Lita swaggered back up to the platform. The wound on her flank that had healed in the blink of an eye and the scorch marks left by the lance now seemed utterly out of place.
The observation stand and the audience seats were silent for a moment, then erupted into a buzz of discussion louder than any previous match.
“It… does that count as winning? Taking a lance hit directly with her body, then using the power of the Crest to heal… How is that allowed?”
A well-dressed young nobleman frowned, his voice full of confusion. A civilian who loved to stir up trouble immediately retorted.
“Why wouldn’t it be allowed? The rules only say you can’t use the power of the Golden Blood during the match. She took the attack and subdued her opponent at the same time. The referee declared her the winner. Using the Crest’s power to heal afterward isn’t against the rules, is it? Who says you’re not allowed to heal after a match?”
A man dressed as a guard temporarily abandoned his duties and joined the discussion.
“No one cares how you win on the battlefield. Surviving is what matters.”
“But that’s just cheating! It’s completely abusing a loophole. For a Crest Knight to deal with an examinee with such a mutually destructive method, her strength probably isn’t all that impressive.”
“Even if she was an examinee, the reputation of the Crimson Lance isn’t just for show. How many people can take that lance strike to the gut while accurately putting a sword to the opponent’s throat? The real skill is controlling your strength so you don’t kill them.”
“Exactly. The Crimson Lance herself didn’t say anything. Why are you getting worked up?”
What could Momoka say?
Momoka just wanted Lita to hurry up and give her lance back.
A loss is a loss. She was a little annoyed, but she wasn’t going to deny it.
The voices from the audience continued to spread.
“That may be true, but it still feels like an undeserved victory.”
“Is the royal family too biased toward the Fourth Princess? Can a win like that really count?”
“Shh—keep your voice down! Can’t you see the King is right there? Besides, she’s a Crest Knight. Would you dare say that to her face?”
These murmurs spread like tiny ripples beneath the platform, but no one dared to raise their voice, let alone stand up to question the referee or the royal family.
After all, Lita’s method couldn’t be faulted within the rules, and her status as the Princess’s exclusive knight made most people choose to observe cautiously.
Tch. Talk, talk, all they do is talk.
The other day, when I was fighting that giant spider, they didn’t say anything like this.
Lita stood on the platform, glancing at the chaos below.
Now, Lita just found them noisy.
Whatever. There will always be scholars to argue for me. That Beautiful Pheasant will spin some wild history sooner or later.
Cecilia put her hands behind her back and gently squeezed the palm Lita had used to grab the lance.
“Does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt now.”
Lita answered honestly.
“But it actually hurt quite a bit back then. It was fire, after all.”
Cecilia’s thumb squeezed her palm again, and she whispered,
“Don’t do that again.”
There was some reproach in her tone, but more than that, it was a suppressed, helpless admonition.
“Because Lady Cecilia is worried about me?”
Lita grinned.
She knew it was an extreme way to win, but under those circumstances, it was the fastest and safest option.
Momoka was too cautious. If she wanted to decisively settle the match, Lita had to show a real opening, not just bait.
“Because that way of winning is too embarrassing.”
Cecilia said calmly.
“Aw, come on…”
Lita pouted and fell silent.
“Actually, I was a little worried about you too. You won, but you still got hurt, and it must have hurt. So I don’t want you to do that.”
Cecilia added slowly.
“That’s what I’m saying!”
“And another reason: your Crest power is still unstable. What if you lose consciousness again because of it?”
No reaction at all?
But how did I manage to not have any reaction after such a long time?
Maybe it wasn’t a serious enough injury?
That was possible.
Back when she was training with Brownie to fight Xingxian, Lita had activated the Crest’s release more than once, but she never passed out like before.
She had only blacked out twice—during the Wild Hunt and the fight with Xingxian.
“Hmph.”
Lilia’s icy voice came from the side.
“As a Crest Knight, winning in such a vulgar manner is a disgrace to the royal family’s honor.”
Even an injury can’t shut this girl up.
Whatever. She’s injured in the leg, but she can’t control her mouth. Serves her right if she ends up paralyzed.
Nice one. Nice one.
“Oh, don’t say that, Sister Lilia.”
Ellya swung her legs, looking innocent.
“I think Lita was very clever! Fast and effective. Winning is what matters, right? Don’t you agree, Helage?”
“Mm.”
Helage grunted dully.
“Winning matters.”
Rosalia and Brownie didn’t say much, but occasionally whispered about something, probably related to Promi.
Amelia sat a bit farther away, maintaining an elegant smile, completely unconcerned about the minor controversy, as if the matches themselves were more interesting.
The matches on the field continued.
Perhaps influenced by the previous intense matches, the next few seemed much more subdued.
Most examinees were matched against opponents of similar strength. Although there were some exciting moments of flashing blades, no one challenged a Crest Knight again, nor did any unexpected match winners like Lita appear.
After all, regardless of whether they won with a single blow or a surprise strategy, the Crest Knights had all shown formidable combat prowess.
Even if Lita ended the match in that way, anyone with a bit of ability could see that her goal was simply to end the match quickly—she didn’t have to win that way.
Besides, Momoka was no pushover.
The sun climbed to its zenith, and the winter chill was slightly dispelled by the warmth of noon.
Pierre looked up at the sky, leaned in to whisper a few words to the King, then raised his voice to announce,
“The morning examinations are concluded for now. Everyone may take a short rest. Examinations will resume in the afternoon!”
The crowd began to stir.
Examinees filed out, and the audience chatted with lingering interest, but most were unwilling to give up the seats they had worked so hard to secure.
If they left to eat, they might not have a seat when they got back.
Several vendors carried large boxes into the arena, pulling out steaming wraps and bread to sell to the audience.
Although the prices were a bit inflated, watching the competition was also a physically demanding task, so many people bought them.
The royal family, of course, wasn’t so miserable.
The group left the arena in turn, guarded by the Crest Knights, and returned to the palace for lunch.
Today was a special day, so the royal family members were having a rare meal together.
The King waved his hand, sending the nine Crest Knights to eat in the next room.
Lita wasn’t all that familiar with the other Crest Knights either.
Besides Nata, who had healed her, and the knights of the other four princesses, she probably only knew Waerfeisi.
Because Lilia was incapacitated, Xingxian stayed in the next room.
Brownie always kept a straight face, Helage wasn’t someone you could have a normal conversation with, and Waerfeisi went without saying.
Even Nata, who was a little more familiar with Lita, was happily chatting with the other knights.
She didn’t even have a friend to drink and chat with. How pathetic.
After a simple lunch, Lita returned to her room to change clothes.
Wearing the one with the burnt hole all the time didn’t look good, and having her side exposed was a bit cold.
To prevent anyone from challenging her again in the afternoon, Lita specifically changed into a set of leather armor.
It didn’t matter whether it could actually block a blade or not. What mattered was that this leather armor looked good and showed off her figure.
Her sword still had to be carried.
Momoka’s lance could stay in the corner of the room for now.
Come to think of it, during the entire morning’s examinations, Lita hadn’t noticed anyone suspicious.
After all, they couldn’t exactly write “suspicious” on their faces!
After tidying up, Lita returned to the dining room and picked up Cecilia.
After a little cuddle with Cecilia at noon, they set off again for the examination grounds.
Actually, Lita didn’t really want to have lunch so early, but Cecilia insisted she replenish her strength, then climbed onto Lita’s lap. Lita couldn’t refuse her request.
Luckily, it was just kissing.
But that’s only because there wasn’t time for anything else!
The afternoon exams were similar to the morning.
Lita spotted a few familiar faces from Solus City.
But there were also some others who caught Lita’s attention.
A small figure walked into the arena and slowly pulled back her hood, revealing a head of silver-white short hair.
What drew more attention than her hair color, however, were her pointed ears and her skin, which was the color of milk chocolate.
“Isn’t… isn’t that a Dark Elf? How does it have the right to be here?”
“Dark Elves are of the Demon race, aren’t they?”
“I don’t know… hard to say… But these underground world creatures are all considered Demon race, right? They shouldn’t even be in the Royal Capital!”
The Dark Elves of the Eternal City.
Waerfeisi had mentioned them to Lita.
Unlike the stereotypical forest-dwelling Elves who worshipped nature, Dark Elves lived in the underground world and worshipped darkness or something like that.
Whether their skin color came from that was unknown.
But Lita had no objection to dark-skinned little girls being hot.
That element needed to exist.
But seeing one in the Royal Capital was truly surprising.
While everyone hesitated, the King coughed loudly twice.
“My daughters, what is the meaning of this?”
“Father! Father! She’s really strong! I remember her! She brought the examination certificate to participate. I thought since she had the certificate, I’d let her join! So she advanced!”
Ellya waved her little hands and answered loudly.
All the princesses had become examiners for the Holy Knight Examination.
From Ellya’s words, it seemed she was the one who let the Dark Elf pass.
“Outsiders are not of our kind, their hearts are different. Having a non-human become a Holy Knight, I think it’s inappropriate.”
Amelia rarely spoke.
“But she’s really strong!” Ellya retorted.
“But a non-human is a non-human. We can’t guarantee her loyalty to the royal family.”
“She came to participate in the examination! She must want to become a Holy Knight!”
“I cannot agree with this. For the stability of the royal family’s rule, I cannot consent.”
They argued back and forth, neither backing down.
Just then, Rosalia slowly spoke up.
“So what do we do now? Kick her off the field in front of everyone?”
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