Chapter 23: The War of Knights?

After leaving a few necessary imperial guards in the decaying Madrid Empire, the disappointed Sun Li arrived in the Kingdom of Light, the largest human nation on the European continent in terms of land area. There, Sun Li witnessed what could truly be called the "Dark Middle Ages."

The darkness here was not about people starving or lacking warm clothing. Thanks to the miraculous fertility of the land in this world, the populous Kingdom of Light had never suffered a famine; the common folk could barely fill their stomachs. Of course, there was nothing left over for them—the nobles would never allow the producers at the bottom to have any spare money.

If the territories of the Madrid Empire were on the verge of splitting into warlord factions, then in the Kingdom of Light, the nobles had already carved out their own domains. The realm actually governed by the Kingdom of Light consisted only of the modest lands of the church districts. Throughout the vast kingdom, myriad noble forces of varying sizes held sway, while the Church of Light used the power of faith to keep ecclesiastical authority firmly above secular power. They strictly forbade the arbitrary annexation of other nobles' lands. Disputes could be settled with battles; the victor would claim a ransom, but every noble was considered a gift from the God of Light and could not be extinguished unless they offended the church. If you destroyed another noble today, tomorrow the Holy Knights would come and wipe out your house.

Thus, the nobles under the Kingdom of Light lived with ease. The numerous lesser nobles were extremely loyal to the Church of Light, for it always protected their foundations. With no worries about their future, the nobles' greatest pleasure, aside from eating, drinking, and merrymaking, was warfare—or rather, brawling, as Sun Li concluded after witnessing two so-called noble armies "waging war."

These well-fed, idle nobles of the Kingdom of Light would often launch wars over a mere quarrel. The scale of these wars, however, was laughable. Upon arriving, Sun Li easily stumbled upon a battle between nobles.

Standing on a high ground, Sun Li watched the private armies of both sides. They were remarkably balanced, each consisting of a few cavalrymen leading a crowd of conscripted peasants armed with crude spears. A brief observation revealed that the combined infantry numbered over a thousand; yesterday, they were probably tilling the fields with hoes.

The few cavalrymen had something of a military air. The leader even wore a full suit of plate armor. One had to admit, the Kingdom of Light was quite wealthy if even a minor noble knight commander could ride to battle clad in full plate.

Next came the impassioned declarations of the knight commanders, after which both armies began their charge. Though lacking formation and moving at a leisurely pace, at least they headed in the right direction—not retreating—so one could call it a charge.

In truth, the armies never really engaged. The main combatants were the cavalry. The two sides clashed like duelists, spearing and slashing in a display that was both elegant and harmonious. After half an hour, the casualty rate was zero.

The conscripted peasants were even more outrageous. While the knights at least put effort into their brawl—or performance—the peasants blatantly stood at the rear, cheering their knight lords. Soldiers wielding weapons, shouting slogans for their master? This was truly a friendly match between nobles—such a harmonious war!

As Sun Li stood speechless, the knight commanders, perhaps exhausted from their prolonged performance, began to tire. The weaker one was unseated by the stronger, though such a fall would hardly injure a knight wrapped up like a tin can.

The battle was likely over at this point, just as Sun Li had predicted. Seeing their knight lord unhorsed—defeated—the so-called peasant soldiers dropped their weapons and scattered, each returning to their homes. The lower-ranked cavalrymen were equally decisive, wheeling their horses and fleeing. The victorious peasants did not disgrace their knight lord, whooping with excitement and brandishing their spears at the vanquished "spectators" who had just watched the show.

Thus, the real casualties appeared: a few defeated peasants who couldn't run fast were stabbed and toppled by the victorious ones. It seemed that, when kicking down those already defeated, these conscripted peasants could muster decent fighting prowess. But those wielding weapons could never outrun the unburdened, desperate escapees. After killing fewer than ten, the victors lost sight of the defeated.

The victorious cavalry seemed to disdain these poor peasants, likely judging them to be of little worth. They rode after the defeated cavalry, hoping to gain something, though whether they succeeded was anyone's guess.

The knight commander, burdened by his heavy plate, was clearly incapable of pursuing fleeing enemies. Nor did he kill the opposing commander he'd just bested; he merely tied him up. Such a captive was valuable for ransom; killing him would be a loss.

Some sharp-eyed conscripted peasants noticed Sun Li standing alone on the high ground, and, thinking him easy prey, exchanged glances and charged with their spears. Soon, several terrified corpses littered the earth before Sun Li. He never turned away those who delivered experience points right to his door.

The knight commander, seeing such a master appear, compared his own abilities with Sun Li's and wisely decided to hold back. As for his hundreds of peasants, before such a deadly warrior, a dozen deaths would guarantee the rest fled even faster than he could.

Understanding the situation, the knight commander tidied his attire and approached Sun Li, bowing respectfully and giving him every honor as a mysterious master. With a few polite compliments, he turned the bloody incident into a minor misunderstanding. The peasants behind him, accustomed to such bullying and cowardice, stood by indifferently.

This left Sun Li, who had prepared to harvest a batch of experience points, rather surprised. These private armies of the nobles were certainly shrewd; no wonder the church had been able to rule over so many nobles for centuries. With such sensible and pragmatic troops, they would never dare oppose the powerful Holy Knights.

It seemed the only real fighting force in the Kingdom of Light was the Holy Knights—a truly delightful revelation, indeed.