Updated: 2013-11-28

The 48th quarter competition

Ashu Rufate's eyes swept through the future opponents.

Although this competition was held in a small place, the horses who came to participate were really of high quality. Ashrufate saw several extraordinary horses here. In addition to the "red lightning" I saw yesterday, he also saw several strong rivals: one looked gray but very tall, the other was medium but extremely strong muscles, the last one was well-proportioned, with a small head and long neck, and a dark fur, but the four hooves were all white below the knees.

Other horses also have their own characteristics. Any of the participating horses is actually enough to be called "good horse". If placed in the horse market, it can be considered a high-priced horse. However, with his own eyes on the horses, Ashu Rufate knew that the real rivals should be these four. Through chatting and listening to the words of the audience around him, Ashu Rufate has now learned that all of these four rivals are from other places - for the prize money. They have no glory factor in participating in the competition, but it is entirely for the prize money. Moreover, judging from the other party's behavior, Ashu Rufate believes that these people are probably not the real owners of the horses, they are just professional riders.

Time passed by little by little, and there were more and more spectators in the open space. The originally empty space became lively. People who came to visit the competition greeted each other and began to find a suitable viewing location. One of the benefits of this place is that the territory is large enough to accommodate everyone. However, the place is large, but there are not too many good locations suitable for viewing competitions, which leads to the fact that the real good location is always crowded with people.

It was still early at this time, so people were busy taking up positions, chatting, discussing today's victory or defeat and all kinds of chores. Almost no one cared too much about the horses and contestants. And those contestants were also making final preparations - the state of the horse, saddle, and bellyband. These tasks were basically not done independently by one person, and almost every contestant had servants or friends to assist him in completing the work.

So at this time, Lyle came to the place where the horses gathered at the foot of the mountain alone, and did not attract any attention at all.

Lyle looked around and quickly found his target. It was a horse that Ashrufate had noticed before. The color of this horse was gray and inconspicuous, but it was very tall and sturdy, with four hooves. Because of its many news channels, Lyle knew a lot about the horses participating in this year. This horse was called "gray hair" by the audience, and was one of the popular candidates for the championship. It also participated in the competition last year. Unfortunately, it lost to "Red Lightning" due to bad luck last year. When Lyle arrived, the rider and two assistants from other places were making final preparations for the horse racing.

"Hey, friend." Lyle walked over and said to the rider.

"What's the price?" The gray-haired rider was a short and strong man in his thirties. He looked at the well-dressed young gentleman in front of him with a somewhat suspicious look.

"I'm here to talk to you about a deal." Lyle said with a smile. "A small deal."

"Sorry, I'm here for the championship," replied the rider. "I don't want to make any trades in this regard."

"Oh, no, you misunderstood." Lyle made an exaggerated move. "My deal has no conflict with your winning of the championship," he said.

"Oh, what kind of deal is that, I want to hear it."

"Did you see that horse?" His hand quietly pointed to the distance, "That white horse."

The rider looked over there and saw Ash Rufate and his white horse. Just like the normal logic in this world, as long as he was a contestant, he had some skills to appreciate horses. So at this time, all riders had already regarded Ash Rufate as a strong enemy.

"What's wrong with that horse?"

"Our deal is about him...you have to find a way to prevent him from winning the championship...At the price, one hundred Jin Oli!"

"Big King Orly?"

"Big King Oli!"

“Just ‘do your best’?”

"Haha, of course not. There is no such thing as money. Only when he hasn't won the championship, then these hundred gold orely belong to you." Lyle said. "I admit that compared to the championship reward, this money is insignificant. But you have to think about it. Apart from the championship, everyone else has gained nothing. At this time, one hundred gold orely is worth paying attention to, isn't it? As for whether you have done it or not... I have a good position for the audience and can see clearly."

"But, to avoid making you doubt my sincerity." Lyle took out a handful of golden things from his pocket and stuffed them into the other party's hand. "This is my deposit."

Although the "gray-haired" rider hesitated, he finally put the money away.

"Can I ask why this is?"

"Why? Of course it's because I don't want him to win!" Lyle smiled slightly and patted the other party's shoulder hard. "As for why I don't want him to win, this is a personal issue. By the way, although you are a veteran, I think it's necessary to remind him..."

“What are you reminding me?”

"There is no rule in this horse racing rule that 'forbid players from hindering each other'," said Lyle. "Of course I'm just a reminder."

After saying this, he left. Of course, he did not turn around and left, but walked towards another rider, who was the owner of the "red lightning".

"It should be a jealous game..." The gray-haired rider muttered to himself. "Why should I care about such a small thing? It's not a difficult thing anyway. Just make money!" He turned around and no longer cared about the young rich man. He had to focus all his energy on the competition and care about this matter when he had the spare time and had the opportunity.

After a while, after all the players were ready, several staff members who worked as referees began to come and urge the players to gather at the starting position.

The time for the game to begin finally came.

A loud and majestic trumpet sounded from the top of the mountain, resounding through the sky, making the entire area seem a little vibrant. This announced that the horse racing competition was about to begin. The crowd that was still covered in three or three, and after hearing this trumpet, it was like soldiers receiving an order, quickly gathering towards several suitable for watching the competition. Soon, people were divided into several clearly divided groups, concentrated in different areas. However, each area was crowded and crowded.

An exciting horse racing is about to begin.

Several ceremonial officials led the trumpeters and the escorts appeared accordingly, each stationed at a key position in the competition schedule. They carried red, brown or purple flags to show their presence. At the same time, a small team of armed soldiers also came to the scene to maintain order and protect the safety of the audience.

As in previous years, a respected old nobleman from the local area, accompanied by the pastors of several churches, came to the middle of the mountaintop, which was on a temporary small platform beside the pergola. Then he delivered a series of uninspiring congratulations, which were nothing more than blessings such as the future of the kingdom, local development, and crop harvest. However, the old man obviously knew that his speech was not welcome, or that he was eager to wait for the competition to begin, so he ended the opening remark with as brief words as possible.

Next, the local sheriff gave a speech instead of the Governor. However, the sheriff, also known as Falaud, was obviously a tactful person—that is, his speech was concise and took only a little time to end.

When the routine opening ceremony of the horse racing competition was held on the flat ground on the top of the mountain, the riders were already in the starting position at the foot of the mountain. After careful preparation, all the horses were excited and energetic. The riders had to try hard to control their mounts to save them from running in excitement.

Ashrufate has learned about the competition venue more than once. This competition is full of tests, and even the starting position is no exception. On the surface, the first road after starting - like all off-road competitions in the world - is a flat and barrier-free road. But the problem is that the starting position is very wide, allowing hundreds of horses to be lined up in a row, but after starting, the flat road becomes narrow rapidly, just like a trumpet. In this case, horses with a slightly slow start will be forced to be squeezed behind and missed the opportunity. To be honest, among the participating horses, who fail to lead this journey, will inevitably be forced to be squeezed behind, in an extremely unfavorable position, and may even be pulled by the pioneers.

Because of this, all the riders were focused on preparing for the opening sprint.

A ceremonial officer took his subordinates, holding up the flag, and walked back and forth at the starting position. He had reviewed all the participating horses. At the same time, the followers opened their voices and repeatedly emphasized that the riders would start after hearing the gong. If there was a rush to run, they would be severely punished.

Ashrufat gently slapped the slightly uneasy mount with his palm. The atmosphere of the competition not only affected people, but also horses. The white horse was already eager to try, but at this time, there was still a little while before the competition. The ceremony officer and his subordinates were still running around in front of the riders, shouting about some horse racing system that everyone had already understood clearly.

From left and right, you can see a whole row of concentrated riders and horses that are eager to start. The riders' clothes are also very distinctive. According to tradition, each rider is as dressed as his mount as possible. For example, the "red lightning" not far away, his rider is wearing a light red cloak. The black horse named "Treading Snow" has its rider's cloak is black. In fact, Ashu Rufate himself is no exception. He wears the white cloak made by the elves.

The cloak has extraordinary craftsmanship. According to Aunt Mary, it should be a cloak made by an elves. But Ashu Rufate knew that even among the elves, this was not an ordinary cloak. In one of his dreams, this cloak was invulnerable and could not even penetrate bullets.

The second loud trumpet rang, reminding the contestants to be prepared and also reminding the staff who were performing the mission to leave the starting position quickly.

The ceremony officer quickly took his subordinates away. Soon after, the third formation horn sounded. This was the last signal to tell everyone that the game would start at any time.

Then, Ashu Rufate heard a loud gong ringing.
Chapter completed!