To go to war, a great lord needed loyal knights to follow him.
Anno's most pressing problem was that he had no troops.
The original Britain Chalk Knights had favored quality over quantity. Though they numbered only a little over a hundred, their combat prowess was absurdly high.
Now that the Britain Chalk Knights, with their exceptional individual skills, were gone, Anno had only a few days left and no time to recruit from the surrounding villages. He could only find a way to raise troops from within Camelot.
Most of the people in Camelot with any fighting ability—court attendants, wall guards, and nobles' private soldiers—had been drafted by Anno. They barely made up a small force of five hundred.
"What's this? These people are so weak." Kay was starting to lose interest. Most of the knights who had been hastily drafted were mediocre. During a last-minute solo combat drill, Kay had needed just two strikes to knock one of them to the ground.
"Fighting these knights is of no benefit, Sir Kay. Why don't we test our skills against each other instead?" Lancelot was bored, too. These knights were clearly only there to make up the numbers.
"Ho ho, sounds like you're pretty confident in yourself, Lancelot." Kay narrowed his eyes, twirling the sword in his hand as his fighting spirit rose.
"Now that we both serve the king, Sir Kay, you should call me Sir Lancelot." Lancelot's expression turned serious. "Since you're older than I am, I'll let you have the first strike. Forgive me!"
Their swords clashed in an instant, sending sparks flying.
Anno watched from a short distance away. The force of several hundred men had gathered in a training ground for basic drills and to receive their equipment.
There were a few people among them who had caught Anno's attention.
One was a boyish-looking knight with a stiff expression, another was a one-armed court attendant, and the last was the guard Anno had seen at the city gate the other day.
All three were far better at sword fighting than their peers, which had drawn Anno's notice.
The stiff-faced boy was named Agravain, the one-armed court attendant was named Bedivere, and the city gate guard was named Bors.
"Sir Lamorak." Anno called over Lamorak, who was handing out equipment. "Have Pindo and the others test these three at their full strength in a sword fight."
"These three? Understood." Lamorak nodded.
Agravain was sorting through the equipment he had just been given: a broad-bladed knight's sword and a full suit of armor. That was all.
Horses and lances were still being requisitioned, so they couldn't be handed out yet.
Just then, a knight came over to him.
"You're Agravain, right?" The newcomer had a composed expression. Unlike most of the assembled knights, he wore a silver cape of his own.
He was one of the former Britain Chalk Knights.
Agravain nodded expressionlessly. "That's right."
"Sir Anno, the lord of the Chalk Knights, ordered me to be your training opponent. To introduce myself, my name is Pindo." The knight wasn't arrogant; he spoke calmly.
Agravain paused. "Understood."
He took his knight's sword from his equipment and stood opposite Pindo.
The others being tested were the one-armed knight Bedivere and Bors.
The sword fights ended. Though none of the three had managed to gain an advantage over the former Chalk Knights, they had already given Anno a very pleasant surprise.
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