Chapter 47: Chivalry

As the fort’s gates open before our eyes, what awaits us is most certainly not what I expected. For a training ground for current and future knights alike, the front lot is miserably empty, so much that the only thing I can see is the rather parched soil after a drought, all of which makes the already large field even more endless in perspective.

“Are all of the knights out for patrol?” Peng, seemingly sharing my idea, whistles to exclaim.

“It’s always been dead like this,” answers the young man called Arthur, seemingly unsurprised at the scene before him.

“The Round isn’t dead yet,” his words once again manage to strike Pedro where it hurts, causing the latter to grit his teeth in response.

“Then tell me, Captain. Who else is here?”

“It’s not ‘who else’, but ‘who’. As long as there’s someone present, even if it’s just me, the Round will still stand.”

Pedro looks as if he wanted to say more, but in the end, the knight captain manages to calm himself with a few deep breaths before turning towards the rest of us:

“Alright, since you’re the only ones here, I’ll explain the exam’s rules right away:

There are two rounds - a combat test and a moral test. In the combat test, you’ll each be facing a proctor in a one-on-one duel. You can use anything to your abilities, as long as your attacks are not lethal. This is still a test, after all.

The moral test afterwards is much simpler – all of you will be presented with certain situations, and each will state their answer to the proctor. Judging by the scores of the combat and moral tests, you’ll find out if you’re accepted as part of the Round or not. Does anyone have any questions?”

“Yeah,” Benkei is the first to raise his hand. “Can you tell us in detail about the way to judge our performance?”

“The combat test is based on three criteria – technique, power, and etiquette. Meanwhile, the moral test is self-explanatory: just choose the right thing to do in each situation. Is that clear?”

“Okay,” Benkei nods to confirm, but before he could lower his hand, Pedro has already added:

“Oh, Mister Brass and Johnson, you two won’t have to do the combat test.”

“Eh? How so?” Peng asks in confusion.

“Through our exchange earlier, I can already tell that your technique and power are plentiful, and by our conversation, your etiquette should be sufficient enough as well. You can either watch your friends take their test, or wait in that building over there for the moral test.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Benkei takes a polite bow. “I’ll remain here, then.”

“Same here,” Peng answers with a grin as well.

“Very well. Then, Miss Lorraine, please take the field for your test.”

Ah, so I’m going first. Well, if I can freely use my power, then this shouldn’t be a challenge at all. I just have to be careful not to hurt anyone. The only problem with it would be my flame, though, so it’s best if I limit my usage a bit.

“I’m ready.” I firmly nod and step forward to one end of the field.

To my expectations, the opponent awaiting me on the other side is none other than Pedro himself. Well, he is the only one here, after all.

“Would you like a weapon?” The knight politely asks.

“No need. I’m not good at close-quarter combat anyway.”

“Oh. Then you’re also a magic user, I assume?”

“Yeah, more or less.”

“Very well,” Pedro, with a smile on his face, draws his rapier with his right hand and raises it parallel to his body, while his hand sits firmly on his chest.

“I am Pedro Destreza, Captain of the Knights of the Round Table. Challenger, state your name!”

“I am Jeanne de Lorraine, a knight trainee!” I quickly follow his lead and place my hand on my chest as well. This must be the ‘etiquette’ that he was talking about.

“In the spirit of our predecessors, I declare this duel… to commence!”

As the words leave his mouth, Pedro is, as expected, the first to strike. A simple forward thrust with his rapier – predictable, but not necessarily bad. His choice of weapon does leave him with only a few options.

With almost no effort, I dodge to the side, away from his sword’s path. Even if he can change the direction of his attack, without the extra momentum, a thrust would be nowhere near as deadly as before. And true to my predictions, Pedro flicks his wrist to change the attack as soon as he sees me move. However, the rapier’s end is still sharp enough to graze my cheek.

“A sword that thin can still do this much damage?” Touching the blood oozing out on my face, I ask out loud.

“Don’t underestimate a rapier, trainee!” Pedro shows an excited grin. “Thin as it might be, with enough force, its slashes aren’t losing to any regular swords!”

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“I see,” the attack, for some reason, makes my blood boil, not because of rage or anger, but with genuine fun – a feeling I’ve never felt in a battle before. “Then I guess I’ll get serious too.”

Spreading out my arm, I conjure a ring of black spears to the shock and awe of my opponent. None of them are covered in my usual flames, nor am I in my usual armor, however. The test did say that the attacks were supposed to be non-lethal, after all. I move my arm forward, and following the action, one of the spears flies towards Pedro like an arrow leaving the bowstring.

“Impressive magic!” The knight’s eyes shine as he sees the spear coming to him, but there was no worry in his voice at all. And it’s for good reasons, too, as his fleet footwork enables him to dodge the spear in the nick of time.

“But still too slow!” Pedro exclaims as the spear stabs itself into the ground, blasting off a good chunk of dirt towards his clothes. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by it, however, and instead continues his assault towards me.

From then on, it’s a repeated process of spears firing and him elegantly dodging around. However, just as my attacks are unable to hit him, none of his strikes afterwards manage to hit me as well. In the battle of range against melee, if the latter cannot close the distance, there should be no advantage. And in the end, my first round of spears has all been fired, making a perfect ring around the still injury-less knight, even if the adrenaline from all that running and dodging has made him quite tired in his own right.

“Well, that was certainly powerful…” panting for air, Pedro still lets out a smile. “But from what I know, mages usually don’t have enough stamina to do too many strong spells at once. And from the looks of it, that was most likely your strongest attack. This battle is over.”

I don’t know how strong the mages in England are, but he’s definitely dead wrong about me. I had to try my best not to unleash my full force just now, and then I had to purposely miss him completely afterwards – I doubt he’s able to live even one of my spears. But then again, there is one thing that he’s correct about…

“This battle is over, indeed… and it’s my win.”

With a flick of my finger, a giant wall of flame forms around the spears, with the latter acting as sturdy pillars for the perfect cage to keep my opponent occupied. And since Pedro doesn’t have any magic, he can’t escape the fire wall without sustaining serious damage.

“Magnificent!” Exclaims Pedro from behind the wall. “You intentionally arranged your attacks to encircle me, and then managed to trap me without even needing to deal damage! Truly a great display of technique, power, and heart! It’s my loss!”

“Thanks,” I answer the compliment with a smile, dispelling the fire with another snap of my finger. However, as I leave the field to join my other friends, a sudden comment from the only remaining contestant sounds:

“Your flames… are soft.”

“… Got any problems?” I ask the hobo, slightly ticked off by his remark.

“No. I’m just surprised, that’s all.”

 

“Alright, next up is you,” Pedro declares while gesturing towards Arthur. His voice is certainly less enthusiastic about it, but such a thing doesn’t seem to bother the trainee at all. Silently taking a step forward, the young man stands face-to-face with his test.

“Do you need a weapon?” Asks Pedro.

“No. I got my own.” Arthur answers, revealing on his waist not one, but two swords. I’ve seen knights wielding both sword and shield, but never before have I seen one with only swords in his hands. What kind of style would this strange man bring, I wonder?

“Nice swords you got there,” Pedro’s interest is also in the pair of weapons. “Must be really valuable.”

“They’re just hunks of junk.” Arthur, instead, scoffs at the comment.

“Don’t lie to me. The sheaths may be purposely disguised to look old and dirty, but you can’t hide the intricacies of their hilts. Those are treasured blades.”

“… What if they are?”

“Then you’re more than meets the eyes.”

“You talk too much,” returning to his usual grumpy self, Arthur replies. “Just get on with it.”

“Suit yourself. I am Pedro Destreza, Captain of…”

To everyone’s shock, the knight doesn’t get to finish his ritual. With a single jump, Arthur has managed to close the gap of the entire field and deliver a powerful strike with his still sheathed swords onto Pedro’s chest, knocking him away before the match can even begin. And even with both his swords sheathed, the attack is still strong enough to cause the young knight to cough a splash of blood.

“… I wasn’t done yet!” Pedro fumes with rage as the crimson liquid flows out of his mouth.

“Too slow,” Arthur answers with disdain, “in a real battlefield, you’ll be dead before you know it.”

“That’s not the point! This is to show a knight’s chivalric spirit!”

As Pedro’s words come towards Arthur, the young man hesitates for a brief second. But only for a second, as he then approaches the wounded knight and picks him up by the collar, bringing their faces directly opposing each other. For the first time since I’ve met him, Arthur’s eyes flare with hatred as he grunts each word as if stabbing Pedro’s wounds with a razor-sharp knife:

“Chivalry? Honor? Those can go die in a ditch for all I care. Life isn’t some fairy tale for your heroic spirit to prosper; it’s kill or be killed. If you fail to acknowledge even that, then you don’t deserve the sword in your hand.”

Throwing the knight down once more, the young man then immediately leaves the battlefield and walks towards the building of the second test. “Don’t waste my time anymore.”

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