Chapter 94 - Still, There is Hope (3)

The words Kankan left behind brought up a few questions.

Even so, it felt somewhat wrong to forcibly hold onto someone who disliked it. In the end, we headed to the Temple harboring those questions.

The building, exceptionally white compared to other places, may have followed the ways of the desert, but it wasn't vastly different from other Temples.

"For your information, I've also found a restaurant that the fighters frequent."

After unpacking our bags at the Temple, we went to the restaurant DeB had found. It was a selection faithful to the objective of 'finding talent'.

Not that the food tasted bad, either.

"You picked a good place. Good work."

"It's my job, after all."

I scooped up some ground cactus and casually checked my surroundings. True to the rumor that fighters frequented the place, the surroundings were completely filled with warriors.

But right. If there was a minor problem, it was that most of them came alone, so they were just eating their food without a word.

It seemed eavesdropping would be difficult.

"... Now that I look at it, there's also a point I messed up on."

DeB must have realized it too, as he clicked his tongue quietly.

"...?"

"What's wrong, Inquisitor?"

"No, it's nothing major. It's just that ever since entering this city, I've occasionally seen people who are subtly bothersome."

"... Is it demonic energy?"

"It doesn't seem to be that, but... I'm not entirely sure."

Well, not that anyone actually paid attention to that. There was something bigger.

"Who here gives off that bothersome feeling?"

"That table over there, and that table over yonder?"

"Do you know them?"

"... Uh, yes. Judging purely by their appearances, they're both guys who've made quite a name for themselves in the arena. Not as much as Redmane, but decently upper-middle rank?"

"Hmm."

At DeB's words, the Archmage made an uncomfortable face. I felt much the same.

If a clergy member, of all people, said they were bothersome, then they were bothersome.

"It's not like I don't have a guess, but I can't be sure. If they reacted to divine power, the Temple wouldn't have just left them alone all this time."

"Then..."

"There's nothing we can do right now, so let's put it off for the moment. Instead, I'd like to entrust this matter to you. Could you investigate it further after we finish talking?"

However, since there wasn't exactly any suitable method to use, the Archmage passed the task onto DeB.

"I'll do that."

DeB took one more look at the people the Inquisitor had pointed out before turning around.

Right after, the dishes that had yet to come out were delivered one by one by the servers.

"More importantly, was it Kankan? Do you know why that person left those words behind?"

"Hmm, you mean about not meeting the Martial King."

The Archmage changed the subject to the other issue.

Unlike us who were completely clueless, DeB seemed to have a guess. The man, who had taken off his hood unable to withstand the heat, gently stroked his scruffy chin.

"It's a somewhat malicious rumor, so I was planning to speak after properly verifying it... but just telling you what I've heard, it seems a slight problem has arisen with the Martial King."

He lowered his voice as he said that. No, going beyond lowering it, he outright started communicating in writing. He was clearly conscious of the fighters around us.

⌈I heard he developed a madness. And the kind that attacks the people around him, too.⌋

"...!"

It was a relief that all of us could read.

The Inquisitor, having understood the writing, widened her eyes while the Archmage fiddled with the back of her own hand.

⌈Can someone who attacks their surroundings still remain in the Champion seat? Shouldn't some measure be taken?⌋

Though lacking in tact, the Inquisitor, who wasn't so dense as to ruin a moment like this, grabbed the pen. Her handwriting, so neat it looked printed, perfectly mirrored her personality.

⌈He has never officially caused an incident. There are merely rumors circulating that a servant who attended to him at his residence was found dead, or that someone he was close with was seen coming out injured.⌋

⌈Do you know the cause?⌋

⌈No. However, there is speculation that it arose from his stress reaching its peak.⌋

DeB paused his pen for a moment at the Archmage's sudden question. While he hesitated, a drop of ink fell.

⌈This is a story with even lower credibility than what I just said, but even before the rumors of his madness spread, there was secret talk that he seemed more on edge than usual.⌋

⌈Why is that a low-credibility story?⌋

⌈Because he's originally someone with a filthy temper.⌋

So he acts just as filthy when he's on edge as he does normally, making it impossible to tell the difference? I couldn't fathom just how bad his personality must be to hear such things.

Not that I, who adopted this kind of concept, was in any position to talk.

"Anyway, none of these are confirmed stories."

That seemed to be the end of the information, as DeB put away the pen.

The Archmage, who had a practical influence on choosing our companions, wore a face deep in agony.

"If it's like this... we might need to reconsider. Being sensitive is a matter we can just mediate, but this kind of problem..."

At that point, my conscience was briefly pricked. We were talking about the Martial King, so why did it feel like my own weaknesses were continuously being jabbed at?

"However, judging someone without seeing them is a foolish act. Isn't that right?"

"Indeed. The Inquisitor is right. If you blind your vision with prejudice, you are bound to miss what's truly important."

Still, seeing the Inquisitor having grown up was touching.

I felt deeply moved for no reason looking at the Inquisitor, who was growing up so properly compared to our first meeting. Our Kimchi Dumpling was growing up so well.

"I want to face him directly and make a decision."

Even though Kankan's advice, which he went out of his way to give despite it being our first meeting, seemed to have become a dead letter.

"Understood. Then, what is your opinion?"

"Me? I... don't mind either way. Even if the rumors are true, there's no way you lot would be bested by that man, and if things work out well and he joins the party, it's also true that our combat power will increase, isn't it."

However, I thought it probably didn't matter anyway. If the reason for his advice truly was the madness, we could just cut ties with him, right?

It was fine even if it wasn't madness but some other circumstance. Just like DeB said, if it wasn't madness, we could make him a companion and aim to increase our fighting power.

Even if there was no madness, if his personality clashed too much, there was always the option to reject him too.

Either way, it wouldn't be a loss for us. Aside from taking up a little time and effort, that is.

"And you?"

"Not interested."

"I see. Then let's postpone proposing the offer to the Martial King until we make a judgment after facing him directly."

The Archmage also seemed inclined to see him in person. She gathered the conclusions and summarized them neatly.

The first agenda was finished.

"Then the next step would be finding a way to meet the Martial King face-to-face."

The second agenda was this. If we had decided to ignore the advice to not meet the Martial King, shouldn't we find a way to meet him?

"The fastest way would be to make an appointment or visit the Martial King's residence, but..."

The Archmage trailed off and looked at DeB. The man, who had been slurping his cactus juice, set it down.

"That's going to be difficult. I told you, the Martial King rarely meets people even normally. And apparently he's practically a recluse right now."

"I see."

"Still, you never know. Maybe we can meet him through connections?"

At DeB's slightly joking remark, the expressions on the Archmage and the Inquisitor became strange.

"The Magic Tower isn't here, so we won't be able to borrow their power, and the Temple..."

"... I will ask. However, I'm not sure if that will be possible."

Since the arena was officially recognized by the city, they didn't nitpick about it. However, because there were many parts that went against their doctrine, it was unlikely they were on friendly terms with it, the Inquisitor pointed out in advance.

From my perspective, knowing very little, it was just a "so that's how it is" kind of story.

"No way. An arena would produce a lot of injured people, and most of those injured would go to the Temple, so is there really not a single connection?"

"That is true, but... I don't know. At the Main Temple, unless someone paid a substantial donation, they didn't really treat people injured in this manner."

"Isn't that discrimination?"

"Rather than discrimination, it's closer to being low priority. Not only are there few Priests capable of treating severe injuries... the ones we prioritize treating are those hurt while fighting demons, or those injured while eliminating shared dangers like bandits and robbers."

It was a somewhat understandable story. The feeling was different between someone injured while protecting others and those injured while fighting amongst themselves for personal money and fame.

"Hah, that's quite different from a certain Temple."

"... About that place, I have no excuse."

"Forget it, what will you do if the Temple doesn't pan out either?"

"Then..."

However, the remark DeB made to change the subject pierced through everyone's blind spot. It seemed everyone—which only amounted to two people, really—had completely failed to consider this possibility.

It was unexpected for me. Because it was such a common development in games, novels, and comics, I naturally thought someone would say, 'We participate in the arena to meet him!'

Even Kankan said so, didn't he? That there was no way to meet him outside the arena.

"How about observing his match?"

"... Even if we try to meet him from the audience seats, wouldn't he just brush us off as fans?"

"Is that so."

"Winning over the people around him also... wouldn't leave a very good impression. If it doesn't work out, it's better to just let it go. There's no reason it absolutely has to be the Martial King."

But no one was bringing it up.

Then again, challenging the arena just to meet one person wasn't a normal method either.

"Instead, observing him like the Inquisitor suggested seems fine. Meeting methods aside, it's useless if he doesn't actually meet our standards."

"Then let's go buy tickets after we finish eating."

"Ah, so are we heading to Inoxar next?"

"Yes."

"It's not a place I am fond of, but... I am separately looking forward to it. I'm curious how such a place operates."

I put my spoon down, worrying that my way of thinking had become too steeped in literary tropes.

I finished eating first today. Hell yeah.

* * *

TREMBLE.

The man's hand shook as he clutched the letter that had flown to him three months ago.

The text, which he had read so many times he had memorized every single sentence, delivered a fresh terror every time. 'Why am I reacting to a letter like this.' The resolve he hardened before reading it became useless every single time.

"Damn it!!"

CRASH!

Ultimately, he swept everything off the table. The objects left the table and poured onto the floor, making shattering sounds.

Even in that moment, the letter remained neatly gripped in his hand.

"... Why, why is he coming here!"

He had thought they would never cross paths again when he left his hometown, but why. Why.

The man threw the letter onto the empty table, then tore at his own hair with his empty hands.

"I'm going to die, I'm really going to die this time."

That figure of his was hardly different from the smashed objects around him.

"I'll be killed..."

Desperate and pathetic.

[So, are you just going to die like that?]

Right at that moment, someone's voice echoed through the space the man was in.

The unique tone, like a mixture of the thumping of a camel-skin tambourine and the clear twanging of an oud, didn't seem human at all.

"...! You!"

[It's been a while, human. I came because it seemed like you would need me, am I wrong?]

The man turned around to the visitor and was frightened out of his wits. His body, which had been trembling from the fear of death just moments ago, was now shaking for a different reason.

[Mhm. 'Coming here,' you say. Right. So this is your 'nightmare'?]

The visitor who had approached read the letter as they pleased and giggled.

"This is not my nightmare!"

Did the man instinctively snap at that? Beneath the bear skin covering their face, the half-visible eyes curved beautifully.

[Shall I go back, then?]

The visitor stepped back lightly and lay down on a backless couch.

[If that's not your nightmare, then you won't be needing my help, right?]

Thanks to that, their clothes became disheveled and glimpses of their skin were revealed, but it wasn't alluring or sensual. Rather, there was an intense languor, a profound boredom.

[So would it be okay for me to assume I made a wasted trip?]

Just as the domain they represented was.

"... No. Don't go."

[Why? I thought you said it wasn't a nightmare. If it's not a nightmare, doesn't that ultimately mean you have the confidence to overcome it?]

"Damn it, there's no way that's possible!"

The man who had formed a tie with such a being was largely the same.

"If, if I train, of course I'm confident I can win. But I didn't know the bastard was coming. How am I supposed to win when I don't even have time to prepare?"

[I heard it's been decades since you left your hometown... well, right. That's understandable.]

The man reached his hand out toward the visitor.

[Then this time, your dream is also 'victory'.]

A drug that would grant dreams without a price fell onto his palm.

* * *

Right after finishing our meal, we visited Inoxar in earnest.

"Are you going to participate?"

"No, we aren't planning to participate."

Was it because one of us was a weirdo wearing plate armor despite it being a desert, and another was a cold-looking person carrying a greatsword on his back?

We received such a misunderstanding at the place where we went to buy tickets. We only barely avoided participating thanks to the Archmage and DeB.

"The ticket prices are quite high."

"To think it would be this expensive..."

Since our goal was to seek out someone highly skilled, naturally, the price of the tickets we were looking for—though they were in token format because paper was precious—also went up. Most skilled fighters were popular, and if they were popular, more people wanted to watch them, so it was a given.

"There are even gutsy humans who come all the way to the frontline just to watch this, after all."

Saying that the money earned from this arena also flowed into maintaining the frontline, DeB tightly grasped a piece of ice. The Archmage had personally made it for him, perhaps finding him pitiful for panting even after entering the city.

Its duration wasn't long, and it consumed quite a bit of mana, so it was a luxury he couldn't enjoy much outside where we had to prepare for any contingencies.

"Ah, isn't this the person we saw earlier?"

"Oh, you're right. This man also has a match scheduled."

At that moment, the Inquisitor found someone's match schedule. It belonged to Redmane, Kankan.

"Maximum consecutive wins, 17... Win rate, 73%..."

The Inquisitor examined Kankan's information and then compared it with the others. Most fell significantly short of Kankan's record, but a few were higher than his.

"It's surprising. That person didn't look weak either, yet there are so many people stronger than him."

She let out an exclamation of awe as she looked at the number of strong fighters clearly provided in the statistics.

"I've never seen anything like this elsewhere; why are there so many strong fighters in this arena?"

"That's... because of the characteristics of this city, no, the Southern Front."

Telling her to recall the map and what she had learned, the Archmage methodically imparted her knowledge to the Inquisitor.

Having nothing in particular to do, I subtly eavesdropped on the story as well.

"You surely remember that the Southern Front is rather narrow due to the mountain range rising along the edge of the desert."

"I remember. The mountain range is rugged and parched, so not even demons can easily cross it."

"Exactly. Therefore, the routes for demons to cross over the desert are limited."

For reference, demons were creatures too, so in most cases, they also needed to consume nutrients to survive. Because of that, they couldn't easily cross deserts or rugged rocky mountains.

"And one of those limited paths is the corridor where Pa Enoch is situated."

"Yes, I remember that as well. But what does that have to do with this? Ah, are you saying these are the skilled fighters who gathered to stop the demons?"

"Looking only at the conclusion, that is correct. However, that alone doesn't explain the existence of the arena."

The Archmage smiled lightly and held up the ticket she had just purchased. It likely meant we should talk as we went inside, since it was starting soon.

"The routes for demons to cross the desert are limited, but to begin with, demons crossing the desert is also a rare occurrence. It's to the point where they only cross over when the Great Demon residing in the desert intends it."

The Inquisitor didn't seem to understand, but she reflexively followed as the Archmage moved her steps. DeB and I also stuck two steps behind them.

"However, that interval is highly irregular. Sometimes they invade in as short as a one-month cycle, but at its longest, they've invaded after a gap of seven years."

By that point, I gradually began to understand what the Archmage and DeB had been talking about.

The enemies invading after as long as seven years, which the Archmage had mentioned. The bait meant to retain strong fighters, which DeB had mentioned.

"Around that point, it's inevitable for someone to grow tired and leave. However, while the Great Demon of the desert might not invade frequently, every time it does pay a visit, it brings a tremendous army... so there is a constant need to maintain our manpower."

In short, the arena truly was a bait. A bait to attract and retain the interest of strong fighters in preparation for a battle that could break out at any moment.

"So what was created was the arena. It was made so the strong fighters could relieve their boredom during the periods when demons don't invade."

"Ah... so that's why."

"Yes. This is exactly what I meant when I said the arena was born because this city is the central axis."

"Such a thing... I didn't learn about such a thing. What a fascinating story."

"Knowing how the arena in Pa Enoch came to be doesn't give you an advantage against demons, so they probably just didn't teach it."

True, knowing such things might be interesting, but it wasn't exactly practical knowledge for real life.

I suddenly remembered my school days. It seemed the moments when the Inquisitor learned things at the Temple weren't all that different from the school I attended.

"It's true for pirates, and for the arena as well. After learning about them in detail, it feels like... I understand a bit now. That there are things in the world... that just can't be helped."

"...! That's right, indeed, Inquisitor. There are quite a few cases where everything that appears wrong has a hidden circumstance when you look closer. Of course, having a circumstance shouldn't mean we tolerate everything, but..."

But why was our Kimchi Dumpling having another epiphany? It was commendable, but her sudden bursts of growth lately were a bit bewildering.

As expected, her stubborn personality didn't just stem from her disposition alone, but the rigidity of a fresh member of society had an influence too...!

"... What's gotten into that blockhead."

Meat Dumpling, put away that creeped-out expression for a moment and show some emotion, won't you.

"Ah, this seems to be our seats."

Meanwhile, the Archmage found the seats matching the numbers written on the tickets. Considering we bought them late, they were quite close to the stage.

Seeing that there were more empty seats than occupied ones, I figured it must be an unpopular battle.

"Who is fighting this time?"

"Red-Tattooed Omar and a rookie who just debuted this time, they say. I heard his registered name is Berserk..."

"Omar? Seeing as he's not in my memory, he doesn't seem to be anyone noteworthy."

"I picked the earliest one because I wanted to see how this works."

Ah, no wonder.

"Ah, it looks like it's starting."

Was it because we came in right at the tail end? The fight started without us waiting long.

"Blue! He speaks of conquering with just a single sword. The Red-Tattooed Omar!"

Contrary to my thought that the introduction would be long and entertaining, it was extremely short and plain.

"White! The rookie who just debuted, the warrior from Norda, Berserk!"

At the same time, people popped out from the holes on both sides of the stage. One was a woman with a red tattoo, just like the nickname, and the other was...

"It's not Berserk, it's Berserker! You can't even get one pronunciation right, you idiots!"

It was a hulking Slender tribe member, the Berserker.

"That person is!?"

"Why is that man coming out of here?!"

That was exactly what I wanted to say.