The cheers of the crowd and the screams of the two young knights as they made contact almost shook the blue sky above the arena. Horse hooves pounded the arena floor, wooden swords clashed and were blocked or hit their targets, and armor reflected the glare of the early spring morning sun.
The weather has been good for the past few days, and as the temperature rises, it is inevitable that people will feel drowsy. But fortunately, the atmosphere in the arena has infected almost everyone.
"Is this Shad Hamilton?"
On the highest level of the audience seats on the east side of the arena, Moody Robinson, the captain of the Blackstone Security Company, asked Yin Luna. Yin Luna looked at the figure in golden armor in the arena and nodded slightly:
"Yes, it seems that his swordsmanship is indeed very good."
Next to Yin Luna, the sorceress with purple lips smiled and said:
"Yin Luna, you seem to have a good relationship with Mr. Hamilton?"
"Yes, with his identity, I was able to gain a lot of valuable social connections."
Yin Luna was still looking at Xia De's figure, she knew that Xia De would not lose.
"But this knight's social relationships are quite complicated. His affair with Duchess Carina is well known throughout Tobesk."
Captain Robinson wanted to remind this promising young girl on his team, but he couldn't open his mouth, so he looked at another member of his team.
The lady with purple lips smiled and said:
"He's really young and handsome. If I were ten years younger, I would probably fall in love with him too."
"You don't actually need to warn me. I know my own business. If I rashly get involved with ordinary people, it will only implicate innocent people. I will watch him from a distance and wish him well. I know how to keep my distance."
Yin Luna held the railing, her eyes still looking at Xia De. The warm wind blew the hair hanging by her ears, but it couldn't blow the young girl's heart:
"I must stand beside him."
Yin Luna Bei Yasi said softly in her heart, looking at Xia De with a smile in her eyes. She did not say the dark thoughts in her heart, after all, in the eyes of the balanced chosen, only those who have both good and evil thoughts can be called real people.
Suddenly, a light flashed at the edge of her vision. Yin Luna subconsciously tried to catch it, but the strong light source that flashed by was no longer in the audience opposite.
"Is this some lady's vanity mirror?"
She thought to herself, and then her powerful inspiration caught the abnormality:
"Mirror... ... "
She continued to stare at Shade in the arena and thought for a while. When Shade blocked his opponent's wooden sword on his horse and almost knocked little Dulahan off his horse with a simple forward thrust, she said to the captain beside her:
"Please contact the church in the city to confirm whether any illegal groups related to the mirror have entered the Tobesk Diocese recently."
On the other side, although Shad had been giving in to little Dulahan, when there were only ten minutes left, he seemed to have suddenly realized the true meaning of swordsmanship. He used fast, accurate and ruthless combos, wielding the wooden sword in his hand like a whip, continuously hitting white spots on the armor of his young opponent.
When the horn sounding at the end of the game continued to spread under the blue sky, the audience didn't even have to wait for the referee's announcement to understand that it was "Rejad's Hamilton" who won the second half of the semi-final.
Neither of them was injured, so after getting off their horses and taking off their helmets, they politely shook hands in the middle of the arena to express their respect for their opponents. The camera's spotlight flashed wildly, trying to record this moment, and Mr. Du Lahan whispered "thank you" to Shad.
Xia De didn't quite understand at first. When he led his horse to the side of the arena and waited for the final to begin, he realized belatedly that the young gentleman probably thought that Xia De deliberately let him win so that he could perform better in front of his lover and show his bravery even if he lost the game.
Xia De felt that he might have gained a new friend.
The weather was fine, the sky was blue, and white clouds like cotton candy moved like ants above his head. The noisy sounds around him did not affect Shad's comfort at all. While listening to the voice of the palace attendant who recited poems to the entire arena through a loudspeaker, praising the last two contestants, he wondered how long this wonderful life could last.
After a not very long break, accompanied by the cheers of the audience and the explosions of fireworks, the final of the third event of the 1854 Spring Ring City Equestrian Competition finally arrived.
Shad and Sir Hels from Coldwater Harbor each led their horses and met in the center of the arena. They raised their swords, and the two swords remained crossed in the air for three seconds. Then they mounted their horses and waited for the horn to start the final.
Under the helmet, Shade took a deep breath, and under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he swung the reins and charged towards the old knight who was probably participating in the city riding competition for the last time due to his age.
(Little Mia is running...)
Peng!
The sound of the metal helmet being put heavily on the table startled the cat who was watching Shade "undressing" with great interest. Shade breathed in the fresh air in the tent, his hair stuck to his forehead due to sweat, but he had a rare smile on his face:
"Why is it so hot today? How did the knights of the past manage to walk around in armor all day in the summer?"
He complained with a smile, and his good mood also infected the others in the tent. The maids smiled and helped him take off his armor. No one stopped them from pinching Shad's arm. Dorothy stood by with her notebook:
"It's spring after all. Shade, I thought you would give the old knight a break."
"Why should I give in? This is a knight's match. It would be disgraceful if I played any tricks in the final. Although Sir Hales lost, he seemed very happy and even invited me to visit him in Coldwater Harbor when I have time."
Shade said, and then he felt the coolness. He turned around and saw Tifa wiping his forehead with a wet towel.
"From the rankings announced this morning, you are definitely number one. In the exhibition match this afternoon, your duel should be with Sir Hulls."
Dorothy said, and Shad was a little surprised:
"Sir Hales? I thought it would be Mr. Eric Foran. Although he lost to the Sir this morning, I remember that the Sir performed very poorly in the first round of the archery competition."
"But Eric Foran also had a bad second-round race. You probably didn't notice that he was 18th out of 36 in the field ride on Tuesday morning, and Sir Hulls was third."
Dorothy shook her head.
"Anyway, you are now only one step away from the championship. Eat a bigger lunch, and then take a nap to rest. If you don't like sleeping here, go to the carriage. When you went to the competition in the morning, Miss Carina's private carriage came from the manor. Although it can't be compared with a proper room, it is enough for you to rest."
"Forget about taking a nap. I have a feeling something will happen today."
Xia De shook his head and pressed his hand on his heart:
"I believe in my inspiration very much. The Faceless Man will definitely show up before the end of the game this afternoon. After dinner, I will go for a walk outside. You stay in the tent and wait for me."
"You should be careful when you go out on your own. If you bet on Eric Foren's people in the underground casino, you might end up doing something disgusting."
Dorothy warned, and Shad nodded. Then he saw little Mia jump lightly from the cabinet next to the mirror, use the mirror as a springboard, jump directly to the table next to her, and then jump into the warm helmet, seeming to enjoy the feeling of curling up inside.
After lunch, Xia De left the tent alone. As it was the last day of the competition, the market was quite lively. Xia De even saw a merchant selling a side-face photo of "Rejade's Hamilton". The photo must have been bought from a reporter.
But he failed to find any clues about the relic, the Faceless Man.
When preparing to return to his tent, Shade thought about talking to the Furen brothers. Although he could not tell the brothers that he was also a ring sorcerer, he planned to test whether they also knew the news of the faceless man.
However, as soon as he approached Mr. Eric Foren's tent, Shade felt something was wrong. The brothers' servants were all outside the tent. Although they seemed to be packing their luggage, they were actually surrounding the tent and not letting anyone get close.
At the same time, after Shade closed his eyes, he was unable to hear any heartbeats in the tent through the magic heart of stone. There must be no one in the tent at this moment, otherwise there would be no point in such a guard. Therefore, this also means that alchemical items such as the Silencing Note Spell or magic with similar functions are blocking the sounds coming from the tent.
"What are you talking about?"
He was quite curious about this, and although eavesdropping on other people's conversations was immoral, he still used the disguise of the "Red Butterfly Illusion" to walk over after repenting in his heart. The brothers Eric and Charles Foran were not big figures like witches, and the servants around them were just ordinary people, so there was no need to worry about being discovered.
They were lucky enough that although the two brothers blocked out the sounds in the tent, they probably did not intend to have a long conversation, so they did not set up any other anti-detection rituals.
Under the cover of the illusion, Shade walked directly to the west side of the tent. In order to prevent being detected by the extremely sensitive perception of the ring magician, he did not enter the tent, but carefully stretched his fingers to the ventilation window of the tent. Shade still could not hear the sound in this state, after all, there were no ears on his fingers, but fortunately "she" could hear it.