The First Trial

The trial was proceeding smoothly.

Or rather, there was nothing they could do to interfere. Narikin himself wasn't there; he simply appeared on the magic tool at a fixed time each day and continued his dungeon exploration.

Apparently, this was what he called a "daily stream."

"Ragil-sama. What if we claimed that when he isn't streaming, he's hiding the Bible?"

"Balakdo, that won't fly. Unfortunately, the people are convinced. The off-stream hours are no different from being in one's room, and he shows himself at the same time every day."

If you wanted to confirm that Narikin had the Bible, you only had to come look at the magic tool at the usual hour. There Narikin would be, with the Bible in his possession.

"… To complain about this, we'd be at the level of having to demonstrate the exemplar ourselves. We'd end up living in a tent out in the streets—no, we'd have to live without even a tent."

"Th-then what if we just destroyed that magic tool?"

"Fool! That's a national-treasure-class magic tool! I don't know which country it belongs to, but it would absolutely become an international incident!"

"Can't we put all the blame on Narikin?"

"… Suppose the owner is the Empire. They'd seize on the damage as a pretext to gleefully invade the Holy Kingdom! With His Holiness the Pope missing, we wouldn't stand a chance!"

How troublesome. Unless they first pinned down which nation's royalty he was connected to, they couldn't afford to make a wrong move.

He had said "royalty," but it could just as well be the Empire's imperial family. That level of wordplay was a triviality, and if he claimed he'd said "royalty" to avoid being identified, that would be the end of it.

"At this point, all we can do… is watch…!"

Ragil clenched his teeth and slammed his desk—bang.

All they could do now was hope he never returned from the dungeon, or that the Bible was damaged.

Yet Narikin strode through the dungeon as lively as he pleased, wearing the easy smile of a man on a neighborhood stroll. And all the while, he guarded the Bible without the slightest carelessness.

For example, there was a stream like this:

[Now then, how about we change things up a bit today with a reading? Look, the Bible is right here. I'm to protect this Bible, of course, but a book is a book to be read, yes? Everyone. Then let's read from the prologue in order.]

Reading a book—an actual narration of it—despite being in a dungeon.

Monsters did draw near to his voice, but he sent them flying with backfists and dispatched them without trouble.

What could one even call this?

… Leisure. Yes, leisure.

A solo dungeon conquest that should have been cheek-by-jowl with danger felt as safe as lying down at home. Narikin had that much composure.

… It was precisely because he had power of that caliber backing him that he had ascended to papal candidate with such unusual speed.

Even Ragil had to accept as much.

"E-even so, Ragil-sama. There are two more trials—two whole trials! And this trial in the first place was Ronesky's, something it would've been no surprise for him to clear. The trials we set will be the main event!"

"…! Right, right you are. Ah, as things stand, all we can do is focus our efforts on sabotaging the next trial."

They had no choice but to give up on interference this time.

Ragil let out a long breath. To think he'd be the one being talked sense into by Balakdo.

If Narikin returned safely, the first trial would be complete… At this point, even Ragil could no longer imagine anything happening to Narikin inside this dungeon.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Elsewhere in the Holy Kingdom, an elderly High Priestess who had once been a Saintess candidate held her head in her hands.

Magni, a neutral High Priest.

What she had envisioned for the second trial was "combat."

She had intended to say, "Hunt a monster of Danger Level: A or higher." Magni, a former Saintess candidate herself, had the skill to manage that much.

But the other day, on that "stream," Narikin had hunted a monster corresponding to Danger Level: A—a Basilisk—going so far as to politely explain the strategy while doing it.

[Basilisks possess the petrifying Evil Eye. Even without eye contact, just entering their field of view risks being turned to stone, so the textbook play is to attack from outside that vision. However—if you blind it with a smoke bomb mixed with citrus peels and chili powder, you can win comparatively easily. Helpful, no?]

So saying, he actually used a surprise smoke bomb, and while the Basilisk writhed in agony, he lopped off its head.

In other words, he had completed the trial before it was even imposed. Solo.

What she had originally envisioned was something you could tackle with a party. That was the level of a Danger Level: A foe.

Yet he did it solo. How had it come to this? Why go that far?

… At this point, she would have to present a different trial.

"'Danger Level: S' is hard to even find, and it's not something you should slay lightly… We couldn't even provide the exemplar. The dungeon—ah. At this rate, is he going to… clear the whole dungeon?"

If he achieved a solo dungeon conquest, he would be someone whose martial prowess permitted no complaints. If anything, she wanted him to give a big public lecture like that Basilisk strategy.

When that time came, Magni would want to attend as well.

"After all he's done, maybe the only option left is to paper things over with some suitable trial just convincing enough to satisfy the people, huh."

Who would have thought the side imposing the trials would be the ones wracking their brains over them.

Watching Narikin's stream being broadcast in the plaza from the second floor of the temple, Magni murmured in resignation.