Musou Knight: Crow of Cinders-Chapter 55: Wager

Chapter 55 - Wager

I had to protect Cow-Cow and his gang. Since they weren’t with me, I could lie through my teeth.

"I met vultures."

"Vultures?"

"Avaritia abducted me from my hometown and forced me into their army. I escaped with my life and fled to Invidia. Along the way, I ran into a flock of vultures that came from the... field of corpses."

Sylveria pursed her lips. She didn’t look like she bought my story.

"I sense falsehood in your words. You’re a bad liar."

F my life. Sylveria was far superior to Lenitia in terms of interrogation, musou force, and intelligence. She stood toe to toe with other generals here for a reason. Aside from her intellect, Sylveria was the sole game character to never be defeated by other playable characters in either story duels or skirmish battles.

Sylveria was the secret playable character, who could only be accessed after completing the game with every other character. Moreover, based on her storyline, she would acquire the phoenix bloodline, which would bolster her strength to level 9, surpassing her father. Players universally acknowledged her as the sole SSS-tier character in the game.

Sylveria pressed on. "Don’t be afraid. Just tell me honestly. I promise I won’t harm your friends or your master. Who is your mentor?"

Since Sylveria was a walking lie detector, I had to get serious. I let it be known what Cow-Cow’s original name was.

"Cao Cao Mengde."

Sylveria frowned and cocked her head. "It’s not a lie, but that’s not true either."

"That’s your imagination."

"And who is he?"

"A pragmatic man from the Far East."

Sylveria tilted her head. Her lips moved side to side as though she was weighing unseen scales. At last, she sighed and turned to Louis Zen.

"He spoke in part-truths, or perhaps wholly true. I cannot pierce the veil. His words elude me. And this ’Sau-Sau’ he names, I know not."

Paul scoffed in disdain. "Then let us kill him. Commoners are illiterate and untrustworthy. They’re nothing but livestock or slaves."

Alfred, the elder paladin, finally spoke. "If he is wise enough to guard his secrets, he is smart enough to be guided. We should bend him to our doctrine rather than cast him aside."

Garrick, the bureaucrat, added smoothly, "A fire knight is rare. We should ignore his past background. It would be folly to drive him into another nation’s arms. Place him in the academy. Let his deeds prove his worth."

Louis Zen listened in silence, but his gaze landed upon Sylveria. She scratched her head, then shook it slowly.

"I cannot see through him. I need more time to make my decisions."

Louis Zen’s eyes shifted toward me next. His killing intent was gone, but he still looked as scary as ever.

"Fair. He shall be sent to the knight academy. Grant him resources and a stipend equal to that of a level three knight candidate of the royal knight class. As for cultivation, give him every fire method we possess."

The knights and officials murmured among themselves. Bickar grinned and shot me a thumbs-up. Sylveria merely shrugged, as though the budget talk bored her. Garrick and Alfred remained stone-faced.

Then a voice rang out above the noise.

"A level three stipend is wasted on this fool! We don’t know if he’s worth the coins. Test him first!"

The protest came from Cash Fraus. I wondered what his problem was. Did someone steal his lunch money, or was he just flexing his maidenless aura?

Paul Xess laughed. "I agree! We earn our keep with blood and sweat. Handing a commoner a noble’s wage will sour the soldiers’ morale. Let him prove himself! Put steel in his hand and see if he can best a level two knight. If not, he deserves nothing."

I rolled my eyes. Of course. Nobles and their obsession with stipends were always weird. They acted as if tossing me a few coins would bankrupt the kingdom. Meanwhile, they were probably blowing half the treasury on fancy wine and gold-plated chamber pots.

Had they called me here yesterday, I would have been beaten to death. But not today.

"Fine. Give me a sword."

I accepted their challenge even though I had no idea who they would send to fight me.

"Go fight outside," Louis Zen ordered and glanced at Cash Fraus. "You there. You protest, you take responsibility. The winner receives the level 3 stipend. The loser gets nothing. Will you accept?"

Cash Fraus sneered and stepped out from the crowd. He approached and intentionally bumped shoulders with me. As he wore gold-plated armor, I took a step back.

Bickar clicked his tongue and followed Cash outside. He also passed me his broadsword.

"Will this do? You might be at a disadvantage, though. It’s not your own sword."

"I don’t care."

"Heh. Good spirit."

I followed them out of the citadel. Several knights and officials followed us outside. Sylveria was the only grand commander who was interested in the fight, while the provoker, Paul, sat in his seat. Louis and the rest remained expressionless.

None of the generals actually needed to witness the duel themselves. I bet their sixth sense or third eye could see everything outside the castle. Monsters.

In front of the citadel was a stone bridge, connecting to the high-class residential area. The stone guardrails served as protection from the edges. We halted in the middle of the single-lane bridge, where only one vehicle could cross at a time.

I unsheathed the broadsword and tested its weight.

As Bickar had mentioned, I might be at a disadvantage since I wasn’t used to the weight of the sword. Also, my musou energy might be empty at the moment. The only thing I could rely on was my pure swordsmanship.

While this was happening, Cash displayed his skills, getting into a sidewinder position and holding his sword parallel to the ground. He mocked me.

"I don’t even need to use my musou energy. For a lowborn like you, I only need five moves!"

I rolled my eyes. "If you don’t wear armor, I only need one."

"Hahahaha! Did you hear that, fellow knights?! He thinks he can beat me, a prince, in a one-on-one duel in one move!"

The spectators formed a semicircle around us and grinned. Some of them were Cash’s former subordinates, and they cheered for their former lord.

Bickar stood between me and Cash Fraus, serving as a referee. Sylveria watched in silence, yet her sharp eyes measured every twitch of my stance. She neither cheered nor scoffed, just studied me. As for the other big four, I couldn’t see them since they didn’t come out from the citadel.

"I bet 10 gold coins on the prince." An official talked to his friend.

"Five gold says Lord Fraus ends it in three swings!" another knight shouted.

"Aye! Look at him. He can barely lift that broadsword. Prince Fraus will carve him like a roast. I bet five gold."

"Heh, 30 gold coins on the prince too."

"15 here. I have a strong feeling the boy will be messed with until he cries."

"Hey, is anybody betting on the red kid?"

"He has no chance. He might be able to heal himself, but that is useless in a battle."

I rolled my eyes at the theatrics. Half the crowd looked ready to gamble on how many bones I would break. The other half looked like they were ready to salvage my corpse from under the bridge. Everybody already assumed that I would lose.

Then, I heard Sylveria’s voice from behind.

"A thousand gold coins for the Flame Knight."

I raised an eyebrow and looked over my shoulder. Was she serious?

The spectators gathered around her to accept the bet, though several knights exchanged glances and sneaked away from the crowd as if they knew something.

Whatever those bozos did, it was none of my business. I inhaled deeply and adjusted my stance to the basic kendo style.

Bickar nodded at me and turned to Cash. He warned us.

"This is a friendly spar. The usage of musou force is prohibited. Understand?!"

Cash spat. "Ptut. I don’t even need to waste my power. Start it already!"

"Then, begin!"