Warhammer Divine Throne

Chapter 504: Chapter 216, Kulona’s Holiday (Second Update!)

The Holy Grail Cathedral in early April is full of vitality.

Laine, after a period of recuperation, can finally walk on the ground, although still a bit weak, he appears completely normal.

”Really? Surya won the knight tournament? That’s truly something to congratulate her for.” Today, Duke of Winford, Francois, came to visit Laine. The duke himself was quite proud, as he stroked his little moustache and brought this good news to Laine who was resting.

With both son and daughter becoming winners of the knight tournament, Francois had no reason to be anything but proud. Holy Grail Knights are human after all.

”That’s indeed congratulations, unfortunate though, I couldn’t watch it on site.” Laine said regretfully. The female knight hadn’t visited him for a while, and he could understand because Surya surely participated in the knight tournament.

”Ha ha ha, it’s alright, Laine, your recovery is more important,” Francois laughed heartily. The duke himself noticed Mogiana who sat beside him and remained silent. With a respectful tone, he said, ”Many thanks to Her Highness Mogiana for presenting the award to Surya. It’s an honor for Surya.”

”It’s my duty.” Mogiana’s face didn’t look good, and the Lake God Witch replied indifferently.

Francois sensed that Mogiana seemed in a bad mood. The duke’s heart was unsettled because just two days ago, when the Lake God Witch was awarding his daughter and crowning her, she seemed in a bad mood too, just going through the motions and offering routine encouragements.

The Lake God Witch’s character and temper have always been profound and unpredictable. Francois thought his daughter shouldn’t have offended Her Highness Mogiana, right? So the duke switched the topic: ”Speaking of which, Laine, today is still the Holy Grail Day, in Kulona’s streets many activities are happening, if you’re okay, how about calling on Lorne and hanging out together?”

Holy Grail Day is Brittania’s official holiday, commemorating the meeting between King Arthur, the Founding Knight King, and the Lake Fairy at the Fairy Lake in Kakasong. Arthur drank the Holy Grail Water in the Lake Fairy’s blessing and became the first Holy Grail Knight.

This marks the great beginning of Brittania’s history, after Arthur passed away due to illness, his rightful heir Lewis designated the two days Arthur prayed at Fairy Lake and the Lake Fairy’s arrival the next day as legal holidays in memory of his father’s great enterprise.

A word without intention, before succeeding as Knight King, the second Knight King Lewis was widely doubted because he hadn’t been recognized by the Lake Fairy to become a Holy Grail Knight. He chose to give up the position of Knight King, rode away on horseback, wielding a Longsword, and left the capital alone to strive for the Lake Fairy’s approval.

Thus came the Mission Knight, or Expedition Knight.

Years later, progressing to Holy Sanctuary Tier, the ragged Lewis returned to the capital, his eyes red, exuding sacred aura, the banner with a golden Holy Grail painting. His identity was unquestioned, and he smoothly became Knight King, sitting on the throne for over two hundred years before passing away.

Listening to Francois’ invitation, Laine felt quite tempted. He had been in the Holy Grail Cathedral for over ten days and was indeed bored. If it weren’t for Amelia keeping him company with conversation during the day and Mogiana discussing kingdom matters with him at night, he would feel rusty.

”My Highness...” Laine just spoke when Mogiana replied coldly, ”If you want to go, then go, no need to ask me.”

”Um...what I mean is with His Grace the Duke here, safety should be no issue, but I definitely need to ask your opinion.” Laine still maintained politeness, seeking Mogiana’s opinion.

”Go ahead, today is Lady’s festival, don’t rush back.” Mogiana stared at Laine, said something with a strange tone that both Laine and Francois heard, then the Lake God Witch turned and headed towards the inner chamber, evidently having other matters to attend to.

Laine, as if pardoned, finally came out of the Holy Grail Cathedral together with Francois.

Holy Grail Day, colorful lights adorned, on Kulona’s bustling streets, plentiful nobles and citizens are strolling and playing, shops on both sides filled with various wines, streets extremely lively, even peasants can pause their work, enjoying the rare holiday with the nobles.

On this day, Master Knights would kindly let peasants indulge, opening their cellars, taking out inferior, about-to-expire, or already souring wines for peasants to drink heartily, in hope Lady notices their generous virtues.

Observing Laine’s state, Francois found he was standing steadily and felt assured, spoke to Laine, ”Achieving this is already sufficient, even against Great Nurgle Demon, I wouldn’t surely win, yet you accomplished it.”

”If not for the siege by Holy Grail Knights and assistance from Boris Prince-Elector, it would have been very difficult for me to defeat the Great Demon of Nurgle.” Laine recalled the brutal battle, sighed, ”Even so, I’ve paid a painful price, looking back now, it was a narrow line between life and death.”

”The Great Chaos Demon is so powerful, it was already weakened by attacks from Holy Grail Knights and His Highness Elector of White Wolf, and Magic Wind was weak, limiting its powers, but it still single-handedly suppressed our group of Legendary Tier Holy Grail Knights. Now it seems I have a long way to go.” Laine continued, but didn’t intend to discuss this topic with the duke, immediately added, ”By the way, how did Surya win at the knight tournament, could you tell me?”

”Surya? Her opponent in the finals was Mathew Bade from Connet, a peculiar young man, but extraordinarily strong.” Francois nodded, continued to recount the knight tournament, ”The first two rounds ended in Surya’s defeat. Mathew Bade’s Cavalry Lance was extremely precise and quick; each time he managed to attack before Surya.”

After saying this, Francois somewhat proudly said, ”But in the third round, Surya successfully dodged Mathew Bade’s cavalry lance. She used the Three-Stage Thrust taught by Julius to successfully knock off Mathew Bade’s floral emblem, securing an unexpected victory.”

Laine nodded, recalling the rules of the knightly tournament.

The knightly tournament involved mounted lance duels, where two knights, fully armored, would ride towards each other along a designated path, using wooden long spears to attack each other. Hitting the opponent’s body was considered a victory, while hitting the opponent’s head was considered a foul and defeat.

The competition was a best-of-three format, with the highest scorer emerging as the champion of the knightly tournament.

However, even if the same knight won the first two rounds, the third round would still proceed as usual because of a special rule in mounted lance duels: the floral emblem knock-off.

The floral emblem, a feather pinned to a knight’s heraldic helmet, stipulated in mounted lance duels that if a knight could hit the floral emblem on an opponent’s helmet with their cavalry lance without touching the opponent’s head, that duel would immediately result in victory due to the emblem being knocked off.

According to the Duke himself, Surya’s sudden use of this move at the end caught Mathew Bade by surprise. He hadn’t fathomed that this young female knight, barely in her twenties, would possess such advanced knightly combat skills. The floral emblem was knocked off, and Surya accomplished the unexpected reversal.

The triumphant female knight was eager to bring the trophy to visit Laine, but was promptly refused by Mogiana on the spot, as the Lake God Witch stated that Laine needed to recuperate quietly.

”I rather wish more people would come to see me, otherwise I always feel abandoned by the world,” Laine remarked helplessly.

The Duke himself and Laine walked together down a street, and the appearance of a Holy Grail Knight set off a street-wide celebration. The citizens loudly praised the glory and prestige of the Holy Grail Knight, offering sweet wine to their beloved knights. Children gathered around Francois and Laine, singing songs, while citizens clapped and cheered along. Minstrels composed moving songs on the spot, and in this moment, humanity’s hopes and blessings were manifest before everyone.

The most celebrated was Laine, who had been in the limelight. Many unmarried young women approached him, offering their jewelry, handicrafts, and flowers. The unmarried Holy Grail Knight was the Kingdom’s most sought-after rising star, with his every move eliciting screams and cheers, almost like a deity descending to the mortal realm.

It took considerable effort for Francois and Laine to extricate themselves from the crowd. Seeing Laine’s slightly disheveled appearance, Francois gave a sarcastic smile and said, ”My Baron, you truly are popular with the young ladies!”

”I can only thank the Lady’s favor,” Laine playfully replied. ”Weren’t you the same when you were young, my Duke?”

”Hahaha~” Francois burst into hearty laughter, giving Laine’s arm a seemingly large but gentle slap. ”To get you out, I, as a father, had to personally step in. Laine, you truly hold great sway!”

”???” Laine’s head was filled with question marks; he hadn’t yet comprehended.

”Go on, it’s right ahead.” Francois patted Laine’s shoulder, pointed to a small road in the city, and then disappeared without looking back.

Laine vaguely understood something. He lifted his head, heading towards the small road, walking up the slope.

Spring had truly arrived. On the hillside, a sea of flowers bloomed luxuriantly, thanks to the gardeners’ diligent efforts. The bright sunshine bathed the earth, and the fresh air caressed Laine’s face with the gentle breeze.

The iris is Brittania’s national flower. Beyond that, many other flowers, like lilies, bloomed on the hillside. Laine felt detached from the world’s chaos. The battles with Chaos, Beastmen, and Green Skins seemed like fleeting clouds in the past. The Divine Chosen Champion strolled through the sea of flowers, relishing his moment of leisure during the holiday.

Beyond the luxuriant sea of flowers, under a tall windmill, stood a beautiful noble lady in the floral expanse. In that instant, it seemed to Laine that the entire mountain’s flowers paled in comparison. His eyes held only her, seeing nothing else.

She also noticed Laine’s arrival. She initially opened her mouth in disbelief and shouted, ”Laine? You... you can move?”

”I regret not witnessing...” Laine began to say, only to feel himself embraced.

Hesitating merely a moment, Laine embraced the sweet and soft presence, feeling her warmth and softness. ”It’s okay now.”

Under the azure sky, in front of the enormous windmill, amidst the lush sea of flowers, the two held each other tightly.

Everything else in the world seemed nonexistent; the only remaining sensations were the delightful spring breeze rustling across the land and the fragrance of flowers.