Chapter 61

Phillion slowly reined his horse as he waited for Urich to get ready.

‘I’m counting on you, Kylios.’

Urich brushed Kylios’ mane. Horseback riding was all about the connection between man and horse. Urich had been consistently learning the tips and tricks from Pahell.

‘Pahell, you say that you’ve taught me nothing, but I’ve learned a lot from you, too.’

Pahell was a knowledgeable boy not just among other boys his age, but even among grown-up nobles and royalties. Whenever Urich had a question, Pahell was the person he went to, and he would always have his questions answered.

Pahell’s request did not offend Urich. In fact, it made him want to gladly accept it. Pahell’s sincere request was enough to move Urich’s heart.

‘I do what my heart tells me to do.’

Urich thought to himself as he raised his jousting lance. The lance was as long as two full-grown men combined.

‘The only reason why I came to the east of Sky Mountains was because my heart told me to do so. That’s it.’

Urich was pleased. He had seen and learned so much, and he was still yet to see the end of the world. The unknown always awaited him.

“Urich, hold the lance firmly. A man of your size and strength can easily deliver the full weight of the horse with his lance. As long as you charge properly, you will be unstoppable.”

Phillion said from the other side as he kicked his horse’s flank and crept closer.

“Let’s go, Kylios.”

Urich signaled to his horse. Phillion and Urich crossed as they lightly tapped each other’s shields with their lances.

Cling!

There was a clear sound. Phillion and Urich, who had swapped positions, bowed in respect toward each other. It was the courtesy of knights.

“As a knight, you must not forget about the respect toward your opponent; especially when you are fighting for your honor.”

“But I’m not a knight.”

“You must be, at least for the jousting tournament. You are fighting with the prince’s name on your back.”

“Hah.”

Urich lightly scoffed and chuckled.

“If the duel isn’t decided after three crosses, the knights fight on foot. You will have to get off your horse, draw your weapon, and try to take down the other knight.”

“If only one person falls off their horse, then they have to fight the other person with them still on their horse, right?”

“Precisely. If you feel like you’re at a disadvantage for the mounted round, then it’s not a bad idea to get on the defensive and drag it out to the ground duel.”

Phillion explained the tricks of the trade even though he had never been in a jousting tournament. Back when he was a young knight, a competition like this didn’t even exist. It was a relatively new custom.

“Can’t I just throw an axe from my horse, or even just attack their horse?”

Phillion shook his head at Urich’s question.

“You cannot. The jousting tournament is a place for knights to compare their skills. It’s respectful to avoid blatantly going for your opponent’s life or harming their expensive warhorse. The nobles don’t like to watch an overly violent match. This is not a gladiatorial match. If the judges decide that your actions were done with malicious intent, they could very well disqualify you.”

“That’s picky. It’s harder to win against someone without killing them.”

Urich cracked his neck from side to side, making a clear bone-cracking noise.

“The prince wants you to win the whole tournament, but even reaching the semi-finals would be a great achievement. The jousting tournament of Hamel is where all the skilled knights come to show off their skills. It won’t be easy,” Phillion said in a warning tone.

“Hah, Mr. Phillion, I’ve never lost a fight! Technically, this jousting thing is also a fight, isn’t it?”

“You’ve got confidence, alright.”

Phillion looked at Urich, a warrior with both skill and confidence. But as reassured as he was, there was a feeling of unease rising from a corner of his heart.

* * *

The jousting tournament of the Imperial capital of Hamel wasn’t a competition that just anybody could enter. Those who wished to compete either needed a proven reputation or a proven identity. Those who couldn’t provide either of those would be rejected during the application process.

“Do you know who I am? I’m the runner-up of the Lerman Jousting Tournament...”

Another knight was raising his voice at the reception desk.

“Where even is Lerman? I don’t care whether you were the runner-up or the champion—just come back with a noble who can attest to your identification. Do you think the Hamel Jousting Tournament is a joke?”

“Y-you, how dare you speak like that to a knight!”

The knight was about to draw his sword, but the official was used to this sort of people.

‘These so-called knights are all idiots with nothing but pride.’

Knights were often not so intelligent and quite rude, and this was especially true among the lower-ranked knights. Only a few knights truly understood chivalry and manners, and those without masters were as good as thugs in armor with swords.

“Move.”

A gruff voice came from behind. The rampaging knight glared his eyes.

“Mooove? If you don’t take that back right now, I will challenge you to a duel...”

The knight shut his mouth. A large man, at least a head taller than himself, was standing right up against his nose.

“Challenge me. Do it. Right now. Come on, what are you waiting for? I’ll send you to the afterlife before you know it.”

Urich practically growled. The knight was crushed by the intimidation.

“N-nothing, never mind.”

The knight dropped his head and disappeared. Urich walked up to the reception desk with a smile on his face.

“Your name, sir?”

The official welcomed Urich with a smile on his face as well.

“Urich. My guardian is Prince Varca Aneu Porcana.”

Urich held out the document Pahell had written. After confirming the sealed document, the official handed over the document to the next staff.

The seal of the Porcana family was an image of a herring and a fishing boat. It was a seal fitting the image of a coastal kingdom.

“This is indeed the seal of the Porcana family. The prince of Porcana is currently staying in the Swallow Palace.”

After hearing the confirmation, the official put Urich’s name down on the document.

“Please come this way. You must go through a simple screening.”

Urich followed the official.

‘Phillion was right. This whole intake process is boring.’

There was no shortage of people who wanted to participate in the Hamel Jousting Tournament. However, there was only room for thirty-two contestants in the bracket. The tournament would never end if all the contestants got a chance to joust, and that wasn’t what the nobles wanted, either.

The Hamel Jousting Tournament was the best in the world in terms of both scale and level. The contestants were placed after a screening and selection process.

Urich entered into a separately prepared barrack where the knights of the Order of Imperial Steel were screening the contestants.

“Urich? Hmm, I feel like I’ve heard that name before. Are you a barbarian? How does a barbarian like you get the support of a royalty? What is your relationship with them?”

The imperial knight that Urich had been assigned to tilted his head. Even considering the Barbarian Inclusion policy that was in full swing in the empire, it was still rare to see a barbarian in a jousting tournament, let alone the famous Hamel Jousting Tournament. The whole thing was a strange combination.

‘He would have been rejected at the door if it hadn’t been for the royal seal...’

Urich looked at the Imperial knight as he kicked up the dirt.

“Man, I’m friends with Prince Varca,” Urich said, impatiently.

“You’re speaking nonsense. But the seal is authentic, so we’ll go ahead with your screening,” the Imperial knight said to Urich as he handed over a bladeless sword.

“Hah, finally. Let’s do this.”

Urich grabbed the sword with excitement and entered his fighting stance. He felt his muscles heating up.

“Show me the Owl Stance.”

Urich tilted his head at the Imperial knight’s request.

“The Owl Stance?”

Phillion hadn’t mentioned anything like that, as he himself had never been in a jousting tournament. Each region had its own screening and selection process and standards, and this one was evaluating the skill of the contestants based on their swordsmanship stances.

“You don’t even know the Owl Stance?”

“How would I know that? Let’s just fight.”

“Hah, how pathetic. This man doesn’t even know the basics of the knight swordsmanship and yet he wants to compete in the jousting tournament with the support of a royalty.”

The Imperial knight kicked his tongue. The trifecta of the knight swordsmanship stance was the High Owl, Middle Wolf, and the Low Snake. The rest of the stances were all derived from the three. There was even a saying that a squire must spend an entire year practicing only the three foundational stances.

“I don’t know anything about that. Test me on something else.”

The Imperial knight shook his head at Urich’s words.

“You’ve failed. You may leave now.”

The Imperial Knight said coldly without a second thought. The competition had plenty of skilled contestants. Urich wasn’t going to be missed.

“Are you joking? You’re failing me just because of one stance?”

Urich took a step toward the Imperial knight as he got heated.

“Doesn’t sound like something that should be coming out of the mouth of the man who couldn’t even get that ‘one stance.’ Do you think it’s easy to be a knight? The Hamel Jousting Tournament has many noble spectators. It’s also an occasion to select the best knight. I can’t let someone who doesn’t even know the basics of knighthood compete in that kind of competition.”

Things took an unexpected turn. Urich was confident in anything related to fighting.

‘I don’t even get to fight? What kind of fighting tournament is this?’

Urich grabbed and stopped the Imperial knight. The knight glared at him.

“I have to win this. Let me through, you bastard.”

“Unhand me, before you get hurt.”

The Imperial knight warned Urich, but Urich’s patience had hit the bottom.

‘Please, win for me, Urich.’

Pahell’s words echoed in his head. If it weren’t for that, he would have swung his fists a long time ago.

“Test me on something else, and I won’t ask you twice. Anything that actually has to do with fighting is good.”

Urich said as he gritted his teeth.

“We’re selecting knights here, not warriors. So long.”

The Imperial knight shook Urich’s hand off and turned his back against him. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Urich couldn’t hold in the words that were about to come out.

“... stop right there before I snap that stiff-looking head of yours.”

“Are you insulting me?”

The Imperial knight stopped. Urich raised his bladeless sword.

“My name is Urich. State yours.”

Urich said to the knight. Fighting for their honors with their names was the law of the duel, not only among civilized men but everywhere in the world of warriors.

“How absurd. I have no name to give to someone like you. You are not a knight; you’re merely a city slicker. I will show you the standard of knights around here. Be prepared to have a limb or two broken.”

The Imperial knight also grabbed a bladeless sword. There was a ferocious tension in the air.

“Hohoho, what an interesting duel.”

From the outskirts of the barracks, an old man with his hands behind his back trotted up. He was quite sturdy for an old man, and he got to the two men in no time with his big gate.

“This man insulted me.”

The Imperial knight looked at the old man and whined. The old man seemed to be his superior.

“Hoho, is that so? Then you must settle it with a duel, of course! There is no other way for men who live by their swords.”

The old man nodded repeatedly as he stared at Urich with his slender threaded eyes.

“This is an interesting matchup. A member of the Order of Imperial Steel versus Urich the ‘Armor Breaker.’”

The old man already knew who Urich was. He even called him by his nickname, which had spread only recently.

“A-armor Breaker.”

The Imperial knight’s expression wavered.

‘I knew the name sounded familiar, dammit!’

The Armor Breaker Urich. The nickname was more widely known than Urich’s actual name, so the knight wasn’t able to remember hearing Urich’s real name.

‘You’re supposed to introduce yourself by your nickname first!’

Unlike other knights and warriors with renowned nicknames, Urich always only introduced himself by his real name.

‘If I had known that he was the Armor Breaker...’

The knight wouldn’t have been so dismissive. Even if the rumors of the Armor Breakers were half true, Urich was not a warrior to be taken lightly. He would have put him through a different screening test to send him through.

The water had already been spilled, and once spat out, words couldn’t be taken back. The knight quickly came to a sobering realization. The muscles that were covered underneath Urich’s clothes finally came to the knight’s attention. The unusual mass of muscles twitched.

‘I can’t back down in front of General Ferzen.’

The name of the white-haired old man was Sword Demon Ferzen: the living legend of the empire.