Chapter 251
Halid strode toward the place where the knights and holy knights were locked in fierce combat.
Unable to suppress my unease, I stole a glance at Lionel.
Even in this situation where he’d made an enemy of the Order, he looked as composed as ever.
Pope Clemens was the same way.
Despite being the source of the formidable divine power enveloping the holy knights, he gazed in our direction as if utterly indifferent to the outcome of the battle.
When Halid walked in a straight line to where the Pope stood, the holy knight who had remained by the Pope’s side to the very end stepped forward to block his path.
“Duke Calitas, do you truly intend to interfere in the affairs of the Order?”
At the standoff between the two men, both the holy knights and the knights paused their fighting to watch.
“Well. I don’t have much interest in the Order’s affairs.”
Halid said with a smirk and an air of arrogance.
“…? Then why…”
“Your name?”
“Ah… forgive the belated introduction. I am Ashel, Commander of the Holy Knights.”
As expected, quite the heavyweight was stationed at the Pope’s side.
“I thought so. To meet you by chance like this? I must be lucky.”
“…?”
“Care to cross swords? Duel or sparring match. Whichever suits you.”
We were on the same side, but even I had difficulty following Halid’s train of thought, and he had succeeded in utterly bewildering Commander Ashel.
‘He’s suddenly asking for a sparring match?’
He really did seem like someone obsessed with swords…
“Ah, my apologies, but you are not the one I need to face.”
The Commander refused Halid’s proposal. And the direction where his gaze fell was Lionel.
Halid seemed to notice this too and smirked. While I was staring wide-eyed at what looked almost like a sneer, the tip of a sword that was drawn so fast I hadn’t even seen it came to rest against the neck of a nearby holy knight.
“Your superior just refused my sparring request, so you can stand in for him, can’t you?”
…Shouldn’t that kind of request be made before pressing a blade to someone’s neck?
Blood seeped from where Halid’s blade touched flesh. The wound healed almost instantly through divine power, but since the cause of the injury was still firmly in place, healing it for a moment was pointless.
“Duke Calitas, cease this.”
The Pope finally spoke.
“House Calitas safeguards the continent from the invasion of monsters, and has always maintained a good relationship with our Order. Surely there is no need to involve yourself in another house’s affairs.”
“As I told the Commander, I have no intention of interfering in the Order’s business. I simply don’t want to miss the chance to test myself against a strong opponent.”
“If that is all, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future…”
“There’s a saying in the North: ‘The axe left unsharpened at dawn will claim your life by noon.’ So if one wishes to survive, one must never delay the work of honing oneself.”
I had no idea whether such a saying actually existed in the North, but it was painfully obvious that the Pope and the Commander were on the verge of bursting with frustration.
‘They’re all the same, really.’
Whether it was them barging in to block the path of a couple about to get married and insisting they were in the right, or Halid, stubbornly demanding his own business be addressed first regardless of how urgent theirs might be.
With a long, drawn-out sigh, the Pope nodded.
“Very well. If you insist, you may spar with Sir Ashel. However, regardless of the outcome, I ask that you refrain from interfering in what follows.”
“Agreed.”
Halid smiled with satisfaction and withdrew his blade from the holy knight’s neck.
With the Pope’s approval, the Commander had no choice but to accept the sparring match against Halid, and both the Luanax knights and the holy knights ceased fighting and returned to their original positions.
“It would be best if you all stepped back a bit further.”
Having addressed both sides to ensure ample space for the bout, Halid spoke as he faced Ashel.
“As His Holiness said, House Calitas has maintained a good relationship with the Order. I stepped in hoping to keep it that way, so you should be grateful.”
‘What on earth does that even mean?’
I desperately needed someone to translate what Halid actually meant.
And in the next instant, blade met blade.
Both Halid and the Commander of the holy knights were among the strongest fighters on the continent.
