Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight - Chapter 48

————

Chapter 48: Jousting(1)

***

The next day became the day of the jousting tournament.

Early in the morning, Damien headed to the waiting room located behind the tournament arena.

Already present in the waiting room were knights preparing for the competition.

“Young master, is this armor really suitable?”

Victor asked Damien while extending a leather armor towards him.

The leather armor Damien brought was small, barely covering the torso. Without any protection for the shoulders and arms, it seemed like any sword slash could cause immediate injury.

“This should be enough.”

Damien casually replied as he put on the armor.

All participants in the jousting tournament were either junior or low-class knights. With their skills, they couldn’t even touch a hair on Damien’s head.

So, instead of wearing heavy iron armor, a lightweight leather armor seemed more fitting.

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to put on at least a chainmail…?”

Dong-dong!

A soldier, stripped of his armor, beat a large drum on one side of the tournament ground. The knights’ attention shifted towards the arena.

Earl Copperhead was walking towards the center of the arena.

“Ahem, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to each one of you for coming here. I am Earl Chester Copperhead,” he began, inaugurating the opening ceremony.

“Today, the bravest knights from the West have all gathered here. The victor shall not only bask in fame within our Western region but will also etch their name prominently across distant lands,” he continued.

A tournament of this scale was a rare occurance. Undoubtedly, it would attract not only participants from the West but also pique the interest of neighboring regions.

As the Earl said, the winner could achieve significant renown.

“Of course, fame is not the only thing the winner will obtain. We have prepared prizes befitting the champion,” Earl Copperhead gestured, and servants brought in covered items.

After removing the cover, the Earl walked, revealing a small crystal the size of a child’s fist.

Oddly, the inside of the crystal had a continuously burning flame, like a candle.

“What is that? A magical artifact?” someone asked.

“That doesn’t seem to be the case. If it were a magical artifact, it would have magic runes on the surface,” another noble explained.

Nobles looked at the crystal with a mix of curiosity and confusion.

Upon the Earl’s signal, another servant brought in a large silver tray with a blazing red flame.

The Earl gripped the crystal and inserted his hand into the flame without any sign of pain.

“Aah!”

“What is that!”

Nobles and knights exclaimed in shock. The soldiers in the waiting room had similar reactions.

But the Earl didn’t seem to be in any pain.

“This is a treasure collected by my grandfather. As you can see, it has the power to protect the owner from flames. Not only that, but it also maintains body temperature.”

The nobles began to buzz with excitement.

Magical items that could protect the body were highly valuable. They were usually created by mages of the 5th rank or higher, with limited uses.

However, this crystal seemed to have no such restrictions, and it even had the added effect of maintaining body temperature.

It was truly an extraordinary item.

“As for its origin, even I don’t know. My grandfather collected it, but when he asked the mages, they couldn’t identify it,” Earl Copperhead said.

Although the mysterious origin was a bit disappointing, it wasn’t a significant problem given the exceptional properties of the crystal.

“This item will be awarded to the winner as a prize,” the Earl declared, lifting the crystal. The nobles cheered.

In the midst of it all, Damien alone was astonished.

“Why is the Spirit’s heart here?”

***

Spirit.

It was a term referring to mystical beings born with the power of nature.

Although their intelligence was only equivalent to that of a young child, the power they possessed was formidable.

Even the weakest spirit’s power was considered low-class, to say the least.

‘He offered an incredibly rare item as a reward.’

Unlike the Earl, Damien knew exactly what the item was.

Spirit’s Heart.

When a high-level spirit perished, this was an extremely low-probability manifestation of its power.

High-level spirits possessed remarkable intelligence and exerted power equivalent to that of a high-class knight.

‘The rumors I heard in my past life were true.’

The question was answered.

According to Damien’s knowledge, the winner of the jousting Tournament had reached the ranks of high-class using the prize.

If it was the heart left by a high-level spirit, it was entirely possible.

If he could melt and absorb that heart, he could gain immense magical power and the power of the spirit.

‘The power of the spirit…’

Damien recalled the elves he fought in his previous life.

When, under Dorugo’s command, he sought to destroy the empire, the elven race came to stop him.

All of them had made contracts with spirits, including elves who contracted with the Spirit King.

‘They were formidable. I thought I was fighting nature itself.’

Damien had battled over thirty spirit mages for more than three months.

In the end, he emerged victorious by tearing apart the Spirit King.

‘To offer such a treasure as a reward… It seems it was true, even though they claimed not to know its true nature.’

Humans didn’t understand spirits properly.

Therefore, there might not have been a mage among them who recognized it as a spirit’s heart.

Thanks to the knowledge from Dorugo and the battle with the elves, Damien could identify it.

‘I didn’t expect much from the prize, but this one is quite tempting.’

If he could absorb the spirit’s heart, he could speedup the process of regaining the strenght of his past life.

‘But where is Abel in all this?’

Damien scanned the spectator stands. There, he spotted Abel sitting inconspicuously among the nobles.

Abel was looking at something with an envious expression.

‘What is he looking at… Ah.’

Olivia Copperhead was sitting in the VIP section. Other nobles crowded around her.

Unable to break through the crowd to speak with her, Abel seemed resigned.

‘Such an immature fellow.’

Damien inwardly sighed.

It was unpleasant, but it was somewhat expected. Abel was practically a greenhorn in these matters.

“Victor, follow me.”

“Yes! … What?”

Damien navigated through the knights and exited towards the tournament arena.

“You, Young Master? The competition hasn’t started yet.”

“I am aware.”

After dismissing Victor’s complaints, Damien stood in front of the Earl seated in the VIP section.

“Your Excellency, good morning.”

“Oh, Damien. Good morning.”

“Thanks to Your Excellency’s gracious hospitality, I rested comfortably in excellent accommodations.”

Damien’s response seemed to please the Earl, who wore a satisfied expression.

“However, what brings you here? Do you have something to say?”

“I wanted to address a concern before the competition begins.”

“A concern?”

The Earl asked with widened eyes.

“The jousting Tournament can be quite brutal and occasionally involves scenes of cruelty.”

Damien said, looking at Olivia, who was sitting beside the Earl.

“I am concerned whether someone as delicate as Lady Olivia could truly enjoy the jousting Tournament.”

Damien continued, making a worried expression.

“I believe it would be beneficial to assign someone to accompany her, providing explanations about the difficulties of the jousting for a more enjoyable experience. Fortunately, my brother Abel, whom I personally trained in both swordsmanship and horsemanship, is good for fulfilling this role.”

Pointing to Abel in the spectator stands, Damien made his proposal. Abel looked at Damien with a surprised expression.

“Thank you for your concern, but Olivia is not such a fragile child. She enjoys hunting as a hobby even in her usual days…”

“That’s a good suggestion! I’ll go along with Sir Damien’s idea.”

Olivia Copperhead spoke briskly. Earl Copperhead turned to Olivia with a bewildered face.

“Olivia?”

“Having someone explain the tournament beside me would be better than watching alone.”

Damien looked at Olivia with an unexpected expression.

‘A woman with a keen sense.’

After Damien mentioned Abel, he expected some objection. What was more pleasing was Olivia’s proactive attitude. It seemed she had a definite affection for Abel.

“Well… Since Olivia says so, I suppose there’s no help for it. Abel, come forward.”

It was when the Earl gave the order that cries erupted from the waiting room.

“Your Excellency! This is too hasty!”

A large knight walked up to the arena.

“My squire has accumulated long years of service under my command. Even compared to Abel, he will not be lacking!”

After asserting his opinion, the knight looked at Damien provocatively.

“Your Excellency! My squire also possesses exceptional talent and skills!”

“Your Excellency, my squire…”

Other knights also rushed out of the waiting room, shouting.

‘They all seem eager.’

Most of the knights participating in the jousting Tournament came to propose to Lady Olivia.

If they could place their squire next to Olivia Copperhead, they could make a good impression by praising their master during the jousts.

Therefore, giving up such an opportunity to Damien was a waste.

“Well, how should we handle this?”

The Earl frowned in distress.

Even though he was an Earl, he couldn’t make decisions freely when the knights came out like this.

“Your Excellency, there’s no need to worry.”

Damien spoke up again, and the Earl’s gaze turned to him.

“We can simply select the most outstanding individual to sit next to Lady Olivia.”

“Well, the most outstanding one? How do we choose that?”

“Right. Are you thinking of having us fight among squires?”

Some knights shouted at Damien.

Damien shrugged and said, “Considering the most outstanding knight has the most outstanding squire, wouldn’t it?”

“Are you suggesting a duel between us?”

“Before the jousting Tournament, we can’t afford to do that. Instead of a duel, how about competing in other skills?”

Damien suggested to the Earl.

“Your Excellency, considering Lady Olivia’s interest in hunting, why not have a competition in archery among the knights? The squire of the winning knight can then be seated beside Lady Olivia.”

Some knights strongly opposed Damien’s proposal.

“What nonsense is this! How can we determine a knight’s superiority with archery skills?”

“I agree. There must be a fairer way!”

Not all knights opposed the idea.

“A bow competition sounds good. I like it.”

“I was known as the master archer of the Octavia Forest. I can demonstrate my skills.”

Above all, what sealed the deal was Lady Olivia’s words.

“I love the idea. I was curious how others shoot arrows anyway.”

“Since Olivia agrees, let’s decide with an archery competition.”

With Olivia’s support, the opposition couldn’t exert any more force.

“Who will go first?”

“I’ll go first.”

Damien stepped forward and said, addressing Victor, “What are you waiting for? Go and get a bow.”

“Yes, sir!”

Victor briskly ran and brought a bow and arrows from a soldier.

“Here you go!”

“Thank you.”

“But, sir, did you know how to shoot a bow?”

“No.”

Victor’s expression momentarily froze at Damien’s answer.

“…No, then why did you make such a proposal?”

“Because I’m confident.”

Damien strung an arrow on the bow.

As mentioned earlier, Damien didn’t know how to shoot a bow. However, he already knew everything intellectually.

‘Let’s see… How did that guy do it?’

In the past, Damien had fought against a master named Gungwi. Surprisingly, Gungwi was not a human but a half-elf.

Gungwi was a formidable opponent, capable of shooting arrows from a far distance that rivaled high-level magic.

After a week-long battle, Damien managed to defeat Gungwi by severing his throat.

Of course, during the battle, Damien absorbed all the skills and attainments Gungwi had.

“Soldiers, listen. Go and bring the training targets.”

“No need for that. If it’s targets you want, aren’t they right there?”

Damien pointed to the sky with the arrow. A bird was crossing the sky with a fluttering sound.

“Damien, are you going to shoot a flying bird…?”

Damien shot an arrow towards the bird. However, the arrow he shot went far beyond the bird.

“Hahaha. Talking big and all. Seems like you can’t even get close.”

“Sir Damien, it seems you’re not good with bows.”

Some knights ridiculed Damien with loud voices, but Damien paid no attention.

‘I roughly understand how it flies.’

The first arrow was to observe its trajectory.

He only shot once, but Damien fully understood this bow.

“Your Excellency, I’ll aim for the left eye of that bird.”

Damien strung the second arrow, then released it without aiming. The arrow flew directly to the sky.

In the blink of an eye, the flying arrow pierced the bird’s face.

The bird fell to the ground without strength. A soldier who was waiting rushed over and picked up the bird.

“Sir, he hit the left eye!”

The soldier’s shout silenced the entire arena.

Handing the bow to the knights, Damien asked, “Who’s next?”

The knights looked at Damien with astonished faces, but no one received the bow.

Thus, without anyone opposing, Abel claimed the seat next to Lady Olivia.

[Damien is the best wingman fr.]

***
———