Tournament knights decked themselves out in every decoration imaginable, showing off the height of extravagance, but they also wore such heavy armor for safety that it was hard to move. Instead of leather, this tournament heavy armor consisted of chain mail worn underneath with plates mounted on top. All my retainers rushed over and struggled to get me dressed.

I was shocked by the weight when I first put it on, and if I fell over once, it would be a real pain to get back up. Over the plate armor, I wore a tunic with a swirling pattern mixing blue and yellow. This swirling-pattern tunic that Hilda had picked out created a visual illusion effect meant to disorient the opponent.

Other knights also wore colorful patterned tunics over their plate armor, all going for the same illusion effect. Three feathers decorated the top of my helmet, standing tall and swaying. I had no idea I’d be dressed up this lavishly.

They even fitted Mont Blanc with matching patterned barding. I thought Mont Blanc would get irritated by the barding covering even his face, but he seemed to be tolerating it since there hadn’t been much to agitate him lately. Good boy. I should save him some sugar cubes. A magnificent iridescent feather decorated the crest of Mont Blanc’s head.

Naturally, all these decorations cost a pretty penny.

The heater shield firmly fixed to my left arm had the Streit family crest engraved on it like an emblem. Most European noble shield designs were derived from the heater shield. The shield’s performance and symbolism were so noteworthy that it was essential equipment for tournament knights.

Tournament lances are characterized by their blunt tips. The goal isn’t to kill but to unhorse your opponent. But these lances are made of material that breaks easily, so you need spares—I had no idea the Steinhof family was in the lance manufacturing business.

So I bought Steinhof lances through Fiel, and I got them at a discount of 1 silver coin each. Following Hilda’s advice, I bought 30 spares. We’d already spent a fortune on the wedding, and now there were tournament costs on top of that. The individual competition prize was 5 gold coins and the team competition prize was 20 gold coins.

Winning would recover all the costs spent so far and leave a handsome profit.

If I won, that is. It was a winner-take-all structure with only one person and one team taking everything.

Plus, if you defeated your opponent, you could collect the ransom set for each round.

There were plenty of poor knights and nobles looking to strike it rich, but the Breisburg Tournament hosted by the Grand Duke had entry requirements. Only knights and nobles with established reputations were allowed to participate, not just any riffraff. Thanks to that, the tournament didn’t drag on needlessly.

I was currently waiting in the competitor’s entrance passage at the Breisburg Tournament arena. I was part of the War Ministry team, so I moved with them—my father-in-law was at the front, followed by Viscount Gustav von Loewenbert, the Capital Sentinel Commander and Elisabeth’s father.

Other high-ranking nobles followed, and Michael and I were in the middle ranks. Our total number was 20. They said 16 teams of 15 to 20 people each had entered this tournament—the scale was enormous. Even after filtering out the riffraff, it was still this large.

"Brother-in-law, did you see off your estate manager all right?"

"He left for Feuzen yesterday. He should be arriving and resting off his fatigue about now."

"He’s not a stranger, so I feel bad I couldn’t see him off."

"I appreciate you thinking of my vassal knight when you’re busy with tournament preparations, brother-in-law."

"Hahaha, the Steiner family and Streit family aren’t strangers, I told you."

August had left for Feuzen the day before the tournament. He’d judged that the cavalry assigned to him had improved considerably and become capable of coordinated teamwork. He said a fancy send-off was unnecessary and packed only the bare minimum of supplies. So Hilda and I saw him off quietly.

"August will manage my estate well." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"You said Feuzen, right? To think the place where we clashed with Besançon’s relief force would coincidentally become your estate, brother-in-law. Life is truly unpredictable."

"I never imagined I’d become the lord of Feuzen either."

"Now that you’re a lord, the treatment’s different and nice, isn’t it?"

The high-ranking court nobles who’d treated me dismissively when all I had was the background of being the War Minister’s son-in-law could no longer be openly rude to my face, even while envying my rapid rise. With the triple combination of background, ability, and promotion complete, I’d become a major topic of conversation in noble society.

Thanks to that, Lady Brünhilt, now a lady of the manor, had gotten quite busy. She was invited to all sorts of ladies’ gatherings. But Hilda, who valued time with me most, politely declined or had Priscilla adjust her schedule when she couldn’t refuse.

Then the sound of trumpets rang out.

It was the signal announcing the start of the tournament.

As the heavy entrance gates opened, light poured into the dark passage. The waiting nobles and knights slowly moved forward in formation. I maintained formation, matching my horse’s stride. This massive circular arena that could hold about 1,000 spectators was Beren’s pride.

I’d heard that a chariot racing track surviving as ruins from Roman times had been redeveloped into a tournament arena by successive Beren Grand Dukes pouring in massive amounts of money. Most Roman-era ruins had been reduced to rubble by the Germanic tribes who destroyed Rome and settled on its remains, but this one had somehow survived.

Waaaah!

The circular outdoor stands were packed tight with commoners, and in the second-floor viewing sections on the left and right, nobles and noblewomen waved handkerchiefs while watching the entering knights. The highest, most luxurious viewing section at the north front of the arena was reserved exclusively for royalty and high-ranking nobles.

As about 250 knights from four passages entered in dignified formation, the cheers didn’t die down. Michael said 10 of the participating teams were from Beren and the remaining 6 came from outside. The team of the great freelancer, Wilhelm von Terese, was among them.

Fiel participated on the Steinhof team—he wanted to restore his family’s honor more than anyone, especially against Wilhelm. Wilhelm, whom Grand Duke Karlus had hired at great expense, remained unfazed despite being the center of every knight’s attention, showing no sign of pressure. What surprised me was that the Crown Prince had entered the individual competition.

Eisenach and the other guards, along with Vermeer, had been forced to participate by the Crown Prince. Personally, I hoped to face the guards in the individual preliminaries. They were the easiest opponents. Michael, however, was more interested in the Imperial Knights than in Wilhelm or the Crown Prince.

"It’s time to finally turn that annoying Imperial Knights commander’s face into a crying mess."

"I heard victory comes from a sacred spirit combining cleanliness and courtesy?"

"That spirit was invented because fights kept breaking out from lingering grudges after tournaments ended."

Ah, I see. Even if they proclaimed a sacred and noble spirit in words, the reality was that these were proud knights who bore grudges. That’s why Michael truly despised the Imperial Knights. He considered it a humiliation for the War Ministry whenever they lost to the Imperial Knights in the finals.

With me participating after my major contributions in the war, Michael was confident we could beat the Imperial Knights. Whether I, experiencing my first tournament, could actually perform well was uncertain, but thanks to learning tournament fighting from my beautiful and excellent teacher, I wasn’t intimidated.

"Honorable knights participating in the tournament hosted by the Altringen royal family to commemorate our victory, I sincerely welcome you and hope you engage in fair duels based on the spirit of chivalry without casualties. May winners show mercy to losers and losers acknowledge winners, never forgetting the sacred and noble tournament spirit."

Waaaah!

Bang! Bang!

With Grand Duke Karlus’s congratulatory speech, fireworks exploded and the tournament knights raised their lances high in salute. During the opening ceremony, riders stirred up excitement by showing off various tricks like high-difficulty saddle jumps, leaping over obstacles, and hooking rings with lance tips, captivating the audience.

While the opening ceremony proceeded, knights went outside the arena to wait in their assigned camps—this was when the individual competition draw took place. Since there were so many individual competition (joust) participants, five matches proceeded simultaneously in the arena. This was to keep things running smoothly.

"I wonder who my first opponent will be. Since it’s the preliminaries, I hope it’s a low-ranking knight."

"If you underestimate low-ranking knights, you’ll get a nasty surprise."

"True, you were a low-ranking knight until recently yourself, brother-in-law. Your rise really is remarkable. I never imagined a low-ranking knight would make major contributions in war and become a lord. I’m glad you’re my brother-in-law."

While my rise was fortunate for the War Ministry, it also gave the other families reason to seriously start keeping me in check. The other ministerial families in particular were concerned about the War Ministry’s growing power. That’s why Elder Bertheim had advised me to be careful.

"The bracket’s out!"