Chapter 98

Chapter 98 - Gord (5)

Tournaments in Gord are held far more frequently than in other countries. It is due to their naturally pugnacious national character and because it's easier to host since it's infantry combat.

Even to the crowd who had seen many more tournaments than other countries, today's match was special. Because there had never been a time so fiery and full of spectacles.

"The gods will also be pleased with this bountiful offering."

The Bishop seated together smiled in satisfaction.

Generally, clergymen dislike people fighting for amusement, but this is Gord.

An excellent tournament was seen as an extension of a ritual offered to the gods, going beyond human amusement.

Especially when a strong warrior plays an active role like today, yet there are no fatalities and little blood flows, it was evaluated as the highest-grade offering.

"At this point, it seems we have given the victors enough time."

Count Andar said.

The victors hoicking their weapons up while receiving plenty of cheers from the audience had satisfied faces. It was a right they deserved to enjoy.

'Does that guy not feel much inspiration?'

Eugene, who would actually take the greatest glory, had a calm face with the iron staff slung over his shoulder.

"I leave it to you."

"Please leave it to me."

As Count Andar gestured with his eyes, the Bishop stood up and shouted to everyone.

"The blessings of the gods will be with the warriors who brightened today's match. The match has now ended, so leave all your unresolved competitive spirit and excitement in the arena. A prepared banquet awaits you!"

Following the enjoyable spectacle, cheers erupted from all over at the expectation of free alcohol and food.

Eugene found it puzzling. Declaring the end of a tournament is a right tied to the authority of the host. No matter how much they respect the Bishop, it was hard to understand yielding it.

When Eugene asked Badel, he answered in a much more polite tone than before the match.

"Today's match ended exceptionally cleanly. Usually, several times more blood flows, and then several times more sweat and curses erupt anew."

Normally, a fierce battle would be in full swing around this time, reaching its climax.

Knights rolling around everywhere engaging in physical brawls, and people with broken bones in several places groaning as they get carried out.

"The audience might be entertained, but it is not uncommon for the participants to have piled-up resentment even after the match ends."

Hearing this far, Eugene roughly guessed.

"Meaning the host could take the brunt of the resentment if they carelessly declared the end. Like the saying that the one breaking up a fight gets punched."

"Yes. Even if it's less so now, when the two peoples had just merged in this land, there were even cases where the host received a challenge for a duel after incorrectly declaring the end."

It was fitting for a neighborhood evaluated as the most barbaric among the civilized countries of the continent.

"So clergymen fell in charge of the ending to evade that?"

"Because no matter how angry they are, there is no crazy bastard who would challenge a clergyman to a duel."

Badel laughed while looking at the clean floor without any particular bloodstains.

"You'll understand if you observe other tournaments here, but today really ended like gentlemen."

With those words, Eugene and Badel waved their hands at each other and parted ways. Once the Bishop declared the end, warriors possessed the obligation to leave the arena quickly.

In a way, it might be fortunate that there was the common threat of Barcia.

A bellicose national character, predator instincts, and conflict between native and newly risen nobles. It seemed to have as many inherent problems as Roman to be seen as a single mass.

'Is this a good thing for me, then?'

For an outsider like Eugene, it couldn't get any better than this.

A perfectly stable country is that united and exclusive to foreign powers, but in an atmosphere like this, someone would reach out their hand for their own benefit.

* * *

Aisha took off her white gloves covering up to her elbows. The match was so exciting just to watch that it felt unpleasant being soggy with sweat.

"Thank you."

"Not at all, Milady."

After washing her hands with water poured from a pitcher by her maid, she asked her father.

"Who will you decide on for the victor?"

Count Andar had respected the intentions of the co-hosts and permitted the unbalanced team compositions.

In exchange, he received a valuable right, which was the priority in selecting the victor.

"Normally I would have given it to Sir Badel, but there would be an uproar if I did that this time."

"Naturally. It would probably create a lot of gossip, wouldn't it?"

Already, the atmosphere was as if everyone, regardless of whether they were noble, knight, or commoner, had confirmed who the victor was.

Eugene's divine majesty of sweeping away the knights like autumn leaves falling while swinging his massive iron staff like a storm. Mentioning another victor was practically a joke.

Above all, the other two Counts who were co-hosts simply agreed, saying, "If it is Sir Eugene, who could harbor complaints?"

That was also tied to the issue of face, separate from the skills shown in the match. Because it hurt their stomachs less to have a foreign knight receive the glory of victory rather than a Clear Stream knight.

Thus, the victor was decided as Eugene.

"Thank you for delivering the good news."

The clerks who visited Eugene's quarters to announce the happy occasion were surprised by an unexpected sight.

"What is the matter?"

"Ah, it is nothing. Congratulations once again on your victory. We will send someone the day before to inform you of the protocol for the award ceremony. It is not complicated, so learning it briefly will suffice."

In the comfortable room personally allocated by Count Andar, about 20 paintings were hung.

'Does he like paintings?'

'It's a bit peculiar for a brave knight's tastes.'

They weren't works depicting popular recent myths, nor were they portraits for ornamental purposes or paintings of battlefields.

They were landscape paintings capturing the natural environment as it is. Some paintings gave the clerks a feeling they had seen them somewhere, as if real nearby locations had been painted.

"If you happen to be interested in paintings, shall we make a reservation at the city's art gallery?"

"It is fine. I will just gratefully receive the thought."

Eugene wasn't particularly interested in art. He just gathered paintings because he needed them.

As the clerks left, Rex approached Eugene.

"How are they? We filtered and gathered plausible ones from what was in the market, though."

"This won't do. The artists' intentions seem too heavily included. The depictions are too exaggerated, hazy, or dreamlike."

It is not absolutely necessary for the owner to have personally visited a place for the Moving Castle to descend.

Because the subject moving is not Eugene. From ancient times, the Moving Castle had already traveled across the world and remembered various locations.

The important thing is for its Lord, Eugene, to strongly and clearly visualize the destination.

A painting depicting an exact likeness of an actual location would allow Eugene to draw out the castle's memories and enable teleportation without having to visit it.

"Should we directly hire artists and supervise them from the side to paint as expected?"

"We have no choice but to try that."

Eugene had a few purposes for coming to Gord.

First was participating in the tournament to obtain massive prize money.

Second was conducting preliminary scouting to teleport the Moving Castle.

Other knights would be full of thoughts to expand their connections while enjoying the banquets since the tournament was over, but for Eugene, it was time to do real work from now on.

* * *

A tournament was both bread and circuses provided to the masses and a market for power holders to recruit new talents.

During the time it took to select the victor and hold the award ceremony, the nobles dispatched people to investigate the knights who were active in the match.

Details on their family backgrounds, economic situations, whether they were married, etc.

It was their specialty to win over a knight in debt with sponsorships and tie a promising knight with a suitable spouse to pull them into their families.

The target they inquired about most intensively was naturally Eugene. During that process, the nobles learned a surprising fact.

"A Moving Castle? The one that supposedly popped out in northern Roman?"

"Yes. A castle that appeared suddenly on the plains in Rostock and vanished is said to be in the forest north of Bonyard right now. We confirmed the testimonies of the laborers who have been there. They said there is a massive ice storage inside."

"It wouldn't be a false rumor, right? Lower-class folks tend to exaggerate a lot, after all."

"It is certain since it's information obtained by even bribing the merchant guild there."

Being close to Bonyard, the legend of the Moving Castle was well-known even to the nobles of southern and eastern Gord.

Even without that, it had recently been noisy with rumors that the castle had actually appeared. To think its master had participated in the tournament.

"There was a good reason his martial prowess seemed as if bestowed by the gods."

The ridiculous divine majesty shown in the match became rather understandable. If he is someone chosen by a legendary artifact, he must be that special of an existence.

"How about everyone heading to that forest leveraging this opportunity? The distance also happens to be close."

"Won't we make a useless trip if the castle vanishes while doing that? Since the lord happens to be here, we should seek permission."

Nobles, who loved entertainment more than anyone, were eager but had to endure it. By custom, they couldn't carelessly contact Eugene before the victor's award ceremony ended.

Count Andar was also equally shocked hearing the situation. That was directly reflected in the victor's award ceremony as well.

* * *

Amidst the splendid music of the bands and the protocol of the honor guard, Eugene stood alone before Count Andar.

As he tried to kneel on one knee as he had learned beforehand, the Count personally stopped him.

"There is no need for that. A nod is sufficient."

"If that is what you wish, Count."

To the puzzled Eugene, Count Andar wore a seemingly regretful expression.

"You are quite mischievous too. Shrinking back despite knowing how great a meaning possessing the Moving Castle holds."

Eugene realized the rumors had spread in Gord only then.

"I didn't particularly intend to hide it. I didn't even gag those going in and out of the castle, after all. I merely felt no need to go around prattling about it with my own mouth."

'This is quite a mouth-watering fellow.'

Count Andar began coveting the knight before him in earnest.

If it were another noble, they would have gone around boasting of an achievement that would go down in history, but he didn't do so at all. Just as he was calm despite enjoying victory in the tournament.

He was a knight with cold blood flowing, exactly matching his first impression from the trial by combat. And in Gord, a knight having cold blood wasn't particularly an insult.

Aisha, beautifully dressed up, brought a splendid flower crown and placed it on Eugene's head.

"I thank you for showing a majestic match and bestowing honor to the first tournament you entered. May infinite glory be upon your future path."

As the clerk had informed him beforehand, there was no weapon bestowal ceremony. Other countries customarily bestowed treasured swords or famous horses, but here there were more warriors who didn't use swords.

Instead, befitting a nation of merchants, they practically bestowed gold. Since you can obtain whatever you need if you have gold.

"I hope you will generously understand that there are differences from the ways of Roman."

"What is there to understand? I have already fallen in love with Gord."

Count Andar, as well as the other two Counts and observers, laughed cheerfully at Eugene answering affably.

* * *

Afterwards, a feast commemorating the successful tournament was held.

Enough food was prepared for even beggars to eat and drink their fill, and voices praising the lords filled the city from its darkest corners to its brightest.

However, Eugene only attended the first few days when staying was a formality, and after that, he went outside taking a small escort.

Rex and the tribal warriors, who loathed the banquet atmosphere full of humans, accompanied him.

"Wouldn't it be better if you enjoyed yourself a bit more, Sir Knight? You would be treated lavishly as the main character of the banquet."

Receiving the praise and respect of everyone at a banquet as a tournament victor. That is practically a drug-like pleasure for knights.

"The food tastes good, but the gazes of the nobles are too burdensome."

"Hahaha. They definitely looked ready to hook your nose and drag you away if given even a brief opening."

If Eugene had merely been a tournament victor, it wouldn't have been to this extent.

However, as additional information came flooding in from Bonyard, greed settled in the hearts of the high-ranking nobles.

"Your martial prowess as a knight is incredible, and on top of that, an invaluable magical castle comes attached. What noble wouldn't be greedy?"

"As I talk as if celebrating the victory, if I come to my senses, they're smoothly transitioning into talks of marriage. They truly are sly old snakes."

Even while chatting, Eugene kept everything in his surroundings within his field of vision.

The places where his gaze rested now didn't just end up as memories decorating a corner of his mind.

It was akin to hammering down milestones where Eugene's castle could descend.

"What about the hired artists?"

"They all went to other regions to paint landscapes. The subordinates beside them will watch them with fiery eyes to make them paint identically, so you may trust them."

"You made them target areas outside the lords' territories, right?"

"Of course."

Positioning the castle on a land with an owner could entangle them in troublesome issues. Since it would be an act of offending the lord of that territory.

However, there was countless uncultivated lands in this world, and humanity's sphere of influence wasn't as vast as thought.

Outside the territories of lords, or places where effective control didn't reach even if claimed as territory. Such locations possessed no room for conflicts to arise even if the Moving Castle appeared.

Eugene intended to intensively scout such locations.

Since they were uncultivated lands, disadvantages such as it being difficult to obtain water or being dangerous due to beasts and monsters didn't pose a problem.

Water could be obtained from the castle, and monsters were beings more powerless before the castle than humans.

"Were there any useful commissions?"

And there is the final third purpose.

"Of course. Since so many nobles had gathered."

To Eugene's question, Rex reported the collected list of commissions as if he'd been waiting.

"We have taken countless commissions since we started our mercenary group, but a case without restrictions like this time is a first."

"Normally it would be 'we can't do this because of this, and that because of that'. It was so exciting to even sort through commissions we normally would have given up right away."

"An honorable tournament victor is coming as a fixer, so who would refuse?"

The tribal warriors also chimed in with smiles.

The characteristic of a mobile fortress and the Blackhand Tribe, a warrior group. A new way of life combining those two.

Taking the first step into that was the true purpose of this visit.

Because this will be the form of life Eugene and those who follow him will live moving forward.

Right now, having just won the tournament and gained reputation from various nobles, it was an unparalleled opportunity.