Crazy bastards.
They’re all coming after me, the whole Theology Department.
Of course, not literally everyone, but hey, you’re the professor for the Paladin major.
Why aren’t you stopping the students? Instead, you’re enjoying the show and watching?
With your hands behind your back, are you just here to give pointers instead of joining in? Or are you merely a spectator?
I have a lot to argue about, but since I was the one who told everyone to come out, I guess it’s best to quietly prepare for the fight.
I stood in the wide square, slowly scanning the deranged fanatics.
There are at least around 200 of them, or maybe even over 300.
If we assume the worst-case scenario, it’s roughly 1 against 300.
Considering that I must avoid all murder, this will not be an easy battle.
It’s not a fight I can’t win, though.
“You’ve all gathered to take me down, huh?”
“How dare you lay a hand on the Saint! And you call yourself a Knight!”
Since they’re all bunched up, I can’t tell who’s speaking. I shrugged off the gazes watching me with an unnecessarily solemn expression and pulled out the shovel I had slung across my back.
“Karina, stay back.”
“Johann, do your best!”
…Cheering from here isn’t the most recommended action. But since I received encouragement, I have to win for sure. I scanned the energized atmosphere of the Theology Department, fueled by Karina’s cheer, and started plotting a plan in my head.
To take on 300 with one, a thorough plan was necessary.
“Since these are Theology students, as long as I don’t kill them, I should be fine.”
They’re all priests, so they would manage to heal their own injuries, right? They wouldn’t dare to whine to me for getting hurt after charging recklessly.
I wondered who would give the signal to start the fight.
As I looked at the enemies filling my vision, I scanned around, and in the back, I saw an old man chatting with Karina.
Isn’t that the Archbishop? Why isn’t he stopping them?
“Crispy Archbishop.”
“I regret that it has come to this.”
“Why aren’t you stopping them?”
“Don’t you think they need to get hit a few times to come to their senses? They’ll handle the healing themselves, so just give them a proper lesson.”
If the highest authority of the Theology Department says that, maybe I should let loose.
I extended the shovel and drove its end into the ground. As if that were the starting signal, 300 theology students stepped forward, each wielding their weapons.
Rumble.
Watching as 300 people rallied together to take me down was more thrilling than I expected.
“Hmm… Crafting.”
The basics of fighting against many is to avoid letting them form a square. I created a small moat in front of me. Though small, it would be hard to exit if they fell in.
That served as the signal for the battle to begin.
“Knights speak with their swords! Don’t think you can stop us with such crude methods!”
Crude.
Crude, you say…
“Crafting.”
A barrier that’s 1 meter thick and 3 meters high appeared in front of the moat. This wall, made from rocks embedded in the ground, wouldn’t easily be broken. Unless it’s a famous Swordmaster, the average person would only leave a scar on the wall.
“Crafting.”
I sat on a chair made of earth and listened to the sound of the wall being destroyed. There was no need to exert unnecessary effort from the start. To catch me, they’d have to come over the wall, and they had no magicians in the Theology Department to break it down in one go.
Those who learn Sacred Magic typically can’t use most regular magic. I’ve heard that pure magical power and sacred power have different properties.
“Hmm. Slower than I thought.”
“Haha, you seem quite villainous.”
The Crispy Archbishop spoke to me with a cheerful laugh. It seemed he was just enjoying the show.
Well, it is an entertaining show, after all…
“I’m a villain to them, aren’t I?”
“Not wrong at all.”
“Johann, they seem to be coming at you!”
Faster than I thought. I glanced over the somewhat crumbling wall and the Paladin swarm coming through.
“You! How dare you use such cowardly tricks! Are you still able to call yourself a knight!”
“Are you insulting the Crispy Archbishop now?”
“What…”
I could see the Paladin at the front shifting his gaze to Archbishop Crispy. After all, it was the Crispy Archbishop who knighted me, so insulting my knighthood means insulting him too.
“Haha…”
The Crispy Archbishop chuckled from behind me.
Should I start moving soon?
“Dismantle.”
I quietly stood up. It was time to deal with the fools rushing in.
First, the one in the front.
What was that guy’s name again? Hans?
I kicked the ground, pulling my arm back to grip the shovel firmly over my shoulder. Positioning like I was holding a spear with both hands, a couple of swords came rushing at me. A direct confrontation wouldn’t be favorable.
“Crafting.”
I blocked those trying to surround me with a wall, then thrust the shovel at the lone opponent in front of me.
He tried to block with his sword, but the tricky part about using a shovel as a weapon is its versatility, unlike other weapons.
I twirled the shovel to hit the blade with the shovel’s back, sliding over his sword like a salmon swimming upstream. And as the shovel’s blade passed over his sword, I rotated it horizontally and pulled back.
His balance crumbled.
And the collapse of balance meant exposing a weakness.
“What the…?!”
In an instant, I whacked the shovel across the guy’s head who had lost his sword, and I used the falling form of the next guy as a shield to block the attack and swung the handle into his jaw. With a heavy thud, the unidentified student A crumpled to the ground.
As I continued dealing with them one by one, around thirty students were sprawled around me in no time.
So that leaves… 270 left?
That’s still a ton.
Swinging a shovel and taking them one by one is a hassle.
I jammed the shovel into the ground and used a skill.
“Crafting.”
—————————-
“They’ve vanished!”
Nobody knew who was shouting. But the theology students gathered to punish the shameless knight believed it was the voice of their fallen comrade.
“What if we lose track of the enemy!”
Professor Wilhelm, specializing in Paladin, shouted at the top of his lungs, personally directing the crazed students who wanted to kick Johann Quartz out of his knightly position.
It was an opportunity to witness the skills of the infamous crow hunter first-hand.
If possible, I wanted to face him 1-on-1, but I was also interested in how he’d act in a ridiculously unfair situation of facing overwhelming numbers.
Being a bodyguard often puts you in extremely unreasonable situations.
“Impressive, quite impressive.”
15 minutes into the battle.
Thirty had fallen.
If they were real enemies, they would have been a much tougher opponent. Thinking about where the one who vanished might be now, I urged the students to stay vigilant around them.
“Don’t let your guard down! They wouldn’t have fled, leaving the Saint behind!”
“Gyaaahhh!”
“Behind! It’s behind us!”
“Help!”
“Huh. I can’t tell if that’s a mole or a person.”
From his posture holding the shovel, it looked like he could dig up some ground, but popping out of the ground like a gopher was quite something. The man who appeared behind the panicking students shook the dirt off his body.
“Crafting.”
With that one word, the ground flipped entirely. A wall surged up between people, and the ground began to recover, making Wilhelm click his tongue.
“There’s no point in commanding when it’s like that… I suppose I’m not the one to gauge this situation.”
“The forces have split in half! Quickly, break the wall!”
“Someone’s behind the wall!”
“If we break it, the ones behind will get hurt too!”
It was chaotic, and even more chaotic. Wilhelm sensed he wouldn’t be heard no matter how much he shouted, so he sat on a nearby rock, watching as the students were systematically taken down.
Some fell after getting struck from behind, others got tangled up and fainted under the pile, and some simply lost the will to fight and fled.
Wilhelm muttered that it was a boring fight, clicking his tongue.
Just as he was about to lose interest in this one-sided battle, a desperate shout came from behind.
“Johann! We’ve come to help!”
“What about you guys?”
“I’m Lewis! I heard Sir Quartz was in trouble, so I rushed over!”
“Quite the reputation you’ve built.”
“Eh?”
“No, no. You boys should just watch. This will end soon anyway.”
Lewis and the Knight Department students turned to the terrifying battlefield as per Wilhelm’s words. Just as Wilhelm said, the 300 theology students were being ruthlessly suppressed without putting up any real resistance.
“Whoa, so you gotta go this hard to catch a demon, huh?”
“Did we come for no reason?”
“Still, it’s quite the show, right?”
The Knight Department students chatted like spectators at an arena, watching the brutally unfair match of 1 against 300.
The end of this futile battle approached exactly 40 minutes after it began.
—————
After a while of putting my body through the wringer, I felt like I had a decent workout.
I glanced at the theology students sprawled around and spoke to Archbishop Crispy.
“Is it okay if I go now?”
“Make sure everything goes smoothly. We’ll handle the cleanup. I reckon this should cool their tempers a bit…”
The Crispy Archbishop smiled as though he felt relieved and sent us off. I briefly looked at the pile of theology students I had taken down, then walked over to Karina.
“I’m back.”
“…Are you okay?”
“They’re a resilient bunch, so they should be fine.”
“Maybe it’s better if I heal them…”
“If it makes you feel better, go right ahead.”
That’s definitely Karina for you. Such a kind-hearted person.
“…Kalon, please bless your lamb.”
I leisurely watched the grand spectacle of sacred light enveloping the ground. Even in the game, it felt different when done alone. Epic scale.
It took Karina less than 5 minutes to heal the 300-person group.
Once she finished healing, she walked back to me.
I observed her walking towards me for a moment before extending my hand.
“Let’s go back.”
“…Okay!”
The warmth and softness of her gentle hand covered my rough and rugged palm.
We walked side by side towards Yeomyeong-gwan.
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