showed up at his door, and kept coming back for several days. When Knight Bonava learned that the Filim family had assembled a legion of forty-six thousand men in the Northland, he was finally tempted. Especially since Baron Filim had been very clear: back when they served the Second Prince, it didn't matter how many died since the troops weren't his own. But this legion was a family army built with enormous effort and sacrifice, and Baron Filim wasn't about to waste it. Commanding a legion in battle was exactly Bonava's forte, so Baron Filim was eager to recruit him.
Having secured Bonava's pledge of service, Baron Filim was ecstatic. He hosted three consecutive banquets, with Lorist in attendance throughout, and Lorist also agreed to one of Filim's requests: after the archery and swordsmanship competitions ended, he would send Jost and Reidi with a thousand guards to escort Baron Filim's five hundred cavalry to the southern province to bring Bonava's entire family back safely.
Thanks to the knight tournament, the Wendebury royal capital had finally regained a spark of vitality and become somewhat lively. The markets showed signs of prosperity, and the nobles resumed some of their old pastimes. The Rose Palace held grand banquets every three days and smaller ones every two, with nightly dances. Nobles dressed to the nines and elegantly adorned ladies turned the Rose Palace into a sleepless revelry every night.
But for Lorist, all of this was exceedingly boring. He couldn't compete in the tournament, nor did he enjoy socializing with nobles — especially those banquets and dances where everyone wore a mask of hypocrisy. Just like the noble ladies clustering around him, those willing to offer themselves all wanted something in return. Lorist wasn't a saint and had desires of his own, but the timing was wrong for taking a bedmate. He had come to the capital to propose to Princess Sylivia, and he certainly didn't want to indulge in some casual affair only to have rumors spread throughout the capital, enraging that little girl in the end.
Strangely, after nearly twenty days had passed, Princess Sylivia still hadn't returned to the Wendebury royal capital. Grand Duke Fisablen had been furious about this, which prevented Lorist from meeting the Grand Duke to formally request Sylivia's hand in marriage. The current situation frustrated Lorist as well. The only thing that pleased him was that the
In a few more days, the third round would begin to determine the champions.
In the second round of mounted duels, Fierce Tiger Ross faced Count Darlek of the Sabagi Duchy. The two exchanged over a hundred blows before Count Darlek finally yielded his spear and conceded, eliminated from the tournament. That evening, Lorist received Tager's report: Count Darlek and Count Chugiwik of the Handra Duchy had already packed their belongings, said their farewells to Grand Duke Fisablen, and departed for home.
Lorist stroked his chin in thought. Could his premonition have been wrong? How strange — those two really did seem to have come solely for the tournament. The moment they were eliminated, they left immediately, very decisive about it. Well, if they were gone, they were gone. Perhaps his premonition was indeed mistaken — maybe he'd been so worried about Princess Sylivia that he'd seen a rival in everyone.
Just as he was waiting for the third round of mounted duels to bring this tournament to a close, Tager appeared before Lorist: "My lord, early this morning, Grand Duke Fisablen departed for the Eastern Wasteland Province with a detachment of guards. We believe he may be going to bring Princess Sylivia back. After all, many nobles and knights came to the tournament specifically hoping to catch a glimpse of the princess. Her prolonged absence has already caused widespread grumbling in the capital, and there are even rumors that the princess left because the Grand Duke scolded her. So His Highness the Grand Duke could no longer bear the pressure and has gone to retrieve her…"
But six days later, Grand Duke Fisablen finally returned just as the third round of mounted duels was nearing its end, arriving in time to present the first-place prize to Fierce Tiger Ross. At the ceremony, the Grand Duke's expression was far from pleasant — his smile was clearly forced. Everyone knew the reason: Princess Sylivia had not returned with him.
The moment they stepped out of the tournament grounds, Lorist was approached by one of Grand Duke Fisablen's guards. The guard said the Grand Duke wished to see Lorist in the palace throne room.
"Your Highness the Grand Duke, do you have something you need me for?"
In the palace throne room, Lorist found Grand Duke Fisablen, who looked somewhat weary.
"Sigh…" Grand Duke Fisablen let out a long breath. "Locke, I know the purpose of your visit. You wish to forge a marriage alliance with our Fisablen family and seek Sylivia's hand, don't you?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Lorist answered frankly.
"Time truly flies. The little girl I once doted on has reached the age of marriage." Grand Duke Fisablen said wistfully. "I spoiled her too much when she was young. Now that she's grown, the slightest contradiction and she throws such a terrible tantrum that she made this old grandfather lose face and gave everyone a good laugh."
"…" Lorist had nothing to say to that.
"I have no objection to a marriage with the Norton family. In fact, I welcome it," said Grand Duke Fisablen.
"Oh?" Lorist was pleasantly surprised. "Your Highness, does that mean you agree?"
"I do. I think quite highly of you, Locke. Once the engagement is settled, you'll have to call me Grandfather. Haha." Grand Duke Fisablen laughed heartily. "But I am curious — what is the Norton family prepared to offer in exchange for marrying our Fisablen family's most precious jewel, Sylivia?"
"Your Highness, please be direct. Whatever you require, if it's within the Norton family's power, we won't hesitate." Lorist thumped his chest.
"Good. Decisive. I have only three demands. First, I require the Norton family to assist the Fisablen family in establishing ten workshops in the Muye Plains Province, enabling the Fisablen family's territory to achieve self-sufficiency in daily necessities within two years. Rest assured, we won't push you to build ironworks — we only want daily goods workshops. Can you manage this?"
Lorist nodded. "We can."
Grand Duke Fisablen fixed Lorist with his sharp, hawk-like eyes and raised a second finger. "Second, I want the standardized equipment worn by your guards. Ten thousand sets, no discount."
Lorist smiled ruefully. "Your Highness, this standardized equipment — we've only produced three thousand sets for our own family. You're asking for ten thousand, which adds up to nearly two million gold Forde. That's quite a tall order. But for Princess Sylivia — I accept!"
"Ha! Good! Straightforward." Grand Duke Fisablen laughed with abandon. "The last demand is trivial. Sylivia is our family's treasure, and I won't have her suffer the slightest grievance in your household. Here's what I want: send away all your former concubines and illegitimate children — let them leave the Norton family. That way, Sylivia won't feel uncomfortable seeing them."
…(To be continued.)