23
Take It Easy
***
The crowd's roar erupted a little late.
"Woooooooah—!"
"That person, which order does he belong to?"
"How did he cut the armor? Did he stab through a gap?"
Bloodshed is bound to excite people.
The crowd went wild over the unexpected bloodshed.
The bloodshed brought about by Elbridge was so intense that it could not be compared to the nosebleeds or bleeding from
torn wounds seen in previous matches.
Elbridge pointed outside the stadium and said to the knight who had been stabbed in the knee.
"Step down."
The knight who had been stabbed in the knee faithfully followed Elbridge's instruction.
That knight knew that he could not display his proper skills now that his knee was injured, and he knew that he could
not match Elbridge even if his knee were intact.
Now, the gazes of the paladins remaining in the stadium were focused on Elbridge.
Only a few paladins immediately understood Elbridge's movements, and a small number of paladins could belatedly guess
Elbridge's movements through the cut off piece of clasp and the position where the sword was embedded.
And the rest of the paladins had no way of knowing what had just happened.
However, even the paladins who did not understand Elbridge's movements clearly understood one thing.
That attacking Elbridge right now was not a wise action.
Elbridge quietly looked at the bloodstains remaining on the stadium floor, then raised his head and asked.
"Anyone else want to attack?"
No one challenged him boldly.
The paladin who had been stabbed in the knee was the most avoided target in this stadium just a moment ago.
Elbridge had cleanly subdued such a person using a sword, not even a blunt weapon, and proved his skill. If they had a
brain, they couldn't attack Elbridge.
It was also important that they could advance to the main tournament without subduing the Order of Spring Rain and Moss,
which Elbridge belonged to. Weren't there two teams that passed the preliminaries, not one?
Furthermore, Elbridge was not showing any intention to actively attack the other paladins.
As a result of synthesizing all this information, the paladins made the most rational and commonsense judgment.
"A-attack!"
That was to ignore the Order of Spring Rain and Moss and decide the second advancing team among themselves.
Only then did Elbridge let out a sigh of relief without anyone noticing.
Phew—
Unlike his seemingly confident and relaxed attitude, Elbridge was quite tense. Because he didn't have much experience
cutting down people.
Unlike paladins of other orders who would fight hostile orders if push came to shove, the paladins of the Order of the
Rusted Shield rarely had occasion to fight people.
There was one person who strangely benefited as the landscape of the stadium changed thanks to Elbridge.
The pseudo-dwarf who had been lying on the floor getting beaten with clubs.
Perhaps he managed to avoid injury despite being beaten excitedly, as soon as the clubbing stopped, he stealthily got up
from his spot and returned to Elbridge and Vibeka's side.
"The atmosphere changed suddenly. What happened?"
"There was someone attacking, so I subdued one person."
"...There isn't a single person approaching this way."
"It's probably because they saw blood. They must feel hesitant."
"Haha! Is that so? Anyway, good job! You fight quite well even holding a sword. I believed in you from the start."
Vibeka, listening to the conversation between the pseudo-dwarf and Elbridge, made an extremely complicated expression.
Elbridge watched the match feeling as if he had become a spectator. And when the number of people standing on their own
two feet in the stadium became six.
Deng—
The bell rang.
When the two teams to advance to the main tournament were decided like that, the red-haired paladin who had been
watching the match from below the stage raised both her hands high.
"Great! We're advancing to the main tournament! When we got pushed and fell, I thought it was all over..."
"Sir Elbridge fought much better than I thought."
"Haha! Would the Goddess have sent down an oracle for nothing? I knew this would happen!"
While the team members were chattering loudly, Elbridge stealthily slipped to the side and whispered to the Goddess.
"My Goddess. I have something I'm curious about."
At that, the Goddess's excited voice was heard.
- I will answer anything. My proud paladin.
"The God of Flowing Water seemed to know me. By any chance, do the other gods know me as well?"
- The past was so chaotic, and you only went back and forth on rugged battlefields where people's footsteps were hard to
reach. The majority of the gods will not know your whereabouts before you were sealed.
"Then how does the God of Flowing Water know me?"
- Because most know that my only paladin took on the role of the core of the seal and endured for two hundred years.
Elbridge.
It meant that with just the status of being a paladin of the Order of the Rusted Shield, the gods could guess who
Elbridge was.
Elbridge's voice lowered even further.
"My Goddess. You said that if who I am becomes known to the world, people who envy or hate me, people who will shift the
blame for the things to come onto me will appear."
- That will surely be the case.
"Then couldn't the gods harbor a grudge and send down oracles to their respective orders about who I am? If that
happens, me acting as if I am my descendant will have no meaning at all."
- You do not need to worry about such a thing.
"Why is that?"
- Because the practical benefits are small, and there is much to lose. There is no god who does not know how the world
turns now, so what foolish god would antagonize the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss?
The Order of Spring Rain and Moss had a faction that vied for the top spot among orders with healing powers.
Normally, even if their relationship with the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss soured, no particular problems might have
arisen.
But when the world becomes chaotic, the situation changes.
Because if by some chance the furious Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss were to send down an oracle telling them not to
treat the followers of a specific order, that order would have to bear massive consequences.
"I understand. That is a fortunate thing."
- Rest assured. Even if you claim to be Elbridge the 8th, the distant descendant of the Silent Paladin, no one who
doubts it will appear.
Only then did Elbridge put down his worries.
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Elbridge watched the subsequent matches with interest.
It was an undeniable fact that the skills of the paladins had been standardized downwards overall.
'There isn't a single person worthy of being called a Paladin. It's a matter of course, but...'
No, let alone a Paladin, there wasn't even anyone at the level of a seasoned paladin.
But if you lower the standards a little, the story changes.
There were quite often people who could barely be called paladins when applying the standards of the past, or
paladins who could be considered decent for apprentice paladins.
They must have surely built their skills without neglecting training and without shying away from danger.
Thanks to that, Elbridge was able to see a faint possibility.
'Talented and earnest people are born in any era. If only they are given a crisis worthy of hatching from an egg,
and enough luck to survive without dying, they too will become full-fledged paladins.'
Excluding the paladins of petty orders who teamed up with other orders to compete, there were three combat orders
that stood out.
The Order of the Bloody Spear, the Order of the Laurel Wreath, and the Order of the Deer Horn.
The paladins of the three orders had a different average capability from the paladins of other orders.
They passed the preliminaries with overwhelming skill. To the point where out of the fifteen paladins who competed
from the three orders, there was not a single dropout.
Elbridge felt a little pleased. Because their temples were all located close to the Temple of the Rusted Shield.
'Our Moon Village neighbors...'
Like that, the eight preliminary matches ended in a single day, and the sixteen teams to advance to the main
tournament were decided.
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The main tournament of the Great Festival began the very next day after the preliminaries ended. Even to
Elbridge, it was quite a tight schedule.
"Do they originally proceed with the main tournament right away without a rest day in between?"
At Elbridge's question, the red-haired paladin, Scarlet, answered.
"If we rest even for a day, the spectators complain. Thanks to that, only the paladins competing are dying."
Deng—
A heavy bell sound rang. Meaning the draw for the brackets would begin.
Since the team leader of the Order of Spring Rain and Moss was Scarlet, Scarlet went forward and drew a lot.
And the result was—
"Ah, this is bad."
Of all teams, the opponent was the Order of Flowing Water.
Not to mention Scarlet and Vibeka, even the pseudo-dwarf and pseudo-elf looked burdened to clash with the
Order of Flowing Water.
"Why is that? Isn't winning cleanly the best result of all."
When Elbridge asked, the pseudo-dwarf answered.
"If by some chance we clash and lose, it becomes too miserable."
"We just have to win."
"Sir Elbridge. There's no need to separately prepare for a good situation. A wise person must live preparing
for the worst moments."
"I don't think getting tense now will be of any preparation."
"Is that so? Haha!"
Even the match order was the very first.
Scarlet and the pseudo-elf looked as if they were going to throw up right away from being so severely tense.
But Elbridge rather thought this situation was good. Wouldn't it be natural for the match that started first
to monopolize the most attention?
"My Goddess. I will engrave the name of the Order of the Rusted Shield in the minds of all the spectators."
- Go and enjoy it to your heart's content. Elbridge.
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When the ten people who had taken off their helmets went up to the stadium and faced each other, the
host introduced the ten people in turn.
"...Paladin Johannes of the Order of the Cracked Mirror, Paladin Mitchell of the Order of the Burning
Torch!"
The people whose names were called stepped forward half a pace and expressed a simple courtesy towards
the crowd.
The gazes of an unknown number of tens of thousands of people seemed to weigh down the ten paladins.
"And their opponents, Paladins Scarlet, Hakon, Arvid, Vibeka of the Order of Spring Rain and Moss..."
And Elbridge was also in a quite tense state. Because Elbridge had never shown his face in front of so
many people.
'I didn't feel very tense yesterday, maybe because I was wearing a helmet.'
It was a slightly different tension from when he fought risking his life. A tension as if his heart
would burst through his chest and pop out. But a slightly fluttering tension.
"Anddddd—!"
The host built up a lot of suspense, then introduced the one person receiving the most attention from
the crowd.
"Paladin of the Order of the Rusted Shield, El—bridge!"
"Waaaaaaah—!"
"He's younger than I thought?"
"First time I've heard of the Order of the Rusted Shield."
A massive roar and the murmuring of people following the highly suspenseful introduction.
Elbridge thrilled slightly.
For the past two hundred years or so. No, even before that, the name of the Order of the Rusted Shield
had probably never been introduced in front of so many people.
Inwardly, Elbridge thought the Rusted Shield Goddess must be feeling a similar emotion.
The ten paladins pressed their helmets on.
The only person holding a sword was still Elbridge alone.
Before going up on stage, Elbridge recalled the explanation Vibeka had given him.
"The main tournament is conducted as a five-on-five match. And judging coldly, this match is quite
advantageous for our side."
"In what aspect is it advantageous?"
"It's not set like that in the rules, but generally, the main tournament is conducted in a way where
we clash one-on-one and subdue opponents one by one. Even if four people lose in a row, if the last
remaining person can defeat all five opponents, we win."
Vibeka said so, then tucked her brown hair behind her ear.
However, Elbridge thought Vibeka's hand movements were a bit awkward. She also looked tense for some
unknown reason.
"I see."
When Elbridge answered calmly, a subtle dissatisfaction settled on Vibeka's expression.
"Why is that?"
"...Never mind. Anyway, since Sir Elbridge's skill is extraordinary, I think we have a high
probability of winning. By defeating the Order of Flowing Water, we'd be setting a record tied for our
order's best performance ever. This is a tremendous opportunity..."
When Elbridge was thinking about that much, the host's shout cut off Elbridge's thoughts.
"We will beeeeegin— the match!"
Because the Order of Spring Rain and Moss desired the most certain and overwhelming victory, they put
Elbridge in the vanguard and the remaining four went down below the stage.
Wouldn't there be no better way to show an overwhelming difference in capability than one person
defeating all five?
However, none of the paladins of the Order of Flowing Water went down below the stage.
"Why aren't they coming down...?"
A very short silence.
And the very next moment, the five paladins hired by the Order of Flowing Water charged towards
Elbridge.
Vibeka immediately shouted.
"Th-those cowardly bastards!"
Following that, the booing of the crowd was heard.
"Boooooooo—!"
The judgment of the Order of Flowing Water was simple.
If they clashed with Elbridge in a normal way, there was a high probability they would lose.
Even if the five of them clashed in turn, it would only be five repeated defeats.
It was only a few days ago that they confidently blabbered about crushing the Order of Spring Rain and
Moss. If they lost unattractively after that, it was an obvious situation that they would be treated
as the biggest idiots under heaven.
Now, the Order of Flowing Water only had two choices left.
Break custom, gang up to subdue Elbridge, and win the match, albeit ugly.
Or endure five humiliating defeats.
A certain sage in the past said.
If you're an idiot whether you win or lose, it's better to be a winning idiot.
The result of that was this pincer attack.
However, Elbridge rather felt his mind become at ease. A feeling like taking off uncomfortable
clothes.
'Then again, how much experience do I have fighting fair and square matches.'
There is not a single person who seeks fairness or fair play in a fight against a magical beast or a
demon.
The thought that he had escaped even a little from awkward rules made Elbridge happy.
Although his physical condition was not perfect, his condition was incomparably better than when he
hunted the wolf magical beast or faced the crow magical beast.
It must be because he killed the crow magical beast and stored quite a lot of holy power in his body.
Elbridge pulled his right foot back slightly.
And whispered with a lowered stance. My Goddess. The time has come.
He did not wait for the Goddess's answer.
Because as always, the thing to trust in the most important moment is not a god, but one's own
capability.
Elbridge dashed.
More vigorously and lightheartedly than anytime since waking up from the seal.
And swung his sword. The five paladins also swung their iron clubs towards Elbridge.
While the four paladins of the Order of Spring Rain and Moss were crawling up onto the stage, one
person and five people intersected on the stage.
The number of paladins hired by the Order of Flowing Water was five.
For three of them, nothing happened.
But for one, the clasp next to his cuirass was cut, and for one, his elbow guard, the couter, fell
off.
"Ugh..."
The man whose clasp was cut let out a low groan and grabbed his pelvis. Blood seeped out from around
his pelvis and wet his hand.
The arm of the person whose elbow guard fell off was also dyed with blood before he knew it. Although
their lives might not be in danger, it was a wound that made continuing the fight impossible.
On the other hand, Elbridge's armor only had a slight graze from an iron club.
The stadium, which had been filled with boos, fell silent for a moment.
And then, a roar erupting like an explosion.
"Wooooooah!"
"Did you see? Did you see? Waaaaaaah—!"
In the midst of a massive noise that could be felt on the skin, the priest of the Order of Flowing
Water fully understood the meaning of the oracle he had heard yesterday.
'Just how far are you going to go? Please, just take it easy...'