The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 661: Victory Speech

Dominic hopped down from the stands and called for the veiled maids to bring forth the cash portion of the prize, the part that would impress the viewers.

Then, he handed the magitech wine flasks to the two finalists, who both smiled happily as they examined the canteens.

“I see how it is. You give us the method to make wine, and the prize includes monster cores to help level the wine flask. So, we end up spending half the money we won immediately.” Sir Nallon joked quietly.

“It’s that or drink substandard wine.” Dominic whispered back, while making a show of holding up the second wine flask for the crowd to see before handing it to Sir Charles.

Then, a large trophy was brought out, made entirely of silver and gold, shining in the sun for everyone to see.

It had to be fantastically expensive, and Dominic realized that it was a gift from the King to the winner of the joust. So, while in theory it could be sold, it likely never would be. Those sorts of Royal Gifts were a sign of favour, and selling them immediately would only be either an insult to the King, or a sign of poverty.

Which would also be seen as an insult to the King.

After all, if the Knights of the realm were so desperately poor that they had to resort to selling off Royal Gifts, how poor was the governance of the Royal Family?

So, this trophy would remain the centrepiece of Sir Charles’ family home for generations, a lingering memory of the time that one of their ancestors managed to impress the King enough to give them such a wonderful treasure.

That was something that might never happen again, and even most Earls and Counts proudly displayed only one or two such treasures from generations of illustrious history.

But now that Dominic thought about it, even his household didn’t have such a treasure.

Did it count if you got to show off one of his daughters? Surely that had to count for something.

Sir Charles looked absolutely stunned as the trophy was brought out, standing nearly thirty centimetres tall, and heavy in the hands of even the magically strengthened veiled maid.

The Knight bowed deeply toward the Royal Booth.

“Thank you, Your Majesty for this honour. I will treasure it all my days.”

The King nodded politely, but remained silent, so as not to disrupt the rest of the event. Once the King started speaking, everything would get more formal. But if he was just here to watch and give a gift, they could continue as normal.

Sir Charles held the trophy high as he turned to show it to the crowd, knowing that only those closest to the field would actually be able to see what the statue was, beyond the general form.

It was designed to replicate a Knight on a rearing horse, with a broken lance in his hand. But both the barding and the Knight’s shield had the Cygnian national emblem on them, an honour usually reserved for Knights that were in direct service to the Crown.

The Royal Guards wore it, the Palace Guards as well. But the common soldiers wore the army’s battle standards, or the emblems of the Nobles whose lands they were raised from.

Even the Cygnia City Guards didn’t wear it. They wore the emblem of the City Lord, who was a Duke and Advisor to the King.

The final prize awards were only the smallest part of the final event, as the fun part started immediately after. It was traditional to bring all of the Nobles and Knights together one last time, a meal to send them on their way, so that they weren’t leaving hungry or injured, but the Noble hosting the event would also give out alms to the poor, food and drink, perhaps a bit of coin, to show that he appreciated his people.

Dominic knew that it wasn’t money that most of the people in town were lacking.

There was enough work that nearly everyone would be more appreciative of a day off than an extra day’s pay. So, instead, he made a different announcement.

“The remainder of the stock that the stand vendors have will be purchased by the Duchy, to be distributed free to those in attendance! Everyone, please enjoy your day!”

Nothing said “Have a great day” like free beer.

Nothing.

Alexis did her best to hide her laughter as the crowd roared in approval every bit as loud as they had for anything during the event, while the vendors who had come to sell in the stands celebrated alongside them.

Having no leftovers at the end of an event was a huge win for them.

Nothing would be wasted, and it would encourage everyone to stay in the stands even though the event itself was over. Normally, they would go out into the grounds to try to sell off the rest of what was prepared, and those with magitech freezers would start packing up everything that wasn’t hot and ready.

But today, they could sell everything that they had on hand, and call it a win without the need to sell the rest of their hard work at another event, or at the market square.

“You know that nobody is getting anything done at work tomorrow, right?” Sir Charles informed Dominic over the roaring of the crowd.

Dominic clasped his hand to raise the Knights fist in victory, bringing even more cheers from the audience.

“Of course. But working with a hangover is nothing new to most of them. Besides, with so many refugees in the audience, gorging themselves on free food and loading their pockets with something to take home, assuming that there is enough left, will save their reserves and keep them eating more than rolled oats until payday.”

Sir Nallon smiled and shook his head. “That was a brilliant move, from the standpoint of a Noble looking to build loyalty among his people. But it’s going to cost you.”

Dominic nodded. “That it will, but it’s totally worth it. I’ve been that level of desperate before, and the little things like this will stick in your memory for years.”