The Saintess (4)
“A duel.”
It was a straightforward method I had favored for a long time. If the other party wouldn’t listen, you simply made them listen with force. Some might call it crude, but since I myself am a crude bastard, it was a fitting approach.
“A duel, you say?”
Leod blinked rapidly. He seemed to think he had misheard. So I repeated myself to confirm that he had not.
“Yes, a duel. If I win, you’ll obediently return. If I lose, I’ll become either the Saintess or a Saintess candidate, whichever you prefer.”
I stretched both arms high above my head to loosen up my body. “Nngh… haa… How about it?”
I massaged my shoulder while looking at Leod.
“When you say duel, what kind of duel do you mean?”
“What other kind would there be?”
I picked up a tree branch to serve in place of a sword. “There’s only one kind.”
I raised the tip of the branch as if lifting a real blade. As a Holy Knight, his swordsmanship must have already been proven. While all knights of the Holy Kingdom are called Holy Knights, being personally assigned a mission by the Pope meant he belonged to the five Holy Knights of the Holy Kingdom. In simple terms, he was one of the top five in skill among them.
I had no memory of this guy. Naturally, I knew all five Holy Knights. We had crossed swords together and shared drinks as well. The fact that I was seeing an unfamiliar face meant the five Holy Knights had undergone a reorganization. That made sense. When someone stronger appeared, they had to step aside. As time passed, generations had to change.
“I understand what you’re saying.”
Leod picked up the veil that had fallen at his feet and brushed the dirt off it with a few pats. He approached me and carefully placed the veil over my head.
“Thank you.”
Leod suddenly offered his gratitude.
“You’re saying you’ll follow me back to the Holy Kingdom.”
I let out a disbelieving laugh. “Why does it turn out that way?”
Leod gently pressed down on the branch I was holding with his palm. “It’s not like we absolutely must duel to determine the outcome.”
“Is this arrogance?”
“It’s not arrogance. I’m simply stating a fact. I am a Holy Knight, and you, Lady Elia, are merely a novice nun from the convent. Even without dueling, anyone could predict the result.”
“You’d be shocked if you saw my true skill, you know?”
“Your stance is excellent. I can tell you’ve practiced various things in earnest to join the Imperial Army, just from the way you hold that branch. However, I doubt you possess any truly surprising ability.”
Haha. This friend must have bad eyesight. Never in my days as the Sword Saint had I heard such words.
“On weekends, I’ll teach you swordsmanship once in a while. During the weekdays, you should diligently study theology.”
Hoh… He was going to teach the Sword Saint? It was truly a statement that could only make me laugh. It seemed Leod had no intention of dueling after all. Well, I couldn’t blame him. Even from my perspective, if a seemingly dull nun like this suggested a duel, I would have refused too.
No, come to think of it, I had never once refused a duel. No matter who the opponent was. If someone drew their sword and challenged me, I accepted. That was how I sometimes discovered talented children.
I hadn’t wanted to use this method, but…
I cast the magic that would inevitably force a duel.
“Are you scared?”
Leod let out a deep sigh.
“You’re doing this because you think you’ll lose to me, right?”
“No.”
“You’re scared, you’re scared.”
“I am not.”
“Alright. I’ll specially face you with one hand. That should make it fair, yes?”
I gave him a benevolent smile.
“Ha… Very well.”
With a deep sigh, Leod nodded. His expression clearly showed how bothersome this was. He hadn’t reacted passionately to the provocation, but the provocation had still worked.
“You must keep your promise. If I win, you have to follow me without complaint.”
“I swear it upon the Heavenly God.”
He placed his hand over his chest and made the vow. Any Holy Knight would know what that meant to a member of the clergy. Breaking this oath was tantamount to throwing oneself into the underworld.
“Shall we begin?”
“Let’s.”
Leod raised both fists. Seeing that, I lowered the branch with a somewhat sour feeling.
“What are you doing right now?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Your sword! You need to draw your sword.”
“I am not so cruel as to draw my blade against an opponent holding nothing but a tree branch.”
“Is this arrogance?”
“This is consideration.”
He was completely disregarding me. I suddenly missed my master’s face. Just who had taught this guy swordsmanship that his manners as a swordsman were this terrible? No matter who the opponent was, if a swordsman drew their blade, it was proper etiquette to respond with your own sword. Even though what I held wasn’t a real sword, at the very least he should have matched me with a branch, shouldn’t he?
“If I so much as draw my sword even slightly, it will be your victory, Lady Elia. If you give up midway, it will be my victory.”
“Fine.”
If the opponent had no intention of taking it seriously, I simply had to make him take it seriously.
2.
I couldn’t fathom where that confidence came from.
Leod looked at Elia. Her posture while holding the tree branch was truly excellent. Although her body was full of openings, those openings somehow didn’t feel like weaknesses. Still, a good stance didn’t necessarily mean good swordsmanship.
Leod was by no means underestimating Elia. Truly, he could sense nothing from her that marked her as a swordsman. As a cleric, her dignity radiated strongly, but she seemed to think she was being looked down upon.
“I’ll give you the first chance to attack.”
“You’ll regret that, you know?”
Leod simply nodded. He really couldn’t understand it. Just where did this confidence come from?
“Then I won’t hold back.”
Elia gripped the branch tightly. She drew in a slow, deep breath. The moment that breath stopped, her ruby-red eyes flashed.
“Huh…?”
The atmosphere… had changed?
A chilling aura crawled up Leod’s skin. The delicate face of a young girl had transformed into that of a warrior. It was as if she had removed a mask. By the time he realized it, it was already too late.
“Hup…!”
With a single light kick, Elia’s body shot forward. Her blood-red gaze drew sharp lines through the air. What she held in her hand was clearly a dry tree branch, yet to Leod’s eyes it momentarily looked like a sharp rapier. Its tip was aimed directly at his throat.
If things continued like this, he would be pierced. If he couldn’t control that speed, his neck would be run through like meat on a skewer. Elia’s eyes showed no intention of stopping.
“Kgh…!”
Leod immediately drew his sword. The instant he tried to block with it, Elia’s figure vanished. She had lowered her stance and ducked.
“Ugh!”
Elia kicked Leod’s ankle. It was heavy, like being struck by a hammer. Leod’s body tilted sideways. He tried to regain his balance before falling, but before he could, Elia grabbed him so he couldn’t stand back up.
-Thud!
Leod fell to the ground. Elia mounted him. At the same time, the tree branch stopped right in front of his eyes.
“I told you that you’d regret it, didn’t I?”
Elia smiled brightly.
Gulp.
Leod swallowed dryly. It had happened so quickly that he felt dazed. It wasn’t that he couldn’t have responded. His mistake had been failing to properly assess his opponent. He had never imagined she would possess such skill. It was accurate to say he had been thrown into confusion by something beyond his imagination.
“You drew your sword, didn’t you?”
In Leod’s right hand was indeed his drawn blade.
“Since I won, please return quietly.”
Elia tossed the branch aside. She pressed down on his chest as she stood up. The soft, plush pressure that had been weighing on his stomach moved away.
“And…”
Elia, who had been about to return to the convent, turned back to look at Leod, who was still lying on the ground and blinking in confusion.
“Just where did you learn such terrible manners?”
Elia scolded him sternly. “You called it consideration, but when an opponent seriously requests a duel, isn’t it a swordsman’s duty to respond in kind?”
Elia shook her head from side to side.
“To think that someone who hasn’t even learned the basics is one of the five Holy Knights of the Holy Kingdom. I have no desire to accept a request from such a person. And I have even less desire to accept a request from whoever sent someone like that.”
That last part was directed at the Pope. In other words, Elia was firmly refusing to become either the Saintess or a Saintess candidate.
“I treated the bruise on your ankle.”
The moment she had kicked his ankle, a bruise had formed, and when she mounted him, she had healed it.
“Have a safe journey back.”
With a polite bow, Elia left the forest.
Leod quietly watched her receding figure. It felt as if he had been struck hard on the head. Just who was that girl…?
He had sufficiently confirmed her qualifications as a Saintess. The fact that she had healed him in that brief moment proved she could freely wield Holy Power to some degree. However, within the body of such a Saintess dwelled a god of war. That in itself was not wrong. Protecting one’s own body was the most important thing. Wasn’t it precisely because the previous Saintess had failed to do so that the position now stood vacant?
“Haa…”
He exhaled sharply. It was far too embarrassing. Setting everything else aside, just who had he been acting so arrogantly in front of? He hadn’t intended to, but that was how it had turned out.
There were no wounds. No place hurt. Yet Leod could not rise from the spot, as if he had suffered a grave injury.