Wednesday's event was the most important and most spectacular "horse duel". 36 people were divided into 18 groups to duel, and the winners advanced to the next round until the final winner was decided.
Of course, because one of the contestants had died in advance, there was a lucky person who got a bye in the first round. When drawing lots, everyone who heard the news of the death hoped that they would get a bye, and even Xia De thought it would be best if he could save some effort, but unfortunately he didn't have that kind of luck this time.
Because it was an armored duel, all the contestants arrived early to prepare their armor and horses. Since Dorothy was not there, Tifa led the maids to put armor on Shad, and then watched him ride into the arena.
Shade's first opponent was his "teammate" in the first two rounds, Mr. Dune Westworth. This gentleman rode a purebred Myrtilis prairie black horse. In addition to his own armor, he also prepared a metal horse blinder and a pretty-looking horse cloth for his horse.
The two gentlemen stepped on the pedals, holding the sword in one hand and the reins in the other, and first touched and tested a few times, and then had their first confrontation. Then, while holding his wooden sword with his numb hands, Mr. Doon Westworth came to a terrible conclusion:
"My speed and strength are far inferior to his."
So Xia De won the first game without any surprise.
The 35 contestants had to compete in five rounds, which meant that the competition started at 9 a.m. and lasted until sunset. The third round had just ended, and the four contestants who advanced to the semi-finals included Shad and Mr. Eric Foran, whose brother was unfortunately defeated by him.
Throughout the entire day, the cheers from the audience in the arena never ceased. The terrible accident that happened around the arena last night did not affect the lively atmosphere at all. And every time a player appeared on the stage, the audience would shout their names loudly.
For outsiders, when the name "Shad Hamilton" was called out loudly, he felt quite subtle. Although he never liked to be the focus of too much attention, he was not averse to pursuing honors and rewards in this festive atmosphere.
The remaining competitions will be held on Thursday, which will be the last day of the Tobysk City Tournament in 1854. Therefore, when the sun sets, all the "knights" gather in the arena with their horses, express their gratitude to Queen Diana for attending for three consecutive days, and then leave from different exits of the arena.
"Shad!"
The blonde writer who had just arrived in the afternoon waved her handkerchief excitedly to welcome Shade's return. Tifa held Mia in her arms, smiled and stood beside her, nodding at Shade.
Shade wore this set of armor for almost the entire day. Although it was nothing considering his physical strength, he still breathed a sigh of relief when he took it off.
Just as Dorothy and the maids were helping Shad change his clothes, just as Dorothy had said yesterday, the table closest to the tent exit was already piled with handkerchiefs, love letters and even garters sent by the servants.
"You are probably the most popular contestant this year."
While adjusting Shade's collar in front of the mirror, the blonde said with a smile:
"Handsome, young, with strong waist and arms. Although your family is not wealthy, you own a house in St. Teresa's Square. Apart from the scandal with Carina Cavendish, there is almost no negative news about you. And you are still unmarried. Shad, you have no idea how popular you are in the city."
"I think I'm not as popular as Lecia. Tomorrow is the last day of the competition. I think Lecia should have prepared for the activities at the banquet tomorrow night, right?"
Shad asked, and Dorothy winked at him in the mirror:
"Of course I am ready, but only if I win the championship can I get the reward. This is what we agreed on from the beginning."
There was a small episode before returning to the Carina Manor that evening. The Marquis Ensis from Tobesk, who was defeated by Shad in the afternoon, came to Shad and asked him to help find the lost items after being introduced by Shad's good friend Baron Rwanda.
During the game, the Marquis' servants stayed in the tent. But when the Marquis returned to the camp in the evening, he found that his favorite gilded tobacco box, which had been placed on the cabinet next to the mirror, was missing.
For the Marquis of Ensis, the tobacco box itself was not very valuable, but he just liked things that he had used for a long time, and he suspected that one of the servants had stolen his things, which was unforgivable.
Because the incident had just happened, the Marquis came to Xia De for help with the attitude of giving it a try, and Xia De readily agreed.
It was actually not difficult to find the thief who stole the things. When Shad took Dorothy, who wanted to collect materials, into the Marquis' camp, he closed his eyes and heard the most abnormal heartbeat among dozens of heartbeats.
The extremely fast heartbeat belonged to a seemingly ordinary male servant. When asking everyone about their whereabouts in the afternoon, Shade asked him a few more questions. However, it was the male servant himself who was intimidated by the reputation of "Famous Detective Hamilton" and could not resist his intimidating gaze and questioning, so he was the first to cry and confess:
"I stole it. My wife took away all my money. My daughter is seriously ill and has no money for treatment. I need this money."
Shad looked at Dorothy and shook his head helplessly, while the writer was still quickly recording the situation at the scene.
Shade originally thought that this simple commission was over, because the police who were patrolling more frequently around the camp due to the "assassination" of Earl Lewis would soon arrive. Unexpectedly, Marquis Ensis said to the crying servant:
"I sympathize with your situation, but you shouldn't steal my things for this. No matter what the reason is, you can't take the initiative to do bad things."
The emotional servant was obviously angered by this, and he said something that was beyond everyone's expectation:
"Didn't you say last night that in order for you to achieve military merit, it would be best if the negotiations between Delarion and Carsenrick broke down and a full-scale war broke out? Aren't you expecting something worse for your own sake?"
The Marquis's face turned from red to white, and then from white to black. Shad and Dorothy, who looked up in surprise, were politely asked to leave the tent and received a "hush money" that was ten times more than the originally agreed commission.
As they walked towards Shade's tent in the sunset, the blonde said to Shade:
"Although I've heard from Leicia that there are many people who hope that the negotiations will break down and the all-out war on the Old Continent will be restarted, this is the first time I've seen this."
"What else did Leicia say?"
"Peace has lasted too long, and there are too many accumulated conflicts. This negotiation is definitely not as simple as negotiating borders and trade routes. If we are not careful, war may really come again."
Xia De held her hand and said after a long while:
"Civilization has reached an important event node?"
"You can say that. Not everyone is looking forward to peace. After all, there has been peace for too long."
On the nights of the two days before the competition, someone stayed with Shad at number 6 St. Teresa's Square every night, but after the third day, the girls were unable to stay overnight due to their own matters. Miss Carina seemed to not want to be laughed at by Leicia, so she did not come to see Shad again, so Shad and Mia spent a peaceful night like usual.
On Thursday morning, Shade got up very early. He first went to Midhill Castle to ask Grace and Helen about the news of the faceless man, and then returned home with the crystal shoes to prepare breakfast.
When Shad was sitting at the dining table, reading the boasting about "Shad Hamilton" in the newspaper, and even he himself felt a little embarrassed, Dorothy came hurriedly and told him the big news:
"Lecia got news from the Yodel Palace. Last night, another victim appeared in the Edward III Arena. This time, they were not contestants in the competition, but three drunkards who were drinking in the market at night. The way they died was exactly the same as that of Enhor Seric yesterday. The church is discussing with the father... ...Lecia's father, whether to terminate the competition."
"That humanoid relic, is it still around the arena?"
Xia De was also very surprised:
"I didn't feel any elemental reaction the whole day yesterday. Will the game be terminated today?"
"Probably not."
Dorothy shook her head.
"It takes a proper reason to stop the competition. If this kind of competition that the entire Old Continent is watching suddenly stops on the last day, it will definitely cause unnecessary trouble. In addition, the victims so far were all killed at night, so Leicia thinks that today's competition will continue, but the church will send more people around the arena. She asked me to remind you not to use your full strength during the competition, just let the opponent have a slight advantage."
"I understand that I must not display too much strength beyond my normal capacity. In that case, Dorothy, will you still go with me today?"
If the area near the arena was really that dangerous, Shad actually didn't want Dorothy to go with him.
"Of course we'll go together. If you don't want to go out because you feel a little bit dangerous, then I might as well stay at home every day."
What she said made sense, so when Shade went out, he took the lazy cat out with him. Although the cat was very reluctant to go out on Monday, since it knew that there would be delicious food in that tent, its resistance to Shade forcing it to go out was much weaker.
I rode the carriage out of the city with Dorothy, and then met up with the maids in the tent outside the arena. Tifa knew that three more victims had appeared last night, and two of the maids who came with her today were high-level warlocks. Even though Miss Carina would not come until the afternoon, she still made sure that Shade was safe.