Chapter 25: The Chastity of Knights is in Danger (01)
Originally, being a knight was an incredibly expensive occupation.
Just the mana saber alone was such an expensive item that an ordinary person could barely afford one in a lifeti of savings.
And what about the armor?
Armor capable of blocking a mana saber, i.e., capable of mutual defense among knights, was trendously expensive, costing more than the annual inco of a small fiefdom.
Even in tis before the developnt of the mana saber, armor was an expensive item passed down as heirlooms among nobles, but now it had beco even more prohibitively expensive.
Therefore, when knights joined a knight order, they weren't imdiately equipped but borrowed the equipnt in a lease-like arrangent from their knight order.
Knights contracted to lend their combat skills in exchange for equipnt, and by demonstrating valor, they could capture opponents' armor or weapons to eventually gather their own gear and roam freely as knights errant.
Even the state knight orders like the Mado Knights were not free from equipnt issues; they often shared armor or trained in non-magically coated armor, with no expectation of tily equipnt support even after becoming official knights.
To obtain personal gear, knights needed money, and for knights, the amount of capital support received at the beginning of their commission was crucial.
In extre cases, a knight in a poor order without patrons might start their knighthood wielding just a wooden club instead of a mana saber.
Knights could more easily receive patronage from nobles who introduced them, and nobles also needed such events to draw talented trainee knights to their orders, thus the sponsorship gatherings were organized.
Essentially, these sponsorship gatherings were events for preselling trainee knights.
'To think I forgot such an important eting!'
No wonder there was no training today.
I felt foolish for just lying around, sucking on Mollang's milk, thinking it was just a day off.
I tried my best to clean and iron the dirty spots on my formal wear using a branding iron heated in a fire, but it was nowhere as neat as what a professional could achieve.
"Ha..."
Moreover, the sponsorship eting was not just about finding a noble patron...
After all, isn't that a romantic notion often found in knight novels?
eting a lone lady at the gala, becoming her sole knight, and earning recognition for their relationship by bravely protecting her.
I heard that many nobles co to these sponsorship gatherings to find bodyguards for their daughters, and beautiful romances supposedly blossom between beautiful ladies and knights...
"Sothing seems off from what I expected?"
There were plenty of ladies present.
About fifty?
But... if there was a problem, it might be that the ladies were... a bit on the older side...
"My senior assured that at the sponsorship gathering, you could pledge loyalty to beautiful ladies and secure patronage..."
Today's senior lady knight in charge of the venue (the one I saw during the last small hole incident) responded to my question.
"Really? Nowadays, young girls participate in galas in the capital, not these knightly sponsorship events."
"What? But... in knight novels..."
"Those would be the royal guard's sponsorship events, wouldn't they?"
"Damn, I should've gone to the royal guard!"
Despite my grumbling, a senior knight smacked on the back of the head, but I wasn't about to retract my statent.
Dane, Levin, and even the souls seed to be frozen in fear, staring at the older ladies hunting for prey with an eagle-eyed gaze, and only Jake seed a bit excited, puffing up...
'Ugh! I saw it! I actually saw Jake getting an erection!'
Witnessing soone else's erection was a genuinely unpleasant experience.
I could sowhat sympathize with Dane, who always scolded about cleaning up Mollang.
"Please feel free to mingle with the trainee knights."
As the host's words concluded, the matronly ladies, our peers in age, began looking us over one by one, hiding their faces with fans or masks, making us feel like rchandise at a market.
"Hey, the big trainee knight. Could you co over here?"
", ? This guy?"
"Of course, you. Co here."
Dane, the most conspicuous among us, was the first to be summoned.
He stood upright, more disciplined than ever, as ladies crowded around him, touching his body and discussing their "reviews" of him.
"Oh my, look how solid his muscles are."
"Could you lift us with these arms?"
"His chest is firm and well-spread..."
Initially touching his upper body and arms, their hands gradually beca more brazen, moving towards his lower body or slipping inside the formal wear he was clad in.
"Gasp!"
"You don't need to be shy, sweetheart."
"His buttocks are firm too. Been exercising?"
Amid overt groping by the matrons, Dane turned back to us with a plea for help in his eyes, but we avoided eye contact, fearing we might be next.
Observing this, an infuriated Dane quickly signaled us.
'And you call yourselves comrades!'
Comrades, my foot. No comrade would endure such a situation.
I might consider taking a sword for them on the battlefield, but definitely not this kind of molestation.
If it were younger ladies, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad... but the age difference was just too stark.
"Knight over there, co here."
Levin, standing beside , was chosen next.
Levin looked at and Jake pleadingly for salvation, but I avoided his gaze, and Jake, seemingly envious, was even inching to join Levin.
"Oh my, look at that sharp jawline. Could cut with your hands, couldn't you?"
"He looks so cute. Where do you live?"
"Ever been with a woman?"
"Save... ..."
By then, more than ten hands were fondling Dane, attempting to tenderize his firm muscles, while he desperately covered his lower body with his arms to prevent his genitals from being touched.
'Damn, this is dangerous.'
More and more of our peers were being dragged away.
Fortunately, my clothes were so filthy that they almost acted as camouflage, keeping from being dragged away, while my peers were getting just as dirty from being touched, and a few were being led away to secluded spots.
Surely they weren't being taken aside to quietly discuss how much they would sponsor, and those who were taken...
'This isn't right!'
I glared at the senior knights, but they had long since fled the scene, leaving only the senior lady knights who seed to be enjoying themselves. With fewer than 50 ladies and over 150 knights, what could possibly go wrong?
If anything, it was the knights' chastity that was in danger!
'They call this a sponsorship gathering, but it's totally...'
"Following might improve your fate?"
"I'll follow you even if it doesn't improve my fate, ma'am."
Watching Jake volunteer to be taken by a lady, I realized there weren't many of my peers left, and I began to feel a sense of crisis.
'Not many of us left...'
Fortunately, I had kept my head down and hidden near a pillar or behind curtains, avoiding becoming a target, while most of my peers were being evaluated for their at by the ladies.
"Shall we take a look at our knight's abs?"
"Abs, you say?"
"Exactly, show us your abs and I'll give you ten thousand gold."
'Is this what they call a sponsorship eting?!'
Was this sponsorship not about supporting a knight's abilities but in this sense?
Such blatant extent made think working in a slave market might be better.
'This isn't right... let's just survive this.'
I discreetly looked for an escape route, then turned to leave the sponsorship event.
Just as I was about to exit the banquet hall, I ran straight into two ladies entering.
One was indeed an old lady with white hair and a face full of wrinkles, and the other was a provocative red-haired lady with tear troughs under her eyes.
Her dress was an open-top design that left nothing to the imagination above her chest, so low that her pink nipples were almost visible...
'No, no, don't stare too openly, or you'll get caught!'
"Coming to et like this, you're quite perceptive, trainee knight."
As I was trying to think of an excuse for trying to escape, fortunately, the red-haired lady misinterpreted my action, and I bowed and extended my hand as if I had intended to escort her in.
"Yes. I'll escort you inside."
"Thank you."
Taking her hand, I was led back inside, failing to escape.
"Announcing the Duchess of Elridein and Baroness lson!"
Both won were famous enough that even the trainee knights knew of them.
Both were well-known, even among trainee knights.
The Elridein Ducal House, one of only two ducal houses in this country, boasted a might comparable to that of a small kingdom, and its private knight order, the White Lion Knights, was larger and better equipped than the national Mado Knights.
Baroness lson had been married three tis, each of her husbands dying under mysterious circumstances shortly after the wedding... Was she not called a "widow-maker"?
In this case, she was indeed the widow.
"Ah, yes. That knight looks robust. Co here."
It was the aging Duchess of Elridein who spoke, and no one at the venue could defy her words, so Dane, previously prodded by dozens of hands, was now freed to stand before the Duchess.
"What is your na?"
"Dane."
"Good, robust. A knight should be just so. You've been through a lot, haven't you?"
Touched by the Duchess's warm words, Dane’s nose turned red as if he was about to cry, while the other ladies, deprived of their prey, seethed with frustration but dared not challenge the Duchess openly.
'Thankfully, while Dane and the Duchess draw their attention, I can slip away...'
"You there, the deserter knight."
Baroness lson called out to as I tried to back away.
"Deserter knight? Whom do you an?"
"You. You look like you're scared and trying to flee the sponsorship."
"Ha, no, not at all..."
"Really?"
Amidst the generally older crowd, Baroness lson stood out with her younger and more voluptuous appearance.
However, her nickna was what again? The "widow-maker," known for ensnaring n. And despite being younger here, she was old enough to be my parent, so I had no interest at all.
"You seem quite sturdy... Follow to the backyard."
"?"
"Who else would I be talking to?"
I felt uneasy, but I had no right to refuse here.
Rejecting her here could sour the mood with the ladies, potentially jeopardizing any future sponsorships.
'Ah, it's probably nothing.'
Assuming she'd just touch a bit like the other ladies and then let go, I followed her to the backyard.
'If things turn sour, I'll just run.'
A knight determined to flee can do so at speeds unmatchable by any lady without a horse, especially if I channel mana.
"This should be fine."
We hadn't yet reached the backyard when Baroness lson pulled aside into a gap between the bushes.
'Why is there such a space here? Obviously, if things get heated at the party, they're ant to... Wait, could it be?'
As she pushed inside, Baroness lson licked her lips and began to undress, revealing she wasn’t wearing much under her dress besides a garter belt holding up her stockings, essentially useless as underwear.
"Lick. Puppy."
"Excuse ? Where?"
"Wherever you like."
Wait a minute. Did I really get myself into this?
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