Chapter 9 - I - The tri-skill tournament

 

And so, the time for battle had come.

 

Truth be told, after returning from the town when it was time for the long sleep, there was a great disturbance in the other candidates’ camp.  Some contestants became ill and had diarrhea.

 

“…”

 

Those Rubinforth siblings have begun their move.  I have to keep my mouth shut.

 

So, when it was time for me to meet my opponents on the battlefield, there’s not a single soul to fight.

 

Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed.  To think that I even went to great lengths just to find gunpowder and bullets for my weapon.  Haha…

 

Ah, anyway, at least, I won’t have to tire myself from running around the battlefield.

 

“!!!”

 

Alright, here comes the judge.

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to partake in this sacred tradition of our great kingdom!  As you know, the Tri-Skill tournament would showcase the martial prowess, sound mind, grace, and manners of our candidates on this battlefield.  The eventual winner shall receive the hand in marriage of our great Saint, Her Holiness, the Duchess of Rubinforth!”

 

Loud cheers and swoons were heard from across the battlefield.  Everyone’s eyes turned towards the tent where they expected the Human Saint was to appear; however, her velvet chair was empty.

 

The crowd immediately went quiet.

 

“A-ahem…” the judge, visibly taken aback, cleared his throat to continue his speech, “It seems Her Holiness is resting for a while.  But please do not be disappointed, for in her stead, the Beastman Saint, Ruro of the Wolf, graces us with her presence!”

 

Formal claps were heard from the crowd upon the mention of Her Fluffy Holiness’ name, something that you won’t hear whenever the human Saint’s name was involved.  I guess that’s the natural human being for you; we’re utterly racist.

 

“…”

 

Well, if you guys only know; your saint is utterly averted to bloody businesses such as this.   

 

Yeah, yeah, this judge went on talking about the ‘sacred customs’ that came along with the tourney and stuff like those.  And then came the time to announce the members of the groups that would compete in the first stage of the tournament.

 

“In Mithril Group: the Ducal-Prince of Savoy, the Imperial Prince of Chersea, the Prince of Amarth, the Prince of Shent, and the Prince of Amaranth…”

 

“In Gold Group: the Prince of Hareth, the High-Prince of Colveente, the Prince of Halveth, the Prince of Galad, and the Grey Knight of the East…”

 

“In Silver Group: the Stadtholder of Honmes, the Templar-Prince of Baltes, the Satrap of Mercia, the Prince of Calabria, and the Seneschal of Ven…”

 

Wow…I couldn’t help but get interested in those names of the countries that comprised the human land of Chersea.  Maybe I should go on a journey to visit these places some time in the future…

 

“In Bronze Group: the King of Nerfes, the Grand Duke of Loos, the Marshal of Hern Valley, and uh…”

 

“…”  

 

A resounding silence was heard when the judge suddenly stopped to announce the next name on the paper he was holding.  He had a confused look on his face, and he went back to the Duke’s pavilion to make sure that he’s reading it right.  The Duke simply nodded; so, the judge had no other choice but to announce the name of the last contestant.

 

“My apologies, ladies and gents, but the name of the last contestant in the Bronze group is some commoner named Kuro!”

 

“!!!”

 

There was a huge commotion among the ladies and nobles when they heard my name.  Most of them were laughing, and some were already jeering.   

 

“Hey!  Why did a commoner enter the tourney?  Isn’t this blasphemy?”

 

“Yeah!  The tournament is for the great nobles only!”

 

“Such preposterous commoner!  Get him beaten to death!”

 

I guess it’s unprecedented to have a commoner fight alongside nobles in tourneys like this…

 

“…”

 

The Duke then stood up to calm the unruly crowd, “My dear guests, as the head of the Holy House of Rubinforth, I assure you that this will be an entertaining match!  Indeed, a lonely commoner from some far-away country has come and wanted to join our Tri-Skill Tournament.  Though I initially refused him, I eventually consented to his application, since he liked to be beaten up so bad, he’s resorted to using the cowardly demons’ weapon!”

 

There was a chorus of mocking laughter and jeers from the crowd.  For them, a matchlock gun was ‘cowardly’, just like what the nobility and clerics in the late Middle Age Europe thought.

 

Well, I pray they stay the same in such thinking.  They don’t know what they are laughing at…

 

“…”

 

“Unfortunately…” the judge then resumed on his announcement, “For the Bronze Group, a tragedy has struck!  The King of Nerfes, the Grand Duke of Loos, and the Marshal of Hern Valley suddenly got ill and had to drop from the contest.”

 

“…”

 

My eyes fell on the two kids who were sitting beside the Duke of Rubinforth.  Their expressions remained indifferent, but for some reason, I couldn’t help but picture them having sinister smiles on their faces.

 

Well, I’m sorry guys from the Bronze group, we’re just trying to win here, see?

 

The jeers and boos became even louder when they heard about the incident and King Rambo’s and the others’ fate.  These people want the ‘arrogant commoner’ (me) to get beaten shitless by their king in the tourney’s course.

 

“Please calm down, everyone!” the judge pleaded, “Because of this unexpected circumstance, the Duke of Rubinforth has allowed one replacement contestant to cross arms in our tournament in the Bronze Group!”

 

“!!!”

 

The crowd’s ugly noise suddenly died down.  The announcement had appeased their thirst for blood against me.  I also was surprised by it; my eyes automatically went towards where the Rubinforth siblings sat.

 

Good lord, the looks on their faces are telling me they didn’t expect such development either.  Well, I guess I’m on my own then.

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, please give way to the honorable Paladin Prince of the Fire Plains!”

 

I could hear the swoons and shouts of praise from the audience the moment a dashing, yet intimidating knight-in-shining-plate-armor graced the battlefield of the Bronze Group.  His arms were raised in a victorious pose as if he knew he’ll win this contest.  Several of his attendants were following him, carrying his war implements.

 

Well, I guess I need to prepare my weapon then…

 

 

The Tri-Skill Tournament’s combat phase then begun.  A lot of members of Nerfes’ nobility and some foreign dignitaries had exchanged bets on who’s winning in their respective groups.  These wagers were then displayed on a board in front of the battlefield.  Naturally, the audience would place their money on the candidate they thought to possess the greatest potential to advance to the next round.   

 

Hmm, let’s see, I think for the Mithril group, the crowd favorite was the Imperial Prince.  For Golden Group, it’s Prince of Hareth.  And for the Silver Group, the Seneschal of Ven had the most votes.

 

“…”

 

I guess I needed not to tell you who got the most votes in my Bronze Group.  I thought the people never even considered that I’m a combatant…

 

That hurts, you know…

 

The Paladin Prince was a rather an unlikely figure.  He was taller than me, but not that tall compared to other contestants.  His moderately long hair was that of golden-brown, and he wore it in a bun so that his attendants could squeeze it on his helm.

 

“…”

 

Well, his armor was pretty impressive, as I’ve said before.  It had a shimmer that glistens brightly under the light of the sun, and his sword, spear and his shield were well-maintained.  His horse was also wrapped in armor; his face displayed only the grimmest of expressions.  Anyone who’d see him could tell that he’s well-prepared for this fight.

 

“Are you the commoner called Kuro?” I heard him asked me.

 

“Hmm?   Well, yes I am, Your Highness.” I sheepishly replied to him so as not to offend him that much.

 

“Nice to meet you, Commoner.”

 

“Eh?” Honestly, I was surprised by his friendly tone, despite the seriousness of his face.

 

“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to kill you.” he laughed softly, “I’m just here because the Duke himself asked me to fight and beat you.”

 

“Oh…”  That pesky Duke wants me to lose, huh?

 

“Honestly, I have a family already, though in secret.” The Paladin Prince explained to me, winking, “I have no intention of marrying our Saint, so I intend to back out of the contest once I did my mission.”

 

“I…I see…” Man, this was kind of awkward and heavy, you know.  Even though he’s supposedly my enemy, knowing the Paladin Prince’s background was something that made my heart waver.

 

After all, if things go smoothly for me, I’ll be shooting a person and could kill him in a real scenario.

 

“Ah, anyway, Kuro.  I admire your courage, or foolishness, whichever you may want to put it.” the Paladin commented, “You’re the only commoner that I encountered in my entire life that will take a stand against us, nobles.  Do you have the intention of marrying Her Holiness?”

 

“Nope, I don’t.” I gave him my honest answer, “I’m only here because I wanted to help a friend in need.”

 

“I don’t understand your reasons, but well, let’s have a good fight.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness!”

 

“Brave commoner, know that this humble paladin won’t hold back for this contest.” the Paladin Prince bowed before me, which kind of unnerved me since no noble should and would do it.  It only meant that this guy was considering me a worthy opponent.  Something far different from the usual arrogance of most nobles that I’ve met so far…

 

“What a coincidence!” I replied confidently, getting fired up, “I have the same intention as you!”

 

Good lord, this will leave an ugly aftertaste when I shoot him.

 

 

“For the Bronze Group, candidates, please step forward!” the judge called out.

 

The Paladin Prince and I took our brave steps and proceeded to the middle of the battlefield.  The audience, composed of mostly aristocrats and esteemed commoners, watched silently on the bleachers constructed to accommodate them temporarily.

 

Our group was the first one to go since everyone was expecting it to be a brief fight, thus not worthy of much attention.  Think of a boxing match back on Earth; our contest would be a sort of ‘warm-up’ for the crowd, who’d soon be going wild for the subsequent matches in the other groups.

 

Now that I had a good look at the bleachers, I could say that most were uninterested.  It was half-empty, and those who remained to watch were busy on something else.  Even at the Duke’s Pavilion, the host was missing, and of the two Rubinforth siblings, only William seemed to be interested in what’s going to take place—I could see Sophia chatting with some noble girls not too far away from her brother.

 

“…”

 

I took one last look at my weapon, just to make sure I prepared my first shot sufficiently.   Now’s not the time to get pissed off at these arrogant jackasses.

 

“Combatants, to the center, please!”

 

We did just what the judge said.  The Paladin Prince had his horse ready; on his hand was a long lance, and on his hip were a sword and a mace.  The shield was attached to the iron glove on his left hand.

 

Man, unlike what he said before, he wants me dead with those weapons…

 

I, in contrast, stepped forward with a dagger on a strap slung across my body, and the matchlock gun in my hands.  I asked Sophia to light the soft match for me on both ends so that I won’t get caught unprepared should the other end’s ember died down.

 

From afar, it may have looked like a battle between a well-armed tank versus a poor, ill-equipped infantryman.

 

“…”

 

“The one who draws blood shall be declared the winner.” the judge explained, “The contest can also be stopped if one of you yields to his opponent, or I deemed one of you as incapacitated, thus can’t continue to fight.  Am I understood?”

 

When we both signaled that we understood his instructions, the judge then stepped aside…

 

“Fight!”

 

And our clash was on!