Chapter 14
Irtis was waiting his turn for confession along with the other participants.
Before long, his turn approached.
“Next, please proceed.”
Following a priest, Irtis entered the confessional assigned to him.
Inside the old wooden chamber, enclosed on all sides, there was a small window in the wall—but he couldn’t see the face of the person on the other side.
Soon, the voice of the priest in charge came through the window.
“Participant, confess all your sins here. The Lord Aido shall forgive you.”
Judging by the lack of fear in the voice directed at him, it seemed the priest conducting the confession did not know the participant’s identity.
‘So the Grand Temple really does guarantee anonymity in confessions. At least they’re keeping that promise.’
That was a relief, at least.
But Irtis still didn’t like the situation.
Confess his sins?
They set their own standards of what counts as good and evil, and then say, ‘We’ll absolve you, so go ahead and confess.’ It was almost laughable.
Though he had lived as an outlaw, Irtis had his own sense of justice.
Of course, his sense of justice didn’t quite align with the world’s standards.
Well, either way, passing this confession wouldn’t be difficult.
He planned to say exactly what Prodia had taught him last night.
Irtis spoke to the priest beyond the window.
“Have you ever exterminated pests, priest?”
“…Pardon?”
A faint sound of confusion came from inside.
“Even taking a small life is a grave sin.”
“That’s why I’m here to repent. I did some pest control—so can you forgive me?”
“W-How many did you exterminate?”
“Hmm, quite a lot.”
“Exactly how many…?”
“If I said I wiped out an entire area, would that be enough?”
“….”
Silence followed.
Inside the confessional, the priest looked down at the holy artifact in his hand.
It was a flat, gold-plated plate with a transparent orb embedded in it.
Before this relic, one could not lie.
If the speaker told the truth, the orb would glow green. If they lied, it would turn red.
Most participants before had told plausible lies.
But all had been exposed by the relic, and under questioning, they eventually confessed their real sins.
Although anonymity was guaranteed under normal rules, an exception applied to participants of the tournament.
If someone confessed to a serious crime, a portrait would secretly be drawn the moment they left the confessional.
Naturally, this would be reported to the imperial family.
After all, they couldn’t seat a criminal as a royal consort.
But then—
Flash.
Irtis’s result was green.
In other words, the participant beyond the window was telling nothing but the truth.
The priest found it hard to believe.
‘He came to confess… just for killing insects?’
That made no sense.
The priest began probing him.
“Participant, could it be that these ‘pests’ you speak of actually refer to people?”
A scoff came from beyond the wall.
“Is there really someone in this world who can’t tell the difference between bugs and humans?”
Irtis was serious. To him, criminals weren’t human.
This had been Prodia’s idea, inspired by how Irtis referred to them as bugs the night before.
The priest stared intently at the relic.
Once again, it glowed green.
This couldn’t be right.
Surely, there were other sins besides killing bugs.
But time for Irtis’s confession was already running out.
The priest hurriedly asked again.
“Participant? If you have committed any other sins, please confess them before the Lord at this time.”
“Hmm… I also destroyed the place where the bugs lived. Forgive that too.”
Flash.
After that, the green light appeared two more times.
Not long after, Irtis was released from the confessional without issue.
‘That was easier than I thought.’
Prodia’s idea had worked perfectly.
Just then, as he exited the confessional, Irtis noticed a priest hiding in the distance.
Judging by what he held, he seemed to be sketching portraits of the participants.
Irtis frowned.
‘As expected… they had something up their sleeve.’
It was a good thing he passed the confession without trouble.
If he had been caught here, things would’ve gotten messy—he would’ve wasted time explaining himself.
‘Priests or the imperial family—it’s all the same. None of them keep their promises.’
Well, thanks to Prodia, he had avoided the trap.
Irtis pulled his hood lower to hide his face.
Soon after, the priest in charge of escorting them called out loudly.
“We will now move to the next location.”
Together with the other participants, Irtis arrived at a massive main hall.
From a grand organ covering one entire wall, solemn music echoed through the space.
Following instructions, the participants took their assigned seats.
Before long, an elderly high priest with white hair and a dignified presence appeared.
At last, the ceremony began.
The high priest extended his hand toward the participants with a solemn expression.
“O participants of this sacred trial, I sincerely welcome you. May the blessings of the Lord Aido be with you until the very end…”
A sermon followed for a while.
Some participants were so moved just to face the high priest that they wept.
Irtis also stood up half-heartedly and pretended to pray with his eyes closed.
Then—
[—Kyaaah!]
Suddenly, a scream rang inside his head.
Startled, he snapped his eyes open and looked around.
But everyone else remained quietly praying.
Which meant—
‘…Prodia.’
It was her voice. No—her scream.
Prodia was in danger.
Before he even realized it, his body had already moved.
He had leapt from his seat and was sprinting toward the entrance.
“P-Participant?”
Voices called out from behind, but Irtis didn’t look back.
Several priests rushed to stop him.
“Participant! You must not behave like this in a sacred place!”
Holding his hood with one hand, Irtis swiftly dodged their grasp.
At last, he burst through the entrance and extended his hand behind him.
Bang!
With a loud crash, the massive doors of the hall slammed shut.
Fists pounded from the other side.
“Participant? It’s not too late—please open the door! You must proceed with the ceremony!”
Like hell I will.
If those priests slowed him down, he might be too late.
Irtis immediately cast a spell.
Fwoosh—
Purple flames flickered in his palm.
The flames soon transformed into several birds and flew into the sky.
“Find Prodia.”
At his command, the violet birds scattered throughout the Grand Temple.
Even the brief moment of waiting felt like agony.
‘What the hell happened, Prodia?!’
At last, a signal came from a specific direction.
It was some distance away from the main hall.
Even running at full speed—or flying—would be too slow.
The fastest way to reach her was to open a magic circle.
Prodia would definitely be angry if she found out.
But there was no time to hesitate.
‘Besides, I’ve already used magic anyway. What’s one more?’
He was never the type to overthink.
This time was no different.
Irtis stretched his hand toward the ground. Instantly, a pitch-black magic circle spread beneath him.
With a swirl of violet smoke, he vanished.
The next moment, what entered his sight was a blond-haired guy flirting with Prodia.
She was sitting atop a wall—barefoot, no less.
And the words that had just come out of that blond bastard’s mouth were clearly—
“Wanna… do it with me?”
At that moment, something in Irtis snapped.
Flash—
In a burst of light, he appeared behind him.
Without hesitation, he drove his fist straight into Luka’s face.
Boom!
“Gah!”
With a thunderous crash, Luka’s body was sent flying into the opposite wall.
Cracks spread across it as fragments crumbled down.
Knocked out by the impact, Luka’s eyes rolled shut.
But Irtis didn’t stop.
“…I’ll kill you.”
Purple energy rose from his hand.
At that moment, Prodia, still on the wall, shouted at him.
“N-No! Irtis, you can’t attack him!”
But Irtis’s eyes had already gone wild.
As he radiated killing intent toward Luka, he muttered,
“Don’t stop me.”
“He’s a priest! A high-ranking one!”
At that, Irtis turned to her with a furious expression.
“I don’t care if he’s a high priest or the head priest himself. Trash like him is just—!”
Prodia realized words wouldn’t stop him.
Then there was only one option left.
She would have to stop him physically.
She stepped off the wall and leapt toward him.
Seeing that, Irtis hurriedly withdrew his magic and reached out.
“Hey—Prodia, you—!”
He twisted his body and caught her midair.
If he missed her, she could’ve hurt her legs from that height.
As she fell into his arms, their bodies tilted together.
Irtis quickly cast a spell toward the ground.
‘Shield.’
Ziiing—
A transparent barrier formed beneath them, and the two fell together.
Thud!
Thanks to the shield, they weren’t hurt.
Prodia quickly propped herself up with her arms.
Looking down at Irtis beneath her, she asked,
“Irtis, is your head okay? Ah—you used magic.”
“Are you insane? What if you got hurt jumping from there?!”
“I trusted you.”
For a moment, Irtis’s mind went blank.
At the same time, he became aware of their current position.
“I-I mean… can we fix this position first?”
“Okay.”
They awkwardly got up.
Unlike Irtis, whose face had turned bright red, Prodia looked perfectly calm.
“Anyway, Irtis. I don’t know what happened, but calm down first—”
“How am I supposed to calm down when I heard exactly what that bastard said to you?!”
“…What? You beat him half to death over a date?”
“A… date?”
Wait—didn’t he just say ‘wanna do it’…?
Was that supposed to mean asking her out?
Blinking in confusion, Irtis was met with Prodia’s scolding.
“More importantly, what are you going to do now? You opened a magic circle in the Grand Temple, assaulted a high-ranking priest, and on top of that—”
She glared at him.
“You did properly complete the oath ceremony, right?”
Only then did Irtis remember the crucial fact he had completely forgotten.
‘Ah… right. I ran out in the middle of the ceremony.’
