Chapter 1522

The cheers of the crowd and the screams that erupted when the two young knights made contact almost shook the blue sky above the arena. Horse hooves trampled on the arena floor, wooden swords clashed and were blocked or hit their targets, and armor reflected light under the dazzling sun of the early spring morning.

These past few days had been continuous good weather, and as the temperature rose, this kind of good weather inevitably made people feel sleepy. But fortunately, the atmosphere in the arena at this moment infected almost everyone.

"Is this Xia De Hamilton?"

At the highest level of the east spectator stands of the arena, Captain Moody Luo Binsen of the Black Stone Security Company asked Yiluna. Yiluna looked at the figure wearing golden armor in the arena and nodded gently:

"Yes, it seems his sword skills are indeed quite good."

Beside Yiluna, the female sorceress with purple-painted lips smiled and said:

"Yiluna, you seem to have a very good relationship with this Mr. Hamilton?"

"Yes, with his identity, I can obtain many valuable social relationships."

Yiluna was still looking at Xia De's figure; she knew Xia De would not lose.

"But this knight's social relationships are quite complicated; his rumors with Duchess Galina are known to everyone in Tobesk."

Captain Luo Binsen wanted to remind this promising young girl in his team, but he found it difficult to speak, so he looked at his other team member.

The lady with purple-painted lips smiled and said:

"Truly young and handsome. If I were more than ten years younger, I would probably be infatuated with him too."

"You actually don't need to warn me; I know my own affairs. Rashly getting involved with ordinary people will only implicate innocent people. I will watch him from afar and bless him; I know how to keep my distance."

Yiluna held the railing, her eyes still watching Xia De. The warm wind blew the hair hanging by her ears, but it could not blow the heart of the young girl:

"By his side, it must be me."

Yiluna Beiyasi said softly in her heart, a smile appearing in her eyes as she looked at Xia De. She did not say the small, somewhat dark thoughts deep in her heart that even she herself felt; after all, in the eyes of a balanced Chosen One, only by having both good and evil thoughts can one be called a true person.

A ray of light suddenly flashed at the edge of her vision. Yiluna's eyes subconsciously tried to capture it, but that intense light source that had flashed past was no longer on the opposite spectator stand.

"Is it some lady's makeup mirror?"

She thought in her heart, and then her powerful inspiration captured the abnormality:

"Mirror..."

She continued to stare at Xia De in the arena and pondered for a moment. When Xia De parried the opponent's wooden sword on horseback and used a simple forward-thrust posture to almost poke Little Dullahan off his horse, she said to the captain beside her:

"Please contact the church in the city and confirm whether there are any illegal groups related to mirrors that have entered the Tobesk diocese recently."

On the other side, although Xia De had been letting Little Dullahan win, when there were only ten minutes left, he suddenly seemed to grasp the true meaning of sword skills. With fast, accurate, and ruthless combos, he swung the wooden sword in his hand like a long whip, continuously hitting white spots on the young opponent's armor.

When the horn sound for the end of the match spread under the blue sky, the audience didn't even need to wait for the referee to announce it to understand that "Hamilton of Rejiede" had won the second half of the semi-finals.

Neither of them was injured, so after dismounting and taking off their helmets, they politely shook hands in the center of the arena to express their respect for their opponent. The camera's magnesium flash flickered crazily, wanting to record this moment, while Mr. Little Dullahan whispered a "thank you" to Xia De.

Xia De didn't quite understand at first. As he led his horse toward the side of the arena, waiting for the final to open, he realized in hindsight that the young gentleman probably thought Xia De had deliberately let him win so that he could perform better in front of his lover, even if he lost the match, he could still show his martial prowess.

Xia De felt he might have gained another friend.

The weather was good, the sky was blue, and white clouds like ants were moving overhead. The noisy sounds around could not affect Xia De's comfort at this moment at all. While listening to the palace guards reading poems praising the last two contestants through a megaphone to the entire arena, he pondered how long this beautiful life could last.

After a not-so-long rest period, accompanied by the cheers of the audience and the explosion of fireworks, the final of the third sub-event of the 1854 Spring Round-the-City Equestrian Competition finally arrived.

Xia De and Sir Hells from Coldwater Port each led their horses and met in the center of the arena. They raised their swords, and the two swords were maintained in a crossed state in the air for three seconds, then they each mounted their horses, waiting for the horn sound for the start of the final.

Under the helmet, Xia De took a deep breath. Amidst the attention of everyone, he swung the reins and charged toward the old knight, who was probably participating in the Round-the-City Equestrian Competition for the last time due to his age.

(Little Mia is running...)

Boom!

The sound of the metal helmet being placed heavily on the table startled the cat that was watching Xia De "take off his clothes" with great interest. Xia De, who was breathing in the fresh air in the tent, had his hair stuck to his forehead by sweat, but there was a rare smile on his face:

"Why is it so hot today? How did the knights of the past era manage to walk around in armor all day in the summer?"

He complained with a smile, and his good mood infected everyone else in the tent. The maids smiled and helped him take off the armor on his body, and no one stopped them from taking the opportunity to squeeze Xia De's arm. Dorothy stood aside with her notebook:

"After all, it is already spring. Xia De, just now I thought you would let that old knight win a little."

"Why let him win? This is a knight's competition. If I still deliberately played any tricks in the final, it would be too undignified. Although Sir Hells lost, he looked very happy and even invited me to visit Coldwater Port when I have time."

Xia De said, and then felt a coolness. Turning his head, he saw Tifa holding a wet towel to wipe his forehead.

"Judging from the point ranking announced this morning, you are definitely the first place at present. In the afternoon exhibition match, the one dueling with you should be Sir Hells."

Dorothy said, and Xia De was somewhat surprised:

"Sir Hells? I thought it would be Mr. Eric Follen. Although he lost to the knight this morning, I remember the knight's performance in the first round of the archery competition was very poor."

"But Eric Follen's performance in the second round of horse racing was also not good. You probably didn't pay attention; in the field riding on Tuesday morning, he ranked 18th out of 36 people, while Sir Hells ranked third."

Dorothy shook her head:

"In short, you are now only one step away from the championship. Eat more for lunch, and then take a nap to rest. If you don't like sleeping here, go to the carriage. When you went to the competition this morning, Miss Galina's private carriage came from the manor. Although it cannot compare to a proper room, it is enough for you to rest."

"Forget about the nap. I just feel something will happen today."

Xia De shook his head and pressed his hand on his heart:

"I trust my inspiration very much. 【Faceless Man】 will definitely appear before the end of the competition this afternoon. After eating, I will go out for a walk; you stay in the tent and wait for me."

"You should also be careful when you go out. People who bet on Eric Follen in the underground casino might do some disgusting things."

Dorothy warned. Xia De nodded, and then saw Little Mia jump lightly from the cabinet beside the mirror. After using the mirror as a springboard, she darted directly onto the table beside her, and then jumped into that warm helmet, seeming to enjoy the feeling of shrinking inside it.

After lunch, Xia De left the tent alone. Because it was the last day of the competition, the market was quite lively. Xia De even saw merchants selling photos of "Hamilton of Rejiede" in profile; those photos should have been bought from reporters.

But he could not find any clues about the relic 【Faceless Man】.

When preparing to return to his tent, Xia De thought about going to talk to the Follen brothers again. Although he could not tell the brothers that he was also a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi, he intended to probe whether they also knew the news about 【Faceless Man】.

However, just as he approached Mr. Eric Follen's tent, Xia De felt something was wrong. The brothers' servants were all outside the tent. Although they seemed to be packing luggage, they were actually surrounding the tent to prevent anyone from approaching.

At the same time, after Xia De closed his eyes, he actually could not hear any heartbeat sounds in the tent through the miracle 【Heart of Stone】. It was absolutely impossible for there to be no one in the tent at this moment, otherwise such a guard would have no meaning. Therefore, this also meant that alchemical items like 【Silence Charm】 or miracles with similar functions were blocking the sounds from the tent.

"What are they talking about?"

He was quite curious about this. Although eavesdropping on others' conversations was immoral, after repenting in his heart, he still borrowed the disguise of "Red Butterfly Illusion" and walked over. The Eric Follen and Charles Follen brothers were not big figures like Great Witches, and the servants around them were just ordinary people, so there was no need to worry about being discovered.

His luck was quite good. Although the brothers blocked the sound inside the tent, they probably didn't intend to have a long conversation, so they didn't set up other anti-reconnaissance rituals.

Under the concealment of the illusion, Xia De walked directly to the west side of the tent. To prevent being detected by the extremely sensitive perception of a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi, he did not enter the tent but carefully stretched his finger toward the ventilation window of the tent. Xia De still couldn't hear the sound in this state; after all, there were no ears on his fingers, but fortunately, "She" could hear it.