Chapter 44: Pardon and Duel
The two knights faced off for a long moment. The one loyal to the Prince snorted in anger, spurred his horse, and galloped toward the palaces high above, clearly caught off guard by the situation.
"Master Dandelion, please get up!" the Princess Consort's knight said to the bard with a triumphant smile.
"Please tell the Princess Consort that her heart is as charming as her looks." Dandelion bowed deeply to the knight. He wanted to say more, but the officer, treating him like a plague, quickly brought over his belongings a few elaborate coats, a small bag of coins, and a lute.
"Hurry up! The Prince could send a new order at any time. Legally, if he is determined to have you killed, not even the Princess Consort can save you."
The officer's words were like a sharp crack of a whip. Dandelion's face instantly showed an expression of distress:
"Oh, my poor Cat. Who will she confide her worries to after I leave…"
Despite his words, his feet moved quickly. He came to Triss in a few steps:
"You are even more beautiful than when I last saw you, Miss Merigold. Geralt leaving you was an absolute mistake. I've been meaning to write a poem mocking him…"
Triss maintained a flawless expression, her voice sounding like it was squeezed through clenched teeth:
"If you are waiting for the Prince to send someone else to chop off your head, then continue speaking."
Dandelion immediately leaped up:
"You're right to remind me. I must leave this city quickly please tell me you came on horseback."
Triss pointed at Arthur and the others, the smile on her lips finally regaining some naturalness:
"We were just about to leave."
"That is simply wonderful!" Dandelion nimbly jumped off the platform and darted toward Arthur's group, muttering: "I was serious about writing the poem, I just need a few more rhymes…"
After exiting the gates of Maribor, Dandelion suddenly looked tense:
"Everyone, His Excellency the Prince won't accept defeat so easily. His men are probably waiting at the next intersection. You absolutely must tell me if any of you are proficient in swordsmanship."
"I can protect you," Triss said.
But Dandelion shook his head emphatically:
"That fellow will surely mock me as a coward who can only hide behind a woman. Then I would be forced to step forward and accept his challenge…"
"...And die like a stray dog on the roadside!" Triss said angrily: "If you care so much about your masculinity, why did you accept the Princess Consort's pardon in the first place?!"
Dandelion glared and argued: "The pardon was signed by the Princess Consort. It is a legal channel. What does that have to do with masculinity?"
At this point, the Dwarf who had also followed Arthur's group out of the city stuck out his neck and asked:
"Forget the useless stuff! I want to know one thing did you actually sleep with the Princess Consort?"
Dandelion's whiskers bristled with anger:
"My communication with the Princess Consort was on a soul level. It was about art and philosophy…"
The Dwarf nodded, concluding with typical Dwarven bluntness: "Oh. So you didn't sleep with her."
He then asked with an even more incredulous tone: "And she still did all this for you?"
Dandelion, exasperated by the Dwarf's stubbornness, sputtered a series of incomprehensible phrases, something about 'all men are created equal,' and 'a king's soul is no more noble than a commoner's.'
"Be careful. If you keep spouting such nonsense, you'll end up back on the block sooner or later." Triss looked left and right, gravely warning Dandelion:
"I thought that after all these years you would have learned to be a little more reserved, but you've only gotten more reckless. Nobles might tolerate you bedding their wives, but they will never tolerate such heretical talk."
Dandelion said: "The things people discussed when I was at Oxenfurt were far worse than this. But I'll be careful in the future."
Shaking his head, he sighed: "It's less than eight hundred miles from Maribor to Oxenfurt. The most advanced teleportation towers available now don't even require a transfer."
The two knights stood facing each other for a long moment. The one loyal to the Prince snorted in anger and spurred his horse toward the high palaces, clearly having been caught entirely off guard by the situation.
"Master Dandelion, please get up!" the Princess Consort's knight said to the bard with a victorious smile.
"Please tell the Princess Consort that her kindness is as charming as her looks." Dandelion bowed deeply to the knight. He wanted to say more, but the officer, treating him like a plague, quickly brought over his luggage a few elaborate coats, a small bag of coins, and a lute.
"Hurry up! The Prince could send a new order at any moment. Legally, if he is determined to have you killed, not even the Princess Consort can protect you."
The officer's words were like a sharp crack of a whip. Dandelion's face immediately contorted into a pained expression:
"Oh, my poor little Cat. To whom will she confide her worries after I leave…"
Despite his words, his steps were anything but slow. He quickly approached Triss:
"You are even more beautiful than when I last saw you, Miss Merigold. Geralt leaving you was an absolute mistake. I've been meaning to write a poem mocking him…"
Triss maintained a perfect expression, her voice sounding like it was squeezed through her teeth:
"If you are waiting for the Prince to send someone else to chop off your head, then continue speaking."
Dandelion immediately jumped up:
"You're right to remind me. I must leave this city quickly please tell me you came on horseback."
Triss pointed at Arthur and his companions, the smile on her lips finally regaining a measure of naturalness:
"We are just about to leave."
"That is simply wonderful!" Dandelion nimbly jumped off the platform and darted toward Arthur's group, muttering: "I was serious about writing the poem, I just need a few more rhymes…"
After leaving the gate of Maribor, Dandelion suddenly looked tense:
"Everyone, His Excellency the Prince will not accept defeat so easily. His men are probably waiting at the intersection ahead. You absolutely must tell me if anyone among you is proficient in swordsmanship."
"I can protect you," Triss said.
But Dandelion shook his head emphatically:
"That fellow will certainly mock me as a coward who can only hide behind a woman. Then I would be forced to step forward and accept his challenge…"
"...and die like a stray dog on the roadside!" Triss said angrily: "If you care so much about your masculinity, why did you accept the Princess Consort's pardon in the first place?!"
Dandelion glared and argued: "The pardon was signed by the Princess Consort. It is a legal channel. What does that have to do with masculinity?"
At this point, the Dwarf who had also followed Arthur's group out of the city craned his neck and asked:
"Forget the useless stuff! I just want to know one thing did you actually climb into the Princess Consort's bed?"
Dandelion's whiskers bristled with anger: "My communication with the Princess Consort was on a soul level. It was about art and philosophy…"
The Dwarf nodded, concluding with typical Dwarven frankness: "Oh, so you didn't sleep with her."
He then followed up with an even more incredulous tone: "And she still did all that for you?"
Dandelion, furious at the Dwarf's uncompromising nature, sputtered about 'all men are created equal' and that 'a king's soul is no more noble than a commoner's.'
"Be careful. If you continue spouting such nonsense, you'll end up back on the block eventually." Triss looked around, solemnly warning Dandelion:
"I thought that after all these years you would have learned to be a little more sensible, but you've only gotten more reckless. Nobles might permit you to keep company with their wives, but they will never tolerate such heretical talk."
Dandelion said: "The things we discussed when I was at Oxenfurt were far worse than this. But I will be careful in the future."
Shaking his head, he sighed: "It's less than eight hundred miles from Maribor to Oxenfurt, and the most advanced teleportation towers available now don't even require a transfer."
"But can you imagine? Within this distance of less than eight hundred miles, there are literally hundreds of large and small countries, each operating under different laws!"
At this moment, they just passed through the South Gate of Maribor. The bard straightened up on his horse, raising his arms to embrace the brilliant sunlight:
"If there were a country, with territory equivalent to Temeria, that honored only one King and adhered to only one set of laws, it would certainly be the most powerful nation in this land!"
Kolgrim chimed in: "Or the most brutal."
Seeing the conversation sliding into increasingly dangerous territory, Triss quickly interjected:
"Let the Kings worry about such things. Right now, your most urgent task is to figure out how to survive that fellow."
Dandelion's body stiffened. Following the Sorceress's pale finger, he looked ahead. A fully armored knight was standing by the roadside, glaring at them menacingly.
"You there! In the name of the Prince of Maribor, I demand a duel with you!"
Seeing the bard's face instantly turn deathly pale, Arthur asked in confusion: "A duel requires both parties to agree, right? Why don't you just refuse?"
The Dwarf gave the answer in a rough voice:
"He can certainly refuse, but then he would become the most famous coward in the entire North, thereby losing the favor of all Northern noblewomen. For our great bard, that's worse than death."
It seemed the Dwarf had hit the nail on the head. Dandelion's face was paler than it had been on the gallows, and he reluctantly urged his horse forward.
Seeing his pitiable state, the Dwarf raised the axe in his hand:
"Hey, Great Bard, for just ten gold pieces, I'll take care of this duel for you. What do you say?"
"That's possible?" Arthur asked.
"Yes, for fairness and justice, if one party in a duel is generally recognized as incapable of fighting, they can invite a friend to fulfill the duel for them. The only drawback is that if the proxy is defeated, the original party still accepts the punishment," Triss quietly explained.
Dandelion seized the Dwarf's rough hand, as if he had just received another pardon:
"Then I entrust you with it!"
He immediately regained his arrogant demeanor and said to the knight:
"I accept your duel invitation. This noble…" He suddenly realized he didn't know the Dwarf's name.
"Zoltan, Zoltan Chivay," the Dwarf helpfully supplied.
"Yes, yes! This noble Mr. Zoltan will fulfill the duel obligation on my behalf."
The knight haughtily pulled down his visor:
"How unsightly! To hire a non-human to fight a duel for you. Hey, shorty, you know that if a non-human injures a noble in a duel, they go to the gallows, right?!"
"Nonsense! Maribor doesn't have a law like that!" Dandelion retorted.
The knight smiled chillingly:
"It is indeed a blank spot in the law, so I cite the precedent from Aedirn. You can try to see which side the court supports."
Arthur watched, exasperated. Can this even be called a knight?
Dandelion directly burst into curses: "To gain an advantage, you cite the law of the Principality of Aedirn? You are unfit to be a knight of Maribor!"
(During the Endless Wars, Maribor defeated Aedirn to gain the succession to Temeria.)
"Don't worry, Great Bard. I won't be scared off by a few words," Zoltan gripped his axe until his knuckles were white, staring intently at the knight opposite: "Remember Cabra Sblatton? The guy you sent to the gallows. Even though he was dumb and lazy, and always cheated at cards, I still think that a law that sends a man to the gallows for a few harsh words is complete rubbish!"
The Dwarf's expression was so resolute that the knight subconsciously retreated half a step.
Just then, Arthur suddenly called out to him: "Wait a minute."
He drew his man-sized Temerian silver blade, looking at the knight as if he were a piece of fat meat:
"I will fulfill Dandelion's duel obligation for him."
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