The Saintess’s Proposal (4)

Seraphina, who had been struck on the wrist by Yuria, lost her grip on Ian’s hand.

Startled, she looked up to see Yuria glaring coldly at her.

It felt a little scary.

“Hee, h-hiing…!”

Seraphina rubbed her tingling wrist, her face on the verge of tears.

“W-what is this!”

“Saintess! Are you alright!?”

The Holy knight candidates bristled at the scene.

“You, you…!”

“How dare you do that to the Saintess!”

They seemed ready to run in, fists raised, unless an apology was forthcoming.

“What? And what are you going to do about it?”

But Yuria didn’t even flinch.

Yuria was just as—no, even angrier than they were.

How dare she… what should I call it… anyway, trying to take Ian away like that.

“Coming at me? Then come on in. I’ll finish this in one go.”

“You think we won’t!? I’ll break your wrist!”

The ballroom was on the verge of turning into a battlefield in an instant.

A volatile moment.

At that moment—

“Everyone, that’s enough.”

A weighty voice cut through the tense air.

― Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.-

Turning toward the voice, a man clad in heavy armor strode forward confidently.

He looked about 190cm tall, with a boyish face looking around eighteen or nineteen.

A gentle visage remarkably similar to the Saintess, but with slightly sharper features.

Fine, sand-colored hair and purgatory-colored eyes.

“Nice to meet you all. Young master of Hisperion, miss, and brothers. My name is Garenus McKellan.”

Seraphina’s biological older brother.

And—

“I’m here as the representative of the holy knight apprentices as well as the Holy knight candidates. I look forward to working with you.”

With dignified movements, Garenus gave a knightly salute.

“Hmph!”

“Tch….”

But Kuga and the direct line showed only coldness.

It wasn’t the right atmosphere for friendly introductions.

“Hmm.”

Garenus didn’t seem to care.

After all, he hadn’t come to exchange pleasantries, either.

“It seems you’re all displeased with us, but I won’t apologize. What the Saintess says is the will of all of us.”

Garenus continued calmly.

“We came here in accordance with His Holiness the Pope’s holy command to bring young master Ian to the Holy Kingdom. Therefore, by legitimate means and with righteous methods, we fully intend to bring young master Ian to the Holy Kingdom.”

“Ha!”

Yuria sneered incredulously.

“Legitimate means? Righteous methods? Is grabbing a boy’s hand and whining your idea of fair and just?”

“Consider that the Saintess’s charm. Isn’t it cute?”

“What…?”

Garenus wiped under his nose with a satisfied look.

Now it was clear he was a hopeless little-sister fanatic.

“The legitimate method I refer to is a contest—a fair duel where both sides agree to terms, and both winner and loser take responsibility and accept the result with honor.”

Garenus spoke solemnly.

“Of course, the choice belongs to young master Ian. If Ian refuses, there is nothing we can do. Forcing a duel on someone unwilling would be nothing but unjust violence. If he immediately declines, we’ll withdraw without further protest. But.”

A fire sparked in Garenus’s eyes.

“If the young master does not refuse, none of you have the right to interfere with this contest. Only honorably—with dignity. If you wish, you may join the contest as well.”

“Uh, ugh…!”

“Tch…!”

Everyone looked angry, but since he was only stating the proper rationale, none could rebut.

In the end, as Garenus said, the choice belonged to Ian.

Now was the time for Ian to speak up.

“Then, I suppose I should state my opinion.”

At those words, every gaze turned to Ian.

“So, to get to the conclusion first…”

Ian looked over both the Saintess and the Holy knight candidates as he spoke.

“I have no intention of going to the Holy Kingdom.”

Mixed emotions flickered among both the Saintess’s group and the Sword Dragon Hall group.

“Ah!”

“Knew it!”

“But the wager is very tempting. So tempting I can’t refuse.”

“Hmm!”

“Gasp!”

A glimmer of hope appeared on the Saintess’s side, while a hint of tension crossed the Sword Dragon Hall.

“As expected! On the path of Radiance, there is always hope!”

“Ian! So what are you going to do!? Will you accept the bet?”

“……”

Ian turned to the Sword Dragon Hall group.

“I need your help. I want to accept this contest. And I will definitely win.”

“Ah!”

“Hmm!”

The Sword Dragon Hall group each reacted differently to Ian’s words.

Some were worried, others’ competitive spirit flared.

But none were angry or objected.

The choice was Ian’s, and he’d said he didn’t want to leave.

“Haa…”

Yuria just parted her lips, letting out a sigh.

Those who were worried finally nodded as well.

“If that’s what you want, so be it. Fine. Ian. This time, I’ll protect you.”

“… Do you know how much I’ve struggled so far… I absolutely won’t let the young master go to the Holy Kingdom!”

Those with burning fighting spirit grinned and patted Ian’s shoulder.

“I was secretly hoping you’d accept. I want to show them what we’re made of. I’ll do my best.”

“If the war chief says to fight, a warrior simply obeys. Hmph!”

Ian smiled, pleased.

When he glanced back at the Saintess and the Holy knight candidates, their eyes were also glowing.

“I thought you would agree, young master. This too is the path of Radiance—Radiance’s guidance.”

“Young master Ian! You absolutely won’t regret this! No matter what happens! Let’s both do our best!”

“I look forward to a fair contest, Ian.”

“A fine junior will be joining! Not that we’d ever lose!”

― Pang!-

Yuria slapped her fist into her palm.

“You? You said you’d wager your holy artifact, right? Let’s go. Let’s see who wins. Though betting you for Ian is nowhere near enough, since Ian wants it, I’ll grant you the honor of facing us.”

“Fuhihi…!”

Saintess Seraphina covered her mouth and laughed slyly.

“Now that young master Ian has accepted, the game is as good as over! Oh! No taking back now! No way! Absolutely forbidden! The Lord of Light doesn’t forgive such things!”

“Ian doesn’t say anything twice. You guys better not back out later. Get your holy artifact nicely wrapped up and ready to send over at once.”

“Hmph! You better prepare plenty of tissues! You’ll need them to mop your tears at Ian’s farewell! Hooha!”

― Bzzzzzt!!-

A fierce staring contest erupted between Sword Dragon Hall and the Saintess’s group.

“I specialize in hunting the big ones!”

“This warrior will pluck all that yellow weed from your head!”

“Let me show you the Holy Kingdom’s skill.”

“Hmph! I can already guess who’ll win!”

Both sides flung fighting words, their competitive flames burning.

Ian, standing between them, quietly smacked his lips.

‘This is quite the windfall.’

A chance to win the Holy Sword Heliodin itself.

‘It’s basically getting it for free.’

By the time the final test of this training camp arrives, he’d be a late-stage Swordmaster.

There’s no way he could lose in a match against these kids, even if he tried.

‘I already feel Heliodin in my hands.’

Despite that, Ian forced himself to calm his excitement.

‘Still, I mustn’t relax.’

No matter how overwhelming the situation looked—

Ian’s way was always to tap even an adamantium bridge before crossing.

Missing out on this opportunity due to a moment’s carelessness would mean suffering excruciating regret.

‘I can never go to the Holy Kingdom, and I can’t let Heliodin slip away, either.’

The victory was practically certain, but he’d never be careless until the end.

He would push his overwhelming odds even higher, until his victory was absolute.

‘I’d better make sure I’m perfectly prepared.’

In that moment, a quiet fire also began blazing in Ian’s eyes.

* * *

“Since young master Ian has accepted our contest, this servant will take her leave, satisfied. After all, I must prepare to win this bet.”

“Spend a hundred years preparing. You’ll never beat us.”

“Fuhihit! We’ll see when the time comes! Bye for now!”

“Those little…”

The Saintess’s group and her attendants retreated, their battle of nerves with Sword Dragon Hall continuing until the end.

“Ian! You’re confident, right!? We can definitely win, can’t we!?”

“We just need to prepare properly. As long as we don’t get careless, our side should win. Looking at the lineups, that’s clear.”

“Whew… Alright! I trust you! Let’s show them!”

“I’ll definitely protect you.”

“Ian, y-young master! I-I’ll do my best too…!”

“This warrior is heading off to sweat.”

And so the group camp training began the next day.

Mornings were filled with strategy and theory lessons—

such as using terrain, signal systems, developing role assignments, and so on.

Afternoons were for physical training and practical classes—

team battles, cliff climbing, swordsmanship practice, and more.

After Sword Dragon Hall’s daily schedule ended, Ian would return to Lunabreeze and focus on using the Authority of Projection to replicate the Millennium Gold Essence.

Several weeks—then over a month—passed quickly like that.

‘These kids… they’re actually pretty skilled.’

Sparring and physical training with the others let Ian measure the Holy Kingdom’s level.

There were three Holy knight candidates in total.

Two had skills about on par with Kargon and Charlotte.

But the Holy knight candidate leader, Garenus, seemed even stronger than Yuria.

He had talent equal to a Hisperion direct line, was only 18, and had already reached Mid-stage Expert.

Most likely, he’d hit Late-stage Expert by next year.

Moreover, not only did he have aura, he possessed sacred power as well. If he received the blessings of his sister Seraphina, his pure fighting strength would reach Late-stage Expert and beyond.

‘No wonder the Saintess was confident enough to challenge us.’

Her faith in her older brother was obvious.

‘And the Saintess herself isn’t a pushover, either.’

The Saintess’s physical strength was on par even with Barbarian Kuga.

Seeing that little girl lift up boulders the size of wild boars during mountain training was more than a bit shocking.

That formidable strength was just one of the many blessings she carried from her immense sacred power.

‘For Yuria to break free by smacking the Saintess’s hand away…’

Just how hard had Yuria hit her hand back then?

‘Now that I think about it, even my own hand tingled a bit.’

Thank goodness Ian had taken Tianxuedan and his body had toughened up.

If a normal person had been caught up, at least one—either the hand or wrist—would surely have been shattered.

Of course, Yuria had likely done the math before hitting so hard.

‘Still—’

Though Seraphina the Saintess possessed monstrous strength, her pure fighting skill wasn’t that impressive.

She’d focused more on healing, blessing, and miraculous holy arts rather than combat techniques.

Of course, even that was troublesome in its own way.

‘Still, we can definitely win. Our side.’

Ian’s plan to reach late-stage Swordmaster by year’s end was proceeding smoothly.

He had reached Swordmaster Median already, and was now steadily channeling aura into the Authority of Projection to replicate the Millennium Gold Essence.

Each time a Millennium Gold Essence was produced, he’d immediately take it to increase his dantian’s maximum aura, and planned to repeat this process thirteen times.

‘Then when the final test comes…’

He’d be able to reach late-stage Swordmaster with ease.

‘By that point…’

Even if every Holy knight candidate and holy knight apprentice from the Holy Kingdom attacked Ian at once, he’d be able to defeat them easily.

‘The Holy Sword Heliodin. I’ll be seeing you soon.’

It was the height of midsummer.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

New weapon, incoming…

Does it also have sword spirit release?

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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