The next day, on the cold streets of Bordeaux, a beautiful witch apprentice appeared.
"Whoo! Mentor, where did you go?" Catherine walked alone on the street, her face full of grievances, futilely trying to find her mentor.
Just as she turned a dark corner, a hand covered the young apprentice's mouth. Before she could struggle, she was pulled into a carriage. When she looked back, she let out a sigh of relief: "Councilor? I've been looking for you everywhere."
Veronica's face was radiant, her delicate skin gleaming in a different light. She lazily leaned against the pillows and blanket, covering herself: "Alright, Catherine, there's nothing else. Let's head to the domain of Gien."
"Okay, my councilor." Catherine didn't say or ask anything else, remembering how her mentor "taught" her a lesson for asking about that mark the other day, she felt a bit frightened.
However, the witch seemed in a good mood today. She didn't scold her young apprentice, instead, she lovingly stroked her hair: "Leaving you alone all night was my mistake, I won't do it again."
Before Catherine could respond, Ryan's voice came from outside: "Yeah, Veronica, that was wrong. The castle is big, leaving a place for her to rest is no problem."
"Humph! My great knight, Catherine is my student, you don't need to worry about her." Veronica leaned lazily on the pillow, a smile on her witch's face. Catherine, familiar with her mentor, knew she wasn't angry.
Indeed, Veronica finally said the most important thing: "From today onwards, Catherine, you don't have to call me councilor anymore, call me mentor!"
"Yes... yes!" The young apprentice was so happy she almost jumped up.
"You're also tired, I can see you didn't rest well last night. Here, rest well inside, I'll step out for a bit." Veronica scratched Catherine's head again, then got up, put on her boots, rode her horse alongside Ryan.
The banquet ended, and the group left Bordeaux, preparing to return to Ryan's domain.
"Going back, we'll have to prepare for the Winter Festival." Ryan frowned, speaking to the female knight beside him: "This year, I'll stay in the domain for the festival. It's my first year there, and I have a lot of things to handle."
"Hmm, but I always feel, Ryan, that you changed your mind because of Miss Benadot's arrival, right?" Sulia's face was calm, she said with a smile: "I always thought you didn't think this way."
A rather dangerous smile.
Ryan couldn't answer. His face flushed, and Veronica, riding next to him, smiled brightly: "It's okay, Miss Antley, I will take good care of Ryan and then send him to you all neat and tidy."
"Oh? I'm actually more worried about Miss Benadot not being good at such tasks with her magical hands." Sulia shifted her gaze away from Ryan, continuing to smile at the witch Garon.
What are you arguing about, raising a fat pig and then sending it to be slaughtered? Ryan thought with annoyance.
Meanwhile, he could faintly hear the giggles of the Lady of the Lake.
Alright, the lady is also watching.
Along the way, the female knight and the witch chatted incessantly, one calling her Miss Antley, the other Miss Benadot, very intimately. Their conversation almost never stopped, but they also didn't start a quarrel, which relieved Ryan.
But on second thought, they really had no reason to quarrel. One was a witch from the Garon Council, the other the daughter of the Duke of Wintefort. Their identities weren't "antagonistic," and their statuses were not equal. Veronica never really hoped to become Ryan's wife, so compared to Teresa, who almost entirely shared her profession and origin, Veronica actually lacked strong hostility towards Sulia.
The Duke's daughter thought the same, a mere witch couldn't threaten her. Having grown up in the court, the Marchioness naturally knew that the great nobles all needed court advisors to provide magical solutions, and it was very normal for nobles to have a few female courtiers.
After leaving Bordeaux, following the road, Ryan led his team towards his domain.
Normally, the Grail Knights are rare, and most of them guard the Cathedral and Lake of the Lady of the Lake, so the Grail Knights who appear in front of commoners are very few. Grail Knights arriving at a place always cause a great cheer and enthusiastic reception from the serfs.
But when they arrived at a small village called Legi, the situation was different.
Seeing the Grail Knight, the village elder appeared far away: "Grail Knight, sir, there is a major situation, a major situation!"
"What major situation?" Ryan signaled the team to stop.
The village elder, with his white hair and beard, knelt before Ryan: "Grail Knight, sir, it's the Blood Knight, those blood-red devils, they have appeared again! A Mission Knight heard of this and went to confront the Blood Knight, but..."
"But...?" Ryan's face became serious.
"Grail Knight, sir, please come and see!" the village elder begged, knocking his head.
Grail Knights are the hope of the serfs. Blood Knights are the most powerful of the undead knights. After a brief thought, Ryan felt he should stay.
"We'll stay here tonight! Veronica, come with me to see what happened. The rest... Carsonberg, you and Sulia take the people back to Gien domain. Hurry, we should get there before dark." Ryan dismounted and decisively instructed.
"Yes!" Carsonberg immediately replied: "Understood, my baron."
"Ryan, I want to go too!" Sulia followed, but Ryan shook his head: "Sulia, the Blood Knight is not an ordinary enemy."
The Duke's daughter's face froze. Although Ryan hadn't finished speaking, Sulia understood his meaning.
The Blood Knight was not something ordinary people could handle, and the female knight's strength was still a bit weak.
"I'll wait for you in your domain." Sulia didn't say more, expressing her determination.
"Okay." Ryan watched them leave, then turned and signaled the village elder to continue.
"Noble Grail Knight, please come this way." The village elder led Ryan to the main house in the village.
"Helping at the first request? That's not like you." Veronica, holding Ryan's hand, asked curiously.
"It's not about being overly charitable." Ryan's expression remained serious: "The existence of the Blood Knight is a major concern for Britannia. These powerful and terrifying knights cause bloodshed wherever they appear. As a Grail Knight, who enjoys the offerings of the whole nation and the reverence of the people, I must stand up and confront them when a Blood Knight appears."
"You have many reasons, but okay, I'll accompany you." After hearing Ryan's explanation, Veronica didn't ask any more.
Both followed the village elder into the main house. The furnishings inside were very simple, with a dirt floor and the room full of various items and some grain. There was chicken dung on the ground, but Ryan's attention was not on these things.
In the middle of the main house, on a pile of straw, lay a body, a Mission Knight.
The Mission Knight had many large wounds, half of his face was sliced by a blade, and there were signs of blade injuries on his chest, shoulders, and abdomen. His hands tightly clenched a broken sword, and his shield was nowhere to be found.
"When did you find him?"
"Grail Knight, sir, we found this Mission Knight in a nearby grove a day ago. When we found him, he was already dead," the village elder began to tell the cause and effect of the incident.
For the past week or so, there had been traces of the Blood Knight near Legi Village. These nightmare-riding horrors had recently been lurking around the village, attacking it. Each time one appeared, it only took one villager, then generally a few days later, the villagers would find the corpse of the unfortunate in a nearby field.
The whole village was in a state of panic. The elders reported to the nearby knight lord, who went to investigate and mysteriously disappeared.
Perhaps it was not a mysterious disappearance, but...
Just when the villagers were desperate, a Mission Knight riding a mixed-blood elven warhorse came to Legi Village.
He came in pursuit of the Grail. After listening to the villagers' pleas and descriptions, he loudly declared that he would impose justice on this arrogant villain.
And then this happened.
"Grail Knight, sir, I beg you to save us! The evil Blood Knight has taken away four children and an adult from our village in more than a week. If this continues, we're doomed!" The village elder knelt down again, asking for help.
"Okay, I understand." Ryan solemnly accepted the promise: "Leave the Blood Knight to me."
This is the promise of a Grail Knight.
"We toil for you, we clear land from the forests, harvest and submit crops, we never rest except on legal holidays, we build shrines, we arm ourselves, when the beastmen appear from the forest, when the greenskins kill from the valleys, when the undead haunt at night, when the children of chaos come again, we will raise our weapons, rise to resist, we will recite your name, and hope you will appear to save us from peril, my Grail Knight."
Britannia Serf Folk Song
After accepting this request, it was only natural for Ryan and his group to stay in the village. Since Blood Knights usually appear at night, the village elder and the villagers specially cleaned a room for Ryan and Veronica to rest.
Ryan didn't rush to rest. Instead, he continued to examine the dead Mission Knight.
Veronica pulled over a wooden chair to sit: "Blood Knight? I've heard of them, but never met them. Dear, do you know about the Blood Knight? How powerful are these knights that only Grail Knights can confront them?"
Ryan sighed softly, arranging the Mission Knight's body, letting him hold the broken sword to his chest, and took off his family crest and some valuables. Then he signaled the villagers to take the body away to burn, only then having the leisure to answer Veronica's question: "Yes, the power of the Blood Knight is beyond imagination. So far, few ordinary knights have been able to defeat a Blood Knight. It is said that any Mission Knight who can defeat a Blood Knight has a great chance of being recognized by the Lady."
"I understand what you're saying, but what I want to know is, why are the Blood Knights so powerful? Why do they keep appearing in Britannia causing trouble, but are less common elsewhere?" Veronica adjusted her clothes, then crossed her long legs in black high-heeled boots, propped her pretty face, and asked with interest.
"This goes back hundreds of years." Ryan approached Veronica, embraced the witch in his lap, kissed her sweet lips, and then continued: "Hundreds of years ago, when Britannia was founded, the strong combat power of the Grail Knights amazed the Empire. So, on one hand, to show strength to allies, and on the other, to show that the Empire's knights were not inferior, the Imperial court ordered the gathering of excellent knights. On the Grey Mountains' side near the Empire, a knightly order was established, called the Blood Dragon Knights, with Blood Keep as their castle. These knights were strictly organized according to the standards of the Grail Knights, few but elite. They were strong and warlike, had captured many honors, and served as a counter to the Grail Knights."
Veronica wrapped her arms around Ryan's neck, indicating him to continue.
"The situation changed one night a hundred years ago. A well-dressed nobleman appeared at the gates of Blood Keep requesting entry. He claimed to be Ebol-Walace, from the Harken family. After showing great martial prowess, Walace was allowed into Blood Keep, thus opening the path to the Blood Dragon Knights' doom."
"Ebol-Walace was not human, he was a powerful Blood Knight vampire with thousands of years of lifespan. The Blood Dragon Knights were no match for him. So those who showed courage and honor in battle were transformed by him into vampires, and thus, Blood Keep became a den of vampires, and they called themselves Blood Knights."
"This was eventually discovered by the Empire. Three Electors of the Empire gathered tens of thousands of troops, defeated, and destroyed Blood Keep. Some Blood Knights fled to the Empire and the Southern Kingdoms, but most fled to Britannia."
"Unlike many vampire cavalry, the Blood Knights are the most terrifying knights in the Old World. They perfectly combine all their training and combat creeds from life with the extraordinary agility and strength of the undead. These knights are nearly indestructible. Even after becoming undead, they still follow some basic knightly codes and systems. Their purpose in life is not to rule the world or to satisfy their bloodthirsty instincts, but to seek any means to train their martial skills and spirit, waiting for the day to reunite with their leader, Ebol-Walace."
Ryan narrowed his eyes, sneering: "If I'm not mistaken, not only are the villagers waiting for the Grail Knight to appear, but the Blood Knight won't go far either, because he's also waiting for the Grail Knight. Ordinary knights are too weak for these Blood Knights, only Grail Knights are their target, only defeating a Grail Knight can give them the honor they desperately seek."
"For me, too, I will offer his head to my Lady."
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