Chapter 50: Volume 3 - CH 13

The following day started the second round of matches, with eight matches, and naturally Kyle, Seran, and Leyla managed to succeed smoothly.

“Still, most of the winning candidates may have gotten kicked out, but it’s still as exciting as before.”

Seran and Kyle were in the special training space of the arena, as Seran reminisced about today’s matches. Even today, Leyla received roaring applause that could make your ears hurt. Her absolute popularity was enough to get the audience excited.

“That old hag sure is popular, alright.”

“In Rimarze, she was acting like a simple teacher and mercenary though,” Kyle remembered his image of Leyla back in the day, and showed a somewhat surprised expression.

“So, did you come up with any countermeasure against the old hag?” Seran asked, but Kyle shook his head.

To Kyle, Leyla is his teacher, and someone on the level of family, so naturally he knew her all too well. At the same time, she should know practically everything about him, so any clever tricks won’t work against her.

“I see. Well, go get her, tiger.”

“Must be nice not having to fight her, you bastard.” Kyle glared at him.

“Just give up, this is the path you’ve chosen. More importantly, is this good enough?” Seran was worried about his semi-finals match with Kyle.

Coming to this practice ring was to deceive Leyla, plotting the fixed match, deciding on believable ways to make Kyle win.

“With how far she is from the actual fight, I think we should be fine…”

“We might as well…No, maybe a feigned illness instead…” Seran was involved himself, so he was thinking about it quite seriously.

After their secret meeting ended, Kyle returned to Lieze and the others, and Kyle stayed behind to think about countermeasures against Leyla some more. He stood in the center of the small arena, and started his Phantasmal Enemy skill, which used both self-hypnosis and illusion to conjure an actual enemy. He closed his eyes to obtain focus, when he started to see the hallucination of Leyla in front of him. She was almost exactly built as the real Leyla, even flashing an invincible smile as she always would. With any other foe, he would be able to attack, but his feet wouldn’t move. In terms of strength, he most likely fought higher demons stronger than her, and he didn’t even feel any fear when fighting the Demon Lord. However, as soon as he faced Leyla, he could not see himself winning.

“Damn it, what a bothersome teacher she is…” His focus was dispelled, and the illusion of Leyla disappeared. “No…this is my own problem.” Kyle let out a self-deprecating laugh.

He fought against Leyla many times before, but he couldn’t even remember ever making the first move. It was always Leyla starting the attack, followed by Kyle being pushed against a wall, eventually losing. In terms of strength, she wasn’t unbeatable. There was no questioning to that, but Kyle found himself doubting. And right as he held his head in disbelief, a person entered these training grounds that could only be used by participants of the festival.

It was a lizardman. His race often, as the name suggested, had the appearance of a giant lizard. They are part of the humanfolk only living deep in the south of the continent, and although you would see many different races in a big place such as the imperial capital, this was a rare instance to see an actual lizardman. On his right leg, he had a metallic ring of sorts.

The proof of a slave…so he’s a war slave used as a gladiator, huh…

The Galgan Empire had a slave system, which was categorized into types such as monetary slaves who can’t pay their debts, war slaves who had been captured during the war and can’t pay for their freedom, and even crime slaves, which are pretty much self-explanatory. In the past, children of slaves were equally children, a system that continuously guaranteed new slaves, but nowadays they are adding a time limit. As the Empire had already invaded the southern parts of the continent, so he must be a war slave taken here.

And, one of the professions a slave could choose from was a gladiator. Fighters were more than welcome in an arena like this. Of course, they were in danger of losing their lives, but the time of service was significantly shorter, and you may even be able to obtain fame and fortune. Lizardmen were a race known for their strength, so they were the perfect gladiators.

I think that’s Goldar, right…

Kyle had seen that lizardman before. Only one lizardman participated in the festival, and he was Kyle’s opponent in the third match. Goldar must have spotted Kyle as well, but didn’t look at him in the slightest, and just used his meaty blade to slice up the training dummy. So that he wouldn’t get in his way, Kyle immediately moved to leave, but a single action caught his attention.

Before Goldar returned to practice, he raised his left hand towards the sky, muttering something. Kyle remembered this. A former comrade of arms lizardman used something similar.

“I think it was called…Azaul?” The moment Kyle muttered these words, Goldar’s movement abruptly stopped, and he ran towards Kyle.

“Did you just say Azaul?” He spoke, with the characteristic high ending note every lizardman added at the end of their sentences. “Answer me. Why do you know that?” His entire body was emitting an ‘I won’t let you off the hook with any half-baked answer’ energy.

“Ahhh…well…” Kyle internally clicked his tongue.

I made the same mistake again…I completely forgot that they have good hearing…

It’s the same from back when Kyle was so surprised, he called out to Urza by her true name. He didn’t expect the lizardman to really pick up on his careless mutter, but this was hard for Kyle to talk his way out of there. Seeing no other option, he explained with a bit of truth mixed into it.

“…A lizardman I knew did the same thing. When I asked what that was, he said it was some kind of prayer towards the god of war, called Azaul.”

That lizardman told Kyle that this was proof of his rigorous training, as only a small number of chosen ones were allowed to use this prayer.

“…What was his name?”

“…He never told me. Since we only fought together for a small time, he shouldn’t know my name either.”

Naturally, Kyle knew of his name, but there was a chance it could cause trouble if he named it here.

“I see…Fine. If he told you of its origin, it means that that hero has accepted you. In other words, I shall accept you as well.”

Kyle couldn’t fully decipher the changes in expression on the lizardman’s face, but the aggressive and cold atmosphere he emitted had vanished, and he now showed a more friendly atmosphere.

“…Are you fine with that?” Kyle couldn’t back a retort.

“This prayer is something granted only to those who have continued to train, those who have been accepted by our race. It’s the pride of me and my folk.” His voice sounded proud as well. “What is your name?”

“It’s Kyle…Don’t tell me, you didn’t know that I’d be your next opponent?”

Then again, Kyle himself had trouble differentiating the various faces of lizardmen, so it took him a moment as well.

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“So you were my next opponent…When it comes to human faces, I can’t see the differences…That’s why this is good luck for me in a way.” Goldar seemed surprised for a moment, but quickly showed a delighted smile. “No matter who my opponent may be, I will fight with everything I have, but if it’s an opponent accepted by a hero, I can feel that this would be a good fight. I’m looking forward to it.” Goldar said, and returned to his practice.

“Those guys really love to fight…” Kyle showed a wry smile.

They were a race that pretty much existed solely to fight. In a bad connotation, you’d call them careless of their life. However, the lizardman comrade Kyle had in his previous life was strong and reliable, someone he could entrust his life to. Kyle remembered the lizardman who was his ally, and offered his own life for Kyle’s sake, wishing that they could meet each other again one day.

On the way home from the arena, Kyle stopped by in front of the large cathedral. He was reminded of that eerie feeling of evil that he had picked up on two days ago when he came here with Lieze. Back then, he spotted Minagi immediately after, so he didn’t have time to worry about that, and yesterday with Leyla’s arrival, he had his head full, unable to worry about anything else.

“Maybe now I should go for a prayer…Hopefully, it’ll help me with Teacher…”

The fact that he relied on the Goddess’ help now showed how much he was cornered, but he simply accepted that, scratching his head as he walked inside. The chapel was as full of people as before, but some things were different. There were various armored knights, patrolling the vicinity. Seemed like some important folks came over to visit. When he looked towards the back of the chapel, he spotted 2nd prince Konrad. As their eyes met, he showed a displeased expression.

“Why are you here?”

Kyle was surprised to be met with such an oddly hostile reaction, but he simply lowered his head in politeness, giving an indifferent explanation.

“I am a follower of Cairys myself, and I came here in order to pray for my success and victory in the further battles of the festival.”

“…Hmpf, fine. We were interrupted before, but now I can finally talk to you about something. Listen, I…”

“Konrad-sama, can I have a moment?”

Right as Konrad was about to say something again, he was interrupted by a priest. He seemed to be in his later 30s, looking like your average clergy, showing a calming and gentle smile.

“Barrel! Don’t get in my way!”

Being reprimanded by Konrad, the priest called Barrel showed an apologetic expression, but still said what needed to be said.

“My deepest apologies, but Eldorand-sama is waiting for you in the imperial palace.”

“Urk…I can’t afford to have Brother waiting for me…Whatever!” Konrad’s mood was spoiled even further, as he left the chapel at high speed.

Kyle watched him off, wondering what that was about, when Barrel apologized in Konrad’s stead.

“We’ve caused quite the ruckus, it seems. My deepest apologies, my name is Barrel, and I am the head priest of this country. It is a pleasure to meet you,” He lowered his head.

As not just any simple clergy, but with his duties of organizing religious duties in the country, he served not only the Goddess but also the Empire. He most likely possesses a position on the level of government officials or politicians, an important profession in the Empire.

“In fact, I had been itching to have a conversation with the great Kyle-sama, so could I have some of your time right now?”

“No, I…”

“Rest assured, it won’t take much time. Being able to meet you is a blessing of our Goddess…so I have to ask kindly. I’m sure it will benefit you as well, Kyle-sama.”

Kyle tried to decline, saying he had other plans, but Barrel gave him no option of doing so. Without much choice in the matter, Kyle was taken to the back of the chapel.

The head priest’s room was quite luxurious. In front of Kyle, as he sat on a soft and comfortable chair, was a plate with tea snacks, as well as high-quality tea itself, making it clear that he was very much welcome.

“Indeed, Kyle-sama’s deeds…” Barrel sat across from Kyle, continuing to praise him.

“Well, thank you very much…”

Barrel started to become a bit more aggressive with his interactions and physical contact. With Kyle having gained fame and renown fairly quickly, many people in the Empire were expecting him to achieve the same here, which is why they would try to get on good terms with him quickly. This was proof that Kyle’s path of becoming a hero was starting to form ahead of him, but it made it equally obnoxious. That being said, he couldn’t be rude towards Barrel, and the person himself seemed at least friendly on the outside, so he didn’t have much trouble tagging along. That being the case, when Barrel said those words, Kyle almost reflexively agreed.

“However, that long-eared woman is no good.”

“Yes……Eh?” Kyle looked at Barrel’s face, but he still showed the same usual smile.

Saying the words long-eared towards an elf was a derogatory term. Something you wouldn’t expect from a priest serving the Goddess Cairys who symbolized love and respect.

“If you keep such a thing next to you, she will eventually bring harm to you, Kyle-sama. You should remove her as quickly as possible.”

He must be talking about Urza. At first, Kyle thought of it as a joke, but that was too nasty of one, and Barrel’s eyes were serious as well.

“Are you…being serious?” Kyle glared at him, a mixture of anger and killing intent within his eyes.

If this provocation had some sort of goal in mind, he would have to stay calm no matter what. However, when Urza or Lieze was in danger or being shamed by someone, he had no intentions of just letting the other person talk as much as they wanted.

“Naturally. Such an inferior being will only bring ruin to you, no matter what good you do for them. One cannot trust humanfolk other than humans after all.”

That moment, Kyle felt a wave of eerie pressure and evil will, the same one he had witnessed two days ago, which made him almost reach for his sword. No doubt, it originated from the smiling Head Priest Barrel right in front of him. The moment he heard the words ‘Humanfolk other than humans’, Kyle remembered something.

“You’re…a follower of Mera!”

It was the name of an evil cult that was prohibited in all of humanfolk society.

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