“Are these things alive?”
“Probably.”
“Sigh. It’s going to be tough to interrogate them like this.”
Renny clicked her tongue as she kicked the mashed-up assassins. It seemed she was quite disappointed that they were in no condition to be interrogated. I was gathering the remaining assassins who were still breathing and thoroughly searched them.
If these guys belonged to the Halphas Cult, they should have a tattoo of Halphas’s followers on their bodies. I started to rip off the clothes of some assassins to check their backs.
“Bare skin, huh? Are they not the wrong guys?”
“No. Look closely. Isn’t their skin suspiciously clean?”
They had been hit with dirt on a rainy day, so there’s no way they wouldn’t have bruises. Upon hearing this, Renny gasped and nodded.
I tore off the synthetic leather stuck to the assassins’ backs. As it ripped, blue and red flowers filled their backs, along with a crow mark crossing through it.
“The Halphas Cult…”
So it’s definitely the Halphas Cult. It was slightly ambiguous in the original, but now that I’ve confirmed it’s the Halphas Cult, I feel a bit more at ease.
A clearly defined enemy is much easier to deal with than a vague one. If another cult popped up here, it would have been a real headache.
“Why are these guys so hell-bent on targeting Karina?”
“If Karina dies, it’s game over; no, the world ends.”
“Those crazy bastards.”
“I agree.”
I don’t get why they’re so eager to cause chaos, but it won’t be easy for them if I don’t demolish the Halphas Cult members completely. They even disguised themselves as civilians and blended into the festival right now.
Normally, an assassin blending in among a crowd would be a huge problem. I can’t check everyone’s backs, and the complaints that would roll in from that are painfully obvious.
“Johann, are these people here to kill me…?”
“Yeah.”
Karina seemed quite shocked that the assassins were targeting her, her voice lacking strength. Perhaps the memories from her journey being chased by the cults were resurfacing.
As security forces and officials remained in the auditorium, a shadow fell over Karina’s expression.
“This is the first time in history an assassin has barged in on a saint.”
Merlin, the principal, abruptly stated, and everyone turned to look at him. His usual friendly face was replaced by a serious expression as he surveyed us before continuing.
“Tomorrow, I’ll mobilize even those on leave for a thorough inspection. And about the southern mercenaries you were curious about…”
“Thank you.”
“As a principal, I cannot just stand by while one of my students gets ambushed. I’ll personally craft a protective artifact for you. Though I’ve been a bit rusty from just sitting in a chair, I should be able to keep you safe to some degree.”
That would certainly be better.
“For now, these folks will be interrogated by security forces. There’s no need to show mercy on wicked heretics… and the campfire is canceled. In this atmosphere, it wouldn’t be possible to hold it anyway.”
“What about the martial arts tournament?”
“We’ll proceed with it to verify whether the person you suspect is genuine or not. If he’s the real deal, he won’t appear tomorrow.”
If he really is an assassin, he wouldn’t be a fool to walk into his own death right now.
But if he is…
“Then I’ll officially end today’s schedule here. Everyone go back. We’ll handle the cleanup.”
Everyone nodded to Merlin’s words.
————–
“He’s appeared in the martial arts arena.”
At the guard’s report, I glanced at Renny. Leaning against the wall, Renny turned her gaze toward the martial arts arena at the news.
“He’s here…”
Is that guy an innocent mercenary or really an assassin?
It was still tough to judge. He might have come prepared to escape even if he was surrounded, or he could be here with the fanatic mindset that even if he dies, he’ll take Karina down with him.
I thought the latter was highly likely.
But if he is indeed from the Halphas Cult…
In any case, since he had appeared in the martial arts arena, I needed to get ready to fight.
I quickly checked my equipment one last time.
The mithril shovel looked like a shovel made of iron thanks to the dye. Rue was hanging not in my wheelchair pouch but on my waist.
It may not look good, but I needed this thing to take down that stalker guy.
And lastly, my newly created equipment. I had modified it while saving time to sleep. Instead of a hook, I had attached a poisoned tip, ready to show my opponents the taste of poison if things got dicey.
I might get called a coward, but I’m not a knight who fights fair in the first place.
I’m closer to a hunter that uses every means to hunt the enemy down.
It’s kind of how I fight, after all.
Surely he won’t run away midway. It’d be ridiculous to run after coming this far.
Unless he’s crazy, he wouldn’t flee.
“Esteemed audience! Though there was an unfortunate incident yesterday, the martial arts tournament will proceed as usual! Please focus on determining the champion of the tournament!”
Today’s only the finals.
I leisurely watched the two warriors stepping onto the martial arts arena. I wanted to gauge their strengths a bit more.
One was Theo Grass. The other was a suspicious character, Stork.
Stork clearly had a better chance of winning, but Theo Grass wasn’t an easy match either. He wasn’t as good as Lewis, but he was still pretty capable.
Unfortunately, he just got a bad opponent.
“The pride of the Knight Department! Theo Grass! And his opponent! The southern mercenary! An unexpected dark horse! Stork!”
“Wooooooah!”
Even with the unfortunate event from yesterday, the crowd cheered for the rare spectacle. The lack of entertainment nowadays made this understandable.
“Now! We’ll fill this martial arts arena! Let the roar of the audience commence as we get started!”
A familiar phrase echoed in the arena, and the cheer was loud enough to burst your eardrums. In contrast, the arena was wrapped in lifeless silence.
Surely neither of these two would hear a sound.
Both were likely looking for openings to sink their teeth into each other’s necks. I stared at Stork, hoping to glimpse a bit of his skills.
His expression was filled with confidence. Meanwhile, Theo Grass looked tense.
The two stood frozen like statues, staring each other down.
The audience fell silent, suffocated by the tension. It was so quiet you could hear an ant crawling. The first one to break the silence was clearly the underdog, Theo Grass.
“The first move is by Theo Grass! He comes down strongly from above! Stork remains unfazed!”
He swung his sword down with full force. It was overly exaggerated, but Stork raised his weapon as if to say he’d take it.
“Stork blocks effortlessly! What will Theo Grass do next?”
Sparks flew from the sword in the air.
The first attack clearly failed.
But he couldn’t stop his assault.
“Theo Grass! He’ll surely punctuate to regain control!”
Theo’s sword aimed for Stork’s heart with a quick thrust. He was not holding back, fully aware it was going to be blocked anyway.
“Oh! Theo’s sword slides! Stork counters with a neat deflection! Theo loses his stance! He’s in danger, DANGER!!”
As expected, Stork casually deflected the thrust with his sword’s edge. By redirecting Theo’s slipping sword, he threw Theo Grass’s stance into disarray.
An extremely critical moment.
Facing Stork’s attack, Theo chose to roll. He swiftly dodged Stork’s strike.
“Theo! A swift response! He avoids Stork’s first strike! And follows up with another thrust! This time targeting the legs!”
…The situation seemed one-sided with Theo Grass being toyed around.
But he wasn’t discouraged and fought to the best of his abilities.
…Not bad at all?
If properly trained, he might come in handy one day.
Anyway, the match was nearing its conclusion. Theo Grass’s expression was increasingly losing vigor.
In contrast, Stork was casually deflecting his attacks as if playing with a child.
Is it showmanship, or is he acting?
Still hard to tell.
At this point, he’s just toying with him.
“Ah! In the end, Theo Grass bows to Stork’s counterattack! The winner is Stork! Stork! Everyone, please give a warm welcome to our champion!”
“Woooooooah!”
“Stork! Stork! Stork!”
How fervent. I stowed my weapon and relaxed as I watched Stork wave lazily to the audience.
I wonder how capable he really is.
It was disappointing not to gauge his strength, but there’s no way I’m losing.
I watched the announcer as the cheers died down. He skillfully built suspense before holding up a loudspeaker with amplification magic.
“But! This isn’t the end! Sir Quartz, the knight serving the saint, has agreed to face off against the champion! In 30 minutes! The match will start in 30 minutes!”
“Sir Quartz?”
“We just fought, didn’t we?”
“They said we’re getting a break.”
“But who is Sir Quartz?”
I took a step forward, hearing the whispers of the audience discussing me. The moment I stepped out from the shadows of the VIP seats into the sunlight, all eyes locked onto me.
They’re probably debating who I am right now. I glanced around the audience and made eye contact with Stork for a final time.
His eyes were devoid of emotion.
Could he really be an assassin, or not?
In 30 minutes, I’d find out.
“Whether that guy is an assassin or not, just win.”
“I believe Johann will win.”
“Thanks.”
They’re probably watching everyone else by now; I need to win this convincingly.
I spent the next 30 minutes checking my gear again.
And then,
“Thank you for waiting! The match between the winner and the knight guard will now commence! But, you probably don’t know much about Sir Quartz! So before we start the match, let me introduce Sir Quartz’s achievements…?”
Why.
Why are you staring at me while holding paper?
Hurry up and read.
We need to fight.
The announcer, despite the professional decorum, soon broke out of his daze and started reading the contents on the paper to the audience.
“Haha! What an amazing person! A truly illustrious career! Firstly! A level 3 magician in the Mage Guild and a level 2 explorer in the Explorer Guild! A master craftsman in the Civil Engineering Guild, Builders Guild, and Blacksmithing Guild, and besides that…”
Are you seriously going to read all this?
“How can anyone have such a long list…”
“Is it possible for one person to collect this many?”
“Can one person even earn so many certifications?”
“It takes years to get just one certification. This sounds like a tall tale.”
I caught the audience’s incredulous looks while glaring at the announcer. Eventually, the announcer seemed to find it tedious to read everything and summarized his statement.
“…he has an impressive list of achievements that make one doubt if a single person could accomplish them! This is sure to be a thrilling match!”
…That guy isn’t showing even the slightest reaction. I thought he’d at least show a hint of disbelief.
“Alright! Without further ado, let’s start the match!”
Time to get started.
I opened my mouth.
“O Great Apostle of Destruction, have you come to fulfill your duty?”
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