Ah... um, sorry...

"— Winner, Narikin!!"

At the judge's declaration, the stands erupted. Kobold Niku, watching from the back with arms crossed like a stern master, nodded in satisfaction. Adorable.

"Ooh, finishing it off with three Judgment Rays was flashy."

"That Narikin, he knows how to put on a show."

From the audience, the sight of three bundles of light sweeping away the Saintess looked fantastic.

The Saintess revives even if she dies. If anything, you can't call a duel against her a win if you can't even manage to kill her.

She was completely blown away. That much made the result crystal clear.

"And you pulled out something nostalgic — that golem's arm."

"An arm that's a hidden weapon with a proven track record of taking down the Saintess. This time's secret plan."

"It certainly wasn't something newly made."

It'd been sitting in storage, so we mounted it on Narikin's armor.

The problem would have been if the Saintess were the type to go, "Techniques that once hit the Saintess shall never work again!" In that case she might have avoided it. But even when she explored our dungeon before, once she let her guard down she fell for the same traps again and again.

I was confident that if we sprung it in a gap, she'd get hit for certain.

"And if it hadn't finished her, what then?"

"Well, you know. Niku would jump in and we'd make it work somehow."

Kobold Niku could have leapt in via [Storage] and joined as a tamed monster… What? Are you sad you didn't get to shine? C'mon, don't be like that. I ruffled her head.

Niku narrowed her eyes happily in her fluffy body.

"… A kobold body would make a nice hug pillow too, right? In winter and such."

"Nah, when the fur's too fluffy it actually tickles. I prefer her usual."

"So you've tried."

Well of course. As if I wouldn't try.

Narikin, meanwhile, picked up the severed arm and reattached it with a clank sound.

He'd severed it off from the elbow by leveraging his traits as a Living Armor, but we're insisting it's a magic prosthetic, so it's fine.

In practice, Narikin can freely manipulate the hidden arm-weapon attached to his armor.

Oh, the Saintess is back. Fresh off revival, she's weak and leaning on a priest's shoulder.

She's chatting amicably with Narikin.

An elderly High Priestess came over and proclaimed:

"Narikin. You have cleared the second trial as well!"

"Saintess Alka offers her blessing. Congratulations, Narikin-sama."

With the renewed proclamation, the venue erupted again.

This should finish off the Saintess faction. Man, how do the people who messed with our village feel now? After everything going round and round, your symbol seems to've lined up under our Narikin. How's that feel, huh?

"By the way, Ke— Kyou. I can see a few people in this venue who look cursed."

"Hm? Cursed?"

"You know that I'm an angel, right?"

Well, she's angelically cute… No, right now she's in the angel Rokufa's body.

"Like, I can see this curse-like black stuff!"

"I see. Angel eyes are kinda handy."

"And that High Priest, the one who already recognized Narikin — the one named Ronesky — he's pitch-black, too."

"What? That's bad, isn't it?"

He's someone who already acknowledged Narikin. It wouldn't be strange if he were trying to assassinate Narikin with a curse to block his accession as Pope.

"It's almost a wonder he's still alive. Is that what it means to be a High Priest, I wonder?"

"Hmm… If it's a curse, then it's time for the Alarm Clock."

"Oh, gonna dispel it? Gonna?"

"Let's do it."

While we're at it, let's clean up everyone in this arena.

I took out the Divine Alarm Clock, set it so that our [Possession] and [Super Transform] and such wouldn't be canceled, and rang it.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

When the Saintess revived and returned, supported as her body felt heavy, Narikin's arm was firmly attached.

"Narikin-sama. Is your arm alright?"

"Ah, this? A magic prosthetic. I only made it look like it was cut off."

"What?"

Saying that, Narikin popped the arm off to show her. Come to think of it, there hadn't been any blood from the severed arm. She'd figured it was because the light blade cauterized it.

What an exquisitely made prosthetic. She hadn't noticed at all.

"If you like, I can regrow it. Given time, even old losses can be healed."

"Hm? Ah, don't trouble yourself. It's more convenient like this. They used to call me a Living Armor, and honestly, I've come to think I may as well not need flesh at all. Hah hah hah."

As he said it, Narikin waggled the arm sprouting from the armor's waist to show how freely he could move it.

He was effectively three-armed now. If he could move them that well, it might indeed be more convenient than flesh and blood.

"… Where did you get that arm?"

"At a certain dungeon we stopped by while searching for Kyou. A formidable foe, that was."

"Were you able to destroy the dungeon itself?"

"No, no. My fight with the boss was almost a double knockout, and it looked like there was more beyond, so I turned back."

Hearing that, the Saintess let out the briefest breath of relief before quickly schooling her expression.

"It seems I never stood a chance against you to begin with, Narikin-sama."

"No, no, it was by a hair's breadth. Without these hands, who knows how it would've gone."

Narikin flashed a grin, then flicked his eyes toward Kyou; the Saintess sighed as if to say, "You're being overly modest."

With the Saintess back, Magni, who had served as one of the judges, also strode up at a measured pace.

"Well then. High Priest Magni. Does this complete the second trial?"

"Yeah. No mistake. Congratulations, with this you're one step closer to being Pope, Narikin. You have cleared the second trial as well!"

"Saintess Alka offers her blessing. Congratulations, Narikin-sama."

With Magni and Alka declaring so, Narikin safely cleared the second trial.

Those who had crowded in as spectators roared in response.

"Ooooooh! Narikin's the strongest! Narikin's the strongest! You're the one fit to be Pope!"

"At last, a new Pope will be born! No objections!!"

"Idiot, it's still too soon. There's one more left. But this is surely…!"

Having felled the Saintess, Narikin's popularity climbed even higher.

Personal martial strength = dungeon-conquering ability = popularity. The Holy Kingdom was surprisingly simple like that, reminiscent of the Demonlands in a way.

 

 

And then it happened.

Thud. Someone collapsed.

"Hm?"

The one who noticed the quiet sound was High Priest Magni.

Magni turned toward the sound and there lay Ronesky.

"Ronesky? What are you doing down there?"

"…"

"Ronesky? Hey, Ronesky!?"

But there was no answer to Magni's call. She took his arm and checked his pulse — and felt no beat of life.

"Recovery — no, there are no wounds. CPR! Alka! Narikin! Lagil! You help too!"

"Y-Yes!"

"Saintess-dono, chest compressions! I'll handle rescue breaths!"

"Wh-!? H-hey, Ronesky! What happened!?"

Magni immediately called everyone in.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A technique brought by the Hero.

This was the temple of the Church of the God of Light where recovery and medicine specialists gathered, so of course that knowledge existed. There was also a medical team on hand for injuries from the duel.

"Ronesky! Get a hold of yourself, Ronesky!! You're too young to go to God's side yet!! Lagil, antidote magic!"

"… ■■■, ■■■■■■■■■ — High Dis-Poison! … No good, there's no effect. I sense no poison."

"No wounds, no poison… then why'd he collapse!?"

"Internal… brain damage?"

"If it were that, it'd still show up in my examination!"

If they couldn't save him here, they couldn't save him anywhere in this world.

Magni made the right calls.

Everyone else did all they could.

"… I don't know. But he's completely dead."

"Hey! There's someone collapsed over here too!! No breathing here either!"

"What!? Tch… what's going on!?"

Afterward, it was confirmed that a total of around ten people had suddenly died at the same time within the temple — within this very hall.

Poison gas and the like were suspected, but no unnatural toxins were detected anywhere.

Naturally, common factors among the dead would be investigated to find the cause.

The spectators were suspects. Time would be taken for questioning. Even those close to Narikin who had come to cheer him on were temporarily detained and placed under house arrest.

… When Narikin looked at them and very conspicuously averted his eyes in embarrassment, she had the feeling he might've done something.