Outside the south wall of
Today was the celebration banquet for the successful conclusion of the Northland Harmony Cup Knight Tournament, jointly hosted by the
Wandering knights and free knights wore black-iron knight certification badges on their chests, while family knights bore silver family knight badges. In Galentea, a world of
Obtaining a knight certification badge was both simple and difficult. Generally speaking, territorial nobles, legion-level armies, gold knights, and academies that trained knights all had the right and qualifications to issue knight certification badges. Even some aging wandering, free, and family knights who passed their knight skills on to their heirs could pass down their knight certification badges as well. Just as
At the black-iron Combat Force rank, having received knight training, knowing knight etiquette, possessing some personal assets, and paying a small fee — that was enough to obtain a knight certification badge and become a knight aspirant. If one's Combat Force rank reached silver, one became a knight aspirant proper. One could then choose to become a wandering knight, a free knight, or pledge allegiance to a lord and become one of his family knights. Of course, many commoners with no money chose to start as knight squires and work their way up to knight aspirant, step by step.
Someone like Richard, the leader of the Cromwell Mercenary Corps, who had reached the one-star gold rank of Combat Force but possessed no knight certification badge, had no right to sit at the tables. However, as a gold-ranked mercenary, he naturally received a special invitation to attend the lords' banquet rather than fighting for a seat on the open ground with the knights.
As for poor
Lorist was getting dressed in his formal attire. The old Krisen Empire noble dress code was quite simple — a white double-breasted coat with a standing collar, and once that was on, a tabard was pulled over it. The tabard was essentially a long towel-like garment with a hole in the middle that slipped over the head, revealing the standing collar beneath. The tabard was wide, with slightly raised edges at the shoulders, hanging down to the knees. A finely crafted leather belt then cinched both the tabard and the white coat together.
The sky-blue tabard was magnificent. Its edges were embroidered with a border of golden laurel leaves in gold thread, and within was a pattern of clusters of blooming gold star-flowers — the mark of the Krisen imperial family, signifying that the Norton family's noble title was under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Krisen royal house. At the center of the tabard was a roaring golden fury bear and a golden short sword. The fury bear was the Norton family crest, while the golden short sword represented a military merit noble.
This was the first time Lorist had worn a formal noble outfit, and he felt thoroughly uncomfortable. But there was no help for it — the upcoming banquet with the lords was a formal occasion that required such dress.
"How is Miss Teresti's condition?" Lorist asked.
Sedekamp shook his head. "Still not good. I asked Little Vinnie, and she's still lying in bed refusing to get up today."
Lorist had originally intended to invite Miss Teresti to accompany him to the celebration banquet. Last night, he had gone to her lodgings both to resolve the well issue and to extend the invitation. But as it happened, Miss Teresti was on her period these past few days. That was when Lorist discovered she suffered from menstrual cramps, and he earnestly proposed a method to help her…
Ahem, ahem, er, um, well — apparently, intimate relations between a man and a woman could alleviate the symptoms of menstrual cramps… And then Lorist was chased out of the room by an embarrassed and furious Miss Teresti, who pelted him with every small ornament and knick-knack she could lay her hands on…
Truly, the dog bites Lu Dongbin — it doesn't recognize a good heart. What he said was perfectly true and not a lie at all. In his previous life, his secretary had a poor relationship with her husband precisely because of this issue. The secretary had said that when she was in university and suffering from menstrual cramps, she went to see a doctor, who gave her exactly this advice. Medication didn't help and the pain was agonizing, so the secretary simply chose one of her many suitors and gave him her first time. They naturally broke up after graduating, and later she married her current husband, but their relationship had always been strained because she was no longer a virgin.
The secretary had been lying naked in Lorist's arms when she said this, the two of them having just finished an enthusiastic session in bed. But at the time, what interested Lorist wasn't the secretary's relationship with her husband — instead, he asked whether menstrual cramps could really be cured that way. The secretary said that after losing her virginity the symptoms diminished considerably, and later, with more frequent intimacy, her period came without pain. Under the circumstances, Lorist didn't believe the secretary would lie to him, since it had simply been a pleasant and relaxing exchange.
Not believing this explanation, Lorist couldn't exactly cite examples from his previous life as proof. Turned away, he had no choice but to slink back to his own quarters in a huff.
Lorist descended the tower steps with Sedekamp and Reidy. The moment he spotted Jossk, he wanted to curse — the guy was dressed far more handsomely than himself, the lord. Lorist was wearing noble formal attire, while Jossk wore a set of gleaming silver knight's armor that was dazzling to behold. Combined with his handsome features and melancholic eyes, Lorist knew the attention of every noble lady and young miss would be focused squarely on Jossk, not on him.
Reidy carried the Norton family's fury bear banner. Sedekamp led the way, and Lorist rode leisurely across the open ground with Jossk. Along the route, jugglers performed comic routines, servants bustled about serving wine and dishes, dancing girls performed celebratory dances, acrobats clambered atop tall scaffolding, bards loudly recited legendary epics, and fire-breathing magicians put on their shows. All of them stopped what they were doing as Lorist passed and bowed deeply to show their respect.
From time to time, knights rose from their stools and performed the knightly hand-over-heart salute toward Lorist. Lorist nodded in acknowledgment while asking Sedekamp in puzzlement: "Who are they? I don't recognize any of them. Why are they saluting me?"
Sedekamp was exasperated — what a hassle it was to serve a master who was perpetually absent-minded: "My lord, have you forgotten? I already reported to you yesterday that twenty-nine wandering knights were willing to join our family's armed forces in the hopes of distinguishing themselves and becoming Norton family knights."
"Oh, my apologies. I forgot," Lorist said. "Are they all silver-ranked?"
"Alas…" Sedekamp sighed. "My lord, if you hadn't added the archery event, there wouldn't have been nearly this many knights joining our family. In fact, seventeen of them are still black-iron ranked — they only recently obtained their knight certification badges. They originally came here just to observe, but when they discovered the archery competition had no Combat Force rank restrictions, they signed up. Pat said their archery was impressive, so he recruited all of them."
"Hehe," Lorist said, pleased. "Pat did the right thing. They may be black-iron ranked now, but they'll soon reach silver. Perhaps in the future our family will produce many golden archer knights like Jossk…"
"That's impossible," Jossk interjected. "They could never have my archery talent, nor could they ever get another Green Beni. At best, they're merely good shots."
Green Beni was the affectionate name for Jossk's green longbow. The bow was said to have been made from the rib of a great dragon excavated from some ruin, crafted over more than a decade by a master bowyer who treasured it greatly and kept it close at hand. Through a twist of fate, it had come into the possession of Baron Umado, who then gave it to Jossk as an engagement gift alongside his daughter's hand.
"Shut up, Jos. I'll definitely have someone make a bow better than your Green Beni — believe it or not," Lorist said irritably.
"Oh, right — didn't you say Viscount Kemis was also recruiting wandering knights to form some kind of knight order? How many has he recruited?" Lorist remembered the matter.
"My lord, over eighty wandering knights have pledged allegiance to him and joined the knight order the Kemis family is organizing," Sedekamp said with a grim expression. "Besides the Kemis family, there's also the Pegasus family — that is, Baron Philem Charvold of the Philem family. He's also recruited nearly fifty wandering knights. On top of that, seven or eight other lords have each recruited one or two wandering knights. The rest have no interest in recruiting anyone."
"So how many knights came to participate in the tournament this time?" Lorist looked at the dozens upon dozens of long wooden tables spread across the open ground, their edges packed with people — easily approaching eighteen hundred.
"My lord, the knight tournament we jointly hosted with the Kemis family this time lasted a total of twenty-seven days. It was a grand affair that drew thirty-seven territorial nobles. Supposedly, two lords were even in the middle of fighting a war when they heard the news and decided to make peace on the spot, bringing their family knights along to attend. The wandering and free knights who came drawn by the rumor numbered roughly five or six hundred, and when you add the family knights the lords brought along, the total should be somewhere around seven or eight hundred."
Thirty-seven lords — that brought the total to nearly half of all territorial nobles in the Northland. The event had indeed generated impressive momentum. What surprised Lorist was that there were so many wandering and free knights in the Northland — five or six hundred seemed rather excessive.
Soon they arrived at the great tent set up for the lords' banquet. The Kemis family truly lived up to its reputation as the former empire's largest construction guild. The tent they had erected was the largest Lorist had ever seen, spacious enough to host a dance for several hundred people.
After registering, Lorist entered with Jossk and Sedekamp, while Reidy stayed outside the tent, holding the fury bear banner and tending to the horses.
Sedekamp whispered a reminder: "My lord, that man heading toward us is Viscount Kemis…"
The man.
Lorist glanced back at Jossk and thought to himself that this fellow was the only one who could rival Viscount Kemis in appearance.
Jossk looked puzzled and checked himself: "What about me?"
Lorist ignored him.
Viscount Kemis was likewise dressed in noble formal attire, though his tabard was deep blue, its edges embroidered with silver trefoil clover, and its center bearing the rose of the Iblia royal family alongside the Kemis family's triple gold ring crest.
Viscount Kemis laughed heartily and strode forward with open arms in welcome: "At last I meet the Baron! I've heard so much of your fame. Seeing you in person today is truly an honor beyond words."
Lorist keenly noticed the flash of hatred and suppressed fury in Viscount Kemis's eyes. He smiled to himself — the fellow was still thinking about those hundred thousand gold Forde coins in private savings. He too spread his arms and embraced the viscount warmly: "Haha, I've been equally looking forward to meeting the Viscount. It's just that affairs have been terribly busy, and I simply couldn't find the time. But today, at long last, the wish is fulfilled."
The two exchanged a round of insincere pleasantries, after which Viscount Kemis led Lorist about, introducing the various territorial nobles who had come to attend the banquet as well as some thirty or forty noble ladies and young misses who had shown up for the spectacle. What impressed Lorist was that with so many guests, this man could rattle off each one's name, background, and family history with perfect clarity — he could even recite tales of their ancestors' glorious and heroic deeds. No wonder this fellow could navigate such occasions with effortless grace and was warmly welcomed and adored by the noble ladies.
After Lorist felt his face go stiff from all the smiling, the introductions were finally complete, and everyone took their seats to enjoy the exquisite cuisine prepared by the master chefs the Kemis family had hired.
Among all the lords attending the banquet in the great tent, Lorist paid closest attention to two people. The first was the man beside him wearing a mask of sincere friendliness, because Lorist could sense the malice and hatred hidden behind that mask. The second was Baron Philem Charvold of the Pegasus family. The baron appeared entirely harmless, but Lorist could feel the violence and cruelty lurking in his bones. Moreover, this baron was already a gold-ranked knight.