Heart of the Castle

Chapter 263 The Earl's Fair Decision

"Levi Ston, please accept this badge of the Grand Knight Commander. This is the reward you deserve." Earl Ansair said, the golden double sword badge shone attractively in his palm.As long as you get it in your hands, you can become a great knight leader with the certification of the Knights Association. However, the young knight did not express his gratitude, but stood there hesitantly.

"Sorry, Earl, I can't accept this." After some consideration, Li Wei chose to politely refuse, which made Earl Ansair have a surprised expression on his face.

"Why did you refuse? Levi Ston, do you think there is something wrong with my approach?"

"Your Excellency, isn't the badge of the Great Knight Commander only valid if it is certified by the Knights Association?" Wilps interjected.

"The certification of the Knights' Association is only one way, and there are two other ways to grant knight qualifications including title knights." Earl Ansair explained: "One of them is granted by nobles with swords, and the other is The pathway is granted by a nobleman above the rank of the sheriff or the real power earl, and I have met the conditions for both pathways, so even the Knights Association must recognize this qualification, right?"

At the last sentence, Earl Ansair turned his head to Elder Nicholas who had just been unarmored by two servants and helped Elder Nicholas get up.

This question made the elder hesitate for a while, granting Li Wei, a young man, the qualification of Grand Knight Commander. This is definitely not what he hoped to happen, but he soon realized that this was an irreversible result, so he had to answer in a low voice. Said: "Your Excellency the earl is right, you are fully qualified to confer the title of knights of the knight class and the following classes... the power given to anyone, the knight association and the kingdom will recognize your power."

Earl Ansair's eyes fell on Li Wei, and the young knight moved his body a little uneasily, but still shook his head stubbornly and said: "It's not for this reason, Your Excellency, the badge of the Great Knight Commander is too honorable. I still can’t afford it, if it’s a high-ranking knight’s badge..."

"You can accept the badge of a high-ranking knight, but you can't accept the badge of a great knight commander? Why?" Although the earl asked like this, he seemed to have got the answer in his expression.

"The title of a knight must match his strength. Only the strength of a high-ranking knight needs to be awarded the title of Grand Knight Commander. It will soon become a laughing stock, just like..." Li Wei paused slightly when he said this After a while, the next words were likely to offend many people, but after hesitating, he decided to speak out. "It's like being qualified as a knight without the strength of a knight at all."

These words made Earl Ansair laugh loudly and cheerfully, but Elder Nicholas didn't find anything funny. The elder of the Knights Council looked at Levi viciously, his gray beard and eyebrows trembling. Non-stop, if he hadn't broken several ribs when he fell off the horse just now, I'm afraid he would have to use his long hammer to teach this - in his opinion - "arrogant and reckless" young man.

However, Earl Ansair's next words extinguished the raging fire in the old man's chest, making him panic.

"Elder Nicholas of the Knights Association of Deke City," Earl Ansair said majestically, without any concealment in his voice, and there was no hint of a joke. "Did you hear what Li Wei Ston said? This kind of knight assessment has made us a laughing stock in Dirk City. Even those lads from Firmeyer, the capital of glory, know that they came from Germany. Kecheng can easily qualify as a knight!"

"But..." Elder Nicholas raised his head, and was about to explain something, but was interrupted by a raised palm.Earl Ansair walked up to him, looked at him with cold eyes, and showed a stern look on his face.The sword dancer, one of the Nine Pillars of the Kingdom, revealed his majesty as a sword-wielding earl, and at the same time exuded an eye-catching noble aura.

This strange expression made Elder Nicholas feel a little at a loss, his eyes gradually dropped to the ground, and his lips pursed.

"Longhammer? Nicholas, what a pure knight you were once!" Earl Ansair began to speak, and every word shook the air in the arena, "Sweep away the darkness, pity the weak, fearless, once you were How loyal to the motto of chivalry, willing to shed blood for the slightest offense against it, like every true knight in the kingdom. But now look at you! The desire for power has corroded It broke your heart, and in order to cater to the preferences of those rich and nobles, you did not hesitate to use knighthood as a bargaining chip to consolidate your power. Is your approach different from those corrupt bureaucrats you hated back then?"

Earl Ansair's merciless public criticism made Elder Nicholas' face turn pale. He turned his head and wanted to get some support from others, but there was a complete silence inside and outside the arena, even on the high ground. No exception.

No one wanted to challenge the majesty of a sword-wielding earl, not even Firmeyer's wealthy nobles.Elder Nicholas was a little desperate to see that Marquise Susan, who had vowed to help him stabilize his power, returned to the tent to drink and have fun like other noble women, without even giving him a look of support.

Earl Ansair swung his cane suddenly, and there was a crisp sound on the chest of Elder Nicholas, and the scepter badge that marked the elder of the Knights Association was picked up by the cane and fell into the dust.

Elder Nicholas's face suddenly turned gray, and he stared at Earl Ansair with wide eyes, shaking out a broken voice from his parched throat.

"Your Excellency, I am the elder of the Knights Association...you, you have no right...to do this."

"Every nobleman with a sword is equivalent to the elders of the Knights Association, and as the city lord of Dirk City and the governor of the northern border, I have the right to temporarily dispose of anyone who belongs to the Knights Association of Dirk City." Ans Lord Al snapped, and then he let out a long sigh.

"Wake up, longhammer? Nicholas! Keep the lure of power out of your heart, and purge diseased and greedy thoughts from the temples of your mind, and then I will rejoice at the return of a true knight, for you Re-wear this badge of honor."

Elder Nicholas didn't listen to Earl Ansair's persuasion at all. When the badge fell to the ground, it seemed to break the old knight's spine. So old and tired, even without the support of the two servants beside me, I don't even have the ability to stand there.

"As for your actions, Earl Ansair." Elder Nicholas said in a hoarse voice: "I will appeal to the elders of the Knights' General Assembly and let the elders judge whether your blatantly provocative behavior is in line with a place The identity of the lord and the nobleman with the sword. Now, brothers of the Knights Association, let's go!"

After saying this, Elder Nicholas made a gesture of leaving with his hands. However, except for the two servants who supported him, there was no red-cloaked examiner following him, and these people all stood dumbfounded in the arena. , his face was either flushed or pale, showing some shame.

"You...why don't you go?" Elder Nicholas' expression became more menacing, but the examiners didn't answer him, but walked slowly towards Earl Ansair.

"My lord, we ask for your forgiveness," said an examiner with a white sheep's head on his shield.

"We were afraid of the pressure of authority, and went against our own intentions and the teachings of the motto of the knights, and did this kind of thing." Another examiner went on to say that there was a green poisonous snake on his shield. "Now we ask you for a fair ruling, regarding all the results of this knight qualification examination."

"There is no need to judge." Earl Ansair replied coldly, "The knighthood granted by the Knights' Association is fully valid, and I believe in your conscience, let it punish every one who defiles and damages the motto of the knights today." Be a man of action!"

These words caused applause like mountains and seas to resound outside the arena. The faces of farmers and small citizens were flushed, and they clapped their hands desperately; Strict and formal knight qualification examination; even those wealthy nobles who cheated in the knight qualification examination were relieved, because although the Earl of Ansair spoke very harshly, he did not deprive them of the knight qualifications they had already obtained , did not make them the laughing stock among the nobles of the royal capital.

So cheers resounded over the arena again, accompanied by ridicule directed at the Knights Association and Elder Nicholas himself, based on the fact that although the majesty of the former has been severely damaged today, it is still not something ordinary people can do at will. For this reason of ridicule, the latter is much louder and more vicious than the former.

But none of this was as loud as the crowd's cheers for those who remained in the arena.

"Bless you, our fair sheriff and lord of the city, may you live a long life and protect us forever!"

"Bless you, young master knight, your bravery has opened our eyes!"

"Long live the Lord of Deke City!"

"Long live the great kingdom of Arthur!"

When Earl Ansair held up a copper belt and showed it to the audience with a golden dagger badge representing a high-ranking knight, more cheers rose into the sky, and Levi almost couldn't hear it. A muffled voice came from the opposite side.

"Don't linger after the end, leave here immediately."

These words were so hasty and low, when Li Wei raised his head, he didn't find a trace of strangeness on Earl Ansair's face, as if the reminder just now didn't come from his mouth.

(End of this chapter)