Chapter 18: Element Crystal (1)
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Returning home, I set my stuff down on the table and immediately got to my room to put on a fresh change of clothes. As I put on my shirt, I chuckled a bit about Suu tearing my clothes like a she-devil.
I put a reminder to buy a crap ton of clothes for the future, and if not, to just use my light. That power is so handy to have around.
Shaking my head, I went downstairs to whip myself up some breakfast before heading to start my day, beginning with that right morning sword class.
The morning passed by fairly uneventfully. I had shut off Sun Boost in advance to go through the usual routine. With it deactivated, I was working in that fine middle zone where I was neither strong nor weak for my opponents. While I did miss and get struck a few times, I was still learning more than I did otherwise by sharpening my swordsmanship.
It has done well to help people feel more comfortable around me, as before they would have even dreamed of sparring with me, but now that I toned the power down, people weren't feeling dejected anymore.
It was a win-win situation, though I didn't like how Kem was so smug when he got me on the shoulder while I was distracted by Simon and the other soldier, who proceeded to strike me on my arm, leaving Simon to kick me in the stomach.
Good thing I got him back by tripping him up and making him hit the other guy. Heh, the looks on their faces were comical.
It went on like that until breaking for lunch.
…
Later that afternoon, after finishing my exercises at home, I was strolling around the village, a bag of food in my hands when something ahead caught my attention. There was a group of people working setting up an amphitheater, carrying wooden tables and multiple-sized stand seats along with other necessary supplies into position.
The Blessing Ceremony wasn't for at least another couple weeks, but people were aiming to set up the seating beforehand so they wouldn't have to deal with it later. The amphitheater was located in the middle of the village. The amphitheater was used for important events, such as meetings and bonfires for various occasions, including the annual Harvest Festival.
The seats around the amphitheater provided enough capacity to accommodate over a hundred people. The seats were, of course, made of wood for the crowds that would soon be arriving.
"Oh, they're getting ready," I muttered as I stared at one group raising a wooden beam while others were carrying things or hammering in nails.
Among them was the village blacksmith, Mr Adams, who led this operation. He spotted me and gave me a wave. I waved back and went to talk to him. I asked what was up, and he replied with nothing much as he went on to explain how they were preparing the seats and stage for the competition that would take place during the festivities.
We discussed the soon-to-be heroes that would be arriving and how they would fight among themselves to display their abilities to the masses and show their strength. Whoever emerged as the victor would receive a large amount of prize money.
I'm sure you're wondering why there even is a tournament and if it was part of the game. It wasn't. It was something new created by the King of San Ilia a couple of decades back. The church under his command had promoted this event to be held before the actual ceremony in the hopes that it would motivate the people to support the heroes and, by default, the Ilias Faith, which supported said heroes, while also celebrating the arrival of the up-and-coming heroes much more enthusiastically, giving ordinary people an opportunity to witness their strength. It would simultaneously bolster the faith people had in heroes but also make the heroes feel special through the attention and praise they received.
Whatever the case, this competition was part of this world's history, not in the game, but through Luka's memories. Also think about it. Why would the creators of the game care about adding a detail like a competition in the starting village anyways? Torotoro Resistance created the beginning specifically for Luka to miss his blessing ceremony in exchange for meeting Alice.
Moving on, the reward money was a small bonus meant to support the winner, although the church already provided heroes with plenty of benefits because of their status. Seriously, in this world, anyone blessed by Ilias to make their semen taste terrible could waltz into any store or inn, request the most expensive item or rooms available, and have the church pay for the bill.
And if you're wondering how they could afford all of that, the answer was simple. Taxes. In the Faith of Ilias, everyone, except children under fifteen years old, paid a certain amount of taxes that would be collected by priests who would stop by accompanied by soldiers for protection. Land taxes, communion fees, and other contributions were collected to ultimately support the heroes.
It was rather shameless, if I had to say so myself. Even the games acknowledged the ridiculousness of it all and how easily it could be abused.
While talking, Mr. Adams mentioned how many wealthy merchants would be arriving to set up their stalls along with placing bets on the competitors.
The conversation briefly made me think about Enrika. I realized that if I could contact the merchant who dealt with them directly, I might learn the location of the hidden village. However, I dismissed that idea because I had no way of knowing who the merchant was, and even if I randomly asked, it could backfire on me later.
It was better to keep quiet until I came to them naturally. For both me and the elves living there. While saying this, I think about the various elves in the village and smile, thinking of their bodies and long ears.
Mr. Adams asked me what I was thinking, and I merely answered with 'Oh, nothing' and continued our talk. He nodded and resumed by telling me how most of them were already looking forward to seeing which candidates would come out on top. He said that they would be playing with large quantities of money that would dwarf the prize money for the competition. Then he mentioned something that immediately caught my attention. There was a rumor that anyone who performed well enough in the eyes of the church could earn the right to wield a magic sword the church had in their possession.
That made me pause. "Wait. Could I participate?"
Mr. Adams thought about it for a moment as he stroked his beard. "I don't see why, but I'd ask the Chief Alabaster."
In the past, canon Luka and the other students wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the tournament because they were too young, and more importantly, they lacked the experience necessary to fight against older and more skilled opponents. Unless they defeated someone like Simon by themselves, they had no place being part of it.
But that didn't count for me. I was far above normal humans even without Sun Boost, so I was confident I would win. And it's not like anybody would have reason to complain, either. I'd already proven myself by defeating Simon, and I'm sure the village chief wouldn't have any problems with it.
Still, Mr. Adams gave me a warning look. "Well, whatever you do, you ought to be careful. Those people aiming to be heroes aren't your run-of-the-newbies. They are soldiers like Simon, so they are pretty capable. Heck, I've heard there's someone coming who was personally nurtured and raised by the church since they were young, showing up. I've also heard he's the favourite to win."
I raised my eyes in intrigue. "No kidding?" A hero raised and supported by the church, huh? This should be fun.
We continued our conversation back at his home over a couple of drinks, discussing the Village Tournament and the upcoming participants. I also had a few other things I wanted to talk to him about.
Mr. Adams informed me that there would be over seventy heroes arriving this year, which was actually on the lower end. Despite the relatively large number of attendees, not all of them would be competing for various reasons.
Based on Canon Luka's memories of previous tournaments, I estimated all of them to be around Simon's level or below. That gave me plenty of confidence that I could best them all, including the so-called favorite to win.
There were people attending from all over the world. Some had training and had experience fighting and driving monsters from their homes and protected civilians despite not being heroes, which was impressive. However, they were only a minority, as not everyone shared that quality. A lot of them had been tasked to come here and gain Ilias's blessing because the church needed to bolster its numbers and didn't care who they were as long as they filled the spots. So a number of them were ordinary folk with no experience in handling a weapon. Then there were the small minority who were wealthy and had connections to the church solely because of their riches. Nobles unsurprisingly existed in this world, and their wealth gave them plenty of privileges compared to the lower class, and that extended to the Ilias Faith. Those people had the best equipment and armor money could buy and so looked the part of heroes, but somehow I doubted that.
Mr. Adams wore a sour expression while talking about it. He clearly didn't like the Ilias Faith nor the way the people leading it operated.
"You good?" I asked while taking a sip of my cup.
The blacksmith waved his hand. He explained that he disliked certain aspects of the church, a sentiment shared by the rest of his colleagues in the Blacksmith Association.
The Ilias Faith, which was responsible for upholding the goddess's teachings and defending humanity and its future from monsters, was connected nearly everywhere in human territories and had a lot of influence and power. Every human respected the Ilias Faith for defending them. However, the Merchant Association, which was a group that handled all crafts that required physical strength, forging, and anything that required hands and training, was constantly at odds with them. They were entirely independent from the church, and the Ilias Faith didn't like that, so the two maintained a tense relationship.
Despite their influence, they didn't have a tight grasp on the association nor its members. The church was mostly silent about it and behaved cordially, but that was all for appearances. In truth they hated that they didn't have a monopoly on the talented smiths at their beck and call, but what can they do? All the best weapons, armors, shields, and tools on top of everything else the Blacksmith Association provided were essential to everyone, so while it grated the church, there wasn't anything they could do about it.
"Those people at the church don't know what they're doing, making those idiots heroes?" He shook his head disappointedly.
He tells me how In his opinion, there were no true heroes in this era, unlike those in the legends. The heroes blessed by Ilias were pathetic and weak against even weak monsters and lacked the strength and conviction to keep people safe.
"I agree. The heroes aren't good enough, not like Heinrich."
A smile bloomed on Mr. Adams. "Ah, Heinrich, now that is what they should be striving to be like." He then reminisced about how much he had loved the story of Heinrich as a child.
To him, Heinrich was the perfect example of what kids like me should emulate. I couldn't help but chuckle internally. If only he knew how true that was, considering Luka was Heinrich's descendant. A small mirthful smile appeared on my face as I traced the rim of my cup.
We then shifted the conversation back to the tournament. The prize money was the same as the previous years. One hundred gold coins. That amount was impressive by itself, but it was practically nothing compared to the total amount of money that would be wagered.
That made the tournament even more intriguing to me. Not only could I meet people from different parts of the world, but if I played my cards right, I might make some extra money for my future plans.
Mr. Adams then teased me, mentioning that plenty of attractive daughters of merchants and other beautiful women would be there, including sisters from the Ilias Faith.
Human children in this world were considered adults once they reached their fifteenth birthday and even got married as young as seventeen or sixteen. It was also common to see people becoming parents at seventeen. If not, younger. It was weird how this was considered the norm, but this was a medieval world, and I didn't have the mental patience to care when I found out that Simon got one of the village girls pregnant and would be taking her back to San Illia to raise the child once he was done here.
It didn't help that I had a pretty face now. Almost all of the girls were head over heels for me. Many asked to eat with me and watch me train around my house, and I wasn't into it. The attention was nice and all, but it made me uncomfortable at the thought of these young girls pining after me. I was going to make sure to keep my distance from them.
And before anybody gives me shit about Suu, she can shapeshift, and for all I knew, she could be in her hundreds, so I considered her fair game. I'm not weird. You're weird.
I rolled my eyes. "Don't say stuff like that."
"Oh, come on, you're a young man. It's natural to be curious about these things, and with your looks, I'm sure even those sisters of the Ilias Faith will swoon the moment they take a look at you. BAHAHA!" He hollered, slapping his knees.
While I was silent, I couldn't help the smile creeping in. Meeting a hot sister wouldn't be so bad. I had read the laws thoroughly and reviewed Lukas's memories, and I found nothing that prevented people from having sex before marriage or from having multiple partners. It was only monster girls that people frowned upon as far as the Ilias Faith is concerned. Of course nobody had harems these days, as normal people were content having a single partner, and so it was only something nobles or kings did.
"Anyways, Mr. Adams, can I commission you to make something for me?"
He raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"
"I need a poncho."
The man looked confused. "A poncho? Don't you already have one? Why would you need another?"
"It's for a friend," I replied.
This was the better alternative I could think of than her using her tendrils. It would also make a wonderful gift for her. She'd been nothing but great to me since we'd met, and I wanted to do something nice for her. Besides, this was Suu we were talking about. It would be weird if she didn't have her iconic yellow poncho.
"Hmm, I might have something. Wait here." He stood up and left the room. A few moments later, he returned carrying a big, bright yellow poncho. He even had the boots.
"Where did you get that?" It was exactly what I needed. I wanted something large enough to cover her entire body, especially since I expected Suu to change her form frequently in the future and wanted to make sure she always had something sizable to wear.
He explained that he'd bought it in Iliasburgh a few months ago from a merchant hailing from Noah. Unfortunately, it hadn't fit him too well, and he'd been too busy to have it resized. Since then, it had just been sitting around collecting dust.
He offered to resize it for me but warned me that he wasn't experienced with clothing and might damage it. "It's great. I'll take it as it is."
He stared at me for a moment, clearly confused by my eagerness, before shrugging and handing it over.
"Thanks. I appreciate it." Suu was going to love it. I reached for my pouch to pay him, but he waved me off.
"Don't worry about it. I've got no use for it anyway."
I chuckled and thanked him again. The blacksmith smiled before we went back to our conversation. He started by telling me that plenty of people would be visiting the village for the tournament. One of his friends from the Blacksmith Association would also be stopping by.
I questioned why his friend would even want to show up, as the Ilias Faith and Blacksmith Association weren't exactly best friends, and I've never seen anyone from the Blacksmith Association attending a Blessing Ceremony. Mr. Adams explained that his old friend was searching for someone worthy of wielding one of his magic swords.
That immediately caught my attention.
Mr. Adams then went on to say that the man was the head of the Blacksmith Association. The two had known each other for years, and his friend was one of the rare few in this world capable of creating magic swords without being a wizard.
My interest must have been obvious because Mr. Adams laughed. "Now don't get too excited. You still need to prove yourself."
"Please, I got this," I said confidently, getting a chuckle. "Still, it's kind of weird. Isn't the relationship between the association and the church bad? Why cooperate with them at all?"
Mr. Adams explained that despite their disagreements on some matters and the churches' petty constant attempts at getting back at them like increasing their taxes or taking their weapons to give to heroes, both organizations worked together for the most part because it was necessary for the sake of humanity. The Church wanted the skills their careers demanded of them while the association wanted to keep their independence.
It made sense when I looked at it that way. Both parties had something to gain from the other.
Then Mr. Adams dropped a bombshell. "The main reason why he's showing up, however, is because I wrote him a letter about you and he got curious."
I blinked. "Huh?"
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