Chapter 165 : Chapter 165

Chapter 165. Grouping

“If I become the lord, I can grant you a knighthood, assign you a few towns, and introduce you to Duke Theodore. You might even be able to obtain a noble title.”

Finley said this rather awkwardly.

“If I don’t become the lord, then I can only give you some of the skills I know...”

If Finley failed to become the lord, then he truly would not be able to give Fran much of anything.

At the moment, he was poor as well. He did not even have many soldiers under his command, so naturally he could not afford to offer much.

Fran frowned, tapped her fingers lightly against the wall beside her, and then continued,

“All right then, let’s do it that way. I’ll make sure you become the lord, and you can pay me afterward.”

From his words, Fran could already tell that he probably had nothing on him that she would actually want.

What was more, Fran herself did not think much of whatever a down-on-his-luck knight might possess. Just learning two spells in her daily life already cost her a great deal of money.

But her true goal was not to obtain any reward from Finley, nor did she need such things.

What she really wanted to test was how exactly the territorial token in her possession was supposed to work.

For the time being, she could not find any clue at all as to how to use that territorial token. So rather than wasting time, she might as well first help someone she knew gain Duke Theodore’s support and become the nominal lord.

She knew very well that, as she was now, she had no way to make any move whatsoever in this territory.

Duke Theodore was a powerful second-tier knight, and with the reinforcement of his territory, his strength stood at the very peak even among second-tier professionals.

As for the captain of the Blood Wolf Knights whom Fran would encounter next, he quite clearly belonged somewhere in the lower-middle ranks among second-tier professionals, and was absolutely incomparable to Duke Theodore.

So it would be better to let this knight she had met now become the nominal lord. With that relationship in place, if Fran ever had any ideas in the future, she could act through that connection.

And if Finley really did win the duel in the end, he would still need only two years to gain true recognition as the de facto lord of this territory.

Within those two years, if she became a second-tier mage, then it would not be impossible for her to set her sights on this land.

“Hm?” Finley had not expected the other party to agree so easily. He scratched his head, at a loss for words.

“If, in the future, I can look back on my days as an adventurer and remember how I once helped a knight contend for a lord’s position, wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?”

“This experience can also serve as a good story for my adventures later on.”

Fran gave herself a reason. Finley scratched his head again, then accepted it.

He had no choice but to accept, because he truly needed Fran’s help.

He had seen Fran fight just now. She had defeated Andrew with ease, and her strength would surely rank among the best of all the retainers serving under the various knights.

“Welcome aboard. May I ask your name?”

“Elan.”

---

Eric returned to his temporary camp in high spirits. Along the way, soldiers greeted him one after another, and he went straight to the small house he had temporarily requisitioned.

Inside his house, another knight clad in dark brown armor was already waiting for him. This knight was his temporary ally.

“Eric, why are you so late? What were you doing?” the man asked.

Eric replied with a smile,

“My apologies, Cliff. I ran into something interesting on the road just now. That Finley fellow seems to have decided he’s going to participate in our knightly duel.”

“Oh? He actually wants to take part? Where’s he supposed to find retainers?”

Cliff shot back at once. He also knew that Finley had practically nobody under his command. For a man like that to think of entering the knightly duel was absurd.

“That’s the interesting part. That Finley rescued some passerby off the street from me, for reasons I still don’t know, and brought him into his own team.”

“I’m guessing we’ll be seeing Finley bring that passerby to the knightly duel later.”

“That passerby does have some skill, though. He’s far stronger than the crooked melons and split dates under Finley’s command right now.”

Hearing this, Cliff gave a laugh and cast the matter from his mind, turning to another topic instead.

“How are the pieces of equipment you bought for those retainers?”

“No problem. I specifically confirmed it with that mage. Those pieces of equipment are allowed in the duel.”

What he referred to were several specially made suits of full-body armor, meant to make their retainers harder to take down.

Although retainers did play a certain role in the duel, their role was ultimately limited. It was not something that could truly decide the battle.

After all, as first-tier professionals, not to mention two retainers—even ten could be crushed casually by them.

The equipment he had purchased was merely intended to let those retainers hold up the enemy a little longer and create opportunities for knights like them to strike. That was enough.

For that purpose, he had specially bought a complete set of enchanted full plate armor, all so that those retainers could endure a few more hits from the enemy.

He had also equipped them with crossbow bolts and throwable magic items, simply to let those retainers play a greater role.

“If the two of us end up in the same group, then we eliminate the others first. Once the others are out, we cast aside the retainers and settle things with a duel between ourselves.”

Cliff repeated the goal of their alliance.

The entire knightly duel would be divided into two groups. All the knights within each group would fight in a chaotic melee, and the victor of each group would then face the victor of the other group in the final match, thus deciding who would become Whiteflower Territory’s new lord.

“I hope Finley ends up in the same group as us. That way I can teach his insolent retainer a lesson myself.”

Eric said it in a joking tone.

“So about how many knights are taking part now?” Cliff asked.

“Eight or nine, I’m not entirely sure. But they’ll still probably be split into two groups. If there are nine, then one group will have five people and the other four.”

At that moment, a soldier called out anxiously from outside the house, panting heavily.

“Lord Eric, the earl has posted the group list for the knightly duel! I copied down the exact names from the notice board!”

The two men exchanged a glance, then Eric stepped outside and took the list.

“What do you think it’ll be like?” Cliff asked.

“We can only pray heaven is on our side,” Eric replied.

Eric unfolded the slightly creased sheet of paper. After taking just one look, he said with delight,

“Heaven truly is on our side. The two of us are in the same four-man group, not the five-man one...”

Then Eric saw the final name in the grouping list and said with eager anticipation,

“Finley’s in our group too.”