V. O, Glory of the Tournament! (11)
V. O, Glory of the Tournament! (11)
"Oh, who's this? Isn't it the Britas knight who suffered a pathetic defeat?"
"Shut your mouth."
"Typical words from a loser."
"...It was a mistake. I won't lose next time."
"What next time does a loser have?"
"Damn it! The group combat is still left!"
Keldric looked at the bickering Sir Alan and Sir Henri with exasperation.
It was true that Sir Henri was mercilessly teasing the pathetically defeated Sir Alan, but Henri himself had been just about even in the mud duel.
Even if Sir Henri had stepped up, he wouldn't have won. The knight Sir Alan faced was simply that strong.
"Oh dear. Quite a loud voice for a loser. Aren't you even a little sorry toward me or Sir Keldric?"
"..."
Sir Alan shut his mouth.
As the mocking Sir Henri beside him had noted, Keldric and Sir Henri, out of consideration for the face and honor of their acquaintance Sir Alan, had bet a few silver coins on him to win.
And Sir Alan had returned after a splendid defeat.
The silver Keldric and Sir Henri had put up would have gone entirely to those who had bet on the opposing knight.
It was fortunate the amount wasn't large; one choice like that could have been irreversible.
"...I'm sorry."
Sir Alan, wearing a gloomy expression, came up to Keldric and apologized. Keldric nodded awkwardly.
"Oh, well... I don't mind. I didn't lose much anyway."
"I mind! You bungling Britas knight! What about my money!"
"Argh! That's why I said I'm sorry!"
As Sir Alan and Sir Henri began scuffling again, Keldric looked toward the field where the fourth match was about to begin.
"Indeed, a lot of skilled men seem to have gathered."
"Yes. Sir Alan seemed to fight rather well himself, though."
As Alisa had said, Sir Alan was at least a knight of the mid-upper tier.
Having won tournaments several times in the Kingdom of Britas, his skill was more or less guaranteed.
However, his opponent was bad.
Keldric replayed in his mind the movements of the knight who had just jousted against Sir Alan.
He was a knight who drove his horse roughly. Sir Alan had moved his horse with fluid grace through the most meticulous maneuvering, but the knight he faced simply had no care for such things, charging swiftly and thrusting his lance straight out.
The result was a painful defeat for Sir Alan.
Keldric watched as Sir Alan, tears welling in his eyes, fumbled and pulled out his coin purse.
"Still, it's fortunate the opposing knight didn't demand your destrier."
"That much is true..."
By custom, a knight defeated in the tournament owed the victorious knight a certain amount of compensation, and there were three main choices left for it.
One was to surrender the destrier he had ridden to the victorious knight, another was to give the armor he was wearing to the victorious knight.
And the last was monetary compensation, the option likely chosen by a knight reluctant to part with either.
To a knight, a destrier was not merely a means of transport.
A well-bred and well-trained destrier was a companion the knight would spend half a lifetime with, a symbolic presence representing the knight's honor and the prestige of his house.
Giving up such a destrier easily just for losing once in a tournament was far too wretched a choice for knights of great greed and pride.
Even the knight who fought and won understood this, so the standard practice was for the victor not to take the loser's horse but to accept armor or money instead.
Even if one was the loser, if they had contended together and submitted to the outcome, their honor was respected.
The public also had no great objection to it.
A knight who had seized the glory of victory honorably extending mercy was, in its own way, a chivalrous sight.
Thanks to that, while part of their armor or money was handed over as compensation, no knight had yet appeared who had taken the opposing knight's destrier.
"Damn. I hadn't planned on spending money here."
"At least they let you reduce it. Don't grumble, just go and hand it over."
Keldric looked pityingly at Sir Alan, who wore a teary face as he walked away clutching his coin purse.
The sum Sir Alan had to pay the victorious knight was a whole fifteen Florin gold coins.
Keldric felt it was a painful expenditure for a single defeat, but it was still better than losing a well-bred destrier or the armor he'd need to wear and fight in immediately.
'How much do I have?'
Keldric roughly calculated his current assets.
The Ducat gold coins he had brought when he left his house were still entirely intact, and the Florin gold coins and Grasen silver coins he had earned from slaying the Rock Troll or helping Sir Herman were also considerable.
Even if he lost, he had the means to pay the forfeit sufficiently. But if he was defeated twice in a row in this state, it was clear Keldric would go broke.
Of course, Keldric had no such worry.
"It'll be your turn soon. Will you be all right?"
Sir Alan, who had returned after paying the money at some point, asked with a haggard expression. Keldric's answer to that was already decided.
"I can't say for certain, but I am confident. Just trust me."
"Haha... Even empty words feel reassuring. Goodness, I'll have to earn some money for a while."
Yet Sir Alan looked like he didn't quite believe him. More than that, his sense of loss over the money that had just left his hands seemed greater.
"Sir Keldric. You're all I have to believe in now. Please, spare my purse!"
"You could just bet on me."
"No, how could I bet my entire fortune? That's insane!"
Sir Henri was better than him, but he too showed no decisive spirit like boldly throwing down his entire fortune either.
This was all because of a lack of renown.
No matter how large Keldric's build or how strong he looked, knights who were merely big and brutishly strong had consistently been slaughtered at tournaments by the hands of knights displaying finesse.
Since he had never demonstrated his true skill in front of Sir Henri and Sir Alan, it was natural that the two couldn't readily trust Keldric.
Keldric clicked his tongue.
It was true he had no experience in the joust, but his pride couldn't help being slightly wounded all the same.
"Alisa. What will you do?"
"I already took all my money out."
Inside the purse Alisa held, piles of silver coins were shining.
It was practically the sum total of Alisa's entire fortune scraped together.
"...It's a bit awkward for me to say this, but will you be all right?"
"I can't easily imagine Sir Keldric losing."
Unlike Sir Henri or Sir Alan, Alisa, who had properly witnessed Keldric fight, intended to bet most of her money on Keldric without hesitation.
Keldric nodded. Alisa must have spent some time as a mercenary wizard as well, and she was likely determined to stake the money she had saved through that hardship.
If so, he could not fail to live up to that expectation.
"I'll head down now."
"Sir Keldric. I'll be hoping for your victory."
"Whatever happens, just fill my purse up nice and full."
"Sir Keldric. I wish you fortunes of war."
With the encouragement of the three, Keldric, his helmet tucked under his arm, left the stands and headed for the waiting chamber.
This was Keldric's first joust. As a rule, no matter how great a person, nerves are bound to cause a mistake in something experienced for the first time.
But Keldric was different. Having already watched the other knights' jousts to some degree, Keldric had roughly gotten the gist of it simply from what he'd seen.
On the way to the waiting chamber, he spotted a servant collecting gambling money, so Keldric approached him and handed over a purse full of coins.
"Are they now preparing for the fifth match?"
"Ah, Sir Knight. Yes. Will you be wagering on the fifth match?"
"No. I wish to wager on the sixth match. Is that possible?"
"Yes, it is. We are taking wagers up to the seventh match. Which honored lord knight of the sixth match will you place your money on?"
"I am a participant in the sixth match. I intend to bet on myself."
The servant's eyes widened.
Not only was the purse Keldric handed over heavy, but his calm demeanor, free of excitement or arrogance, was difficult to gauge.
"Is it not allowed?"
"Ah, no. It is possible. Might I dare ask the name and house of the lord knight?"
"God be with you. I am Keldric of House Bellaf."
Keldric of House Bellaf. The pen in the literate servant's hand elegantly wrote Keldric's name down on the parchment.
"Honored Sir Keldric of House Bellaf. Though all has not yet been tallied, I shall inform you of the current payout for Sir Keldric's victory."
"How many times?"
"If Sir Keldric should be victorious, the payout... is, is six times."
Six times. That was an enormous sum. Keldric would be able to make a fortune from a single wager.
The payout might decrease once wagering on the sixth match officially began, but conversely, it might increase as well.
"Understood. Wager it on me."
"Understood. The waiting chamber is over there. May the glory of victory be with the honored Sir Keldric."
"Thank you."
As he headed to the waiting chamber guided by the servant, Keldric slowly took deep breaths to calm his heart, which had begun to beat faster.
'I must decide it in the first charge.'
Though he couldn't be sure, he would not be easily defeated.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
"The knight of the Yellow Rapeseed Team to take the field for the sixth match is the faithful Sir Bruno of House Jaunben!"
Cheers rang out. Applause and acclamation poured down.
The aftermath caused the firmly packed ground to tremble slightly, and soon the cheering grew even louder.
The knight Keldric would face, a knight named Sir Bruno of House Jaunben, had entered the field.
Beyond the latticework gate before him, Keldric glared at Sir Bruno's armor gleaming under the blazing sunlight.
From the view through his helmet, that was all he saw. Keldric had nothing else to pay attention to.
"Sir Keldric. You must prepare now."
At the servant's words, Keldric nodded without a word.
The tournament lance in his hand and his armor had no issues either.
Boreas, excited by the cheers ringing out, snorted roughly, spattering saliva.
Keldric scratched Boreas's golden mane vigorously. It was an action he always took to calm Boreas down.
"His valiant opponent from the Blue Dragoon Team, the honorable Sir Keldric of House Bellaf!"
At last the gate went up. Keldric gently kicked Boreas's side with his foot.
"Let's go. Boreas."
As if answering, Boreas tossed its head and stepped toward the field with lively strides.
Amid cheers pouring from every direction, the shadow receded and Keldric's can-like helmet gleamed refreshingly in the blinding sunlight.
The cheers died down a little, and far off across the field, Sir Bruno lowered the visor on his helmet.
Since Keldric's helmet had no visor, he immediately tucked the lance under his arm and set his stance.
The lance, raised diagonally toward the sky, fixed into a menacing shape.
Keldric realized that his breath was gradually becoming rougher.
Though he had fought many life-or-death battles until now, there had been no day as tense as today.
Perhaps it was because of the countless spectators. Perhaps it was because he had staked nearly his entire fortune.
Perhaps, it was because Keldric was, after all, a knight.
"Knights! It is time to prove your martial prowess and courage! Fight for the honor of the houses and lords to whom you belong!"
At the same moment as Burggraf Kuno's shout, Keldric kicked Boreas's side hard.
Responding to the signal, Boreas roughly struck the ground and began charging, spattering saliva. The fierce sound of wind rushing past whipped against Keldric's ears.
With his eyes widened by excitement, Keldric focused on Sir Bruno racing from the opposite side.
The cheers ringing around began to grow faint.
Now, only a single knight remained before Keldric.
The muscles in his legs, stomach, arms, shoulders, and entire body writhed and surged.
It was the same for Boreas, and soon the ivory hair of the sweat-soaked Boreas rippled like waves along the grain of its muscles.
The distance closed to arm's reach. Keldric roughly heaved the breath he had been laboring to control.
Boreas too, following its master, expelled its breath like a beast. As if they had become one body, the two charged like wild animals moving on instinct alone.
'Now!'
Keldric's senses, honed sharper than ever, screamed at him to aim his lance now.
The motion, cut sharply as if by a machine, was without a single extraneous movement. Keldric's lance-tip was aimed at Sir Bruno, and Sir Bruno's lance too was more or less aimed at Keldric.
Yet, 'more or less aimed' and 'perfectly aimed' were worlds apart.
The distance closed to right before their eyes, and the instant Sir Bruno's wide-open eyes came into Keldric's view.
"Hrgh—!"
Crack!!
The lance shattered.
It wasn't merely broken; the fragments scattered in all directions, completely smashed to pieces.
The problem was that it didn't end there, as Sir Bruno's body was slammed straight into Keldric's shoulder.
"Keuhg?!"
Keldric's only fault was his large build.
And if one had to point out Sir Bruno's fault, it was that he hadn't been knocked flying fast after being struck by the lance.
Keldric had also been hit in the shoulder by Sir Bruno's lance, but instead of dodging he had simply bashed it away with his shoulder.
And that became the cause.
"Urgh...!"
Sir Bruno, practically bouncing off his horse, tumbled numerous times across the ground.
The sight was pathetic, but a man being sent flying as if launched from a mangonel just from being slammed by a shoulder was a bizarre thing.
"...?"
Keldric, brushing off the shattered wooden splinters, stared dazedly at Sir Bruno, who was groaning far from his horse.
It felt like something had struck hard, but rather than Keldric's shoulder dislocating, it was his opponent who had been sent flying.
"...The glorious victor of the sixth match is the honored Sir Keldric of House Bellaf! May God cradle the vanquished!"
While Keldric stood there dazed, belated cheers blanketed the field.
Having received them vacantly, Keldric broke into a broad smile and raised his lance high.
"Waaaa—!"
"Sir Keldric! Sir Keldric!"
"Good heavens! What in the world is that strength...!"
"Knight of Superhuman Strength!"
Shouts, cheers, encouragement, and praise flew from every direction.
Since good was good, Keldric for the moment savored this brief instant of glory, even though Sir Bruno, lying on the ground far off and twitching, still hadn't properly gotten up.
With just a single charge, Keldric had obtained everything he wanted.
'Sweet.'
And among that, there was also an enormous payout.