The squire assessment took a whole day to finish. In accordance with the results of the tournament, 25 squires were chosen.
Out of the 25, two squires stood up on top for winning all four fights. As for the rest, three of them managed to win two fights and the remaining got one win each.
The fact that Abe, the son of the most influential minister in the kingdom, managed to win all four fights had given quite an impression to the crowds. However, the achievement was overshadowed by the one squire who was able to defeat a silver knight, something that had never happened in the previous tournaments.
The twenty-five squire lined up in front of the stage where the king and all the nobles sat watching the battles.
As congratulations, the king held a simple ceremony to let the names of the kingdom representatives be known to the public. Though everyone received the same amount of attention from the king, all eyes were focused on one young man, while whispers of his name were passed amongst nobles and commoners alike.
To close the ceremony, the king gave a simple speech and with that, the celebrations ended.
As expected, Emery was invited to see the King inside the throne room.
Emery was escorted into the palace. He arrived in front of the massive double doors to the throne room and two knights walked forward to open them for him. The door was made of smooth wood decorated with carved symbols of the kingdom's past admirable deeds.
After so long, he had finally gotten his chance to be invited into the Lioness Palace. Although there was a grandiose can be seen from the palace, but during his journey to reach this point, he had already seen too many magnificent things in the Magus Academy.
Fortunately, there was a certain feeling that made his presence still feel special. After all, in a way, one of his childhood wishes had been granted. Emery walked up the steps, relishing the moment.
Inside the room, beside the knights, Emery saw the king sitting on the throne with the princess next to him. Right on the king's side, his aide stood vigilant, while the famous Knight of The Lion, Yvain, stood next to the princess.
Emery approached them, kneeled with one foot and said. "Your Majesty," with his head bowed down, just like what he learned from the proper etiquette lessons with his family.
"You may rise."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Emery looked at the king's face, but even so, he could still feel the princess' stare on him, making him a little uncomfortable.
Right as the king was about to speak, a knight kneeled and reported from behind Emery.
"Your Majesty, Minister Fantumar has come to see you."
Right after the report, a series of hurried footsteps could be heard approaching. A group of knights in dark-colored armor marched right in, led by the Dread Knight, Minister Fantumar and Abe.
"Your Majesty, we came to congratulate this young man and to get to know him. My son was also impressed and he would like to know more about such a talented squire."
Emery was disgusted hearing that. Every word was trash, filled with falsehood. But he kept his calm.
The king nodded and said.
"You came at the right time, Fantumar. We were just going to ask more about this young man."
As Emery had foreseen before the assessment, he was asked to explain the circumstances that led him here along with his identity. For now, he was Lanzo of the Dunlat Family, the minor noble family. Surprisingly, upon hearing the name, the princess spoke up.
"Ah the Dunlat Family… I am sorry, I heard of the misfortune that fell upon them, it was a disease wasn't it?"
"Yes, princess, it happened three years ago and unfortunately I'm the only one that survived."
From where he stood, Emery could see the princess' sincere condolences from her gaze. Lanzo's family tragedy was enough to move her. The way the princess cared about her subjects was something Emery used to admire about her.
The main topic shifted to who taught him, who he learned the sword skills from. As much as they tried to make everything sound as normal, it was clear as day this was just a poorly disguised attempt at interrogation.
Emery had no choice but to lie. Well, to be fair, even if he wanted to tell the truth, he could not.
[Restriction Spell activated. You are now allowed to speak any information regarding the academy to those who are not part of it.]
Whenever he tried to talk about Lord Izta or Magus Xion, the restriction spell activated and made him lose his voice. He had no choice but to use his other option as an answer.
"My father taught me."
Unfortunately, as he knew from the beginning, the Dunlat Family had never accomplished anything notable. Although they have had a few knights who served the kingdom, they had nothing else. That answer was not quite enough.
Emery was forced to add-on everything else he learned during the journey he went through in the last three years.
Fortunately, Emery's made-up credentials passed scrutiny and there was no mistake. In fact, it had the opposite effect. The king and even Fantumar were now too busy trying to get on Emery's best side and didn't even think to question him further.
After learning Emery no longer had a home, the king even offered Emery one of the castle guest rooms to stay in until the day of the tournament, but Emery politely rejected it.
He would need to go in and out from here, be it to the Khaos space or somewhere else, and if he stayed in the palace, he would be under more scrutiny.
Surprising the king was not offended, he even offers that the room will always be available for him if he chooses to use it in the future. It can be seen how much the kingdom really desperate for talent.
The king wished for Emery's success in the tournament before letting him leave the palace, followed by Fantumar and his forces.
Before they could leave the throne room, Princess Gwenneth walked closer to Emery. She stared at him curiously, making him look away.
"I heard you were called Lanzo?"
"Yes, princess." Emery nodded.
"Tell me, Lanzo. Is it strange that I find you rather familiar…?"
Emery thought for a second before answering. "No, princess. I think it was because we have met before."
"Did we?"
Emery told the story when Yvain rescued them by capturing the marauders who held them hostage and the knight confirmed his story.
"Ah, I see…" For a moment, Emery could feel the princess' disappointment. "I hope you will succeed in the tournament, Lanzo." The princess added before leaving him.
Although she had gotten her answer, somehow, the nagging feeling did not disappear she felt something familiar about this particular squire.