Chapter 44: The Impact Meeting

“Impact… what exactly does that mean?”
“That is quite a problem.”

Richard and I decided to speak privately for a while.
After discussing things between ourselves, we were scheduled to meet with the people Lady Katalina had gathered to talk about what came next.

Lady Katalina’s statement had been rather shocking.
It meant that Richard could not obtain the rank of senior knight so easily.

“She means publicity, doesn’t she?”
“Not achievements?”
“Hmm, maybe she wants achievements with publicity?”

Richard’s ability had already been proven beyond doubt.
In terms of skill alone, he was more than sufficient, and his personal evaluation was also excellent.
Normally, one would belong to a knight order for a long period, earn trust, steadily accumulate accomplishments, and then have the lord who employed that knight move to grant the rank of senior knight.

We were trying to skip all of that in one leap.
In other words, we were attempting to rise through connections, using fame as our shield.
The Margrave of Grandra was supporting us generously, without reservation.
Still, if one asked whether this was a straightforward and proper path, from a knight’s perspective it was not exactly an orthodox approach.

“Was I too impatient… should we have taken a more gradual path?”
“No. I believe Lady Ryuswell’s words were meant positively, so I don’t think she is denying my wish to become a senior knight.”
“That is true.”

She was simply pointing out what we lacked at present.

Through our activities on the frontier, we had gained fame.
There had been a fair amount of promotion involved, but the achievements themselves were real.
That was why the Margrave of Grandra had introduced us to the House of Ryuswell in the first place.

If Richard only wanted to become a senior knight, the margrave’s recommendation alone might have been enough, even if uncertain.
However, because we wanted to make that outcome certain and also desired the backing of a ducal house, we had run into this obstacle.

Could we say now that we no longer needed Ryuswell’s recommendation and that the margrave’s support alone was sufficient?
There was no way we could say that.
Once we had stepped forward, there was no turning back.
Which meant that we had no choice but to overcome Lady Katalina’s expectations.

After we finished talking and calmed ourselves, a formal “meeting” about the future was convened.
The location was one of the rooms in the ducal residence.

“Alright then, let’s discuss what to do next.”
“Yes, Lady Katalina.”
“Thank you very much for your trouble, Duchess Ryuswell.”

Present were myself, Richard, Lady Katalina, and the knight commander Ronan Fanburg.
Also attending were Lady Katalina’s maid, Nina, a young woman.
Lady Katalina herself was young, after all, so her maid appeared to be around the same age.

In addition, there was one more person, a knight… or so it seemed.
A young male knight was seated with us.

Noticing my gaze, Sir Fanburg introduced him.

“Lady Vent, this is Paul Berstein.
He is one of our younger knights, recently promoted from trainee status.
I thought someone less rigid than myself might be useful for this discussion, so I had him join us.”
“Pleased to meet you, Lady Vent.
I am Paul Berstein.”
“Yes, pleased to meet you as well, Sir Berstein.
Thank you for joining us today.”

Being allowed to attend a meeting with the duchess present was quite an honor.
Perhaps he was a promising newcomer.
He looked younger than Richard and me.

“First, Sir Claudius.
We are considering your recommendation for senior knight quite favorably.”
“…Thank you very much.”
“However, simply recommending you as you are would be rather dull.”

Dull… is that really the issue here?

“One of your goals is to become someone who can brush off interference from the House of Farmerson and those so-called ‘heroes,’ isn’t it?
If that is your aim, merely becoming a senior knight will not be enough.
As impressive as your epithet may sound, in terms of actual accomplishments, you must consider yourselves weaker than them.
After all, they did play a major role during a national crisis.”

If the horde of magical beasts that overflowed into Grandra had broken through that territory, it would have been a national catastrophe.
Compared to the ‘hero’ who distinguished himself on such a battlefield, the ‘holy knight’ who appeared later inevitably seemed less impressive.
This was not a matter of personal ability.

“To put it simply, Sir Claudius, you lack ‘flair.’
The title of Holy Knight sounds appealing, but still.”
“Flair…”

Richard looked just slightly shocked, which I found rather cute.

“No matter how you dress it up, without a proper stage to shine on.”

Lady Katalina continued, seemingly without malice, while Sir Fanburg lightly patted Richard’s shoulder in consolation.

“…Um, may I speak, Your Grace?”
“Of course, Paul.
Everyone else, feel free to speak as well.
This is a meeting to wrack our brains together.”
“Thank you.
Regarding what was just mentioned, I don’t think this is a problem unique to Sir Claudius.”
“Oh?”

Not unique to Richard?

“Of course, in battles against magical beasts or in war, we wield our swords.
But in peaceful times, knights mostly train endlessly and deal with monster extermination.
There is nothing glamorous about it.
That is not to say we are dissatisfied, of course.
Peace is important.
However…”
“However?”
“If there were some major, truly ‘flashy’ opportunity to show ourselves, that would be nice.
For example, making mock battles and sparring matches more spectacular.
If there were a place where people outside the knight order could see our skills, I think morale would rise even further.”

Knights trained daily.
In addition, they were responsible for maintaining public order, patrolling towns and territories.
Their role was not limited to times of emergency.

Even so, perhaps that was precisely why.
They wanted some kind of competitive “event” during peaceful times.

Such occasions had existed in the past.
Demonstrations of skill, mounted jousts, and the like.
However, those were usually meant to be shown to the lord’s family or, at most, to royalty.

What Sir Berstein was suggesting had a slightly different nuance.
Something closer to a festival, something for the common people.

“A swordsmanship tournament, something like that, open for people outside the knight order to enjoy?”
“Yes, something along those lines…”

If considered as a form of entertainment, then…

“If it is only to draw attention to the knights, opening the training grounds for observation might suffice.”
“That alone would not be enough.
But you want something like that?
You want to do it?”
“Well, um.
I just thought it would be nice if something like that existed.
Something different from the usual monster battles, defense duties, security, and war preparations.”
“A festival?”

I added that word.

“Yes, exactly.
A kind of knights’ festival.
I think it would be a perfect stage for Sir Claudius to show his abilities.”
“…If we did that only within our own knight order, it would be somewhat lacking.”
“Indeed.
If we were to do this, it would need to involve other houses’ knight orders as well.”

I exchanged a glance with Lady Katalina.
If we were to proceed with this idea…
She smiled brightly.
Oh, she was motivated.

“Shall we move forward with that idea, Electra?”

She asked me for my opinion, not Richard.
Which meant…
She expected me to handle the planning, information gathering, analysis, execution, and operation.
That seemed to be the implication.

It sounded like a tremendous amount of work.
She would probably lend her name, and likely provide financial support.
Perhaps manpower as well.
Information gathering would not be a concern with a duchess backing us.
Holding an event under the patronage of a ducal house…

And not only Sir Berstein, even Sir Fanburg looked a little excited.
They had lacked opportunities to demonstrate their strength.

“Electra.”
“Yes, Lady Katalina.”
“If we hold such an event, then of course… we will invite them.”

Invite… whom?
Of course.

“Everyone will want to see the showdown between the ‘Holy Knight’ and the ‘Hero.’
And naturally, the Farmerson house’s knight commander must participate as well, don’t you think?”
“…Yes, indeed.”

And so, we began moving toward hosting a festival to showcase the strength of the knights.