After they reached the training field and the knights stood on the balcony.
Baron Emanuel said.
"As I said earlier this competition is to honor the knights which fought in the war. As such they shall not pay into the prize pool, and additionally, if they are tired from the bloodshed and do not wish to partake in the competition they may forfeit."
Emanuel then stopped talking, letting the knights take in what he just said. He then added.
"Which among you wish to forfeit the competition."
Most of the landed knights of Kompoli motioned their withdraw with the exception of Alexander and Vann, while in stark contrast from the landed knights of Gragon Sir Monert was the only one to withdraw.
Emanuel nodded and said
"The first round will be between John and Alexander let the games begin."
Soon in the training field two "groups" appeared, on one side there were four relatively fit peasants of average height armed with wooden spears without the tip and on the other seven tall brawny men wearing half-plate armor and Sir John. Five of the men were armed with wooden pikes and two with simple wooden swords and shields. While John wore High-quality plate armor and used a wooden Warhammer. The fight went as expected the pikemen pushed the peasants in a corner and the swordsmen acted as flanking troops all the while John barked orders. The fight was uneventful a simple -4 to 4.
Emanuel seemed unhappy very unhappy, he looked at Alexander and said.
"Sir, Alexander why aren't you leading your men in the field after all aren't you here to prove your martial valor."
Alexander gave a weak smile and said.
"My men are meek from peace my Lord it is no wonder they can't fight the hardened veterans of Sir John, As for me I have severe back pain."
Emanuel reciprocated the smile and responded.
"Oh surely from all the feasting, after all, sitting all day tends to cause back pain. But I have a question why are then just four men representing you. After all, I am sure thanks to the long peace men must be plentiful."
Alexander struck an over theatrical lamenting pose and said.
"Alas, the long peace has made my men barely even worthy of the title. Those are the ones that cause me the least amount of shame to bring before you, oh, gracious lord."
Emanuel shook his head and signaled the end of the conversation, he then said.
"The Second round will be between Vann and Donathan let the fight begin."
Soon in the training field, two groups drew near each other. In some ways, the distorted mirror image of each other. Both groups were made up of a knight and seven veteran men at arms.
The men at arms in both groups were armed with wooden spears without the tip, shields, and with wooden swords as sidearms. Both also wore gambeson and kettle helmets. They were only two real differences in the armament. In the armament of the Knights Donathan wore middling-quality plate armor while Vann wore lower-quality plate armor, additionally, Donathan was armed with a wooden Greatsword while Vann was armed with a wooden poleaxe. Secondly, Vann's men at arms also wore a steel cuirass over their gambeson.
The battle was oddly one-sided. At the start, the aggressive maneuvers of Donathan seemed like they would win the day, as he used his men at arms to lock the enemy in position and then attempted to flank the spearmen. However, Vann's superior reach allowed him to keep him at bay. While his men slowly gained the upper hand thanks to their superior equipment and more cohesive attack patterns. Eventually, Donathan managed to beat Vann but it was already too late with most of his men already defeated he was eventually overrun with the fight ending in a -3 to 3.
Emanuel seemed pleased but didn't comment and simply said.
"The Third round will be between Konder and Galahad let the fight begin."
The battle was odd since neither knight led their troop. Konder had an archetypical force of eight men at arms armed with kettle helmets, gambesons, and wooden spears without the tip. While Galahad's men wore the same exotic armor with only one rather minor difference between them on the crest of their helmets. Marius's one had a crest holder transversely while the Decanoi's one had it diagonally. The Umbrians were armed each with two smaller wooden spears and a wooden sword as a sidearm additionally the used long rectangular shields in stark comparison to the normal kite-shaped ones. Both sides got into position as they neared each other at about a distance of two meters the Umbrians suddenly threw their spears and then charged the unprepared men at arms. Scoring a quick victory of -8 to 5.
After the starting rounds, they were a few more interesting battles.
The battle between Galahad and John was the highlight of the day with the Umbrians starting by throwing their spears and charging at the defending Armsmen in a bullhead formation in an attempt to quickly break their flanks and overrun them. However, John's men stood their ground and their swordsmen managed to push back the flanking maneuver. The battle was then turned into a slow grind with John proving victorious thanks to his numerical superiority. Netting a victory of -1 to 1.
Another Interesting fight was between Galahad and Vann. The fight started with the Umbrians throwing their spears and charging. However, in stark contrast with the other fights, Vann decided to have his men spread out in the shape of an empty trapezium and then counter charge. The counter-charge took the Umbrians by surprise leading to them getting beaten. Netting a phyric victory of 0 to 0 for Vann.
The rest of the battles went out how you would expect Alexander lost all of them without any funfair.
Getting him -20 points, while Konder's unit did decently but thanks to their high number he almost did worse than Alexander points-wise and ended up with a score of -19 points, Donathan did okay and Earned -1 points, While Vann Earned 8 points winning the third position, Galahad Earned 12 points winning the second position, and John finally Earned 20 points coming first.
With the games ending Emanuel had the three knights stand in front of him. With John in the right, Galahad on the center, and Vann on the left. He first centered his attention on Vann and said.
"Sir Vann, you and your men fought valiantly. You personally showed exceptional leadership and your unit was perhaps the most disciplined in comparison to others. But the equipment gap proved fateful in the end."
He then placed his right hand over Vann's right shoulder and offered him a pouch filled with coins with his left.
Sir Vann then gave a small bow and took the pouch.
Emanuel then moved his attention to Galahad and said.
" Sir Galahad, despite you not leading your men and their inferior number in comparison to other contestants you managed to come second. That is proof that a sharp enough arrow can fall even the most valorous of knights. But at the end of the day, an archer out of arrows is a dead one."
He then placed his right hand over Galahad's right shoulder and then offered him a pouch filled with coins with his left.
Sir Galahad then gave a small bow and took the pouch.
Emanuel then moved his attention to John and said.
"Sir John, the mixture of personal leadership, excellent equipment, and outstanding discipline lead to a crushing victory. The kingdom and I as your direct liege are lucky to have you on our side. May you always fight with honor."
He then placed his right hand over John's right shoulder and then offered him a pouch filled with coins with his left.
Sir John then gave a small bow and took the pouch.
Emanuel then smiled and looked back at the gathered Knights, before he said.
"To honor the three winners and their brave men, they shall have the honor of exterminating the bandit menace. For there is no greater gift to a chivalrous man than a chance for more glory. The three of you shall leave at the morn to exterminate the bandit threat. May you prove victorious."
The men nodded.
After that, a short feast took place with Galahad, John, and Vann being the honored guests. As things started to wind down a familiar face made its appearance.
The woman gave a short bow and said.
"Sir Galahad, may I have a moment of your time?"
Galahad raised his left eyebrow and had a mildly mocking smile adorning his face as he spoke.
"Lady Klarin, to what do I owe the honor? Is perhaps anything the matter?"
Lady Klarin stood back up, a fierce look adorning her face as she said.
"I will tell you in a more private setting If you would entertain me."
Galahad thought for a second and responded.
"I prefer if we would stay in a public place. How about we talk outside a few meters away from the noise of the feast."
Lady Klarin nodded and said.
"As you wish."
After that, the two of them moved a few meters away still in viewing distance of everyone taking part in the feast but not on hearing distance.
Lady Klarin then wishperd.
"Now that we are a fair distance away, I am requesting your help so I may get back my son and my
husband."
She then took a deep breath and added.
"I will do anything."
Galahad raised his eyebrow and whispered.
"Anything?"
Lady Klarin nodded and whispered.
"Anything."
Galahad then wispered to her ear.
"Then why aren't you offering your body in a whorehouse to get the money to get your son and your husband out of trouble. I am sure there are many merchants which savor the idea of taking a noblewoman."
Lady Klarin's face looked horrified but she responded calmly but with an undertone of outrage.
"I would never demean myself into becoming a woman of such low ethics."
Galahad gave a cunning smile and whispered.
"Then you wouldn't do anything."
Lady Klarin then gave a half-assed smile and attempted half-heartedly to be seductive as she responded.
"I would do it for a single night if that is what it took."
Galahad gave an insincere smile and responded.
"I am not interested. However, there is something you can do for me."
Lady Klarin's eyes light up and she nodded strongly as said.
"I would do anything."
Galahad gave her a mocking smile and said.
"We both know that is not true. However, the price of your husband's and son's freedom is information. Anything and everything. After a year of you feeding me info, if the info is real and useful. I will pay for their return. If even a single piece of info is fake or you simply don't gather enough the deal is off the table. "
She thought for a moment and nodded.
Galahad smiled sincerely and said.
"Good, we have a deal then."
After the conversation was over and they both returned the feast the hall was filled with small talk. Eventually, Donathan came over and said.
"Greetings, Sir Galahad long time no see."
Galahad gave an honest looking smile and responded.
"Indeed, Sir Donathan long time no see. So I learned you got a fief."
Donathan smiled bitterly and responded.
"I got a ruin. But the count helped me to start getting it back together. I even inherited the previous owners Exoristoi points."
Galahad then raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Don't you get harassed by the bandits? I heard Sir Monert was the one to raise the alarm."
Donathan shook his head and responded.
"Not, as much as Monert. I have been mostly left alone bar the occasional raid. Then again there isn't that much to steal."
Galahad nodded and said.
"I see, that makes some sense. Speaking of bandits do you have info, you wish to share."
Donathan thought for a moment and responded.
" Well, they were well armored, the one guy we caught said that their Leaders were a bit odd?"
Galahad raised his eyebrow and asked.
"In what way?"
Donathan simply answered.
"Apparently none of them speaks and they only write their orders, additionally the smell really badly and never bathe. He also said he had never seen them taking off their armor and they even eat and drink through the visor."
Galahad then looked curiously and asked.
"How did they even group up with them?"
Donathan gave a nod and said.
"I too found it weird. So I asked and apparently they were bandits based on the Valley of a hundred rivers. But the big boss allegedly sent them out to expand his influence under the three-team leaders."
Galahad nodded and said.
"Thanks for the information, so is there anything else you want to talk about?"
Donathan awkwardly scratched the back of his head and responded.
"To be honest, I mostly wanted to congratulate you on pulling yourself and your fief back together. I am sorry I left so abruptly but duty is duty. "
Galahad nodded and said.
"Don't worry I don't hold a grudge over your departure. However, I would like to know how did those weird laws get passed in the first place?"
Donathan simply responded.
"I don't know I just affirmed them. I didn't think it was my place to change any of them. I enforced them to the letter and that is about it."
Galahad nodded and said.
"I am thankful for your honesty, may your fief grow rich and prosperous."
Donathan smiled and said.
"I wish you the same, good Sir."
After the feast was over. Galahad headed towards the room of miss Etheria and knocked.
Miss Etheria opened the door and her first reaction when she saw Galahad was to smile and say.
"Galahi how are you? What are you doing here at this time of night? Do you want me to tell you a fairy tale to put you to sleep? Are you having nightmares again?"
Galahad gave a smile and said.
"Well, I wanted to visit you last time. But something came up. Anyhow, I wanted to ask you if anything changed since Emanuel took over?"
Etheria gave a half-smile and responded.
"Oh you know he just doesn't trust us the old servants quite yet."
Galahad looked worried and said.
"You know if you ever lose your work you can are always welcome over to my fief."
Etheria gave Galahad a big smile and said.
"Don't worry since it was in the will of Baron Monver that we continue to be employed. He has let us continue working here, but he keeps away from any important meetings and he has even brought his own servants. However, on the bright side, that means less work for me and you know these old bones have started getting frail."
Galahad smiled and said.
"Just so you know if you need anything or need a place to stay I am here for you."
Etheria gave a big smile and ruffled Galahad's hair before saying.
"Don't worry little Galahi everything will be alright. Now go to sleep I heard you have a big day in front of you."
Galahad smiled and said.
"Alright, Good night."
Etheria smiled compassionately and said.
"Good night, Galahi."
After that conversation, Galahad headed back to Veron's house to stay for the night. As for his men they spent the night on the Barracks.