Chapter 80 I Feel Like a Knight

The cable bridge began to shake, and groups of villagers held on to the carts, not daring to look at the rushing river under the bridge, and walked towards the other side.

"Is it still in time?" Jeanne held Horn's arm stubbornly. "At most, they will have to wait for three more hourglasses and then they can cross the bridge."

"It's too late." Looking at the villagers who were dreaming of heaven, Xixi reminded them, "We must cut the rope bridge in advance, otherwise no one will survive even if they pass by."

"Well, then we can only give up..." After half a minute of silence, Horn responded in a low voice.

Perhaps, he should have listened to Sissi. He insisted on taking everyone with him to escape, but in the end he had to abandon more than 300 elderly, weak, women and children.

Maybe it's a good thing?

Without these three hundred men, his transfer route might be smoother and he could reach Chateau Jeanne d'Arc earlier.

There, with his insight, ability and knowledge, he will definitely become one of the biggest figures.

Why should he be sad?

Horn clenched the sword in his hand and said, "Let's go, let's go inform the cable bridge and get ready, okay..."

"Wait." Holding the sword, Danji supported himself on the grass and stood up. "Maybe I can let them wait for a few minutes. Maybe the refugees can get through."

"If you still want to say something, forget it." Jeanna's face darkened. "Now is not the time to joke."

"No, that's not what I meant."

Danji turned around and opened the cloth bag on the horse's back, where five lances were placed.

Leading Black William to the edge of the hillside, Danji stroked its head as if he was stroking the arm of a lover.

Danji straightened his chest, and the golden light of the setting sun fell on his rough reins.

He looked at the winding river valley not far away, and there were refugees wandering around, their rough and yellow skin exposed between the seams of their clothes.

He could hear the cheerful singing of the villagers, so moving and sweet, only mixed with the heartbreaking sound of hoofbeats coming from afar.

The Waterwheel Knight's thick fingers traced the black horse's mane. "In fact, someone asked me a question before. He asked, you don't have a manor, a horse, or a glorious honor. What kind of knight are you?"

"I said, I think I am."

The waterwheel rider puffed out his chest and his mouth was smiling, but it was uglier than crying.

"Knight, a knight shouldn't become a knight for some messy position or manor, or for money or ladies!
They should hold their heads high and be confident, you know? They should stand in front of the weak with pride and say, I will protect you.

Not for money, not for land, but for truth and justice!"

The Waterwheel Knight smiled as if he was there, standing in front of those injustices.

He smiled longingly, his eyes sparkling, and he was happier than when he returned victorious from the Knights' Tournament.

Sniffing, Danji didn't let the tears fall.

He turned his head and looked at Horn and Jeanne. Horn couldn't tell what kind of smile it was.

"I can even imagine the day when I fall into a puddle on the side of the road because of my foolish persistence.

No one gathered around my bed to cry, no one laid flowers on me, but I could say to myself, look, the chivalrous knight is here. "

The Waterwheel Knight laughed so loudly that it seemed as if he were crying.

"A knight, a knight, is not the guardian of the kingdom and the church, but should be the guardian of truth and justice!
How could they kneel before the strong and slaughter the weak, plunder for money, and kill for fun...

We are knights, we are knights, we are not robbers!"

Horn had never seen such an expression on Dange's face.

This knight, who always tried his best to maintain his demeanor, was now crying in a slovenly manner.

Like a child who has been wronged.

Tears slid down the grooves of his cheeks, and the waterwheel rider tried to wipe them with his dusty hands, but the more he wiped, the more mud and dust appeared on his face.

Horn didn't know what to say, he vaguely knew that he should ask Danji to say goodbye.

But the words lingered between my lips.

He couldn't say it.

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you." Grabbing Black William's mane to wipe his snot and tears, Danji smiled brightly.

He pulled the scabbard of the knight's sword from his waist and threw it at Horn.

The scabbard drew a precise arc in the air and landed in Horn's palm.

It was a plain scabbard, wrapped in leather, wood, and iron, clean and old.

"This scabbard is for you. I see you still keep the unsheathed half-hand sword hanging on your waist."

"Then where should you put your sword?" "No need." Danji jumped on the horse, turned his head, and the wind in the valley blew up his sleeves, "Your Majesty, you can definitely build a country without knights.

Our Papal States, our country, no longer needs knights to protect the weak, to uphold fairness, to uphold pedantic justice. "

Horn opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.

"What are you talking about?" Jeanne took two steps forward at a loss.

After taking a deep look at Jeanne, Danji laughed and said, "You must read the book "Knight Cefar" that I gave you carefully. It is the work of my adoptive father. He is a true chivalrous knight."

Looking past Jeanne, Danji looked towards the looming black fog on the horizon.

"The giant is coming. I will go and kill him. You don't have to wait for me. Go ahead."

Riding on the horse, Danji used the classic knight's salute and tilted his head to Horn with a smile.

At the neighing of Black William, he shook the reins and rushed out along the slope.

"Dangji, what are you doing?" Rushing to the edge of the hillside, Jeanna yelled at the waterwheel rider's back, "Are you crazy? Come back now!"

But Danji did not look back.

He crouched low, lance raised, the black mane of his black warhorse covering his eyes.

The evening breeze, carrying smoke from cooking, whistled past my ears.

Beneath the rolling hills, he saw a black line, which was a human wall composed of thousands of knights.

The war horses were neighing, the earth was shaking, and the black tide divided the sky and the earth into two, with the golden-red sky above and the brown-black earth below.

The black tide was getting closer and clearer.

Danji could clearly see the lances in their hands, the long swords at their waists, their cold expressions, and the dust raised by their horses' hooves.

The sound of horse hooves sounded like the footsteps of a giant.

In the boundless black tide, he saw the knight riding on the dragon-blood horse at a glance.

The tall knight held an extra-long iron lance upright, sitting upright on the saddle, his face hidden under the mask, and was half a body taller than the people around him.

Danji laughed out loud.

No matter how he looked at it, the wall of people looked like the wall of a mill, and the tall knight looked so much like the waterwheel he had crashed into.

Yeah, like the waterwheel he crashed into.

Danji lowered his head, and Black William snorted loudly.

He has accomplished nothing in his life.

Went to participate in the competition and suffered ten consecutive defeats in the Knight Competition.

He went to do justice, but all his clothes were stripped off and he went to ask for help naked.

He is a joke wherever he goes.

After so many years, Danji wants to retire, but before that, he can do one last thing.

The only thing that still proves he is a knight.

The only thing that still proves the existence of the knight.

Looking up, Danji's eyes were bloodshot. The inexplicable anger burned through every inch of his flesh and blood, almost cracking the corners of his eyes.

He had never been so angry when he fell into the pit of feces, when he was stripped naked, and when he was laughed at by everyone.

For the first time in his life, he was so angry that he didn't care.

When the Knights of the Imperial Order charged, he opened his mouth wide and roared like never before:
"Grand Master of the Holy Grail Knights of the Papal States, Danji Alfonso Hurd, is here!"

The knight who once charged towards the waterwheel raised his head proudly, raised his lance, and stood in front of the human wall formed by the knights.

Hidden in the billowing smoke and dust were two thousand seven hundred fully armed extraordinary knights.

The knight who once charged towards the waterwheel and his allies had only the hills on both sides.

Pointing his lance at the bandits, the Waterwheel Knight confidently, with his head held high and his chest puffed out, roared in a deafening roar:

"You damned bandits, if you want to take the lives of those poor people, then come on!"

"Come! Come and break my spine! Come and pierce my heart! Cut off my head!"

"Before that—"

"Don't even think about setting foot here!"

(End of this chapter)