Ch.83Chapter 83 – Tired Faces and Tiresome Work (3)

Fortunately, thanks to the surprisingly enthusiastic devotees, there were separate audience seats on the first floor.

They seemed to be reserved for family members or high-ranking officials.

With no other options available, Sera and Beatrice forcibly took seats in the front row, which allowed us to barely make it into the arena.

But it really was a close call.

I could feel the tension of the tight rope binding my arm.

“…Is this really okay?”

I glanced at my left arm, which kept getting pulled back whenever I tried to move forward.

I could force myself to move forward.

But if I did, Beatrice would end up rolling on the ground.

At this rate, I’d have to fight without moving one of my arms from its position.

‘Asam said it could be released for about 10 minutes.’

That’s what Asam had told me before.

But for some reason, Beatrice hadn’t released it.

I wanted to ask why, but by then it was already too late time-wise.

In the end, I had to postpone the release for a little while.

And whether aware of my situation or not, my opponent stood quietly glaring at me.

‘He’s quite heavily armed.’

He carried a spear, shield, mace, and even a sword.

Due to the characteristics of the church’s holy relic, it seemed they had sent people who were skilled with various weapons.

In contrast, I only had a single sword.

Not knowing what I’d be doing today, I had left most of my weapons, including my halberd, at the lodging.

So my armament was relatively meager, and my opponent was smiling at me as if he’d already won.

Soon, a priest came out and began to recite a blessing.

“We dedicate this battle to the great God of Etiquette, Zeolei…”

There were five contestants including myself.

The venue was a large garden inside the church, but since this was a competition to select the next owner of the holy relic, they seemed to be conducting it with a certain formality.

Those who show up at such events are likely to be quite skilled in combat.

According to Rudger, to become the owner of the holy relic, one must either defeat Rudger or at least fight well, so they would have filtered out those known to be weak from the start.

‘Am I really going to be okay with this?’

If both my arms were free, it might be different, but to win against someone known for their skill using just one arm?

Even for me, this might be too much.

‘Maybe I should have just withdrawn.’

I stared blankly at the sky, wondering what to do.

Obviously, if I lost, not only would the paladin position be out of reach, but more importantly, the money would be gone too.

That’s right, money was at stake.

I had to win somehow.

“…How impudent… during prayer…”

Suddenly hearing a voice, I glanced up to see the knight in front of me praying with his hands clasped together.

Looking around, I saw the devotees praying with their hands together.

I must have missed the instruction to pray while lost in thought.

I suppose if someone were a religious zealot, they might find my attitude impudent…

‘…But do I really need to pray?’

I’m not affiliated with this church.

Sera and Beatrice weren’t praying either.

Logically, my behavior wasn’t necessarily wrong.

Still, apparently displeased with my actions, I heard some muttered criticisms after the prayer ended.

I tried to ignore them as the referee’s voice came through.

“Well then, would the two of you please prepare.”

The referee looked at me with eyes that clearly showed his dislike.

‘Are all religious people in this world zealots?’

Christina also has a somewhat… no, slightly below average level of zealotry.

To think they’d glare so openly just because a non-believer didn’t pray.

A moment later, I saw my opponent raising his shield and spear, and in response, I drew my sword.

“Begin!”

As the referee lowered his hand, cheers erupted.

“Max! Iron Wall Max!”

“Show us Zeolei’s wall!”

“Go, Max!”

The audience’s enthusiasm was quite impressive, even though this wasn’t the Colosseum but just a match arena centered around a large garden.

‘So becoming the owner of a holy relic is that significant.’

Voices hoping for an intense battle and voices wishing for my opponent to defeat me echoed around.

Amidst all that noise…

Neither of us was moving.

After some time passed, confused voices from the audience could be heard.

“…Why aren’t they moving?”

“Ahem!”

One audience member said that, and I heard Beatrice clearing her throat.

She must have realized she was the cause of this situation.

In fact, it was natural that neither of us moved.

We were both waiting for the other to make the first move.

“……”

“……”

Waiting for the opponent to move first.

Since we were both doing that, there was no movement.

It was obvious that my opponent was standing there intending to block my attack and counter if I charged in.

He was ready to thrust his spear at any moment.

But the problem was that I couldn’t run over there.

‘Should I try?’

I applied a little force and walked forward.

“Ahem, keck!”

Beatrice started coughing, so I immediately pulled my foot back.

Glancing at her, I saw a somewhat desperate light in her eyes.

She seemed to be asking me not to drag her around on the ground by moving too much.

‘I don’t really care about dragging her around.’

But if I did drag her on the ground, I’d be socially dead.

With no choice, I gave up and we resumed our standoff.

Time passed again.

The audience’s enthusiasm waned, and they looked down at me and my opponent with slightly disappointed eyes.

But what could I do? I couldn’t move.

“…Why aren’t you moving?”

A small voice rang out.

It was my opponent.

If I heard correctly earlier, his name was Max.

“Barbarian who doesn’t believe in God, are you scared?”

Max quietly extended his spear and shook it slightly.

“What, are you so afraid of this? Afraid you’ll get skewered? If you’re that scared, why not turn tail and run back to find your mommy?”

I couldn’t help but smirk at my opponent’s provocation.

Why would I approach him for his benefit?

Besides, for a cleric, his taunts were somewhat cute.

I should respond with a relaxed smile.

“Unfortunately, my mother is no longer in this world.”

The surroundings suddenly went quiet.

“Ah…”

“Lord Zeolei…”

Sympathetic sighs could be heard.

Some people were even praying.

Some priests turned their faces away, blushing.

‘Wait, why?’

I was slightly confused, wondering if I had said something wrong.

Looking at my opponent, he too was blushing slightly and turning his head away.

Though he quickly turned back, remembering we were in a match, his face was tinged with guilt.

“…I’m sorry, but I won’t go easy on you.”

Max began to slowly approach me with his shield raised.

It seemed he had changed his mind about countering since I wasn’t moving at all.

Or perhaps, judging by his face, he couldn’t bear to just stand still.

Soon Max was standing right in front of me, and I lightly raised my sword to examine him.

Naturally, Max made the first move.

“Take this!”

Max thrust his spear forcefully.

He seemed to think attacking first was advantageous due to the reach difference between the spear and sword.

His spear flew straight at me.

“Too slow.”

Judging by Max’s face, he seemed to have tried to thrust as fast as possible, but it was too slow.

It was at a speed where I could see and respond.

I simply twisted my body slightly to dodge it easily.

Then I immediately aimed for Max’s knee with the side of my sword.

-Thwack!

Because he was armored, Max’s knee wasn’t cut.

However, even if armor blocks an attack, it can’t completely prevent the impact.

Max’s knee immediately buckled.

His posture also crumbled slightly, seemingly caught off guard by the unexpected attack.

“Ugh?!”

Still, Max fell while extending his shield.

It was obvious that attacking with my sword would be blocked by the shield.

Looking at Max’s eyes, it seemed he intended to withstand the attack in this state and immediately counter.

‘I won’t let that happen.’

So I lifted my leg.

I pushed him down to the ground, shield and all.

“Huh…?”

If I had kicked him, he might have withstood it.

So I pushed him over instead.

In the end, having misread the situation, my opponent ended up pinned under his shield.

‘No need to hold back.’

He’s wearing full armor with a helmet.

Thinking he’d be fine, I stepped on the shield and applied pressure.

-Creeeeak

The sound of metal scraping against metal rang out as his armor and shield ground against each other.

And Max began to struggle like an upturned turtle.

“Ugh… what strength…?”

Judging by Max’s large body movements, he seemed to be trying his hardest to get up.

I could feel his resistance.

Matching his efforts, I applied more pressure, and he began frantically pounding on his shield.

He seemed to be trying to push me off somehow.

“Ugh… why is this… so…!”

Max couldn’t get up for quite some time.

Feeling a bit sorry for him, I removed my foot, and he finally managed to stand.

“Huff… finally…!”

Experiencing the joy of a turtle that had been flipped over and returned to its original state, Max gasped for breath.

He was so happy that he didn’t even raise his shield, which he had lifted when falling.

He was just breathing heavily with his head bowed.

Which conveniently positioned his head in just the right spot.

‘Perfect angle.’

-Thwack!

A crisp impact sound echoed through the arena.

‘Well, he’s wearing a helmet.’

He wouldn’t die.

Max’s body flew backward and began rolling on the ground.

“Ugh… ugh…”

Max began to twist his body while groaning.

He seemed desperate to get up, stretching his arm high into the air.

But eventually, his arm went limp as if his strength had left him.

“Uh… this is…”

The referee was staring blankly at Max in surprise.

He probably didn’t think someone wearing a helmet could be knocked unconscious with just a kick.

I could see his eyes trembling unstably.

‘Don’t tell me the referee bet on Max.’

Unfortunately, the world of competition is cold.

Now I should help him come to his senses.

“Referee, who won?”

“Ah.”

The referee looked at me in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected me to speak.

After a moment of confusion, looking back and forth between me and Max, he soon began to shout loudly.

“The winner is, K-E-I!”

As the announcement of the winner spread, applause echoed throughout the venue.

Everyone gathered here began to applaud, even if just a little.

Even the referee was clapping for me, though he looked like he might cry.

‘What’s going on?’

Unlike just before the fight, applause was erupting from all corners.

Sera and Beatrice also looked surprised, as if they hadn’t expected this.

‘These zealots, why are they acting like this?’

Compared to their reaction before the fight, it wouldn’t have been strange to hear voices of disappointment rather than applause.

Why were they behaving this way?

As I looked around in confusion, someone placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Referee?”

This person had seemed to dislike me at first.

He might even have bet money on Max.

But now, I couldn’t sense any hostility from the referee.

As I became slightly wary, he smiled and opened his mouth.

“…Your mother in heaven will be proud.”

The referee said this while wiping his eyes.

“……”

Apparently, I had sent my mother to heaven.

+

I walked down from the arena and approached Sera and Beatrice.

Beatrice immediately began to protest as if she had been waiting.

“Huff, keck. Hey, move moderately, moderately.”

“I thought I was controlling it?”

“I get pulled every time you move.”

Beatrice grumbled while massaging her neck.

Looking closely, there were traces of tears that had flowed down.

“What, are you happy I won?”

“What nonsense. I almost couldn’t breathe because you kept pulling so hard. I’m crying because I finally got to breathe.”

Beatrice continued to curse in various ways, but I proudly ignored her.

If she hadn’t been dragged on the ground, there was no problem.

“The next match is the final, right?”

“It’s a 1:1:1 including someone who won by default.”

“Why would they do it that way?”

Sera asked, but I didn’t know either.

Though I could make a guess.

Sera seemed to have asked not because she didn’t know, but because she wanted confirmation, as she immediately provided an answer.

“…Could it be they dislike Kei and are playing tricks?”

“That’s the most likely reason.”

My opponents, including Max, were promising candidates for the next paladin.

They probably had their own support groups.

From their perspective, they might have planned to join forces to eliminate me, the outsider, first, and then fight each other afterward.

“It’s fine by me.”

I had jumped into this competition assuming I would have no allies from the start.

So nothing has really changed.

“Well, they’ll probably team up to take me down in the finals.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Well, that Max guy was subdued quickly without being able to do much.”

Beatrice said while rummaging through her clothes.

She seemed to want to smoke.

“Hey, no smoking here.”

“Tch. These clerics, sneaking cigarettes in back alleys normally…”

Beatrice grumbled as she put her cigarettes back in her pocket.

She must have restrained herself to avoid being kicked out for smoking.

Still, seemingly disappointed, she looked at her cigarette pack as she continued speaking.

“Anyway, since the promising successor candidate was handled like a child, they must be feeling the pressure. The final will essentially be 1:2, I bet.”

That was certainly true.

Although the atmosphere got strange in the middle, Max was defeated without being able to do much.

“…Well, even if two of that level team up, they won’t be able to do much.”

“That’s true.”

If they were of similar skill level, it might be different, but if the final opponents were at the same level as Max, honestly, I’m confident I won’t lose.

“Still, I shouldn’t be too optimistic.”

It was easy to win, but I was currently handicapped.

I had overcome one hurdle, but the situation of fighting with one hand, and almost in place, remained unchanged.

“Didn’t Asam say this could be released for 10 minutes?”

“Oh, you remembered?”

There’s no need for a handicap play in the finals.

I need to win here to make money from the bet and get paid by Rudger.

Beatrice predicts it will be easy even with one hand, but there’s no need to take unnecessary risks.

“Can you release this when the final starts?”

Since Beatrice had also bet money, she should grant this much of a request.

Then I could fight freely without a handicap in the next match.

And Beatrice nodded with a serious face.

“No.”

“What?”

I stared blankly at Beatrice, dumbfounded by the unexpected answer.

Beatrice still had a serious expression.

“Why not?”

Beatrice looked at her cigarette pack again before putting it away.

She seemed to be thinking about how to answer.

After a while, she opened her mouth.

“Too bothersome.”

My patience suddenly began to be tested.