"A special pass, Captain? That would be wonderful, I was just thinking it would be too troublesome if I had to line up every time."
Shard raised his glass to toast the captain, and Captain Lades was pleased to be able to help Shard:
"You've helped me so much; this is a small matter. Oh, by the way, I forgot to congratulate you."
He lowered his voice with a smile:
"The champion of the 1854 Horsemanship Competition."
Saying that, he clinked glasses with Shard. It was already Tuesday now, and news of last Thursday's competition had spread throughout the entire Old Continent; Captain Lades naturally knew about it.
"It's nothing."
"You're too modest, you might be the most impressive person I know."
As he spoke, the captain started to talk about fresh news from his own work:
