Chapter 69: Take Off (1)

The reason the priests, not the soldiers, had been guarding the 「Shrine of Wind Canyon」, which was under the jurisdiction of the Grand Priest, was of course due to the balance between the three wings, but more importantly, because the priests had enough ‘strength’ to protect it on their own without needing to borrow the power of the soldiers.

When people think of priests, they usually imagine ‘clerics’ who use holy magic.

Like Lily, who mainly plays the role of a healer.

That wasn't wrong.

Most of them were indeed like that.

In the first place, holy magic itself was fundamentally specialized in that kind of healing, so it couldn't even be called a prejudice.

However, the priests of Daian were a little different.

Of course, they were also ‘clerics’ who dealt with the same holy magic, but due to the specificity of having to protect their own territory as mentioned before, they tended to train in a way that was a bit more… specialized in ‘combat’.

“Woah──”

You could tell just by looking at the perfectly trained muscular body that Mistral, who had slowly taken off his priest's robe, possessed, a body that was hard to believe belonged to a man in his 70s.

“Wh-What’s with that old man…?!”

“Last time, didn't you find it strange that none of the priests guarding the front of the shrine were armed?”

“…!”

Ibi looked as if she had just remembered that.

And at that time, I had answered, ‘They’re not people who fight with weapons’.

This was meant to say that clerics generally fight with a ‘prayer book’ instead of a weapon, like Lily, but for the priests of Daian, it also had a literal meaning.

“Because they don't need to.”

The priests of Daian were generally ‘clerics’ and, at the same time, ‘fighters’.

In short, they were like ‘monks’.

Of course, they didn't have the image of Shaolin monks that one usually associates with monks in games.

“What was it? In the martial world, they say to be careful of the elderly and children?”

So, the reason the elderly Mistral held the position of Grand Priest of Daian was not because he was the oldest or most experienced.

“Indeed, one should certainly be careful of an old man like that.”

It was simply because he was (still) the strongest priest in Daian.

“W-Wow……”

And Miki, who was standing in front of such a Mistral, was not in his usual heavy armor, but was in light attire, shirtless with only pants on, just like Mistral.

Miki seemed unable to take his eyes off Mistral's sculpture-like body, but in fact, Miki's side also had a well-trained body.

Perhaps in the sense that there was a twist of having such a body under a rather cute face, he could be said to resemble Mistral, who just looked like a normal benevolent old man when wearing his priest's robe.

“Ah…! P-Please take care of me, Grand Priest!”

“It is I who should be asking for your care, Michael-gun.”

Why were those two similar (?) people facing each other shirtless and exchanging greetings.

“Haaaaap──!”

“Hah!”

And then, without anyone having to go first, they rushed towards each other.

And, the two began to exchange fists.

* * *

“To teach me… martial arts?”

“Yes.”

About an hour ago, I had made this request to the two people who had offered to help.

At that, Mistral was slightly flustered and puzzled, and then he cautiously asked.

“…To you, Sir Bard?”

“What? No, no, not me.”

What a scary thing to say.

My body might die if I received training.

It wasn't an exaggeration, I would probably really die.

So, not me, but.

“Miki.”

When I pointed to Miki, Mistral showed an even more puzzled reaction.

In my case, he was puzzled thinking ‘He certainly needs training, but can he endure it?’, but in Miki's case, it was the opposite.

That's because, if not for the discriminatory view of Halflings, Miki was already an excellent knight in anyone's eyes.

Was there a need to teach martial arts to him, who was already fully active as a knight, or more accurately──

“Isn’t Sir Michael already a fine knight…?”

Was there a need to recommend a job change to a ‘fighter’.

What I had asked for was not simply to teach him how to fight with his fists, but to make him able to be professionally active as a fighter.

“Of course, Miki will continue to walk the path of a knight.”

Miki is and will continue to be a ‘knight’.

This will not change.

“But I think Miki has quite a talent as a fighter as well.”

But now, let's add a line of ‘fighter’ to his resume.

The so-called ‘multi-class’.

“Me, a talent for a fighter…?”

When I first recruited Miki to the party, I mentioned that he had a ‘trait’ that could be a fatal weakness as an adventurer.

Now that his level had risen appropriately, it was time to seriously face that trait.

Miki, to put it simply, cannot handle ‘weapons’.

It wasn't that his skills were clumsy, but that he just couldn't handle them at all.

“Ah─”

Ibi, as if she had understood my intention, crossed her arms and nodded her head.

“Yeah, you have talent, kid.”

Although I hadn't explicitly mentioned it until now, the other companions, having spent time together as a party, had probably all noticed by now.

Originally, the general ‘armament’ of knights was to combine a weapon that could be held with a shield, whether it was a sword, an axe, or a mace.

But Miki, only holds a shield.

Since joining the party, Miki had not once held a weapon in his hand.

Isn't it strange?

Miki, who was so diligent that he never missed a day of training and had been trained while growing up in the prestigious Irons family, why was it that he couldn't handle only ‘weapons’?

The cause was a fundamental problem.

Yes.

It was because of the trait called 「Oath of Non-killing」── that Miki cannot ‘kill’.

The reason why he couldn't bring his sword down on the unconscious monster at our first meeting, despite the insistence of his party members.

Therefore, Miki was designed as a character with the debuff of all his attacks being restricted to ‘non-lethal’ and being unable to equip weapons, but in return, he was excellent as a pure tank who took on the role of defense.

However, it was undeniable that he was an incomplete knight with many penalties in attack.

And with these penalties, the game lets the players make a choice.

Like now, do you maintain Miki's ‘personality’ by maintaining the 「Oath of Non-killing」, even if he is an incomplete knight.

Or… do you eventually make him break the oath, remove the trait that is close to a debuff, and awaken the ‘talent’ that Miki originally had, turning him into the strongest knight who is outstanding in both attack and defense.

And I, will choose the former this time as well.

“I want to respect your… oath not to kill, Miki.”

“…!”

Miki looked surprised that I had found out something he hadn't even mentioned, but in our party, there was probably no one who didn't know.

Even Lily, who had only been with us for a short time, had noticed immediately.

“H-How…”

“You can tell just by looking.”

“…Did you really think we wouldn’t know, kid?”

Of course, if you only look at performance, you would choose the latter.

Moreover, Miki, freed from the constraint of the oath, becomes a so-called cheat character with overwhelming performance in both offense and defense.

But that Miki, would no longer be the Miki he is now.

I knew well the price Miki would have to pay if I removed the non-killing trait for the sake of performance.

So I could never make such a choice.

“It's okay not to hold a weapon.”

So, just as I was engrossed in honing my character's build, I had been thinking about how to maximize Miki's performance without breaking his 「Oath of Non-killing」, and.

“If you walk the path of a ‘fighter’ as well, you can become much stronger than you are now.”

This was the answer.

Miki had to learn martial arts from Mistral in Daian and awaken his aptitude as a ‘fighter’.

With this build, his growth as a pure knight would of course be slower, but it was possible to make Miki an excellent ‘damage dealer tank’ in both offense and defense without having to break the oath.

“Of course, your will is the most important thing.”

What do you want to do?

I asked Miki with a gentle smile.

Thus, when trying to add a new class different from the existing class to a companion, since it was a matter of deciding that person's ‘future (career path)’, I had to [Persuade].

--

[Persuasion]

Success

--

And I am a master of [Persuasion].

“……!”

Sure enough, Miki's eyes, who was listening to me, had been sparkling since some point.

The parties he had met so far, like the guys at the end, not only did not respect his 「Oath of Non-killing」, but only used it as a weakness to forcibly kick him out or as an excuse to rip him off.

Such repeated experiences could not help but leave a trauma, and that was why he had not been able to bring himself to talk about the oath even to us, who he thought were different from those guys (although it was obvious to everyone even if he didn't say it).

For fear of being kicked out again, being ridiculed as a half-pint knight.

But now, at the fact that he had met companions who understood his oath for the first time, Miki seemed very moved, and.

“I…! I will do my best!”

He nodded his head vigorously.

* * *

Although it was called ‘a light spar to gauge his current skills’, from the side, it was just a brutal fistfight.

…No, to be more precise.

“You’re slow, Michael-gun! Move your feet faster!”

“Y-Yes── Keoheok!”

“Focus!”

It was a scene of a venerable old man beating a child (judging only by appearances) to a pulp.

“…Is it okay to beat a kid like that?”

To the point where I wondered if it was okay to just stand by and watch.

Miki was no match for Mistral.

Only after Miki could no longer stand up and was lying flat on the ground, Mistral finished the spar (?) and gave a polite greeting.

“A-Are you okay, Brother Miki…?”

“Ugh… th-thank you, Sister….”

Only after receiving 「Healing」 from Lily, who had rushed over, could Miki barely raise his upper body.

Miki's body was completely drenched in sweat, but on the other hand, Mistral, who had not shed a single drop of sweat, put on his priest's robe right over it.

“Can you get up? Michael-gun.”

Then, the image of Mistral offering a hand was no longer the wild appearance of a moment ago, but the usual benevolent old man again.

Maybe there was an On/Off switch on his priest's robe.

Miki, who took Mistral's hand and got up, was still breathing heavily, but he now gave the greeting he couldn't give because he had fallen a moment ago.

“I-I have learned a lesson, Grand Priest!”

Mistral looked at Miki with a proud expression and chuckled, hoho.

“Michael-gun has a good foundation. You must have learned from an excellent teacher.”

“Ah… yes! He was an excellent teacher!”

That teacher was Miki's older brother.

The sight of Miki, happy that he and his brother had been praised at the same time, looked just like a puppy that couldn't hide its wagging tail.

“Indeed, Sir Yubin is right.”

Mistral, who chuckled once more at the sight, then said to us.

“Michael-gun has talent.”

“Right?”

Ibi muttered from the side, “After just beating him to a pulp?”, but Mistral was not a person who spoke empty words.

“If I had my way, I would like to take him as my own disciple… but I feel sorry to take Michael-gun from you all, and it seems impossible in the first place…”

Mistral stroked his chin and looked at Miki again.

“I will try my best to teach you everything I can in the short time we have.”

As if he had met a student worth teaching for the first time in a long time, he showed a smile I had never seen before.

“It will be a very arduous training… are you okay with that, Michael-gun?”

“…! Y-Yes, sir! It is an honor, Grand Priest!”

* * *

In a few days, Miki would have the aptitude of a ‘fighter’.

Although only the class ‘knight’ would be written on his status for now, it meant that he would be able to awaken his talent as a ‘fighter’ as soon as he reached the next level.

Thus, having obtained the best ‘damage dealer tank’ in this world (game).

“──Ah! Welcome, everyone!”

It was now time to go get the best equipment befitting a party with such a top-tier damage dealer tank.