Guessing the Winner

After checking out the Black Horse, Maeve suddenly became interested in this team.

Putting everything else aside, just this Black Horse horse, if her predecessors in the Transmutation School charged money for every transformation...

The cost of this Black Horse, including the Transmutation Surgery and materials, is probably comparable to the value of the previous full-body armor made entirely of special metal.

With that thought in mind, she continued inspecting the weapons in Finley's group; there was nothing prohibited there either.

What intrigued her was why the team's weapons weren't coated with any poison; she remembered that applying a small amount of paralyzing toxin was permitted.

She found the answer after examining Fran's longsword.

She looked at the longsword on the table with disbelief. It was entirely silver-white and looked almost like it was made of fine iron.

However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this material is definitely not refined iron.

Even Maeve pondered for a long time before she remembered, "Isn't this Highland Silver? The famous enchanting material."

Then she examined the runes more closely, only to find an angel image, which made her gasp in shock.

This method of displaying a special pattern on a longsword instead of runes is used by only a very few Enchanter.

Even from a distance, Maeve could feel intense runic fluctuations emanating from it, a kind of fluctuation usually found only in high-level composite runes.

She had never seen a rune with an Angel Pattern before, so she had another guess about it.

She looked at Fran with burning eyes, but Fran remained unmoved and did not return her gaze.

In Maeve's opinion, Fran's equipment was quite valuable, and there was even a special pattern engraved on the longsword.

In the Enchanter profession, only one type of person can use this: the Mage Family on the Floating Isle.

She thought of the famous leader of the Blood Wolf Knights, a man who had fled from a Mage Family in the Floating City.

Is the one standing before her the same as the leader of the Blood Wolf Knights? Did he also run away from a Mage Family?

That's quite possible, after all, the equipment the other person is wearing is something Maeve would have to work for many years to earn.

Although Maeve didn't know which Mage Family's emblem the Angel Pattern on it belonged to, she was certain it was the emblem of a Mage Family.

After all, Artisan possess the relevant Arts would only carve these patterns for the Mage Family out of respect.

Needless to say, those Artisan would never use this Arts on ordinary people.

She glanced at Fran again, and without much hesitation, said directly:

"You've passed."

Finley found it rather strange that the mage, while inspecting equipment, focused entirely on Fran's gear. Was there anything unusual about it?

Isn't it just made of simple refined iron with some patterns engraved on it?

However, the Knight's Duel was about to begin, and Finley had no time to think about these things. He hurriedly took Fran and Stefan and rushed to the scene of the Knight's Duel.

There was a high platform at the site of the Knight's Duel, where Count Ian was positioned, from which he could clearly see the knights' movements below.

Around the Duel Arena, a crowd of onlookers had already gathered, all their eyes fixed on the knights who were preparing for the duel.

After Maeve finished checking the knights' equipment, she also walked up to the platform and came to Count Ian's side.

Count Ian was discussing the possible winner of the competition with some of his lesser nobles.

These minor nobles refer to the administrative power in the city; they were responsible for formulating and overseeing all kinds of regulations concerning agriculture, food, and commerce.

The lord of the city may change, but these minor nobles are not easily replaced because it is difficult to find suitable replacements for them.

That being said, the knights ultimately wielded immense power, and these minor nobles, no matter what, could not disobey their orders; at most, they could only skim off a little profit in the shadows.

They also looked down at the knights with envy. For these minor nobles, the next step was to have a knight of such combat prowess within their family.

Even without a large territory like White Flower Territory, one can still claim some smaller territories under those larger territories, which would be a huge leap forward for the entire family.

"I think Knight Eric will be the winner of this contest. Look at his armor; it's Volcanic Scrap Iron, a special metal found only in volcanic regions..."

A nobleman was speaking eloquently, while Count Ian nodded slightly, seemingly agreeing with him.

At this moment, Count Ian also noticed Maeve's arrival. He rose from his seat to welcome Maeve.

"Master, you've finally arrived..."

He led Maeve to a seat next to him as a sign of his respect for a sorceress.

After sitting down, Count Ian asked:

"Your Excellency, Mage, you're specifically in charge of inspecting the knights' equipment..."

"As you know, if we knights were to really fight, the outcome would be decided more by courage and a few minor external aids."

"So, among these knights, who do you think is most likely to win this match?"

The other minor nobles also turned their attention to Maeve, wanting to hear what insights this mage from the Alliance had to offer.

Maeve was a little uncomfortable with so many people looking at her, but she forced herself to speak fluently:

"I think it's Finley Mrrgglton."

"Finley?" a minor nobleman exclaimed, drawing the attention of those around him. He quickly waved his hand, indicating that he had made the sound accidentally.

After this little incident, even Count Ian looked at Maeve with a mixture of doubt and curiosity and asked:

"May I ask, Venerable Master, is there anything about Finley that we don't know?"

Maeve was about to speak when she realized that the scion of the Mage Family who might be from the Floating Isle might not like others revealing his information.

So she smiled, and instead of answering the question directly, she said:

"All I can say is that one of Finley's minions is very powerful and could potentially decide the outcome of this battle."

"As for the specific reasons, the Earl asked me about them privately."

This made Count Ian even more puzzled, but he also understood Maeve's implication, knowing that Finley might be hiding something that was inconvenient to reveal.

Count Ian looked at the position of the sun in the sky, stood up, and said:

"The time has come; the Knight's Duel may begin."