Chapter 282: The King’s Judgment
A giant griffin landed before the two of them, its wings creating a gust of wind that swept towards them. The wind instinctively avoided Jima.
The griffin was strong and tall, forcing Jima to tilt his head upward to look at the king of the Knight Kingdom of Bartol.
The light of the setting sun fell upon him from the side, casting a halo around him. Behind him lay a battlefield filled with corpses, and in the distance, fleeing beast herds, making him appear to be the unquestionable ruler of this battlefield.
He held a sword in one hand and a lion shield in the other. Under his imposing presence, the knights ceased their arguing and turned their gazes towards the Lionheart King. The Lionheart King looked down upon the two, as if he were a judge deciding matters of life and death in a courtroom.
Jima felt quite uncomfortable, leaning the “branch axe spear” against him, with the spear tip aimed straight at the Lionheart King.
The Lionheart King moved; he sheathed his sword and jumped down from the griffin, his form wobbling slightly.
The light of the sunset no longer illuminated him. Jima saw the details of him and his mount, realizing that this king had lost all his former grandeur. He looked quite disheveled.
One of the griffin’s wings was folded, and many feathers were charred. The Lionheart King fared little better; the metallic iris symbol on his forehead was missing, his cloak had vanished, and the beard on his square chin was gone, leaving only some scorched stubble.
He steadied himself with his hand on the sword and approached George, saying:
“What a brave knight indeed. If only you didn’t have those horns. To cut to the chase, I was in the heat of battle, preparing to face the Witch King when a subordinate rushed over to report.”
“He said you are the son of the Mother of Beasts and that she suddenly died, with many versions of events surrounding it. Some say you are ambitious and wish to usurp her throne, only to encounter an accident. Others say you bore humiliation for a greater cause, while still others say you have turned to the light.”
“But I want to hear how you explain it.”
“I am indeed the child of the Mother of Beasts,” George said. “But I was unaware of this before this battle. It seems Gregory had been hiding this from me to protect me.”
The Lionheart King nodded his square face: “I believe it to be true.”
“You must be withholding something.” At this moment, the Lionheart King’s steward, who was also his envoy, squeezed through the crowd to stand beside the Lionheart King: “Why didn’t the Mother of Beasts recognize you sooner? Why did she only recognize you at the last moment? Everyone saw you turning into a half-mad Minotaur in front of them.”
“Gregory signed a contract with her; she could not recognize me.”
“Your Majesty, this is truly suspicious,” the envoy said. “A renowned knight turned out to be a filthy beast-man. To gain Your Majesty’s trust, he has expended so much effort, racked up so many accomplishments; isn’t this all for a greater scheme? He simply failed.”
Jima retorted, “If he were truly a spy, your esteemed Majesty might have already met his end on the battlefield today.”
“Enough of this chatter,” the Lionheart King said. “Did you kill the Mother of Beasts?”
“Yes, I personally split her body open with the Flame Giant Sword.”
“Why?”
“Because she committed a crime that deserved death.”
“Are you a beast-man spy?”
Jima could feel George’s inner torment; his fists clenched, trembling slightly, but he resolutely said, “No.”
“Well, then he’s just an unfortunate knight with horns.” The Lionheart King smiled, stepping closer and patting George on the shoulder: “Do attend the celebration banquet in a few days.”
“Your Majesty.” The envoy appeared shocked: “Please don’t be so hasty; he is half a beast-man. Even if he hasn’t lied, he should at least be expelled from the kingdom. How can you still accept him?”
“Look at that.” The Lionheart King raised his right hand, which was injured, with a bloodstain on the iron gauntlet.
The envoy and many knights turned to follow the Lionheart King’s pointed finger. They saw the most disgusting and nightmarish sight on this battlefield—the Mother of Beasts lying on the ground, before her death, calling her children to merge into her body, creating a mound of flesh the size of a hill to save herself.
An authentic mound of flesh, seemingly a chaotic amalgamation of multiple beast-men, doused in gasoline, burned to a crisp.
They could still recognize many bodies of beast-men, including Minotaurs and large horned beasts; every kind of beast-man was present.
“And look at this.” The Lionheart King pointed at the corpse of the Hydra of War behind George: “These are all his accomplishments; I am certain it was all him. That is enough.”
“Your Majesty…”
The Lionheart King Richard I, limping, exerted effort to leap onto the Hydra’s corpse, stumbling slightly.
“Brave knights!” Lionheart King Richard I waved his hand, declaring: “I have made my decision; George remains the dragon-slaying George of old! I will reward him greatly to commend his bravery and fearlessness.”
This decision sent ripples through the ranks of knights.
However, regardless of how they felt, the king had made a decision. Many knights dismounted from their steeds, standing on the ground. At least, no one remained on horseback, speaking to George.
It was clear that the Lionheart King Richard I was using his fame and authority to vouch for George.
Although with George’s strength and accomplishments, the knights were unlikely to launch a collective attack against him, driving him away or exiling him was still possible.
George’s blue eyes misted over.
Oh, this guy actually knows what it’s like to feel wronged.
Jima felt quite displeased. Why did it always seem like this development mirrored a young man striving hard, enduring everyone’s misunderstandings, quietly giving of himself, and finally moving the goddess and the public with his actions, ultimately gaining reward for his efforts?
But Jima wasn’t foolish enough to douse cold water on George’s moment of happiness; that would be quite annoying.
Lionheart King Richard I jumped down from the Hydra’s corpse.
He looked at the astonished expressions of the knights, laughing heartily, revealing a row of white teeth. Upon seeing George, his smile turned a bit more smug:
“They all say I am a just king.”
“Your Majesty,” George said, “they are not wrong.”
“Your Majesty,” Jima interjected, “do you know? When you ordered George to obediently return to the camp, he was wearing only a pair of underpants, and we had to rummage through the interdimensional bag to find a shirt to cover him. He could only return to camp barefoot.”
“This is an affront to a noble knight,” Lionheart King Richard I said. “I might need to place some blame on my envoy, but I think it’s my oversight; I didn’t consider this aspect. George, you didn’t take it to heart, did you?”
George shook his head and replied honestly, “This experience was quite unpleasant.”
Lionheart King Richard I asked, “Do you have any requests?”
“I just hope someone could find my full armor?” George said. “It fell all over when I turned into a Minotaur.”
The Lionheart King looked at his tattered armor and laughed heartily, saying, “That can be arranged.”
He then instructed George to describe the shape of his armor before preparing to leave.
At this moment, a giant eagle flew into the sky, upon which sat an arrogant high elf noble. Wearing a feathered pointed helmet and silver-scaled armor, with golden greaves, he rode the giant eagle and shouted fluently in the common tongue:
“Which of you knights is George? The one who killed the Demon King before. Our commander, the Osuan Guardian, has summoned him.”
He repeatedly called out, the giant eagle soaring in circles above the heads of the knights, its tail feathers lifting to release a shower of bird droppings. The knights exclaimed in surprise, hastily evading, some narrowly avoiding a splash of white, wet bird excrement.
Instantly, the conversation among the knights shifted from discussing how George was a doomed beast-man to how the pointy-eared noble was deserving of a beating.
Lionheart King Richard I glanced at the high elf noble still shouting from the sky, saying, “Sometimes, I just want to hit an Osuan, not for any reason, just to beat up every high elf I encounter.”
Coincidentally, I’ve thought the same and even acted upon it.
Jima wholeheartedly agreed.
When she encountered the real Osuan Guardian, she had to hold onto a piece of wood, performing a crossing of the vast ocean, swimming from High Elf Island to the southern continent filled with tropical rainforests.
George raised his hand, emitting a flash of white light, shouting, “Here! Elf!”
The giant eagle dove down, flapping its wings, causing the wind to whip up small stones and dust towards George. George dodged, and the high elf noble sitting atop the giant eagle asked in elven:
“Are you the monkey who covets Lady Eve Frostleaf?”
George lunged forward, yanking him off the giant eagle. The elf noble attempted to draw his sword, but George knocked it from his hand with a punch, then slammed another fist toward his eye.
The high elf noble saw darkness before his eyes, his head spinning as though a band was playing in his mind, with tubas and gongs clamoring.
George lifted him, asking, “Who did you call a monkey?”
“You.”
George landed another punch, this time knocking off the noble’s pointed helmet.
“Say it again?”
“You all.”
George shoved the elf noble to the ground, pummeling his face.
The giant eagle opened its mouth to screech, preparing to attack George.
At that moment, the knights surged forward, scaring the giant eagle to retreat repeatedly. The knights ignored the giant eagle and rushed to the noble’s side, raising their feet to kick.
“Drop bird droppings! Teach you to still drop bird droppings!”
“Pointy-eared monkey!”
“Enough, enough, everyone.” Jima stepped in to stop them: “Don’t press on. If this goes on, you’ll beat him to death. If the foul temper of the high elves could be solved with fists, then they wouldn’t be elves.”
Everyone paused. One must admit that a common enemy can indeed alleviate internal conflicts.
With that despicable elven noble’s arrival, the knights had much less to say about George’s horns.
“Your succubus is quite clever,” said the filthy, dark-eyed elven noble. “If you kill me, you bunch of monkeys will be sent to the sky by the eagle claw ballista on the ship. Though it won’t make much difference, because when I return, reporting your rudeness and barbarism, the Osuan Guardians will send you skyward as well.”
Jima quietly said to George in the common tongue:
“It’s rare to see a high elf so foul-mouthed and self-destructive unless they’ve been provoked.”
“Frostleaf?” George said. “Could it be her?”
“Yes, exactly. She must have cried and called out to save you, perhaps even uttered some remarkable words.”
“Succubus and monkeys!” the giant eagle elven noble retorted angrily in the common tongue: “I can understand the common tongue! Don’t think I didn’t hear you gossiping! You’re just overthinking! How could Lady Frostleaf, so noble, cry out that you are her fiancé and that she’s pregnant with your child—these filthy words?”
Jima looked at George.
George frowned and said, “That’s a lie.”
