As Shad spoke, he turned his head slightly to look out the window at the early spring night in Tobesk, watching the dim light of the gas lamps on one side of the street passing by the side of the carriage:
"Carina, if the count has a minor accident locally, will it affect the negotiations?"
"Of course, it will cause diplomatic problems, but if it's not local, it's fine."
Xia De nodded:
"I see."
Miss Carina, observing his thoughtful expression, added:
"This is the first time I've seen you actively doing something bad. In my opinion, you are the kind of person who doesn't care much about the law, but takes morality very seriously."
Xia De continued to look out the window:
"I never considered myself a good person in the traditional sense, so this allows me to have a more flexible moral bottom line. I have done a lot of bad things, and I am even better at breaking into houses. Besides, my heart is not made of stone. Isn't it normal to be angry and hate or dislike someone because of something? I read an interesting love story in the Randall River Valley, and then I learned to cherish the people I love. Don't worry, I won't kill anyone for such a small matter. But since the earl himself is not a good person, and I have been very idle recently, I might as well find something for myself to do."
The beautiful witch bit her lower lip:
"Is this jealousy for my sake?"
Xia De turned his head and blinked:
"Since our relationship has progressed, I will of course be jealous of you. Just like what is written in those palace erotic novels, if you want me to duel with others for you, I will not refuse."
"I didn't expect you to read that kind of novel. I thought only Ajelina would like it... You know what? Now, you make me feel like a living person, like never before."
This sentence sounded strange, after all, Shade had always been a living person. But he didn't have a chance to express his doubts, because Miss Carina took his hand and kissed him.
The carriage drove to Saint Teresa's Square in the night. It was ten o'clock in the evening. I thought it would be another peaceful night.
The following Friday was the registration time for the 1854 Tour de Tobis. The registration deadline was this Sunday, and although there was still a long time to go, Shad decided to complete the registration process today. He was not the kind of person who would put things off until the last day.
That morning, he was not woken up by Mia. It was not because Shad woke up earlier than the cat, but because the cat, who was sleeping in the guest room with the maids, had no time to go into the room. It was waiting in the kitchen for the maids to prepare breakfast.
Although there was no "Mia Alarm Clock", Shad still woke up on time at half past six. He yawned and wanted to get up, but the red-haired lady who was hugging his neck lazily pulled him back into the quilt:
"Why are you waking up so early? Why don't you sleep a little longer?"
The ending tone of her words when she closed her eyes was very similar to the tone of Lecia when she was acting coquettishly to Shade. Shade wanted to get up, after all, there were still many things to do today, but the witch caught him and pulled him back into the quilt:
"Really? You're so energetic so early in the morning. It makes me doubt whether my charm was not enough last night."
As he said this, he hugged Xia De, and the two of them did not leave the bedroom until half past seven.
Although the stranger was already familiar with living alone, it was still nice not to have to make breakfast by himself. Miss Carina, who was used to living in manors and castles, did not have any other opinions because of the simplicity of Shade's house, and ate breakfast with Shade at the dining table.
In fact, it was fortunate that there were many guest rooms in Shad's house, otherwise the maids who followed the Duke would have had no place to stay last night.
At the breakfast table, while Shade was holding a newspaper in one hand and touching Mia with the other, the witch across the table suddenly asked:
"Speaking of which, is your badge a little different?"
"Yes."
The witch detection badge was originally made by Miss Carina for Shade, so of course she could tell. However, Shade was not wearing the badge at this time. He took it off and placed it on the bedside before going to bed last night:
"The space left behind by the ancient gods - the Earth's Core Furnace."
He briefly described the space, and the witch listened carefully as if it were something new, but she had no intention of going to see it after dinner. Instead, when Shade sent her and the maids downstairs, the Duchess stood in the hallway, looked around the house, and suggested:
"Since spring is here and the weather is nice, why don't you renovate the house? You can stay at my place temporarily during the renovation."
"Renovation? Why do we need to renovate? Didn't we renovate it last year?"
Shade asked curiously.
"Oh, that wasn't a renovation last year. We just made the house from dilapidated to habitable. Think about it yourself. I don't think Resia, Louisa, and Anate would object."
She said lightly, then leaned close to Xia De and kissed his cheek:
"By the way, did you forget to give me something?"
She asked again with a smile, and Xia De blinked suspiciously, so the voice of "her" in his ear appeared almost at the same time as the action of the maid beside him.
key.
Tifa made a motion to turn the key and open the door.
"Oh, yes."
Xia De suddenly realized what was going on. He took out the key from the biscuit box in the shoe cabinet, took one off the iron ring and handed it to the lady in front of him:
"Carina, this is the spare key to my house."
The witch took it with a smile, and instead of handing it to Tifa who was standing beside her for safekeeping, she stuffed it into the pocket of her skirt:
"If you run into any trouble recently, remember to come to me at any time. Although I may be a little busy during this period, at least I can't see you once a week like little Lecia."
She said goodbye to Shade in a good mood, and then got on the carriage in front of Shade's house. Shade pulled the door, watched the carriage go away on the steps in front of the door, and then realized that the "trouble" she was talking about was probably Shade's intention to cause trouble for the Earl of the South.
What are your plans
she asked gently.
"Of course, but we'll talk about it when the time comes. After all, plans can't keep up with changes."
Xia De did not close the door immediately. Instead, he looked at the scenery in the foggy square, and then stretched lazily at the door in an uncivilized manner.
When I was about to go home, the door of the neighbor next door happened to open, and Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith were dressed as if they were going out.
Since they met, they naturally had to exchange a few words about the recent weather. The old man who used to be the chief secretary of the Kingdom's Ministry of Finance also asked Xia De with great interest:
"Hamilton, do you want to sign up for this year's Around the City Riding Competition?"
"certainly."
Shade said with a smile, and then received the blessings of the neighbors. When he closed the door, he thought of last year's "1853 Big City Players" from the riding competition, and from the "Big City Players" he thought of the bets he made from the doctor before the competition and the money he earned.
"Hmm~"
Xia De nodded slightly and decided to discuss this matter with Dr. Schneider during the group study meeting tomorrow.
The only important thing this Friday was to register for the competition. This time, no one sent Xia De a special invitation.
As usual, Mia was unwilling to move at home, so Xia De had to go out by himself. The registration location was on Silver Cross Avenue, in the room on the left hand side of the first floor of the City Hall.
Xia De originally thought that the process would be very simple, but he didn't expect that he would have to get a number and queue up. Probably because it was similar every year, there was a row of chairs along the wall of the corridor so that the gentlemen who came to register could sit down and wait.
The city hall was deserted in the early morning. Although the civil servants had arrived at their posts, most of them were reading newspapers or chatting with each other to learn about the situation. In the corridor on the first floor, there were only people waiting to register. The eyes of the portraits of "excellent civil servants" hanging on the wall seemed to be staring at them closely.
Although according to the rules anyone can sign up for the competition, in reality the entry threshold for the "Tobesk Spring City Riding Competition" is much higher than that for "Big City Players".
Players from the big city only need to have their own genuine deck of cards and pay the registration fee to participate, but the equestrian competition requires them to prepare their own horses and armor. As for the one-handed knight sword and bow and arrow, they are provided by the organizer.
For people living in this era, even ordinary nobles may not be able to prepare a complete set of armor and horse harnesses, let alone ordinary citizens. Therefore, this is actually a game for the nobles.
Xia De is now considered a "famous person" in Tobysk City. When he sat down and waited, someone around him recognized him. The gentlemen waiting for their numbers to be called greeted each other and praised each other, then chatted casually, or exchanged information about this year's competition.
The man who calls himself "Baron Leipzig of Windsor Castle" revealed that this year's schedule may be different from previous years. His Majesty the King has a new idea, so there may be new events added. Baron Oliver, who runs a horse business in Tobesk, told everyone that this year's death index for the race is only one:
"My wife's cousin works in clerical work at Redwich Field. He told me that because two players died during last year's competition, His Majesty was very angry. So this year, he ordered Redwich Field to be well prepared for the competition. If the death quota is exceeded, our police chief, Mr. Feynman, will be in trouble."
The baron said with a smile, while Viscount Chekov, who was wearing a red coat, white bloomers and a hat with feathers, said:
"I remember two deaths last year. One died of tetanus after the game, and the other died of a cold during the game. There would not have been such a heavy loss of life in previous years."
This Viscount Chekov was also an acquaintance of Shade's. Shade had played cards with him when he went to Lake View Manor for the second time to attend the grand wedding banquet in early winter last year. This Viscount had a rich family and was also a well-known poet.
"What if someone accidentally injures or even kills someone during the race? Although no one wants to do that, accidents are inevitable."
Xia De asked. Everyone knew that this was his first year participating in the competition, so they were willing to explain the situation to him:
"If it's just a minor injury, no one will pursue it. If it's a major injury, the Redwich Field will intervene in the investigation, but as long as it's not intentional injury, basically just pay compensation."
Viscount Chekov said, then asked Xiang Xiade with a smile:
"It will be interesting to see Hamilton from Rejade participating this year. Knight, in whose name will you swear your loyalty later?"
The gentlemen around laughed in unison, and Shade also smiled:
"You'll know it in tomorrow's paper."
For such an important event, the main newspapers in the city, including the Tobesk Morning Post and the Talare River Evening Post, would publish news about the contestants who signed up for the competition, including their family backgrounds and personal privacy, for the citizens to discuss and have fun with. The contestants not only did not mind, but were proud of receiving more attention.
Generally speaking, there are no more than fifty contestants each year, so it is just right to use a full page to report it.
It was not until half past ten in the morning that it was finally Xia De's turn to enter the office with a temporary sign that read "Registration Office for the 1854 Equestrian Competition".
This is the largest office on the first floor of the City Hall. Outside the window is the courtyard of the City Hall, and outside is the bustling Silver Cross Avenue. From here, you can even see a corner of the building on Saint Teresa Square in the distance.
The room was divided into two parts. On the left side was a desk and a bookshelf filled with brown paper file bags. On the desk were piled forms and registration instructions that smelled of ink. On the right side of the room was a place similar to a tailor's shop. An old man with a tape measure hanging around his neck was bending over a table with cloth on it, writing something.
"Good morning, Mr. Hamilton."
Mr. Morris, a middle-aged man in a black formal uniform at the registration desk, obviously recognized Shade and stood up from the chair behind the desk to shake hands with Shade, then introduced the situation. The two reporters sitting on the bench also began to take notes, and their conversation might be published in the newspaper tomorrow.
"First, let me confirm whether you have prepared your horse and armor?"
"Yes, Carina has, I mean Miss Carina has prepared it for me."
Mr. Morris nodded:
"Then the registration process is very simple for you. You don't need to bother with the registration form. The Duke has already sent your basic information yesterday. What you need to pay attention to is this 'List of Competition Supplies'. Please fill it out and send it here before leaving get off work at 6 pm on Sunday."
The list required filling in the horse's pedigree, age, color, and armor style and size.
"You also know the dangers of the City Tournament. Here is a written consent form. Signing it means you are aware of the dangers of participating in the competition."
Another document was handed to Shade, a five-page bound paper that listed possible accidents during the competition. If the contestants really encountered these dangers, they could not ask the organizer for compensation.
Xia De flipped it over for a moment, then raised his eyebrows:
"Wait a minute, someone really died of kidney failure during the game? What kind of death is that?"
Mr. Morris, who was familiar with the competition, stood beside the table, holding the tabletop and explained with a smile:
"That happened more than 20 years ago. Earl Lucius, who came all the way from Lyon County, won the first place in the first equestrian competition. To celebrate that night, he invited many beautiful local ladies... and then he died suddenly that night. The earl was only 31 years old at the time, which was really a pity. But this incident also tells us not to challenge the physiological limits of human beings easily."
Xia De nodded and continued to flip back, and found more bizarre accidents, such as "unfortunately hitting himself while shooting an arrow". He had no idea how a person could do such a thing.
"Oh, seventeen years ago, Knight Leiman was the first to complete all the goals when shooting at fixed targets. Seeing that there was still an arrow, for reasons we don't know, he shot that arrow into the sky, and then turned around and waved to his wife. He had only taken two steps when he was hit by the arrow."
Mr. Morris shook his head again with regret:
"The Lyman Knight was a pretty good shooter and people thought he was the favorite to win the championship that year."
Shade continued to flip through the pages. After reading the document and signing his name as if it were a fun thing, Mr. Morris coughed and asked Shade in a very formal voice:
"Hamilton of Rejade, please swear an oath now. You will demonstrate chivalry during the competition. Defend honor, be brave and fearless, have mercy on the weak, and win the championship for the glory of Delarion. What do you want to swear by?"
Xia De did not answer immediately, but asked:
"May I know what the first few applicants said?"
The reporter is still taking notes, because all this will be published tomorrow, so Mr. Morris does not hide anything:
"The eldest son of the Marquis of Lyon from Green Lake City swore on the honor of his family; Viscount Chris Randall, who lives in the East District of Tobesk, swore in the name of his new wife; as for the Sir Groom who came from Carsenrick in front of you, he swore on the national treasure of Carsenrick, the blue-winged egret that lives in the Willendel area. Oh, I almost forgot that the first person to sign up early this morning, Earl Ranald Baggins, swore on the garter of our noble Queen Diana... ... I don't recommend you to learn from Earl Baggins. He is Queen Diana's cousin and he dares to say that."
Shade nodded in understanding. He could now swear as a knight of "Hamilton of Rejade" or as a girl around him. Even if he didn't mind his reputation, he could swear in the name of Mia.
But Leicia had already told him what to do:
"I swear in the name of Her Royal Highness Princess Leithia Cavendish that I will abide by the five virtues of chivalry, defend honor, and achieve victory through bravery."
"Your Highness Leicia?"
Mr. Morris hesitated, but the reporters who were recording the incident suddenly became interested.
"Is it not possible?"
Shade asked, and Mr. Morris shook his head hastily:
"Of course, but... you do this, oh, I shouldn't say this, but you do this, Miss Carina..."
"It's okay, I've already told her."
Mr. Morris looked at Shade with awe.
"No problem, Hamilton of Regede, I swear by Her Royal Highness Leicia. If you win, I believe His Majesty the King will definitely let Her Royal Highness present you with the award in person."
"The bards in the tavern will surely be thrilled to death."
Shade also said with a smile.
After completing the registration process and paying the registration fee of 20 pounds, he went to the tailor on the other side of the room to have him measure his clothes. Although the armor is prepared by the applicants themselves, the organizer will customize the formal dress for the participating "knights" to attend the banquet.
This set of clothes is not mandatory, it is just a process that follows tradition. Compared with the actual meaning, the symbolic meaning of tailoring is the most important.
After being tailored, Shad was assigned his own camp outside the "Edward III Arena" where the competition was held. It was a camp consisting of tents and stables, which was completely used by Shad and his servants during the competition. Shad got a map of the location of the camp, and when he walked out of the city hall, he had already developed a strong interest in the competition that would open on Sunday and start next Monday.