Chapter 35: Chapter 35

On the first day of the jousting tournament, each participant was scheduled to compete three times.

Unless a match ended instantly with one side being unhorsed in a single clash, scoring points by striking shields or armor required multiple passes, which took quite a long time.

Thanks to that, even though the matches had started fairly early, the sun was already beginning to set by the time all the knights finished their bouts.

Naturally, Shan overwhelmingly defeated his opponents in all of his matches.

Starting with his first opponent, whom he knocked down by striking precisely on the head, he pierced the exposed chest of the second, and brought down the third by thrusting at his shoulder.

“Shan! Shan! Shan!”

“Damn it! I got ruined again because of that Altoan brat!”

“Keep it down, man. Everyone can hear you.”

Each time, the cheers grew a little louder.

Of course, the screams and boos of those who had been ruined by gambling were always louder than the cheers.

The dismissal took place after the host offered a memorial address for the two knights who had regrettably lost their lives.

Although there were various safety measures, casualties occurred every year due to lacking equipment or bad luck, so people accepted it as a matter of course.

After silently paying his respects alongside the others, Shan looked at the banner hanging on one side of the arena.

At the very top of the list hung the name ‘Shan Barendil’.

Even among those who recorded 3 wins and 0 losses, his score was the highest thanks to always felling his enemies in a single strike.

“I expected it, but you were overwhelming.”

At Roden’s words, Shan responded with an embarrassed smile.

With other knights around, saying ‘it wasn’t particularly difficult’ would be impolite, while saying it hadn’t been easy would be a lie.

Right then, Sir Katra approached Shan with a somewhat sheepish expression.

Perhaps today’s matches had not gone very smoothly for him, as several new lance marks had been added to his armor.

“I feel bad asking since I was invited, but do you mind if I bring a few more comrades? Everyone wants to see the cockatrice head.”

“By all means.”

“Thank you!”

“Come to think of it, how did you do today?”

“1 win and 2 losses. It looks like I’ll be eliminated tomorrow. I hope you’ll do your best for my share as well.”

Sir Katra said with a bitter smile.

Since his equipment and skill could not be considered top-tier among the knights gathered here, it was inevitable.

Before leaving, Shan waved his hand once toward the remaining spectators.

As darkness gradually fell, his two eyes glowing green left a deep impression on the audience.

*

When the knights arrived, the Weavers mansion went into an uproar over the unexpected visitors.

Rushing out, Callion bowed deeply and let them inside as if he were a shopkeeper greeting peak season.

“Oh my, what an honor it is for brave knights to visit such a humble place… Quickly, prepare food!”

“Yes, Master!”

Watching the servants hurry about, one of the knights muttered.

“I thought his face looked familiar, and he’s indeed the capital’s merchant guild master. Did you get your armor sponsored here as well?”

“Yes. He’s been sponsoring me ever since I was young. My squire is also the heir to this household.”

“Aha, no wonder he looked a bit old…”

Turning their gazes toward Roden, who was silently leading Shan’s horse inside, the knights nodded with faces of realization.

Interestingly, from then on, the knights’ attitude toward Callion turned noticeably more polite.

Those who had previously paid no attention to Callion’s bowing, as if a gnat were flying around, now greeted him with eye contact or nodded their heads.

Seeing that scene made it clear why Callion had been so obsessed with networking with knights.

Unless one was an eccentric like Darkal, at least this much was necessary to be treated like a human being by arrogant, proud knights.

A moment later, Shan led the knights inside the mansion to where the cockatrice had been decorated.

Seeing the head mounted on the wall, the knights burst into exclamations.

“It really is a cockatrice! From this stony skin to its beak, it’s just as the stories said. It’s not a fake either!”

“The cut surface is severed so neatly…”

“Ah, that was cut off after hunting it. When fighting, I cut closer to the middle.”

“The middle? How? Could you tell us in more detail?”

The more detailed story was shared over dinner together.

As it had to be prepared in a hurry, there were no dishes that required long boiling or cooking; most were quickly grilled or stir-fried foods.

Fortunately, thanks to the chef’s skill, the knights shovelled food into their mouths with satisfaction.

“That was when I entered a certain canyon while exploring the Demonic Realm. Suddenly, the ground rumbled…”

Having already rambled about it several times to the explorers in Shedil City, Shan was able to unfold the story quite fluently.

When he spun the tale of how he had caught the cockatrice, the knights responded enthusiastically.

If they had heard such a story the day before, they would have thought him a boaster, but hadn’t this boy already proven his skill by securing three overwhelming victories in the jousting tournament?

Among the knights gathered here, only one person besides Shan had achieved 3 wins, and even he had barely won after almost losing several times.

“Hunting a cockatrice, it truly makes one’s blood boil!”

“If a similar opportunity arises next time, be sure to call me as well.”

“Hey friend, why would someone who already hunted one alone need a companion now?”

“You never know! Just because you hunted a monster once doesn’t guarantee the second time will go smoothly… Ah, I by no means intend to disregard you, Sir Shan!”

As the knights chatted recklessly, their faces had already turned flushed red.

It was because they had been frantically drinking the wine served alongside the food.

As they became intoxicated like that, fairly confidential stories also began to surface one by one.

“Do you happen to know the purpose of holding this jousting tournament?”

“It’s my first time hearing about it.”

“I happened to hear it passed along, but they say the two princes intend to take those who prove their skills in this tournament as vassals and send them on an expedition to the Demonic Realm.”

“Ah, is it because of that rumor? About His Majesty the King?”

That the King’s health had deteriorated and the two princes were looking for a magic tool to restore it was slowly becoming common knowledge to anyone who ought to know.

At this, Sir Katra looked at Shan and asked.

“What do you plan to do, Sir Shan? I understand you’re a knight-errant, so if you win, will you offer your lance to one of the two princes?”

“Judging by the rumors, it didn’t seem like those gentlemen would accept an Altoan’s lance.”

“Aha…”

At Shan’s answer, the other knights let out a sigh.

Since those who held severe prejudice against Altoans or were Old Faith believers had not come in the first place, everyone present could not help but feel sorry that Shan could not make full use of his extraordinary talent.

“I ought to speak to my lord about it once. It’s unthinkable for a knight with such outstanding talent to wander as a knight-errant simply because he is an Altoan.”

“I’m planning to speak first, so don’t cut in line!”

“What did you say?”

After bickering like that for a short while, before long the dining room became no different from a tavern where drunkards ran wild.

It was a common occurrence for them to talk with their mouths stuffed full of food, spraying crumbs everywhere, or dropping wine bottles and soaking the carpet.

“Ghahaha!”

“Another glass!”

It was a debauched sight hard to believe for people who had to step into a jousting match again tomorrow.

‘Why does it feel like I’m the only one keeping knightly etiquette…?’

Watching that scene, Shan briefly pondered the usefulness of the etiquette lessons he had learned in the past.

Then again, they were acting like this because they were hanging out among fellow knights.

There was likely also a desire to escape from the pressure of having to fight a life-or-death battle right tomorrow.

Sir Katra and the other knights did not collapse on the spot and returned before curfew began.

Callion urged the knights to stay the night, but they all preferred to sleep in a place where there were people to take good care of their armor and horses.

After the thoroughly drunk knights departed while singing, Shan looked at Roden, who wore a weary expression, and asked.

“Was the conversation among the squires fun?”

“Well, everyone treated me like an old man, damn it.”

A knight’s squire was an assistant who supported from the side and a successor being raised as a knight-in-training.

Although there were cases like Shan, who was intensively trained by retired knights like Sir Darkal and did not go through a squire process, it was more common to become a knight after living as a squire like this.

Therefore, the age of such squires was often in their teens.

Even so, Roden was only just twenty years old, so it was hard to see the age gap as enormous, but at the story that he felt left out because he looked so mature for his age, Shan could not help laughing.

“Don’t laugh, man. More importantly, you stink of alcohol. How much did you drink?”

“I don’t know. About seven bottles?”

“For a guy with a small frame, you drink like a fish. How does all that fit into your stomach?”

“Everyone else was eating and drinking about this much, but come to think of it, I felt almost sorry to the elder. Plenty of expensive alcohol was served. Should I not have invited them?”

“Father probably loved it though? Look over there. He’s all smiles.”

Hearing those words, Shan looked over to see Callion giving directions for cleaning up with a bright, beaming expression clearly visible on his face.

It seemed he felt good about being shown a certain degree of respect by the knights thanks to Shan.

“Besides, since he bet a lot of money on you winning at various gambling joints, the profit from that alone will more than cover the cost of tonight’s dinner.”

Since Shan was practically unknown prior to today’s tournament, hardly anyone had bet on him achieving 3 wins.

In such a situation, the servants acting on Callion’s orders had secretly bet on Shan winning all his matches, so the profits were beyond words.

“Well, to be honest, more important than that kind of money is that fewer people will doubt that you hunted a cockatrice after today. Sure, there’ll still be people insisting it’s a lie, but it’s not just one or two who saw the real thing.”

The popularity and reputation built up among knights like this also became an undeniable weapon.

If by any chance royalty or nobles tried to restrict Shan’s rights simply because he was an Altoan, the support of the same knightly class would serve as the most reliable shield.

If the sacred rights of a knight were restricted using race as an excuse, was there any guarantee that they wouldn’t arbitrarily attach other reasons next time?

As the two sat chatting while watching the dining room being cleaned up, a servant approached Callion and informed him that a visitor had arrived.

“Wait, at this hour? It’ll be curfew soon?”

Although baffled, Callion ordered the guest to be let in for now.

This was because the servants mentioned that the visitor was someone who had come by before.

Instead, Roden, who went out to receive the guest in the reception room, called Shan before long.

Seeing the person waiting inside ahead of time, Shan hesitated for a moment with an ‘Ah’ before speaking.

“So, Sir Agon?”

“It’s Kagon!”

The male knight between the princess’s two incompetent guard knights.

The man whom Shan had remembered only in that way flared up and shouted.

He was dressed quite lavishly this time, unlike before when he wore plain clothes for a disguise.

“Ah, yes. Sir Kagon. So what brings you here?”

“The Princess has summoned you… thee.”

Saying so, Kagon tightly closed his eyes for a moment as if he didn’t want to speak those words, before adding.

“Of course, it is not mandatory. She is merely calling you to commend this victory. If you are busy with other matters or tired, you do not have to comply.”

Inwardly, he likely wanted to say, ‘Don’t you dare think of refusing when the Princess calls.’

At any rate, Shan had no particular reason not to go.

Although it ended up being useless because he wasn’t hit even once, thanks to the princess, defensive magic had been cast on his armor.

Thinking that a safety measure was useless just because it wasn’t actually triggered was a fool’s thought.

It was only right to visit and express his gratitude if summoned.

“Then I should go. But is it alright to enter the royal palace in the middle of the night? There’s a curfew as well.”

“The Princess is waiting at a villa outside the royal palace. And how could mere night watchmen dare to stop a knight?”

“Aha.”

*

Shan and Roden followed Kagon, each holding a torch as they walked down the pitch-black night streets.

Of course, Shan could walk around perfectly fine without such a thing, so it was practically half for decoration.

Clicking their wooden clappers, several approaching night watchmen startled at Shan’s green eyes glowing in the dark, before shouting with brightened faces as if realizing something.

“Are you Sir Shan by any chance? That Altoan knight?”

“Ah, yes…”

“I heard you won all your matches on the first day of the jousting tournament! It’s an honor to meet you!”

Befitting a kingdom enthusiastic about knights, whether rumors had already spread, several night watchmen recognized Shan and showed enthusiastic responses.

Of course, there were also those who looked indifferent or hostile, but even they did not openly scold him.

No matter how foolish someone was, they were not stupid enough to provoke a knight standing right in front of them with a sword at his waist… one rumored to have hunted a cockatrice and holding first place in the royal jousting tournament.

“By the way, why at this late hour…”

“We are on our way because a noble personage summoned us. Step aside.”

“Ah, of course! My apologies!”

At Kagon’s words, the night watchmen bowed low and cleared the path.

If mere commoners had been caught wandering around in the middle of the night, they would have been beaten with clubs immediately.

Being able to naturally break rules like this was also the power of social status.

Before long, the princess’s villa they arrived at was located in a district where the capital’s nobles mainly resided.

When Kagon knocked on the door a few times, a servant who saw his face quickly opened the door, let them inside, and slammed it shut.

Opening the door in the living room deeper inside the mansion to greet them was Aran, the princess’s other guard knight.

Princess Cheryn was sitting on a plush chair reading a book by the light of a magic device, with her hair tied up tightly and wearing glasses just like when Shan had first seen her.

“Shan of the Barendil family greets the Princess.”

“Ah, you came! I didn’t expect much since it was late at night. I heard the news. They say you won all three matches overwhelmingly and took first place?”

“Yes…”

“Hearing that news made dubbing you truly worthwhile. I was pleased.”

“It is thanks to your assistance, Princess.”

As Shan answered politely, he raised his head to look at Cheryn, only to flinch despite himself.

It was because her fair, delicate cheek revealed beneath her amethyst glasses was bruised blue and purple.

“Is that…?”

“He threw a temper, claiming I disgraced the royal family’s honor. He doesn’t seem to realize that for a prince to lay hands on his younger sister is a far more disgraceful act.”

Although she did not state it outright, it was not difficult to guess that things had turned out this way because it became known that she had taken Shan as her knight.

Combining her sorrowful smile with her unique decadent appearance gave off a somewhat precarious yet pitiful charm.

Watching this from behind, Roden almost burst into a dry laugh out of utter absurdity despite himself.

‘No, that sly fox…’

Although it looked quite severe on the surface, it was a wound that would have healed in no time if she had simply received a healing miracle from a competent priest directly affiliated with the royal family.

Even if that were not the case, since the princess herself was a skilled mage, she could have personally brewed and ingested or applied a healing potion.

Wasn’t this clearly left behind deliberately so she could appeal to Shan, ‘I ended up like this because I fought hard for your sake’?

Naturally, Shan, who could not even conceive of such trickery, was staring at it with a grave expression.

“Were you struck because of me by any chance?”

“You don’t need to think of it that way. Well, it will heal soon. Let’s stop the uninteresting talk and sit down. The night is late, and for the sake of decorum I cannot host you overnight here, so shouldn’t we spend the little remaining time more enjoyably?”

As Shan and Roden sat across from the princess, before long a maid brought out tea.

However, for some reason, what was inside was not ordinary tea, but blackish water with a brownish tint beneath.

At the liquid’s color, which looked almost like a magical potion, Shan and Roden looked at each other for a moment.

Previously, since the apple pie offered by the princess looked fine on the outside, they had simply eaten it, but no matter how they looked at this, drinking it seemed like it would cause stomach trouble.

‘Is it really okay to drink this?’

‘I’m not so sure…’

Seeing the two of them like that, Princess Cheryn chuckled softly and spoke.

“Is it the first time seeing this for both of you? This is black tea. It’s a specialty of the Southern Continent. It clears the mind and helps in many ways.”

Saying so, the princess added a few spoonfuls of sugar from the accompanying bowl into the tea and drank it.

When they followed suit, it tasted sweet yet bitter and savory… unfamiliar, but not bad at all.

“It’s delicious…”

“I’d like to share some with you when you leave, but unfortunately the quantity isn’t that large. Not much comes even on trade ships from the Southern Continent, so it’s cultivated separately in the royal palace glasshouse, and taking a single harvest takes quite a long time.”

In short, it meant it was just that expensive and precious.

Indeed, if even the son of the merchant guild master didn’t even know of its existence and the princess considered it too precious to share with others, its rarity went without saying.

Drinking another cup of black tea, Princess Cheryn caught the smell of alcohol coming from Shan’s body, wrinkled the bridge of her nose slightly, and spoke.

“I don’t mean to nag, but it’s better to refrain from drinking. Of course it’s bad for adults too, but drinking alcohol at a young age places a heavy burden on the body. I want thee to stay healthy for a long, long time.”

“Ah, yes. I will keep that in mind.”

Having had no awareness that alcohol was bad for the body, Shan was somewhat puzzled but acquiesced.

Although knights like Sir Darkal said that being able to drink well made a real man and a knight, at any rate, when it came to the human body, that mage princess would know better.

“Right. More importantly, was the jousting tournament manageable? Kagon said your victory is almost certain.”

At the princess’s words, Kagon standing behind her cleared his throat.

Apparently, after watching today’s matches, he had reported to the princess how Shan’s skill was.

Instead of playing modestly for no reason, Shan nodded and answered submissively.

“Yes. Unless something unusual happens, I think I will win.”

“Good. Very good…”

Replying in a languid voice, Cheryn snapped the book she was holding shut.

Shan’s answer just now seemed to give her the strength to make a decision she had been hesitating over.

“I mentioned before that there is a method that could completely transform this kingdom, didn’t I?”

“Yes.”

“That method is precisely the compression and division of Mana Stones, and through this, the mass production and miniaturization technology of magic tools. The research has already entered the completion stage, and currently only final verification remains.”

At the princess’s words, the two guards behind her quietly gasped.

As if she had brought up a topic she shouldn’t have.

However, to Shan and Roden, who were laymen regarding magic, they could not intuitively understand what that meant right away.

Anticipating this, Cheryn immediately continued her explanation.

“Do you know the reason why most magic tools used in modern times are relics of the Alto era?”

“Well, I heard it’s because it is impossible to permanently fix magic without Mana Stones.”

Roden, who was beside him, answered instead.

Naturally, all magic required power, but the enchantment magic used by modern mages merely granted temporary power and could not recover power on its own.

That was why modern magic tools were all consumables.

Even so, to secure power by inserting Mana Stones into magic tools, Mana Stones were excessively large and their quantity was also insufficient.

Hadn’t even the cockatrice Mana Stone secured previously been somewhat larger than a human torso?

Even smaller ones mostly exceeded at least the size of a human head, so it was impossible to calculate a way to attach them to things like swords or armor.

Thanks to that, the main use of Mana Stones was merely reinforcing castle walls or gates.

Although technology to create giant battle golems using Mana Stones as a medium was recently being researched, it was still at a stage where its practicality was questioned.

“All of that will change with this research. If Mana Stones can be compressed to the size of a fingernail, we will be able to make magic tools out of all sorts of weaponry and even smaller items. By dividing a single large Mana Stone into hundreds, we can mass-produce magic tools that produce moderate effects.”

An army armed with magic tools mass-produced in that way would subjugate all the monsters of the mountains and fields, while a few knights equipped with powerful magic tools made using multiple Mana Stones could subjugate the large monsters lurking here and there, driving them all out of the Demonic Realm.

Verily, it was the return of the era of magic after a thousand years.

This would be the invention that saved Pendia, and furthermore, saved humanity.

The princess murmured in a dreamlike tone.