Chapter 232

Chapter 232 - Tournament (4)

The Blue Team Eugene belonged to was mostly composed of knights who came from the outside, while the opposing Red Team was mainly natives of Barcia.

Familiarity with real sword tournaments, good armor originating from wealth, Barcia-bred military horses, better horsemanship. Due to various advantages, even though many knights flocked to Eugene, the balance was maintained for the moment.

'How long has it been since I felt this unburdened?'

After striking away a thrusting spear with the flat of his sword, Eugene fed a thrust equally to the openly revealed opponent's chest.

A heavy sensation in his hands. The astonished face of the knight that had already become an afterimage. The dull sound of tumbling as he got knocked away far in the distance.

'No need to care about anyone. This feeling of just needing to focus on my own fight.'

Since some unknown time, it had become natural to fight while being bound by this and that. Because as the subordinates he led increased, he had to care about their safety as well.

Because everyone rubs shoulders together in Moving Castle, he also sees and hears the lives of their families. Thinking of the tears that would flow even if just one subordinate went wrong, there's no way his heart could be at ease.

Even for insignificant battles, he had to set his nerves on edge scanning the entire battlefield. Due to this, his brain was on the verge of being more tired than the muscles in his limbs.

Therefore, an unburdened battle where he can just focus on the enemies charging before his eyes. This moment reminding him of his free knight days wasn't bad.

"I thought the team distribution was too disadvantageous for Count Mayer, but it was a needless worry."

Maria had tried to petition the King to redistribute the teams taking a risk.

Crimson is the color the Barcia nobles love the most. Assigning many outside knights to one place is a common custom, but this tournament was definitely starkly divided.

The one who stopped that was Marcus.

"Eugene's heroic tales do have a feeling of being excessively formidable."

"You saw accurately, Brother. As expected, is there something only visible to fellow knights?"

"Look at what he and his knights are equipped with. Because you'll be able to catch a glimpse of what journeys they went through, what enemies they struck down."

It's not just the Hydra armor. The twin greatswords Eugene wields are treasured swords engraved with the Eastern Empire's unique wave pattern. They were the armaments of the Immortal Knight Order captured in Sicily.

Not only that, his subordinate knights' cloaks, scabbards, surcoats, etc. are also things that cannot be obtained in the market. Every single one is made from rare monster spoils of war.

Kwang!

A roar rang out and a knight with a crushed helmet flailed around.

"Ah, I can't see the front."

It was an impact that would occur when hit by a wooden lance during a jousting match. The sword Eugene swings smashed shields or armor to pieces.

"Those who fell off their horses step out! You're in the way!"

"Damn it! How long do you Sirs think you can hold out?"

The rule is riders fight riders, and those who fell off their horses fight those who fell off their horses. The knights stepping out swallowing their resentment fought battles elsewhere.

However, they couldn't receive much attention. Because the core of Barcia's tournament is mounted combat.

When the knights who drew the 1st priority lots fell to Eugene, the knights of the 2nd priority charged in saying 'Hurrah'. All of them were knocked away by the two raging greatswords.

"Wait! Wait!"

"Fall back! Don't attack rashly everyone!"

Two knights from Roman tried to calm down the same side. They are renowned individuals who graduated from the House of the Black Lion Knights and established the great achievement of hunting a Troll. Their armor padded with Troll leather bought much admiration and jealousy at the campsite.

"If you won't fight, step aside! Because the path is blocked due to you Sirs!"

"Retreating at the vanguard is un-knight-like. Aren't you ashamed acting so arrogant saying you caught a Troll?"

The Barcia knights criticized the unsightly behavior contrary to their arrogant appearance at the campsite. However, the Black Lion knights endured the humiliation and shouted.

"Listen to the sound it makes when the Count swings his sword, I say!"

"That's a sound made when a Troll swings an axe! Don't try to meet it whether with sword or shield!"

You see as much as you know. Being knights with Troll hunting experience, they could tell that striking away or blocking Eugene's sword strikes was a crazy act.

Although they dug traps and attacked with fire and arrows together with a company-sized mercenary group during the Troll hunt, they can't even do that right now.

However, the knights are still in a situation where their judgment is clouded by desire for honor and the excitement of battle.

"Opening!"

A person who successfully approached using other knights as sacrifices formed a smile of triumph and attacked Eugene.

The ignorantly large twin greatswords are superior in destructive power and range, but if one gets close securely, they become greatly disadvantageous.

However, Eugene simply received the sword strike with his long crossguard. Immediately, the Zweihander held in his other hand flew tearing through the wind and strongly struck the knight.

"Keuheok!"

The knight struck in the flank rolled over and over on the ground.

During mounted combat where movements are restricted, two greatswords flying drawing different trajectories. At a twin sword technique accomplishing attack and defense simultaneously, knights who were said to be exceptional collapsed helplessly.

Puhihihing-!

"Sorry. Sorry. Calm down."

Eugene patted his staggering military horse. Having become too accustomed to Might recently, he unknowingly placed a load on the military horse that it couldn't withstand.

Growl-!

Might, who was watching lying down in the spectator seats, snorted as if to say 'Look at that'. Out of consideration for their reunion after a long time, the guy is together with the Pierce siblings.

"You can't do that. You have to cheer for the Count."

As Maria stroked his neck, Might softened immediately. A cold yet affectionate touch. At the nostalgic tactile sensation he felt when he was a suckling infant in the past, even the ferocious beast's heart settled down.

Finally, the Barcia knights discarded the thought of stubbornly clinging to 1-on-1s.

"Damn it! That's not a human."

"W-Was it not thanks to the magic axe?"

A creature swept up in narcissistic fanaticism differing in meaning from priests is a knight. Sheepishly admitting that there is a knight overwhelmingly superior to oneself is a difficult matter.

Therefore, there were also knights who believed Eugene built his great achievements with the help of magic weapons.

- Carrying a flaming axe in the night, he sliced everything!

The testimony left by a survivor of the Louis family expeditionary force grew that belief even further.

"Everyone please acknowledge it a bit! Just the human himself is strong!"

"Both wings already... At this rate we'll be surrounded."

While Eugene firmly held out, the tribal knights jumped into both wings and were collapsing the balance of the battle.

"..."

"..."

The Barcia knights looked into each other's eyes. A will they were reluctant to say with words was shared through their gazes.

'Let's surround and launch a pincer attack!'

'If we aim for his back during a melee, no matter how much of a Count he is, he wouldn't have any particular way out, right?'

Surrounding and tormenting one person is absolutely not an honorable action, but besides that, they truly couldn't see a way to break through those twin greatswords.

"His Majesty the King is watching. If we can't strike down the Count here, this is truly Barcia's shame. Let's think only of victory right now!"

At those words, Eugene looked towards the direction the King was. Because indeed, bringing too much shame at another country's event seems like it would be a troublesome matter too.

However, the King actually has an excited reaction. He seems to find it thrilling that the local nobles who severely didn't listen to him usually are getting battered soundly. Spitting out grape skins, he even waved his hand at Eugene.

Even at that moment, the two wings placed in numerical inferiority were being completely shattered by the tribal knights' concert tour.

"This bastard! Where do insignificant barbarians who ran around half-naked shooting bows act like knights?"

The Barcia knight who deflected the glaive's blade with his shield stuck close quickly. For polearms, strength drains once the opponent digs into the range.

"Today I'll taste Dark Elf blood!"

Naturally, biting the neck is not allowed. However, tasting the weapon stained with the opponent's blood during a tournament was implicitly permitted.

There were many Kings who tried to ban this considering it unrefined, but they faced immense backlash every time.

- Your Majesty! This is a tradition passed down since our ancestors' ancestors' time.

- I fear the knights' loyalty devoted to the Royal House might waver. Please withdraw your decision.

The knights did not intend to let their legal opportunity to taste the blood of the noble be taken away. When the Lords who received those petitions united and pressured the King, he had no choice but to give up.

To the high-speed thrust refined over 30 years, the tribal knight responded in an unexpected manner.

"Heup!"

He lay down almost horizontally on the back of the horse.

"What?"

The moment the face of the Barcia knight who thrust into thin air became dyed with bewilderment.

Swish!

Slicing above the lying Dark Elf, the glaive's blade flew in. Another tribal knight running over had coordinated it to aim for the opening.

A time-difference attack inflicted before he could retrieve his thrusting sword. This was absolutely impossible to react to.

The chain protecting the Barcia knight's wrist snapped and blood splattered. Wielding a polearm with both hands taking the momentum of a running horse, its destructive power was immense.

As the tribal knight who raised his body in the meantime counterattacked, the Barcia knight fell off his horse with a scream.

If the distance is far, selfish offense and defense utilizing the glaive's range. If the distance narrows, sophisticated consecutive cooperative attacks while laying their bodies to the side or back.

'These guys are not ordinary!'

'To think the likes of barbarians possessed such spearman-ship.'

It is true that everyone focused only on Eugene because his fame was so amazing. However, the subordinate knights were not ordinary folks once they actually faced them either.

"Bruno of the Beber family!"

"Luden."

A Vampire wearing a helmet with white tassels and a Dark Elf wearing Hydra armor charged towards each other.

Right before colliding, Luden laid his body horizontally while clinging to the horse's torso holding on only with his leg strength. An attack from a bizarre angle soaring from bottom to top in that state.

"Keuk!"

The Barcia knight who couldn't block properly got slashed near his armpit. It's an area hard to slash in a general mounted duel.

"Number 46! Exit immediately!"

The judge observing with hawk-like eyes immediately called out the number attached to Bruno's breastplate and gave an exit judgment. The armpit is a vital spot where an artery passes. The moment blood flows, it's an unconditional disqualification.

"These are the knights of a nomadic race."

"It looks like they're dancing."

The spectators stared blankly at that splendid yet powerful combat prowess.

"We can't drag the time any longer! The flanks will collapse soon!"

The knights gathered in front of Eugene ran their horses enduring the dishonor. They couldn't just lose like this without producing any results.

"Charge! Charge!"

"Count Excellency! We acknowledge your powerful martial prowess, but that arrogance of sending all your subordinates away will bring you defeat!"

The resolve to at least drop Eugene even if they lose. Doing so, the desire to at least taste a single drop of the hero's blood leaked out from between their lips.

"He's not alone."

Homi, who was waiting without presence at a slightly distanced place, approached by Eugene's side. She is holding Last Autumn and a shotel respectively in both hands.

Instead of receiving knight lessons, Homi is someone who ate the heart left by the spirit of the forest and absorbed the memories of nature.

To her, weapons were a mantis's scythe, a bird of prey's talons, and a beast's claws. Therefore, she preferred hook-shaped weapons instead of a typical sword.

While two Barcia knights collapsed to Eugene's greatsword, one succeeded in approaching.

Jjaeng!

The sword he reached out was caught between Homi's two blades.

"Eeeek!"

The knight used all his strength, but the sword didn't budge. As Homi applied force, the aether blade body dug into the steel sword and snapped it in two with a 'ttuk'.

The knight holding the broken sword with an absurd face was hit by the Zweihander flying in immediately and was sent flying.

Leaving his back to Homi, Eugene battered and caught the knights as they came.

"These damn bastards! We lost because of you guys!"

"What are you doing when many of you attacked one person and you're still dragging it on?"

The completely enveloped knights of the two wings shouted in fury.

"No, you couldn't endure that brief amount of time and collapsed?"

"Are you even calling that words! Who's fault is this all?"

The knights who were facing Eugene got angry at the wings collapsing too quickly even if they were pushed by numbers. Naturally, the knights receiving the resentment of the thief turning on the master were only flabbergasted.

The tribal knights who shattered the left and right while touring completed an encirclement net from the rear. Thanks to the wide range of the glaives, they could build a solid square formation even with a small number.

"Count Excellency. I have heard an overabundance of your great name in Roman. Please grant me the honor to fight side by side."

"I will gladly accept those feelings."

Eugene, who was fighting defensively, switched to the offensive together with the outside knights. The Barcia knights were sandwiched from both sides and annihilated.

"In the name of the King, I declare the end of the tournament! Everyone lower your weapons!"

The King stood up and shouted. In a Barcia tournament prone to overheating, timing to cut it off is important. Bringing resentment if too early and taking curses if too late were the same.

"I authorize entering the arena, so attendants collect the injured! Brave knights, prove the fighting spirit you couldn't fully show with your drinking capacity at the banquet!"

Like war, a tournament is also a winner-takes-all stage.

The Red Team knights, who collapsed without tactics or anything trying to aim for the greatest glory, had dejected faces.

On the other hand, the Blue Team knights who achieved an unprecedented great victory hugged each other and rejoiced in victory.

Passionate cheers and applause from the spectators poured down upon them.

* * *

The banquet hosted by the King was incredibly luxurious. Everywhere you looked, fatty meat was piled up like a mountain, and expensive spices were poured unsparingly so it felt like one would get drunk just from the scent.

"Thanks to the Gods! I have seen various tournaments until now, but never has it been as thrilling as today. It feels like the stress built up from government affairs all this while has blown cleanly away."

At the special seats where the most noble individuals gathered, the King smiled brightly over his entire face. He patted Eugene's shoulder as if meeting a longtime old friend.

"I am glad you viewed it favorably."

"Now now, please taste some of this veal. Wherever you go for a banquet in the world, it will be hard to find tastier meat than this. I am not saying this because I am the King of Barcia."

He even personally presented a plate filled with meat, it seems he was quite pleased.

And the King's pride wasn't an illusion. The taste of the meat is fantastic. Excluding the Cockatrice meat he ate in Khazad-dor, it's the highest level. There was definitely a reason for it to be so.

'Marbling?'

Because it was the first ribeye Eugene tasted in this world.

"Brave Count. Please do not view us the same as foreign nobles who tear at tough meat. The cows we raise grow up heavily eating beans, wheat, and barley since they are young."

"...I am just amazed at Barcia's affluence."

The livestock industry of this era is naturally fundamentally hay rearing. However, Barcia, equipped with expansive spaces and good quality fertile soil, astoundingly achieved grain fattening.

At that crazy luxury, the priests of the religious orders foamed at the mouth and gave sermons, but the Barcia nobles responded by picking their ears. Because even if they heard they were unfaithful, they couldn't give up the ribeye.

"Meat is meat, but the true prize for the victor lies separately."

As the King grinned, Maria with a flushed face brought a small bottle.

Receiving the victory from the knight who won the tournament, and gracefully throwing a flower crown. This is the culture of noble ladies commonly used in all countries.

However, the noble young ladies of Barcia gifted something else to the knight instead of a flower crown.

- Huh? Wine?

- It seems you didn't know our culture.

Because Valda couldn't come, Eugene offered his victory to Maria. But to present the wine she made herself at the banquet instead of a flower crown was a little burdening.

Both Marcus and Maria had joyful looks, and retrieving a victory already offered is the worst dishonor to a lady.

Jjoreureu.

Eugene with a reluctant face received the wine poured by Maria in his glass.

The King watching that appearance said.

"I know the Count has a connection with the Morad family. Those people blabber as if their wine is the best in the world, but it's an absurd story. The only ones who can capture true sweetness are us."

"Your Majesty's love for your country is truly beautiful."

Whether it's knights, things to eat, or things to drink, to the King who says theirs are the best for everything, Eugene chimed in roughly.

"Count. The victory you gifted is the greatest honor of my life. Please."

"I will drink it gratefully. It's rewarding to have fought hard and won."

"Oh..."

On the other hand, towards Maria, he nodded with a warm smile containing sincerity.

Kkulkkeok.

"?!"

And this time too, he realized the King's assertion wasn't an empty claim. The flavor raging the moment he put it in his mouth was clearly more than the Morad family's wine.

"It's real?"

"Hahaha! What did I say?"

The King laughed boisterously and gulped down his own glass.

"Barcia's noble women are special. Their feet do not sweat and their body temperature is cold. Thus, during the process of stepping on and crushing the grapes, you can prevent sundry things from multiplying."

The people of this era did not know about yeast due to the limits of medical development. However, they knew from experience that a controlled environment is essential for good fermentation.

"For me, I just cannot understand the Roman or Gord nobles. Heavens, how they keep drinking that exceedingly filthy dishwater! Think about it. That kind of thing made with warm, sweaty, damp, smelly feet..."

"Y-Your Majesty! Please calm yourself."

Drunk on liquor and pride, the King, perhaps forgetting the knight in front of him is a human, got even more excited and blabbered.

"Keuheum!"

Only after the retainers whose face colors changed gave signals did he finally stop his words.

"Your Majesty's words truly make sense. As expected, Barcia's wine is the best."

"Right? You are truly a noble who knows gastronomy, hahaha!"

Just playing along to this tune for Eugene was nothing at all.

"Please receive another glass."

Jjoreureuk.

In an instant, Maria poured into the empty glass with a joyful look.

- It truly is a demeanor befitting a divine beast that heroically carries around a hero. Look here! Grant this loyal military horse proper food.

Might also excitedly enjoyed gastronomy, bestowed a full bucket of blood curds by the King. The guy liked it enough to completely forget the sadness of not being able to participate in the tournament.

'These guys really have an insane amount of money.'

Enormous agricultural lands no place else on the continent can emulate. Eugene was to the point of being sick of the luxury based on that wealth. They weren't calling themselves nobles among nobles while looking down on other countries for no reason.