NOVEL NEXT Chapter 32
Chapter 32: Jousting Tournament (part three)
The action parts with the dragons are kinda hard to translate since I can’t really imagine it. But I hope it’s understandable. Also, somehow Otou-sama (Ernst) is kinda cool~
TL: clover
ED: clover
After the semifinals finished, the game arenas that were roughed up by the intense battles were tidied up.
A levelling tool similar to a tremendously large rake was pulled by a dragon as large as a number of cows together.
It seemed to be a difficult job just to level out a vast match arena.
The final would be a match between Auguste who disguised himself as the unknown Black Knight who rode on the Black Dragon Blackcurrant against Louis Ode-Ignitia who rode on the White Dragon Camellia.
Not only Auguste, Louis was also in the final for the whole match.
Louis’ ride, the White Dragon Camellia, seemed to have more speed and power than other dragons.
Although there were little differences in the riders’ competence, there was a big gap due to the performance difference of their dragons.
On top of that, Louis liked to play rough.
It was forbidden to use dragons’ fangs, claws, and breaths, but he had launched attacks in all other ways.
Due to the fact that his dragon had more strength, even if his spear didn’t hit, it would cause his opponent’s stance to collapse as it was.
He would keep a position where he could hold his opponent’s head by taking advantage of his dragon’s speed, and made his opponent hit the ground.
He would let Camellia made a roar as they passed their opponent, and made their opponent lost their composure.
Blowed up sand to blind their opponent’s eyes, or made smokescreen.
Etc.
The King said that Louis’ rough way of fighting was because he was from Karkinos.
Dragon knights from the Ignitia’s territory in Karkinos, whether they were young or veterans, seemed to be rich in battle experience without exception.
Their way of fighting involved a riding technique assuming the opponent was a giant, the King said.
“As a knight it’s not something to be praised about, but it is another thing if you think of it as a soldier. That rough play would be a good stimulus for young dragon knights who only had few battle experiences.”
“I see. But Your Majesty is another good stimulus……it seems that you like Blackcurrant’s unknown Black Knight rider better?”
“Fufufu. It can’t be helped, you know? I am just a person. My thoughts as a King and my personal preference are different.”
King Ignitia winked with a look like a mischievous child.
When I saw that, I remembered Auguste when he was the self-proclaimed Angel-san.
The King and Auguste’s gestures resembled each other at that moment.
While the King and Otou-sama were happily talking how ‘That was a great game’, ‘That dragon knight is good’, someone came up to the noble guests’ seats.
The one who appeared diving under the banner in which the emblem of Ignitia was woven was Actorius-sensei who had the badge of management staff attached on him.
Huh? Were your glasses already askew, Sensei?
“Your Majesty the King, Honorable Duke, pardon me for disturbing you during a meeting.”
“Oh, Elric-kun. What is it?”
“There has been a report from the observation team saying that there are foul plays performed by means of magic.”
Otou-sama easily introduced Actorius-sensei to the King.
Actorius-sensei took out a parchment on which the stamp of management staff was printed from his bosom and showed it to them.
Otou-sama looked onto the parchment.
“Hmm, Blackcurrant……that Black Knight, huh.”
“That’s right, Your Majesty. Because of the incident in Harvan’s territory, strong mages were dispatched all over the place, although only a few traces of cleverly hidden concealment magic were perceived……”
I heard a somewhat disturbing conversation.
Auguste was cheating?
I had never heard of such story, and he didn’t seem to be a person who likes to cheat.
Even if he did ride on the dragon behind my back, since the suspicions about Auguste’s blood hadn’t been cleared, there was no meaning in cheating.
Either way, this was the person who took a dynamic approach of fusing with a contract beast by putting his life on the line.
Was it a conspiracy?
Or, was history becoming distorted because I took different actions from the original?
While thinking about such a thing, a big cheer rose from the audience.
When I saw the arena, two dragons were flying away.
King Ignitia who saw that straightened his back and shouted unexpectedly.
“What! Why has the game started while it is still under discussion!?”
“Ah, oh no! I’m very sorry, Your Majesty the King. I forgot to contact other departments to put in a break!”
Uwah, Actorius-sensei was already a clumsy person at this time, huh.
Actorius-sensei made a commotion in his panic, trying to fix his glasses’ placement many times.
However, the pair of glasses shifted in a strange direction each time.
What’s with that, were those eyeglasses cursed?
Otou-sama stopped Actorius-sensei who was finally trying to break into a run somewhere.
“Elric-kun, calm down. Anyway, let’s check the facts first.”
“Aah, once the tournament has started, it cannot be interrupted at a moment’s notice. Even if it is the command of the King.”
Otou-sama nodded in the words of the King and took out a single wand.
Made of sugar maple, with a squared emerald stuck to the head of the wand – it was the Wand of Glam Sight.
It was somewhat longer than the wand of Edward-oniisama, and it was specially made in which the peacock feather workmanship and the surface of the emerald were inlaid with gold.
Otou-sama was called with the epithet Long-Armed Ernst.
Otou-sama’s role in the naval battle of Aurelia was a super long-range bombardment that buried the giants over the horizon with a blow.
Therefore, it seemed that Otou-sama’s wands had been subjected to range extension.
Looking at Black Dragon Blackcurrant who was already dancing far above in the sky, Otou-sama shook his wand.
After the same magic circle like the ordinary Glam Sight appeared, multiple magic circles overlapped in a binocular shape.
“Hm……so that is the source of the magical effect, huh. I see. There is a concealment magic layered over and over. It is no wonder that he passed through the exam before the match if this is the case.”
I was in shock.
I wondered if Auguste really did something wrong.
There had to be a misunderstanding.
“But, it is harmless……no, although it cannot be said to be harmless, at the very least it isn’t strengthening the dragon illegally.”
“Otou-sama, that, what magic is it?”
“It is intoxication.”
“Intoxication?”
Magic of Intoxication?
Why was there such a thing on Auguste’s dragon?
While I was worried, the King gave a broad smile.
“Hahaha. Magic of Intoxication? Certainly, if people could be strengthened with such a thing, the bar would be overflowing with mighty men. Rather, he used the Magic of Intoxication on his dragon, but he still can manipulate his dragon splendidly over there.”
As the King said, he was right.
Drunk dragons seemed dangerous to approach.
To the words of the King, Otou-sama shrugged his shoulders.
“However, this is awkward, Your Majesty. Although it is only a Magic of Intoxication, there is no doubt that it will be in violation of the prohibition of use.”
“As long as he loses, we can handle this internally as our secret……but that Black Knight, he is not likely to lose that easily.”
After thinking for a while, King Ignitia slowly nodded whether he came to a conclusion internally.
“Yosh. Let’s continue it. Look at the audience’s faces. It would be a riot if we interrupt this match. Unfortunately, even if the Black Knight won, it cannot be treated like a win.”
“In the first place, Your Majesty wants to see this match, right?”
“Fufu. You caught me.”
To Otou-sama’s statement, the King stuck out his tongue.
However, he soon put on a serious look and instructed Elric.
“Anyway, Elric. That magic is an Intoxication Magic and does not strengthen dragons and the riders……so, I would like you to notify other staff members.”
“Understood, Your Majesty the King.”
Elric bowed out, left the noble guests’ seats and went down the stairs in a hurry.
I was a little worried whether he would fall.
But, I was more worried about—
Unexpectedly, the audience stood awkwardly.
Otou-sama, the King, and I restlessly returned our eyes to the two dragons.
Somehow, it seemed that Auguste was overwhelmed by his opponent.
The King and Otou-sama immediately analysed the situation of the match.
“Hm? Just now, was that a hit?”
“No, Your Majesty, that was a feint. Simultaneously with the attack on the Black Knight, Louis hit his own shield. It seems that you mistook it as a hit by that sound.”
Attentive to the sound of Louis’ shield, Auguste took his gaze off from Louis’ spear for a moment and confirmed his own shield.
Without missing that gap, Louis tried to knock down Blackcurrant by Camellia’s body slam.
Even though I thought that it would hit her for sure, Blackcurrant avoided that body slam by a hair’s breadth.
Although Auguste was good at fighting, his pace was broken by Louis’ foul play attacks.
(Wow, dangerous……, nevertheless, even though he didn’t see the other party, Auguste avoided that well, huh.)
Ignitia’s dragon knights could see their surroundings by the dragon’s line of sight.
A few matches before, King Ignitia taught me such a thing.
Whenever they rode on a dragon, they would be able to grasp their surroundings that they shouldn’t be able to see through the eyes of their dragon.
The more adept they were at riding, the clearer their field of vision through the eyes of their dragon, and the duration for borrowing their dragon’s eyes became longer.
(So, in fact, Auguste who rides on a dragon for the first time is supposed to not be able to see behind him that much……it’s strange.)
The two of them took a distance and turned, once again took a charging stance.
Just as in the several spear matches before, Camellia was rising to a high and far away position.
The difference in speed and power of the two dragons appeared clearly.
According to the explanation of Otou-sama and the King, basically it was advantageous in the battle between the spears for the one whose dragon could fly farther and higher.
It was because there was more room to accelerate more in the immediate following attack.
“After all, Blackcurrant is in disadvantage at the spear match.”
“Umu. Until now, because the dragons were equal in terms of physical abilities, that Black Knight overwhelmed his opponents by his riding technique alone……it is natural that Camellia becomes a difficult opponent for him.”
Why were two dragons of the same 20-meters class could have such a big difference?
While watching the matches, I heard this from the King and Otou-sama.
The answer seemed to be because one of them was bred by a wealthier aristocrat.
King Ignitia arranged things so that every noble could have rich environment to breed their dragons.
Each of them had their own private stables and hunting ground.
Food contained abundant nutrition and keepers who managed their balanced nutrition.
A proper training menu.
Many staffs gathered just to manage a single dragon, including a specialized dragon doctor who managed not only their physical health but also mental health.
“Although the strength of Camellia is unnatural to be only from the matter of rearing environment differences……, well, even if Ode-Ignitia family hides one or two techniques to raise a strong dragon, it is not strange.”
The King said that while tilting his head.
Anyway, I found out that Auguste’s Blackcurrant was in disadvantage.
I wondered if the dragon eggs he was raising had hatched, for him to be able to confront a dragon equivalent to Camellia.
Auguste continued avoiding while riding a dragon that was inferior in performance.
However, overwhelmed by the speed and power of Camellia, Auguste seemed to have no time to attack.
After tens or so attacks, Blackcurrant’s balance was eventually thrown off.
Louis didn’t miss that opportunity.
In order not to give Blackcurrant time to recover, Louis charged with the smallest turning radius.
Making a sharp descend with Camellia, Louis aimed at the shield on the left rear of the saddle from the back of Auguste.
(Dangerous!)
Just before Louis’ spear hit, Auguste made Blackcurrant do a somersault at the perfect timing.
From Auguste’s position, he shouldn’t be able to see the exact position of Louis.
Nevertheless, he used the dragon’s field of view again to avoid that attack.
Louis’ spearhead stabbed the empty air.
While Auguste was upside down, he stabbed his spear aiming for Louis who made a mistake, but he didn’t hit the shield.
Immediately after the two of them passed each other, something unexpected happened.
Louis was gone from Camellia’s saddle.
(Ah, that’s wrong! He wasn’t gone!)
When I moved my gaze towards Auguste, something was stuck to his spear and struggling.
It was Louis who was hanging suspended with a strap of his armor entangled.
(Eeh—? But Louis has a big body, so how did that happen!?)
If I looked closely, the spearhead was fixed to the metal fixtures attached to the saddle.
That should have been the metal fixtures to attach the spear while riding.
Certainly this would give all the weight to the dragon, so he didn’t need power to lift him.
Instead, the timing to entangle the armor strap and fix it to the opposite side was supposed to be quite difficult.
If he failed, Louis would be wary of it and he wouldn’t be able to try it again, and I was impressed by that bold move.
“He pulled it off using the momentum when the dragon turned direction, huh.”
“Hou……that was very clever……”
Otou-sama was convinced by the King’s commentary, he sighed in admiration reflexively.
Even the audience didn’t understand what happened just by looking at it.
The venue fell silent.
However, when Auguste held Louis out towards Camellia’s forelimbs, the audience broke into cheers.
If the opponent’s body was completely separated from their saddle, it was counted as one win like an attack on the shield.
Despite being said to be at disadvantage, Auguste, who rode on Blackcurrant, won the first match.
If you are wondering why Auguste used Magic of Intoxication on his dragon, the reason will be revealed in a few chapters.
About the difference in performance between Auguste and Louis’ dragons: remember, Blackcurrant is a general purpose dragon. Just think of her as a mass breed horse, while Louis’ Camellia is a racing horse. As a personal dragon, Camellia is subjected to specific training menu, quality food, and other privileges.