The Sixteenth Chapter: The Extraordinary Martial Arts Competition

  Arwed didn't know that his small invention had become the catalyst for someone to kill Hof. Hannes, and he still didn't know about this matter and the disaster it would bring him in the future. Sir Wendel and his party passed through Donau River because they were flying the flag of Duke Medo, so the Earl of Bayern didn't make things difficult for them. At that time, the Duke of Bavaria was still neutral between the Dukes of Meissen and Saxony, so the vassals of the Duke of Bavaria were happy to sell them a favor, let alone European nobles who had relatives within three generations, it wasn't worth making an enemy of the Duke of Saxony.

  After a journey of about a week, they finally arrived at the territory of Duke Mason, Mason Province. The duke's castle was located on this small plain, and the duke also had a territory that made Arwade extremely familiar - Weimar Province. This territory was sandwiched between the territories of the vassals of the Duke of Thuringia, while Weimar bordered the province of Gottingen, which belonged to the Duke of Saxony. Listening to Sir Wendel's introduction to these grand noble territories, Arwade felt his head spinning, but Yifu listened with wide eyes shining brightly - wasn't this just like the legend of a wealthy and powerful noble? A great nobleman owning two provinces, with many vassals at his command, living in a sturdy castle, guarded by brave and skilled knights. Looking at his own family, a small village as their fiefdom, a wooden manor house, a handful of servants, an empty treasury that jingled with poverty - it was truly frightening to compare.

  "Drive them." From Sir Wendel's party, knights in mixed chain and plate armor often passed by, wearing various articulated helmets, with precious swords at their waists, holding sharp lances, and the surcoats on their bodies printed with their family crests. When they passed by Arwod and others, seeing their tattered clothes, they couldn't help but laugh.

  These are the knights from the earldom, some of whom are even the duke's inner household knights. They not only have rich fiefs as a source of military finance, but also collect taxes from free cities, so they don't worry about equipment and troops at all.

  If compared to these wealthy knights, Sir Wendel and his family still felt acceptable, after all, these knights were the important forces that the Duke relied on. However, what they saw next made the knight somewhat uneasy, for they saw a team composed of poor knights and infantrymen, whose armor was even stronger than their own, which made the knight feel somewhat ashamed.

  "Father, will the Duke have any objections to our equipment and soldiers?" Yves said worriedly to Sir Wendel.

  "We'll just have to try our best, then." Sir Wendel muttered to himself, unsure of how to answer his son's question.

  "It would have been better if we had just found a richer village to rob, and replenished our supplies." Yifu said with some annoyance.

  "Shut your mouth, Wyndell, we are noble knights, how can we do such a dishonorable thing as robbery." Sir Wyndell sternly said to his eldest son.

  "Yes, Father." Yifu lowered his head somewhat reluctantly, but Aruo De saw him biting his own lips, looking resentful.

  "Hey, Ivar, can we go raid some villages?" Arvid asked, taking a break from his sword practice as they were setting up camp outside the castle, while Ivar sat under a tree, chewing on a piece of grass, looking somewhat distracted.

  "Of course, the fief of the Knights under the Duke of Saxony is nearby. Even if we don't rob them, others will. That stubborn old man, Father, still cares about knightly honor? He's a fool! Those nobles, who among them doesn't rob others? Even those poor knights have better equipment than us, and it's all obtained through thievery." Yves jumped up from the ground in annoyance, loudly complaining, but without Sir Windel's orders, he was powerless. In fact, the knight had his own reasons: robbing someone else's fief might bring temporary gain, but it would also create a blood feud with the lord of the land. Many long-standing feuds between nobles started this way.

  Arthour had a thoughtful idea, unexpectedly the knights who claimed to be just and noble were actually a group of violent robbers in their bones. This may be the cultural root of the Western powers' global plundering in modern times. Just as Arthour began to re-examine the medieval knights, he heard the sound of people shouting and weapons clashing from the campsite filled with various colorful flags, and he curiously looked around.

  "Oh, I suppose it's those gentlemen competing somewhere, go take a look yourself, I'm not in the mood to teach you today." Yifu lifted his head to glance around, then propped up his leg again and leaned against the tree shade to rest.

  "A duel between knights." Arwade's heart was excited, after learning swordsmanship for so long, he really wanted to see how fully armed knights fought, which would be very beneficial for his own swordsmanship skills.

  In the center of the camp, people surrounded a circular area with wooden fences. Inside, two knights wearing mixed chain and plate armor were fighting, each holding a large sword. Their faces were covered by helmets with opening visors, and there were no family crests on their bodies, only decorations on their helmets that opened separately. One knight's helmet was decorated with a unicorn, while the other knight's helmet had a white swan. They swung their swords, producing the sound of metal clashing, as the surrounding crowd cheered and shouted.

  "Clang~~~." Due to wearing armor, their movements seemed a bit slow, which was the price of sacrificing speed for defense with heavy equipment. However, Arwade, who had already entered the threshold of swordsmanship, could still see that these two knights were both skilled in using swords. Even though the ground was muddy and treacherous, their footsteps didn't falter at all, with neat and orderly "ding" steps and alternating steps.

  "Lord Ebral, I have seen through your sword. Surrender now and I will let you leave with your honor intact." The knight with a white swan decoration on his helmet said in a muffled voice from behind his mask.

  "I hope your sword is sharper than your mouth." The unicorn knight showed no weakness, he placed his sword on the arm guard of his own hand, with the tip pointing at his opponent, just like an arrow placed on a bow, making the onlookers feel a sharpness beyond compare.

  "How dull, if it were in our France, a joust with lances would be more enjoyable." A group of haughty knights in the crowd said disdainfully as two knights dueled with swords.

  "What impertinence!" people grumbled, dissatisfied with the discourteous knights, but they did not dare to reproach them openly, for Count Lauts of Meissen, nephew of Duke Dedo V. von Wettin, was among them.

  "That's right, in this new era only heavy cavalry is the king of war, and that's why I've invited you noble French knights to join us from afar." Count Lauzitz, who was probably around thirty years old, with a head of silver-gray hair, smiled obsequiously at these French knights, his large nose and small eyes making him look particularly comical. The German people feared his power and remained silent.

  "What you said is right, swinging a sword is basically an act without any war skills. A swordsman walking under the long spear will definitely be the first to die." A blond-haired French knight with two mustaches raised his head and said proudly.

  "This nobleman seems to hold our German swordsmanship in contempt, but we Germans only believe what we see with our eyes, not what we hear from mouths." The words of the French knights enraged Sir Eber, who was engaged in a duel, he stopped his fight with the knight with the swan crest, stuck his sword into the ground, lifted up his visor and revealed a handsome face, if somewhat delicate features, which made it impossible to look away.

  "Oh? Then what would it take to make you yield?" The leading French knight sneered, his tone arrogant and disdainful, as he strode forward with an air of superiority.

  "Of course, one has to try it out to know." Sir Ebrard pulled his sword from the ground and challenged the French knight, "The reputation of the French knights is renowned throughout the land for their bravery and martial prowess. I hope to be able to challenge you a bit."

  "It's okay to try, but fighting on foot isn't my strong suit. If it were a jousting match with lances, that would be fine." The French knight nodded, for knights' competitions and sparring matches were nothing out of the ordinary, but he disliked getting muddy after the rain just now and didn't want to fight like some kind of street thug in the mud.

  "This is easily done, sir; you may ride, I will walk." Sir Ebrington threw open his arms and bowed to the other.

  "What?! This is unfair! The knights on horseback have an absolute advantage over the infantry!" The crowd was in an uproar, unable to understand why Sir Ebril would suggest such an unfair competition.

  "Oh, sir, this is most unfair to you, I beg of you to withdraw your challenge." The French knight was taken aback, not expecting Sir Ebrulf to raise such an unfair duel, and he could not agree to it in front of everyone.

  "I also suggest you stop this meaningless duel." Count Lauwenz looked at Sir Eber's face with a strange expression, he glared at Sir Eber fiercely with his eyes, but the knight didn't take him seriously.

  "Our German ancestors were those who wielded great swords to conquer all corners, today's jousting concerns the collective honor of German warriors, how can it be said to be meaningless? If we don't dare face the French knights' lances head-on, what face will German warriors have to dominate Europe?" Sir Eber exclaimed loudly, with the surrounding Germans thunderously echoing in agreement. Once the honor of the warriors was involved, Count Lauzitz also had no choice but to frown, and he whispered a few words into the ear of the French knight before falling silent.

  The crowd enthusiastically dismantled the wooden fence, clearing a large area of land. The attendants prepared for the jousting match between the two knights. The French knight was also having trouble getting down from his horse and had to mount it again, holding a lance with a blunt tip instead of a sharp one. Meanwhile, Sir Ebrard held an unsharpened great sword at the other end, waiting for the unusual and uneven jousting match to begin.