People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

“My appearance fee is ten million marks (the official currency of Kazimir).”

Wherever Maria is to be sent, money is needed.

As for the current situation of the Lin Guang family, this noble knightly family, which lacks long cavalrymen who can make a living from the state, what they lack most is money.

Since that's the case, then don't blame me. I can write whatever I want, but you said it.

Then let's just set the price even higher.

This knightly arena is a decisive battle from the very first match, a single battle that will decide the fate of the world!

Chapter 369 Blood Knight: Passing three rounds is considered a success!

Kazimir, the Grand Knight Commander of Kavaleria.

After the negotiations with Marna concluded, Ciarna did not immediately return to his residence, where he would turn off the lights as soon as he left.

The night view of Cavaleillaqui is a major feature of Casimir; the dazzling light pollution is enough to seriously damage people's eyesight, and the truly vibrant streets can ignite the most primal desires deep within people's hearts. On this land, only the Mark Maxell district of Colombia and Longmen, the only window to the outside world for Yan, can compare.

As a Kazimierz who had long since become part of this street scene, Charnee skillfully navigated the bustling traffic that never stopped, even late at night, squeezing through the lively streets and entering a rather unremarkable bar on the side of the street.

There were no signature drinks, no eye-catching strippers, no energetic music, and no mesmerizing neon lights. Even behind the bar, there was only a bored bartender with long, unkempt blue hair. Naturally, this bar had few customers.

Charn walked to the bar and said calmly:

"Two Captain Morgan glasses."

The bartender behind the counter raised his eyelids, glanced at Charnet, and rolled his eyes:

"Dude, we don't have that kind of good Iberian wine here. Have you come to the wrong place?"

Charné did not answer, but simply repeated:

"Two Captain Morgan glasses."

"Tsk."

The bartender clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, bent down, took two cans of rum with a black head logo from under the bar, and handed them directly to Charnet.

"Don't let me find out who leaked this information. Do you know how hard it is for me to do odd jobs and earn some extra money?"

Charné smiled, picked up two cans of rum, and turned to walk into the private room behind the partition.

He was waiting for someone here.

Wait for Dikeopolis, the infamous Blood Knight.

For the Kazimierz people today, the name Blood Knight is no stranger. As a top favorite to win the Major before it was changed to the World Games, Dechaopolis can be said to be the first knight in the Kazimierz people to "worship" him after the era of the Black Knight.

Some might ask, why isn't the Radiant Knight included?

Because the Radiant Knight is too arrogant.

Since her sudden emergence and announcement of her participation in the 22nd Major, Margaret Nearl has refused any sponsorships, conducted no publicity, and engaged in any activities with fans. In the few interviews she has accepted, the content has been almost entirely about her disgust for the Business Federation and her disdain for the Knights Tournament.

This is certainly not something people like.

Even back then, because Cyril Nearl, a war hero, was still alive, the Business Federation dared not risk public condemnation by taking direct military action against Margaret. But ruining someone's reputation is far too easy.

They spread a few rumors in a sinister manner, and then, by pretending to refute them, spread the rumors even more widely.

Margaret's reputation naturally suffered as a result.

She does have quite a few fans in Kazimierz, but most of them are haters. These are the kind of haters who hope to see Margaret fall badly, even to the point of being smashed to pieces, and then come out and say something like, "Hmph, I told you, she'd be finished sooner or later." The number of fans who genuinely support her is very small. As for casual fans?

Margaret's reckless and unmanaged influence was already unpopular with the general public, not to mention the business alliance manipulating her behind the scenes. Where did Margaret have any public goodwill left?

This can be seen from the fact that she was labeled an infected person and exiled right after winning the Knights Tournament Championship, a moment when she should have been the center of attention and adored by thousands, yet this did not cause the slightest social uproar in the Great Knights Territory.

Because many people even think that this is how it should be! She's so arrogant, and no one can really control her. If she actually wins the Special Championship, there must be something fishy going on! If she doesn't get proven wrong, then aren't we the ones who will?

Following Margaret, the Business Federation launched several "competitive products," but none of them achieved the expected level of success or generated much buzz.

Until Charné discovered the Dicaibolis.

Watching the portly man push open the curtain and enter the cubicle, Charnet couldn't help but reveal a genuine smile on his face.

"sit down."

He placed Captain Morgan's fine wine on the table and pushed it toward DiCeopolis.

"They don't have Minos wine here, but this one is good too, give it a try."

The muscular, bronze-skinned man with large hooves nodded, and without any hesitation, picked up his wine, took a few sips, smacked his lips, and nodded affirmatively:

"Good wine!"

Charné also took a sip and raised his glass:

"Match a good person."

Dikeopolis was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter: "A good match, a good match!"

He put down his wine glass: "I wonder what I, a good man, can do for you, Mr. Charnet, that would be worth you calling me out so late?"

Charné pursed his lips, took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed his unspeakable feelings, and tried to speak calmly and indifferently:

"Dicaipolis, I've come to persuade you..."

“I will not withdraw from the competition,” DiCeopolis said.

Like a man whose tail had been stepped on, Charlene's expression froze, a momentary panic flashing across his face, but he quickly shook his head in relief.

"Yes, you should have noticed that."

Dicaipolis was promoted by Charnet.

This knight was chosen by Charne because of two admirable qualities: first, he was a foreigner like the Black Knight; second, he was an infected.

It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but since the Black Knight, almost all of the most popular competitive knights in Kazimierz have been foreigners.

Black Knight Mace is a Lytanian, Candle Knight Viviana is a Lytanian, and Blood Knight Dikeopolis is a Minoan.

The Radiant Knight is also popular, but his diverse background makes him difficult to utilize, unlike these three. Others, such as the Left-Handed Knight and the Rusty Bronze Knight, are not on the same level in terms of popularity or strength.

The infected person is more of a publicity stunt.

Knightly duels are seen as a thrilling and exciting sport by most people in Kazimierz. Given this thrill, the storyline—like a typical shonen manga—of warriors from the lower rungs of society rising to the top of the world through unparalleled willpower and relentless effort, naturally has a considerable market.

Dicaopolis perfectly fit both criteria, so he was chosen by Charne to become the one who had the opportunity to rise from the bottom of society—an infected person from a foreign land—to fame and reach the pinnacle of competitive knighthood.

Ciarne can therefore be considered DiCeopolis's mentor. DiCeopolis understood him, just as Ciarne understood DiCeopolis.

During this period, he reduced his training volume, cut back on publicity and promotion, and canceled several endorsement negotiations. These actions could not have gone unnoticed by DiCeopolis.

Why would a businessman let money slip by? If they do such a thing, it's undoubtedly because they've seen more money and don't have time to care about these small, immediate gains.

Combined with the news that had been circulating for some time and was finally confirmed in the last few days about the "Kasimir Games," DiCeopolis understood from that moment on that he had probably been "abandoned."

“But I will not withdraw from the competition, Mr. Ciarne. Even if I am only to be defeated, I will not retreat without a fight.”

"I say stubbornly."

Charné was somewhat puzzled:

"Dicaipolis, why bother?"

"You should know the Business Federation's considerations. This 'International Games' is a competition between nations. Even if the rules allow capital to participate, the Business Federation will not do so! We will only choose the 'nation' camp!"

The ultimate goal of the Business Federation is to compete with the Oversight Council for power in Qazimir. What they have been doing all along is to bind the Business Federation deeply to the country through interests, so naturally they will not take the initiative to sever ties at this time.

For the [Nation] faction, Dichaopolis is somewhat redundant.

"Blood Knights cannot represent Kazimierz in the competition. Even if we agree, the Supervisory Council will not allow it."

"And the contestants we've chosen... I don't need to hide this from you; they're opponents you can't defeat."

"Rather than losing on the field and losing a lot of popularity, your best option is to withdraw from the competition. As long as you are not defeated head-on, and you manage your fan base a little better, the commercial league will only become more popular after this major competition, and you will still have a lot of potential then!"

After explaining the benefits, Charné changed the subject and warned:

"But if you insist on participating, under what pretext will you do so?"

"The board will not agree to you competing in their name. You can only compete as an independent knight who qualified through the qualifiers, just like the other knights. Doing so would prove to the Commercial Federation that you are a disobedient person."

He sighed:

"Those who don't listen to orders won't be treated to good wine."

Dikeopolis pursed his lips:

"What you said makes a lot of sense."

"But I still plan to participate."

For once, Charn was so angry that he opened his mouth but couldn't speak.

His silver tongue, so eloquent that even Marner couldn't refute, now felt somewhat stiff, and after a long pause, he managed to squeeze out a sentence through clenched teeth:

Give me a reason?

"Because I am infected."

Dikeopolis raised his head and said seriously,

“Mr. Charner, do you remember? When I first embarked on the path of knightly competition under your guidance, I told you about my ideals.”

"I want other infected people to have the same opportunity as me to play in esports. I want them to have the chance to change their fate through this path."

“You told me that this goal could only be achieved if I won the Special Championship.”

Dikeopolis paused,

“If you can promise me now that even if I withdraw from the competition, you can guarantee that the Infected Knights’ competition rules will be recognized and approved by the National Assembly and the Knights Association, then I will withdraw from the competition immediately.”

"If not, Mr. Charnet, let me give it a try."

"You...all of you."

Charn covered his face, speechless.

Seeing this, DiCeopolis pursed his lips, picked up Captain Morgan from the table, clinked the bottle in Charner's hand, took a sip, and then stood up, intending to leave.

He didn't want to put Charne in a difficult position, but when he thought of the expectant eyes of his fellow infected people in Block Zero who were barely clothed and starving, he could only grit his teeth.

Just as DiCeopolis was about to leave, he lifted the curtain with his right hand and heard Charne's voice behind him.

"A maximum of three rounds."

"I will try to arrange some weaker opponents for you. But you can only last three rounds at most before you are eliminated."

Dikeopolis turned his head and looked at the spokesperson, who was still bowing his head in the cubicle, with a look of astonishment on his face.

Charn's voice was somewhat somber:

“The board members don’t care about such a small profit, but I’m the one who invested in you. I can’t afford to lose everything.”

"This is the bottom line. Don't cause me any more trouble."

Dikeopolis nodded sincerely, then turned and strode away.

Charnette sat in the room for a while before standing up and walking wearily toward the bar.

The bartender remained idle behind the bar; his bartending skills were mediocre, but he was very nimble.

Seeing Charné approach, he chuckled: "The bill?"

“Hiring a hitman,” Charnet said.

The bartender with long blue hair licked his lips: "What do you mean? Didn't you want to avoid losing everything?"

Charné sighed:

"The premise is that he listens. Losing everything only means losing this round of investment, which is better than damaging the foundation."

"It would be best if he could be eliminated in the third round. If it's the third round and he still wants to continue, then I'll have to trouble you, Azure King."

Roy, the Azure Gold Grandmaster of the Unarmored Alliance, shrugged:

"Let me make this clear beforehand: remember to get the approval from above. I'm not working overtime."