Getting to this point in the tournament was enough to get some people in the crowd to be on her side. People saw her as a joke candidate. Then she beat 2 veterans on the tourney circuit. I was really proud of her. All 5 of us made it to the round of 32. This was where the wheat was separated from the chafe. Those remaining here were all true contenders for the finals. It was a much tougher fight, but all of us got through with grit. Molly was knocked out of the running in the round of 16. The knight was very flexible and also pretty knowledgeable about grapple holds. It was actually a really good match though. Molly ended up under the man who held her down by sitting on her and holding her wrists over her head. She lost, but a good portion of the crowd looked favorably on her. She did much better than everyone had been thinking. It was also the case that Molly did better than most of the men competing. Len got through his round. The other hybrids breezed through their fights though they had more armor to tear through. It was now the quarterfinal. I was feeling good about my chance.
Having my buffs and skills, I was able to use my agility to get around him. Whittle him down until he makes a mistake was my battle strategy. He was younger and had a lot more energy than me. When I defeated him, I was in the semifinal now. Len fought against Mighel. It was a brutal fight. Len also had the speed buff, but the ferocity of his opponent was something I had not prepared him for. Len was only barely able to get Mighel in a tight enough sleeper hold to put him down. That was great. He was a great sport and carried Mighel over his shoulder. I pulled him into a deep hug. "Len, I am so proud of you. Let's walk around when you calm down a bit. Hopefully we can find a noble for you to be in service to." I said happily. His tail was vigorously wagging behind him. Betan was able to get through his match with a ton of skill. Barat just powered through his opponent. That set the semifinals between the 4 of us. That was going to be the next day. I would cede to Len obviously. This was all to help him. It was his time to shine. Betan was used to sparring with my 6 boys. Barat was more feral.
I knew that Betan was watching them closer. "Those Yellowtail brothers are more beast than boy." he muttered to me during their second round matches. I shrugged my shoulders. "They are bastard sons of one of the blood knights. He's a nice guy, but the social norms of the world means that he is ashamed of them. It's not a glamorous thing to have children out of wedlock in my old world, but we also did not have any other race aside from humans. Having hybrid children put him in a place where he felt trapped. He was ashamed of them, but could not bring himself to disown them. That halfway measure led to this. Near feral due to their mother's influence, but a pair of knights with the basest training in weaponry due to their father's guilt. They are a different class of fighter than my sons." I explained. He looked straight ahead as he thought it over. "I see. I'm going to have to go in with the mindset of putting down a feral beast kin." he said. I blinked. "I guess? Don't kill them. You probably are going to need that mindset to not be overpowered." I said. I wondered if Betan was up to the task.
As we walked around the town when the arena was dismissed, we did find several nobles that wanted to talk to us. This was a family affair. I did not want Molly to be left out. The 3 of us were together. Since Molly was a woman and not a man, a lot of the older nobles wanted to marry her to their sons. If she was this much of a martially powerful knight, having children with him would guarantee martial prowess would be passed down. This was especially the case if the man she married was also a strong knight. I wanted the best for both of my children. I wanted them to not be too far from me because I loved them. Local nobles and courtiers of the king were acceptable as it was not too far in terms of the world. It was easy enough that the chronically ill king could visit us every single year for hunting. As her father, I had the final say. I asked her if she wanted to be married. She was stunned and unable to answer. "That's totally fine. We can here for employment, not marriage." I said. They, for the most part, did not want to employ a female knight. All but one man. He had 3 noble daughters.
