The first step to reach knighthood started here, today.
Emery arrived at the courtyard of the Lionarch Castle and what greeted him was the sight of hundreds of people with different characteristics gathered together.
The castle yard, which was normally empty on a normal day, at the moment was filled with dozens of tents to its four corners. Each tent came with a different color and flag. Emery could see a myriad kinds of images embroidered on them. They were the emblems of each noble family in the Lioness Kingdom.
Walking past several tents near the entrance, Emery could see most of them were crowded with several people who were tending one person: the noble's squire. From stewards, guards, even coaches; anything was provided to those squires from the noble families to make sure they would succeed today's assessments.
Emery and the others who didn't come with their own tent and entourage would gather at the big-sized tents provided by the royal family. It was just a simple, unassuming, white-colored tent with no symbol nor banner on it.
When he walked past the thin layer of fabric that covered its entrance, Emery saw nearly one hundred squires in it. Most of them were preparing themselves, while others were just checking their equipment or talking to their acquaintances.
Even though the age limitation was 16 to 21 years, it seemed not many people here were the same age as Emery. Well, it was to be expected though. After all, most people didn't really join the competition early in age, due to lack of courage, preparation or ability. Hence, most of the squires here were older than 18, which meant Emery could as well be the youngest.
While Emery was looking around, observing every squire he could lay his eyes on, he was suddenly interrupted by a voice coming from beside him.
"First time?" said a young man who approached him.
Secretly scrutinizing this unknown young man, Emery replied the question with a smile, "Yes, it is."
The young man introduced himself as Lucas, from the Buxton Family.
After a few moments, Emery realized the man didn't have any intention towards him and genuinely wanted to befriend him.
The young man was friendly enough to introduce Emery to several other acquaintances he knew. Apparently, most of them were joining the competition for the second time. Some even the third time.
At the moment, all the squires that gathered around Emery and Lucas were those of lower rank nobles. There were a few that came from rank 3 nobles, but most were from rank 4 or rank 5, just like Emery.
When the others were talking about their failures in the competition, Lucas suddenly patted Emery's shoulder and said, "Don't you worry, Lanzo. If you don't succeed this year, seeing how young you are, I believe you still have three to four chances to try again. So just do your best later and don't leave any regrets!"
Sound of tongue clicking was heard and caused Emery to look over. Mark, one of the squires Lucas introduced to, seeme unhappy with the remark.
"There's no point as long as they do what they always do."
Emery was curious about what the man meant. So, he asked about it and found out that apparently it was common knowledge for these veterans that this first assessment was rigged from the start. There was an obvious unfair treatment towards the nobles' squires, particularly those who came from lower rank families, throughout the years.
Upon hearing this, Emery could only shake his head and say nothing. He found this matter to be so predictable, especially with that bastard Fantumar being the one in charge of the event.
"Guys… I heard this time it's the princess who manage the event. I even heard that she insisted on that."
Everyone's faces changed when they heard that, as if it was something unbelievable.
"Really?!" Many eagerly asked simultaneously. Emery could see the long-time veterans were the most passionate.
Seeing and hearing about what they said about the princess, it appeared she really was everyone's favorite. Not only because she was beautiful, but also because she didn't differentiate class and social status in her interactions as she was friendly to everyone.
There was also the fact she was the sole heir of the kingdom, which automatically made whoever married her the future king of the Lioness Kingdom.
These facts were nothing new for Emery, he knew all of this to be true. There was just one fact that these people said wrong, or rather, didn't know. The fact that the princess did discriminate against one race, the Crutins. She didn't like the Crutins.
But at the moment, Emery had no capacity to worry about her, as he had to place his focus on the assessment.
Tuuuuttuuuuuuuttt! A rambunctious sound of trumpets resounded through the air and all the squires quickly went out of the tents, as the event was about to start.
"All hail his Royal Majesty, The First of His Name, The Fearsome Hunter, His Eminence, Richarch the Lioness and his daughter, The First of Her Name, Princess Gwenneth!"
The king's aide was loudly announcing the arrival of the royalties, as the related people were making their way to the wide wooden stage on one side of the courtyard.
The king and the princess quickly took the two main seats that were situated in the center. Afterwards, some of the highest rank nobles like Fantumar and also the two guardians took their seats on the stage.
The next thing that happened was a kind of ceremony that needed to be followed by all the squires, as a way to symbolize their pledge of loyalty to the kingdom.
When it was all done, the king's aide proceeded to announce the number of squires that participated in this year's competition. The total number of squires was 123, which was considered quite a lot compared to the previous year.
Unfortunately, the Lioness Kingdom could only send 25 people to the Tournament this year. This quota was lower than the previous year. The king's aide didn't specify the reason for the quota reduction, as he immediately jumped over the next matter.
This quickly made the squires next to Emery become dispirited. Mark once again became the one who made negative remarks about it.
"Hear me out, Lanzo. You will later see that most of those quotas would be taken by those high rank nobles. Heh, those bastards."
Emery only kept silent when he heard that.
Next, the king's aide explained the rules. All the participants would fight 4 times each, all four with the kingdom's knights. Then, the participants with the most wins would be selected to be sent to Camelot City to represent Lioness Kingdom in the Tournament.
The trumpets once again blared their horns and the first batch of names were called.
"You will see Lanzo. That noble, yeah, the fat one! I'm sure that knight will let him win later. Just see..." Mark said in a derisive tone.
But contrary to his words, the fat squire was sent to the ground with just two moves by the said knight.
Emery turned his head to the side and saw excitement in Mark's eyes.