Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 152 - Escape

"Lady Scarlet!" Viviane exclaimed happily, dragging Medrauta along as she approached the proud noblewoman.

Medrauta grimaced, clearly displeased with leaving all the work to Scarlet's knight, Eris. As a fellow knight herself and the Walpurgisknight's initial opponent, Medrauta felt she had a duty to finish what she started. Unfortunately, she would be nothing more than a hindrance to Eris without a weapon, and the worst part was she more than understood that fact.

"Lady Viviane. Dame Medrauta." Scarlet curtsied elegantly, her disposition nonchalant and serene as if everything was happening according to her plans. "It's a pleasure to see the two of you once again."

Medrauta simply nodded in response, remaining silent and taciturn in stark contrast to Viviane's overjoyed and energetic greeting.

Although Medrauta and Scarlet's relationship had a slightly rocky start, the two had become more familiar with one another throughout her intermittent visits to Avalyne Academy before Medrauta and Viviane departed on their mission to the former Revelo duchy. As Viviane's knight, Medrauta had no choice but to accompany her lady whenever Scarlet dropped by, forcing the two to come to some kind of an understanding. Neither Medrauta nor Scarlet saw the other as a friend, but they had enough tact to at least wear a veil of mutual respect in front of Viviane, someone that they both cared about.

"You as well, Lady Scarlet! What are you doing here? Has the civil war in your duchy concluded? Where's Dame Let—"

Medrauta cleared her throat rather noisily, interrupting Viviane's barrage of questions. She tugged on her lady's hand lightly, signaling for the noblewoman to relax for a moment. Viviane blushed as she mustered the self-control required to restrain herself, allowing Medrauta to pose a more appropriate question in lieu of Viviane's silence. "More importantly, are you sure we should be standing here and letting your knight handle everything, Lady Scarlet?"

Scarlet merely smirked, her gaze drifting away from the pair before her as she observed her knight's lightning-fast movements. Not a trace of worry dared tarnish her eyes despite the massive disparity in size and strength between Eris and the Walpurgisknight. "Of course. Eris would never lose against an opponent like that."

"Is that so...?" Medrauta murmured, her eyes settling on Eris and the Walpurgisknight as well. She didn't know whether it was intentional or not, but Scarlet's remark had managed to wound her pride, albeit only slightly. Scarlet claiming that Eris wouldn't lose to an opponent who had managed to defeat her made Medrauta keenly interested in how the battle would play out. After all, she'd never seen nor heard of Eris until now.

Sure enough, the diminutive knight was weaving through and between the Walpurgisknight's attacks with an almost contemptuous alacrity, darting in to strike with her daggers whenever there was an opening and then quickly disengaging before the black-clad knight could issue a counterattack. Even after observing the fight briefly, it was obvious that the Walpurgisknight would never be able to land an attack on Eris unless she somehow slipped up.

She's strong. Medrauta frowned. In terms of skill, she and Eris were roughly the same. As much as Medrauta hated to admit it, Eris was indeed talented, and possibly amongst one of the most skilled knights Medrauta had ever encountered, even including senior knights. However, the reason behind Eris' ability to succeed against the Walpurgisknight despite Medrauta's failure was not because of her skill, but her fighting style and choice of weapons.

Very few knights chose to wield or even bear daggers. A dagger's main advantage was its short length and its lightweight nature which allowed even the weakest person to wield one. However, such qualities brought little to no benefits for a knight. Gifted with physical abilities that far surpassed the normal person's it was much more advantageous for a knight to use a shortsword instead if they wished for a shorter weapon as weapon weight was rarely an issue for knights, explaining the widespread usage of greatswords amongst the empire.