Temple Sword

Chapter 119 Commander Wang Banner

1321, Month of St. John (June)
Timisoara Royal Palace, Hungary
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"Plow!" shouted the commander of the Royal Army.His voice echoed on the walls of the inner courtyard, and the knights lined up in a square array took their basic poses in unison.

Antal walked through the rows and nodded with satisfaction.For two full moons, he had been slowly teaching the sword skills to the nobles in the army, and by the beginning of summer, they had made considerable progress.

They moved their feet and held their swords, moving quickly and efficiently.The commander thought to himself that William himself would be satisfied seeing this scene.

"Cow style!" He gave another command, and the swordsmen gathered in the yard raised their weapons above their faces, ready to chop.At another command, they all moved forward, stabbing with the point of their swords as they walked, and then continued their body movements to strike their imaginary opponent from the left.

Take one more step forward with the same momentum, repeating the movement to slash from the right, simultaneously raising the sword above the head with the command "roof style" (Vom Dach), enough to knock a grown man from his right shoulder to his thigh The power of splitting into two splits vertically.

There was a burst of applause, and the swordsmen only then noticed that Queen Elizabeth was standing on one of the balconies, surrounded by her maids of honor, watching them.Antal turned around and bowed deeply to the balcony.

"Rest!" he gave the last order, "I am very satisfied with you. With you by my side, I will go to the battlefield again without fear."

A few people laughed when they heard this, but most of them took the knight's words as a sincere compliment.

They're starting to like their commander, and while they don't know much about him yet, he's proven himself in most eyes: Antar Bator knows the battle, knows what he's doing, and Not just talk.He made them train hard, and they all felt that they had gained something in swordplay.

Even though they've spent half their lives in iron suits, they still have a lot to learn.Therefore, more and more people began to discuss Antal, where did his knowledge come from?Where did he come from?What has he done?

Some say they knew he was a member of a secret society, maybe he belonged to the Knights Templar.Some claim he was born during the war and drank fresh human blood instead of his mother's milk.

In the depths of the tavern, after a few glasses of spirits fell into the throat, all kinds of absurd stories appeared among the drinkers. Normal people would only shake their heads after hearing this. More and more outrageous stories are laughing.

"Dancing is for girls," Lakfee remarked, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, recalling the day's practice. "No wonder the ladies like him so much. How much do they know about war? If they had actually seen the battlefield, they wouldn't applaud the master dancer..."

"Why, Isstvan, what is there on the battlefield?" The companions around him wanted to mock him, but they didn't dare to show it too obviously.

"Blood, urine, and shit." Istvan Lakfi replied solemnly, "and a lot. If you ask me, I value my spear and axe more than my pretentious little sword skills .”

"Master Commander!" A Sekeyi said to the passing Antal, "We want to hear your opinion, Captain Lakfi said..."

"...he values ​​his weapon more than my sword," Antal interrupted him, "I know, I heard it. I'm not deaf, I've been listening to him for two months, and I'm still listening There were a lot of other opinions, but the only problem was that I didn't find anything of value in them."

Lakfei blushed up to the ears. "If that's what you want, I'd be happy to stand up to you, Commander." He stopped leaning against the wall, but Antar waved him off.

"It's not your job to fight me, Captain," Antar told him coldly. "Your duty is to obey my orders and to lead your hundred soldiers to my satisfaction. I am not your enemy, and you may reason with me, but when we begin our march north, you must Do as I say, do we understand each other?"

"Of course, Commander," Lakfee's face was about to turn purple. "I just thought we could compare our skills, you use your sword, I use my own weapon..."

"Your legs are so stiff, you're swinging your arms like a drowning man, and you're not moving enough," Antar recounts, and while he doesn't show it, he enjoys interrupting the fighter say.

"Do you think I'm not watching you? I know all my men, even if they don't. I don't go into battle with strangers, or lay siege to a fort with them.

As far as I know about you, you have a big mouth and you are really strong, but a bucket full of water is quicker than you, so work on that! "

"So you don't accept the challenge?" Lakfe breathed hard, even the end of his beard was trembling, "Don't you dare to fight with me?"

"No," Antal replied simply, "but if you let me down on the high ground, you can say goodbye to your captaincy."

After all, he continued walking towards his original destination.Sekai's men, who had ducked to the other side to escape their captain's wrath, started giggling at each other.

-

"Tell me everything you know." Antal sat at the table in the middle of the tavern and poured a glass of wine for himself and Simon.

"I have nothing new to discover," said the squire, taking a swig from his own glass. "As I've told you over the past few weeks, he doesn't hold any important office, he doesn't go to church, not even on Sunday.

He lives in a mercenary quarters like a poor bum.His chivalry is gone, and whenever he has money, he will drink in the humblest tavern.He was always so drunk that he had few other pleasures in life except . . . "

"Except for what? Let go and talk!" The knight urged his attendants, thinking that Laszlo could not disappoint him more.

"On nights when he still has some money, he spends the rest on whores," Simon finished his report, "that's all I know, the only difference between him and a beggar is that he has a fixed residence."

Antar looked ahead gloomyly, took a sip of the wine, then drank it down, filled it up again without hesitation, finished it again, and smashed the glass on the table angrily.

"At least he won't die in the north," he said in a low, husky voice, "at least he'll stay here peacefully after we're gone."

I wouldn't call this peace, thought Simon, who could only see his master's childhood friend and former squire as a pathetic animal.In his eyes, Laszlo is a horse with a broken leg, and it is best to kill it early to end its pain. The way he exists now is not a life at all, which disgusts Simon.

"I'll try to talk to him," Antal decided, "and if that doesn't help, then I'm fine with it, let him fend for himself. Where is he now?"

Simon looked out the window, the sun had already set.

"It's getting late," he answered, "I think you know where he is."

(End of this chapter)