## Chapter 780 – Kingdom Martial Arts Tournament
The man who spoke to me suddenly extended his hand.
“…To be precise, I’m a Paladin directly under the Holy Woman. I’m Kim Katter.”
It seemed he wanted to greet me, so I immediately took his hand, shook it, and introduced myself. I wondered where he had heard that a Paladin was participating?
Well, it wasn’t exactly a secret.
If you were interested in the tournament, it would be strange not to know.
If I were him, and I heard that some prick was participating in the tournament, I would have gone to check out their face to see who was trying to destroy the ecosystem.
But it’s me.
Damn, I won.
“Ah, nice to meet you. I am Montres, the seventh son of the Orto Marquisate. It’s an honor to meet a Paladin. Your features matched what I’d heard, so I thought I’d say hello.”
“Did a rumor spread that a Paladin from a nomadic background was participating?”
“Those in the know are already aware. It’s impossible not to be interested when a Paladin is participating directly.”
I see.
“Indeed… seeing you in person, I can only think that you are a true Paladin. As expected of the Brass Holy Angels. To think someone so strong would be a Paladin.”
He was about 15cm shorter than me. His build also seemed rather small compared to mine. He seemed to have accepted that I was a Paladin after seeing my physique.
Still, I judged that this man possessed decent skill.
His wrists were thick, and his grip strength was quite strong. This was the arm of a swordsman who had trained for a considerable time. He said he was the seventh son of a Marquisate, so he must have systematically trained in mana cultivation, physical conditioning, and swordsmanship since he was young.
At this level, he surpasses most C-rank adventurers in the frontier. No, his level isn’t one to waste as an adventurer. With these skills, it’s common sense to move onto something else.
“Hehehe, you flatter me. You seem quite strong yourself, but it’s embarrassing to be praised so highly upon first meeting.”
“Paladins are humble, I see. Anyway, since we’ve met like this, how about we sit down and chat?”
“As you wish.”
So, I sat down with him and chatted casually.
Other people approached us in the middle, but they didn’t try to join the conversation, and after hesitating, they turned away.
“How did you come to participate in the tournament, Paladin? To be honest, I’ve never seen a religious person participate, so I’m quite curious.”
“I’m the right age, so I participated to enhance the reputation of the Order. But participating in such an event is a first for me, so I don’t know much about it. Do you know anything about the tournament?”
“Very well. I participate every year.”
Apparently, he was a fairly famous and skilled individual who participated in the tournament every year and advanced to the finals. If you talk about the capital, you think of nobles. If you think of nobles, you think of high society. He was being recognized as a strong swordsman in those circles.
Anyway, since things had turned out this way, I asked him for information about the tournament.
“The Royal Knights have sent two prodigies to compete. Their exact identities haven’t been revealed, but since they were selected from the Knights, they will advance to the finals easily. They should have won by now… They must have gone to another waiting room. It’s a pity. Anyway, many people consider them to be the favorites to win.”
Listening to his explanation, the face of one man suddenly came to mind.
ㅡYo, Barbarian shit.
It was as if I could hear Copson’s voice from somewhere… That fucking bastard. I wonder how he’s doing? Maybe he’s been stabbed for not paying his gambling debts?
No.
That bastard is definitely doing well somewhere.
That Copson, surprisingly, has a lot of friends and acquaintances. He’s well-connected and well-informed… To be honest, his skills are just so-so, but he’s not the type to be easily defeated.
Listening to the seventh son of the Marquisate explain things, I couldn’t help but think of Copson.
“…Is that so? Does the Royal Knights send competitors every year?”
“Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. But they send them more often than not.”
“Then those guys must have won every time?”
Since they always send talented individuals, I figured they must have won every time.
“Actually, that’s not always the case. There are more talented individuals outside the Knights than within, when it comes to individual skill. The Knights don’t win every time. Isn’t that right? Not that many people enlist in the Royal Knights.”
“Ah, that’s true.”
Usually, the eldest sons who inherit the family’s core techniques don’t join the Royal Knights. As far as I remember, it seemed like mostly the less important members who were pushed out of the line of succession were the ones who enlisted.
Well, whatever.
“Just look at last year’s winner. The eldest son of the Malador Viscount family defeated a member of the Knights and took home the prize. He was incredibly skilled for his age. I don’t know how such a skilled person came from that small noble family. His swordsmanship was the talk of the town for a while.”
“That’s interesting. What’s he doing now?”
“He seems to have returned to his family.”
My conversation with him was quite informative. I was able to acquire various pieces of information about the martial arts tournament.
“Kim Katter-nim!”
As we were talking, a staff member opened the door and called my name. Actually, other people besides me had their names called and went outside.
“They’re calling me. I must take my leave. The conversation was enjoyable.”
“Ah. I wish you good luck. It was a good opportunity to speak with a Paladin.”
“Enough with the embarrassing words.”
I got up from my seat and went outside. It didn’t get boring while I was waiting, so it was a win.
“Please go up immediately!”
From now on, it’s the second preliminary round. I went up to the arena following the guide, and unfortunately, I ended up fighting another nobody.
ㅡPapapap!
ㅡBoongtzzuboongtzz!
“Uwaaaack!!”
The time it took to subdue my opponent was about 1 second.
“Kim Katter-nim wins!”
I won easily and headed back to the waiting room with the staff member. But unfortunately, the waiting room had changed, so I couldn’t meet the seventh son of the Marquisate again.
Anyway, I waited there for quite a while, and when the time came, the staff member called my name again and I went out. I don’t even have expectations about who my opponent will be anymore.
Since it’s just the preliminary rounds, it’s just a waste of time and boring. Do I have to fight two more times like this? Whatever the case, if it’s not the finals, I won’t be able to show my skills, and there’s nothing to do.
“…Or so I thought.”
This time, I encountered a decent opponent.
“I am Felcord Reidenter, an Ace Knight belonging to the Royal Knights.”
The young man wearing light armor looked to be in his early twenties. He was short, but he had a fairly sturdy build, and his eyes were quite fierce.
This was the look that only those who had received professional killing training could have.
As expected of the Royal Knights.
“So, you’re the Paladin who serves the Goddess Verde.”
He acknowledged me.
“Oh, so you know me? I’m honored. But it would be rude if I didn’t introduce myself. I am Kim Katter, a Paladin directly under the Holy Woman, belonging to the Brass Holy Angels. I humbly request instruction from the esteemed Ace Knight of the Royal Knights.”
“…”
The seventh son of the Marquisate told me earlier that the Royal Knights had sent `two` competitors. This guy must be one of them. I heard that an Ace Knight is a squad leader-level position, so he must have decent talent at a young age.
“Then, let the match begin!”
ㅡKuoong!
And so, the match began.
ㅡSreung.
I immediately grabbed the Vygale, pulled it out, spun it around, and slowly approached him. His apparent skill wasn’t great. But skilled people hide their strength.
Let’s test how good this guy, who is called a prodigy of the Royal Knights, really is.
“…I wondered what it would be like since you’re a Paladin, but you seem quite strong. It seems like I should be asking for instruction instead.”
“I appreciate the acknowledgement. Then, let’s begin.”
ㅡKwaang!
I immediately stamped down hard with my Divine Step, launching my body forward. Of course, this wasn’t a battle to the death where we killed each other.
This is a martial arts tournament, not a slaughterhouse.
ㅡSwaeeeek!!!
So, I executed a thrust with a lot of leeway. How strong is the young Ace Knight of the Royal Knights?
This.
“Real Jang Thrust Dejaaaa!!!”
“Hmph!”
ㅡPachit!
Felcord took a stance, and ㅡTzreung! In that state, my blade struck his blade, entering inside. What? He’s allowing the thrust to go this deep?
Ah!
He’s trying to counterattack from here!!
Quite bold and challenging!!
Yes!!
This is what the Royal Knights are all about!!
You can tell just from his guts! This bastard is the real deal!
I immediately let go of the thrusting sword, used the Real Jang Fist to grab his left forearm and belt in succession, lifted him up, and then slammed him hard onto the arena floor.
ㅡKwaang!!!
“Keheck!!!”
Then, the slammed Felcord gasped and slumped down.
“What?”
Slumped down?
No.
What.
“Wait.”
No.
“…?”
Why did it end so quickly?
“Keueuk…! T, to think you’d have such speed…! You’re strong after all!!”
Hey, wait.
“W, Winner! Paladin Kim Katter!!!!”
While I was bewildered, the match was over. No, wasn’t he trying to counterattack the thrust just now, instead of simply failing to deal with it? Wasn’t this guy supposed to be the Ace Knight of the Royal Knights?
What the hell is this…
“Match over! Please go down!!”
“…”
I looked down at him for a moment.
“Keueuk…! The age difference shouldn’t be that great… You’re quite strong…!”
He contorted his face and said those words to me, groaning in pain.
“W, wait a minute. I’m not asking this to insult you, but… I’m asking purely out of curiosity, is the other knight who competed with you at a similar level to you?”
“No… That’s not the case. He’s strong to the point where he can’t even be compared to me.”
He answered with a smile.
“He’s a genius.”
A genius, huh?
“A genius of swordsmanship. I’m quite talented myself, but compared to him, I’m just like a larva… You’re quite strong. But well… I think I know now after crossing swords just now. I don’t think you can beat him… Keueuk…”
Then, he suddenly said something like that.
Is he trying to save face?
To begin with, that was just a light attack, not even a killing move.
“No, how can you say something that breaks a person’s heart like that? My heart shattered when I heard those words just now. What are you going to do about this?”
“What?”
“I’ll win like I defeated you, so don’t worry about anything and go down and get a souvenir and go back to the barracks.”
“…”
How strong could he be anyway?
I immediately went down below the arena.
“Kim Katter is disappointed.”
I never thought I’d become a company commander in my life, but right now I’m truly disappointed. Even if he’s stronger than that guy, they’re just measuring the height of acorns. He’s probably spewing nonsense about being a genius because he’s embarrassed right now.
I can see it without even looking.
And cross swords my ass, how can a guy who just gets hit by a feint for throwing be called the next generation talent of the Royal Knights?
This doesn’t make sense.
“Ssibaltaeng.”
I should just finish this quickly and go home and have sex.
Anyway, since I won, I moved according to the guide. Is it afternoon already? While I was waiting in the waiting room, they said that I would be advancing to the finals due to a bye.
And so, the preliminary rounds came to an end.
The first two times, I finished in one second, the third time I easily defeated that young punk from the Knights, and the last time I got a bye due to the number of people. It’s a bye, but it doesn’t matter if I’m lucky or not. It’s all the same no matter what I do.
So the first day is passing by like this.
“Alright! Preliminary rounds over!!!”
When the preliminary rounds ended, the finalists gathered and held a closing ceremony. A cute host wearing a jester’s hat shouted loudly to announce the news.
“Now, we will announce the list of finalists that everyone has been waiting for!!! The preliminary rounds have ended today, and the finals will begin tomorrow at noon, so please don’t forget to attend!!!”
I waited a bit after the bye, but it seems it took some time to compile the list.
“Then, I will call out the list!! First! Harun Gosbelt-nim, Elder Knight of the Royal Knights! And Piledder-nim of the Shuteurengle Swordsman Guild!”
Several names quickly passed by like that,
“And… Kim Katter-nim, Paladin directly under the Holy Woman, belonging to the Brass Holy Angels!! Gures-nim, who came with a recommendation from Baron Palden!!”
My name was called.
After that, more than a dozen names passed by.
“The contestants who have been confirmed to advance to the finals should come to the Grand Arena on time tomorrow! The match schedule will be released tomorrow, so please look forward to it!!!!”
The preliminary rounds ended like this.
A simple song performance started, and with that, the audience began to get up. As expected, the preliminary rounds on the first day were quite bland. Well, anyone can come as long as they have a letter of recommendation, so it’s no surprise that more than five hundred people gathered. Among them, the real skilled ones probably don’t even number fifty.
Then, let’s go home now.
I told them in advance to go home as soon as the tournament was over.
* *
When I got home, everyone was already back. I received a warm welcome as soon as I arrived, but the matches and everything else just passed by so quickly that I didn’t have any particular impressions.
“But it’s way below my expectations. What should I do with my expectations?”
“No, the finals will probably be worth watching.”
Karin answered my words.
“After watching our husband fight, I looked around at other places, and I saw several promising guys. Wouldn’t those guys be alright? More than anything, that guy you said was sent to the Royal Knights. He seemed quite strong.”
You mean the other guy besides the one I beat up?
“Is that so?”
Then, should I look forward to it a bit?
* *
Anyway, the next day.
Finally, it was the day of the finals.
There were a total of 32 people who had advanced to the finals, and as soon as we arrived in the morning, we were assigned individual rooms.
Looking at the match schedule, my opponent was a person named Piledder, belonging to the Shuteurengle Swordsman Guild.
He’s not a noble.
He was probably a guy who was simply recognized for his skills and came to the capital to compete in the tournament after receiving a letter of recommendation from the guild.
If so, I can look forward to it.
These kinds of guys are the real deal. It’s proof that they have better skills than the murderers who have received harsh and inhumane training from noble families since they were young.
ㅡThe first match.
More than anything, his match with me was the first match of the day.
From today, we won’t be using the temporary arena that we used in the preliminary rounds, and we’ll be fighting 1:1 in the huge main arena located in the center of the Grand Arena.
All the matches will be held there in a tournament format. Tens of thousands of spectators have come here just to watch it.
Then, what should Kim Katter, the Verde evangelist and otherworldly entertainer, do?
ㅡWith endless seriousness.
“Now, it begins!!!”
I went out to the arena with the staff member’s guidance.
ㅡWaaaa!!!!
ㅡUwaaaa!!!!
ㅡOoooo!!!!
As soon as I went out, a roar of cheers poured out. Finally, it’s the main event of the martial arts tournament, the finals. A tournament where real skilled people compete against each other. The host was noisily chattering about this and that, and the people were just going wild looking at me, the competitor.
Looking at it, they were giving a brief introduction about me.
And so, I went up to the arena.
ㅡI feel a sense of excitement that can’t even be compared to when I did the opening at the Isbant Arena.
Today, I’m also in `perfect condition`.
“In the 1st corner!!!! Kim Katter, Paladin directly under the Holy Woman, belonging to the Brass Holy Angels!!!!”
My name was called.
“In the 2nd corner!!!! Piledder of the Shuteurengle Swordsman Guild!!!!”
The name of the brown-haired swordsman standing opposite me was called.
“Contestants, please greet each other!”
Greetings are good.
“Nice to meet you. As you just heard, I’m Kim Katter.”
“Ooh! Nice to meet you, Paladin! I am Piledder, the top disciple of the Shuteurengle Swordsman Guild!!!! in the Mulseon Barony!”
He promoted the Shuteurengle Swordsman Guild!!!! with high tension, as if he was doing an advertisement. He must have been asked to do it by the head of the guild.
“Good match… I look forward to it.”
“Of course! It will be a wonderful match!! Hahaha!!!”
He was turning to the east, west, south, and north and waving his hands like crazy, as if he was so happy about something. The smile on his face was quite artificial. This bastard, I have a bad feeling about this.
“Match start!!!”
ㅡChwaaaang!!
The match started right away.
“Uoooo!!!”
The guy who pulled out his sword as soon as the match started let out a fierce shout. Good. Today is the real tournament. I’ll start with a proper probing, and then end it in a spectacular way.
ㅡChwahap!!
But something was strange.
“Tzwaaaap!!!!”
ㅡSwaeeeek!
ㅡBooowoowoowoowoong!!!
The guy who pulled out his sword while shouting didn’t charge at me, but suddenly started flailing around on his own, performing some kind of cryptic sword dance.
“What are you doing now?”
What is it?
Is it a strategy?
“Kuaaaa!!!”
ㅡSwaeek!
ㅡHwiik!
ㅡHwiriririk!
He ignored my question, jumped high, rotated seven times in the air, slashed the air with his sword, landed, and then performed a swordsmanship movement like a pose. It was literally a ridiculous and chaotic performance.
What?
What’s he doing instead of fighting right now?
Is he doing some kind of performance?
“…Performance?”
No.
This fucking bastard.
How dare he, standing in front of me, Kim Katter.
Ignoring the tournament and going crazy to promote his skills?
It would be fine if it was before the match started, but it’s started now?
“Hiyaaaap!! Ogre Splitterrrr!!!”
The guy continued to perform some kind of performance, and every time he did, cheers erupted from the audience.
“…You’re dead, you fucking bastard.”
If he wants to fuck the match and promote himself.
From now on, there’s no choice but to show the solo stage of Kim Katter, the Dancing Heavenly Demon of Love.
