Section 56: Urgent letter

In the center of the field, a long fence divides the entire runway into left and right sides.

At this moment, two knights, each fully armed, rushed face to face along the side of the fence. The moment their two horses met, both wooden spears struck their shields so hard that their heads shattered into wood dust.

The crowd around was shouting and cheering. Unfortunately, this time the two knights did nothing, and the two sides took the spare spears from the side of the servants on the side of the runway, and prepared to start the next round of confrontation.

It's the third day of the Brassian City Jockey Club. As we all know, although this is ostensibly a horse race, it is actually a festival that includes a wide variety of content. Everyone knows that the horse race on the second day is the main course, but on the third day, the horse spear competition and hunting are also loved by many people. Especially hunting. Not everyone is willing to risk injury to themselves and their horses in cross-country racing, but it is a common choice to spend a few small bucks and hire a group of people to help them hunt.

The current horse spear jousting contest is a kind of athletic contest, and the two sides of the contest are wearing specially reinforced metal armor and holding wooden spears, which makes the sports and performance components of this kind of martial arts much higher than the actual combat components.

The two knights have been through a full five rounds. It can be seen that the strength of the two sides is equal and they are on an equal footing. They had a total of seven rounds of jousting. If there is no very clear evidence of victory or defeat - such as hitting the breastplate, hitting the head, shooting down the warhorse, etc., then the final result will be the embodiment of love and beauty goddess, the queen of this festival to decide the winner.

The knights who participated in the tournament also had corresponding honors and bonuses, so the queen of love and beauty became an important figure today, and all the knights would pay tribute to her when they entered.

But this time, the results came out in the sixth round. A knight's helmet that was accidentally stabbed by an opponent. The impact was so strong that he fell off his horse and couldn't get up for half a day.

In the audience, cheers and boos rang out at the same time.

But nowadays, it's mainly civilians or women who watch the competition. The local squires and aristocrats had already begun to ponder the hunting rituals that would take place in the afternoon. In fact, this hunt is simple and simple - it is to put a few wild deer and wild sheep in red and put them in the mountains, and people will ride horses, and chase them around with dogs, falcons and servants. Unlike autumn hunting, this is entirely entertainment, a kind of ritual (rather than hunting dangerous prey), so most people have a variety of weapons. Many hunters even carried lassoes. Because if he can catch his prey alive, then the lucky man can boast of his high hunting skills, and use it as capital for future gatherings or gossip and bragging.

So, at this time, although the audience was watching the horse marksmanship competition, a large part of them had already changed their costumes. Others gathered somewhere to discuss preparations and strategies for the afternoon hunt.

Ashrufat was now able to enjoy the horse marksmanship show in a relaxed mood. However, in his opinion, this kind of performative competition is a bit boring. There are a lot of tricks involved, but in the end it's all about sports and performance.

"Hey, young man. Ashrufat turned his head and saw Baron Raoult. The old man was dressed in a hunting suit - a leather coat and trousers, a short sword at his waist, and several servants carried crossbows, muskets and arrows, in addition to several spears. In fact, it is reasonable to prohibit ordinary people from possessing such things as muskets and crossbows, but as the saying goes, the law does not blame the public, and the city of Brasian is rich in hunting traditions, in such a place, which squire and nobleman did not hide a few of these weapons suitable for hunting at home?

"Lord Baron. Ashrufat greeted the other party.

"You did a great job yesterday. The baron smiled congratulatorily. "The horse is good, and the riding is good. You know, the champions of our Spring Racing Club have been monopolized by outsiders for many years. ”

Ashrufat could only politely express his gratitude.

"Would you like to come with me in the afternoon?" the baron involunted. "Let's go hunting?" he said with a smile. "In fact, in this hunt, the factor of luck is far greater than skill. But with a lucky person like you, maybe an old man like me can come out on top. ”

Ashrufat already knew the specifics of the hunt. In fact, this hunt is similar to a "treasure hunt". A limited number of beasts were to be chased by hundreds or thousands of men, and nine out of ten people had no chance to use their hunting weapons at all.

However, since the local celebrity, the Baron Raoult, took the initiative to overture him, Ashrufat also felt that there was no need to refuse.

"Well, then, I'll be waiting for you here after lunch......" said the baron enthusiastically. "Wait, why don't we have lunch together, and your fiancée with us. Speaking of which, this is a good opportunity for me, the Queen of Love and Beauty is going to have lunch with me today. ”

During the three days of the race, most of the people did not have time to go home for dinner, and it was usually the servants who brought the meals, or simply brought their own dry rations.

Ashrufat did not refuse this warm invitation.

The marksmanship competition is almost over. After a brief award of medals to the participating knights, a ceremonial officer came to the top and announced the end of the marksmanship competition. In the afternoon, the last activity of the spring festival will take place, which is hunting. In previous years, it was hunting on horseback, but this year it was changed to hunting on foot in the mountains and forests.

Thus, at noon, Ashrufat and the two sisters had lunch with the family of Baron Raoult.

As mentioned earlier, Baron Raoult is a famous local family, and he is of the first class in terms of status and property. And, according to a deep-seated prejudice, Baron Raoult was a "true nobleman", with his own fiefdom (although the squires considered themselves nobles, they still had great respect for these real nobles). So it was a bit flattering to be invited by him.

In addition, his lunch is also very rich. Baron Raoult's son and daughter-in-law were absent, only his grandson, who had just reached adulthood. But the young man was too young, and his mind was drawn to the coming hunt (no doubt it was his first time), and he spent most of his time fiddling with the hunting weapons.

So during the whole meal, the baron was alone and chatting with the Ashorufat family. Their conversation went from yesterday's horse racing performance to their blessings after this year's festival. In addition, they recounted anecdotes about the ancient tradition, including the story of a man who made a fortune within a year of "winning" a spring hunt. Of course, during the feast, Baron Raoul praised Ashrufaert in a good way, but he did not mention Dix very cleverly.

“...... By the way, Your Excellency," Ashrufaat finally found an opportunity after a long day of idle talking. "In this area, I mean the area around the city of Bracian, are there any legends of ancient treasures?"

"Ancient treasures?" the baron thought for a long time, then suddenly laughed. "Young man, you don't want to go treasure hunting, do you?"

"If the afternoon hunt is anything to gain, I'm really going to try my luck. Ashrufat replied. "With such good luck, it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. ”

"Ha Luha, that's a great point. Baron Ha Lu Ha Da Da laughed. "It's a pity that we're really a small place here, and there is no such legend at all. There is not even a legend that is even a little closer. There is nothing to be found in the mountains and forests here except wild beasts. If you're really going to test your luck this way, I'd suggest you try it at the Northwest Frontier. ”

"Sure enough...... It's not that simple......" Ashruphat muttered to himself in a voice that he could only hear.

As he spoke, a loud trumpet sounded in the distance.

"Oh, the hunt has begun. The baron said. "Let's go. As for your fiancées, let them wait here for good news. It's a man's sport. ”

Only then did Ashrufat realize that during the meal just now, the two sisters behaved very well-behaved, and Hoshimi was still very affectionate to him, even Xingqi was not as cold as before.

After a short while, Ashruphat carried his spear and entered the hunting ground where he had been chosen.

This hunting ground is actually an entire mountain forest nearby. The place is so large that even an army of 100,000 people may not be able to inspect this place, and there is not even a sound from such a thousand hunters. From this point of view, it takes more than a little luck to be able to find prey in this mountain forest in half a day. Although it is said that the prey is covered with red colors to make it easier for hunters to find, it is normal to say that it is really impossible to find it. At least it's been half a day since they've been in, and they haven't even touched a single animal hair.

From time to time, the sound of muskets can be heard, reminding the participants of the progress of the competition. However, these gunshots are mainly to frighten the prey and make it easier to find, but not really targeted. As mentioned earlier, hunters' first option is to capture the prey alive, and they will only choose to kill the prey if they cannot be caught alive.

Baron Raoul is clearly a veteran. He calmly led the team forward, and separated the team a certain distance to expand the reconnaissance range. But his grandson, the young man, was a little out of his breath. From time to time he held his musket and charged at the head of the line.

The mountain forest is actually quite complicated, and they soon enter the denser woods. These trees are evergreen, so it doesn't take long for the rest of the hunters to be out of sight. But it's nothing, because everyone knows that there are no dangerous animals in this mountain forest, not even large animals, so some prey needs to be released for hunters to hunt. It's easier to hunt with multiple people in a team, but it's okay to actually go it alone.

Suddenly, Ashruphat heard footsteps in the direction behind him. He then saw a stranger dressed as a civilian appear from behind.

"Mr. Ashrufat?" cried out from afar.

"I'm here. Ashruphat looked at the stranger and replied.

"Mr. Ashrufat," the stranger came to him, "Mr. Io and Katyua have an urgent matter for you. ”

"Oh, what's the hurry?

"It's said to be a matter from the sheriff's side, and it seems to be some kind of inheritance or something. Anyway, Miss Katyua said that this matter is urgent, and let you go at once. ”

"You go over. Baron Raoul was on the side, hearing the strange messenger clearly. "After all, it's just entertainment, or it's more important to get down to business. ”

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency. Ashrufat said. He handed the spear in his hand to one of the servants on his side, and followed the messenger away.