The days have passed and the day of the Cavalry test has finally arrived. Today is the day of the martial arts competition.

The venue is the Grand Arena, which is located southwest of the royal capital.

Today, not only nobles but also commoners are waiting to watch the matches.

In this world where there is little entertainment, this event is really popular with a lot of people.

After greeting Sophia, I went to my seat on the royal grandstand and sat down.

Today's competition is a one-on-one tournament between knights and their Cavalry.

The reason the competitors don't go head-to-head is that this is also part of the cavalry test.

To ensure fairness, even the sons of high-ranking nobles who are able to produce Knights are required to use the Cavalry developed by the Arsenal Bureau*.

Although in this case the competitors can still use the weapon of their choice, with this rule the physical difference between the Cavalry they use would be the same. If I remember correctly, this was decided in my great-grandfather's generation when the war was still going on, as it simulates the battlefield of that time.

To win, you have to neutralize your opponent's Cavalry.

I feel sorry for the Arsenal Bureau, as they're the ones who have to repair them, but it's a very simple rule.

In addition to me and Sophia, General Grecia and Director Olsen are also in the Royal Stand to give their commentary on the upcoming matches.

They tell us the gist of what's going to happen, but for some reason it's like...

"Isn't this kind of a low level match?"

It may be true that the knights who will participate in the matches today are unfamiliar with how to operate a Cavalry, but I don't think that would be a problem because a Cavalry is built to imitate the movements of the pilot's body.

"I think the guards who built the theatre with their Cavalry are operating it smoothly."

Hearing my complaint, Director Olsen scratched his head.

"I'm sure they haven't fine-tuned the tactile sensation properly. Such decisions are left to the knights themselves; after all, they're the ones who will experience and feel it for themselves."

In other words, is he saying that the knights aren't good enough to give the engineers the final touches to their Cavalry?

"Well, that's one of the aspects we're judging in this tournament."

General Grecia nodded in agreement.

I see. That's why they use a Cavalry produced by the Arsenal Bureau, because on a King's Knight or even a Baron's Knight, the tactile sensation is already fine-tuned from the very beginning.

"That's why even a nobleman's eldest son, who is used on using a Knight, won't be able to win this tournament easily.

The Cavalry are now lined up in front of the grandstand in this circular arena, waiting for their match.

Among them is Julian.

"You could win this, Julian."

When I showed him the Wolf Rider the other day, he asked the engineers about the Cavalry in great detail, taking notes for this exam.

I'm sure he wouldn't make a mistake in adjusting the tactile sensation anymore.

"Good luck, you can do it."

I cheered for him, just moving my lips so the others wouldn't notice.

After a while it was Julian's turn.

I clench my fist involuntarily.

Like before, Julian is using a dual-wielding style, with a long sword in his right hand and a dagger in his left, while his opponent seems to be a spear-user.

His opponent is constantly thrusting his spear into him, while constantly turning the Cavalry's body to gain momentum.

Julian parries it with his dagger and to match his opponent's movement he also turns the body of his Cavalry; the scene is like two giants dancing a waltz.

The audience applauded in unison, praising the skill of both contestants.

In response, the two stop spinning, then move away from each other.

Julian holds his long sword halfway in front of him, while his opponent holds his spear close to his waist.

It looks as if their next move will decide this match.

With a thud, both kick the ground to gain momentum. Julian's opponent then aims his spear at Julian's head.

Julian parried it with his long sword, then lunged at his opponent's chest as if to embrace it.

And before I knew it, the dagger Julian was holding had already pierced his opponent's throat.

Silence ensues inside the arena.

Then a loud cheer can be heard.

"That's it! That's the move that always gets me!"

I say excitedly to Sophia and General Grecia.

"First he used his dagger to create the illusion that he was only using it for defense, then he lured his opponent into a showdown with his longsword, only to use his dagger for the final blow. It's a well thought out plan."

"Your Highness, don't you already know that?"

"No, because if you concentrate too much on the dagger, he will use his long sword to defeat you. He's that amazing, you know."

Because Julian is short and doesn't have enough muscle strength, he has trained his martial arts to the fullest to make up for these disadvantages.

Julian's opponent's Cavalry is then carried out of the arena and, after bowing to the crowd, Julian returns to the wall of the arena.

The spectators behind him wave vigorously, hoping he will turn around.

"I'm sure he's blushing in his Cavalry."

I smiled as I imagined this scene.

As the matches progressed, the orthodox fighting style of a Cavalry with a shield and a long sword appeared, and General Grecia pointed to it.

"Your Highness, that's the favorite to win in this year's championship."

"Hmmmm, who is that?"

"He's Scott Burke; he belongs to the Second Knight Order, and he's the eldest son of the Earl Burke family."

"The eldest son? Does that mean he's the one who will inherit his household?"

"He is the child of a concubine. When he was fifteen, the Earl's legal wife gave birth to a son. That's why Earl Burke had decided to make this child his heir. Until then, he had been entrusted with the use of the Knight that belonged to his family, but when his younger brother came of age, it seems that the Knight would be transferred to his younger brother".

"I see, so in short, before that happens, he wants to get his "Cavalry" certificate."

Whatever the era, it seems that it's always difficult to deal with the family affairs of nobles.

That's one of the reasons why I haven't chosen a bride yet.

As we talked, the match continued.

Scott used his shield to block the halberd his opponent was using, and then he closed the gap between them.

The halberd user, frustrated by Scott's closing distance, swung his halberd at the head of Scott's Cavalry.

At the same moment, Scott kicked the ground to close the distance between himself and his opponent and hit his torso.

Scott used his momentum to pierce the torso of his opponent's Cavalry, exposing its metal flesh and blood, as well as the pilot through the hole in its torso.

"Just like you said, he's really strong."

With a solid defense and the intuition to see the hole in his opponent's defenses, as well as the ability to physically manipulate his Cavalry to the fullest, it looks like he's really not that bad.

"From my point of view, the final match will be between Slough and Burke."

I nodded in agreement with General Grecia's words.

And eventually this prediction came true.




Notes:

1. To avoid confusion if I put it as Knight that means that it's a mecha but if I put it as knight that means that it's a person.

2. I was a bit confused about this because the author didn't give much exposition about this heck even the original lines only translate to "I see certainly a "king's knight" and a "baron's knight" doesn't need that kind of thing." That's all. Well what the author is trying to say that in an ordinary "cavalry" the engineers need to fine tune the tactile sensation depends on the request of the user because it's a lower class model think of it as a Zaku but when it comes to a "knight" there's no need to fine tune the tactile sensation because it's already fined-tuned in the first place and the pilot won't need to think about it anymore, think of it as a Gundam.

3. The translation here is axe-spear.