Chapter 47: CHP 47

The day of the competition.

"The weather is unusually hot today."

I looked up at the bright, sunny sky and frowned. The sky was as clear as water, without a single cloud in sight. And the scorching sun was so bright that it was almost blinding me. The arena was overcrowded with people.

Jousting was the most popular sport in the Empire, and in particular this competition that was held on the birthday of the First Emperor, was tremendously popular, so much that in many cases it was impossible to get a ticket even if you paid for it beforehand.

There were many people that hung around the arena with regretful expressions, just like k-pop fans who couldn't get tickets for a concert.

Of course, the Seymour family was an exception, because we were invited, directly, by the Imperial Family to celebrate and to further glorify this event.

The nobles were seated in the front, where they could watch the matches up close, and the low ranking nobles and commoners sat in the back seats.

A breeze of stifling, dusty wind blew through the arena. Then the sound of the horses neighing and the clattering of their hoofs were heard from afar, then the flags with the seals of various knights were hangout, fluttering in all directions.

I sat under the awning that was provided to the Seymour family, for shade, and looked out at the barracks where the knights were waiting.

Many people were walking around agitated and nervous about the upcoming competition, and the sun was tiring for everyone, many knights took off their helmets because of the heat.

Fighting on a horse was hard, justing was a sport that didn't allow the competitors to use aura, they had to use pure skill, physical strength and agility to prove themselves.

In this competition one can confirm the participants skill in handling horses and their combat ability, this was a place used for scouting talented knights.

Members of the Imperial Family couldn't participate because of the risk of getting gravelly injured, the competitors were heavily armed and bad injuries would often occur.

Tarantara!!!!

With the howling of the trumpet the first battle was announced.

The knights in iron armor took off their helmet and let out a loud yell, and the crowd screamed, in return, excitedly.

"It's so noisy."

Duke Seymour, reluctantly, attended the jousting competition, because it was a sport that even the Emperor attended, he couldn't ignore it, frowned at the bustling atmosphere, it was unpleasant for him.

"The knights are noisy and savage. Even their brains are made of muscles."

Duke Seymour mumbled bitterly with his arms folded as he watched the match. Belreck also, watched everything with an expressionless face.

The jousting competition was not a place suitable for children so Enrique could not attend.

'I really don't understand why people are so passionate about it. Even Deborah liked it enough that she went to watch jousting competitions whenever she had spare time, but I don't like it.'

Thunderous screams were heard every time the long spear hit the opponent's body, shield or helmet... but for me, it just looked like a nerve-wracking and extremely dangerous game.

'And on top of it, it is so hot...'🥵

The arena felt stuffier as time went on and adding the people's excitement, it was just tiring.

When I took out the handkerchief that Arin had gifted me, to cool off, I felt an intense gaze on me.

It was Duke Seymour, who looked very displeased.

'It seems that he is not feeling well, the heat must be getting to him.'

"Father, take this. It is imbued with cold magic, it will make you feel refreshed."

'Even though Arin made it for me, I have to give preferential treatment to the elderly, so lending it to Duke Seymour for a while, is not wrong.'

"Hmm...It's an unusual thing to make."

"Yes. It was made by my vassal."

"Ahh, the child you brought with you from the Academy. She did look quite intelligent. It seems that she has a lot of potential... I should give her some support."

Duke Seymour fiddled with the handkerchief intrigued.

'I did it, I sneakily made Duke Seymour interested in Arin's ability.'ᕙ⁠(͡⁠°⁠‿⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)⁠ᕗ

"That...that is so pretentious."

Belreck grinded his teeth while he grumbled under his breath, but I just ignored him.

In the meantime, the heat increased again and the surrounding atmosphere seemed to explode with excitement, because of a man riding on a black horse.

"That is Diera Orgo!"

"Wow!!"

"Judge! Judge! Judge!"

Diera, wielded his sword fairly against criminals regardless of their status or gender, so he was enjoying a great popularity among the citizens of the Empire, regardless of age or gender many admired him.

The shouts grew louder as Diera walked slowly around the arena, showing his stoic and neat handsomeness.

He passed by many noble ladies who were eagerly waving their handkerchiefs, for him to take it, but he ignored them all and went past them.

He stopped further ahead, and approached Mia, who was sitting at the back, then he stretched out his hand.

Mia was surprised and hesitated for a moment but then she pulled out a handkerchief from a small purse and handed it to him.

It was quite a romantic sight, Diera, wearing jet-black armor, receiving a pink handkerchief from a beautiful lady. It was well received by the public.

"I will bring you the glory of victory, my Lady."

Then he put on his helmet and waved his long and heavy jousting spear vigorously in the air.

'Damn it, he is taking up 15 minutes only to flaunt himself.

The other knight who is waiting for his turn will only look pitiful compared to him. Even if he is one of the main characters in the novel... Isn't he a bit too much?'ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ

Diera's match made me feel very conflicted. His skills were so good that the match ended, quickly as if it was nothing to him.

"Oaaa!!"

"What is this?!!"

Before the excitement caused by Diera's appearance could cool off, a scream, that could cut the air was heard, suddenly.

'Ohh, I know what this is.'乁⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠o⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ㄏ

These were the screams that I heard at my year-end awards ceremonies, when I was in the first grade of high school, when I was obsessed with idols and when I went to watch live broadcasts of celebrities.

"It's Sir. Isidor Visconti!"

The atmosphere in the arena changed suddenly, with the appearance of a very, very handsome, blonde man riding a white horse and wearing a platinum armor, which contrasted greatly with Diera's.

Regardless of status or age, the women present at the competition had an overwhelming support for him, their excited screams were so loud that the men's shouts were buried without a trace.

Many young ladies were, recklessly, throwing handkerchiefs at him.

'This scene looks like it really came straight out from a romance novel.

I feel like, now, I understand, a little, why jousting competitions are a staple in romance.

Even I, and I have gotten used to his extreme handsomeness, to some extent,乁⁠[⁠ᓀ⁠˵⁠▾⁠˵⁠ᓂ⁠]⁠ㄏ, can't help but admire his stoic, knight-like appearance while wearing armor.(⁠'⁠∩⁠｡⁠•⁠ ⁠ᵕ⁠ ⁠•⁠｡⁠∩⁠'⁠)

Right before he put on his helmet, Isidor looked straight at me and gave me an angelic smile, startling my heart to death.♡⁠(⁠>⁠ ⁠ਊ⁠ ⁠<⁠)⁠♡

"He clearly looked at me!"

"No! He smiled at me!"

Everyone, probably, looked like a packed can of sardines to Isidor, but the noble ladies near me insisted on having a fierce argument with each other over him.

"Hmf... He looks more like an opera singer than a knight."

Duke Seymour, who was inflexible by nature... or in other words had old-fashioned beliefs and a bad temperament, looked at Isidor, displeased, as if he was a delinquent, while muttering complaints under his breath.

As soon as the match started, Isidor, who just moments ago caused a huge stir, rode his horse so fast that everyone was left speechless.

"Oh my! Who gave him that handkerchief?"

'Oh No! Oh, my...my! That can't be!'

I saw the handkerchief that I gave him that day. It was tied around his wrist and he was fluttering in the air. That made me, unconsciously, feel embarrassed.

'It is an expensive handkerchief, so he must have tied it up there because the texture feels good.

And it is common for a lady to give a handkerchief to a knight.'

While I was fiddling with my fingers and thinking of ways to get rid of the strange feeling in my heart, Isidor slashed his opponent's lance in two in a second, and the match ended as soon as it began.

'This is a sport where using aura is prohibited. How can he have such strong physical strength?'

The unbelievable sight of Isidor's brute strength left me with my mouth open in surprise.

A brief silence fell over the whole arena.

'It seems that because of his extreme handsomeness, Isidor's ability as a knight was underestimated by everyone.'

Because Isidor showed an overwhelming performance, comparable to that of Diera, the spectators screams grew louder.

With the intensified atmosphere, more andmore people started to bet on who the winner will be.

After that, the knights who remained in the competition, took a break before they played out the rest of the tournament.

'It is about time for them to make an appearance.'

While everyone was only interested about the contents of the next matches, I just stared, nervously, at the knights who were waiting near the barracks.

It was currently past 2 o'clock the time when it was the hottest in the day.

I glanced, again, at my pocket watch.

'Why haven't they come out yet? I made this request to the Horun District Administration Office a month ago, and the Imperial Family already approved it.

There is no way...It can't be! There is no way that they are refusing us now, right?'

While I was fretting inside for a few minutes, finally, Armand's clerks and waiters arrived, bringing with them large luggages. They were going near the barracks where the knights were waiting.

'They finally arrived.'ヽ⁠(⁠｡⁠◕⁠o⁠◕⁠｡⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠.

I watched, nervously, what was happening near the barracks.

...

'It's so hot.'

After noon, the ground was scorching hot, and inside of the barracks felt hot as a steamer.

Oryx Mircane wiped his wet forehead with an old, tattered handkerchief.

'I had no idea, that it would be like this...'

Oryx expected it to be hot, it was summer after all, but he felt extreme heat because of his heavy armor.

He came from the northern part of the country, where it was much colder, so Oryx felt the sweltering weather more intense than others.

Because he was very young, compared to the other competitors, Oryx had no experience on how to handle the heat in this kind of competition, so he had no choice but to fight the suffocating heat with will power.

Oryx, was only 17 this year, he left the northern land last year and applied for enrollment in the army, that was because his brother kept threatening that he would kick out their younger sister.

There he caught the attention of a knight from the capital, perhaps because of his huge physique, and after much training, he came to participate in his first jousting competition.

Jousting was the perfect sport for him because it didn't allow the use of aura, so he was able to rise quite high using his string body and his natural good physical ability.

Oryx felt lucky to make it to the finals, but there he was faced with an ambush that he didn't expect at all.

Sweat accumulated inside his armor and dripped down to the floor. Oryx was currently experiencing signs of dehydration.

Knights from high-ranking noble families could afford to use a servant to help them manage their condition, but as a trainee, nameless knights, he couldn't afford that such a luxury. And right now, he felt, again, the difficulty to live while being poor.

"Ugh!"

Sweat continued to flow down non stop to the point that his handkerchief got soaking wet.

Oryx knew that if he played in that condition in his next match, he would be unable to properly avoid the opponent's lance and would definitely fall from the horse.

'In the end, I wasn't able to prove myself.'

His opponent withdrew when he was still in a good condition, so Oryx never got to play an active part on today's big stage.

'I've been really lucky until now.'

This jousting competition was a golden opportunity for him to publicize his ability, and to be acknowledged by the people of this Empire so he could rise one step further to fulfill his goal, it was a pity to lose like this.

His mind was dizzy, and his vision blurry, he felt his body running out of energy.

But in that moment, someone held out a cup of water to him

"What is this?"

"This is a drink prepared by Armand specially for the knights who raise the military prestige and glory of this Empire."

Servants in neat uniforms were carrying teapots and distributing drinks to the knights near the barracks.

"Armand?"

Oryx felt suspicious, while he looked at the cup of ware with a purple seal on it.

'This cup is very light. Is it made of paper?'

On the paper wrapped around the cup, there was a brief description, about the drink inside, along with an explanation that that drink can be purchased in the store.

Rehydration - thirst-quenching water.

Oryx took a sip of the clear beverage that had a thin lemon slice floating in it and got startled.

He felt good after he tasted the water.

The taste was plain and somewhat a little sweet, it still felt refreshing because of the scent the slight lemon was emitting.

'I don't know what this is, but it's good.'

Oryx drank his drink slowly, feeling a little touched by their gesture.

It reminded him of his mother, she always put a thin slice of lemon in his water so that he wouldn't get an upset stomach.

Seventeen is not very young, but it is not that old either. When he left he felt desperate, as if he was left alone in the world, so now he felt more grateful for the goodwill that was given.

Oryx emptied his cup in an instant and took a deep breath.

"Huh?"

Oryx, who kept sweating, non stop, until now, I let out a small exclamation.

Until now his head was in a daze, and he felt that he was about to die from the heat, but now suddenly, Oryx felt that he was coming back to his senses.

He got up from his seat and moved his body quickly, normally, after drinking a lot of water, he felt that the water was churning his stomach, but that uncomfortable feeling didn't appear now.

'I'm feeling better.'

The knights sitting around him also showed signs that they felt a similar effect.

"What kind of magic did they use? It tastes a little different from water, but it's alright."

"They must have added holy water."

"Holy water heals wounds. I've never heard of it being used as a thirst quencher."

At the same time the sky clouded, and the strength of the fierce sun was gradually coming to an end.

'I think, that now, I can do well in my next match.'

When it was his turn, Oryx took the old helmet and long lance, he had borrowed, and got up from his seat.

And, that day, Oryx managed to show his extraordinary skill in a jousting competition.

...

'An ionic drink, also known as a sports drink.'

"Look! Over there! What's that piled up like a tower?"

One of noble lady sitting near me asked.

'What would it be? It is showmanship of course.'

To attract the curiosity of the audience, I asked, in advance, to hand out drinks to the knights, carrying high stacked paper cups.

"It looks like cups?"

"They are walking around with cups stacked that high? What are they going to do if they fell?"

Then, some young lady confidently intervened in their conversation.

"It will be fine, the cups are made out of paper."

"What? Paper gets wet. How can it hold water?"

"Water resistance magic was cast on the paper. I learned about it, a while ago, at Armand."

"That is amazing. It is very convenient to use outdoors."

"Yes indeed. This way, we can comfortably enjoy a drink while taking a walk outside. Didn't you know that it's trendy these days?"

'Well done. Well done.'୧⁠(⁠＾⁠ ⁠〰⁠ ⁠＾⁠)⁠୨

That young lady was flapping her fan and pretended to be coy, and I secretly wanted to encourage her to speak even more.

"But what are they drinking?"

Seeing the knights who had been suffering from the scorching heat of the sun quenching their thirst in a minute, was a happy sight for the audience.

"It must be something good. Some knights are having more."

The knights were faithfully serving as ambassadors for my shop without realizing.

I used a similar to how beverage companies sponsor sports drinks for free to famous athletes.

And today's jousting competition was so popular that it could be compared to an All-Star Game.

'There is no better stage than this for free publicity.'

"They look really satisfied while drinking."

"Is there anything that would taste bad on a hot day like this?"

"But, look...even the knights that come from the high-ranking nobles families are drinking it."

The best publicity Armand could receive was happening, both Isidor and Diera, the most popular knights, were gulping down the drinks from Armand.

'Thank you, both of you.(⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ

This is enough to achieve more than 200% of my intended purpose.'

With this publicity Armand managed to show the necessity and the convenience of takeout right in front of everyone's eyes and a new, iconic drink, was successfully introduced in the menu.

....................