The man holding a double-edged battle axe in both hands was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly smiled and said, "Oh, it turned out to be from His Royal Highness the Duke of Richmond." I am a would-be knight loyal to Lord Darlington. ”

Isabel, who had already ridden to the front, reined in her horse and turned her head to look at the muscular fellow. Unhurriedly, he turned his horse's head and came to the would-be knight, and said, "Sir, you say you are Lord Darlington's man?" ”

This time made the would-be knight even more surprised, he didn't expect that the knight in front of him wearing a silver humanoid mask would be a young woman. After looking each other up and down with his eyes, he said hesitantly, "Yes." Uh, I guess I should call you Miss. ”

"Sir, do you know where your lord is now?"

"Miss, my lord is in Lord Darcy's castle."

"Well, have you seen your lord's daughter, Miss Carolyn Swift?"

The quasi-knight looked at her vigilantly: "Miss, who are you?" Why did you know the name of the lord's daughter? ”

The would-be lancer beside Isabel shouted again, "This is Miss Isabel Walton, the daughter of Sir Augustine, the magistrate of the county magistrate of Richmondshire, the chief of the guard and the commissioner." ”

"Hahaha... Friends, I was lucky to meet the daughter of a county magistrate. The would-be knight laughed at the sergeant and lancer beside him.

"Wait, don't do it yet." Sitting on her horse, Isabel whispered to the would-be lancer beside her. Then, he said coldly to this guy: "Knight, so you have met the daughters of other officials?" ”

"Hahaha... Not only have I seen it, but I have also touched it! ”

"Bastard, I'm asking for a duel with you now!"

In fact, this would-be knight, loyal to Lord Darlington, had taken part in the hostage-taking operation the previous day. During the capture, he did touch the arms or shoulders of the wives and daughters of several nobles, magistrates, and knights. However, the brutal, violent physical contact used to capture the hostages was not what Isabel had imagined. Probably, it was his tone, demeanor, and wording when he spoke to Isabel that caused her to misunderstand her.

"Listen, fellows, this magistrate's daughter wants to duel me? Hahaha......" The would-be knight laughed uncontrollably as he finished speaking out loud, and the people around him laughed loudly.

By this time, Isabel had already jumped off the horse. As soon as he saw her dismount, the 10 would-be lancers who followed her also dismounted. After throwing the reins to the would-be lancers beside her, she passed past the sergeants with unusual calm and came to the grass between the tents.

As she untied her cloak with the coat of arms of the Duke of Richmond and laid it on the grass, the would-be knight, dressed in brute clothes, slowly walked to a distance of five or six paces from her. Glancing at the duke's coat of arms on the cloak, he knew that the lady Isabel in front of him must have been trained as a knight, and had been rewarded with a cloak by the lord.

He looked at the 10 would-be lancers standing behind Isabel in cavalry armor and cloaks, with cross-swords at their waists, each staring at him with an eye on him, waiting for an opportunity to take his life.

Isabel took off her mask and handed it to a quasi-lancer behind her, then unhurriedly pulled out the two short swords at her waist and held them in her hands, glanced at him and said, "Sir, I voluntarily renounce all rights as a woman in a duel with a man. ”

Then, he said to the other party: "You can use any kind of weapon, including the six-leaf hammer, to duel with me, do you understand?" ”

The six-bladed hammer she refers to is a type of one-handed warhammer, also known as the "morning star" because its six blades resemble the light of the morning star. The six-leaf hammer developed from the feather hammer in the 10th century to the 16th and 17th centuries, and has been widely adopted in Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Central Asia, and India.

By the mid-16th century, the six-bladed hammer had developed a wooden handle into a heavier and stronger steel handle in order to break through the full-body plate armor more effectively, and became an all-steel six-bladed hammer. The six blades of the head have also been elongated into an obtuse triangle with a curve, and a protrusion is placed on the strike point of the blades in order to prevent it from getting stuck after hitting the enemy's plate armor.

Although the center of gravity of the Sixblade Hammer is forward, and the striking power is very large and has a lot of inertia, the consequence of the impact will make the user's defensive movements not fast enough, and it will be very physically exhausting when attacking enemies. Therefore, a sergeant or knight using a six-bladed hammer needs very good physical strength and stamina, and is equipped with a shield for their own protection.

It was precisely because the other party was a strong quasi-knight that Isabel came up with a six-leaf hammer that was more suitable for him than a tomahawk. Since the hammer was used not only in combat but also in knightly competitions, the hammer was regarded as a nobler weapon than the battle axe, and the weapon commonly used by Henry VIII was an all-steel six-bladed hammer.

Unfortunately, the would-be rider didn't understand Isabel's mind at all. Thinking about it, he stared at the other party and said in a powerful voice, "Miss, I feel sorry for the verbal offense I made to you just now. Now that you have proposed to me a duel of honor, I will never back down as a quasi-knight of the lord. ”

"Very well, you can put on your armor and come back to duel with me. Oh, and by the way, you can also swap the tomahawk for a six-bladed hammer. ”

"No, miss, I'm more used to using a tomahawk."

"Okay, let's get started now."

Isabel took an offensive and defensive stance with her twin swords, just waiting for the opponent to attack her with a tomahawk. Coincidentally, just as the would-be knight raised his battle axe and was about to attack Isabel, he heard a voice behind him: "Stop, what are you doing?" ”

As soon as the would-be knight turned around, he hurriedly put down the battle axe in his hand and saluted a young man in cavalry armor who came on horseback and said, "Good day, Your Excellency." ”

When the young man looked at Isabelle, who was dressed as a quasi-lancer, his eyes widened in disbelief and said, "Miss Isabel, why are you here?" ”

When the young man was holding back the would-be knight's attack, Isabel recognized him at a glance as His Excellency Joseph Swift, the eldest son of Viscount Darlington. Now, Viscount Darlington has led his army to join the rebels, but why did his eldest son, Joseph, who had the right to inherit, join the rebels?

Isabel put down the short sword in her hand, looked at Joseph, who had dismounted and came to her, nodded and saluted, and said, "Good day, Your Excellency Joseph Swift." ”

Joseph looked her up and down and said in surprise, "Good day, Miss Isabel, you still look as beautiful, elegant, and noble as before?!" ”

"Your Excellency, how is your health? I haven't had a chance to see you since you fell ill the previous winter. Isabel knew that it was the hostage exchange that had caused Joseph to suffer for a long time.