Chapter 117: The Knight Without Weaknesses

"Verdamm! Rechallenge! I’m rechallenging!"

The cavalry commander couldn’t seem to understand why he was being unhorsed so easily. His attacks were still fierce, so I had to grit my teeth and endure, but as a result, the cavalry commander fell from his horse two more times. I beat him four times in total.

And...

[You have acquired the F-Rank Tournament Knight (Impact 20%, Defense 20%) title]

I’d acquired a title after a long time.

And it was a tournament-related title I needed most right now.

Impact meant the attack power when striking with the lance, and defense meant enduring the opponent’s lance? Having faced the cavalry commander, I’d be able to see what results this brought against my next opponent. And not just a title—a quest had been created too.

[Romantic Tournament Knight]

[Win the championship for your beloved wife]

[Reward - 1,000 points, 1 silver coin]

[Family Prestige 250 points]

It felt like it had been a while since the local battle.

I liked this quest. It seemed to reflect my feelings well. To be honest, I thought winning would be difficult. If Hilda hadn’t carefully observed the championship contenders at past tournaments, I couldn’t have exploited weaknesses and might have been the one throwing down my helmet, unable to contain my fury.

"Contact with opponents is not allowed!"

"Halt den Mund! Only His Highness and the War Minister can stop me!"

Instead of requesting a rechallenge, the cavalry commander brushed off the referee trying to stop him and ran straight to me. He moved remarkably well for someone wearing that heavy tournament armor. They said lingering grudges often remained after tournaments, but surely he wasn’t going to demand a one-on-one sword duel?

Should I swing my longsword after a long time and show this Saxon bastard the essence of German swordsmanship?

The cavalry commander was only fearsome on horseback—if it came to a one-on-one longsword duel, I wasn’t intimidated either.

But surprisingly, the cavalry commander showed no anger when he faced me.

I’d thought he was coming for revenge.

"I’ll give up on rechallenging. I cleanly acknowledge defeat."

"Surprising. I thought you came to request a duel."

"Hmph, I was going to, but I held back. I’ll let it go if you just satisfy my curiosity. How did you do it?"

In the first match, the cavalry commander had been clearly superior to me through the third exchange.

He said he’d planned to finish me off in the fourth exchange too.

But in the fourth exchange, the first to fall wasn’t me but the cavalry commander. That outcome seemed too absurd to him. He knew he’d been attacked intensively on the upper shield but didn’t seem to realize that it had become his weakness. I had no intention of revealing it to him.

"Come now—where in the world would someone give away their secret?"

"Damn, it must definitely be related to my upper body."

"Figure it out yourself. I have nothing more to say."

I didn’t know if he’d correct it on his own, but I intended to keep exploiting that weakness.

"The team competition still remains, so don’t run away!"

"I’m confident in the team competition too."

"Good. Anyway, since you beat me, make sure you advance to the finals. Make sure!"

The cavalry commander left with words that were equal parts encouragement and threat. I’d expected him to cling more persistently, but it passed surprisingly easily. By defeating the cavalry commander, I became a knight advancing to the fourth round. My father-in-law and I were the only ones from our side to advance.

Viscount Loewenbert, who was the last competitor, lost.

The Viscount’s opponent was none other than Wilhelm von Terese.

Wilhelm certainly seemed like an impressive knight worthy of being called a tournament legend.

Never mind finding a weakness—studying him felt like staring up at an impregnable fortress trying to figure out how to breach it.

Steinhof’s Fiel, the Imperial Knights commander, and the Grand Duke’s Guard commander also advanced to the fourth round. One knight sent by Marquis Offenburg, ruler of the north, and the veteran Steinhof knight who’d beaten Michael rounded out the list. From here on it was the quarterfinals, with only the strongest remaining.

Just looking at the list of advancing participants, the lineup was formidable.

I wondered if it was all right for a beginner like me to be among them—they seemed that powerful.

By the way, the Crown Prince had dropped out in the second round.

Vermeer and Eisenach too.

At least they’d saved face by each winning one match.

The fourth round was held two days later.

This was to give rest to the advancing participants, who’d had to compete in tournament matches all day. It was a reasonable arrangement. To be honest, my whole body ached. The match against the cavalry commander in particular had been so grueling that I’d wanted to beg him to stop rechallenging. I’d had to face him four times.

It was fortunate that I’d been able to win safely by properly exploiting the weakness Hilda had taught me. Michael made a fuss welcoming me when I returned to the waiting room.

"To beat that Saxon bastard! I knew it was worth betting my money on you, brother-in-law!"

"You were gambling on the tournament?"

"After losing in the individual competition, what else is there besides gambling?"

Though the Church despised it, tournament gambling was legal.

I had no great interest in gambling itself, so I hadn’t paid attention.

"But did you receive Father-in-law’s forgiveness?"

"I’m lucky you won, brother-in-law. It ended with just a few beatings."

Ah, so that was why his eyes were black and blue.

Michael didn’t care and celebrated my victory, reveling in the cavalry commander’s shattered pride. He seemed very satisfied that the cavalry commander had lost in the third round. The fact that the loss was to me made it doubly sweet. Michael said he’d bet on me from now on. As a first-time competitor, I’d have the lowest odds of winning. So wouldn’t the payout be the highest?

If I actually won the championship?

It would be a jackpot for Michael. Hmm, should I bet too?

Striking while the iron was hot, I modestly wagered 10 silver coins on myself.

I was curious who my fourth-round opponent would be, but since brackets were typically decided by lottery on the day itself, I couldn’t know yet. With Ted and Oscar’s help, I took off all the plate armor and savored the feeling of liberation. It reeked of sweat, but the two diligently wiped me down while spraying rose fragrance.

"Wolf! Are you all right? You’re not hurt anywhere?"

"I think I was hurting until just now, but seeing you, I feel all better."

"Hehe, what are you saying? Don’t tease me."

Hilda hugged my neck and didn’t let go for a long time. After the first day of the tournament ended, I finally reunited with Hilda. The word "reunion" felt a bit dramatic, but I’d had to settle for only glimpsing Hilda from the stands all day, so it had been agonizing. We were in the heat of our honeymoon, after all.

After preparing sugar cubes for Mont Blanc, who’d worked hard fighting while carrying my heavy self, we returned home. I must have slept like a log until the next morning. Amazingly, though I’d been keeping Hilda up every night since the wedding, nothing happened that evening. Was I that tired?

After breakfast, I leisurely drank tea with Hilda in the rose garden.

"Just as you advised, the cavalry commander has a habit of leaning his upper body forward. Thanks to that, I was able to beat him by intensively targeting the upper shield."

"Really? I’m glad it helped."

"It’s not that I won—it’s that you won, Hilda."

Hilda seemed moved by my words and burrowed deeper into my embrace.

I loved this feeling. I held back from getting carried away.

While training with lances, I’d picked up plenty of information about championship contenders from Hilda. One piece was the cavalry commander’s habit. Because Hilda was a woman who couldn’t participate in tournaments, she’d analyzed competitors to vicariously satisfy her own desire to compete. And that information had helped me considerably.

As Michael had once mused, what if Hilda had been born a man?

Such assumptions are meaningless, but I believe Hilda would have become an excellent knight. Of course, right now she’s my lovely wife, and I’m a husband who respects her deeply. And to fulfill my wife’s wish on her behalf, I was challenging the tournament despite being a beginner.

The current me was like Hilda’s avatar.

And I didn’t regret that.

The sweet holiday passed and finally the fourth round approached.

As soon as I finished preparing, the first thing I checked was the bracket.

I had the last match of the fourth round, and my opponent was the Grand Duke’s Guard commander.

He was a truly formidable opponent.

I’d even heard from Hilda that he was a knight without weaknesses.