The Delson Royal City's sixteen districts were bustling with activity these days. The captains commanded their subordinates to use tame and obedient magical beasts to move one-meter-long, half-meter-wide, and half-meter-thick large stones, constructing one-meter-high platforms.
This was a tradition of the royal battle tournament, somewhat similar to the concept of "entertaining the people," although it did not allow anyone other than royal family members to participate.
During every royal battle tournament, large numbers of residents from surrounding cities would flood into the royal city to watch the competition.
There were 256 spots for participants in each royal battle tournament. Four rounds of battles on sixteen separate arena fields would determine the final sixteen. The sixteen finalists would then compete in a draw pair, leading to the final champion.
The final battle would take place in front of the Nal Emperor Palace, with the reigning Emperor Meijeff the Fourth as the prestigious referee.
Dinola had fought for three days and was satisfied with her return. As a special guest, Princess Feifei had already put on her luxurious noble dress early and left to attend the opening ceremony of the royal battle tournament. Ge Zheng wasn't interested in the event and took the liberty of allowing Kanes and Dunk to go watch the excitement.
The royal battle tournament was also a biennial celebration in the Delson Royal City. People in the city's major streets were entertained with various performances, colorful costumes, eccentric puppets, and a combination of fire and lightning magic shows resembling fireworks. Even before the competition began, the city was already in a celebratory frenzy.
Solg Verlin had now made up his mind to follow Ge Zheng, thinking that he might be able to save him again and strengthen their "intimacy."
Dinola had suspected for some time that Solg Verlin had feelings for Ge Zheng beyond friendship. Her return from Delmont, and seeing only her and Ge Zheng left at the inn, confirmed her suspicion.
Ge Zheng calculated the time and said, "The competition should be starting soon. Let's go cheer for Delmont." The three of them walked out and coincidentally ran into Gronia. The young fiend girl was wearing a golden long dress today. The sparkling points of light on her skirt looked like stars shimmering on a lake. The light ran up along the skirt, abruptly tightening at her waist, accentuating her slender waist. The curve of her back appeared smooth, as if it had some kind of forward propulsion, emphasizing her ample chest even more.
"Brother, come watch the match, want to place a bet? The odds for Deekmont to win are five to one, and his opponent, Lord Hofens, has odds of three to one." As the three were about to walk over, a shifty-looking guy stopped them. Ge Zheng couldn’t help but smile; on the stage, Deekmont was clearly holding back his strength, engaged in a fierce battle with Lord Hofens, or else the odds wouldn't be like this.
"Alright, how big of a bet can your gambling booth handle?" He had wanted to bet his entire fortune, even if it meant only making a twenty percent profit it would still be tens of thousands of gold coins. On the side, Gronia pulled him, and with a smile, handed the guy several dozen gold coins, saying, "Twenty-five gold coins, I'm betting on Deekmont to win."
The man took the money, issued the betting ticket, and then went to pull in more people.
"If you really bet tens of thousands, we'll be in trouble." Gronia said, "This is Delson, the underworld is deep here. It's not worth causing unnecessary trouble for just tens of thousands." Ge Zheng smiled; he was indeed a little impatient.
But those five gold coins were surely going to be won. Deekmont and Hofens "fought" for dozens of rounds, and only narrowly won at the last moment, smoothly advancing to the next round.
The crowd rejoiced, on the way back, Dainora asked, "Why did you do that? Even if you want to hide your strength, you don’t have to go that far." Deekmont glanced at Gronia, hesitated, then said, "Even nobles have many ways to make money. Someone asked me to cooperate, to control the match more evenly, and they will pay me fifty thousand gold coins afterwards."
Ge Zheng remembered the people who had tried to drag him into gambling, "Are they from the gambling den?" Deekmont nodded, "Anyway, I need to hide my strength, and they're not asking me to lose intentionally, why not do it?"
It’s not easy being a little noble in this world, Ge Zheng thought. What else could he say?
Originally, Ge Zheng wanted to invite Deekmont to celebrate today's victory at the tavern, but Deekmont was in a hurry to collect his winnings, and it didn't seem worth celebrating such a small victory. The two groups split up on the way back, with Ge Zheng and the others returning to the inn.
Just as they reached the door, they saw two carriages parked side by side in front of the street. Dainora was puzzled, "Other than Feifei, who else is riding in the carriage?"
In the main hall, Miss Feifei was dressed in noble attire, with a sweet smile on her face, chatting happily with a handsome guy a few years older than her. "Teacher, you're back," Miss Feifei politely stood up, giving Ge Zheng an elegant courtesy. This ladylike manner caught Ge Zheng off guard for a moment.
"Teacher, this is my new friend, Duke Monzel Systine." Miss Feifei introduced. The dashing Duke Monzel promptly performed a knight's greeting, "Duke Monzel Systine greets you, esteemed master." Ge Zheng was Feifei's elder, as well as Monzel's, so he only offered a half bow.
"Teacher, you're back, are we going to have class right away?" After arriving in the Royal City, there was no end to various tasks; both Ge Zheng and Feifei were very busy and had no time for classes. At this moment, Feifei suddenly said she wanted to have a class. Ge Zheng hesitated, seeing Feifei gesturing to him with her back turned to Monzel, and suddenly showing a mischievous smile, "Your friend is here, so it's important to entertain your friend…"
Feifei could only reveal a pleading look, and Ge Zheng relented, "But studying is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to fall behind, so I can't slack off. I'll have to ask Lord Monzel for forgiveness." With those words, Monzel was disappointed, but he didn’t want to make a scene, so he promptly got up and took his leave, "Miss Feifei, may I come to take you to the match tomorrow?" Feifei gave a sweet smile, "That would be lovely."
Monzel was delighted, moved closer and kissed Feifei's hand, bowed and left with his hat clasped over his chest. Monzel left, and Feifei's face, which had been smiling sweetly, suddenly fell, and she grabbed a cloth from the table, vigorously wiping her hand, saying, "Dunck, fetch me some water; I need to wash my hands!"
Feifei’s sudden change left Ge Zheng bewildered, "What’s going on? You seemed to like that Monzel..." "Like?" Feifei placed her hands on her hips, cheeks puffed up with petulance, "If it weren't for him being the second son of the Systine family, I wouldn’t have anything to do with him!"
Ge Zheng slapped his forehead, remembering that Feifei had mentioned his last name was Systine when she introduced him, "What's the relationship between him and Rosis Systine?" "Those two idiots are real brothers, Monzel is the younger one, and Rosis is the elder one," Feifei said irritably.
"If it weren’t for their father being the Empire's Minister of Commerce, who at times has to hearken to our every word, I wouldn't even consider dealing with him. Living on the same continent as such a person already tests my patience to the limit!" Ge Zheng was puzzled, "But this Monzel looks quite decent, not as disagreeable as you said." Miss Feifei crossed her arms, her two big eyes flickering, "My dream lover, riding a sacred dragon, brandishing a supreme divine weapon, for me, daring to be an enemy to the entire continent! He’s a true hero, even without scars on his face, he should have them elsewhere. His chest muscles should be strong, his abs well-defined. His skin should be a bronze color - natural, not from lying belly-up on the beach. Also, and this is the most important, he must be a warrior, not a sissy like a mage or an alchemist... hmph!"
Feifei contemptuously mentioned alchemists, making a gesture for the slight against her just then.
"That disgusting pretty boy," after describing her ideal man, Feifei went on to criticize Monzel, "He's all soft and tender! I really doubt his knightly status; I'm sure he bought his way through the Empire's knight qualification exam. With him, I could just use one finger to defeat him!" Feifei extended her crystal-clear little finger, then suddenly felt that she was going too far, and shamefully retracted it.
Ge Zheng, with his arms folded, was very dissatisfied with Feifei's description of his profession as a "sissy". He narrowed his eyes and smiled, "In any case, tomorrow this sissy with a pretty face will be coming to pick you up to watch the match, and I think you’ll be spending the whole morning with the second son of the Systine family tomorrow. My good student, I wish you a happy memory! Oh, almost forgot, during this time in the Royal City, he probably won't give up on you. Hehehe..."
The last bit of laughter sounded like a demon’s howl, even more grating in Feifei's ears. Thinking of not being able to escape from Monzel for the next dozen days, Feifei had a hysterical urge, and yelled, "Ah!"
Monzel was apparently no virgin, and early the next morning, he prepared three carriages. Besides picking up Miss Feifei, two carriages were left for Ge Zheng and Dainora. Although he was young, Monzel was a seasoned player and knew he had to curry favor with the people around his target. A noble family tutor and a noble personal female guard were important figures for influencing the target.
Although Ge Zheng had some sarcastic words for Miss Feifei, she was still his student and, as his amulet in the Royal City of Delson, he didn't want anything to happen to her, so he didn't refuse Monzel and boarded the carriage with the others to go and watch the match.
As the convoy was preparing to depart, suddenly a voice from the side sneered, "Hey, isn't this Princess Feifei of the Maris Principality? What, got yourself involved with a prince from the Royal City; I didn't realize that you, still a little girl, already have such skills, looks like you really took after your mother, hahaha..."
A troop of horsemen walked down the street, with two fully armed knights holding narrow flags on both sides, and in the middle a majestic black-haired warhorse, its coat shining and sleek. A red rose blossomed on the horse's back – a tall, fair-haired girl dressed in a long red gown was sitting on the horse, with a straight posture.
Seeing the flags of the Yagna Principality, Miss Feifei's face changed: "Are you Shara Yagna?" The tall, blonde girl gave a charming smile, "That's right, it's me."
She was wearing gloves with golden patterns on them, tugging on the reins, while the black warhorse made two circles in place with crisp hoofbeats. "Rest assured, Feifei, because of the plea from your father, the shivering sufferer, this time, the Emperor himself intervened. I wouldn't dare lay a finger on you before the Royal Challenge contest ends, and you don’t need to rely on the Systine family for protection."
"Hahaha..." the knights behind Shara burst into laughter, and Feifei’s small face turned bright red.
Kodi was furious and drew his sword forward, "The Maris Principality has never been afraid of anyone, much less needing anyone's protection!" With a draw of his sword, it landed right on Shara. Without giving the command, a knight from the horse troop charged, “Let me teach these little fools from Maris a lesson!”
Kodi stood on the ground with only a fragile one-handed knight sword. The other was heavily armored, holding an iron cavalry lance and charging on horseback. The outcome of this duel was already predetermined before it had even begun; even though Kodi's talented arm just barely eclipsed the opponent's, the combined impact of a charging horse and a fully armored knight was not something that could be withstood by a mere three-finger-wide knight's sword.
A loud thud marked the end; the knight's sword in Kodi's hand broke instantly. The opponent, not having the courage to kill on the street in the Royal City, lifted the knight's lance and ruthlessly smashed it into Kodi's shoulder.
“Clang!” Kodi’s sword hand was in severe pain, and in agony and frustration, fell to the ground.
The Yagna knight rode a lap, triumphant and handsomely returned. The horsemen cheered loudly, cursing, "Nicely done!" "Let the idiots of Maris know how formidable Yagna is." "Even a major captain is no match, there really is nobody left in the Maris Principality. Hahaha..."
Miss Feifei was just a little girl after all, and although she was mischievous, she felt that something was helpless in this situation. Amid the contemptuous jeers of the knight, she was on the verge of tears. She bit her lip hard and with her eyes stinging, teardrops were already whirling in her eyes.
Although Monzel was a bit annoyed, Shara was still charming him with her flirtatious gaze, and while Monzel liked Feifei very much, his playboy nature was difficult to change, and he was already considering having something with Shara, who was clearly someone he was quite familiar with. Furthermore, he wanted to make Feifei think she was telling him the truth. Moreover, at this time, if he stepped out, it would give Shara more leverage.
Kodi's face was ashen, and he struggled a bit on the ground but couldn't stand up, and dark red blood oozed from his shoulder where the lance had struck him.
"Princess, Kodi's incompetence has disgraced the public, and we can only make amends with death!" He knelt on the ground, facing south, and drew the dagger from his waist.
Ge Zheng gestured to Dainora, beckoning to her with his chin, as if to say, "Your turn." Dainora shrugged, "I don't even have a weapon; how am I supposed to fight him? Besides, I'm not from the Maris Principality. You go!"
Solgwendel actually wanted to put him against a magical beast. Still, it seemed that magical beasts were better at killing people.
Kodi's dagger was about to fall, and there was no time to argue with her. Ge Zheng dashed out of the carriage like a butterfly and skillfully wrested the dagger from Kodi's wrist.
"Teacher!" Miss Feifei called out, full of grievance, usually finding fault with her teacher, punishing her to copy books, playing pranks and making life difficult for her, but now at this moment, stranded in a foreign place, she suddenly had someone standing up for her, and it happened to be her own teacher. In an instant, she put all her reliance on him. This call was three parts woeful, three parts petulant, plus a part of mewling and a part of unease.
Ge Zheng threw the dagger on the ground and gave her a smile. At this moment, this smile, even though it didn't have the immense comfort of a legendary one, truly made Feifei feel much better.
Ge Zheng waved his hand and said to Feifei's guard, "Take Major Kodi to the shrine and have the priest treat him."
"Is that the family tutor for Feifei?" Shara said, when she mentioned "Feifei", deliberately arching her chest with her red dress, hidden under which, her twin peaks shook. Monzel, who was next to Feifei, couldn't help but swallow hard.
Ge Zheng seemed not to hear her, and turned to ask Monzel, "Lord Monzel, does the Royal City allow cattle rearing?" Monzel was taken aback, "The Royal City has no such regulations, but there shouldn't be anyone raising cattle in the city..." of course, the Royal City of Delson was not a farm, so why would anyone be breeding cattle.
“Why did I hear a cow mooing?” Ge Zheng asked in surprise, with a look of disbelief.
Everyone did not understand. "Hahaha..." Dinoira was the first to react, laughing heartily while standing on the carriage, clutching her stomach, rolling off the carriage accidentally while laughing, lying on the ground still laughing and kicking her legs wildly: "Hahaha, I can't take it, my stomach hurts, hahaha..."
No one understood yet. Dinoira pointed at Shala's chest while on the ground, saying, "Is that not a cow, hahaha..." Shala's face immediately turned the color of a pig's liver, and Ge Zheng narrowed his eyes and smiled.
Monzel's pale face turned red, and Miss Feifei looked a little embarrassed, whispered something to Ge Zheng, but couldn't help but chuckle.
The knights of the Maris Grand Duchy were not as graceful, and laughter erupted one after another for a while. Even some of the knights of the Aga Grand Duchy couldn't help but chuckle.
Shala's face turned purple with anger, Monzel noticed and suddenly felt that this woman didn't look that good—how could a purple face look good?
"Interesting, interesting!" Shala's hand trembled as she pointed at Ge Zheng. "A level six alchemist, actually becoming the family tutor of the grand duke's princess. The Maris Grand Duke really has courage, hahaha!"
Ge Zheng didn't hold back and retorted, "The grand duke of the Maris Grand Duchy being able to produce a cow, I'm afraid the ability of the Aga Grand Duke is not simply described by courage. I admire, I admire!" The laughter from the knights of the Maris Grand Duchy grew even louder, Shala's face grew darker, and Miss Feifei felt relieved, bouncing around on the carriage: "Teacher is amazing, go teacher! Yay..."
Monzel looked at this southern girl who seemed obedient since she had first met her, and Miss Feifei suddenly felt uncomfortable, quietly sticking out her tongue, sitting back as if nothing had happened.
"Dare to offend the princess, alchemist, you're done for!" The knight who had just laughed out loud yelled, the princess's flatterer should be rewarded, this alchemist who doesn't know what's good for him is definitely easier to handle than the previous fool. The knight spurred his horse, wielding a long sword and charging over. While on horseback, he deliberately showed off with a maneuver, tilting his body to the side and bringing the long sword flat, parallel to the ground, aiming to sever the alchemist's legs with a strike.
"Alchemist, make a wheelchair for yourself!" The knight bellowed crazily as he charged.
Ge Zheng didn't dodge either, as if he hadn't seen a warhorse charging at him. In the blink of an eye, the warhorse was right in front of him, and its hoof was about to come crashing down overhead, the long sword slicing towards him.
"Teacher, be careful!" Miss Feifei shouted. Dinoira and Solgvelin had both witnessed Ge Zheng's Matrix Blink Shield and had no worries.
"Bang!" A muffled sound, the knight felt like he had crashed into the side of a mountain. He didn't shake at all, and the warhorse underneath him let out a mournful cry before crashing down, while the knight himself was thrown high and flew off, his long sword also flew out after being shaken.
The knight flipped in the air for a few times, landing and tumbling a few times. Although his whole body was sore, he was ultimately unscathed.
The knight, who had just had an airborne escapade, was still in shock when he suddenly realized that someone was standing in front of him! Ge Zheng narrowed his eyes and smiled, saying to him, "We've only just begun..."
The knight hastily retreated with an "Ah" and reached to grab his sword at his side, only to remember that his sword was gone. Ge Zheng extended his open hand, and a huge flaming cross shot out, instantly attaching to the knight's body. Ge Zheng's control was extremely precise, with the cross not penetrating the knight's body. His armor was heated to a glowing red by the cross, although it was considered excellent among ordinary soldiers, it was just a pile of scrap to Ge Zheng.
The flaming cross punished the knight fiercely, causing him to scream. There was also a layer of leather underneath his armor, which was vaporized by the cross, leaving him almost naked inside the glowing red armor, even his body hair was burned off.
"Ah! Let me go..." The knight shouted, showing no hint of the courage of someone ready to face death.
Ge Zheng laughed heartily, "Alright, I'll let you go." When the flaming cross disappeared in an instant, the knight breathed a sigh of relief, but unexpectedly a wave of frost descended from the sky.