The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

This was a man whose expression remained unchanged even in the midst of a drinking party. The only exception was when the topic of his daughter and wife came up. That was where the problem lay.

“Oh yes. She’s an outstanding girl.”

—It was happening. It had already begun.

Pavel paid no heed to Olrand's regret and continued speaking.

“That said, I honestly have no idea why she wants to become a paladin. She’s weak little girl, certainly not the type who thinks of fighting power as everything — honestly, she’s even been scared to tears by caterpillars in the past — and while I did say that might was everything just now, that doesn’t extend to my wife… although my wife does seem like that in some ways — and she’s adorable because she grew up like me, no, I should say that it’s a pity she ended up growing up to look like me — but the true shame is that she doesn’t have any talent for using swords. However, she’s adept with the bow. If only she could hone her skills in that respect, but then here she is wanting to be a paladin and whatnot—”

He let the meandering monologue flow in one ear and out the other, making the appropriate noises in response when they were needed, but it would seem he had still been found out.

“Oi, are you listening to me?”

That question was only to be expected.

No, I wasn’t listening. I think I stopped after the third time.

After hearing the same thing about five or six times, under normal circumstances Olrand would have unhappily retorted “Hell no.” However, taking that tone with Pavel would be a terrible mistake. That was because he knew that he would surely reply, “Then I’ll tell you again.”

This was the right answer:

“Of course I did. What a lovely girl she is!”

Pavel’s face changed dramatically. While it was an ugly, fiendish expression that put Olrand on his guard, the fact was that the other man was simply embarrassed.

If he did not capitalize on the way Pavel’s mind was savoring the joy of hearing his daughter being praised by others and overcome Pavel’s desire to praise his daughter, he would be plunged into that hell once more.

“Also—”

Only one thing could trump the topic of his daughter. That was work.

“Doesn’t night work mess with your biological clock? Won’t your body get weird?”

The butcher’s expression on Pavel’s face returned to his usual killer’s expression.

“...How many times have you asked that question already? The answer’s the same as always; it’s nothing to be concerned about. Still, why do you keep asking that question? What are you really getting at?”

He knew the cause for it, but he still stared at his rapid shift in attitude.

Where did the you from just now go, he wanted to say, but Olrand did not want that hell to return once more.

“...Hah. What I really want to say? Well, that’s a surprising question… I was just thinking that it’d cause a lot of trouble for me if the man who beat me ruined his body and ended up having to retire over a trivial thing. Of course, once I win, such minor things won’t matter any more.”

In the past, Olrand had been full of himself when he was first assigned to this strongpoint, and thinking back to those days embarrassed him. Skilled soldiers gathered around him in admiration, fuelling his ego ever further, and somehow, he had ended up fighting a mock battle with Pavel.

Olrand favored the sword — close combat. In contrast, Pavel favored the bow — ranged combat.

If the two of them clashed, the question of engagement range would be extremely important. However, Pavel declared that he was fine with close combat.

And then, Olrand lost.

Olrand respected Pavel for that reason. At the same time, he harbored the desire to beat him next time. This time, he would fight Pavel in his field of expertise, ranged combat, and emerge the victor there.

“Is that so? You want to fight me, then? While I’m at peak physical condition, with no handicaps on my part.”

A bestial smile crossed Pavel’s face as he said so, and it made Olrand’s chest heat up.

Oh yes, definitely. Isn’t that obvious? I want to fight you. I want to put my life on the line against you. However, that won’t be allowed, will it? Even so, if possible, I’d like us to have a battle where both of us could die at any moment. That’s how I want to fight you.

However, Olrand remained silent. That was because his instincts said there was no telling where the beast before his eyes would go. And in fact, what Pavel said after that confirmed those instincts.

“Still, I have to apologize. You should know why too.There’s very few people who can beat you as you are now in melee combat, and I’m not one of them.”