I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 310: All Return (Castle Bonus - )

Irene had gotten used to the sound of hoofbeats as they rode across the wide open plains of Chemois between patches of forest and to each village and township they could possibly reach on their trek east.

For once, she was happy to wear a helmet because she knew that the braid that tied her hair up had come undone as the occasional spring breeze rushed through, reminding her that it was still quite early in the season.

Not only were they going as far as they could before Felix summoned them back, and they could finally officially meet the man who would preside over them, but they also seemed to be chasing the spring rain storms. Since it had thawed, frozen, and then thawed again, the woman hoped that the knights and the Duke weren’t having trouble in the floodplains on the way up. Such sudden thawing and freezing would undoubtedly fill the plains even more than expected.

For Felix and the Duke’s trip north to be riddled with bad luck would give a foreboding feeling for Irene. All she could do was hope for the best because it felt as if the trip was connected to their successes in the north. She preferred not to be superstitious, but it was all she had at that moment before the Duke was in front of her face and proving himself to the duchy.

She grappled with whether they were to test the man or if that would be cruel, considering he had apparently been tested by the King enough to be sent here. There was no doubt others would be doing the same, feeling him out as he felt them out. Would he feel defeated in a situation like that?

Even when these thoughts took over her head during the internal quietness of sitting on a horse for hours, Irene pressed on. More than anything else, she wanted to present the Duke a version of themselves that was unified. Not to alienate him, but to show him that the knights he was going to lead were worth something. There were few knights compared to the Knights of Hydrogia, but they persevered through many things so far.

These thoughts persisted, but she still made sure to completely conceal her doubts in front of the people they visited. Best to instill hope rather than doubt, she decided.

They had been traveling for a solid two weeks, which meant that they had spread the news through about half of the duchy that they finally received a Duke, and he would introduce himself whenever he possibly could.

As expected, the most prevalent reaction was shock. After all, the sentiment that they had been forgotten by the King was widespread throughout Chemois. Many made the knights repeat themselves. Other village leaders or town reeves wanted to see the announcement for themselves, which was the reason Irene brought it in the first place.

"Spread the news far and wide," Irene would tell the people. "Welcome the new Duke with respect."

The trip so far brought them southeast, east, and northeast. Within those directions, they would go north and south to cover as many villages or townships as they could along the way.

Just before they could get to the township—which was the last place Irene saw Rosalind—they were forced to halt as a messenger hawk flew over the knights from the heavens. It undoubtedly had a letter in the pouch at its ankle.

Even though it wasn’t the Duke’s official messenger hawk, Blade, since he wouldn’t come out for anyone except Duke Arlin so far, Irene still removed her helmet and reached out with one of her hands clad in grieves and gloves. freewebnσvel.cøm

Her other hand covered her eyes from the sun blaring down on her that day, and she was able to see the bird dive downward. She braced for impact by flexing her arm and only took her other hand off her eyes when she felt the weight of the bird on her wrist.

"Thank you," she told the hawk before removing the letter and tossing her arm upward, forcing the bird to let go of her.

No surprise to her, it took to the sky and dove into a nearby forest. There was undoubtedly something tasty for such a creature to eat. They were trained not to eat the entire time they were en route to whoever their messages were for.

The woman unfolded the letter and slowly read the words that were penned by Sir Felix himself. Her arms rested on the helmet that sat on her saddle between her legs.

She was relieved to see that he had gone to Hydrogia and came back seemingly without issue for him to be able to write to them.

When she got to the bottom of the page, she finally lifted her green eyes to see many knights around her with their helmets also removed as they looked upon their temporary leader expectantly.

"Felix has returned with the Duke," she explained. "We have done all we can to spread the word of his appointment far and wide, but it’s time for us to return to the Duke’s Tower and greet our new Commander. Since it’s already late, we will backtrack to the last village we passed through before returning west and then north."

There were responses of agreement and clanking as everyone put back on their helmets and readied their horses to take off once more.

Once back in formation, it was going to take nearly a week for them to ride all the way across since they were still going to have to set up and take down camp for a large number of knights and apprentices. With a group of this size, things always took a bit longer, even if they were quick and camped minimally.

As they went over the last hill that would dip into a lower point of the valley that contained the ancient wall segment and the plains where they fought the most grueling battles, they could also finally set their eyes upon the tower that represented their stronghold.

There were no visual differences from the last time they saw the tower, but they knew that it had changed and things would be different from now on.

Before they could fully settle in, a practice was announced by Sir Felix. They were all going to show their level of skill to their new Commander and a few of the Knights of Hydrogia he had brought with him.

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