The knight named Gawain took the upper hand the moment the fight started. Although his style looked a bit rough—more like a street fighter than a formally trained knight—Kay could tell from his footwork and his sword stance that the guy had incredibly solid fundamentals.
Meanwhile, Sir Tryphen was relatively mediocre. He was the classic traditional knight: his moves were sweeping and powerful, full of strength. But compared to Gawain, he lacked flexibility and versatility. From the start of the duel, his strategy was to use brute force to break through skill, aiming to overwhelm Gawain. However, Gawain used his technique to skillfully deflect Tryphen's attacks and seize opportunities to counter.
Less than three minutes into the duel, Gawain found his chance. Holding his sword single-handed, he circled it, using pure technique to flick Sir Tryphen's longsword out of his grasp.
After losing his weapon, Tryphen wasn't ready to give up and moved to grab his sword to continue the fight. But Gawain was clearly quicker. He retrieved the tossed-up sword first and immediately placed his own sword at Tryphen's throat.
"Stop the fight!" At this point, there was no need to continue the duel, and Kay immediately called a halt to the match.
Gawain heard Kay's command, lowered his sword, and tossed Tryphen's blade back to him over his shoulder. Then, completely ignoring Tryphen, he turned around and raised his hands, gesturing repeatedly to the surrounding crowd.
For a highly skilled knight, the people of Camelot never held back their applause and cheers. Several ladies even started throwing handkerchiefs and personal items into the arena as prizes for the victor.
The showboating knight thoroughly enjoyed the ovation, looking completely comfortable with the attention. He even picked up a flower from the ground and walked straight toward the maid, Gwen (who the author calls "Roll Girl"), whose face was flushed with excitement!
This was a blatant insult!
It was an insult to Sir Tryphen. Losing a battle wasn't shameful; in fact, the loser of a knightly duel wasn't subject to the dishonor one might expect—it was simply a matter of being outmatched. But Gawain's blatant disrespect was different. Kay, the witness, hadn't even announced the winner, yet Gawain had already turned away to celebrate, showing his opponent zero respect!
Knights, generally, are not afraid of death. No matter how much you romanticize the profession, you can't deny that the knightly class exists for violence. Dying in battle is considered the most honorable end, and no knight fears it; if they did, they wouldn't be knights.
However, knights place immense value on honor and dignity. What else do people strive for in this life?
So, when Gawain publicly shamed him in this way, Sir Tryphen finally snapped. Knights are notoriously short-tempered; it's not unusual for them to kill over a disagreement. Tryphen snatched up the longsword Gawain had tossed to him and charged Gawain from behind.
The audience immediately saw what was happening and shrieked in terror.
Gawain reacted instantly, turning to meet the threat, but he was a moment too slow. Tryphen, fueled by rage, was incredibly fast, and by the time Gawain turned, Tryphen's longsword was already slashing toward his face.
People around the arena covered their eyes, unwilling to watch a tragedy unfold.
But at that moment, a longsword appeared in front of Gawain, blocking Sir Tryphen's attack.
CLANG!
The sparks that erupted from the clashing steel made Gawain instinctively shut his eyes. When he opened them again, Kay had already positioned himself between the two knights, shielding Gawain.
"Sir Tryphen, mind your station! The duel is over!"
Kay's intervention immediately snapped Sir Tryphen back to reality. He had lost the duel—a fact Tryphen couldn't argue. As a proper knight, he hadn't fallen to the level of blatant denial.
Losing was losing, and that was that, but refusing to admit defeat was truly shameful. The sneak attack in his fury had already been dishonorable. If he continued to be petty in front of the realm's foremost knight, he truly wouldn't have the face to remain a knight.
Just as Sir Tryphen calmed down, Gawain lost it.
"You rotten bastard! Die!" That last sword swing had made Gawain genuinely feel the threat of death, and he might have been a goner if Kay hadn't intervened. The fear immediately gave way to limitless fury.
With Kay still present, Gawain swiftly slipped around him and charged, his sword aimed straight for Tryphen's head.
Kay was still talking to Tryphen when he felt a wicked gust behind him. Before he could turn his head, a sword flashed past him, heading for Tryphen's skull. Kay's head was pounding; these knights were impossible!
He had just saved Gawain's life, and there was no way he could stand by and watch Tryphen die. So Kay grabbed Gawain's sword arm, executed a quick takedown, and slammed Gawain to the ground, pinning him tight.
"Enough! The duel is finished! Settle down!"
Gawain wasn't about to let Tryphen off the hook. Even pinned by Kay, he struggled and swore, shouting a string of crude vernacular and slang. Generally, someone educated for knighthood rarely used such base language.
"I'll @#$%& you!"
Tryphen, who had just regained his composure, heard Gawain's insults and flew into a rage again, rushing forward to try and fight Gawain to the death.
Thankfully, the knights of Camelot had arrived and managed to pull Gawain and Tryphen apart.
"Toss these two scoundrels in the dungeon. Let them cool off properly." Watching the two jerks continue to shout insults at each other even while being restrained, Kay lost his patience and decided to throw both hotheads into the lockup to calm down.
"Yes, sir!"
In that moment, Kay dearly missed his last job. While being a detective might sound dangerous, it was definitely a hundred times better than this life. At least in that world, no one was as barbaric as the Celts, where you could lose your life over a minor issue, or even just for talking trash. How insane is that? What's even more ridiculous is that people in this era don't see it as wrong; they celebrate it as honorable.
Seriously, they're crazy.
Just as the two screaming knights were being dragged away, Kay noticed another commotion near the maid, Gwen.
This time, it wasn't a knight flirting with her. She was arguing very heatedly with someone about something. When Kay got a better look at who she was arguing with, he was even more surprised: it was Arthur!
Why would Arthur be arguing with a servant?
Curious, Kay walked over to see what was going on. As he got closer, he heard the maid's voice clearly.
"You can't lock Gawain in the dungeon! He didn't do anything wrong!"