The Guard commander’s lance had also struck my shield’s center of gravity precisely.

As if all the energy had been wrung out of me, the strength seemed to drain from my body.

When Ted and Oscar ran over, I could see that the Guard commander had also fallen from his horse. In other words, the moment we collided, both riders had fallen simultaneously. In such cases, we compete again without paying ransom. But having fallen twice, my shoulder hurt badly.

Despite breaking my fall, I couldn’t completely disperse the impact.

The force had been considerable. The tournament heavy armor seemed to press down on me like a rock. I’d entered the tournament for Hilda, but wasn’t this enough? For a beginner to advance to the fourth round in the first place was close to a miracle. No one would blame me for giving up.

...Give up? What was I thinking?

Like being struck by lightning, my mind suddenly snapped awake.

Was I this weak? From just this much?

I’d never given up even once through countless fights until now. Though I tried to avoid dangerous situations, I never ran from a fight. That’s why I’d earned the title Gale Knight and become a beautiful wife’s husband and lord of a small town called Feuzen.

There was no such thing as giving up in my dictionary.

"Y-you mustn’t overdo it, Lord Wolfgang!"

"A Streit man doesn’t give up. Help me up."

"B-but! In this state!"

"Hurry!"

With Ted and Oscar’s help, I mounted Mont Blanc again. I glanced toward Hilda and could see her covering her mouth with both hands in shock. It seemed I only ever showed her things that were bad for her heart. I couldn’t bear to be humiliated in front of my beloved wife.

The Guard commander also pulled himself together and mounted the saddle again.

We took the joust field once more.

We probably felt the same way.

Both our bodies were already battered. The impact of falling was no small matter. Enduring the throbbing shoulder pain, I kicked the horse’s belly with the determination to settle this once and for all. Hilda had said the Guard commander had almost no weaknesses. Ultimately, the one who endured to the end would win.

But the moment I drew close to the Guard commander, I saw his shield leaning inward. Though I couldn’t tell what that meant, my instincts were screaming to attack there. The moment my lance tip angled inward, the Guard commander’s lance struck the edge of my shield.

As a result, it didn’t deal major damage to me.

But the Guard commander’s body staggered violently from being struck on the inside of the shield. Though I didn’t feel the heavy impact I’d expected as we crossed, I sensed something was wrong with the Guard commander’s body. When I turned my horse’s head at the end of the joust field, the Grand Duke’s Guard commander lay motionless after his fall.

"Stretcher! Bring a stretcher!"

"Commander! Get it together, Commander!"

Panicked guards moved their superior onto a stretcher. He must have injured his abdomen during our simultaneous fall. Despite that, he’d rechallenged, and ultimately I became the fourth-round victor by inadvertently targeting his injured area. Exploiting a weakness isn’t cowardly. And I hadn’t even known it was a weakness.

I’d simply followed my instincts at the decisive moment.

If anything, the Guard commander, who’d pushed himself with an injured body, bore more responsibility.

As a result, I could collect three rounds’ worth of ransom from the Guard commander’s side.

Of course, I’d also paid one round’s ransom. The simultaneous fall was excluded.

Grand Duke Karlus, watching from the royal viewing section, sprang up from his seat. The Guard commander’s injury was by no means light. If the leader of the guards protecting the Grand Duke was absent for a while, who would fill that void? It was a problem that inevitably followed from permitting tournament participation.

I barely confirmed my advancement to the fifth round, but my physical condition was awful. If the Guard commander’s horse hadn’t acted up, winning would have been impossible. In many ways, it had been a lucky match. When I tried to dedicate the victory to Hilda, she didn’t even stir, too shocked to react.

So I raised my lance and shouted loudly to show I was fine.

"Lady Brünhilt! I’m all right, so don’t worry!"

Hilda barely steadied herself and threw me a flower. Mindful of each other’s dignity, she seemed to be suppressing her emotions as much as possible. The surrounding noblewomen congratulated Hilda on her husband’s victory, but none of it seemed to reach her ears.

When you participate in a tournament, injuries are to be expected. There are even fatalities during tournaments, so a shoulder injury was relatively minor. Hilda must have seen Michael and my father-in-law fall from their horses countless times in past tournaments. So I told her I was fine.

Returning to the waiting room, I left my equipment to my retainers.

Ted received my lance and Oscar grabbed Mont Blanc’s reins to lead him away.

"Excellent, My Lord!"

"It was a match befitting the reputation of the Gale Knight!"

The War Ministry knights welcomed me warmly.

My father-in-law, with a bandage on his shoulder, was the first to catch my eye.

He’d watched my match to the end.

"Son-in-law, you saved the War Ministry’s face. Very well done."

"Thank you. I did my best for Hilda."

"You presented my daughter with the greatest honor. I’m proud of you, son-in-law."

My father-in-law seemed very satisfied with my answer.

The fifth-round participants were decided: myself, the Imperial Knights commander who was the War Ministry’s rival, Steinhof’s Fiel, and freelancer Wilhelm. From these four, we’d determine the finalists today, with the long-awaited finals held tomorrow. The tournament results had become a major topic among the nobles.

Because new rising stars had emerged rather than the established powerhouses.

Embarrassingly, one of those rising stars was me, and the other was Fiel. Fiel had risen by beating Offenburg’s knight. I received high marks for defeating the Guard commander, who’d been one of the championship favorites.

It was purely luck, but judging by results alone, it was enough to be overrated.

If I faced the Guard commander again, could I truly win?

"Brother-in-law, it would’ve been terrible if you hadn’t advanced to the fifth round."

"Because the Imperial Knights commander advanced to the fifth round?"

"Right. If you’d been knocked out, how much would those Imperial guys swagger until the next tournament? Ugh, just thinking about it is maddening. That cowardly cheating bastard needs to be crushed!"

I’d heard Michael had a history of losing to the Imperial Knights commander’s clever foul play. That was why he seemed desperate to tear the man apart whenever the Imperial Knights commander was mentioned.

"More than that, I’m worried Hilda was too shocked."

"More than that? It’s a matter of pride! We absolutely can’t lose to that Imperial bastard!"

I was more worried about Hilda being shaken than about waging a war of nerves with the Imperial Knights. It was simply unfortunate that I couldn’t see Hilda since today’s schedule wasn’t over yet. Since my match had been the last of the fourth round, the fifth-round bracket would be drawn soon.

The fifth round was held in the afternoon.

I took off all my armor and was resting in my assigned private waiting room when the shoulder pain felt unusual, so I examined it closely. It wasn’t swollen, but if I pushed myself any further, it seemed likely to develop into a proper injury. I worried whether I could compete effectively in the fifth round in this state.

But I had no intention of giving up.

Not only was I carrying the War Ministry’s expectations alone, but with a little luck, I could even aim for the championship. The bodies of everyone who’d made it this far were probably as battered as mine. Wilhelm had barely seized victory after five fierce exchanges with my father-in-law, and the Imperial Knights commander hadn’t escaped without a struggle either.

Wasn’t Fiel the only one in good shape?

He’d only fallen once.

"Ugh, the pain won’t subside."

As time passed, the shoulder pain gradually worsened. At this rate, it would hinder me in the fifth round. So what I chose wasn’t expensive medical service but accessing the shop to purchase painkillers. After taking them, I seemed to feel noticeably better.

Medical service was a surefire method, but at the tremendous price of 5,000 points and with my life not being in danger, spending precious points on mere muscle pain was excessive waste. Though I had 13,500 points and there was room to spare, points disappeared in an instant once spent.

I had no choice but to do my best within the given circumstances.

Mental fatigue was also considerable, no less than physical fatigue.

So I planned to catch a quick nap, but it seemed I fell deeply asleep. Someone shook me awake—Michael stood before me with a stiff expression. What? How much time had passed? I stretched with a yawn—was it the painkiller’s effect? The pain had subsided considerably.

"Your fifth-round opponent is decided."

"Really? Who is it?"

"The lowly and cowardly knight commander who doesn’t know chivalry!"

It looked like we were having a derby match in the semifinals.

Personally, the most ideal bracket would have been the Imperial Knights commander facing Wilhelm and me facing Fiel, but it hadn’t worked out that way. Nothing to be done. In truth, I personally held no grudge against the Imperial Knights. I hadn’t been with the War Ministry long, so I didn’t fully understand the rivalry either.

"Lord of Feuzen! You must beat those cowardly Imperial bastards!"

"We’re counting on you! Sir Gale Knight! Purgatory to the Imperials!"

Besides Michael, the other knights reacted the same way. How was I supposed to respond to this? The War Ministry knights uniformly called for the Imperial Knights’ destruction, but the problem was that I had no particular animosity toward them. Excessive hostility was just exhausting.

After equipping my plate armor and mounting Mont Blanc, I rode to the arena when the time came. Perhaps because it was the first fifth-round match, the audience seemed larger. After going through the oath ceremony facing the Imperial Knights commander, we each stood before our chosen noblewomen.

Wait—why was he coming to my side?

I was caught off guard when the Imperial Knights commander approached my position.

The Imperial Knights commander’s carefully groomed mustache was impressive—I didn’t know if it was because he had the kind of face noblewomen favored, but they said noblewomen chosen by him were the subject of envy for quite a while. On top of that, he was supposedly a notorious playboy.

Wasn’t my face far better than that oily mug that looked like it would devour a wheel of cheese?

"Lady Brünhilt! If by the Lord’s grace I defeat your husband, I will dedicate the glory of victory to you! So give me your handkerchief and flowers!"

...Had I just misheard? What? Who was dedicating the glory of victory to whom? The Imperial Knights commander had openly courted Hilda despite me standing right next to him. Was this what they called a blindside? The noblewomen were flustered too, and Hilda had frozen from the sheer shock.

Wait, was this that tactic I’d heard rumors about?

The one where you publicly humiliate your opponent by courting his wife?

The Imperial Knights commander had deployed area-wide provocation.

The effect was devastating.