Chapter 98: The Knights’ Tournament (Part 1)A few weeks after Melina’s birthday, the winter season slowly came to an end while spring arrived in the kingdom.

    The people in the castle and the streets were going around hanging decorations for the city’s festival, and the area for the knight’s tournament had been cleared out.

    Melina and I were overseeing the fighting arena out of pure curiosity, and to our surprise, the supreme commander of the knights was present there, too.

    He was an older man who seemed to be in his 50s. He had long brown hair, a few white strands showcasing his age, and a severe facial expression.

    Noticing the princess there, the man approached us and introduced himself.

    His name was Thorne Starcrest, the Supreme Commander of the Knight’s Orders.

    He was the man in charge of all of the seven knight groups that existed in the kingdom. Not only was he the one responsible for sending them to their respective locations, but he also directed the new recruits to the order he deemed appropriate and was supposed to take care of all of their training, too.

    However, everything I had heard about the supreme commander up to the point I met him were pretty awful things.

    For starters, I knew he was one of those stupid nobles who considered himself above everyone else, which was obvious by how he carried himself around. sea??h thё N??eFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    The 4th Order that was stationed in our town was the only knight’s order that was filled with commoners, except for Commander Thomas, who never discriminated against the knights under his command.

    The reason the order was all commoners was because the supreme commander Thorne didn’t want nobles to mingle with them, so he decided to send them all into a single group.

    He was also the one who deprived the 4th order of proper training since he believed that commoners shouldn’t be at the same level as noble knights, resulting in the 4th order becoming the weakest of the bunch.

    I wanted to discuss it with the king, and he even asked me about it. However, I wanted to keep the transformation of the 4th order a secret until the tournament.

    Nevertheless, after seeing the supreme commander, I was excited to see his stupid face of surprise when the 4th knight’s order cleared the floor with the rest during the tournament.

    Truthfully, I would have enjoyed it more if only the 4th order had gone through my training, but at that point in time, the 7th order, which Valentina led, had been training hard the past months.

    The 2nd order that was formerly led by Garret had also been using our training methods, and while their commander was training in End Town with us, their knights managed to power through.

    Nonetheless, they still weren’t at the level of the 4th order.

    Before we knew it, a few days had passed, and the day of the tournament had arrived.

    The king asked me to watch the matches with him, and I saw no reason to decline since he had the best spot in the arena anyway.

    In our booth, there was Melina, Vespera, the maids Gina and Carli, the King, the Queen, the little princess Alexandra, and Supreme Commander Thorne, who seemed somewhat annoyed at the fact that my companions and I were there.

    Without anyone else around us listening, I whispered to the king to present the 4th order last since he was meant to introduce them in order.

    The king turned to look at me and nodded affirmatively, making the supreme commander flinch with annoyance.

    ’Man, this guy really hates commoners...’ I thought, thinking about more ways to annoy the old man who was getting on my nerves with his stupid attitude.

    Once the arena had been filled to the brim with people, the king stood up, and I used sound magic to amplify his voice volume significantly.

    "Welcome, everyone. Today marks the beginning of the 50th Knight’s Tournament in our kingdom.

    As you all know, this has been our tradition to determine our most powerful knights, and I believe this year will be filled with surprises..." The king continued his speech, making me notice the reverence that people had for their royal family.

    "While I’m usually the one that presents the Knights Orders, I would like for my daughter to have the honor this year." The king stated, making the people clamor with applause and praises to the princess.

    Melina gulped with a bit of shyness, so I held her hand softly and discreetly, making her turn around momentarily to look at me as her eyes began brimming with confidence.

    With my sound magic affecting her voice, she began introducing the contestants.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen, The 1st Knights Order!" she exclaimed, making the crowd roar as a large pack of knights entered the arena and arranged themselves in rows.

    "Look at them. They are so hot!" a random woman from the crowd exclaimed.

    "There’s the commander!" another yelled.

    Coming in behind his subordinates, the commander of the 1st Order arrived, William Windforge.

    A tall, blonde man with green eyes that had an air of royalty to him. Seriously, if I hadn’t known he was a knight commander, I would have guessed he was the prince of another empire.

    ’So, this is the usual super handsome knight that everyone falls in love with...’ I thought as I inspected the guy.

    "Now, this order has gone through some tough times the past year, but they are here, and they are ready to compete. Ladies and gentlemen, The Knights 2nd Order!" Melina exclaimed.

    The people roared, although not nearly as loud as they did with the 1st order, making me understand that the 1st order was the most popular among the people. It made sense, considering William and his group were the ones stationed at the capital.

    However, as the knights of the 2nd got into the arena, the people noticed how much stronger they looked than before, and even without their commander, the group arrived full of confidence and bravado.

    "Next, we have the knights who care for our beautiful city of Glorya. Give it up for The Knights 3rd Order!" Melina shouted, making the people roar like crazy once again.

    In the booth next to us, Duke Gale and his family were watching the show, and I noticed how they stood up to clap for the knights of the 3rd. Even Reinar, who didn’t show much interest in anything other than alchemy, ended up attending the event as he was cheering for the 3rd.

    I had never talked to anyone from that order, but the guys who walked into the arena looked quite capable, and behind them, their commander walked in with unwavering confidence.

    Her name was Sara Storm, a beautiful woman with long, light brown hair who portrayed a feeling of authority that was quite intimidating.

    "Lady Sara, I love you!" a random man yelled from the audience.

    "She is so elegant!" another woman said.

    ’Another one that seems to be very popular with the residents... She looks strong, but not as strong as MY knights.’ I thought, sneering to myself like an idiot.

    "We are having a small change in the sequence, so up next, let me introduce you to the knights that take care of one of our most mercantile cities, the protectors of Speranza, The 5th Knights Order!"

    Once again, the people roared, although not as much as with the previous group.

    The knights of the 5th seemed to wear much lighter armor than the others, noticing theirs were made of leather while the other knights used plate armor.

    As the people applauded and the knights waved at the spectators, Melina told me that the 5th order specialized in a different kind of combat, which required them to use smaller blades and wear lighter clothes.

    It had been taught to them by their commander, who made his entrance right as she kept explaining.

    The commander was a young man in his twenties by the name of Eamon Dawnblade, which I thought was a cool last name. Nevertheless, the guy looked quite intimidating as he walked in.

    He had short, jet-black hair and orange eyes and wielded two daggers, something that was very weird for a knight, but it made me understand why the rest of his subordinates looked like that.

    The women in the crowd seemed to love him, though I don’t think they did as much as the commander from the 1st, William.

    "Up next, the knights who travel throughout all of our small towns and settlements, splitting their responsibilities all around the kingdom. Give it up for The Knights 6th Order!" Melina continued.

    The guests applauded, although I noticed their excitement wasn’t nearly as high as it was with the other orders.

    Since the knights of the 6th were tasked with traveling to small towns, the people in the big cities didn’t know much about them as their popularity grew mostly in small villages. Nonetheless, they still looked quite strong.

    Their commander was a middle-aged man with a rugged appearance named Marshall Alric. He had dark short hair, a scar that traveled horizontally across his face, and his body build made him look like the strongest of the knights around.

    ’Okay, he looks strong. But still... not even close to MY knights,’ I thought as I let out a chuckle, making the supreme commander glare at me with annoyance again.