Chapter 97 Other Knight Orders Also Want to Try
Anne smiled helplessly, "Would I?"
The answer was obviously no.
Over twenty knights came to challenge Anne, and all were defeated - badly defeated. Almost none of them could last more than three moves against her.
The looks from those around her gradually changed from curiosity and doubt to admiration and affection.
No one dislikes the strong, and clearly, Anne was very strong. Since no one in Ivy Knights had been seen to beat her yet, having someone this capable as their Knight Commander meant they could walk with their heads held high from the Lion Knights' gate all the way to the Dawn Knight Order.
Anne still stood in place, coldly watching the knight across from her apologize and step aside, then said in a deep voice, "Anyone else?"
No one dared to respond. The three Knight Commanders pushed through the crowd, coldly surveying everyone. "Have you all learned there's always someone better?"
"Do you still dare to discriminate based on gender?"
The Ivy Knights around them didn't dare speak anymore.
Earlier, they were shocked by Anne's abilities, but now seeing the Knight Commanders who had led them for years speak up, they looked at each other, unable to help feeling somewhat ashamed.
Originally, they had no problem with Anne being Knight Commander. They'd heard she'd achieved merit multiple times since arriving and were curious about this hero's daughter.
It's just that Anne usually stayed at the Lion Knights' camp, with her tent there too. Within Ivy Knights, only the thousand knights assigned to her and some support knights who came later understood her real situation.
Now, as Knight Commander, Anne had to officially handle internal affairs and appear before everyone. But rumors spread faster than she arrived, making her appear before everyone with a terrible image. Even though some questioned whether it was true, rumors are powerful - repeat them enough and people believe them.
That's why Peter blocked Anne at the entrance.
Even the group of people nearby at the time were waiting to see what Anne would do.
The result was clear - Lord Friedel wasn't someone who lusted after beauty, and His Majesty the King wasn't easily deceived. Instead, it was they as knights who were easily blinded by rumors, making wrong judgments about their newly appointed Knight Commander and her subordinates.
They would never dare look down on women again!
Knight Commander Ondre looked at his defeated knights—all hanging their heads in shame. Suppressing his frustration, he said in a deep voice, "Now you know your new Knight Commander. If no one objects this time, the next time I hear rumors flying around, I'll show you what's what!"
"Now, back to your positions!"
The surrounding knights left in formation, except for Peter, who had challenged Anne earlier. He stopped and jogged up to her. This young man who had been so arrogant before now looked at Anne with admiring eyes, finally speaking after a long pause, "Knight Commander, will you punish me?"
Anne nodded, "Yes."
"What?"
Anne glanced at him coolly, her beautiful appearance making Peter's heart race. "After completing your training, find whoever spread the rumors. That will make up for your mistake."
Peter froze, then immediately stood straight. "Yes, ma'am!"
After everyone dispersed, Ondre and the other two approached, looking at Anne with both relief and affection. Pario, the shorter Knight Commander beside them, sighed, "We heard you were blocked and worried you'd be hurt or angry. Now it seems you did even better - you showed them your abilities, so they won't talk nonsense anymore."
Another Knight Commander, Dionysus, stroked his beard and laughed, "I always believed in Knight Commander Anne's abilities. After all, Lord Daniel used to always praise your intelligence. Now it seems that day we went to snatch people from the Lion Knights was absolutely the right move, haha! I wonder what the Lion Knights think about it!"
But he soon found out.
News of what happened at Ivy Knights spread quickly, and the Knight Commanders intentionally helped spread it, because they'd heard the rumors outside about Anne and the other two, especially targeting Anne - not only smearing her personally but also dragging her family and Lord Friedel into it.
When Friedel heard about it, he was furious. He directly sent people to arrest those spreading rumors and sent them to Ivy Knights for Anne to handle.
Anne wasn't polite either - she dealt with them directly according to military law.
But that wasn't the end. Some people from the Lion Knights heard about Ivy Knights members challenging Anne and clamored to participate in the challenge too.
After consulting Anne, Friedel announced to the entire camp: anyone who doubted Anne's abilities could challenge her during her free time. Last twenty moves against her, and you get two days of extra rations.
Once the order was issued, the entire Lion Knights erupted with excitement.
Only Ivy Knights remained quiet, as if they'd heard nothing.
This wasn't surprising - after all, on the day Anne issued her challenge, everyone in Ivy Knights who thought they were better than Peter had tried, and the result left them too ashamed to show their faces for days.
Fortunately, Anne didn't mind and didn't blame them, so after a couple days they could barely face people again. Then they heard that Lion Knights members wanted to challenge her too.
Peter sat at a table holding a cup of water, and hearing this, he sneered, "They'll know to be scared after they get beaten."
But most of the Lion Knights didn't know, including the Dawn Knight Order.
Hearing this news, Candy immediately burst into laughter.
"That bitch thinks she can clear herself of suspicion with such a clumsy plan?"
Laughing so hard that tears came out, Candy raised her hand to wipe the corners of her eyes and mocked, "The Ivy Knights people are stupid too - she just arranges a few people to put on a show fight, and they actually believe she's really skilled. What an amazing Knight Commander Anne is!"
Holden sat beside her, his expression still somewhat doubtful. "But the people challenging her shouldn't all be planted, right?"
Candy snorted coldly, "Would they allow this plan to fail? It must be that Friedel and those three Knight Commanders arranged everything in advance, otherwise how could it be so easy?"
"Haven't you heard what people are saying? Three moves - they can't last more than three moves against her. What a joke!"