Lord of the Oasis - Chapter 172
Chapter 172: Mother’s Secret
The tournament had yet to begin, and the discussion had already become quite lively.
This was a rarely seen event in the Stone pass for several years.
Thinking back, the last time they had such a large-scale tournament held in the Stone Pass was when Baron Dylan had just obtained the title of baron and become the lord of this place. It had already been a full ten years since then.
As for the tournament that excited the entire northern county, only Viscount Wayne, who replaced Archduke Cameron and ruled the entire northern county, could hold such tournament once every three years in his Logue Castle.
After all, the cost of holding a competition was not something an ordinary lord could afford.
The banquet was announced to be over in the afternoon.
Everyone left the Lord Hall of the official residence, followed the carpet prepared by the servants, and walked up the spiral staircase. They came to the south side of the city wall. There was a 10-meter wide area of the city wall that was close to the mountain wall and the official residence that was embedded into the mountain rock.
It was the viewing platform that was built to watch the tournament.
The following tournament was held in the square on the south side of the city wall. One could see very clearly when sat on the seven-meter-high viewing platform. Any discussion would not affect the tournament in the square below.
Early in the morning.
The servants had already prepared linen sun-shading tents in advance, using hemp ropes to hang them above their heads to block the scorching sun.
The gentle mountain breeze brought a slight coldness.
Although it was close to the Nahrin Desert, the Senwaya Range always had a cold current gushing out of the ground. So it could neutralize the heat waves coming from the desert and allow plants and animals to thrive in the mountains. It became a natural hunting ground for the villages in the Stone Pass.
Scholars and mages from the Dukedom of Leo had jointly investigated the Senwaya Range.
They had made a conclusion.
The conclusion was that the cold current in the Senwaya Range belonged to negative energy, and long-term contact with the cold current would be harmful to animals and plants.
However, the temperature of the Nahrin Desert, which contained positive energy and fire energy, had washed away the negative energy over a long period of time, so that the Senwaya Range was safe. Even so, the number of demonized creatures in the Senwaya Range was dozens of times more than in other areas. Hunting teams of the villages often encountered them or these creatures would rush into logging fields and quarries. Knights had to step up their rescue efforts to suppress them.
However, the vassal knights and the celebrities, who were currently on the viewing platform, didn’t care about this matter.
They had already lived in the Stone Pass for 10 years.
Some villages and clans in the Stone Pass had been existed for hundreds of years. No demonized creatures had rushed down from the mountain range. On the contrary, those Jackalans from the Nahrin Desert had caused more damage.
Now, with the fortress of the Stone Pass, there were many regular troops and more than 20 knights stationed there.
It was absolutely safe.
Compared to this problem, the landlords and merchants all brought their best children to come here. They were tried to get close to those vassal knights as they were promoting their children to become the attendants of these knights.
These vassal knights were also willing to talk to these rich and powerful landlords and merchants.
The overall atmosphere was very harmonious.
Although knights were nothing in the eyes of the real noble.
However, knights were still part of the noble’s reserve force and they had a chance to become a noble themselves. After all, there was a slang in the Dukedom of Leo, knights could not be noble, but nobles were definitely knights.
After all, the Dukedom of Leo was built on combat strength. The high-end troop class of knights was listed as a class.
The other human dukedom were similar.
That was why these landlords and merchants were so keen to let their children know knights. Once they were accepted as attendants, they had the possibility to become knights and even had the qualifications to become a noble!
If a knight was said to be a noble’s reserve force
Then a knight’s attendant was a knight’s reserve force!
Kant and Baron Dylan stood at the side of the viewing platform. There were no many annoying merchants and landlords around them. Only Manid and two close vassal knights accompanied them. They smiled and chatted with each other happily.
The tournament was still being prepared.
However, just outside the city walls, the footmen wearing iron-scale armor had already sealed off the square.
There were already more crowds waiting around. After all, the tournament was not usually the entertainment for the noble, but it was the entertainment for the civilians. Many residents of the Stone Pass had specially come to watch this once-in-a-few-years event. The residents whispered to each other, and the avenue were also filled with noisy crowds.
There were even many small vendors found their business opportunity. They were selling a lot of snacks with rattan baskets. Most of them were fruit platters made of wild apples from the mountains mixed with other wild fruits. They were placed in simple wooden bowls, one small silver coin could buy a large portion.
The residents lived in the Stone Pass often had the spare money to buy snacks.
Very soon, these small vendors made a lot of money.
At such a grand event, everyone was happy to spend money. Even the butler on the viewing platform sent people down to buy a few rattan baskets. They threw away the wooden bowls and replaced them with more exquisite silver bowls. They put them on the wooden table on the viewing platform for people to eat and drink.
At the same time, various cakes were brought up and placed on the table.
There was sweet wine diluted with honey, water and malt liquor.
There were also freshly squeezed lime juice and fruit juice drinks mixed with honey and water.
They were all placed on the viewing platform in barrels.
After all, those who could come to the viewing platform were all respectable people who had received invitations. Ordinary small merchants and small landlords could not receive this invitation. They could only squeeze together with the crowd outside the city wall which was under the viewing platform.
“It’s really lively.”
Kant held a silver wine glass in his hand and could not help but sigh.
Baron Dylan smiled and nodded. “This was specially arranged to welcome your arrival.”
“Thank you very much, Uncle Dylan.”, Kant thanked him gratefully.
At the same time, he raised the silver wine glass slightly as if he was toasting. He took a sip of the malt wine mixed with lime juice, he could not help but sigh. He smiled bitterly and said, “It’s been a long time since I participated in the tournament.”
Baron Dylan looked at Kant’s elegant action, and there was jealousy in his eyes.
Only a noble child who was trained since young age could have such calmness and elegance.
But soon, Baron Dylan’s heart regained its peace. Looking at Kant’s sad look, the corners of his mouth curled up into a smile, and there was a hint of self-satisfaction in his eyes. So what if Kant was elegant and calm? Kant still had to respect him so much. He even addressed him as ‘you’ politely and called him ‘uncle’.
One had to know.
If Kant was really still the eldest son of the Grand Duke.
If this was the south county territory of the dukedom.
Just the way he addressed him as ‘uncle’ was probably enough to attract the most severe reprimand from the Castle of Leo!
But now.
He, Dylan, a noble warrior who was originally looked down by everyone, was able to become the uncle of the eldest son of Grand Duke Cameron. He was able to stand in front of Kant and accept his proper address!
“You seem to have thought of something unpleasant?”
Baron Dylan chuckled, he said firmly to Kant, “You can tell me. No matter what, I will still be your strongest support. If there are any problems, I will settle them for you. In the name of Princess Sofia, I once swore my loyalty to her. As for you, who belongs to her bloodline, I will also do my do my best.”
“You make me feel at ease, Uncle Dylan.”, Kant lowered his head and shook his head slightly with a bitter smile.
He was like a lost child, he sighed softly and said, “I was once not qualified to participate in the tournament of Castle of Leo. Even if I could go, I could only stay below and watch my father and brother on the viewing platform, but they could not see me in the crowd at all.”
Dylan’s eyes showed a slight of smug.
He even tried to sow discord in a calm tone. “It doesn’t matter. Now that you have your own estate and control the salt mine, why do you have to listen to their arrangements? You can live more like yourself, just like your mother. You have your own opinions and don’t rely on others too much, because she herself yield the power to control the country.”
“My mother?”, Kant seemed to be very curious.
“That’s right.”, Baron Dylan sighed slightly. “Princess Sofia once controlled the powerful Silver light knights, but after your mother passed away, this knights group disbanded.”
Kant was slightly stunned.
This had never been recorded in history or in those books.
Once in the academy, Kant had specifically looked up the records of his mother, in order to look for clues.
His goal was also to use the forces that his mother had left behind to give him of some support. At least, he could live a less depressing life before the golden finger materialized.
However, no matter how hard he searched, he could not find any records of his mother. He only knew that she was the second wife of Grand Duke Cameron.
After the she died due to sudden illness, all of her records had lost.
From the looks of it, it seemed that someone had deliberately erased all the records of his mother.
Just looked at the noble families of the Dukedom of Leo, Kant’s mother was like a taboo topics, they were only allowed to talk about her in this remote place. Even in the academy with a strong academic atmosphere, the topics of his mother, Princess Sofia was not allowed to discuss at all.
Thinking about it carefully, even some teachers deliberately did not lend Kant some books.
It seemed that it was because of this hidden reason.
Some people wanted Princess Sofia to disappear and completely block off this news to Kant, so as to avoid any accidents or touched on some secrets that should not be told.
Just like the current silver light knights.
Kant knew nothing about this.
“If you have the help of the silver light knights, I think those Jackalans are no match for you.”
Baron Dylan also seemed to sigh.
Looking at Kant beside him, he said in a nostalgic manner, “It is said that the order of silver light knights are made up of 1,000 highly skilled knights, and the highest commander is 10 grand knights who have grasped extraordinary powers. They are really powerful.”
“10 grand knights.” Kant was slightly stunned.
If it was based on his understanding of grand knights, it would indeed be extremely terrifying.